Chapter II

Elena was a short blonde woman in her early twenties who had been a secretary to the head of a section of a division of the Weapons R&D department for a few years now. She was in the middle of going over a report for the third time, when she heard the rumbling and crashing outside her office window. Easily distracted as she was despite her overachieving mentality, she turned from her desk to look behind her to see what all the noise was. She wished she hadn't. She watched in horror as one of the plates collapsed in on itself. She thought of all those people that must be dying right now. How could Reeve have allowed something like this to happen? Hadn't they tested over and over again the durability and stability of each plate before they'd let anyone settle in? All those people under the plate were being crushed, and all the people on top of the plate were falling to their doom. Then she remembered something. Everyone on top of the Sector 7 Plate had been vacated earlier that day. Then she realized it was the Sector 7 plate that was falling. Had this been planned? What about the people under the plate? Were they safe too? Why was Shinra destroying Sector 7? She knew she could find the answers in time, but all she could do now was watch in horror at the destruction before her eyes.

President Shinra had gone too far, thought Reeve Tuesti as he marched down the corridor of the 65th floor, toward the model of Midgar in the center. He was relieved that this floor, his office, was reserved only for Shinra department executives, none of which were there at the moment. He wanted to be alone right now. He could still hear it from inside the isolated room in the center of the floor. He knew the sound of the plate would haunt him long after it was finished crumbling. This was a personal blow to him not only ethically and morally, but personally. He had designed the plate system as a means to design living space for twice as many people. An even bigger blow to Reeve was the amount of money that would be taken out of his department in order to rebuild.

Reeve knew what was happening to this company. Its money-loving president didn't care for anyone other than himself. He didn't even care about his only son, whom had been in miles away in Junon ever since his appointment to vice-presidency three years ago. He was to arrive back here by helicopter late tonight. Reeve could only wonder what Rufus' reaction would be when he learned of his father's order to destroy Sector 7. He hoped his father's heartlessness hadn't carried on to his son. Scarlet and Heidegger had approved of the plan too. Reeve had a suspicion that it may have been Heidegger who had suggested it in the first place. To Heidegger and Scarlet, people were toys to be played with, and only cared about gaining as much power over people as they could. Hojo hadn't even expressed an opinion on the matter. As he spent more time with creatures and machines than with people anyways, Reeve suspected Hojo had himself become less than human, shedding all emotion entirely. Palmer seemed to be the only person besides the Turks to agree with him, but Palmer was never taken seriously, as his department was all but defunct, and the Turks didn't have the ability to share their opinions. The mayor ofMidgar was against the order too, but his opinion didn't matter either, as he was just a figurehead. President Shinra had control over all.

Reeve sighed as he looked over the model of Midgar he had built so many years ago. If he were president, so many things would be different. People wouldn't live in poverty below the plates. He had originally intended on air filter systems to let outside air into the lower sections, and generators that would portray a false sun and sky, giving the people the impression that they didn't live underground. However, the president hadn't deemed any of this cost-effective, and so instead, the people below the plates lived in poverty and filth.

In a sudden burst of rage, Reeve grabbed onto a wrench near him, and smashed the miniature version of Sector 7. He was going to do something to save this company and steer it in the direction of good. He made that vow to himself right then, and decided that only he good change it. He didn't know how, but he would make sure that no one else suffered because of Shinra's greed.

Reno awoke to find himself lying in a hospital bed. No one else seemed to be in the room except for Rude, who sat on the edge of the bed, reading a paper. "Hey partner," he said, finding his voice a bit sore. "How long have I been out?"

"Only an hour or so," he replied, turning to face him. "You've proven to show you have an excellent recovery rate."

"Well you know me, never sleep for too long at once, right?"

"Anyways, for once we were happy you don't tuck your shirt in or wear a tie. It made it a lot easier for us to get your shirt off fast enough to apply proper bandaging. I have to confess though; we ruined the buttons on your shirt."

"Well yeah, I planned on getting shot, obviously. Why else would I never dress in full uniform?"

"You lost your tie the week after you got the job."

"Yeah well, I think I've proven that my laziness is a reasonable sacrifice for the quality of my work."

"Yeah, well you just get some rest. You'll be out for a while now. Shouldn't be walking for a few days, either."

"Shit. I took a beating back there, didn't I? Did everything go as planned?"

"Everything."

"Shit. I was kind of hoping they'd somehow be able to stop the bomb. We got the Ancient too?"

"That's correct. Unfortunately, the plate was destroyed just as planned." Their conversation was cut short as Tseng swept into the room, closing the door behind him.

"Sorry to interrupt, but there's a problem," he said to them, and Rude stood to face him. Reno just turned his head, unable to move much. "AVALANCHE is still active."

"WHAT!" Reno blurted out; unable to believe this was anything other than a joke… and in that case, unable to believe Tseng just told one.

"Well, not entirely. The three who were fighting you on the platform somehow escaped in time. They must have used a support cable to swing to safety before the plate collapsed. Any other person involved in the terrorist group… wouldn't have been as lucky."

"How do you know this?" Reno asked.

"That is of no importance. What is important is that we three are the only people who know of this. I haven't yet informed any of our superiors."

Reno couldn't quite catch on to what Tseng was trying to say. "Where are they now?" he asked.

"Cloud Strife, Barret Wallace, and Tifa Lockhart are currently climbing rubble that spilled over to Wall Market. In short time they will no doubt be atop the plate and on their way here.

