Before much longer, the noises from above got up again. With a growl, Reno strained upwards, looking into the face of more guards. The pulse cannons hummed softly in anticipation, the bottoms glowing faintly. The Turks-to-be slunk back against the wall, looking down. The machine still roved the ground below him. Below one of the tred marks was his pipe.
'SHIT.' he cursed mentally, looking at the guards as they slid down pipe and jumped from the platforms. Weaponless.
"He's good..."
The lead Turks shrugged, offering no explanation to his statement. His second in command snorted softly, turning away from the monitors to look directly at Vincent.
"But his attitude is trying. Yes, he's good. Yes, he's resourceful. The point isn't that. He is not right for our company. He's not business-oriented, he's just a little punk that knows street-smarts."
"Maybe that's what we need." the short-haired Turks retorted, his eyes narrowing slightly at Tseng. "We're branching out, you know. We're supposed to be working a lot more for the Shinra company. It's growing up and we need to follow it."
"What do you mean by that? I haven't heard about any of this."
Vincent laughed slightly, shaking his head. "The President is invoking new policies on us. We're branching out from bodyguarding and errand running. We're not just research anymore, we're going to be the active part of Shinra, Inc. The company's getting bigger and we all know what happens then..."
"There's more dirty laundry to take care of." Tseng finished, looking slightly distant, as if greatly impacted by this realization.
"Exactly." Vincent continued, pocketing his hands and turning back to the monitors. "We're leading into some pretty scary experiments. Infusing Mako with Shinra grunts, seeing what it does. The fingers of this company are stopping here on this very ground. Weapons, militia, you name it. The Space Program may be dropped entirely after the YA-26 makes its run. Depends on what we find, I guess..."
The long haired man frowned, his head tilting ever so slightly to the side. "So, our jobs are going to be more secretive. We're going to be keeping things quiet and running illegal operations right under the public's nose? Is that what all this is about?"
"Largely."
"Then keep him. Keep the little punk and let him do the dirty work. I won't."
Vincent turned, sighing slightly. "And what, may I ask, did you expect when you joined up with Shinra, Inc.? Every company that grows up through its own work to quickly encompass half the planet is going to have some serious things to hide and dangerous people thrown up against it."
"I know that!" the grey-eyed Turks growled, his fingers wrapping into fists at his sides. "But this is just too much! I saw what was happening when Wutai refused to let Shinra put in a reactor and that--"
"Was just the beginning." his companion cut in, staring at him. "There's more trouble with Wutai then you've known since you came to Midgar. That's why the experiments with infusing Mako are beginning. We need an edge or they'll slaughter us and derail the entire company if we don't get it.
"We have other projects lined up but they're all pending. The Wutai conflict is what's on the President's mind right now. He shipped his son off to the Junon Academy yesterday because he didn't have the time to use with him. Either you're in or not, Tseng. This is what being a Turks is going to end up being." Vincent gestured towards the monitors and the redhead upon them tossing yet another Shinra grunt into the path of the machine below. Tseng watched the monitor, letting his breath out slowly in resignation.
"This is what the Turks are going to be. We're gonna end up having to be just like him, ready to jump out into the fray and kill anyone we are told. We're going to be involved in some dirty things but if it'll be for the better of the population, we'll do it. If you can't do this, don't bother. Go ahead and say good-bye to your innocence. Age isn't an issue anymore and just because you're young doesn't mean you won't be expected to do it all."
"Don't worry..." Tseng muttered, turning away from Vincent. "I'll do what I'm required. My vote's on that... Reno. If he's in, let him be the main activist or something. Let him move into my job, if that's what it takes. Let me take care of the business work and him take care of the field work." He excused himself, nodding slightly to Rude as he left. As he disappeared, the sable-haired man sighed.
"When are you telling him." Vincent shook his head, knowing he couldn't escape the not-question. He sat down before the monitors again, looking over his shoulder at the bald man.
"Gast finally got the go on the JENOVA Project yesterday, so it'll be within the week that we leave. I won't have to give Reno his job, he'll just be taking care of my responsibilities while I watch the Project and clean up their mess should something go wrong or they be found out."
"When."
"...as soon as we make sure Reno doesn't get himself killed."
