"Oh hell no" I said as we stepped off the train.
"It's won't be hard to get in, she's expecting us" Dorothy said jabbing the elevator button. I followed her into the tiny metal box the two other men following behind me.
We rode down in silence all the while I was shaking my heed. We stepped off the train and I stopped in the knee-deep grass and looked up and up and up. Looming there before us hovering over the green field was the newly rebuilt green Trabia Garden. It sat before us glittering like some enormous emerald city in the sky.
"That place is going to be crawling with SeeD" I said waving wildly at the huge floating building.
"Yes, and you are being so inconspicuous" Dorothy said with a roll of her eyes. She grinned and then headed for the Garden setting a steady pace through the knee-high grass. I sigh and had no choice but to follow in her math, muttering under my breath.
She led us up the metal staircase right up to the front gate of the Garden. A man sat in a folding chair behind the glass lazily reading a magazine.
"Instructor Trepe, Balamb Garden number 14. Here to see Instructor Tillimit" Quistis barked at the man as he jumped up and saluted her. I blinked my eyes floating over her body and the stance she was standing in. For a moment I had the image of her standing at the front of the classroom looking much the same. I shook my head trying to stay focused as the man started to clack away on the keyboard behind the desk.
"Instructor Tillimit is expecting you, I'll have someone escort you to her laboratory" the SeeD cadet said saluting again.
"There is no need, I know exactly where it is" Quistis said turning abruptly on a heel and striding through the front gates. The others and me had no choice but to follow her through the green halls of Trabia. The blond led us down deeper into the belly of the flying machine before she stopped in front of a huge metal door. With a grunt she pushed it open. It scrapped across the metal floor, revealing a huge laboratory spanning in front of us.
Huge TV monitors spanned across the walls, some static some showing pictures. A hacker's chair complete with headset sat against the far wall. A tool used to download information to GF's much like the GF in my plastic head. Tables were scattered around the room covered in cytberware. Some of it was in pieces other whole and functional.
A woman stood with her back to us, and my eyes traveled up her skinny form. The yellow dress she wore was hideously bright in the white room. She turned and looked at us, her brunette hair bouncing slightly.
"So glad to see you made it" she said rushing forward to hug Quistis. Next thing I knew she was kissing Tin Man, then a moment later she was standing in front of me.
"So you're The Wizard" I said looking down into her green eyes.
"That's what they call me" she smiled at me as she spoke. She reached out and placed her tiny hand on my arm in a touch of friendship. I frowned giving her a strange look before she moved on to hug Lion.
"Let's get down to business" The Wizard said looking around at all of us. I nodded thinking that it was about time. I was ready to construct this Cyber Emerald thing to see what the hell it did. I followed her and the others over to a long table, where the final piece of the Cyber Emerald lay. It was the other capping end matching the one in my pocket that Dorothy had given me only a few days ago. Those few days seemed like a year.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the end piece and set it on the table, followed by the one Toto had died giving us. I frowned thinking of Rinoa and her ape creatures, and the hurt look on Lion's face. I shook it off, watching as Lion and Tin Man both produced pieces from their pockets.
I watched in silent awe as the Wizard went to work. Her tiny fingers connected wires, twisting and melding melds together. Each piece fit perfectly together, the breaks hardly noticeable once matched up.
Minutes later the entire Cyber Emerald sat on the table in front of all of us. It gleamed in the harsh white light of the laboratory.
"So what's this thing do" I asked braking the silence in the whole room. The Wizard looked over at Dorothy sharing a long glance with her.
"I think you need to show him" The Wizard said placing a protective hand on her work of art, the Cyber Emerald.
"Show me what?" I asked angrily as Dorothy softly led me out of the laboratory by the arm. I looked down at her as we silently walked through the halls. I was dying to know what it was she was going to show me. We went deeper into the Garden, into some kind of warehouse. She opened a door that said employees only in screaming red letters and led me out onto a metal catwalk.
We were looking down on a factory of some kind. Workers toiled over conveyer belts filled with glass syringes. Vats of colorful liquid sat against the far wall great mechanical arms churning the contents. Women stood in front of sparkling founts of pink, their heads thrown back magic coursing along their body.
Suddenly it hit me, the information came crashing down around me. This was were ConMag was made. Seed were drawing magic and compacting it into syringes. Concentrated Magic. Why would SeeD be making such a thing. I looked down at her in confusion. Then she took my hand again and led me down the catwalk in through another door.
Steam washed over us, it stunk like dirty laundry. I stared down into another factory scene, my eyes widening. Bound to the floor was a blue woman, the tendrils of her hair lying limp about her. Shiva a junctionable Guardian Force. Wire and tube sucked blue liquid from her body, into huge colorless tubes. Then into long containers.
"This is where SeeD places the Azure Plague into Con Mag" Dorothy whispered softly. I took a step back in amazement leaning on the rail of the catwalk.
"Azure Plague is spread through ConMag!" I hiss outraged. I wanted to rush down there and free the guardian force this instant. My whole body was screaming too.
"One of the highest symptoms of Azure plague is memory loss. It only make sense they would take it from a GF" she said simply.
"What has the Cyber Emerald got to do with all this" I growled hands tightening.
"It holds the cure for the Azure Plague" she whispered. I stared at her for a moment waiting for her to continue. This was all too much.
"We plan to broadcast it out over the airwaves, so everyone may have it. There is no money in marketing the cure for SeeD. Money is made with drugs. That's why I was in Dollet, to get the broadcast tower ready for our airing" she said her voice going from soft to bitter and back to soft again.
"Is this why I made myself forget?" I said looking down again at the icy eyes of the GF.
"No, not exactly" she said hesitation in her voice.
"What then?" I asked.
"To broadcast the Cure we have to feed it through a GF. You volunteered to have your memory removed before we broke the emerald up and ran from SeeD" she said.
"I volunteered because of you, because you have the plague" I said knowing the moment I said them the words were true. She looked up at me and nodded softly.
"You loved me" she said her voice cracking softly.
"I will have my memories back when this is over, and I will love you again" I said firmly. I glanced back down at the factory floor again. Suddenly I stiffened finding myself looking into familiar brown eyes.
"Rinoa" I uttered and Dorothy's head snapped up. Without a word we both started to run as she started to close in on us. We burst into the next room to meet a wall of apes clamoring to get to us.
"Quake" I said letting loose my last spell on the factory floor. The vats of magic spilled over, charring the room with electricity. We ran stumbling along the metal catwalk, heading for the door.
The run back to the laboratory was short but hectic. Dorothy pushed the door closed behind us as we rushed in.
"Rinoa saw us" Dorothy announced to the others. Then without warning she slumped backward into my arms. Her whole body began to quiver blue liquid flowing out of her lips. Lion helped me lift her onto a table shoving all the contents to the floor.
The Wizard rushed over and looked up at me with worried eyes. I looked over at the hacker's chair all set up and ready to broadcast to the world.
"Hook me up" I said to her without another thought.