The Last of an Elite
Chapter Twenty Four: Do You Ever Feel Guilty?
By InterfaceLeader
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"This place sucks." Reno glowered at Rude, who was sat on the bar stool, a shot of vodka in one hand and Midgar's one and only newspaper in the other, known simply as "The Paper". It was produced by Shinra, unsurprisingly.
"........" Rude scanned the headlines. He didn't need to read the news since he knew about it long before the paper did, usually the more factual version, but he liked the human interest stories.
"Why do you even bother reading that thing? It practically qualifies as fiction!"
"........"
"Yeah, whatever." Reno slumped down on the bar stool. "Costa del Sol sucks. Why's it so damn hot all the time?"
"......because there's a natural current of warm water flowing past the coastline...." Rude turned the page and scanned the Chocobo racing results.
"I wish Tseng would hurry up and tell us what to do. I hate this sitting around waiting for something to happen. Avalanche could be anywhere by now!"
"......." Rude considered the next big race. The infamous 'Joe' was racing, which meant the winner was pretty much a given. But in reflection of that the odds were so low it wasn't worth bothering.
"Hey Rude."
"...."
"Do you ever feel guilty?"
".....?" Rude looked up from The Paper and studied his companion. Reno was looking down at his drink, eyes half closed as though in thought.
"...Guilty?" Rude said, playing for time.
"Yeah... for, y'know, stuff."
Rude was silent, though his full attention was now on Reno.
"I didn't ever at all." Reno said, more to himself. "But after I was in hospital I just kinda... started thinking. Not about anything in particular, more, like, feeling something. Something wrong."
".........What?"
"I dunno. But I thought maybe it had something to do with the Mako so I took a file from Hojo's lab."
Rude was expressionless, not showing his suprise. Hojo was not a man you crossed, unless you wanted to end up with more limbs than you started with.
"But it was empty. Nothing at all, not even the standard files. And I don't remember stuff."
"....like what?"
"Anything much from before I was a Turk. It's like my life started there, getting chased round the old office by you."
".........."
"And I never even cared, because working for Shinra's ok and Midgar felt right, on the top plate anyway, but I always felt weird going down to the bottom because I really hate the idea of being cut off from the sky and I know that's kinda strange and I always wondered if maybe that was something to do with living there, though I didn't wonder that much because I didn't care but now I wonder because something happened when I was in hospital and I reckon it was Hojo and what if I go crazy?"
Reno's voice had altered slightly as he spoke, the slums accent becoming more distinctive and the continuos phrasing reminding Rude acutely of the time 5 years ago when he was sitting in Tifa's bar, listening to the skinny redhead ramble about employment problems. Rude stared at the far wall of the bar, ignoring the brightly coloured crowd as they laughed and spoke about them.
"......Reno......"
"What if I lived in sector seven? That would be ironic don'tcha think?" Reno glared into his drink, wishing he could get drunker, faster.
"..........."
"I killed Odin knows how many people Rude and I didn't care! I – "
Elena walked into the bar, flushing at the hostile look Reno gave her the second she entered. Rude ignored her.
"Tseng's in a board meeting." She said, flustered. "When he's done he's going to call us."
"Fine." Reno waited for her to leave, his impatience plain. Elena frowned and decided she wasn't going to be cowed. Deliberately ignoring his look she pulled up a barstool and sat down.
"Go. Away." Reno decided to stop any pretence of subtlety.
"I have as much right to be here as you." She flashed back angrily.
"Oh for... You don't even drink!"
"Bartender? I'll have a spring water please." Elena addressed herself to the large unkempt man behind the bar.
"It's a bar, Elena! You don't buy water at a bar!"
"I do." She replied "Alcohol will only kill you."
"I hate you so goddamn much." Reno growled.
"The feeling's mutual." She snapped back.
Rude stood up and left, the argument annoying him. Neither of the two remaining Turks were willing to admit defeat and be the first to leave. Elena sipped aggressively on her water and Reno swallowed his whiskey, fingers clenched with the effort of not throttling the blonde.
"You're a hopeless Turk you know." Reno snarled into his drink, fury at her untimely interruption boiling through him.
"Tseng doesn't think so, or he wouldn't have hired me." She replied as calmly as she could.
"What would he know? You're useless – a silly bitch with no skills."
