Chapter 5
It Begins
"This is the first day of the rest of your life" the sign read, and Reno had never wanted to believe anything so much. Or at least, he still had high hopes for a better future, despite the recent setback. When he got inside the building, he automatically noticed the blonde with the fingernails sitting at the front desk, taking calls. He was thinking about turning around and leaving when he realized the bald guy was sitting in one of the chairs, reading a magazine. For some odd reason, he wanted to know him, and found himself sitting down next to him. The man stared at him, and Reno offered a very sheepish grin. "So, hey, your the guy that saved my life then, hunh," he asked, and the guy nodded, never turning away from his magazine. "So hey, ya know, thanks and stuff," Reno said, a bit more confident, and the man turned to him. "I was doing my job," he stated, and left, tossing the magazine onto the corner table. Reno looked over at the magazine with interest: "A New Style For A New You." Reno looked over, confused, as the man disappeared around the corner.
"The president will see you now," the bitch with the nails cut through Reno's train of thought. "Alright, this is it," he thought to himself as he took a deep breath and opened the door. He should have passed out; before him sat a table full of people of obvious power. "Please have a seat," the man at the head of the table basically commanded, and Reno took the only empty chair, between the man with the long black hair and the bald guy. "Reno, is it," the man at the head of the table asked, and Reno froze. "No sir, Reno is what I call myself, my name is Nathaniel Renold Miller. Reno's just my middle name..." "Good then," the man stated. "Reno, you have made the best choice of your life by interviewing for a position in my fine company. Let me introduce myself... My name is Jack Shinra, President of Shinra Corporation," the man said, but Reno got the feeling he was not friendly. "Now, you should know, even though you applied for janitorial work, it is reccommended that every able boy of age serve two years in Soldier first. Do you understand that?" Reno nodded, afraid to say anything wrong. "Good," the president said, clapping his hands. "Heidigger, he's all yours," the president said obviously to the fat man in the green suit as he stood and bowed. All Reno could do was sit there and wait for whatever was going to happen next. The fat man was standing before him in a matter of seconds, cathcing Reno by surprise, even though he was jumpy to begin with. "I'm General James T. Heidigger, you call me Sir," the fat man said, holding his hand out for Reno to shake. Of course, he did, and the man was obviously pleased. "Come now, I'll show you around, and you can meet everyone," he said. Reno was lost. "So, do I get the job," he uneasily asked, and the man laughed, a horrible laugh that Reno was sure would give him nightmares. "Oh you get the job alright," he said, and led Reno off to the rest of his life.
The General lead Reno out to a helicopter, and he was surprised to see the man with the hair and the man without the hair standing on either side of the door. "New recruit, eh," the bald one obviously joked, and Reno definately hoped he was joking. He got in and looked around, it was the first time he had ever seen the inside of a helicopter, and he automatically was in love with it. The men got in and the bald one was obviously the pilot. Reno was full of questions about it, but stopped himself from asking those questions, a looming fear of where they were taking him seting in. "Hi, I'm Rufus," a voice said, starteling Reno. He hadn't realized there was anyone else. He glared at the boy, really just a kid, sitting next to him, and the boy stared back. "So what," Reno asked, feeling a bit agrivated but not knowing why. Rufus laughed, a soft, mocking laugh. "So you got sucked in too," he said, and Reno looked at him, puzzled. "What do you mean, sucked in," he asked, and Rufus laughed again, but now out of sadness. "Look out the window." Reno did, and was amazed to see a fleet of helicopters, and now felt like he was going to be sick. He turned to the younger blonde, "What are they doing with us?" Rufus pulled out a small wooden box and slid the lid off it. "You should probably take one of these, it's gonna be a long ride."
Reno hadn't gotten the chance to ask what it was before the man with the hair had swiveled around in his seat and was facing them. "Hey Ruffie, I'll take one of those," the man said, and Rufus held out his box for him. "Hey, can I have one too," the bald guy asked, and Rufus laughed. Actually, all three of them were laughing and Reno had obvioulsy missed out on the joke. Rufus held the box out ot Reno again, and he took one, amazed that the kid had it in his posession. "How old are you," Reno asked, and Rufus laughed, a true, childish laugh. "I'll be sixteen in a month," he said, then countered, "What about you?" Reno grinned. "Just 18 a week ago. Are these legal?" Rufus laughed, lighting up the small joint he had so freely handed out to everyone. "one-hundred percent," he answered, and offered Reno a lighter. "What's in them," Reno cautiously asked, up to this point never really having done drugs except for whatever those Avalanche guys did to him. The bald guy put the helicopter on auto-pilot and turned around. "I grow it, I dry it, I roll it and I share it," he said, and Reno didn't doubt it. "So... what is it," Reno asked again, and the man replied "one hundred percent loco weed, at it's finest. If you're looking for anything, I'll know where to get it. The name's Rude, by the way." Rude offered his hand, and Reno shook it, cringing. If there was a definiton for strong, he was it. "Me next," the man with the hair said, slightly confusing Reno. He stared at him for a moment, it must be whatever they were smoking. "My name is Tseng. We are the first people and the last people you will ever want to meet." Reno stared at him a bit longer, wondering what he meant. "Hunh," he asked/exclaimed, and Tseng shook his head, taking a deep drag of his joint. "You want to smoke that before we get there, trust me, I was in for three years, because I flunked my first set of trials," Tseng said, and Reno stared at the joint. He didn't smoke. Rude was teasing Tseng, "You got three and I got seven, together we get eleven." That was only ten, so Reno didn't understand. "Must be a private joke," Reno thought to himself, and sat back, lighting up the small roll of paper. Rufus looked over and smiled. "That's the spirit," he said, and giggled at something Reno had missed.
Reno leaned his head against the window and stared up at the sky as he smoked. It was still early morning, and it was beautiful. Seeing the sun rising over the ocean reminded him of that girl, he had written her name and number down somewhere. She reminded him of the ocean. He wished he hadn't left the small ocean town and had stayed there with those longing brown eyes... His future was uncertain and his company was more than what he could have expected, but yet for the time being he could only see her face in the back of his mind. Would this girl wait for him? Or would she be just another passing glance... Only time could tell.