Aerith closed the door and then, smiling, she leaned back against it, her face a picture of perfect happiness. Her mind was still deliriously drifting from her first kiss. Looking down at the gift of flowers Zack gave her, she smelled them softly, drowning in their scent. And then she looked up and gasped.
Elmyra was standing there on the stairs leading up to their second floor, looking at her with a little hint of sadness and, perhaps, disappointment. "Mom..." Aerith started. She stood up properly. "I...Zack accompanied me home--"
"I know, Aerith," Elmyra said softly, cutting her off. She slowly walked down the stairs. "Have you already eaten dinner?" She walked towards the kitchen and proceeded to heat some leftover fish and chicken stew she cooked earlier that evening.
"Y-yeah," Aerith replied. She followed her mother hesitantly to the kitchen. She didn't know whether to help her, or to pretend that she didn't know that something's bothering her, or to confront her. All she knew was that how Elmyra was acting was making her uncomfortable.
"Mom..." Aerith said.
"I'm sorry but I already ate," Elmyra interrupted. "When you didn't come home by seven, I figured you'd be running a little late, so I just ate ahead..."
Aerith ran to her mother and hugged her from behind, her voice starting to break. "Mom, please don't do this..."
Suddenly, Elmyra broke down. She dropped the plastic plate on the tiled sink and covered her face with both hands, sobbing uncontrollably. "Aerith, he's from Shinra. Do you even understand what that means? He's from Shinra..."
"I do mom, I do!" Aerith said, still hugging her mother from behind. She was starting to cry too, now. "But...but Zack's different...I can feel it."
"My husband...my husband was a soldier for Shinra, and look what happened! He never came back again," Elmyra cried. "And then...that person from Shinra kept pestering us even when you were still a child...and now this! A soldier...and not just any soldier, but a SOLDIER...!" She continued sobbing, her breath coming in short bursts.
"I love Zack, mom," Aerith said, almost pleading. As if wanting to make her mother see that that was important enough to risk everything. "And I think he loves me. Mom...he makes me happy!"
"I...I don't want to lose you," Elmyra said, weeping softly. "You're the only family I have now...and I don't want to lose you."
Aerith's tears flowed freely, her eyes looking blankly in front of her. "You won't lose me mom. You won't lose me."
Zack looked at the digital clock on the wall. The luminous-green crystal display blinked 1:45 on and off, on and off, as if screaming 'It's 1:45 in the bloody morning, you idiot! It's about time you go to sleep!' Zack sighed and closed his eyes to rest them, massaging his temple with his thumb and forefinger. He yawned.
The day had been one of the greatest in recent memory. Maybe it was by chance that he saw Aerith selling flowers that afternoon in Sector 4, but for some reason, he felt that he had to go and talk to her. And his mind had been forming plans on the fly. He felt like a schoolboy again, so very young and excited. Could this be love what he was feeling now?
Love? The word was almost foreign to him. Before, it was just random flings and impromptu lovemaking with random faces and names he couldn't even remember now. He was a true male archetype: living for the moment and for the women, but free of the commitments that go with a serious relationship. He used to just go out with the ladies because he wanted something from them. Was. Used to. But all that changed in one night. In one act of kissing. By one woman.
His lips curved into a smile as he remembered the kiss. It was, to put it bluntly, fresh. Different. He couldn't remember when the last time was when he actually trembled in giddiness upon touching a girl's lips. Or when the last time was when he felt nervous doing it. As if he was doing it for the first time. When they finally let go, the two of them were breathless.
He chuckled as he remembered how Aerith narrowed her eyes at him the moment they let go of each other's lips. In a tone of amused accusation, she had whispered, "You planned this, didn't you? The flowers, the restaurant, the bloody dancing...you planned all this, didn't you?" And he, in between breaths, had answered, "Plans? What plans? I'm making this up as I go..." And Aerith had smiled at him and clasped his lips with hers again, for the second time.