"I have skills"
"Oh yeah, like what? What could you have possibly learnt from your cushy upper-plate spoilt brat upbringing to help you as a Turk?"
"I can shoot and fight as well as you." She snapped, her calmness slipping.
"No you can't – and there's more to this job than just fighting anyway!"
"I can... I can hack! How do you think I found out about you guys in the first place? I know everything about the Turks and everything about you, because I – "
"What do you know about me?" Reno demanded, suddenly turning to face her, eyes narrowed and flashing green in the dim bar light.
"Everything, like I said!" She snapped.
"Prove it."
"You were brought up in sector five slums." Elena started reeling off the information, eyes locked with his. "You dropped out of school and started working in the sector three Food Market, now closed. You lived with your mother and three siblings. You were recruited by Rude when you were 17, and almost immediately underwent a scientific experiment that erased your conscience, as well as giving – "
He grabbed her arm, so hard she nearly cried out.
"Where did you find this?" His voice was low and his eyes sharp, boring into her. She quavered under his gaze, shocked at the sudden change.
"From.. from the high executive files."
He studied her, taking in every detail, every nuance of her expression and body. She was telling the truth, he could tell. But he didn't want to believe it. His shock wavered between the confirmation of him being one of Hojo's subjects, and the idea that Elena, the rookie he had been mocking constantly, had been the one to find the information. But he was an experienced Turk and had slipped automatically into his professional role, face not showing anything of his churning thoughts.
"Outside. Now."
-~-~-~-
Rufus considered the Shinra board room to be symbolic of everything that was wrong with his Father's reign. It represented consensus, a democratic discussion of ideas. It suggested that he, the President of Shinra, should have to listen and consider his underlings most stupid and ill-thought out plans.
For example, already in this meeting Palmer had broken his usual rule of making inane noises to suddenly announce he wanted the Space Program to be resumed. Rufus had thought wistfully of the execution chamber and had patiently explained that not only was Sephiroth running around causing havoc and Avalanche still free as a bird spreading ideas of revolution, but that the current topic was finding the Promised Land.
Then Reeve, in that I'm-only-trying-to-help-voice he used so much, had told him that whilst he spent his time chasing after the Promised Land and fighting terrorists Mako extraction was rapidly becoming harder and harder. He had observed that at the current rate of use all Mako would disappear in 30 years. Rufus had cursed his Father then, wasteful idiot that he had been. Why should anyone bar Shinra get any power? The below-plate citizens certainly didn't contribute anything in return.
Then Heidegger had told him that he had not managed to find Avalanche, Sephiroth or Hojo. He had no excuse, simply mumbling about lack of funds. Lack of funds! Rufus had looked at the budget plan his Father had created and seen that the Peace Preservation department was receiving nearly 78% of Shinra resources. And what did they have to show for it? Abject failure and a stupid laugh.
And now Scarlet was standing up, a glint in her dark eyes.
"Yes Scarlet?"
"President Rufus" She began sweetly "We appear to have some problems."
No kidding, he thought angrily. He wished he could just sack the lot of them, but they still had control of the army, and could cause trouble if he did.
"I have been doing some experimenting recently." Her gaze flicked briefly to Reeve and then back to him. "And I believe I can create something capable of taking on Sephiroth himself." She paused and licked her lips. "It would easily take care of the other problems we have."
Tseng, stood silently to one edge of the room, caught the pause and the euphemism. She's going to use it against you Rufus. She thinks you're the biggest problem with Shinra, he thought.
"Unauthorised experimentation?" Rufus frowned. He didn't trust Scarlet, she consistently insisted on doing her own thing, operating just barely within the rules.
"Reeve authorised me." She lied glibly. "I was trying to improve on the materia manufacture process. You must admit the best materia is still that which is found 'wild'. Kya-ha-ha! It would be most useful if we could make summon materia for example. Or materia that was already mastered."
"Hmmm." Rufus said.
"I discovered an interesting side-effect. If there is a large amount of Mako energy and it goes through the compression process in open air as opposed to underground, rather than becoming a more powerful materia it forms... I've used the term 'giant materia' but it is hardly that. Kya-ha-ha! It looks like large materia but the properties of it are completely different." She was becoming more animated as she discussed her favourite subject. "Unfortunately the manufacture process left it too brittle for practical use but it leads me to believe –"
"Cut it short." Rufus said flatly, the talk of compression and materia properties doing little except confuse him.
