Guidance
"Well, it's done. I've contacted Helba." Cid walked inside the room. Rain waved hello from the bed while Reid looked at Cid from his seat and tilted his head sideways.
"Sorry, but who is Helba? You kinda left without telling us. He's some sort of hacker, right?"
"Oh." Cid sat down in his seat. "I'm sorry about that. I was in a hurry to catch her." Reid nodded understandingly.
"Oh, so Helba's a girl?" Rain asked, covering the pillow over her head. Cid shrugged.
"Well, the PC she uses is female. I don't really know much about her. I met her about a year ago in the game." Cid shifted in his seat. "And yes, Helba's a hacker. The best I've ever seen, in fact."
Rain yawned and sat up on the bed. She rubbed her eyes.
"And she would be willing to help us… Why?" Rain glanced at Cid curiously. Cid rubbed the back of his head nervously.
"I don't know, to tell you the truth. I met her a while ago. I don't suppose you know anything about the whole Tsukasa incident a while back, do you?" Cid asked inquisitively. Reid shook his head and yawned.
"No. What was it?" He asked, leaning his staff against the tableside.
Cid put his feet up on the table and leaned back on his chair.
"You know, I'd rather not talk about that right now." Cid admitted, rubbing his chin. Reid glanced over to Rain, who shrugged.
"Anyway, the gate to the field will be opened in about seven hours." Cid informed them.
"And then Reid'll blast it with that Holy what-sit, right?" Rain asked. Cid nodded and gazed at Reid.
"If the virus chooses to be invisible or whatever, Reid will be the only one able to see it." Cid told her.
Rain glanced at the white orb hovering over Reid's staff.
"And the attack will kill it, and we'll be able to log out, right?" Rain asked hopefully. Cid nodded at Rain.
"If all goes well, yes." He informed her. Rain rolled her eyes and plopped back onto the bed.
"If all goes well, huh? That's very reassuring." Rain said sarcastically, putting the pillow back over her head. Cid sighed and rubbed his eyes. He looked exhausted.
"What's your job in real life, Cid?" Reid asked, curious. Cid glanced at Reid for a second, and then closed his eyes.
"Programmer. I was fired from CC Corp, remember?" Cid yawned.
"Must be tiring." Reid commented.
"You have no idea." Cid smiled.
There was a small silence. Reid looked outside the window. It still dark, but the city lights were still lit. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cid gently dozing. Rain got up from her bed, grabbing her sword from the floor.
"This is really boring. I'm going out for a while." Rain complained. Reid looked at Cid, still dozing. Reid tilted his head towards Cid.
"What about Cid?" Reid asked. Rain pouted and put her hands on her hips.
"He won't care, as long as we don't kill ourselves. We're just going for a stroll." She argued irritably. Reid took a worried glance at Cid, then stood up and picked up his staff.
"Okay." He agreed.
* * * *
Cid awoke with a jolt. He looked around the room in surprise. Rain and Reid were nowhere to be seen. Cid sighed softly and leaned his head back into his chair, facing the ceiling.
He had fallen asleep in front of his computer again. Cid rubbed his chin in deep thought.
Jenova. That's what he had named the virus. Cid smiled at the Final Fantasy reference. Jenova and Holy Materia. Jenova was the evil intruder, and the Holy Materia had purged the earth of all evil in the game. But it had come at a price; all of human civilization was destroyed. Cid pondered silently in his chair. By destroying Jenova here, would we suffer from a similar fate? Would the virus' destruction only be the beginning? The heroes of the game had made the ultimate sacrifice… would we also?
Cid glanced out the window. It was still dark outside, and yet, the gentle light provided from the moon illuminated the city. Why do I play the game? Cid wondered to himself. That was a question he was asked once. Why? He wasn't sure, to tell the truth. Was it really to escape your daily problems and have fun, or to escape your life? Cid sighed. He didn't know. He had a lot of problems to escape from, that was for sure.
Like Ginger… Cid shook his head. No, he couldn't. He had to get over her. She was gone, gone forever. Then, angry thoughts stormed through his mind. It wasn't her fault! It was me! I was an ignorant fool! Cid rocked back and forth in his chair. Damn him! Damn it all! Cid raged silently. He would pay, Cid promised. I'll make sure of it. Slowly, Cid began to doze off again. "Ginger…" He wheezed softly as he lulled back into sleep.
* * * *
The moon's light enveloped the city in a glorious aura. Sparkling stars scattered over the black sky reminded Reid of a cloak embedded with jewels. A few groups of people still sat around fire pits, laughing and talking to each other. Rain and Reid walked across a bridge and sat down on a stone bench that faced the moon and stars. Reid laid the staff over his lap and leaned back into the bench, relaxing. Rain stared at the moon with awe.
"It's…. hard to believe that the moon we're looking at… isn't real." Rain mused. Reid stared at the moon with her. Ancient craters covered the moon and the glistening stars lit up the sky.
"Yeah." Reid agreed. "It is pretty hard to tell, isn't it?" Reid turned to Rain. She had a troubled look on her face.
"It is real for us, though." She whispered desolately. Reid slowly looked back into the shining stars, a black blanket with magnificent diamonds sewn into it.
"I wish this were just a dream… and I could just wake up." Rain continued sadly. She sighed and covered her eyes with one hand. Slowly, Reid placed his hand over her hand on the bench and gave it a gentle squeeze. Rain lifted her hand and turned her head, her eyes wet with tears. He gave her a small, shy smile.
"Things will be okay, Rain. Things will be fine… I'm sure of it." He assured her quietly. A tiny smile lit up Rain face as she turned back to the stars.
"I guess you're right…" Rain whispered to the night sky. "As long as… you're with me."
They sat silently for the rest of the night, watching the night sky.