Author's Note: For those of you celebrating, happy thanksgiving! For those of you who aren't, have a good Thursday!
Disillusionment
'Reckless Endangerment!', Daily Buzz Article
The Sector 5 Underplate, as previously mentioned, is inhabited mainly by a retirement community and an orphanage. Of late there are now mercenaries, preying on the fears of the young and old, and charging ridiculous rates!
The mercenaries go about heavily armed, providing a sense of fear to the locals, who refuse the aid of ShinRa troops, likely out of fear of the mercenaries reprisal! Worse yet, the two are regularly seen with the aide of a Wutaian Mercenary, who has made stops at the local orphanage most likely to steal from them!
Fear not, for this Intrepid Reporter is on the case!
Center District, Sector Five Slums
The article had a strange emotional effect on the locals, Chadley noticed. He did not understand why.
As he accepted the information from the soldiers he was working with, Chadley could hear one of the locals complaining about the article.
"Something wrong?" Cloud asked, Zack lifted his head to look at them, having been reading some sort of note.
"I am not comprehending the emotional response to the article everyone is discussing."
"You've observed us for a bit, Chadley, do our weapons scare anyone?"
"No, most people understand that you require the weapons to keep ready for monster hunting."
"The article said otherwise. People don't like being told what they feel, especially when it's the opposite of what they're feeling."
"Because it is inaccurate data. I see." That was something to get upset about, from his limited memories of the lab. "The reporter should not be publishing inaccurate data, and it reflects badly on ShinRa to publish such inaccuracies."
"It does, because if they can't bother with accurate reporting, then what else can't they bother doing?"
Chadley didn't know why, but that statement made his chest tighten.
"Chadley?" Cloud seemed to notice.
"I've got him. Chadley, I need you focus on me, okay? Can you tell me five things you see?" Zack knelt down.
That was a strange question, but Chadley task switched accordingly. "Zack, Cloud, building, bench, sword. What is the purpose of the question?" Chadley blinked, the tightness leaving.
"You were having a bit of a panic attack, kid."
"Inaccurate. I felt no panic, my chest merely tightened restricting my breathing. I do not feel emotions." Chadley saw Zack frown for a moment before the expression vanished.
"Panic isn't always emotional, sometimes it's physical, your body reacting to a perceived danger. That's an instinct, not an emotion."
"Oh. I need to research that." Chadley hadn't heard of that before, it hadn't been considered useful to learn about emotions or instinctual responses.
"If you need any extra data you can ask us, okay?"
"Affirmative." Chadley agreed. They were accurate at data collection, and would therefore be useful for other projects.
"Okay, we'll talk later." Zack agreed, getting up and nudging Cloud who gave a small wave before following Zack.
Chadley remained in his spot, observing the reactions of the other slum residents. Most were displeased because of the inaccurate data. They also felt that ShinRa's security sweep had disrupted their routines and that if ShinRa's Security tried to establish a presence then they would continue to disrupt their routines, something Chadley agreed with.
Routines were important, even his creator insisted on them.
As the day went on, Chadley observed a 'Community Meeting' begin to assemble near one of the large screens.
It was a curious occurrence, so Chadley moved to better observe it.
It was a lot of yelling for a moment before one of the Leaf House teachers calmed everyone down.
No one was happy with the inaccuracy of the article.
"What about the Wutaian Merc? Should he be allowed near our children!" A man yelled out.
"He saved our children without asking for a reward!" One of the teachers objected.
"The war's over! You gonna complain about the Wutaian take out next?!" Someone else jeered at the man.
"Everyone! The Guardian Angel of the Slums found the Reporter's identity! It's that man! Damon!" Someone yelled.
"I merely report the facts! Are you frightened by the truth?!" The reporter huffed.
There was a quiet murmur and the meeting broke up- but absolutely no one responded to the reporter, even as he tried to get attention by yelling questions.
Chadley blinked at the actions of the residents. This was a strange occurrence.
