..S e e D..

Sound Man: Trabia Stratagem

Written by Industrialis

~

Based on characters and situations from Final Fantasy VIII.

All names, places, and other references to FFVIII © SquareSoft.

All original names, places, and character descriptions © Industrialis.

~

] 8 month 371

] Galbadia Garden

] Galbadia

Galbadia's Garden stood out proudly upon the sandy shore. Quite a contrast it was to the light sand before it, and the scattered forest on all sides. It stood out like a sore thumb, a domed structure several stories in the air. A few passenger ships were docked at its small seaside port. The narrow road leading from shore to Garden was bustling with newly- unloaded patrons.

Irvine Kinneas stepped under the high bridge over the gateway entry. He was tall and perhaps a little thin, but stood prominent and sure. A black cowboy hat covered his dark brown hair. A long, flowing trench coat matched the tan hue of his pants, and his dark boots shone from perfect polish.

"Hope I still have my card on me," he said. "Never know when some new guy'll keep the gates..." He paused, and suddenly turned. "Oh, there you are."

Aren stood a few feet behind him, head cocked up at the two crossing bridges above him. He was shorter than his friend, bigger built and with a wider stance. His long black hair was cut at his shoulders his face paler than Irvine's tan. Dark, curved sunglasses covered his eyes. He wore a red long-sleeved shirt emblazoned with an angular symbol on the chest. It was tucked in and held by a black belt. His black pants were slightly baggy, they bunched a little at the soles of his thick boots.

He joined Irvine, some yards away from the many waist-high gates that lined the wide entrance. "Nice place," he nodded.

"Yup, home sweet home...ah! Here we go." Irvine pulled a plastic card from his lower coat pocket. "What do you think?"

"Nice card. Bad picture though, I never seem to get a good one either..."

"The Garden, stupid."

Aren nodded. "Right, righ. Nothing short of awesome, man. Now, Balamb's bigger or smaller than this?"

"Oh, way bigger! Not as comfortable. Folks are friendlier around here."

"I thought this was a military center," said Aren, finding his own card in his pants pocket.

"Yeah, you'll get used to that part, too."

They approached the windowed gate, where a skinny teenage girl was seated with her head against the glass, asleep. Irvine stepped up, and rapped on it quickly, and the adolescent leapt back startled.

"Oh! Umm, ah...wel-welcome! Welcome to Galbadia Garden!" she stuttered. "H-how can I help you?"

Irvine passed his card through a thin slot in the glass. "Irvine Kinneas, resident SeeD. How's it goin'?"

She fumbled the card into a boxlike machine on her counter. "Um, good! Thanks. Let's see, insert the card longways...oh, did I put it in backwards?"

"Nope, it's in right."

"Oh, thank goodness! Now I...ah, I...oh, what now?"

Irvine sneaked a finger across the window. "Red button on the right side," he whispered with a smile.

"Right! Right! Red button on the side. I knew that!" She tapped the button, and a small light shone from the machine's slot as the card was scanned. "Resident gets red. Resident gets red. Sorry about this, I'm kinda new."

"No prob! Hey, didn't I see you at the cafeteria last week? You had the register, right?"

"Yeah," she sighed. "They're moving me around. Gotta work off my education doing whatever they want. Seems like I'm learning a new job every day."

"Keep it up," said Irvine. "You're doing fine. Say, you got one of those recommendation cards around?"

The gatekeeper perked up. "Really? Wow, sure! Here you go!"

She slid an index card through the slot, and Irivne snatched it up. "And one for my friend, here," he said, and she gladly handed him another.

Aren took the card, pocketed it, and slid his identification to her. "Aren Bowes," he smiled cordially. "Terra Garden."

"Okay," said the young keeper, and pushed the ID card into the boxlike machine. She reached for the red button, but caught herself and chose a blue one under it. "Travelers get blue," she mumbled to herself as the card was scanned. After a second or two, it popped back out, and she gave it back to its owner.

Irvine waved as they passed through an open gate. "Thanks!" he called. "Keep it up!"