After bidding her goodbye (reluctantly; he hadn't wanted to let go), he had been half-drunk with the feeling of euphoria, skipping and dancing all the way through Sectors 6 and 7, and finally arriving at the entrance of the Shinra Building, still in his own happy world. He didn't even as much as look at Claire the receptionist, who greeted him with a flirting smile which went unnoticed, much to the pretty red-head's surprise and chagrin. He continued towards the transparent elevator, punched the appropriate number for the building's library floor and waited, whistling happily. And there he had been until now.
He opened his eyes and looked at the clock again. 1:50 AM. Blink. Blink. Blink. He yawned and reluctantly let go of Aerith's image in his mind and turned back to the computer monitor. There was still the job he was tasked to do, after all.
He had been reading and scanning various files regarding the all-important research of Professor Hojo, hoping to unearth some more information to work with aside from that old, almost useless photograph the bespectacled scientist gave him. So far, all he had come up with were documented research papers and theses regarding possible locations of abundant mako sources. Blah blah blah, mako this, research that. Power source. Documents. Hentai.
Suddenly, his tired eyes spotted a file located on the 'Experiments' subfolder under 'Archives'. It was titled 'Ancients.res'. He tried to remember where he last heard of that word before, mouthing the word 'Ancients' over and over again, silently. Then, it suddenly came to him. That Turk--what was his name, Tsun, Tseng? That's it, Tseng--casually mentioned that that was the name of the race this girl he was looking for belonged. He clicked on it and the file opened.
His eyes quickly scanned the report. It seemed to be a timetable of sorts chronicling the results of an experiment on a human subject named Ifalna. Zack gasped. He did not know that Shinra was into human experimentation. Interest piqued now, he completely forgot his drowsiness and tapped the 'Scroll Down' key a couple of times. He stopped as he read one timetable:
"Monday, August 16 06:05:05
Conducting extensive experiment on working theory concerning subject's empathic link to natural/personal phenomena. We have isolated the subject from her offspring and are now trying to see if said offspring can experience sensations felt by subject and if yes, then to what degree.
Also obtained blood samples from subject. It shows a higher concentration of dyselcondria, a natural substance also found in large quantities in mako. Further analysis recommended before more concrete conclusions can be obtained, but the theory regarding Ancients' Promised Land as a viable mako-rich source seems likely."
"I can't believe this," Zack muttered. He knew that Shinra had been doing blackmask operations, but he never expected human--Ancients, yes, but humans nonetheless--experimentations to be among them. Looking back at it now, the phrase 'integral part of Shinra research' suddenly took on a whole new different thought. He shook his head subtly and pressed the 'Scroll Down' key a few times more.
"Sunday, August 29 17:09:18
The subject has been showing signs of fatigue and health degeneration, owing probably to the intensity of the experiments which she has been subjected to. Several theoretical data has been confirmed, however, including the theory that Ancients have tremendous power of healing. It has not been confirmed, however, if this power can be applied to oneself, although the fact that the subject seems to have a larger threshold of pain than a normal human could be an indication supporting this. Further tests would have to be undertaken to confirm this."
Zack cursed under his breath. A tap on the key.
"Tuesday, August 31 01:43:44
The subject had collapsed following a rigorous physical examination routine. Professor Hojo has suggested a few days' respite for the subject to recover before resuming examination. Professor Galtirglin suggested that we start experiments on the offspring instead for the time being, but Professor Hojo disapproved of this fearing that the subject may still be too young for now.
Enclosed link regarding offspring data. Click here."
"Well at least now we're getting somewhere," Zack muttered. He clicked on the link. Another window popped up showing a root directory with the title 'Subject2.bak'. He clicked on the folder icon and a whole new subdirectory appeared. He clicked on the subfolder 'Profile'.
File not found.
"What the--?" Zack said to himself, raising an eyebrow. He clicked on another subfolder, this time titled 'Personal Data'.
File not found.
Muttering half-finished expletives now, Zack began clicking on the other subfolders of the Ancient's daughter, and each time, the same message flashed on the screen enclosed in a drab, gray message box.
File not found.
