FIVE

A month or so after the destruction of Corel, I was driving quietly through Sector 3 in my new car when my life and what I knew received another blow. I had gotten the car—a newer model Shinra sedan—as a birthday gift earlier that year from my mom, and sometimes I liked to just take it out and drive, not really knowing where I was going or why, only that I wanted to see more of the city and just explore. It was a goal of mine to visit every one of Midgar's eight sectors sooner or later, but I hadn't gotten there just yet. Still a few left to go.

Sector 3 was more of an industrial place with a lot of factories and warehouses and not much in the way of traffic. So I was startled to see a virtual army of sirens flashing in the direction of the reactor. I wasn't far from it, just down the road, in fact. If I'd been driving anywhere else in the sector, I might not have seen the lights at all. But I did, flashes of red and blue bright against the gloom.

I turned onto the street that Reactor 3 was located at, going slowly as I did, but as I got closer to the place, I saw there was a crowd outside it along with all the emergency vehicles. I couldn't go much further, so I found a place to park and went the rest of the way on foot. What was going on? What could have happened here?

The reactor entrance was blocked off with crime scene tape, and a news crew was busy reporting on whatever it was that had caused all of this commotion. Unease filled my gut, a nagging sense that I should've had some idea of what was going on. But I didn't know much about the reactors aside from what Marissa had told me and the enhancements I had made to the roboguards that patrolled the interior of the place and prevented intruders from damaging it.

I froze at that last thought, my blood running cold. It couldn't be. I raced toward the reporter, trying to hear what she had to say, but it was over by the time I got to her. But I did manage to catch up to her before she and her crew got back into their van. I had to know what had gone on here, if my work had been responsible for another atrocity. I just… I couldn't believe it. I didn't want to believe it.

"Excuse me," I took her arm. "Can I ask you something?"

The reporter shook her head. "I'm sorry, but we've got to get going. We… we've already made our broadcast."

I showed her my Shinra ID. "Look, I'm Jessica Heidegger, Assistant Director of Shinra's Systems Operation Division. I need some answers, and I need them now. So talk. I also work directly for Scarlet, Director of the Weapons Design Division. And I don't think she'd much like it if she heard you were giving her protégé a hard time."

The woman gaped at me, her eyes wide, and I had to admit, it was pretty satisfying seeing her stunned reaction to finding out exactly who she was dealing with. I'd never had to pull rank before, but it did have a certain appeal. And I knew it would get me the information I needed. I stared icily at the reporter the way Scarlet would sometimes stare down a lab tech who had dared to question her orders.

"S-Sorry, ma'am," the reporter stammered. "I didn't know."

I didn't move. "Now you do. Talk."

She swallowed, glanced around, and motioned for me to follow her behind the van. "It'll be safer over here, I think."

"Fine. Now what happened here?"

"About half an hour ago at 9:00am, most of the workers in Reactor 3 carried out a nonviolent protest along with the supervisor. They were trying to bring attention to the terrible conditions there."

I frowned. "What kind of conditions?"

"Working in the reactors carries many health risks including mako poisoning, electrical shocks, and more. The fumes that are often found in the lower levels are also highly toxic."

"Does Shinra know this?" I asked.

"Of course they do, but they've never done much to fix it. They just say all the new systems and safeguards are too expensive to implement. The reactors weren't always like this, though. Back when they were still newly-built, they were much cleaner and safer."

I nodded. "Working in that kind of environment must cause some long-term side effects for people who've been there a while."

"It does, but I've heard that the compensation package is a joke. It's barely enough to cover basic medical care, to say nothing of conditions related to years of exposure to that environment. I'm sure that many of the workers were suffering because of it."

"That doesn't sound like the Shinra I know," I argued.

The reporter's voice lowered almost to a whisper. "Then you don't know them half as well as you think you do, ma'am."

I couldn't deny it, not anymore. "So what went wrong?"

"The protesting staff were all gathered in the central control room on the reactor's main floor—it has equipment there capable of sending transmissions both across the city and to Shinra Headquarters as well. They were just standing there, holding signs and chanting, not doing a thing to damage the reactor or cause any kind of ruckus, when… when the door to the elevator room opened, and…"

"And what!?" I demanded.

She swallowed heavily, her voice a mixture of rage and sadness. "A squad of roboguards charged in and… gunned them all down. Some of them tried to escape through the other door, but… it was locked. Even though it hadn't been earlier. Those mechs… killed them all. And then they self-destructed. As if they'd just gone haywire."

