Chapter Six: Post-War Debriefing
It was weeks later that Sephiroth finally sat within President Shinra's board meeting.
It was a place with a finely crafted oaken table and a red velvet carpet. Crimson banners were on the walls, and behind it was a window looking over all of Midgar. Sephiroth had never liked the place and liked the people within even less.
At the moment, Hojo wasn't present, as was usual. The man, a walking mass of complexes, was usually given the cliff notes after a meeting. Sephiroth used to be given them to take to him, back when he wasn't an adult. That was between all the experiments.
There was Scarlet, of course. A woman pushing forty, she looked like she was twenty and had the body of a model. Her longevity was a result of the civilian Mako treatments. The ones that Hojo had been experimenting with. She more than flaunted her beauty, wearing a lowcut scarlet dress. Her hair was tied up above her, and she was smoking.
Sephiroth wondered how much money had been spent to ensure she had no effects from smoking. And wondered why no one had bothered to provide the technology to civilians. He suspected that he did not want to know.
"Well, the others appear to be late," said Scarlet.
"I noticed," said Sephiroth. He had never much cared for Scarlet, to be honest. She was, of course, physically, very beautiful. But he'd found that being an utterly terrible person tended to make one unappealing.
One could be a supermodel and still be hideous. It simply took an understanding of one's character.
"Sephiroth, would you be interested in helping me with certain experiments?" asked Scarlet suddenly.
"What kind?" asked Sephiroth.
"The weapons development project has been working on some new technology," said Scarlet. "You could be very useful for some of it. Perhaps you'll stop by after this meeting?"
Sephiroth considered that the alternative was making a report to Hojo. There was an individual whose physical beauty had been consumed by sheer depravity. The memory of some of his... experiments had made Sephiroth avoid his presence whenever possible. "I might."
Scarlet nodded with a smile. "Excellent, I'll look forward to your arrival."
At that moment, the door opened, and President Shinra entered. Sephiroth knew him to have taken the Mako treatments as well. He looked only about fifty when he was actually sixty. Though Sephiroth suspected the President had only made use of more proven alterations.
He did not want to suffer long-term effects, and unlike Scarlet, he was a coward.
"So, everyone is here, then. Good," said Shinra.
And then, through the doors came another. Rufus Shinra walked in, clad in a white trenchcoat. He wore a sidearm at his side, and his orange hair was slicked back. His gaze searched over Sephiroth, Scarlet, and then President Shinra without flinching.
No expression was on his face at all, like he was made of stone.
"My son, as Vice President, will be sitting in on this meeting," said President. "I'd like all of you to display your full cooperation."
"Of course, Mr. President," said Sephiroth, wondering where everyone else was.
Scarlet, of course, stood up and made her way over to Rufus with swaying hips. She leaned in to take his hand. "A pleasure to have you on board at last, Vice President."
At that point, Palmer stood up and made his way over to Rufus. The overweight, balding man nodded to him. Sephiroth had dismissed the President's younger brother as irrelevant. He was kept on the payroll because of family connections, ever since the Space Program was shut down.
"Was it a nice inauguration, Rufus?" asked Palmer. "I wish I could have been there."
"It fulfilled the usual functions," said Rufus. Then he gazed to Sephiroth. "Why is he here?"
"Sephiroth is here because our conversation concerns him," said President Shinra. "As a longstanding employee who has been of invaluable service, he has a right to be here."
Meaning that with Angeal and Genesis having gone rogue, Sephiroth was too dangerous. Rufus paused. "Where is Reeve? Isn't he usually here?"
"Reeve is, at present, at Gongaga. He is overseeing the retrofitting of the Mako reactor there," said President Shinra. "We've been concerned about sabotage and have been taking appropriate precautions.
"Though, thanks to your capture of Princess Yuffie, that should not be as much of a problem."
"Where is she now?" asked Rufus, clasping his hands together.
"At present? Within a gilded prison and quite safe," said President Shinra. "Finding her was a masterstroke, Sephiroth. With her in our custody, King Godo was quick to surrender. And he has also withdrawn his support to the various rebels that oppose Shinra. The consolidation of our remaining colonies has become far simpler."
"In truth, it cannot be fully given to me," said Sephiroth, deciding to give credit where it was due. He didn't need to hog the limelight when he was the limelight. "I was only in that region because Cloud pressed me to aid Zack. And he was seriously wounded defending her from the Genesis copies."
"Ah, yes, well, I suppose that brings us to the matter that directly affects you," said President Shinra. "Scarlet, if you would?"
"Yes, one of my duties is overseeing the propaganda that keeps the sheep in line," said Scarlet. "And, well, Private Cloud is becoming a problem in that regard. His arrival in Midgar started rumors that Rufus took credit for actions Strife took in his place."
