Cid was frustrated. He took a bite of his sandwich and stared at the multicolored blocks before him. Shera had managed to scrape off some flakes and was analyzing them under a microscope. Cid was tasked with testing what blocks adhered to what, and what purpose each served.

            The aging pilot took a drag of his cigarette as he picked up a block the size of his head. It was shaped like a cube, save for a large cone, the narrow end of which was sticking out of one face.

            This looks like some kinda engine, he thought. Another one, twice as large as the "engine" block, had a large dome on top of its cube form. The dome appeared to be a sort of dirty glass, so Cid wiped it off with his handkerchief. Inside were three seats, small enough to place a materia nicely.

            "How the hell d'ya sit in this…" Cid mumbled.

            "Did you find something, Captain?" Shera didn't turn from the microscope.

            "Naw, it's nothin'. You get back to work."

            "Alright, Captain."

            Cid made a mental note to tell her to stop calling him that. He decided to stick the two blocks together and see what happened. As the two touched each other, a flash emanated from them. Shera turned just in time to see Cid pushed up against the wall by blocks 20 times their normal size.

"Captain!" She dropped the slide she was carrying and ran to Cid's side.

            "Git… me… OUTTA HERE!" the pilot bellowed. Shera pulled on his free arm, despite his subsequent cursing of pain.

            With a mighty yank, she pulled Cid free while falling to the ground herself. Shera felt another shock as the pilot fell on top of her. They lay there a moment looking into another's eyes, before Cid scrambled off of her, sitting on the ground. His face turned bright red as Shera stood up, brushing herself off.

            "Well," the mousy woman said, pushing up her glasses. "Looks like we have something to report…"

            Cloud was standing on the deck of the Highwind, his right arm around Tifa's shoulder. Yuffie was somewhere inside the ship, bucket in hand. Reeve had sent them to observe the cleanup crews and make sure they did their jobs. After Cloud was manipulated by Sephiroth, Reeve couldn't risk giving any more of Shinra's employees Mako poisoning.

            Red XIII, Barret and Vincent had been dispatched in another, smaller airship to Mideel and the southeastern part of the globe, while Cloud's group was sent to Icicle Village and North Crater. Yuffie had asked to go to Wutai, but Cloud wouldn't allow it.

            Tifa's unbound hair blew in the wind as she drew closer to Cloud. He looked down at the woman who had been with him since the beginning of his ordeal. His lips still tingled from the kiss that they shared, but he still wasn't certain if it was the right thing. After all, Aeris was dead, but that didn't mean he couldn't have feelings for her. He wondered if Tifa could sense his grief over the dead Ancient, and whether he should ever tell her.

            They passed over Bone Village, counting the number of transport ships that had docked there. Suddenly the warning alarm rang, and the copilot's voice came over the intercom.

            "Sir," the voice sounded frightened. "I think you should come up to the bridge and see this…"

            Tifa and Cloud broke their embrace and walked up the stairway to the bridge, beckoning Yuffie as they passed her, slumped over against a wall.

            "What is it?" The blonde man sounded slightly annoyed from being interrupted.

            "Umm… There's some sort of… activity over North Crater."

            "What kind of activity?" Tifa asked.

            "Take a look, ma'am." The main screen displayed the large North Crater, only with a giant sphere of black, swirling energy hovering above it.

            Tifa gasped. Cloud said: "It looks just like…"

            "That door!" Yuffie continued.

            "Only much larger…" Cloud finished.

            Pieces of the surrounding terrain were being sucked up and swallowed by the huge globe, and Cloud could faintly see small black "drops" falling off of it.

            "Open communication to Midgar," Cloud commanded.

            "Yessir!" The screen changed to show a distressed Reeve's face.

            "We've got a problem…" Cloud said gravely.