BREAKING THE MIRROR
Disclaimer – I don't own any of the FF8 characters etc, but I do however own some original characters that are going to be included in this story, and the imagination I have to give them life. Hope you like it…
Chapter 4 – Squall and The Tower
"Thou shall not stir ones foot to see the foe – Romeo and Juliet"
(Squall/Zell/Caraway – Caraways mansion)
"Are you alright Zell?" asks Caraway. Zell says nothing, merely stands there, trying to calm himself down. After a few minutes, he settles. His face replaces anger with confusion.
"Zell?" asks Squall this time.
"I'm fine. What happened to me?"
Squall and Caraway both stare. "You don't remember?" asks the general.
Zell pinches the top of his nose, lines run down his forehead as he closes his eyes tightly. Finally he looks up, and, staring blankly in no direction, he simply says "No."
No one says anything, instead Zell sits down on the seat. Rubbing his head slightly with his hand. Looking down at himself, he sees the needle mark. He points to it.
"Where did this come from?"
Squall says nothing, watching him. He's forgotten, and I think that's what the needle mark was for he thinks.
General Caraway gives Zell a drink of water. "Zell, and I think I know what your thinking Squall, the needle mark is caused by someone injecting a serum that causes forgetfulness. Is there anything at all you remember?"
Zell sits quietly for a minute. "I remember leaving Garden. I… remember going to Deling. I was in an alleyway. Then I was attacked, that's all I can remember."
"Who attacked you?" asks Squall. He thinks about the bodies up at the Tomb. A sword weapon was used…
"Can't recall. At all. Except he had a sword, a blade of some type… why the hell can't I remember?" he shouts, his now-familiar temper flaring up.
"Because of whatever they gave you has caused you to forget." Repeats Caraway.
"This memory stuff is a problem," says Squall. "And accurate too, Zell can't remember anything from the start of the mission to when we found him. It's as if it was programmed or something. How can something be so accurate?"
"You may have answered your question there. Programmed," says Caraway. Zell and Squall look at him.
"Is that possible?" Asks Zell.
"Very much so, if they have a doctor qualified enough to do it."
"A programmed…virus?" Squall loses himself in his thoughts.
"What do we do now Squall?" asks Zell.
Squall does not answer for a few minutes. "All we can do is go back to Garden, and see Dr Kadowaki. After that, I think we should wait and see who is elected as the new president of Galbadia. Wait…" he trails off, grabbing the piece of paper off the generals' table. He holds it up for Zell to see.
"Recognise any of these guys?" he asks Zell. Zell takes the paper, and studies it.
Three names stare out at him. Alongside it, there are 3 pictures, one for each of the candidates. Zell stares at them for a long time. After a bit, he simply says "No. I am sorry." He lowers his head in shame.
"Hey, it's not your fault. Look, change of plan. Zell, you go back to Garden and to the doctor, I'm gonna stay here."
Zell and Caraway both say "Why?" at the same time.
Squall merely points out the window. "One word. That" he says, signalling the tower.
"You think that's where I was?" asks Zell.
"Yes," Squall nods, "or rather, under it. We think there's a laboratory under it, or something, the tower is a false front. Covering something up."
"Well, the plans for the tower were designed a few months ago," says Caraway, "but I don't know if anything is under it."
"I'll soon find out," says Squall simply. Zell moves to protest.
"Squall, be careful, I can come with you, I might be able-"
Squall cuts him off. "No, Zell, consider that an order, Get yourself to Garden, ask the doctor to take a sample of your blood and have this thing studied. We need to find out what it was. They could have done anything to you and they have made you forget. So the first step is to find out what this stuff is that has caused you to forget." He sighs, "look, I won't be gone long."
Zell grimaces. "That's what I said remember?"
Squall says nothing. General Caraway speaks.
"I can open the sewer again if you like."
Squall nods. "Good, I'll go straight into the presidential palace, see what I can do. They won't take me that's for sure, not without hassle." He smiles slightly. "Give you that assurance anyway."
