No sooner had Reno pushed off, and I inherited command, we dplit up and searched the first room, checking under everything-derelict chairs, broken sofas- it must have been some Rec, Room.

'Hey,' Jennings quipped, as he rifled through a wall cupboard, 'you ever see the movie Things From Cosmo Canyon?' I shook my head, but Fox put down an old ceramic mug and chuckled.

'Hell yeah. It's still showing in Sector 8, that huge cinema there. Sacred me shitless…' He shrugged.

'Why's that?' I asked casually. Jennings took over.

'Well, its set in this place called Cosmo Canyon. Basically, this giant airship just crashes nearby, and out of it come these…parasite things,'

'They came out of the Airship,' Fox continued, 'and started killing everything in the nearby village,'

'They were tiny, about this big, 'Jennings held up his fist, 'and there was this part when some of them hid under a bed, and this old floating guy came in, and-'

I held up a hand. 'Okay, okay, I'll go see it, alright? Just don't ruin the ending now.' I shouldered my rifle, and pointed at the door leading deeper inside.

'Jennings, head out, nice and slow. Check for anything nasty, and keep your spacing, people,' Jennings stepped up to the keypad and shoved a card hard into the slot. Too hard.

'Oh, shit,'

'What is it, Jennings?'

'I think I've broken the damn thing,'

Before I could do anything, Fox strode over, and slammed the butt of his rifle against the door itself. He made a large dent, then slid part of it back into the wall, leaving it partially open.

'Stupid things can be opened by hand in an emergency,' Fox stepped through. 'Just don't tell anyone who's Anti-Shinra,'

We all slid through the opening in the door, then cleared the next room without finding anything, except the usual clutter on the floor.

'This ain't right,' I mused. 'Should be a little rougher in here…'

Jennings reached over his shoulders, into his webbing, and dragged out a handheld computer. After switching it on, the Shinra grunt tapped a few keys, then smiled as a map appeared in ultra violet on the screen.

'The rooms we just passed are protected by that door there-' he jabbed a finger at a large, Level 6 clearance door at the opposite end of the room. 'That Mako thing can't get in here, not yet. If we do bust in, and start kicking ass, then the damn thing can just deck us all, the walse up into the elevator, which'll makes things ugly for our friend the president.' He snapped the handheld shut, and slid it back into its holster. All eyes on me.

'Okay, then,' I said. 'One of the stiffs from floor sixty got a little pissed off last week, and threw his key card in the waste paper bin. This card,' I held up a small, purple disk. 'Dunno what the poor bastard's up to now, but I doubt he needs it as much as we do,' Inwardly, I breathed a sight of relief that employees got a rough pay. Otherwise, I'd have never got the card, and we'd have gone down here even worse for wear.

'We get in' I continued, 'and then seal the door shut behind us. Fox shot me a strange glance.

'That thing's almost human. I think it can still probably use keycards,'

'I know,' I replied, 'that's why after we do get in, we'll squeeze off a few rounds into the control pad. Don't worry about getting back out, I'm sure Reno'll think of something as long as we send a transmission back up there. Any questions?'

There weren't any, so we got stuck in.

Jennings sighed as he blew open the control panel with a quick, accurate burst from his rifle. No one else was to bothered, so I pocketed the now useless key card, and led the squad through a narrow corridor. After about ten metres it split into two, signposted each way. I ordered halt, and we gathered at the fork in the path. The signs were old, rusted, and only just legible.

'Okay…left for Mako testing tube, and right for…scientists quarters? What the hell?' I shook my head.

If a Shinra employee was tired, he went to the restroom about seventy floors up. If he'd just finished a long shift, he'd catch a train back to his sector, just like everyone else. Only Shinra grunts like us, SOLDIER, and the Turks stayed overnight in the barracks, but even some of the higher ranks were rumoured to have a shag house in somewhere like North Coral. Scientists who worked around the clock would be on something huge, but up until now, Mako showering had seemed like a pretty minor thing. I knew precious little about it. Apparently, it made you a little stronger. So what? Sharper weapons and Materia make you stronger, so what's the point in this Mako stuff. It wasn't until we saw the mutation on video that I found out just how powerful it was. But to have people down here, working away, 24/7…

'Get ready,' I nudged Fox. 'We might have some survivors,' He and Jennings looked up at the sign, then nodded. Right it was, then.