The airborne bridges were behind them now, and they entered a spacious courtyard a few hundred feet wide. There was no ceiling, this center area was open-air. Two stories of dormitories and various hallway entrances rose around them. At the far end, an open hall led to the training center. SeeD students, dressed sharply in black uniforms, marched in lines in and out of the hall to the shouts of their overbearing drill instructors.

But dispite the traces of militarism, the atmosphere was surprisingly casual. Most students were out of uniform, perhaps enjoying their free period. Some sat at various benches about the courtyard, others leaned over the second-story fences.

A group of three young ladies strolled by. Irvine gave a casual smile and waved, Aren bowed his head. The girls giggled and whispered to each other as they passed.

"I could get used to this," said Aren wryly. "Wow, do they all look that good?"

"You ain't seen nothin' yet, dude." They found an empty bench, and sat down. "Okay, you see her?" Irvine asked, pointing to a beautiful blonde. "That's Miana, level two, block fourteen."

"No kidding!" Aren said. "You're seeing her?"

"Nah, it was fun while it lasted. And that one there, see her?" he pointed to a tall redhead. "That'd be Terri. Level one, block nine."

Aren shook his head. "Man, you just can't sit still, can you?"

"No way! It's against my principles. Go ahead, pick out any one of them. Bet you twenty Gil I've at least dated her."

"Hmm...all right, let's see. Who here would be way too classy for you?" He snapped his finger. "There! On the bench across the yard. See her? Short brown hair, tan dress, brown boots. There's no way in..."

Irvine almost fell off his seat. His eyes popped wide open. "Holy...!"

"Yeah, let's not get too crazy, now. So, have you or not?"

The trench coat flowed behind Irvine as he sprinted off toward the bench. He stopped beside the young lady, and gave her a hard shove. She toppled off her seat, and skidded along on the ground. "Hey!" she screamed.

Irvine knelt quickly to the floor, and shook her by the shoulders. "Selphie!" he shouted. "Selphie, it's me!"

"Wha--Irvine!" The dark-haired girl threw herself in his arms. "Irv, I can't believe it!"

Irvine hugged her, then pulled her back. "Wow, me neither! I, like, thought I'd never see you again! Geez, it's been forever!"

"No kidding!" said Selphie, as he helped her up. "Hey, you look great!"

"Aw, you too! Hey, come on, you've gotta meet a friend of mine."

The two reached Aren, and Irvine pointed to the girl beside him. "Aren! Do you know who this is?!"

"I have no idea!" laughed Aren, matching his excited phrase.

Irvine cocked an eye. "Really? Why?"

Aren shrugged. "You didn't introduce me."

"Yeah, but didn't you, like..."

"None of my business," Aren shook his head. "You still think I listen in on you? Come on!"

"Oh, well, okay then!" He squeezed the slightly-confused girl once again. "This is my dear friend Miss Selphie Tilmitt!"

Aren's head jerked back, his flowing locks swishing about, as he cracked a broad smile. "No way!" he shouted. "You're the Selphie Tilmitt?!"

Selphie giggled energetically. Her short black hair was straight, but curled sharply at the end. She wore a short, tan dress attached overall- style at her shoulders. Brown boots covered her feet and lower legs, and she cradled a set of long-handled nunchaku under her arm. "Whaddaya mean, the Selphie?" she asked with a smile. "Sounds like I'm some sort of legend!"

"Oh, but you are! You led the team that blew up the Galbadian missle base! You saved Balamb Gar..."

From behind Selphie, Irvine shook his head violently. No, he mouthed silently, and Aren cut himself off.

Selphie fidgeted a bit, and turned around. "So...who's your friend here?" she asked cheerfully.

"Oh, that's right," Irvine nodded, pointing to his comrade. "He's an SeeD friend of mine, we met when I was on a mission to Terra."

Aren extended a friendly hand. Amid his palm was a small metal sphere, that glistened a reflection brightly. "Aren Bowes, ma'am," he nodded. "A pleasure."

"Hehe, what?" Selphie bubbled, pointing to Aren's hand. "You gonna shock me with that or something?"