"I did take credit for Cloud took," said Rufus.
A first-name basis? Interesting.
"What you did, Vice President, is not relevant," said Scarlet. "The truth is whatever the sheep believe it is to be. And they believe what we tell them to believe. All these rumors of you being credited for work he did were damaging to our control. We had to spend a month spinning it.
"It damaged our credibility.
"Many of the people he worked within my factories have decreased consumption. They're only spending an estimated third of their wages on Shinra products. This instead of the entire thing. Some of them have actually pooled resources to start small businesses. And those are competition for us.
"And this, in turn, is inspiring other people to talk about organization."
"What makes you think Cloud is responsible for any of that?" asked Rufus.
"Because he also has accused Lazard of high treason," said Scarlet. "Several times with several important people. Even Tseng floated the possibility, and he hasn't stopped with him. He has an absurd theory that Lazard masterminded the Wutai fiasco."
"Why is it absurd?" asked Rufus.
The question seemed to take President Shinra off-guard, and he paused. "What do you mean?"
"Why is it absurd to think Lazard might betray us?" asked Rufus. "I just took his job and had far less experience. Maybe he wants revenge."
"This kind of operation with the Genesis clones would have to be planned long in advance," said Scarlet. "He's only known President Shinra chose you for a few months."
"Are you sure?" asked Rufus. "He may have suspected he'd be passed over before now. Mother is quite open about being the wife of President Shinra."
President Shinra looked at Rufus with a pleased expression. "Excellent questions, son.
"However, you need not worry. I have always been very careful to dangle an opportunity for advancement, son. When a man thinks he can't advance any further, he starts looking for an alternative career.
"Lazard has always been well paid, and he does not hate me."
"Why does he not hate you?" asked Rufus.
The President frowned. "He made his career in Shinra, Rufus. I sign his paychecks, and they are very generous paychecks. If he were to turn on me, he'd stand to lose everything I've given him and more for a longshot.
"Even if he took over Shinra with this Genesis Army, he wouldn't be able to administer it."
"How do you know he cares about what you've given him?" asked Rufus.
Did he ever stop asking questions? Then again, they were good ones.
"Well, a man doesn't just throw away everything his life has been building up to on a whim," said Scarlet. "Not without serious mistreatment, anyway.
"I know a little something about motivation myself."
"What about Angeal and Genesis?" asked Rufus.
"Scarlet misspoke," said Shinra. "A sane man doesn't throw away everything his life has been building up to. I'd already promised Lazard complete control of Wutai. He'd have become a King in his own right-"
"Why are you using past tense?" asked Rufus.
President Shinra now looked a little uncomfortable at the question. "I misspoke. I have given Lazard complete authority over Wutai once we get things up and running. He has nothing to gain and everything to lose by turning on us."
"You ask a lot of questions, don't you, Vice-President?" asked Scarlet, batting her eyelashes and moving sensually.
"Is there another way to understand a thing?" asked Rufus flatly.
A dead silence fell over the table.
Palmer shot Rufus a look of concern, which Rufus return with the same lack of expression. President Shinra got an uncomfortable look from Scarlet, and Sephiroth knew why. The Shinra High Command was used to unquestioned obedience from subordinates. And the time's Sephiroth had sat in, the meetings had the sense of a club.
Everyone was flippant about failings, understated problems. In the end, had nothing but praise for one another. Reeve was the only one who tried to keep things focused on track and was kept around for that purpose. But the other members of the board had always disliked Reeve. Often they'd mocked him behind his back.
Although President Shinra always played the role of the reasonable authority figure. Reeve was thus completely loyal to President Shinra. Because Shinra was the only one who listened to him.
Rufus, however, had just upended all of that. He was asking questions and hard ones at that, and Scarlet could not mock him. It didn't take much to see that if Rufus kept being at meetings, the country club would rapidly become a lot less fun. The CEOs of the various branches of Shinra might actually have to think.
Rufus Shinra would make a very good President. And that put him in a fair bit of danger.
"...In any case, we're getting off-topic here," said President Shinra. "Cloud Strife's rhetoric has convinced several different people. Among them, SOLDIER 2nd Class Lightning, or Claire Farron if you prefer. Of course, neither of them has been spreading the rumors after telling them to put a muzzle on. But the rumors are spreading nonetheless.
"The official Shinra line is that Genesis is acting alone.
"But some people are beginning to have doubts. Many of these are the same people who take the exploits of Cloud Strife's actions over yours.
"Naturally, Lazard has requested permission to have the fool removed." One would never have guessed from Shinra's words that he was talking about his son. And a boy he had inspired to end up in the position he was now in. "However, Sephiroth, you are his commanding officer. So we'd like to clear this with you first."
