"Transcending Reality" by: Emerald Eyes
"You create your own reality, and leave mine to me… leave mine to me!" –Bad Religion
Chapter Twelve: Phone Calls
"I really need some alcohol."
"I thought you were joking?"
"I was… but I changed my mind."
Alex sighed and tried to blink away the weariness at the edges of his blurred vision. It was around three o'clock in the morning. They had been following the same nondescript vehicle for nearly three hours nonstop.
Earlier, Reno's expertise as a Turk had led them to discover that Rufus was shoved carelessly into a black sedan that sped off in the opposite direction of the rest of the military force. Alex had reluctantly followed and, by following the Turk's instructions, had successfully avoided any unwanted encounters with the vehicle.
During the first half of the trip, Alex had gained a certain respect for the redheaded Turk. Reno was all-too-serious in the way he performed the task at hand. He had asked all the right questions about Earth, all the questions relevant to helping him successfully pull off the stunt he was secretly planning in his mind. No jokes, no alcohol, no incessant whining. Reno was NOTHING like the way fans seemed to stereotype him… or, at least that's what Alex had thought. It was around 1:30 AM when he started to change his mind.
It was then that Reno had begun to perpetually bug him about every little nuance. Do you have a girlfriend? Is she hot? What's her bra size? Do you have a sister? Is she hot too? Hey! What'd I say!? Can we stop and get some beer? No? Why the hell not? I used to go on missions all the time when I was trashed! Do you have any cool vacation spots around here? What about that 'China' place? If the actual culture is as similar to Wutai as the food is, then I could spend about a month there… getting drunk, of course. Hey, do you think you can let me borrow some money? I want to see this China. Why not? Come on, Alex, I'll give you some gil so you can take a vacation in Costa del Sol. They have some really hot chicks there.
It was beginning to irritate him to no end.
"Well, can we at least stop at a 7-Eleven and get a Pepsi or a pack of Twinkies or something? I'm starving!" the redhead complained, "I haven't eaten since ten o'clock this evening, and that was only one leftover slice of cold pepperoni pizza I found in the back of the fridge."
Alex sighed contemptuously. "I don't think there's any 7-Elevens open this late. And besides," he reprimanded, "haven't you spent enough of my money? Sixty fucking dollars, Reno, in JUST ONE TRIP. What the hell did you buy?!"
Reno gave him a pleading look. "You REALLY want me to recite the items? I'm just warning you, this could take a while. Lets see…" He put his finger to his chin and stared up at the ceiling in mock contemplation. "…there was the jell-o vanilla pudding, the six-pack of Mountain Dew, the cherry-flavored Slushie, the M&Ms, the generic pack of chocolate chip cookies…" He stopped, his voice trailing off at the look the boy in the driver's seat was giving him.
"Just shut the fuck up," Alex deadpanned irately, "What the hell is it with you? Reno—you spend my money; you trash my apartment; you ask me all these annoying questions—and you expect me to take you seriously!?"
Reno sighed, all humor in his voice gone. "Sorry about all the prying questions. I was just trying to keep you awake for the past 3 hours. How 'bout you let me drive? I slept in until noon today. I'm wide awake, unlike SOMEONE."
"No," Alex retorted, his glaring eyes staring at the dark road ahead of him, "You can't drive. I don't want you to total my car too."
"Jeez. Have a little faith, will ya?" Reno mumbled, "I'm not THAT bad of a driver. If you won't let me drive, at least give me something useful to do…"
Alex glared at him for a minute before his eyes brightened. "Actually, yeah, there IS something useful for you to do.
^_^_^
Elena sighed and stared irritably down at her clothing. Her Turks uniform had gotten covered in dust while she and Rude had helped investigate the Theater District ruins. Hilda had offered to get her uniform cleaned up for her and she graciously accepted, but now she was beginning to regret it.
The big puffy dress she was currently wearing just wasn't her style, and it also got in the way. But she had to admit, the dress WAS pretty. The material was of a dark blue multi-chrome silk, and the style was simple but elaborate. But whether she liked it or not, all Elena felt like doing at the moment was crawling under a rock and hiding her face from the world.
Rude was on the other side of the room. He had also replaced his Turks suit for something more local. He stared at her from behind his dark sunglasses, and Elena could swear he was silently laughing at her.
She harrumphed and turned the other way, folding her arms across her chest, pouting.
An incessant beeping noise echoed through the room a few moments later. Elena cocked her head to the side, listening to the peculiar sound. It sounded like Rude's PHS. But who could possibly be calling him? No one else in Gaia had a PHS except for Eiko, who currently had Reno's, but she was in plain sight of the blonde Turk. The girl was not using the PHS.
When Elena finally figured it out, she reprimanded herself sharply. Oh my god! It must be Reno calling! It HAS to be!
She let out a cry of joy and bounded over to the other side of the room, silently cursing the puffy dress that nearly made her trip along the way. She skidded to a halt in front of Rude, who curiously took out his PHS and answered with a hesitant, "Hello?"
