The next day came only a few hours later, as Cloud awoke in early morning, as he knew he would have to. He had been sleeping on the secret floor in the middle of the hideout, and he got up, yawning sleepily. He hadn't gotten much sleep, but he knew that he would just have to deal with that.
He went back up to the bar using the pinball machine elevator, then leaped off the machine as it reached the bar. Tifa and Barret were both already awake and waiting for him in the middle of the bar, and Marlene was at the counter, busy mixing drinks and checking the till.
Biggs, Wedge and Jessie were nowhere to be seen, but Cloud assumed that they were just getting preparations ready for the next Reactor mission. Tifa walked over to Cloud and spoke up to him.
"Good morning, Cloud, I'm glad to see that you're up and awake. Did you manage to sleep well enough to be alert for the mission later on?" asked Tifa, cheerfully, a big smile still on her flawless face. She was still clearly delighted about the fact that Cloud was staying after all.
Cloud thought about replying by saying something to her like, "Next to you, who wouldn't sleep well?" but decided against it, since he didn't know how she might react to such a comment, and since it never happened anyway, it would cause only awkwardness and confusion, so he said the truth about his sleep instead.
"Huh, sleep...? No, I didn't really get a whole lot of it, as Barret's damn snoring kept me up for hours," replied Cloud, yawning. Barret glared over at him, but didn't take much notice for once. Tifa lowered her voice to a whisper.
"Just please try to keep it down, Cloud, or he'll hear you, so try not to annoy him. You might have already noticed this yourself, but Barret's always really edgy before and during a mission. Oh, and by the way, I'll be coming along on the mission too this time," whispered Tifa. Barret nodded in agreement and he spoke up, getting Cloud's attention.
"By the way, in case Jessie or any of the others ain't told ya about it yet, our primary target for today is the Mako Reactor N05. We're gonna be attacking it and beginning the mission as soon as we get there. We're gonna head over to the station first, of course. Biggs, Wedge and Jessie will already be on the train before us. I'll fill you all in on the mission once we're inside the train. But before we go to the next mission though, I've got something I want to ask ya, Cloud. I, uh...I don't really know how to use Materia at all, as I've had no experience with it, so could ya just please teach me how to use it? From what I seen in the last mission, that stuff could really come in handy against Shinra if we could all harness it," said Barret. Cloud shook his head and snorted.
"You just wouldn't be able to understand it, Barret. I don't want to have to spend all day talking about shiny magic rocks when I have much better things to do with my time," replied Cloud, coldly.
Shinra Incorporated continuously sucked out Mako energy from deep within the ground with each of their Mako Reactors, but converting Mako into vast useable electricity wasn't the only thing that Reactors were designed to do. Within these Reactors were Mako energy compression devices designed to compress Mako energy. Mako was compressed into solid crystalline forms called Materia.
These brightly colored orbs were for a variety of different things. It was found that when used properly, they could allow the user to cast magic spells. Green Materia (the spell-casting type) were the most commonly seen and used type of all.
It was also discovered that Materia formed naturally too, but only in certain places, such as caves mostly, and Mako fountains. But what most impressed people about this was the fact that naturally formed Materia had far greater abilities than man-made Materia.
Some of the abilities (the most common kind) were bolts of lightning, flames of fire, and icicles of ice. The Materia, it seemed, could manipulate environmental conditions. Once this was discovered, people realized they would be able to sell Materia and make huge amounts of money.
And so, Materia selling became a new business from all over the world. Shop owners would search for naturally formed Materia and sell it for a reasonable price.
There were even Materia experts and scientists who discovered it was possible to predict the abilities of Materia simply by looking at them.
However, using Materia wasn't an easy thing to do. Not everyone was able to use it. You had to have a fair amount of mental discipline and something called a high life force.
Not everyone understood exactly what this meant, but they found that if they practiced enough, they could train themselves to use Materia. Not very well at first. The abilities started off limited, but soon progressed.
For the most part, all members of SOLDIER were highly trained to use Materia. It was a required and highly important part of their basic training. But in order to make Materia more efficient, they didn't own one at a time, nor did they simply carry it with them.
Instead, all of their weapons and armor were fitted with slots that were specially designed to tightly hold the orbs of Materia, yet the Materia could also be flexibly removed from the slots, when that action was needed. The slots were generally concealed in armlets around the wrists, or on handles in swords, or on the side of guns, or on plenty of other weapons.
Eventually, most people in the whole world, even the citizens and townspeople, had a certain Materia of some kind, and some people had plenty of them in stock, particularly soldiers and warriors in Shinra Incorporated, as well as the items and weapons stores that sold them. Carrying Materia with you had quickly become just as common as carrying a weapon with you as well.
"(Stupid damn Ex-SOLDIER, how the hell would he know if I could understand it or not, if he ain't said a damn word about it!? And it's tough shit if he doesn't feeling like explaining it, I'm the boss around here, and he better do what I say, if he wants his damn pay!)" thought Barret, angrily.