He continued to observe as everyone continued to either ignore or avoid the reporter for the rest of the day.
Fascinating. This was clearly not the reaction that the reporter had expected, had he been purposely trying to provoke an emotional response? But why had it failed? Chadley didn't have the data required to make a hypothesis.
Medical Clinic Basement, Sector Seven Slum
The group Zhijie introduces Sonon to aren't the leaders, but they're the logistics and messaging hub so not an unimportant cell. Good for first contact.
What's less good is their cell has split in half and the splinter cell was considered extreme. Which means they were likely to be opposition, although what they meant by 'extreme' was in question.
"Looks like you've been spotted, Ninja." The one named Polk announced, tossing a Daily Buzz at him. Polk seemed to be more interested in a game than anything else, quiet for the most part and hard to read.
Sonon grimaced at the article. There wasn't much to it, but there was enough that someone from ShinRa might investigate. He'd have to avoid Sector Five for a bit.
"Don't worry too much about it, there's no description and they don't even identify the mercs as ex-Soldiers." Nayo offered. "I used to work for the Daily Buzz, this is one of their fear pieces, make the people on the plate feel safer." Nayo explained.
"What made you stop?" Sonon asked.
"There was a chemical spill, but my editor refused to let me print the article and fired me when I argued back. We weren't allowed to write negative opinions about what ShinRa was doing, it always had to be praise. I became a reporter because I wanted to know what was going on, not make stuff up!" Nayo adjusted her glasses.
That was a noble goal, Sonon kept his face blank, but it was not what he was looking for. Though it was good that Nayo, who was a civilian raised with propaganda, wanted to find the truth.
"Got info on the next shipment." A man with long blond hair and blue coveralls entered. "Hey, I'm Billy Bob."
Billy Bob was a factory worker, building ShinRa's vehicles. He kept an ear out for how many vehicles were made and where they went, as well as memorized the transponder numbers that let ShinRa track the newer trucks. Useful.
Zhijie seemed to be the contact for Wutai, though he was born in Midgar.
The more Nayo talked about what they were doing, the more Sonon wanted to get back to the Leaf House and finish the story.
Because wealth redistribution and fair treatment for workers sounded like noble goals but did nothing to make up for what ShinRa had done to Wutai.
This group was fighting ShinRa for the injustice ShinRa did to their own people, honorable of course but even Zhijie seemed to be more concerned about local interests than the fact ShinRa attacked innocents lives in a foreign country.
It was oddly disappointing even though he hadn't expected much. (Zack had apologized, had clearly felt regret for what he'd done, but these people had no clue.)
Sonon's assignment was to investigate the weapons department, there were rumors of new materia in development, so the next week or so would be casing the department and its personnel to find a way in. He'd hopefully get all that before his partner for the mission showed up.
Sonon was going to have to ask Zack for information, much as he would have liked to avoid it. Sonon wasn't sure he actually trusted this group to know what they're doing just yet.
Nayo and Zhijie volunteered to show him around, so Sonon resigned himself to learning about Sector Seven.
He wasn't expecting to see Cloud and Zack chatting with two little girls. Both of them had very serious expressions as they listened to the little girls.
The smaller girl looked up, spotted them, and shrank close to Cloud, who also looked up and focused on them.
"The item shop's this way." Zhijie was going to direct him away, but Sonon headed over instead.
"Everything alright?"
"Wererats got past the Watch, one bit the teacher. We're bodyguards for these two little ladies." Zack explained.
"Cloud, I wanna go home, carry me." The smaller one asked.
It was probably the most awkward pick up of a child in history, mostly because Cloud seemed confused by the situation even as he made sure her legs didn't get cut by the sword on his back by holding her in a princess carry.
"I'll see you at the bar." Cloud turned and left with the little girl.
"Ok." Zack waved him off before looking at Sonon again. "What's up?"
"You saw the article?"
"Yep. And got a message." Zack passed him a card and a picture.