A second later, the bald headed Turk's face lit up with a rare smile, confirming Elena's suspicions. "It's Reno, isn't it?" Elena demanded joyously, "I knew it! Turks always stick together!"
Rude nodded to her as he listened to Reno, and the rookie let out another cheer.
Elena stood impatiently by the PHS while Rude asked curious questions to answers she couldn't hear on the other side of the line. With each question, she became more impatient with some of the bizarre queries Rude was interrogating the redhead with. She was itching to speak with her fellow Turk.
Finally, she had her chance.
The first words out of her mouth were ones of concern. "Reno, where are you? Are you all right? I was worried."
"Heh," replied the redheaded Turk amusedly, "I'm fine, Elena. I'm just a little far from Rocket Town at the moment, as I imagine you are too." He sounded more than fine to Elena. In fact, he sounded as if he was actually enjoying himself, but a slight undertone of relief could be detected underneath the cocky façade.
"Reno, is it true? Is Sephiroth really alive again?"
"You've heard, huh?" He didn't sound like he was enjoying himself anymore. "I guess you've spoken to Eiko then." There was a muffled voice on the other side of the line, as if someone else was speaking, and then, "Did you meet Seifer yet?"
Elena gave a start. She had heard about this Seifer person. She had learned that rumors spread quickly around the castle. Apparently, a hot-tempered young man with a strange weapon he called a 'gunblade' had arrived late afternoon the other day. From what she had heard in bits and pieces of conversation, the boy had arrived with two other people: a boy and a girl both around his age. Rumors had spread quickly about other things too. Seifer claimed to know the mysterious assailant of the Theater District. He also demanded to know the details on the Sorceress's attack.
It would have been easy enough to find out. Rumors had spread about the mysterious Sorceress as well. One ecstatic woman had gone into detail on Ultimicia's appearance. It was said that the woman had a fair complexion even though her skin was a sickly hue of purple and her eyes a gleaming evil. It seemed as if the Sorceress had been beautiful once, but that was no more. Something had obviously happened to upset the balance. Maybe it was just her imagination, but this Ultimicia person sounded a lot like Jenova.
"I haven't met the guy yet, but I know he's around." She hesitated. "There's been some kind of commotion caused by a Sorceress Ultimicia. I've heard that this Seifer guy has something to do with her."
"Yeah…" the redhead replied absently, and caught himself, "…wait a minute. Ultimicia is ALIVE!?"
Elena held the PHS several inches from her ear as she listened to the redhead's curses with a perplexed look on her face. After it appeared the paroxysm was over, she moved the PHS back into place.
She heard the unidentified voice again—Reno was arguing with it.
"Why the hell didn't you tell me!?"
"Forget that!" the voice screamed, "How the fuck do you know who Ultimicia is!?"
"I played Final Fantasy VIII!" Reno retorted. Elena recognized that tone of voice: it was the voice he used whenever he came into work half-drunk; the voice he used whenever he wanted to annoy the hell out of someone; it was the voice nobody wanted to hear.
The other person sighed, annoyed. Reno was succeeding in pissing him off. "Shit! You really don't know how bad this is, do you, Reno? There's been some news from Hojo: Ultimicia is Jenova."
"WHAT!?" Elena and Reno said in unison.
"Holy shit! Is this a joke?" Reno asked pensively. Elena didn't hear the response, but she guessed it wasn't.
"Reno?" She asked in a shaky voice, "What's going on" She knew absolutely nothing.
"Elena," she heard him sigh, the tone of his voice now sober, "It's a very long story. I can't tell you it right now, but I promise I'll explain it to you later. As of right now, I've got to break into a top-secret government installation and rescue Rufus."
"Rufus is alive!?" He'd lost her. She had absolutely no clue what was going on. "Reno, what in the name of Holy are you up to?"
"I got to go, Elena. Catch you later." It was typical of Reno to avoid her questions.
"Reno, wait!"
It was too late. The Turk had already hung up the phone. Elena sighed and pressed the 'end' button. "Damn."
^_^_^
The trip in the car was silent after the phone call to the other Turks. Reno's ecstatic mood was soon replaced by a glum, lifeless stare. Jenova was alive… I'm only a Turk. I kill people, not aliens. What can I do about it?
As if to tell him there was no use worrying about it if nothing could done, Alex broke the silence and shattered Reno's thoughts. "How do you plan on pulling off this grand stunt of yours?" The azure-eyed boy tried mocking him, but his heart just wasn't in it. The boy had probably brought up memories he wasn't ready to fact at the moment.
Yes, Reno thought, It's real. Jenova… Sephiroth… ME… We're ALL real. And so is the danger. He looked over at Alex, who was gazing sullenly out the front window as if he had never asked the question. I don't really blame him if he's scared shitless. I would be too if I realized characters from a videogame were popping up left and right… and one of them had the power to drop a meteor on our heads. He shivered in spite of himself. It wasn't because he had thought of meteor—he had been through that before—it was the fact that he unconsciously referred to himself as… I am NOT a character from a videogame, he finished stubbornly, glaring at Alex as if it were all his fault. "I need some ID… something to identify me as FBI or CIA or something."