"Kya-ha-ha-ha! I'll simplify it for you then." She smiled at Rufus, red nails drumming on the table surface. "I believe that some of the Mako reactors will have been creating giant materia for years. I request permission to take Tseng and look for them, so that we may utilise them in our battle against the enemy."
Again with the euphemism, Tseng thought, frowning. I wonder what use these 'giant materia' have.
"Permission granted." Rufus said, pleased to be getting rid of her so easily. If he was lucky maybe she would get eaten by a monster. "Tseng you will accompany Scarlet to wherever she needs to go. Meeting dismissed."
Chairs scraped back as the executives stood and stretched, picking up their papers and shuffling from the room. Tseng followed Scarlet out, guessing that the reason she wanted him along was not so much for bodyguard purposes but to keep him from saying anything about her earlier talk of treachery.
As he left however Reeve grabbed hold of his shoulder.
"Cait has joined them." He said in an undertone.
Tseng turned back, surveying the now empty board room.
"Good. Where are they?"
"They're in the desert prison." Reeve stared at the far wall, not meeting Tseng's eyes. "It's... it's confused. The Gold Saucer created a lot of static and now they're... Barret's... It's confused."
"Just tell me what you've found out." Tseng said, irritated.
"Scarlet shot Barret's hand off." Reeve blurted, unable to stop himself. He had always kept himself away from the Shinra army, not really thinking about combat or the military aspect of Shinra's expansion. Barret's story had created a brutal image in his head, one he couldn't seem to shake and that left him with a strange feeling in his gut every time he looked at Scarlet.
"Mm huh. What are they planning next?" Tseng had long since lost the ability to be shocked by violence. He knew exactly how cruel the human creature could be.
"To escape. By winning a chocobo race I think. It seems to be the only way out..." Reeve hesitated.
"I guess they'll head south after that, in order to go round the mountain range. Which means they'll probably stop off at Gongaga." Tseng considered for a moment. "There's a reactor at Gongaga, yes?"
"There's the remains of one." Reeve said, plunging into even more gloom. "It blew up, and was never rebuilt."
"Still, maybe I can convince Scarlet to stop off there first. After picking up the rest of the Turks." Tseng nodded, pleased with this idea. "Very good, thank you Reeve. Please keep me up to date on their movements."
"Yes, ok." Reeve said sadly, reflecting on the unfairness of Barret's life and Scarlet's cruelty. He couldn't understand how she could have shot at him ... them ... when they had done nothing wrong.
Maybe I should ask her. When she comes back. I should get both sides of the story. I'm sure there must be a reason why she would... maim somebody like that. She did say she was against unnecessary murder after all. Reeve's thoughts were broken by the click of the board room door. Tseng had left, and he was alone.
He looked round him. The flat wooden table still had a few forgotten pieces of paper scattered across it, the high back chairs had been left in disarray, and that strange smell no one had ever been able to eradicate hung in the air.
It represented, he thought, a dictatorship. The raised chair at the far end for the ruler, the lower level for his yes men, not daring to contradict him, their only function to make sure his every whim was carried out, regardless of expense or harm. He wondered if Rufus cared about the Mako running out. President Shin-Ra hadn't, he knew he would be dead by the time it disappeared. But Rufus should care. Rufus should do something about it.
Reeve sighed. He knew that Rufus would put his faith in the Promised Land. A place of abundant Mako...
The Planet was the Promised Land. It was fertile. The Mako flowed willingly. But we raped it, and now it's a desert. So we make up stories of another Promised Land, another Planet we can defile so that we don't have to cut down on our greed or excess. But... Reeve shook his head. These thoughts were bordering on treachery. Gathering up his own papers he hurried from the room, hoping the coffee shop across the road would still be open.
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A/N: This chapter has just two scenes and still manages to be longer than most of the others. I had no idea they would take up so much space, I was hoping to get the Gongaga scene done in this chapter. But I figured this was long enough ^.^;; Elena has a habit of putting her foot in it, ne?
Next up: Gongaga fight, or "so who do you like?" An action/humour chapter. Finally. ^_^;;