Author's Note: Congrats, Mellinia, you're the one-hundredth reviewer of Silver Rose. -Hurls a ball of confetti- Have fun. Now, back to the story. It's winding down, can you tell? Lemme think. . . Either one or two more chapters, then the extras. Then we've got the sequel and the final story to complete the trilogy. "Sequel? He's serious?" Quite. Three stories. This is pre-game, the next will follow the game, and then the post-Meteor story. So, because I've got so much to do with this lil' beauty, let's get on with it. ( And no, it's not Mark. It's, as he said, Jinaisim. )
Silver Rose
by Reno Spiegel
Dante@towernetwork.net
December 5, 3076
Near Noon. Office. JRL. 11:46 A.M.
". . .local multi-millionaire Professor Julius Hojo was murdered at the Junon Research Lab." - Reporter, Junon News
I dart back, but my legs give out and I'm down again. I slowly dare to look at Jinaisim. Now he's frowning, but he's still just like the one from the asylum ceiling, right before my heart attack. "You're. . .you're going to kill me. . ."
"Why in the nine hells would I kill you?!" he almost explodes. "Jesus, Seph', you did me a favor killing Kala. She would've gone after me next, then Reno, then probably some real important people. I've got no reason to kill you besides leaving my drums on the floor, and I can always buy a new set of those once we get out of here. Which, by the way, we need to do now," he reminds me, unneeded. He tosses the marble-looking thing around a bit. "Nice work, Reno. Effective."
Reno waves it off and walks over to the body of the Professor, kneeling down and poking it in the face. "No shit. He's fried beyond extra crispy. Grab the other one and do somethin' with our hero here, wouldja?"
I'm completely lost during all of this. I guess that's what I get for leaving ShinRa when they were on the brink of a big development. "What the hell is that thing?" I try to point a finger at Jinaisim, and almost slit my throat in the process. Oh, yeah. The foot of metal I have sticking out of my hand. I'd almost forgotten.
The green-haired man, pulling another from his jacket pocket, holds it out for me to see. "Materia. Condensed power, and if you get enough experience with it, you could blow apart a chocobo just by looking at it. Right now, we've got healing Materia, fire, and lightning. We're planning on selling it for about three-thousand gil, but ShinRa's going to want the plans when they hear about it. We'll make a good hefty profit off of that. Now, hold still or lose something important."
It's one of the most magnificent things I've ever seen. He concentrates for a moment, and then shimmering green surrounds me, bathing me in what feels like frigid air for a moment before disappearing into nothing. Jinaisim staggers for a moment, but I leap to my feet and shake myself off. "The hell. . .?" I'm perfectly fine. Touching my cheek, I feel only a scar of where I'd been cut minutes ago. My hand feels alright. I even pull the sword cleanly out, expecting a searing pain, but I only get a hole I can stare through, skin already grown together, but not bridging the gap. Very unattractive, but my corpse would've been worse.
Aeris rushes over to me and nearly leaps four feet to wrap her arms around my neck. Reno, the other end of the long, thin katana in his hand, returns to Jinaisim and makes a gagging sound. I just place my arms around her waist and glare at him for a moment. "Healing Materia," my should-be-housemate clears up. "You weren't as bad as you thought you were. Heals wounds, brings back your energy, and makes cousin Earl a lot more fun when he's drunk at Christmas. It's only temporary, though. That'll last about a day, and if you're not in a hospital by then, bye bye."
"Which means we need to leave soon," I assume.
"Now," Reno corrects. And that's almost all I need to know.
"Alright, then, let's leave." Aeris is at my side, gripping my hand for dear life. Reno and Jinaisim share a worried look. The later shifts on his feet and the former takes a cigarette from his breast pocket, shaking his head.