Alex stared at him, unblinking. "Do you think it's just going to pop out of nowhere?" he deadpanned, "Welcome to real life."
Outwardly, Reno's face remained calm and placid, but on the inside he lost what little patience he still had. "I didn't ask you for it!" he growled menacingly. This was what was so unbearable about the kid. Some drastic situation would take place, and the Turk would prove himself worthy of the respect of a decent human being, and then moments later all would be forgotten and he'd be treated like a child, an nonentity, a… a videogame character. "I know where to get it from…"
And without another word he reached for the cell phone and dialed the number to the only person he was sure could pull it off…
Reeve. No one in the Turks had had the skills and experience needed with high-tech computer equipment. Elena was the closest person they had to an expert, but even she was nothing compared to Reeve. The man, who was supposedly head of Development, had helped them on countless missions, hacking into files and cracking codes that Elena couldn't even begin to comprehend. But Reeve, being the closest thing to a pacifist Reno had ever known, would never dream of joining the Turks. Instead, the head of Development had stayed at his current position and was indirectly involved in many of the dangerous endeavors the Turks were assigned to. The man was a pure genius, more intelligent than anything Reno could imagine.
His thoughts cut off as the phone began to ring. Sooner than he expected—before the first ring ended, to be exact—the phone was answered by a frantic voice. "Hello? Cloud?"
Reno cracked up at Reeve's anxious ignorance. "No," he said, trying to keep all evidence of humor out his voice, "not exactly."
The other man's voice grew suspicious. "Who is this?"
Not bothering to give a name, the redhead responded, "Reeve, I need some fake ID—something to get me into a high-security government facility."
"Wha…?" the little man sounded baffled, "Is this a… a Turk!?"
"Yeah! It's Reno!" His face broke out into another grin, "I need to break Rufus out of some top secret military base." His smile broadened as he heard Reeve choke on his breath.
"What!? Rufus is ALIVE!?"
Alex looked quizzically at the Turk and the redhead gestured apologetically to the phone, covering the mouthpiece so Reeve couldn't hear. "Reeve," he said with a smirk, "He's taking it a little hard." For the first time that night Alex broke into a smile and laughed, however, the mirth was cut short.
Reno's smile slowly turned into a pensive frown. The road wound around a copse of trees and revealed a high chain-linked fence complete with a lacing of barbed wire on the top. The redhead's jade gaze followed the fence a ways up the road until it stopped upon the brightly lit main entrance.
The vehicle they were following was stopped in front of the gate, the driver speaking to one of the armed guards. After several minutes of unheard conversation the guard went into the tiny booth beside the gate. Several seconds later the gates began to open inward. As soon as the black car pulled through, the gates immediately began to close again.
"Damn," Alex cursed, shifting the car into reverse and driving it back around the bend into the seclusion of the trees. He hoped no one had spotted them.
Reno sighed nervously and said, "I hope this works. Are you sure you just can't use that gizmo of yours to transport me into the building?"
They had been through this conversation a million times before, and Reno nearly had the answer memorized. "A bright light, Reno. Don't you think that'll be a little bit too obvious? I know they have UFOs and alien abduction and stuff going on in there, but I still think it'll be…" he trailed off when the redhead didn't find his humor at all funny.
It wasn't funny. Reno didn't know the slightest bit of information about the place. He didn't know how to act, how to look. Ignorance could kill. He had a right to be nervous.
"Reeve, where are you?" he asked into the phone.
"I'm at an inn in Junon," the voice replied with a hint of confusion.
"We'll be there in a second," Reno told the man on the phone.
"What?" Reeve replied, baffled, "How? Where are you now?"
Reno ended the conversation, unwilling to talk to the man any longer. Alex was looking at him expectantly, waiting for his plans. Before they did anything, the car needed to be moved to a more secure location. They didn't want to come back from their trip only to find out they've been discovered.
"Let's get the hell out of here," the redhead ordered. As he said it he let a slight smile slip onto his face. He was going home.
END CH. 12 AT 10.17.01.
Okay. I'm sorry it's so short. And I'm also sorry it took me almost double the time it usually does to get it posted. It's been a hard adjustment, with school and all (not that it's hard… why should it be? it's my senior year! ^_^). It's just that I have to get used to giving up 6 hours. And there's the fact that I've been working on my webpage, and that also takes a lot of time. But… hear me now: THE HIATUS IS OFFICIALLY OVER!!! This means that you should expect chapters up sooner now that I'm all good. ^_^ In fact, I've already started the next chapter, "The Madness." And what about those reviews, people! I haven't gotten any for the last chapter! What's up with that? Aren't there any Irvine fans out there!? –Emerald