"All the Turks, really, we're in deep. We tell ourselves we're loyal and it's for a greater good, and some don't mind at all, or even enjoy the work, but... Zack, you can't imagine the things I've done and seen."


For ten minutes Zack and Cissnei wandered through the slums, passing piles of garbage and crumbling buildings in such disrepair he thought they might collapse at any moment. The whole time Cissnei chattered about random, irrelevant subjects, as though she had happened upon an old friend and was catching up with him. Zack tried to respond naturally, but he knew his words were stiff and stilted. Cissnei pretended not to notice.

Quite the actress. He supposed all the Turks possessed excellent acting skills.

They came to a particularly disreputable looking settlement. Cissnei pointed at a dingy little park and said, "Let's check that out!" with bright enthusiasm, and they sauntered over to a playground that had seen far better days. The equipment was so damaged it couldn't possibly still be functional. Paper trash, sharp and rusty metal pieces, and broken glass bottles littered the grounds, making them too hazardous even for the slum children accustomed to squalor.

"We'll keep moving, but this should be okay," Cissnei said softly. She took his arm and leaned close, pretending affection, as they strolled randomly through the junk. "Zack, I'm so very sorry about Angeal."

Zack jerked in alarm. "What do you know?" he hissed. "Is he dead?"

"No. But he should be," came the disquieting response.

"What does that mean?" Zack snapped. "Do you think he should be executed for treason—?"

"No, I didn't mean that. Calm down, Zack." Cissnei patted his arm, a public display of empathy for anyone who might be watching. "You and Sephiroth are involving yourselves in something very dangerous. I wish you'd back away, but I know you won't. You've already learned too much. Hojo is too egotistical to have any discretion."

"Have the Turks been watching us all along?"

"Of course."

"So you've been sent to warn us off," Zack stated with revulsion.

"Those are my orders." She gave a minute shrug and leaned closer to him, clutching his arm tightly. "Zack, you really don't understand the Shin-Ra Company, or the Turks. Even Sephiroth doesn't have all the facts. You need to know that there are terrible things going on. Truly horrible things, Zack. And I... All the Turks, really, we're in deep. We tell ourselves we're loyal and it's for a greater good, and some don't mind at all, or even enjoy the work, but... Zack, you can't imagine the things I've done and seen."

Zack huffed, out of patience with her dithering. "Then tell me."

"You've already learned some of it, but there's so much more. Declaring SOLDIERs and troopers KIA and MIA to make them disappear without uncomfortable questions. Kidnapping innocent civilians, rape and breeding programs, all for human experimentation. Extreme mako exposures. Horrific surgical procedures and adaptations on the survivors, and even more procedures on the survivors of that. Brutal training of living weapons, punishments and torture and death for failure or disobedience, technological control... Do you really want details?"

He stopped dead in his tracks, forcing her to stop with him. "What are they doing to Angeal?" he whispered.

She gazed at the ground. "He'd be better off dead."

"What about the copy technology? They need him for that," he said. "Sephiroth thinks—"

"I know what he thinks. You two haven't been as discreet as you believe. It's a good thing I was assigned to you, or you'd both be with Angeal even now. Or dead. I'd have begged them to kill you, or killed you myself, rather than send you to...to..."

"Answer me." Zack's voice was low and intense. "Please, Cissnei."

"Sephiroth is right about the copy technology's importance to the company." With bleak eyes, she stared up at the Plate blotting out the sky. "Shin-Ra has been watching Lazard and Hollander for a long time, even before we captured Hollander. He sang like a bird right away. Turk interrogation techniques are legendary." She chuckled without humor.

"Then why did the Turks let it continue? You had Hollander. You knew everything. You could have arrested Lazard at any time. Why wait so long? It's been over a month, Cissnei."

"Oh, Zack," Cissnei said with evidence of real sympathy for his confusion. "We were giving them all enough rope to hang themselves, as the saying goes. The Turks have been masterminding the entire operation. We needed Lazard to do something publicly wrong so we could denounce him without tipping our hand. He did so when he abandoned the company and helped Hollander escape. Now public opinion will revile him. He's lost everything.

"But most importantly, the copy technology has been proven useful and effective. That's what Shin-Ra was really waiting for. The company will do everything necessary to get all of it. Lazard and Hollander will eventually lead us to any remaining assets Hollander didn't tell us about. The parts that Shin-Ra has already obtained were handed to Hojo immediately, and are on track to be mass produced."

Zack had to hold his breath during her recital to keep himself from exploding. He blew it all out in a long, harsh exhalation. "That copy technology consists of the bodies of two human beings. The part you obtained was Angeal!"

"That doesn't matter to anyone in charge, Zack. They are objects and possessions, created with company resources. No one views them as human. They're tools to use, nothing more."

Zack shook off her arm and moved away from her. He stared at a child's swing set, at the thick chains suspending the seats. One swing was intact, though it showed heavy wear. The other two were broken, each hanging from only one chain.

Chains...

I can't do this anymore, Zack thought. I wanted to be a hero, but I'm a dupe, a monster, doing a greater monster's bidding. Sephiroth was only half right. There are monsters and abominations, but they're not Genesis and Angeal. They're not even the copies. The whole company is the abomination and I've been one of its tools.

Cissnei moved in very close to him. "I know you won't give up," she murmured into his ear, like a lover. She took his hand and pressed a small package into it. "This will help."

His fingers closed around it, feeling several hard objects with rounded corners. "What is this?"

"Information, maps, and access. It will guide you to Angeal, but promise me something." She gazed into his eyes. Her own glistened in the shadowy light as though with tears, but she was a Turk, and Turks didn't cry. "Please, Zack, let Sephiroth go alone. Don't go with him. You can't go with him."

"I have to go," Zack said.

Cissnei closed her eyes, gave his hand a final squeeze, and slipped away.