The room was dark when he came in, with a darkness that was almost insufferable as to be overbearing, the only light coming from the hallway when the door was opened. But the man did not bother opening the room lights. He closed the door, enveloping the room in total darkness. Then, with the figure of a general whose entire army had been utterly decimated, he leaned on the door and slowly slid down until he sat on the floor, his arms resting on both his knees. He was staring at the empty wall with eyes blank and hollow. He sat that way motionless for a few moments. And then, slowly, his hands clenched into fists.
Jealousy was eating at his heart; gnawing at it ever so slowly that each passing second was a brief eternity of pain and anger. For the past ten years, he had lived on the safe assumption that no one else owned Aerith's heart but him, and throughout that time, he had ensured that it would remain that way. He could still remember one time a year ago when a certain kid living on the Sector 4 slums seemed to show an interest on Aerith. The kid had started talking to Aerith then, becoming friendly with her, buying flowers from her every day. And he had noticed that Aerith seemed to enjoy the young lad's company. Three days later, the kid met an 'unfortunate' accident, having been mugged black and blue almost to the brink of death. After that, he had avoided Aerith, much to the young flower girl's surprise.
Aerith was his, dammit! For the past decade, he had watched over her, following her almost every day when he can, admiring her. Loving her. He had watched Aerith grow up to be a very beautiful young woman, as virginal and fresh as the flowers she was selling. And each year, he had loved her more and more; started lusting after her when he noticed how much of a woman she was turning into. Never mind the fact that he knew she would run away as far from him as possible if she met him again. But he had loved her.
And now, tonight, he was witness to the scene that had been a part of his fantasy. Except that this was real, and the man was not him. When Aerith willingly kissed the ebony-haired man, how he wanted to jump out of that shadow in the corner and tear the fucking bastard's limbs off, cleave him with that great broadsword he was always carrying on his back, and spit on his carcass. But the man was from Shinra, dammit! Angry as he was, he was not crazy enough to lay a hand on the young man. Not as long as he was on Shinra's employ.
But he will destroy him, he promised. He will destroy their relationship. And then, Aerith's heart would be his again. His, and his alone.
In the darkness, the man narrowed his eyes with burning resolution. He clenched his fists tighter, his nails drawing blood, sealing the silent promise he made.
Tseng was walking with his fellow Turks Reno and Rude, who had just arrived from a recent Shinra mission, when he saw Zack walking towards him. They were on the same corridor, just outside Hojo's office. Zack's face was anything but friendly.
"You fucking lied to me you bastard," Zack almost spat.
Tseng's expression was unchanged, emotionless and cold. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Cut the bullshit, Tseng," Zack said. "You knew a whole lot more about this girl I'm looking for than you let on! I found the archived documents about this Ancient research Professor Hojo's been heading ten years back last night. There was a whole folder about the girl, but it was all deleted!"
"And that's our fault?" Tseng asked.
"I'm not saying that, but you lied to me about saying that it was all you knew! You must've read the same information that was on that data when you were still trying to find her, and you're not handing those information to me!" Zack said, his voice echoing across the corridor, making employees and scientists alike stare at them. "What's wrong, Tseng? Afraid I might be successful where your group of black-suit spooks failed? Is that it? Afraid you're gonna get upstaged by a lone upstart like me?! This is all about your ego, isn't it?!"
"Oh please," Tseng shot back, his voice suddenly getting a barb. "What could you possibly get that we haven't already?"
"Look, you better tell me everything you and your lackeys have gathered about the girl for the past ten years or--"
"Or what, Mr. Halcyon?" Tseng asked testily.
"Or Professor Hojo will know of this," Zack said. "And he'll have you out of here and out of job faster than you can say 'Ancient.'"
Tseng snickered. "Mr. Halcyon, we are Turks. Top-of-the-line trained black operators. We are Shinra's dark shadow, doing dangerous jobs that are otherwise frowned upon by civilized society. We are its assassins, killers, spies, agents. We do things they can't, and we do our job with perfect efficiency. We are an asset here, Mr. Halcyon. With no liabilities. President Shinra knows that. Professor Hojo knows that. Everyone knows that." Tseng, then, raised an eyebrow at Zack. "Well, almost everyone."
"Damn you!" Zack said, gritting his teeth angrily. He suddenly reached out and grabbed Tseng by the collar. "Tell me everything or I swear I'll knock your teeth out so hard you'll eat through your brains!"