Irvine poked her side hard. Aren glanced down, and thinned his smile, just a bit. "Um, no ma'am."

"Oh! Oh, I'm sorry! That was awful of me!" she gasped, and took the handshake rather vigorously.

"No problem," Aren said with a nod. "Never can be sure if I'm hanging around a guy like Irvine, right?"

"So Selphie!" Irvine cut in, quickly. "Like, what are you doing here?"

Selphie placed her weapon into her back pocket. "Oh, I'm here to convince the headmaster to send some funding Trabia's way. They're really hurting up there."

"That's too bad," said Irvine, and scratched at his hat. "Hey, I'll help if I can, you know that. But while you're here, you gotta promise me you'll have some fun!"

"Heh, okay, I'll try. Maybe that's what you can help me with! Been a while since I've experienced that annoying Irvine charm!" She giggled, and turned to Aren. "Seriously, does he get any girls doing that?"

But she caught sight of Irvine's friend, and gave a puzzled look. Aren had his hand to his temple, and his eyes were closed. He gritted his teeth hard, cringed for a moment, but then looked sharply up. "Oh!" he said. "I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention."

"Hey bud, you okay?" asked Irvine. "What's up, off-balance or something?"

"Yeah," Aren nodded. "I'll go have a seat over there, if you don't mind."

Selphie watched him sit back on a bench, and rub his forehead. "Is he all right?" she asked. "He...looks kinda woozy!"

"Oh yeah," Irvine nodded. "He just needs a minute, comes and goes. Like, change in altitude or something."

"Hmm...is there...something wrong with him?" she asked, kicking at the marble-tiled floor.

Irvine rubbed his chin a moment. "Well, there's nothing wrong with him, he just gets a little disoriented sometimes. And he's, like, a little sensitive about it, so kinda watch what you say."

"Oh geez, I hope I didn't hurt his feelings..."

"Nah!" he waved. "You didn't know. I'll explain it all to you later, it's kinda complicated. Right now, how 'bout some of that fun?"

Selphie sighed. "Aw, you know I'd love to. But I've still got to check into my room, and then I gotta write down what I'm gonna tell the headmaster tomorrow. And if there's any time left, I could go for some sleep."

"Aha!" Irvine raised a triumphant hand. "Sleep! Now there's something I can help with!"

"Ir-vine!" she smiled.

"I know, I know, just kidding. Here." He pulled a wrapper from his jacket pocket, and from his deep pants pocket retrieved a small pen. Scratching his room number onto the paper, he handed it to Selphie. "We gotta catch up, kid. Come visit when you're free, okay?"

"You got it. And hey, it was really great seeing you again!" Selphie waved and skipped off, stopping at the bench where Aren rested. "Umm, Aren?" she said quietly. "You gonna be okay?"

Aren raised his head from his hands. "Sure," he smiled, "feeling better already. Sorry 'bout the little incident there."

"Oh, don't worry about that, I'm sorry for what I said! Please don't take offense!"

He slowly stood. "No, of course not. It was nice meeting you, Selphie."

"You too! Tell you what, as soon as I get some freetime, why don't we all go out together?"

"Okay," he raised his eyebrows behind the black glasses. "Sounds like fun."

"See you 'round, Aren!" Selphie hopped off down a spacious hall.

Irvine made sure Selphie was a distance away, then reached his friend by the bench, and gave him a shove. "You're in! I think she likes you, man!"

Aren stumbled backwards and nearly toppled over, but he caught himself against the bench. "Hey, watch it!" he laughed, and carefully pulled himself to his feet. "I think I made an idiot of myself!"

"Yeah, I think you're right!" Irvine laughed, and gave Aren's shoulder another hard push. The pale young man fell back once more, and Irvine shook his head. "Like, get a grip, man!"

"Oh, yeah, real nice!" Aren sneered jokingly. "Go ahead, bully the poor cripple kid!"

Irvine waved his hat at Bowes. "What? You think I'm gonna fall for that 'cripple' act you shovel the chicks?"

"What act? Dude, when my head stops spinnin', you're so dead!"

~