Zell grins. "Man Squall, you sound too confident." He salutes, then goes out the door to the lobby.
General Caraway gives Squall a look. "You do realise Squall, that you may be caught or killed. I am sorry I can't help you much, and I am sorry I do not know what that tower is for, but if there's anything else I can do-"
"Get Zell out of here, as soon as, he has to get back to Garden. Contact them, tell them the situation, and request they stay nearby, not too close, but close enough."
"Done." Caraway then salutes him. "Good luck Squall, and just for the funny side, I approve of you and my daughter." He smiles widely.
Squall shakes his head in amusement. "I'm honoured," he says simply, before climbing down the ladder into the sewers, Caraway closes the lid, then proceeds to his phone.
(Squall – Sewers)
Squall proceeds down through the sewers. There are little monsters here, a few bats that's about it. Thinking his treacherous memory would have forgotten the layout of the place, he breathes a sigh of relief as everything comes back to him, studying the map in the Garden before he left had its use after all…
There is hardly anything to distract him from his two main thoughts: to get to whomever took Zell, and whoever the person is that attacked him. His mind flashes back to the person in the car, under the cloak. The surprise on the person's face as they locked eyes was very apparent, even for what he did see. A squeaky gate snaps him out of his thoughts for a second, and before he knows it, there is a ladder, that leads up into the presidential area.
Time to go.
(Zell/Caraway)
The general and Zell sit in his limousine.
"I have contacted Garden, they will be here within the hour."
Zell smiles wanly, then proceeds to stare at the floor.
"Something on your mind, Zell?"
"Nothing, that's the thing. Absolutely nothing. I'm trying to remember…but it just won't let me. It's almost as if there's a locked door and I've lost the key."
"It's a pity, it would have helped Garden and Squall immensely."
Zell nods his head in agreement. "Wait… there is one thing."
Caraway places a hand on his shoulder. "Take your time."
Zell shakes his head. "The guy who attacked me, the way he fought. He fought just like…" his eyes widen. "No…"
"Zell?" Caraways worried face is a far cry from Zell's frightened one. "Zell?" he repeats again.
Zell sits there quietly, his shocked expression as he thinks about the 'person' whom attacked him and managed to capture him. One word comes to his mouth, that only he hears.
"Squall…"
(Squall – Sewers/Presidential Area)
Squall manages to get out of the sewers, replaces the lid and dashes behind a truck. It is the same one that they used before. It sits there as if it has never been used. Squall thinks of this only briefly. From this angle where he is, he sees the main gates of the Palace, a good few hundred metres away. Two newly built watchtowers are at either side of the gates. Four men patrol, one in each tower, two at the gate. All are armed. Squall makes a mental note of this, should he need to escape via that route. Dashing to the other side of the truck, he looks up. The tower dominates his vision. It must be about twenty floors high, by his rough estimate. Then he thinks another thought.
The lab might be underneath it. But there might be information or something useful at the top. I don't know whether to go up or down. Damn.
Squall contemplates this for a moment, then he skids under the truck completely as a lorry drives by, loaded with boxes and tools. The truck passes by, using this vantagepoint, he notes the guards changing. He checks his watch. 7:00PM.
Every hour, by the looks of it. He notes this too. Getting out so he is between the wall and the truck, he begins to creep around the walls of the palace. The wall curves to his left, and, by blind luck, he thinks, another unmanned lorry sits, which is all well and good as another truck drives by, this one empty. Lying under it, he is able to see the tower for real.
There is a massive garden before the tower. Various trees and vegetation grow there. Squall notices there is a fair gap between the palace and the tower, but he also notices a huge walkway reaching from the palace (roughly where they fought the Iguons) to the tower. There is a door at the bottom too. The lorry that passed him going in is stopped at the front then drives off round the back. Squall's eyes narrow as a man steps out onto the garden, smoking. Wearing an immaculately crisp suit, he stands next to a scientist, easily distinguished by his long white coat.
Squall is able to sneak out from under this lorry and, using some high bushes for cover, listen to them talk, occasionally opening a small gap to see. The two men have their backs turned to him.