It was then that Zack felt Tseng emit a strange aura as he was enveloped by a green light. Whether by materia or just Tseng's unique ability, Zack couldn't tell. Tseng's eyes narrowed ominously at Zack, his face suddenly shadowed. Zack was taken aback.
"Let go of my collar, Mr. Halcyon," Tseng said in a low, dangerous voice. "You may be SOLDIER first-class but don't provoke me any more than you already have. I assure you, things will get ugly."
Zack was a fighter, a seasoned veteran. In every battle, he had always relied on his instincts to survive. Perhaps it was that very instinct right now which told him that nothing good would come out of the current situation if he'd aggressively hold his ground. Jaw tightening; he let go of the Turk's collar. "The name. Just tell me her name."
Tseng looked scornfully at Zack for a moment before replying. "Elle."
"You better be telling the truth," Zack said. "For your sake." He, then, turned around and walked into Hojo's office.
Reno and Rude looked at the door where Zack had just entered. "Is that him? Is that the guy they hired to take over our assignment?"
"Yeah," Tseng said.
"A bit cocky, ain't he?" Rude asked.
"They all are," Tseng said.
"'Elle'," Reno snickered. "Nice one, Tseng."
"No sense making his job any easier. Y'know, when I first met him, I thought I'm gonna like the guy," Tseng said coldly. "But now, I realized that I hate him. Very much."
"You never told me that Shinra was involved in that kind of experiment," Zack said. He was standing inside Hojo's office, almost precisely where he last stood four days ago when he was first here in this room.
"Would it have made any difference?" Hojo asked. "Your task is just to find the girl, nothing more than that."
"And what are you going to do with Elle, when I do find her?!" Zack demanded, placing his hands squarely on the table.
"Elle?" Hojo blinked.
"The girl. Don't tell me that's not her name?" Zack said. "Fuck that Tse--!"
Hojo blinked, an uncharacteristic shadow of forgetfulness on his face for a few moments. "I forgot the name. I was more pre-occupied with the mother then. No matter. It's of no consequence. 'A rose by any other name' eh?" He leaned back on his chair, his fingers triangled together in a relaxed state.
Zack bristled with anger. He couldn't believe how easily these people had been treating his assignment. Level 1 Top Priority my ass! he cursed silently. "What are you going to do with Elle when I do find her?!"
"Really Mr. Halcyon," Hojo said casually. "I don't see how that could be any concern of yours."
"For heavens' sakes, it is of my concern!" Zack shouted. "I read the archived reports of your Ancient experiments, Professor. Every little fucking detail! It's almost enough to turn anyone's stomach!" Images of body probes, tests, and other harsh experiments applied to the Ancient Ifalna flashed across his mind. "I don't think I'd approve of that being done to this girl."
Hojo narrowed his eyes and leaned forward on his desk, his aura suddenly taking on a serious tone. "You don't have to approve of anything, Mr. Halcyon. Your mission is to find the girl and bring her to me. That, and nothing more. What happens to her after that is no concern of yours. Do I make myself clear?"
"And what would stop me from saying that I quit from this mission?" Zack asked testily.
"I seem to recall a certain statute on the SOLDIER manual, Mr. Halcyon," Hojo said. "Please correct me if I am wrong but according to Section 89.2, page 156, under Transgressions and Penalties, 'A SOLDIER of any class who had willingly and purposely dropped a mission assigned to him by a Senior Executive Head of any of the Shinra Divisions, without prior and due consent of said Senior Executive, will be stripped off his rank and title and be discharged off Shinra active service without compensation and be revoked off all the privileges that come with being a SOLDIER, unless reason for dropping a mission constitutes serious and valid reasons such as incapacity beyond any help, endangerment of Shinra Chief Executives, or any of its main structures, unless otherwise permitted.' You're not being incapacitated now, are you?"
Zack's jaw tightened in frustration. If Shinra would indeed discharge him off active duty and revoke off his privileges, it could mean that his parents would be without financial security should anything happen to him. "You memorized all that, and yet forgot the girl's name? Why can't your brain forget the really important ones?"