Now I was the one gaping. This was… I didn't even have the words to describe it. I still don't. I just staggered back, numb with shock at her words. I didn't want to believe it, but I knew it was true. And then, as I stood there trying to take it all in, a terrible realization suddenly blazed across my mind in a single, heart-wrenching word.

Marissa!

I shoved my way through the crowd and raced back down the road to my car, jumped inside, and drove away, my tires squealing in protest as I pulled out and my heart pounding in my chest. This was one of my days off, but I knew she was there. If she hadn't seen the report, that is. Otherwise I knew she'd have come here, work or no work. But I hadn't seen her in the crowd at the reactor.

Which meant that she didn't know yet.

I drove through the maze of streets as fast as I dared, speeding but not enough to get an officer's attention. All the while, my mind turned over and over everything the reporter had told me. And the more I did that, the less sense it all made. I had added multiple safety mechanisms to the mechs' designs when I had enhanced them. That they'd all failed, not just on one unit but on an entire squad, was so unlikely that it was virtually impossible. Or at least it should have been.

It wasn't long before I got to Shinra Headquarters. I parked and all but flew inside, taking the elevator to the 30th floor and rushing right to Marissa's office. She was there, calmly working on her computer, totally unaware of the horrible news I had for her. I didn't know how to say it. I was awash in nerves, and I realized I was trembling.

Marissa looked up and saw me. "Jessica, hi! Wasn't expecting to see you here today. Is everything alright?"

I sighed. "Marissa, I…"

She got up, seeing my discomfort at once. "What's wrong? You can tell me. Here, let's go to our break room, it'll be more comfortable. And I'll get you some coffee to help you relax."

Before I knew it, Marissa was guiding me gently down the hall, and then we entered the executive break room. She moved right over to the coffee maker and got started on our drinks while I struggled with how to say what had to be said, and I couldn't help thinking of the last time I had been here with her when bad news had struck.

When I had heard about Corel.

Reaching for the remote, Marissa switched on the TV, her red curls swishing around in the ponytail she had them in. She froze, though, as soon as she saw what was on the screen. The news station was showing the report again from earlier. The crowd and the sirens around Reactor 3. As the journalist—a man this time—spoke about an accident inside, Marissa dropped the remote with a gasp.

Her hand dove into her pocket and pulled out her phone. Now she was trembling, trying to call a husband that couldn't answer anymore. I went to her, realizing that the report on the screen had left out most of the details the female journalist had told me and that Shinra still wasn't saying much about it, only that the accident—that was what they were calling it—was still under investigation.

"Come on, Mark, answer!" Marissa wailed. "Please!"

I took her shoulder. "Marissa—"

She shook me off, jamming her phone back into her pocket after a fifth unsuccessful try at reaching her husband. "I'm sorry, Jessica, but I have to get down there. If Mark's been hurt—"

"I was just there!" I seized her by both shoulders this time. "I got a reporter to tell me the real story. And…"

"What is it!? Tell me!"

I took a deep breath, then let it out. "He… he's dead…"

Marissa just collapsed, her legs folding beneath her as if they'd just become unhinged, and she dropped to the floor like a rock tossed into a pool of water, her back to the bottom cabinets of the kitchenette. She shook her head in disbelief, her green eyes filling with tears, and when I sat down next to her, she took my hands in hers.

"No! It… it can't be!" she sobbed. "It just can't! Tell me it isn't!"

I held her, my own eyes wet. "I'm so sorry…"

Marissa wept in my arms for a while, too overwhelmed to talk, and my heart ached for her. At the same time, I was furious about what had happened. An accident that couldn't have been possible, shouldn't have been possible. But it had happened, just the same. I had to find out the truth, why the mechs had malfunctioned like that.

Eventually, Marissa wore herself out, although her chest continued to heave. I told her what the woman at the scene had told me about the incident. She sniffled and started to cry again when she heard what the roboguards had done to her husband and everyone else, then clenched her fingers into tight, shaking fists. Marissa hit the cabinet door to her right with a loud thump as she smashed the back of her hand against it, ignoring the pain as she sat there trembling.

"How could Shinra let this happen!?" she growled.

I shook my head. "I don't know. But I'm gonna find out, Marissa. I promise. I'll get to the truth, no matter what."