"Dear Mercs, the reporter's name is Damon, here's his picture. Guardian Angel of the Slums. P.S. pass this onto your friend so he knows who to avoid." Sonon read aloud. "Guardian Angel?"
"Thief that steals from ShinRa to help others. I'm not complaining. Alright Betty, want a lift?"
"Yes! My home's this way!" Betty giggled as he scooped her up.
"See you around." Zack left, chatting with the little girl.
"We need to follow the blond, Marlene's daddy hates ShinRa and he's not the most reasonable." Nayo looked nervous, Zhijie followed her, so Sonon followed them.
Marlene's Daddy turned out to be a mountain of a man with a gun arm who fussed over his daughter before taking her from Cloud.
"I better not owe you." The man growled down at him.
"Already been paid." Cloud didn't look bothered by the growling. "Tifa in?"
"Yeah. C'mon." The man led the way into the bar. "What happened?"
"Barret … was fine?" Nayo looked surprised.
"Not normal for him?"
"He's… c'mon." Nayo led them away. "He's the leader of the extremists. He really hates ShinRa. Tends to start fights even with civilians." Nayo looked uncomfortable. "I wonder what the merc wanted with Tifa?"
"Probably wanted to ask for a date." Zhijie scoffed. "Anyway, Item shop is over here."
Seventh Heaven, Sector Seven Slum
"Thanks for helping Marlene." Tifa smiled as Cloud sat down at the bar.
It was nice talking to him, even though sometimes he seemed to freeze up as he slowly processed his memories.
It hurt, Cloud had been there and had done everything he could to help, only to be locked away and torn apart. Her memories had just finally scabbed over, but for Cloud … he was struggling to recover now.
Worse … Tifa couldn't remember much to help him. Cloud had been quiet as a kid, save for the occasional fight, he had just been like a ghost hovering at the outskirts and always watching.
And to know he was probably the only member of their hometown to survive ShinRa's experiments… Tifa still hadn't fully processed that yet. Who else had been there in that lab? Zack said he couldn't remember anyone else, but had also admitted he and Cloud had been together in one room so he'd assumed that they were the only two there when they had escaped.
"No problem. Kinda odd, that a wererat got past the watch." Cloud adjusted the scarf he was wearing. Tifa thought it suited him.
"Not that odd, unfortunately, it's why we have the watch. That said, if it really got that close to the kids … there's some tunnels under the slums, not just sewers, the monsters can use. The other Watch members might know more about it."
"We'll probably look into it." Cloud glanced away. "Do … you know where the tunnels are?"
"Yes, I can show you if you like."
For a moment he looked like he was going to say yes, before his breath caught.
"Cloud?" Tifa asked as he froze. "I'm right here. Where are you?"
"The reactor. After we were left outside- you were talking…"
"I was boasting and then you got hit protecting me. I wanted you to take me seriously after I acted like a brat." Tifa remembered. She had hated being left outside, but had regretted that the trooper had seen her react like a child. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay. I still don't… what attacked us? Zack said something about Genesis …"
"It looked like a flying soldier, I think? I don't… a lot of my memories of before the town burning have faded." Tifa hated admitting it, even as Cloud nodded.
"Zack wants to try talking to the doctor, about the headaches." The subject switch was sudden.
"You don't want to?"
"Not really. Foolish." Cloud began playing with the scarf again.
"No. It's not foolish. Just another thing to work on." Tifa assured him. Though she didn't understand why he wouldn't want to see a doctor, surely a lab was different than a doctor's office?
Zack came bounding into the bar, effectively stealing Cloud's attention.
"Tifa says she knows some tunnels the wererats might be using." Cloud said as Zack came over.
"Great, we're looking into it today, I already cleared it with the client."
"You had a job?"
"Delivery from here to Sector Four. But monsters near kids take precedence." Zack glanced at Cloud. Who nodded back. "Care to lead the way?"