Hojo leaned back again, chuckling humorlessly. "Selective cognition, perhaps? Now that we have that settled, Mr. Halcyon, any progress on your mission?"
"I would've already had something worthwhile to tell you right now, if it weren't for your precious Turks," Zack snorted.
Hojo raised an eyebrow. "And what about the Turks?"
"They've been withholding information from me!" Zack said. "Information I could've had used in making my job easier!"
"It was not on purpose," Tseng's voice suddenly interrupted. Zack turned around and saw Tseng walk in, followed by Reno and Rude. The latter two Turks handed the report of their mission to Hojo. Tseng looked at Zack, and then at the professor. "All the information we had gathered were already entered in the main database after President Shinra had the central computer system network installed. You very well know that, Professor."
"And it was all deleted!" Zack said.
"Not our fault," Tseng shrugged.
"What about the material data sheets?" Hojo asked Tseng.
"All the hardcopies were included with the archived files and other trash in the building basement," Tseng replied. He turned to Zack. "If you're so desperate in getting it, you might want to sift through all the junk papers there. If you're lucky, you might be able to find the hardcopies in, oh, say ten years?"
"Bastard," Zack cursed.
Reno snickered. "Oh c'mon. I'm sure an elite SOLDIER like you could manage the job with ease. Don't they teach you that in SOLDIER school? Paper Sifting 101, perhaps?" Rude chuckled derisively.
Zack's hands clenched into fists. "Nah, I didn't take that course, unfortunately. But they did teach us Maiming Smart-asses 101. Wanna see what I've learned?"
"Stop acting like schoolboys," Hojo suddenly interrupted, looking at the SOLDIER and the Turks. "Mr. Halcyon, Reno is right. You might want to check out the basement; sift through the papers there."
"You have got to be kidding!" Zack practically shouted. "Why don't you let them find it for me? It'll make my job easier."
"You have got to be kidding," Reno replied. "Us Turks are way too good for that."
"Yeah, so good that you failed to find a single girl living in Midgar for ten years," Zack said with perfectly cued sarcasm.
"I can't see you doing any better," Reno countered.
"Time check, I've only been doing it for four days," Zack parried.
"And after all those times, you had to ask us for a name," Reno flowed in. "Oh, I'm sorry. My mistake. You didn't ask. You begged."
"Why you--!" Zack growled.
"Stop it!" Hojo interrupted the banter for the second time. "Reno, Tseng, Rude. Maybe it's a good idea for you Turks to help--"
"You know what? I don't need this," Zack said, turning to Hojo. "If these are the guys I'm gonna work with, I'd rather jump in front of the train in downtown Midgar."
"That's a good idea. Want assistance? I'd be more than willing to push you," Reno said, enjoying himself immensely.
"You're just asking for it, aren't you?" Zack gritted his teeth.
"All talk, little boy," Reno sneered.
"Reno, that's quite enough," Tseng suddenly interrupted. "Let's go." Reno gave Zack a jeering look before following Tseng out of the room.
Zack looked at them before sighing. He turned back to Hojo. "Professor, can you spare some men to help me sift through the basement?"
The elevator hummed its way down, the numbers slowly dropping from 64 to the LCD panel clearly indicating 'B3'. Zack was standing in the front. Behind him were three Shinra soldiers in their dark blue uniforms. Apparently, they were the only spare men Hojo could find. He was expecting more.
"Uhm, sir?" one of the soldiers asked.
"Yeah? What is it?" Zack replied.
"We're not gonna, like, look through all three archive basements now, aren't we?"
"If that's what it'll take, private," Zack said.
"Oh," the guard said. He stepped back gloomily. Behind him, Zack could hear the other two sigh.
Presently, the elevator door opened, and Zack stepped out. He found himself inside a large warehouse, dusty and musty. And piled high with lots of things. Very many lots of things. There were racks and racks of papers stacked high upon each other. Old, faded out brown envelopes, new ones, and everything in between. A mouse scurried in front of him while on the corner to his left, three cockroaches seemed to be having a wrestling match.
"You have got to be kidding me," Zack muttered.