Barret was fuming with indignant fury at Cloud's response, at his refusal to explain anything, and Tifa could only look on nervously, as Barret then snapped out at Cloud, who looked unconcerned.
"So this is what makes all them guys in SOLDIER think they're so much greater than everyone else, huh!? By being all so damn cocky, and thinking that they can call all the shots over everyone else? Well guess what, ya damn big shot, you ain't the boss around here, I am! And that means if you expect any of ya money, you better listen to whatever I tell ya! Now, I'm giving you an order to explain about Materia, so DO it, or you're gonna have your pay cut!" snapped Barret, sharply. Cloud mentally cursed to himself.
"(Damn it, he's got me there. There's no way I'm not receiving my full payment for this mission, if I've really got to stay around here in AVALANCHE to keep the promise I made to Tifa…back then. And Barret knows that too, so that gives him the advantage of giving me any order he likes, and I'll have no choice but to obey it. I'll just have to teach him the basics about Materia then. I just hope he's not thick when it comes to learning about this too,)" thought Cloud, as he sighed wearily and spoke up.
"Alright, fine then, I'll tell you, Barret, but I'll only explain the basics, as it will take too much time otherwise, and I think we've got more important things to do soon. It's quite simple really, as long as you are equipped with a weapon or bracelet, then you can use Materia," said Cloud.
"What, really? Just how does that work out then?" asked Barret, curiously, now listening intently to Cloud's explanation, his previous irritation completely forgotten. Cloud continued on with explaining.
"You may have noticed that your weapon or bracelet are likely to contain holes, well what you can do is slot Materia orbs into these holes, and your weapon will secure them. Then whenever you wish to call upon the power of that Materia, just think about it, and the link between the orb and your body will establish," explained Cloud.
"So that's it then, is it? Sounds pretty simple enough to understand," said Barret, confidently, and Tifa was also listening clearly as well.
Tifa did have more knowledge of Materia then Barret did, but she also had little or no experience went it came to actually using Materia, while Cloud, clearly experienced with Materia due to his SOLDIER training, continued on with his explanation, as he spoke up again.
"In theory yes, it does sound easy to understand, however, you also have to consider the mind of the person who plans on using Materia. Through all of the Mako energy found within the atmosphere these days, the minds have developed the ability to link with it. However, when you first use a Materia orb, it takes a lot of effort and you will find your mind wandering easily. If you practice often enough though, you find yourself able to use it with hardly any effect on yourself, and you should then be able to fully concentrate on it easily. Also, some people are naturally better equipped to use Materia than others, so just make sure that you are capable of withstanding it the full use of it," explained Cloud.
"Thanks, Cloud, I think that's all I need to know about it for now. I'll ask Jessie more about it later, after today's Reactor mission, but since you seem to understand it the most out of this group, I'm putting you in charge of sorting out the Materia," said Barret, fully understanding Cloud's explanation, to Cloud's slight surprise.
Cloud nodded to show his acceptance to be responsible for the Materia that AVALANCHE might find, buy or use, while Tifa, who had also understood the information on Materia that Cloud had told them, spoke up to Cloud.
"Cloud, I got a message from the weapon shop guy upstairs earlier, he says he's got something that he wants to give you, so don't forget about it. Marlene, you stay here and watch the bar while we're gone, okay? The bar will be closed and locked until we come back, but you should still be careful until we make it back here," said Tifa.
"Alright then, I will, Tifa! Good luck, Papa, take care!" said Marlene, smiling and waving for a long moment, and then she went back behind the bar to mix some drinks, a sight that Cloud found bemusing, due to the fact that Marlene was only four years old.
Come to think of it, Cloud also found it rather strange that Barret was leaving his beloved daughter behind with no one else to watch after her.
"A little young to be doing that, isn't she?" asked Cloud, raising an eyebrow, as Marlene continued to mix drinks with some enthusiasm. Barret merely beamed at this daughter with clear pride.
"Maybe so, but she's a real fast learner in a heck of a lot of ways, especially for her age, and she's quickly becoming the best damn bartender there is, in this whole bloody stinking Shinra-owned city. Excluding Tifa, of course," said Barret, with a board grin, and Tifa bowed gracefully in response, and was grinning as well.
With all the other preparations soon done, Cloud, Tifa and Barret walked out of the bar, and first, they walked over to the Sector 7 item shop, getting supplies that they would no doubt need for the upcoming Reactor mission.
They each bought a Fire Materia, an Ice Materia, a Bolt Materia and a Restore Materia. They walked out of the item shop and they all brought Materia bracelets for each of them, at the Sector 7 weapons shop, as the man at the weapon shop had wanted to give to them earlier.
After getting all of the supplies that they would need for the Reactor mission, Cloud, Barret and Tifa all headed over to the Sector 7 train station, where Biggs, Wedge and Jessie all were, and they all waited for the train that they would travel in to get to the Mako Reactor N0.5, and begin the second and next mission against Shinra Incorporated.
Though this time, with Shinra Incorporated being much more prepared for them, none of the members of AVALANCHE had any idea at all if this next Reactor mission would lead to success, or if it would lead to death…