"It's not that easy." Reno walks up, takes the other half of the sword from the ground. Two seconds of staring at it and the entire seven-foot killing machine is back together. He hands it to me before going on. "See, we came up through the elevator after we cleared everyone out of the building. There's four elevators in the corners on every floor, from the twentieth on up, and the main elevator in the center goes all the way from bottom to top. In event of a lockdown, which is automatic, eight hidden cameras inside the elevators flick on, alerting the authorities if they capture any movement, and four hidden on the outside. Keep in mind, however, the main elevator has no cameras, because it's frozen at the top. All the cameras in the building, foolishly, are at the elevators on the sides. There's no way to get in and down without the Junon Force coming any second. The outside of the building is bullet-proof and crack-checked every day, meaning no way to climb. And, in event of said lockdown the main elevator goes to the top and doesn't move without a forty-digit access code, which is changed every hour on the hour, which no one aside from a supersystem can hack, and even that's hard. Also, shatter-proof windows, so if you came with rapelling equipment, you would be sorely disappointed. To make this all clear, we're almost completely stuck."
"Almost?" Aeris' voice is alight with sudden hope. I've given it all up. Factoring all of that in, there's virtually no way out. We're in a maze with no exits and cutting through the hedges gets you shot.
Reno grins and nods. "We got up here just before the whole place went on lockdown. You didn't see it, Seph', but Aeris was on the elevator when we got on, then we came up, ran out, and the whole system boosted up. We barely made it before they would've called the Force. This is irrelevant, I'm just showing off." He chuckles a bit, but Jinaisim elbows him in the gut. "Right. The one way to get down is to head to the twentieth floor and access the vault with hacking equipment. Inside is a panel, locked in a small safe, and then you've got another code. Once done with all three, you can shut down the cameras, reanimate the elevators, and you're done. Ride to the bottom on the main elevator, walk out the door, and pray no one notices."
The smell of the dead SOLDIER is finally getting to me, but I shake my head. "Alright, I know what you're getting at, but we've got a problem. How the fuck do we get down to the twentieth floor? The elevator we can access can't be moved without a code that we can't hack. And the other four that we may have been able to access earlier have twelve eyes on each. There's no way."
"Actually," Jinaisim speaks up, "this is something you and Reno need to talk about."
I glance at the one in question. He holds up a finger and beckons me with him, toward the restroom. I reluctantly let go of Aeris' hand and follow him. The walls are marble tile, as someone might expect from a high-ranking shithole, and I don't only mean the toilet stalls. Reno locks the doors once we're inside, walks to the sink, and stares in the mirror for a long moment at me. ". . ." He hesitates, takes a drag from his cigarette, and lets it out slowly. "We're going to have to kick you down the elevator shaft, loaded with safe-cracking tools, then have you blow out the cameras and elevator codes and get us down the main elevator, via a lift-up panel inside said elevator."
I blink and hunch my back, laying my head on the wall. "Reno, I know for sure you didn't come with rapelling tools, and you're not just shoving me down the shaft and praying I live."
He tosses me what looks like a handheld GPS system from his pocket with wires attached to it. "Put one of those wires on either side of the door and watch the numbers. When they're done, spin the dial left, right, left, right, left following the numbers. If there're more than five numbers, continue the pattern." He's ignoring me. "Once inside the vault, repeat the pattern with the smaller safe, which is in the center of the room on a pedestal. I'll tell you the code once inside." He opens the collar of his suit and sets an earpiece on the counter. "Any problems, it doubles as a communicator."
I clench my fists. There's no way I can get down the shaft without killing myself. The walls, as seen through a bullet-proof, clear siding on the elevator, have no ledges to grab onto. "How the hell did you know what we were getting into?" He used to be afraid of me, now he's telling me what to do.
"As a reject Jenova, one unwelcomed by society, I was given the opportunity to become a full-blooded Cetra. And as the only Jenovan to ever reject such an offer, I was molded into a kind of peace-keeper between the two races. The Planet looks over her children, the Cetra, and therefore keeps me informed of the things taking place. I happened to be in town, so the Planet contacted me and let me know how to go about it, and here I am now, telling you all of this because I want to save your life." He's talked tome today more than he has at any other time in my life. It's quite shocking.