'Go careful on who you shoot,' I called over my shoulder as we advanced. Then, I remembered what that Mako thing had done to one of the scientists. 'Uh…actually, don't bother. I wouldn't expect to see anyone down here except Mr. Ugly himself.'

Jennings, Fox and I entered a small door with no keypad, into a dormitory. Whoever lived there had made themselves at home. Posters adorned the walls around the bunk beds, mostly the latest film stars from Sector 8. I caught a 'Things from Cosmo Canyon' poster pinned up against a bed covered in reference books. In the corner was a small kitchen, the smell of old popcorn and stale coffee was still in the air.

'Yuck…' Jennings muttered, as he leaned over a mug of black coffee.

'What's up?' Fox asked.

'These crazy bastards use De-Caff!'

We all sighed in mock sadness.

After sweeping the room thoroughly, I decided that we all deserved a quick break; Reno probably thought we were dead already, so it really didn't matter how long we took. Damn, I wasn't expecting us to come out of this one alive, but before a mission, you just accept that, and carry on. If we did, however, I wanted a direct promotion to SOLDIER. That's the way I like it, baby.

In the fridge, there was chocolate, lemon soda, candy, coffee (de-caff, as Jennings kept moaning on about,) alcohol, and some ancient looking tea bags. We may be a little gung-ho, but we sure as hell weren't stupid. No one touched the alcohol, partly because it would be unprofessional…and partly because the volume was so low it wasn't worth drinking anyway.

'Stupid stiffs,' Jennings giggled, as he cracked open a can of soda, and crashed out on a torn up couch. Fox and I stood, keeping the weapons at our sides, and sipping cold lemonade.

'Who said grunt work had no advantages?' Fox laughed, as he finished the soda in two gulps, and threw the can at Jennings head. It impacted on the back of the skull, and bounced straight into the open fridge, knocking over a glass bottle.

'Oh, shit…' We all murmured as the bottle wobbled precariously, then fell backwards on itself into the fridge, undamaged. Jennings burst out laughing, and sprayed soda all over the wall.

'Ok,' I broke the chit chat after about five minutes. 'Stand to, we're going back on shift,' Instantly, Jennings and Fox threw away their second, third, and fourth cans, grabbed rifles, and stood in front of me.

'I want an even spacing,' I instructed. 'While you two took a quick spell of R and R, I had a look around the quarters. I found a bathroom, but it's locked. You know how thorough we gotta be, and for all we know, there could be survivors in there, or worse. Off you go.'

They nodded, and headed out to where I was pointing, a small door behind the final row of bunk beds. Jennings crouched down behind Fox, who was pushed up against the wall. They wanted me to bust in, and kick ass if anything nasty was inside. Fine by me, I was, after all, in charge.

Raising my rifle so I could see right down the sight, I stepped over to the door, and, after getting a thumbs up from Fox, grabbed the handle, Turning it hard, I shoved open the door and ran in, adrenaline taking over straight way. I was vaguely aware of Fox coming up behind me, followed by Jennings. We swept our sights over the whole room, and the adrenaline died down.

'It's empty…' Jennings said, and lowered his rifle.

'Wait a second,' I raised a hand. 'That shower curtain…'

There was something wrong. No wind could get into the bathroom from anywhere, but the curtain was blowing around like a light breeze had kept in with us.

'You're right…Let me check it…' Jennings quipped, all macho, and reached for the edge of the curtain. He grabbed, twisted it, then tugged, and-

-and a huge, hideous creature leapt out of the shower cubicle. It hit him full on in the chest, landed across his body on all fours.

'No way…' I gasped, 'that thing's human!'

The thing threw back its head, to reveal long fangs, and roared. Fox and I cocked our rifles, took aim, and open fired.