Summary: Shinra's Board of Directors hold their first all hands board meeting since the Merge with the hot topic of Alpha-1's Sepiroth.
"That man is dangerous."
"Anyone related to the Crescents are dangerous," Rufus countered dryly, "Commander Crescent had accepted responsibility over Alpha-1's Child of Calamity. Unless you have a better idea?"
Alpha-0's Shinra Board had been called together once it was confirmed that none of the Crescents were present in Shinra Tower, the group gathering in one of the larger meeting rooms on the Executive floors.
"With all due respect, Mr. President, I wouldn't trust him as far as any of us can throw him. The Fates are cruel; there are no dreams, no honor remains," Genesis quoted, crossing his arms. He didn't meet this alternate Sephiroth yet, but after listening to the hushed conversation between the Alpha-1 AVALANCHE members during Cloud and Ariana's VR session, he had his doubts.
"Still, that doesn't change the fact that the Commander sees him as part of your family," the blonde sighed, "Even if we had both the General and Commander Crescent dispose of him, it'll only make it more obvious to the public that Shinra is hiding something from them."
"That does have a little merit," Angeal added, "Seeing as both Sephiroth and my daughter are the poster children of Shinra, there would be questions asked by those from Alpha-1's populace. Do they know the reason of the Merge?"
"Hard to say," Dr. Valentine added, "Since the Merge, there hasn't been much public information floating around. The public are already antsy about having another universe's population dropped on us all at once." The brunette was nursing a flask of whiskey that was snuck into her lab coat pocket, sipping it every so often.
"Public Relations already has a hard time with everything too," Lazard also had his own alcohol supply with him, taking a shot of vodka, "I've been handling things with Director Tuesti in distributing informational videos and other supplemental reading, not to mention spreading the word about Shinra's budget for the Alpha-1 population."
The blonde-haired Vice President poured more vodka, leaning back in his armchair and looking at the other Directors with a judgmental eye.
"Ugh, tell me about it," Yuffie Kisaragi mumbled in her arms, "Pops wasn't the happiest when some really jaded Wutaians were deposited in our lap either. Considering how bad the Shinra-Wutai war went there too means that we gotta get some Midgar therapists to stay in Wutai so they can get counseling."
"I also agree with Miss Yuffie," Vincent nodded, his golden gauntlet clad hand tapping a meaningless pattern on his arm, "There are consequences with the other Gaia seemingly deciding to offload their whole sentient population on our Planet."
"The First and Second Battalions have it worse," Angeal piggy backed off of Vincent's argument, "Considering that both Battalions are not in the best shape with the shifting of the guard even five years later."
There was the whole debacle after President Roland Shinra was secretly assassinated by Ghost, plus the assassinations of the previous Directors of Weapons Development, Public Security, and the shift from having Tseng as the head of the Turks after Veld decided to pull away from Shinra to spend more time with his family.
"At the moment, my department is speculating on the fact that the sudden addition of the new population will increase the number of monsters that roam Gaia," sighed Lucrecia, "The SOLDIERs we have now aren't as strong as the ones Hojo made before his…untimely demise. Both of my oldest grandchildren are the last of the old JENOVA enhanced projects."
"Ugh, yeah. And the Trouble Triplets aren't likely to help either," Genesis grimaced at the thought, "With the whole 'our bodies were going to degrade because of unstable cells', the expected longevity of SOLDIERs wasn't very…long."
"Considering we're still alive and whole?" Angeal asked, "We were lucky in the fact that our Disaster SOLDIER had come in contact with Aerith in 1997, or everything would've turned out like Alpha-1."
"The other Rufus did mention that." Lazard nodded, the man sending a glance toward Rufus, the half-brother's eyes meeting, "Since the Project Angel of their world had ended in a resolute failure, you could say that…ugh…it means that the Disaster Twins really were the best thing that happened to us."
The blonde buried his head in his arms at the realization, after he noticed that the vodka bottle he had was empty.
"Correct," Rufus nodded, "How fortunate for us, and unfortunate for them. Now, you have all heard of the current agreement we have with Alpha-1's Silver Son?"
"The Commander had mentioned that, yes," Tseng agreed, looking over to his boss, "With the addition of this Sephiroth's lodging with our General Crescent and Director Strife, I can say for certain that they well be watching him with a scrutinizing gaze, no matter what Sephiroth does."
"Hah, Sephie's got this in the bag," crowed Yuffie, "I mean, considering he's one of those super-duper enhanced SOLDIERs and everything, plus your Angel of Death, if that Sephiroth does anything, they'll lay him down flat in no time!" The Wutaian grinned without any fear of consequences, raising her hands up in the air before putting them down.
"It feels a little weird not having Cloud here," Cid commented, "Since he's also a director like us."
"Presumably, I am under the impression that they're taking Sephiroth to their place," Angeal answered, "Considering that we're having this meeting under these circumstances, there is a need for some discretion. I had only met Alpha-1's Sephiroth for a scant three minutes, so I won't be able to say for certain if our Disaster SOLDIER has the right idea."
"Infinite in mystery is the gift of the Goddess. Ariana will most certainly try her hardest to make everything better for us, we seek it thus and take to the sky. I trust her. Since she was a rising star in the SOLDIER program, Ana has done everything for a reason," Genesis turned to his husband, "If anything, I would be more worried if she continued holding the Silver Son at arm's length."