"Why? Why do you wanna save my life now, and not before? Why now, huh?! And why the hell are you telling me what to do, when you used to cower at the sight of me?!" I demand. Maybe it's the stress that has me so worked up, maybe it's the fact that I just killed two people and now I'm trapped with a Jenova, someone who's as mysterious as a magic trick, and the woman who's going to soon find out she's carrying my child.
But now he's pushing me against the wall and, I swear, lifting me at least a foot off the ground by the lapels of my coat. "You're right, I used to be afraid of you, but only because I knew you had no idea what you were, and y'know, it's fuckers like you who're the most lethal when they have no goddamn clue what they can do. You're the ones who would repeat some crazy chant from a song and split the shittin' Planet apart! And right now, I'm tryin' to save your ass, make sure you don't get killed, so that kid out there that Aeris is gonna realize she's having might be able to have half a life and be able to come home to a dad waitin' in his room, like you and I never got to have! We had the abusive ones, Seph', who had nothing better to do when we got home than beat our fuckin' ears until we screamed for mercy, and even then they didn't care! I'm trynna save you because I know what Hell's fires look like! So you get out there, you go down that shaft, and you make about five people a little -- no, a lot -- happier to be alive when they hit the ground, you got that?!!"
His eyes are an inch away from lighting into flames while a forked tongue pops out from his mouth and wraps around my neck. His class ring has made an indent just below my shoulder from his force, I'm almost sure. Just within arm's length, I reach out and grab the safe-cracking device and hold it up for him to see. "We're all getting out of here alive and illegally. Shouldn't the Force be coming soon, though?" It only makes sense, if the place goes into lockdown, that the authorities come. Unless ShinRa's suddenly being run by infants and dumbasses. Oh, wait. . .
Reno shakes his head and lets me down, still clenching and unclenching his fists in frustration. "The Force only takes direct orders from Hojo when it comes to the Research Lab, as he called it, so they can't touch this place until they find him dead, or the alarms go off. Like I said, Jinaisim and I got everyone out of the building so we could pull this off. You ready?"
I nod and he walks for the door. As soon as I hear it unlock, my gut wrenches and I know, for some reason, that this is going to end with someone's blood being spilled.
Silver Rose
by Reno Spiegel
Dante@towernetwork.net
December 5, 3076
Near Noon. Office. JRL. 11:46 A.M.
". . .local multi-millionaire Professor Julius Hojo was murdered at the Junon Research Lab." - Reporter, Junon News
I dart back, but my legs give out and I'm down again. I slowly dare to look at Jinaisim. Now he's frowning, but he's still just like the one from the asylum ceiling, right before my heart attack. "You're. . .you're going to kill me. . ."
"Why in the nine hells would I kill you?!" he almost explodes. "Jesus, Seph', you did me a favor killing Kala. She would've gone after me next, then Reno, then probably some real important people. I've got no reason to kill you besides leaving my drums on the floor, and I can always buy a new set of those once we get out of here. Which, by the way, we need to do now," he reminds me, unneeded. He tosses the marble-looking thing around a bit. "Nice work, Reno. Effective."
Reno waves it off and walks over to the body of the Professor, kneeling down and poking it in the face. "No shit. He's fried beyond extra crispy. Grab the other one and do somethin' with our hero here, wouldja?"
I'm completely lost during all of this. I guess that's what I get for leaving ShinRa when they were on the brink of a big development. "What the hell is that thing?" I try to point a finger at Jinaisim, and almost slit my throat in the process. Oh, yeah. The foot of metal I have sticking out of my hand. I'd almost forgotten.
The green-haired man, pulling another from his jacket pocket, holds it out for me to see. "Materia. Condensed power, and if you get enough experience with it, you could blow apart a chocobo just by looking at it. Right now, we've got healing Materia, fire, and lightning. We're planning on selling it for about three-thousand gil, but ShinRa's going to want the plans when they hear about it. We'll make a good hefty profit off of that. Now, hold still or lose something important."