"If Tifa's going, I'm going." Barret informed them. "No way I'm leaving my daughter's safety up to chance. Biggs'll watch Marlene."
"Huh?" Biggs looked up from what he was doing.
"Great! Long range weaponry will be a big help. Really should look into guns for us, Cloud's good with one and I'm not a bad sniper." Zack smiled. "Let us know when you're ready."
Recreation & Cafeteria, Floor 63, ShinRa Tower
There were multiple cafeterias in the ShinRa building. Some were better than others, the Infantry mess hall was infamous for being awful and using leftovers from other floors, but it had the cheapest (about half the menu was free) food. Whereas the executive cafeteria was rumored to be less a cafeteria and more like a private kitchen one could order from. The 63rd floor had a wonderful balance of affordable and actually tasted good.
Which made Director Tuesti eating on this floor interesting. He didn't do it often, Kunsel was pretty sure there was security reasons, but he did it enough that no one really reacted.
Kunsel didn't have a plan to approach, just observe from a corner table, but the crowd made it so Director Tuesti ended up at the table next to his.
He was talking about the new expressway with some of his people.
Kunsel wished he could get excited. It would help with traffic, but at the same time… this company had essentially kidnapped and tortured his friend for years. And the faint justification of 'the good of Midgar' or 'the good of civilians' felt worse the more horror Kunsel was uncovering. There was accidentally and unknowingly hurting someone in pursuit of a goal, there was the damage that war did, and then there was purposely destroying or erasing lives just to because one could.
Kunsel tapped through his phone messages, keeping an ear on Tuesti. Hojo's recently published works were few, and locked behind multiple expensive pay walls, the papers that were public domain mostly had Hojo's name underneath Gast Faremis.
(There was also a worrying trend to a lot of other scientific papers being slowly phased out of publication, most notably anything that contradicted ShinRa.)
Meanwhile Director Tuesti was completely transparent by comparison, Kunsel would have to double check, but it looked like everything but the blueprints of the ShinRa building and Mako reactors were on the company website.
Kunsel sighed. He needed to finish his meal and go so he didn't draw attention.
With the helmet on, he might've well been a ghost.
Tuesti's office was on the 63rd floor, Kunsel would do a quick pass before going to the archives. Maybe try talking to a secretary.
Palmer's office would be harder to get to, by comparison. Rumor was that his set of floors were mostly run by Heidegger and Scarlet now.
"May I help you?" A woman asked him as he passed by.
"Just exploring, ma'am."
"Oh, are you new?" She looked at him in curiosity.
"No ma'am, been here over five years, I just realized the other day that I never really knew all the floors." Kunsel admitted.
"I know the feeling, I wasn't paying attention last week and ended up on the wrong floor, took me a while to figure out I was on the tenth floor." She laughed. "Let us know if you need anything!"
"Of course, thank you." Kunsel smiled and continued on.
With any luck, he'd complete the casing of this floor before Tuesti got back to his office.
End Note: Chadley's an interesting character, more on him later.
On Sonon being sort of disillusioned by the characters motives:
People tend to think more about what's happening at home than what's happening somewhere else. Which is because you're currently living with the situation and sometimes you really do need to put your own survival first before you can help someone else.
Eco and domestic terrorism aside, the Avalanche we meet in Intergrade/Intermission are more civic minded than fighting for the planet.
Which is great, ShinRa's awful, but maybe you don't tell someone who lost family to ShinRa's weapons that you're more concerned about wealth distribution and workers rights than the fact ShinRa's attacking another country despite being a power company.
(Sonon actually tells Yuffie that's what Avalanche is fighting for and both of them think it's weird)
It's not a bad thing to be focusing on what you can change- for example, I can't do anything about the war(s) being fought, but I can check in on my ill neighbor and help them run errands.
It's a complicated tightrope to walk, even with the understanding that different problems affect different people in diverse ways.
Anyway, it's something that will be worked on during the fic.