She hugged me, then sat back with a sigh. "I didn't know about the protest, Jessica. Mark never told me. Probably didn't want me to worry. He was always like that, you know. I could tell how sick he was getting, but he always passed it off as something else. I knew it was from work, though. I tried to get him to see a doctor, but he always insisted he was fine. I didn't know it was because Shinra wouldn't cover the treatments for his illness. The bastards. They'd rather let him die than spend a few gil to help him get well. How could I have worked here for so long and not have known what they're really like?"

"Marissa…" I began, but she went on before I could finish.

"Mark and I just celebrated our wedding anniversary a few months ago. Ten years. Did you know that? It was those two weeks I was away. The first time I left you in charge of the division."

I smiled at the memory. "I remember."

"He took me to Costa del Sol on vacation," Marissa went on. "It's a wonderful place, and you should go someday. If you ever find someone special to share it with, that is. It's much better that way, believe me. We had a lovely time. I just… I just wish…"

"I know, Marissa," I whispered. "I know…"

There was a wireless office phone mounted on the wall nearby, and after giving Marissa's shoulder a gentle squeeze, I stood up and went to it. I picked it up, dialed the code to connect to the Urban Development Division, and held it up to my ear. I didn't take more than a ring or two for the secretary to answer, her voice all business.

"This is the Shinra Company's Urban Development Division, may I help you?" she asked.

"I need to speak to Director Tuesti right away," I told her.

Her denial was immediate. "I'm sorry, but the Director is currently in a meeting right now, and—"

"I don't give a damn about that!" I hissed. "Tell him it's urgent! It's Jessica—that Jessica—and I'm here with the Director of SO on the 30th floor. Now get him on the line! I have other ways of reaching him, and if he finds out you wouldn't let me talk to him in an emergency, I don't think he'll be happy about it. Might cost you your job."

The secretary's stammering reply was very satisfying. "I-I'm sorry, ma'am! Just… just one moment, please."

Behind me, Marissa chuckled softly in between sniffles. "Whatever happened to that quiet, unassuming girl I met two years ago?"

I turned back to her. "I grew up."

"You certainly have. I've never seen you be so assertive before."

"Too much time with Scarlet, I suppose," I shrugged. "If there's one thing I've learned from working for her, it's how to make myself heard. Not that I want to be like her, mind you."

Marissa stood up. "Oh, I know that. She's terrible."

I was starting to see that myself, though I hadn't realized the whole of it yet. But I had a hunch that the answers to what had happened over at Reactor 3 today were somewhere in Weapons Development, likely in the design schematics for those roboguards. I intended to go over them again as soon as possible and search for anything that might've caused them to malfunction the way they had. If had even been a malfunction and not something else entirely. I shivered.

A moment later, Reeve's voice came on the line. "Jessica?"

"Reeve," I sighed. "Sorry to pull you out of your meeting, but this is important. Did you hear about Reactor 3?"

"Yes, but no details. I only just found out a few minutes ago during the meeting with the president and the other directors. And no need to apologize, Jessica. I know you wouldn't have done this without reason. What's going on? They're saying it was an accident."

I grimaced. "I don't think it was. But we can worry about that later. Right now, I need you to get down here as fast as you can. Marissa and I are in the executive break room. Did you know that her husband was the supervisor for Reactor 3?"

"No…" he breathed. "I didn't. Then that means she just…"

"Yes. Exactly. Now you know why I called."

His voice was firmer when he answered. "Tell her I'm on my way."

"I will, Reeve," I answered. "Thanks."

After I hung up, I took Marissa and gently led her over to the table. She moved as if she were made of glass as she slowly sat down in one of the chairs. I pulled up another and sat next to her, not saying anything at first but simply being with her. Then she lifted her head, her eyeliner streaked down her face from crying, and looked at me.

"Jessica… I just wanted to thank you… for being the one to tell me about Mark. I'm glad I heard it from you first… instead of some officer I've never even met before. I don't know what I would have done… if I had been alone when I found out."

I hugged her tight, my own eyes far from dry. "I wasn't going to let that happen, Marissa. We're friends, right? Don't mention it. Reeve's on his way here, so just let us handle it."

She had a good ten years on me at twenty-eight, but that had never mattered much to either of us. In the time I'd been working for Shinra, Marissa and I had forged a close friendship in spite of the difference in our ages. And she had never fully kept up that stark divider in between supervisor and employee that most managers usually did. At least with me. I never received any special favors or treatment, of course, not that ever wanted them. I had always been committed to earning what I had achieved here completely on my own, through my own effort and hard work, and I think she knew that.