It's one of the most magnificent things I've ever seen. He concentrates for a moment, and then shimmering green surrounds me, bathing me in what feels like frigid air for a moment before disappearing into nothing. Jinaisim staggers for a moment, but I leap to my feet and shake myself off. "The hell. . .?" I'm perfectly fine. Touching my cheek, I feel only a scar of where I'd been cut minutes ago. My hand feels alright. I even pull the sword cleanly out, expecting a searing pain, but I only get a hole I can stare through, skin already grown together, but not bridging the gap. Very unattractive, but my corpse would've been worse.
Aeris rushes over to me and nearly leaps four feet to wrap her arms around my neck. Reno, the other end of the long, thin katana in his hand, returns to Jinaisim and makes a gagging sound. I just place my arms around her waist and glare at him for a moment. "Healing Materia," my should-be-housemate clears up. "You weren't as bad as you thought you were. Heals wounds, brings back your energy, and makes cousin Earl a lot more fun when he's drunk at Christmas. It's only temporary, though. That'll last about a day, and if you're not in a hospital by then, bye bye."
"Which means we need to leave soon," I assume.
"Now," Reno corrects. And that's almost all I need to know.
"Alright, then, let's leave." Aeris is at my side, gripping my hand for dear life. Reno and Jinaisim share a worried look. The later shifts on his feet and the former takes a cigarette from his breast pocket, shaking his head.
"It's not that easy." Reno walks up, takes the other half of the sword from the ground. Two seconds of staring at it and the entire seven-foot killing machine is back together. He hands it to me before going on. "See, we came up through the elevator after we cleared everyone out of the building. There's four elevators in the corners on every floor, from the twentieth on up, and the main elevator in the center goes all the way from bottom to top. In event of a lockdown, which is automatic, eight hidden cameras inside the elevators flick on, alerting the authorities if they capture any movement, and four hidden on the outside. Keep in mind, however, the main elevator has no cameras, because it's frozen at the top. All the cameras in the building, foolishly, are at the elevators on the sides. There's no way to get in and down without the Junon Force coming any second. The outside of the building is bullet-proof and crack-checked every day, meaning no way to climb. And, in event of said lockdown the main elevator goes to the top and doesn't move without a forty-digit access code, which is changed every hour on the hour, which no one aside from a supersystem can hack, and even that's hard. Also, shatter-proof windows, so if you came with rapelling equipment, you would be sorely disappointed. To make this all clear, we're almost completely stuck."
"Almost?" Aeris' voice is alight with sudden hope. I've given it all up. Factoring all of that in, there's virtually no way out. We're in a maze with no exits and cutting through the hedges gets you shot.
Reno grins and nods. "We got up here just before the whole place went on lockdown. You didn't see it, Seph', but Aeris was on the elevator when we got on, then we came up, ran out, and the whole system boosted up. We barely made it before they would've called the Force. This is irrelevant, I'm just showing off." He chuckles a bit, but Jinaisim elbows him in the gut. "Right. The one way to get down is to head to the twentieth floor and access the vault with hacking equipment. Inside is a panel, locked in a small safe, and then you've got another code. Once done with all three, you can shut down the cameras, reanimate the elevators, and you're done. Ride to the bottom on the main elevator, walk out the door, and pray no one notices."
The smell of the dead SOLDIER is finally getting to me, but I shake my head. "Alright, I know what you're getting at, but we've got a problem. How the fuck do we get down to the twentieth floor? The elevator we can access can't be moved without a code that we can't hack. And the other four that we may have been able to access earlier have twelve eyes on each. There's no way."
"Actually," Jinaisim speaks up, "this is something you and Reno need to talk about."