"Our orders are to find and terminate Don Corneo. His foolishness and cowardice is the reason AVALANCHE was present at the top of the pillar and why you, Reno, are hospitalized. I do not intend, however, to inform anyone of their approach, unless they ask. They won't, though. Consider this our compensation for what we did today. We'll give them a head start at well-deserved revenge.

"Once they make it in the building it won't be long before someone notices, and then I imagine you," he gestured toward Rude, "and I will be assigned to… deal with them. I will be in my office until then, attempting to locate our friend, Corneo. Get well soon, Reno." He turned and swept back out, just as suddenly as he'd come in. Reno exchanged looks with his friend for a moment, and then laid his head back on his pillow, exhausted. Just when he thought he was starting to understand Tseng, he did something unpredictable. He was always unpredictable.

Reeve had spent two hours up in his office, brooding, when he was summoned to a board meeting. He hated having meetings this late in the evening, but then again, right now he hated everything. The boardroom was only one floor up, so he took his time in getting there, but as he opened the double doors, he found he was the only one there aside from the president.

"Good to see you Reeve, good to see you," said the portly man in the bright red suit. "Everyone else should be here shortly, please, have a seat." Reeve took his seat without a word, and opened his briefcase, looking through a few files and reports before the door opened again. This time, it was Scarlet who sauntered in, with Heidegger and Palmer close behind her. Heidegger and Scarlet seemed to be in the middle of a conversation, paying no attention to Palmer. A few minutes later, Hojo crept in quietly, looking seedier than ever. After a few minutes, the president cleared his throat, and everyone took their seats, ready for the board meeting to begin.

"Good evening everyone," said the president, and all the executives muttered similar greeting back. "This will be a short meeting tonight. I would just like to inform you all, officially, that Sector 7 has been destroyed successfully, and AVALANCHE has been wiped out. It is unfortunate, that innocents may have been lost, but the end justifies the means, my friends. But more importantly than that, the Turks have also succeeded tonight in locating and retrieving the last remaining Ancient. Professor Hojo will fill is in shortly on the progress of his research thus far.

"As you all know, my son will be arriving here tonight at approximately midnight, and I want you all to know that you are all welcome to come up to my office to await his arrival shortly beforehand. I'm sure he'll be pleased to see you all. I don't wish to trouble him tonight, however, and so he shall be brought up to date in the morning. Hojo, you may see that he receives a copy of your report on the Ancient, and Reeve, you may fill him in on the plate situation." He broke here, permitting either of them to speak up. Hojo remained silent, and so Reeve took the opportunity to detail the president on the thing he knew the president would care most about.

"We have the damage estimates for Sector 7. Considering those factories we already set up and all the investments, the damage cost estimated to rebuild Sector 7 is…"

"We're not rebuilding," the president interrupted.

"What?"

"We're leaving Sector 7 the way it is, and restarting the Neo-Midgar plan." Reeve remembered what this plan was. The Neo-Midgar plan, introduced by Hojo some time ago, was the theory that if there was a place on the planet that was flooded with Mako energy, Midgar could be rebuilt there without the need for reactors to process the Mako, as it would be in the air and all around, powering everything without the need for cables and generators. This supposed place, known as the Promised Land, was supposedly only able to be found by an Ancient, according to myth. It was common knowledge that Hojo was deeply interested in this sort of thing, as most of his research and experimentation somehow related back to the Ancients.

"…then the ancients?" Reeve queried, unsure what this sudden news meant.

"The Promised Land will soon be ours," said the president. "I want you to raise the Mako rates 15 in every area."

Palmer piped in, excitedly, "Rate hike! Rate hike! Tra la la!" He sang, and then added in plight, "And please include our space program in the budget!"

"Reeve and Scarlet will divide the extra income from the rate increase," said the president bluntly.

"Oh man!" whined Palmer.

"Sir," Reeve protested, "If you raise the rates, the people will lose confidence…"

"It'll be alright. The ignorant citizens won't lose confidence, they'll trust Shinra even more," explained the president, slightly annoyed at Reeve's protests.

Heidegger now laughed, "Ha ha ha! After all, we're the ones who saved Sector 7 from AVALANCHE!" No one seemed to acknowledge Heidegger's disgusting lie about what had been done. The air vent above the room seemed to make a funny noise for a moment, and then the president changed the subject, addressing Hojo.

"Hojo," he asked, "How's the girl?"

"As a specimen, she is inferior to her mother," droned Hojo, his voice quiet and uncaring. "I'm still in the process of comparing her to her mother, Ifalna, but for now the difference is 18."

"How long will the research take?" asked President Shinra.

"Probably 120 years. It's probably impossible to finish in our lifetime, or in the lifetime of the specimen, for that matter. That's why we're thinking of breeding her. Then we could create one that could withstand our research for a long time." He seemed to get excited, if Hojo could get excited, over the thought of breeding the Ancient. Reeve noted this, and reminded himself how much he didn't like the man.

"What about the Promised Land? Won't it hinder our plans?"

"That's what I need to plan. The mother is strong… and yet has her weaknesses."

Everyone thought silently to themselves for a few moments, the only movement coming from the slight fidgeting of Palmer. After giving everyone a moment to take everything in, the president spoke up one last time.

"That concludes our meeting." Everyone packed up their briefcases and got to their feet, eager to leave for the night. Reeve wondered if anyone would be upstairs at midnight to receive Rufus. He himself probably would have, he thought to himself as he left the room and headed toward the stairs, if it weren't for the fact that he'd left the meeting feeling even worse than he had before. This had to have been the worst day of his career.