Sephiroth now felt the true weight of his contempt for these people. As long as they were somewhere else, he could ignore them. And he decided to ruin their plans and add to their discomfort. "...If I'm not mistaken, Cloud Strife detailed his reasons for suspecting Lazard in his report."
"Yes, the one where he told us how he obliterated a vital Shinra facility," said Scarlet. "Although, Tseng has dubbed it to be technically an enemy installation.
"Details, of course, we lost ten billion from the damages. And the stock dropped considerably.
"The brat really is a paranoid lunatic. It'll be far better for all involved once he's removed."
"Was his report also not the only reason we know that the Genesis Army exists?" asked Rufus flatly. "And also how Tseng now knows where it is creating copies?"
"Well, yes," said Scarlet, shifting uneasily. Now she had to downplay his efforts. "But even a broken clock is right twice a day. And it's doubtful he'll be of much use after this. Did you know that he's the reason Heidegger was accused of cowardice by some of the sheep? We actually had to pay off judges to avoid a criminal trial."
"Are you saying that Heidegger didn't leave his men during an ambush?" asked Rufus.
"He did evacuate from a bad situation. But his record after that was fairly successful," said Scarlet. Sephiroth wondered if she realized how pathetic 'fairly successful' was. Shinra had total superiority in the war. Anything less than total victory was a failure of the management. "I'm not fond of the horse-laughing idiot, of course. But discrediting him is discrediting Shinra. And really, even Hojo wants him gone. He's filled our desks with demands that we salvage information on the Genesis copies.
"Apparently, he's interested in Hollander's work. And Cloud wrecked all of it."
"So let me see if I understand this," said Rufus. "In the space of his time in Shinra, Cloud Strife has gone from a nobody to a war hero. He saved half our army from Barret Wallace and uncovered the Genesis Army's existence. At the same time, he destroyed a Genesis Army facility and aided in securing Wutai's control.
"And you want to murder him?"
President Shinra looked to Scarlet. She was now in the position of looking like an idiot. All so her boss didn't have to admit to making a mistake. "...Well, it sounds bad when you say it like that."
"We should fire Lazard," said Rufus flatly. "Immediately."
President Shinra looked at him in concern. "What makes you say that, son?"
"The Genesis Army was being grown on his doorstep," said Rufus. "Angeal and Genesis went rogue while under his command, and he reported nothing. Not even a suspicion. And he set our armies up to be massacred. He's either incompetent or a traitor.
"In neither event do we want him processing classified information?"
"I think you do Lazard a disservice, son," said Shinra in a chiding tone. "We all thought the war was over then, and we were right. Forgive the man a moment's carelessness."
"A moment's carelessness that got a lot of our soldiers killed," said Rufus simply. "Training and equipping soldiers is expensive."
"Yes, but the government is the one doing it," said Scarlet. "We simply accept the payment to provide equipment and officers for the training. We made a profit in the army; what happened to it isn't our problem."
"The government belongs to us," said Rufus. "Their expense is our expense. When the government has a problem, doesn't that mean we have a problem?"
President Shinra frowned. "That's a somewhat simplistic way of looking at things, son.
"I enjoy your candor.
"But firing Lazard would send the wrong message to our shareholders. It would say we lack confidence. It would also alienate those who owe Lazard favors. And it would also cause a... deterioration in working conditions for our management.
"No one wants to think they'll lose their job suddenly."
"Fire them too," said Rufus with a shrug. "We own the world. So the military has outlived its usefulness. Why waste the money supporting parasites we don't need?"
President Shinra laughed, and to his credit, it didn't sound nervous. "Well, I'm sure we'd all love to do that now and then.
"Perhaps disciplinary actions are in order. If only to remind people who sign their paychecks. Still, the question remains; What to do with Cloud Strife?"
"He is completely loyal to you," said Rufus. "To the point where he traveled across two continents to join your military as a private. The fact that he did not defect with Avalanche indicates he remains loyal.
"Have a personal meeting with him. Tell Cloud that he's done an excellent job in dangerous situations. Then we inform him we are taking his concerns seriously. Then give him a promotion, which keeps him faraway from Midgar. Nibelheim perhaps, since that would involve a dramatic homecoming.
"We then carry out an in-depth investigation into Lazard's operations. Officially, it finds nothing, and he remains unofficially. Unofficially, if we treason, Lazard falls down a flight of stairs. Cloud Strife then receives a message from us telling him that the question of Lazard's guilt is now a moot point.
"Everyone gets the message, but no one can prove they got it. Those who might betray us will feel terror; those who are loyal will be more confident. And our hands will be clean. And we never have to worry about Cloud Strife as an obstacle again."