I glance at the one in question. He holds up a finger and beckons me with him, toward the restroom. I reluctantly let go of Aeris' hand and follow him. The walls are marble tile, as someone might expect from a high-ranking shithole, and I don't only mean the toilet stalls. Reno locks the doors once we're inside, walks to the sink, and stares in the mirror for a long moment at me. ". . ." He hesitates, takes a drag from his cigarette, and lets it out slowly. "We're going to have to kick you down the elevator shaft, loaded with safe-cracking tools, then have you blow out the cameras and elevator codes and get us down the main elevator, via a lift-up panel inside said elevator."
I blink and hunch my back, laying my head on the wall. "Reno, I know for sure you didn't come with rapelling tools, and you're not just shoving me down the shaft and praying I live."
He tosses me what looks like a handheld GPS system from his pocket with wires attached to it. "Put one of those wires on either side of the door and watch the numbers. When they're done, spin the dial left, right, left, right, left following the numbers. If there're more than five numbers, continue the pattern." He's ignoring me. "Once inside the vault, repeat the pattern with the smaller safe, which is in the center of the room on a pedestal. I'll tell you the code once inside." He opens the collar of his suit and sets an earpiece on the counter. "Any problems, it doubles as a communicator."
I clench my fists. There's no way I can get down the shaft without killing myself. The walls, as seen through a bullet-proof, clear siding on the elevator, have no ledges to grab onto. "How the hell did you know what we were getting into?" He used to be afraid of me, now he's telling me what to do.
"As a reject Jenova, one unwelcomed by society, I was given the opportunity to become a full-blooded Cetra. And as the only Jenovan to ever reject such an offer, I was molded into a kind of peace-keeper between the two races. The Planet looks over her children, the Cetra, and therefore keeps me informed of the things taking place. I happened to be in town, so the Planet contacted me and let me know how to go about it, and here I am now, telling you all of this because I want to save your life." He's talked tome today more than he has at any other time in my life. It's quite shocking.
"Why? Why do you wanna save my life now, and not before? Why now, huh?! And why the hell are you telling me what to do, when you used to cower at the sight of me?!" I demand. Maybe it's the stress that has me so worked up, maybe it's the fact that I just killed two people and now I'm trapped with a Jenova, someone who's as mysterious as a magic trick, and the woman who's going to soon find out she's carrying my child.
But now he's pushing me against the wall and, I swear, lifting me at least a foot off the ground by the lapels of my coat. "You're right, I used to be afraid of you, but only because I knew you had no idea what you were, and y'know, it's fuckers like you who're the most lethal when they have no goddamn clue what they can do. You're the ones who would repeat some crazy chant from a song and split the shittin' Planet apart! And right now, I'm tryin' to save your ass, make sure you don't get killed, so that kid out there that Aeris is gonna realize she's having might be able to have half a life and be able to come home to a dad waitin' in his room, like you and I never got to have! We had the abusive ones, Seph', who had nothing better to do when we got home than beat our fuckin' ears until we screamed for mercy, and even then they didn't care! I'm trynna save you because I know what Hell's fires look like! So you get out there, you go down that shaft, and you make about five people a little -- no, a lot -- happier to be alive when they hit the ground, you got that?!!"
His eyes are an inch away from lighting into flames while a forked tongue pops out from his mouth and wraps around my neck. His class ring has made an indent just below my shoulder from his force, I'm almost sure. Just within arm's length, I reach out and grab the safe-cracking device and hold it up for him to see. "We're all getting out of here alive and illegally. Shouldn't the Force be coming soon, though?" It only makes sense, if the place goes into lockdown, that the authorities come. Unless ShinRa's suddenly being run by infants and dumbasses. Oh, wait. . .
Reno shakes his head and lets me down, still clenching and unclenching his fists in frustration. "The Force only takes direct orders from Hojo when it comes to the Research Lab, as he called it, so they can't touch this place until they find him dead, or the alarms go off. Like I said, Jinaisim and I got everyone out of the building so we could pull this off. You ready?"
I nod and he walks for the door. As soon as I hear it unlock, my gut wrenches and I know, for some reason, that this is going to end with someone's blood being spilled.