"I assure you sir, that everything will be OK. The SeeD will never remember what happened, says one.
"He better fucking not, doctor." Says the other, Squall looks at the man in the suit. "I didn't use good money, resources and men to steal those vials from Esthar for nothing you know."
Squalls eyes narrow. Esthar, he thinks, making a note of that. But he is shocked from his thoughts by what the man in the suit says next.
"We managed to get Mr. Dincht, but I want all six of them. It's the only way we can be sure Mirror has learned everything properly. The best form of training is against an active opponent."
Squall says nothing. Mirror? Who? All six of 'us'? Another saying makes Squall take note.
"The tower is now complete, albeit a few bits and bobs, but it can defend itself. Now, go down to the cells and see how our guest is doing."
He hears footsteps as they both go their separate ways. Squall looks through the hole in the bush he was watching them from, and watches as the man in the crisp suit goes into the palace; the scientist goes to the tower. Squall makes a quick observation of the place. The bushes are huge, and he makes no note of any cameras or soldiers. Clearly, they were still constructing those. He only needs a few minutes to determine he won't be seen. He decides to follow the scientist, as what the man said made him decide.
A guest in the cells? They have someone else?
Scooting to the foot of the tower, he looks up at it, huge metal pole-type things run almost the height of the tower, clearly they look as if they have been attached to it, rather than built with it. A huge crane is just to the left. A lorry with one of the huge 'poles' grabs his attention. His eyes go wide as the crane lifts the pole.
It's a gun. A massive gun.
Squall looks up again, and notes a further 3 of them. That's what the guy said when he said it can defend itself. An evil feeling seeps into his stomach.
Snapping himself out of his thoughts, he runs full pelt to the door, expecting to be caught, but no one sees him. He looks up at the door, which is huge. But a small push opens it completely. As a matter of fact, it opens like an automatic door. A booth sits on his left, there is no guard. A few wires still hang about, suggesting they still need fixed. Suddenly with animal-like instinct, he dives into the booth (no windows thank Hyne he thinks) as a worker appears then goes out the door, stopping only slightly to wonder why the door is already open. Running along the corridor, he notices none of the cameras are functioning yet. No lights indicate that they are on, and with that thought in his mind he runs to the end, where a lift awaits. Thinking it not to be working, he tries anyway. The lift pings jauntily open for him.
(?)
"He is coming," says a husky voice, standing next to a man in a suit, who lights up a cigarette.
"I know, shit he's good, record time getting in, and I told you those damn cameras need to be fixed!" he yells at some technicians.
"What shall we do? I want to face him" the eagerness in the mans voice is very much noticeable. The suited man turns to him.
"In good time, my friend, let's see where he is going. It seems to be the…" his eyes widen. "Fuck! He's going for the cells! He must have been nearby when he was outside and heard me and Dr Shaw!" he rounds on the husky-voiced man. Trying to keep calm he simply says:
"Get him, and lead him to the 20th floor. Then, you can face him."
(Squall – Tower – Lift)
Squall looks at the lift. Clearly, there are floors where there is a key needed to access. He can access up to floor 16, but he notices 16-20 are covered, and that a key is required. He also notices another set of buttons, a small smile registers on his face as he looks at the obvious signs.
Floor B1-B4 – Laboratory
Floor B5-B7 – Cells
He pushes the Cells button. Determined to find out who it is they have. The lift goes down rather fast, much to Squall surprise.
The Garden lifts don't go as fast he thinks amusingly to himself. The lift stops at floor B5. Grabbing his gunblade, he runs out. The scientist looks at him in horror; Squall quickly runs up and punches the man, knocking him out. Light comes from only one door, the 5th one along. Running up to it, he looks into the window. He can't make out who is inside. Wasting no time, he uses his gunblade to whack the lock off. Kicking the door down, he stops in mute shock as he looks at the prisoner standing inside.
It's Seifer.
Will update soon. Thanks for reviewing/waiting/etc.