"Now hold on," said Scarlet, sounding offended. "You want us to promote someone who disrupted the entire system? Invited doubt into Shinra?"
"Why not?" asked Rufus. "It solves the problem and restores faith in us as a meritocracy. And profit is our only goal, isn't it? That's why we canceled the Space Program. Because it didn't make a profit."
"It's a good plan, son," said President. "Unfortunately, politics tends to interfere with the best-laid plans. A lot of people don't like Cloud's very existence. Rewarding him would waste huge amounts of political capital.
"Heidegger, in particular, hates him with a passion. And his family is quite influential.
"There are a lot of different kinds of profit. And what you are suggesting would interfere with our relations with the nobility."
"Fine, take hostages from the noble families we need and massacre the rest," said Rufus.
"...The nobility is the source of our legitimacy, Rufus," said Shinra.
"Not anymore," said Rufus. "That's why they've been sending their sons into the military. It's the only control they have. My assessment is that they've outlived their usefulness, and no one would care if we killed them."
Sephiroth was in awe.
Rufus had gone into a room with some of the worst people in the world. And he'd given them a set of standards.
It was quite impressive, actually. They were used to going to parties and being praised by people who needed them. Over time they'd gotten used to the lifestyle. President Shinra had gotten his start seeking legitimacy with the nobles.
Now they sought legitimacy from him, and that made him feel powerful.
Rufus had recommended slaughtering those people President Shinra had spent his life courting. It horrified him because it implied President Shinra had wasted his life. That the things President Shinra most valued weren't very valuable at all. Genocide an entire country, and the CEOs didn't care. But shoot some of the people they go to cocktail parties with, and you're a monster.
When Rufus came into his own, he would either bring about a golden age of human civilization. Or the worst totalitarian nightmare the world had ever seen. It would be interesting to find out which it was.
Still, time to change the subject. "Lightning is very fond of him," said Sephiroth. "And since meeting him has become far more stable."
President Shinra jumped at the chance to change the subject and turned to him at once. "Well, I suppose there are silver linings now and then."
"If you remove him, you'll have to remove her as well," said Sephiroth. "She's a valuable subordinate but highly intelligent. Kill Cloud, and she will suspect us.
"Do you really want someone like that out for your blood personally? Especially given how high profile she is?"
"I suppose that I've put a lot of effort into Lightning's redemption arc," muttered Scarlet. She'd been one of the ones pushing to supplant Sephiroth with Lightning.
"...You think that Lightning will try to murder all of us?" asked Rufus.
"At the very least, she'll draw even more attention to Cloud's arguments," said Sephiroth. "And once the rumors get out that Cloud Strife was murdered to cover things up..."
"We could face even larger problems," said Sephiroth. "I take your point, Sephiroth. Very well, we'll look into less extreme solutions.
"Now, on to the next matter. Angeal and Genesis' defection."
"I believe that I have delivered an extensive report on the subject," said Sephiroth.
"Yes, and because of it, we have an understanding of what needs to be done," said President Shinra. "I'm going to have to ask you to deal with Genesis and Angeal, Sephiroth. I realize they were your friends. But they now represent a serious threat to everything we've built. Between the two of them, they could destroy us.
"We believe that Genesis may make contact with his parents. They claim that they have had no contact with him. However, I would like you and Tseng to carry out an investigation of Genesis' hometown and-"
"No," said Sephiroth.
The look on President Shinra's face was absolutely priceless. This had never happened to him before, not with Sephiroth. Sephiroth wanted to take a picture of this moment and bring it out to read it now and then.
The day President Shinra finally got told no.
President Shinra recovered after a moment. "Sephiroth, this is an order. I realize you have personal feelings, but you must put them aside for-"
"Actually, I don't have to do anything," said Sephiroth, smiling. Doing that made President Shinra, Palmer, and Scarlet shrink back in their chairs. As he stood, Rufus looked concerned. Sephiroth drew his contract out of his pocket. "I refer you to my contract, Mr. President. We renegotiated it after I considered leaving the organization ten years ago. I reserve the right to pick and choose my own missions."
"...And who else will be able to contend with Genesis and Angeal?" asked President Shinra.
"Assign the job to Zack. He seems bright and eager to please," said Sephiroth, turning to walk over to the door. Then he opened it ajar.
"What are we supposed to tell the press?" asked Scarlet. "We've already started preparing for the destined battle between rivals turned enemies!"
"You're the one who tells the sheep what to believe, Scarlet," said Sephiroth. He walked through the door and turned around. "Just tell them I lack the proper incentive."
And he shut the door in their gobsmacked, open-mouthed faces.
Best day ever.