"Shinra's Angel of Death fears nothing…or at least, that is how she portrays herself," the President interjected, "When she relayed what the Planet has told her, she specifically pointed out the phrase 'Gaia wishes for us to show him the kindness we are capable of'. She sees something in him that none of us do."
"Well…my granddaughter did inherit my premonitions," Lucrecia rubbed at her temple, the immortal woman thinking a little harder, "Even with the number of tests we've run since I became the Head of Life Sciences, there is no exact explanation of how she can see both the past and the future."
Lazard snorted loudly, and he didn't look up to see some of the directors' side eye him.
"Uh… 'Wacky science mumbo jumbo'?" Yuffie shrugged, obliviously continuing, "That's what the Angel of Death says, whenever it's brought up. Who knows?"
"I don't, 'My friend, your desire, is a bringer of life,' for all anyone knows, her abilities are the 'Gift of the Goddess'," Genesis also shrugged, "Since Minerva is the exalted Goddess of both War and Wisdom, it could be a blessing from Her."
The Vice President looked up just to roll his eyes at the melodramatic, Loveless spouting Public Safety head.
"Not a word, brother," Rufus warned the older blonde without glancing at him, and Lazard buried his head down again.
"Hm…I don't see why I'm here again?" Cid asked, "Since, ya know, the Space Program doesn't really have anything to do with the Merge?"
"Perhaps, but would you rather be here and hear it for yourself, or read it from a Public Service Announcement?" Vincent dryly weighed the space nut's options with the quirk of one black brow.
"Uh, guess you got a point, Vince…" Cid rubbed the back of his head, before saying, "Erm, yeah, so what's next?"
"Can we go back to my country?" Yuffie asked, looking a little more serious now, compared to her previous attitude, "Hey, President guy, how many therapists do you think Shinra can lend Wutai, anyway? You guys still gotta make up for the whole War."
"Yes, yes. A portion of funds were also set aside for your country," Rufus pinched at the bridge of his nose, "Human Resources will be reaching out to the contracted specialists we have on hand, and likely have them lodged in Wutai in the next few days. Moving dozens of psychiatrists and other therapy providers will take some time."
"Yeah, alright, I guess. People gotta get their stuff together," the dark-haired woman agreed.
"How much longer is this meeting?" Genesis looked at his watch.
"Just a few more minutes," the President waved the question off, "Now, any other questions?"
"My department will need to keep on doing intake of Alpha-1 residents that have nowhere to go," Reeve spoke up again after several minutes of just listening, "The number of current Alpha-1 residents are worrying. It seems that many were lost in their world."
"Does that make an issue?" Rufus turned his attention to the Director of Urban Development, "Perhaps you can confer with your counterpart in creating new buildings for the excess population. Of the other world's WRO, Director Tuesti has shared his own insights, hasn't he?"
"The last time we spoke, he agreed to help," Reeve nodded, "As of late, we have integrated the willing WRO members into my department, as added manpower. Other than that, any more surprises will be…difficult to deal with. We'd have to hire more staff."
"I see," Rufus nodded, "If that is all, then you are dismissed."
The board members started packing up, the 'Part-time Alcoholic' dumping his Vodka bottle in the recycle, staggering his way out of the room, hiccupping slightly as he left.
Lucrecia flipped through some papers in a folder, tucking them into her extra-large lab coat pocket, before slipping her flask into her medical scrubs.
Tseng stayed by Rufus' side, watching with seemingly bored brown eyes as the others filed out, Yuffie trailing after Vincent with an upbeat and cheery mood, and the two SOLDIER turned Directors left together, Genesis swinging an arm over Angeal's shoulder.
Both President and Head of the Turks watched as the room emptied, before they were the only two left.
"These recent developments are concerning," Tseng spoke first, glancing down at Rufus, who had steepled his hands under his head, leaning on the table.
"Indeed. However, as usual, we are placing the majority of our bets on the Disaster Twins. Only time will tell if they continue being allies of Shinra."
The Turk didn't comment for a few seconds, quoting what Rufus had said earlier.
"You mentioned that the Disaster SOLDIER said that Gaia asked us to 'Show him the kindness we're capable of'. Sometimes, I wonder where Commander Crescent gets her optimism."
"Optimistic or not, Miss Crescent has always been an outgoing, forthright person. Since her introduction to the SOLDIER program and until now, she has always attempted to have the best outcome for the most people," Rufus said back, before he stood up, pushing himself off his conference chair.
"You acquiesced quickly to Ariana's advice to take a vacation," the blonde pointed out, grabbing his white leather coat that had been hanging on the back of his chair, shrugging it on, "How unusual of you."
Tseng paused as the President walked past him, his head tilting to the side in contemplation, "She…had made a good point. Since the Merge occurred, I and the others have been working nonstop. If she wants to worm her way into becoming a temporary Turk to oversee how the agreements have been working out, then let her."
Humming slightly, a coin flipping in his hand, the blonde caught it after two clinks of nail against metal.
"I wonder if we're feeling lucky," Rufus said simply, before leaving the conference room, and Tseng turned off the light without another word.