A few moments later, Reeve walked in, but before Marissa could go to him, her phone rang. She picked it up with trembling hands as I laid one of my own on her shoulder. I knew who it was, and I could tell that Reeve did, too. He stood nearby, waiting quietly, nothing but sympathy in his eyes as she took the call.

"H-Hello? Yes, I… I'm Mrs. Tobin. I… I know, sir. My friend… she just… she just told me. Alright, I… I'll be down there as soon as I can. Thank you. Goodbye."

After she hung up, I took her hand. "Marissa?"

"It… it was the police department… calling to tell me about Mark. They want me to… go down to Midgar General and… iden… identi… i-identify… his… his…"

She broke down again, unable to finish what she had meant to say. Reeve went to her, taking her in his arms and holding her as she cried. She started pounding his shoulder, anger mixed with grief now, but he never even flinched. He never said a word. He simply let her vent what was inside her. Marissa went on and on, asking how Shinra could have let it happen, why they would have let it happen.

Eventually, her sobs diminished to little whimpers and then just to sniffles as she relaxed her fist and stopped her frustrated pummeling. It wasn't Reeve she was really angry at, it was Shinra itself. He was simply the only one of the company's upper management she could touch and act out against, the only one who was actually here, and I was sure that he knew it just as well as I did.

"Sorry," she lifted her head up. "I think I messed up your suit."

He shook his head. "Don't worry about it. Just do what you have to do. Take all the time you need."

Marissa nodded and stepped away. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Oh, and one other thing. Full benefits."

"What?" she blinked. "But Mark and I, our workers' compensation package doesn't cover… something like this…"

Reeve grasped her shoulder. "It does now. I know I can't bring your husband back, Marissa, but I can make sure you have one less thing to worry about. And… I'm very sorry for your loss."

"Thank you so much, Director," she dabbed at her eyes.

"Anytime. Jessica, see to her, would you?"

I nodded. "Absolutely. I'll take her where she needs to go today. To the hospital… and then home. But while I'm gone, Reeve, could you do something for me? That journalist I talked to, I'm willing to bet what I got her to tell me wasn't what she broadcast. I know it's not the same as what they've been showing since then."

He scratched his beard in thought. "Go on."

"She must've gotten footage from the internal security cameras, the ones that weren't used to broadcast the protest. That's the only way she could have known so much about what happened in there since Shinra isn't saying much themselves. Can you get me a copy of that footage? If I can go over it and see for myself what those roboguards did, it might help me figure out exactly what went wrong."

"You'll have it. Even if I have to have Cait 'liberate' it from Shinra's security office. They'll have a copy, if anyone does."

I smiled in relief as I led Marissa toward the door. "Thanks, Reeve. And if you can… try to find that reporter I talked to and warn her. I'm afraid of what whoever in Shinra is behind this might do to her if they find out she's got footage of what really happened at the reactor. I don't know her name, only that she was there not long after it all went down, around 9:30 or so."

"I will, Jessica," he answered. "I can contact the station and see who was covering the story at that time."

"I appreciate it. And I'll fill you in on what she told me, what really went on in Reactor 3, as soon as I can. But I'd better go take care of my friend first. I'll come back once she's home."

Reeve gazed at me. "Do it. I'll handle things here."

I did, walking Marissa down the hall, my arm around her, holding her up as much as offering comfort. We stopped by her office just long enough for her to pick up her purse before moving on. Then, after she had locked the door, she handed me the key. I took it, sliding it into my pocket, then went with her to the elevators.

Cait was waiting for me in my office when I got back to the Shinra Building a few hours later. As always, he was perched upon the edge of my desk, his furry little legs hanging in the air, and he smiled when he saw me walk in. In spite of how much I was hurting inside from all that had happened, seeing Cait there made me feel a little better. He always seemed to know how to cheer me up. I'm not really sure why. Maybe it was his typically lighthearted nature.

His whiskers twitched. "Special delivery!"

"What have you got?" I asked, settling into my chair.

"Just what ye asked fer, lassie. I went upstairs tae the security office ahn 'borrowed' the evidence, ye might say."

I stared at him. "You've got the recordings?"

"It's all up here," he tapped the side of his forehead. "In mae wee lil' noggin. I'll have it in yer computer in a jiffy."

