Ch.6 – Sympathy for the Devil
The Shinra building was close to deserted as he crept inside, his footsteps resonating loudly through the first floor lobby. He crossed the room swiftly, his heart pounding in his ears. A sign on the notice board read "Shinra New Millennium: Jenova Project is Coming – Mako Shapes the Future" as he crossed over to where the elevators were. He inserted his keycard, closing his eyes and leaning back tiredly against the glass frame as the elevator began to ascend. Up and up they went, Midgar becoming steadily smaller below him. He ran a hand through his matted hair. He had to be in time. He had to. The elevator stopped. There was that single high pitched note and the doors opened to allow Professor Hojo to step in.
Vincent broke free from his trance at once and composed himself to look menacingly at the spectacled scientist.
"Late night work, professor?" he asked dryly.
"Oh, just checking on a 'colleague of profession' one might say. I could ask you the same question, Valentine. And no suit… tut tut. You're supposed to set an example."
A helicopter flew past outside, its white search lights throwing a supernatural glow on Hojo's glasses.
Vincent removed his keycard with discreet violence and stormed out. He'd take the stairs, anything was better than sharing the elevator with Hojo. Plus, he was in a hurry, and could make better time on foot than by elevator. Dashing past a solitary janitor and an empty coffee machine, he made for the stairwell and began to run up, two steps at a time. There was something about Hojo's attitude back there, he thought. Something disturbing. His 'colleague of profession' – that scientist girl? Hadn't she suffered enough already?
67th floor. Sliding his card so as to unlock the stairwell door, he made his way into the hallway. The building here assumed a much colder, more severe atmosphere than when compared to the lower floors. These were the world-renown Shinra labs, where some of the company's greatest advances had been produced. They were now Hojo's territory. A crude and steady blue light bathed the metallic corridors, interrupted here and there by glass isolation panels.
Vincent removed his red-tinted glasses and put them away, a vague unease growing over him. His footsteps fell heavy and chimed loudly upon the metal floor. What was he looking for? Why had he come here? He passed a long laboratory, lined with mechanical arms and glass containers. Rows of tables filled the area, covered in computer screens where data flashed in an endless stream. He glanced at a few nonchalantly. So he proceeded, past corridors and rooms, and suppliers. Finally, he found himself at a bifurcation. An arrow to the right read "Containment zone A1-A5", the left "Zone 406: Restricted. Only Employees with Justified Clearing". Both made him shudder, but he decided to start from the Containment Zones.
Containment, he knew quite well, were the Shinra Prisons. Occasionally, SOLDIER candidates who reacted violently to Turk persuasions were sent here. It was a simple, narrow corridor, lined with electronically locked metal doors and that same cold blue light. What made the scene unusual however, was the spasmodic screaming which filled the area, resonating strongly off the steel walls. A guard was on duty, unmoved by the guttural outbursts which now Vincent determined were coming from room A3. Time for a little political pressure, he thought to himself, approaching the officer.
"Valentine" said the Turk, flashing his employee card. "Type 03 Access to Information."
The guard saluted him.
"Tell me about these screams"
"Yes sir. A few days ago, Tseng brought in a prospective SOLDIER agent. Mako was administered under the supervision of Professor Hojo from Junon. I was on watch that night, and nothing out of the ordinary was recorded. Earlier this afternoon Professor Hojo returned from Nibelheim and ordered a secondary Mako shower. The screaming began about two hours after exposure. 30 minutes later, we were given orders to transport the subject into Containment."
Vincent was about to explode. This Hojo fool was going to turn the Shinra into a torture chamber!
"I see." He answered acidly, with all the calm he could muster. "And where.. Where did these tests take place?"
"Zone 406, sir."
The Turk nodded briefly to the officer, and ran off in the other direction, a sudden fear gripping his heart. He prayed that his keycard would grant him the 'Justified Clearing' he needed, and reaching a security door, pressed his hand against the side panel, sliding the card across it with the other. There were a few seconds of silence whilst the screen displayed Vincent's fingerprints and compared them with the Shinra Database. Cold sweat ran down his face, and at that moment he knew (though it's impossible to say where the transition between knowing and not-knowing had been) that he was looking for her. For the girl he had shot in Nibelheim.
Access Granted, came an impersonal feminine voice, together with the heavy door sliding open. Tucking his card back into his pocket, the troubled Turk ran inside.
A hospital operating theatre had been set up, though he knew this Zone had served many different purposes in its lifetime. Surgical tools lay on a cart beside the operation table, along with oxygen supplies, overhead lighting and a few electronic devices which he could not identify. More importantly, on the table – as he expected, lay the girl. Her face was chalk white and her lips bluish, forming a sharp contrast against her dark brown hair. Her chest was rising and falling rhythmically. She lived. Vincent let out a drawn out sigh of relief. So what Tseng had told him was true. He had not killed her.
Her eyes opened slowly and he felt suddenly a burning shame inflame him.
"I'm awake, don't worry… Who… who are you?" she asked with drowsiness.
He didn't know what to say. 'Good morning, I'm the guy who shot you.'
"You need to rest" he answered curtly, laying a had on her forehead.
"No… no need. Talk to me. Please."
He gazed at her, his soul heavier than ever. How could he talk to her?
"Please," she repeated "I haven't spoken to anyone in weeks. I was… in the labs. In Nibelheim. Now… I was sleeping. Sleeping ever since we got back from Nibel. Whilst they… cut me open. Such a nice thing… that you can sleep whilst being cut open – no?" she attempted a smile.
A slight flicker of a smile reflected on Vincent's lips too. That a person could joke at a time like this. He nodded to her.
"Sleep is good" he said finally. "You can forget and let things pass. Sometimes I wish I could sleep, let all the problems pass, then wake up again."
"Like in an operation" she added. "Yes… sleeping away all your problems. Tell me… what's your name?"
Vincent's lips narrowed in uncertainty.
"Doesn't matter," she interceded. "Mine's Lucrecia. I hate it." Once again, that weakened smile, this time making Vincent's take a more solid aspect.
He shook his head slowly.
"Not as bad as getting all the 'Valentine' jokes at school." He answered.
"So your name's Valentine?"
His smile faded and he cursed under his breath for having betrayed himself so easily. It was just the sort of thing he'd do. He nodded.
"Valentine… it's a nice name." She yawned. Sleep was creeping over her again. "Better than… Hojo, anyway…" she added.
The Turk's eyebrows soared.
"H-Hojo?! You know Hojo?"
She just nodded.
"He's a good man. He was the one who took care of me. I was bleeding a lot… ruptured… something. he kept saying 'Don't worry, it's nothing. Nothing at all. You're a strong girl, Lucrecia.' Then, when I woke up, he was beside me. We talked for a bit… then I fell asleep again."
Hojo? Comforting someone? Impossible. He was up to something, that much was certain. Also… this Lucrecia was only girl. Could she really be the scientist everyone made her out to be? Too many questions were running through his mind, but he could see she needed rest. He smiled at her briefly, then put his glasses back on. He was about to leave when she called out.
"Valentine." He stopped. "There's… there's no escaping the Shinra, is there?"
The question hit him with full force. He had no words with which to answer it. Silently, he just shook his head and was about to leave once again, when he noticed something in a silver tray beside the operating table. It was his bullet. The bullet which had prevented her escape. The bullet with which he'd shot her. Without thinking, he furtively took it and left.