As I sat back to give him room, Cait padded over to the keyboard, switched on the computer, and started tapping keys. His gloved fingers were a blur, moving even faster than mine ever had. He was a machine by nature, though, so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. I had just gotten so used to him and his quirky personality that I had sometimes forgotten he was artificial. But that didn't make him any less real to me. Cait was as much my friend as Reeve and Marissa.

Cait Sith stopped his typing when a prompt suddenly appeared on the screen right in the middle of the desktop. It was new, something I'd never seen before, and I leaned forward in my chair to get a better look at it. The message was short and to the point, flashing eerily in the little black box in three rows of bright green letters:

SYSTEM ACCESS FOR CS UNIT CS-01 GRANTED
SECURITY OVERRIDE CODE CS-174-62B-R985
TRANSMIT FILES TO HOST SYSTEM JH-1 WHEN READY

I glanced back at Cait to see him standing there, his right hand flat against the side of his head as he sent the recordings he'd snagged over to my computer. It took a few minutes for him to finish, and in all that time, he never moved so much as an inch. When he was done, the new prompt on the screen disappeared. Cait shook his head, let his arm fall to his side, and made a little bow.

"All set, lassie! Ye'll find them in a secured folder there on yer main drive. I should warn ye, though. It's not pleasant viewing."

I didn't doubt that. "You've seen it?"

He nodded. "Aye. Mae ahn Reeve both. Ahn Jessica, ye might want tae know that SIN News isn't reporting it as an accident anymore. They say the workers were rioting ahn that the machines responded the way they did because the folks in there went after them."

My hands clenched into fists. "That's not what happened!"

"I know, lass. Reeve ahn Marissa do, too. The footage SIN's got out there now's obviously been fixed up tae match their story. But I still got to the real thing before they could wipe it. I'll keep mae copy safe here in mae head, ahn you hold ontae yers."

"I will, Cait," I promised. "Count on it."

He sighed. "There's one other thing. We tried to find that reporter ye told us aboot. To warn her, ye know. But… we were tae late. She was on her way back tae the SIN News building when… her van was hit by a Shinra supply truck ahn overturned."

My eyes widened. "Oh, no! Cait, is she…?"

"She didn't make it. None of her crew did, either. SIN's sayin' it was an accident, but Reeve ahn I did some diggin'. Seems like they told her to head back just before ye got there."

"This is terrible…" I breathed, my head in my hands. "Now I know why she was so scared to talk to me. I had to basically twist her arm to get her to tell me anything. Maybe I was too hard on her."

Cait sat down and patted my hand. "Ye did what ye had to do, lass. Don't be thinkin' otherwise."

I sighed. "I guess you're right. But that reporter, I think she must've realized that someone here at Shinra would find out she had unaltered security footage of the massacre and try to stop her from using it. And now she's dead. Whoever's behind this must've wanted her there on the road, Cait. I'm sure of it."

"I think that, too. While ye were gone, I did some snooping inside the SIN News building and found that reporter's phone records. Seems she made a transmission just after she left the scene, going by the logs I saw. I dinnae who she sent it to, since she did a pretty good job tae hide it, but judging by the file size, I'd have tae say she sent someone a copy of those recordings. Ahn I don't think anyone else knows that yet. Best to keep it that way if we can, lass."

"Right," I agreed. "Cait… did you find out her name?"

He stood up and and sighed. "Aye. Aria Burrows. Wish we'd been a wee bit faster, but we can't be dwellin' on that now."

I knew that. I just couldn't help wishing, like Cait, that I had found a way to warn her in time. But as I lifted my head back up and gazed at Cait and the new folder on the screen, I made a mental promise to Aria that I wouldn't let her death be for nothing. With that in mind, I took a deep breath and navigated to the new folder.

Cait touched my arm. "Ye want me to watch with ye?"

"I'd like that," I smiled. "It's not going to be easy, especially since I'll probably have to go over it several times and even slow it down to get a better idea of how the mechs were behaving and why. I'm also going to check the design schematics for them once I'm finished with this to see if anyone's been tampering with them."

"Then let's get started, lass. Reeve's taken on Marissa's job today, so ye needn't worry about managing the division fer now."

I slid my fingers onto the keyboard. "Right. Wish me luck, Cait."

He grinned. "Oh, I do, Jessica. I do."

Another prompt came up when I tried to access the new folder, but Cait touched the side of his head again, sending the decryption code. It went through without a hitch as the prompt disappeared, and we were in. Cait's smile faded quickly as we began to watch the security footage, and it was all I could do to keep my own composure. I tried to keep my eyes only on the mechs, but the terrified screams of all those people as they were shot pulled my gaze to them again and again. I felt tears slide down my cheeks and did nothing to stop them.

I don't know how long I sat there, watching and re-watching those awful images. It must've been hours. Cait never moved, never left, and I was so glad for his presence. I thought back to Corel, how I still didn't know the truth behind that, either. Scarlet hadn't told me much, and I'd had to let it go. But I had never forgotten.

As I slowed down the playback to more easily examine the mechs' behavior patterns, I found it a little easier to focus on what I had to do. Not having the audio helped, but I could still hear it in my mind easily enough if I stopped and thought about it. My face was still wet, and I'd had to clean my glasses more than once, but my resolve never wavered. Neither did the anger simmering in my gut.

"What are ye lookin' fer, lassie?" Cait wondered.

"Trying to see if the roboguards were being directed or were acting autonomously. They have two modes that they can operate in, you see. When the workers are in the reactor, the roboguards are set to standby. What that means, Cait, is that they only attack if either they or the staff are directly threatened. They won't otherwise."

He scratched his chin. "Aye. And the other mode?"

"Combat status," I explained. "The roboguards attack anything that gets in range of their sensors. It's only activated at night when the staff isn't there, to guard against intruders. The switch is automatic—it's part of their programming—and can't be externally activated. That's one of the safety measures I put in place. Another is that I set the roboguards to change modes twice a day—once in the morning at 6:30 to switch to standby mode half an hour before the staff arrives for the day, and then once again in the evening at 6:30 to switch over into combat mode half an hour after everyone's left."

"I see. So what do ye think happened?" he asked.

I thought for a moment. "From what I can tell, it's pretty clear that the roboguards were in combat mode. None of them were in the room before the attack began, and they… they must've seen the people there as intruders, and… acted accordingly."

Cait put a hand on my shoulder. "Why would they do that?"

"I don't know. Sorry, I… it's just hard. I keep seeing it in my mind, hearing the screams and the gunfire, seeing the blood everywhere. But it was 9:00, well after the time for the switch, when the attack started. It shouldn't have been possible. The mechs should've still been in standby mode. And I never programmed them to self-destruct. Something isn't adding up here, Cait…"

"Ye think they could've been controlled?" he blinked.

I shuddered at the thought. "Maybe, but that shouldn't be possible either. All their behavioral subroutines and programming are encoded to prevent anyone from manipulating them like that. There isn't much more I can tell from the recordings. I'll have to bring up the schematics and see what I can find in there."

After closing out the video and leaving the new folder, I navigated my way through the system and onto the Shinra information network. It was actually a breach of company protocol to access files and systems from a different division, but I didn't care. I had set up remote access to the Weapons Development internal database shortly after the incident in Corel, and I went in there now, hiding my trail as I went. But when I tried to view the specs on those roboguards, I couldn't. All I got was an error message, a single infuriating line of red text:

ACCESS DENIED

"What the hell…?" I stared at the screen.

Cait followed my gaze with his own. "What is it, lass?"

I frowned. "I should be able to see these blueprints, Cait. I worked on them myself. I have the authorization to view them. I did, anyway. I don't understand. Why would Scarlet lock me out?"

"Can ye access any of the others?"

"Yes," I checked a few of them, "but not the ones used to guard the reactors. Those have been blocked. I might be able to hack my way into them, but it won't be easy, and it may take a while."

Cait nodded. "What aboot Scarlet?"

That was a good question. "There's gotta be something in there she doesn't want me to know about. But I don't want her to realize that I'm onto her yet, either. I can't be tipping my hand right now."

"So what are ye gonna do?" he prodded.

"I'll keep my eyes open, try to find out whatever else I can, and see about hacking through that block to get a look at those schematics. It'll take time, but I'm sure I can do it."

It was all I could do, really. I had hoped to be able to find the truth today, but I suppose that was an unrealistic wish to have. I'd just felt so bad for Marissa and even Aria that I had wanted to make some kind of progress in my investigation for their sake as well as my own. Though I had learned a bit from examining the camera footage, I still had a lot of unanswered questions and more than a little fear.

Shinra was fast turning into a place I didn't know anymore.