SIX

About nine months after the Reactor 3 incident, I found Marissa in her office. I was nineteen, well into my third year at Shinra, and not all that surprised to see her packing her things. Ever since returning from her leave of absence to see to her husband's affairs, she'd been teaching me more and more about her work and what it involved, what she did. Some of it I'd already known, being her assistant, but a lot of it was new stuff, so I took it all in, learning all she had to teach me. I knew why, of course, and I could tell where it was going.

Marissa was leaving.

I couldn't say as I blamed her. My investigations into the Reactor 3 and Corel incidents had slowed down over the past year, both because of my steadily increasing workload in Systems Operation and Weapons Development as well as the walls I kept running into. Again and again, I had tried to get access to the schematics for the roboguards, and still I couldn't find a way in. I'd asked Scarlet about it once, as innocently as I could in order to avoid making her suspicious, and she'd told me it was a systems glitch they hadn't managed to fix yet.

I hadn't believed her lame excuse for a second, but I had nodded as if I did so she wouldn't realize I was on to her. I hated that I'd gotten so stuck, but Marissa had never blamed me. She knew I was trying, but it was still hard for me to know I hadn't been able to find the truth about her husband's death yet. She was my friend, and I felt I owed it to her. I owed to everyone who had died in that horrible nightmare. Aria, too. I hadn't forgotten the reporter who had told me the real story. She'd been killed not long afterward, but I hadn't been able to find out yet who she had sent her copy of the camera footage to.

"Hi, Jessica," Marissa said, closing up the cardboard box.

I sighed. "It's that time?"

She nodded. "Yes. I… I put in my resignation two weeks ago. I just can't keep on working here as if… nothing happened."

"You don't have to explain," I said.

"I thought about leaving not long after Mark died, but… I couldn't leave you high and dry like that. I had to make sure you'd be alright. So that's why I stayed on for a while, having you do more and more in the division and teaching you what I knew."

I blinked. "I wondered about that. Are you saying…?"

"Yes, Jessica. That's right. Effective immediately, you're going to be the new Director of Systems Operation."

"Me?" I stared at her.

Marissa smiled. "Congratulations. I know you'll do well."

I had figured something like this had been coming, but it still felt a little overwhelming. "Thanks, Marissa. I've got to admit, though, I'm a little surprised. I just thought, even though I'm your assistant, that you would have picked someone who's been here longer. Maybe older, too. But I do appreciate your confidence in me."

"The recommendation came straight from Director Tuesti, and it's one I very much agree with. There are other people who've been in the division longer than you have, that's true enough. But Jessica… no one knows these systems as well as you do. You have a real gift, a talent for computers and technology like I've never seen."

"I guess you're right," I laughed. "Now I know why you had me and Garrett working together so much lately. You were prepping him to be my assistant, weren't you?"

She chuckled. "Yes. He'll be a good help to you."

"It won't be the same without you, though," I told her.

"I've got to admit, a part of me is going to miss this place," Marissa said. "But at least I'm leaving it in good hands."

I straightened. "I'll do my best."

Marissa took my shoulder. "I know you will, Jessica."

Instead of letting go, she drew me into a hug, one I returned gladly. When we did step away, I saw that her eyes were a little wet. Mine were too, but it didn't matter. Then she picked up her box, looked around at the empty office for a minute, and let out a deep breath. It was time for her to go, and we both knew it.

"Stay in touch, alright?" I asked.

She smiled. "Of course. And don't feel bad about… your search. I know you're doing everything you can."

"If I find—no, when I find—anything, I'll let you know. I promise. I haven't given up, and I'm not going to."

"Thank you," Marissa said. "That means a lot to me."

I walked with her to the door. "You're welcome."

She paused when we got there. "Jessica… be sure to keep your eyes open, alright? Nothing here is quite what it seems. If what happened to Mark and all those others taught me anything, it's that Shinra's up to no good and has been for a while. Watch yourself."

"I will, Marissa," I promised.

"This is your office now," she said. "Take care."

And then she was gone, walking away toward the elevator, her box in her arms. I watched her go, sad to see my friend leave but happy that I'd been promoted. It was a mixed blessing, and while I knew we would still stay in contact, it wouldn't be the same. After Marissa had entered the elevator, I sighed and went over my old office to start moving all of my things to the new one.

Reeve came down a while later. I was still getting things organized in my new office—it was still hard to think of it as mine, since I'd been so used to it being Marissa's for over three years now. I would miss our chats together and our early morning coffee breaks. But I had to go on. The job and the office were mine now, as she'd said.

I looked up as Reeve walked in. "I wondered when you'd stop by."

"Just thought I'd check in on you," he said.

"I'll be alright," I told him. "I'm happy about the promotion, but… not so much the way I got it."

He settled into a chair on the other side of my desk. "I understand, Jessica. And I know you and Marissa were friends. Good friends. But it was her decision to leave. You and I both know that she hasn't been the same since her husband was killed. I don't blame her, and I wish her all the best wherever she goes next. But she left you in charge here. I made it official, but it was as much her idea as mine."

"I know, Reeve," I replied. "I'll do the best I can."

"Good. That's all I needed to hear."

I sat in my own chair, the one that had once been Marissa's. "Have you been able to find out anything?"

"No, I'm afraid not," he answered. "I'm sorry."

I shook my head. "It's alright. I figured the other directors wouldn't say much, but it was worth a try."

"It was. But none of them will even talk about Reactor 3."

"Not even the president?" I wondered.

He grimaced. "No. They're keeping me in the dark again. But what are they trying to hide?"

"I wish I knew," I sighed.

Reeve nodded. "I'll keep trying. You do the same, Jessica."

I nodded. "I will. I've been trying not to cross the line too much in my investigations, but I don't know how much farther I can go without pushing at a few rules here. I've already bent some, but I didn't want to go any further without checking with you first."

"Do what you have to do," he assured me. "I'll cover for you if need be. Just find us some answers."

"Understood," I said.

Now that he had untied my hands, there was a lot more I could do to uncover the truth about Corel and Reactor 3. It wasn't exactly above board, so to say, but I thought it would be effective. And I had a couple ideas of where to start. Cait had already been to the security office, but I wanted to go there for myself. Normally, even though I was a director now, my keycard access still couldn't go that high. I could only go as far as the 65th floor, but the security office was on the 67th floor. There was a solution, of course, but I hadn't wanted to implement it until I knew I had Reeve's support, since it was more than a little sketchy.

But then again, hacking sometimes was.

Reeve stood up. "In the meantime, don't forget about your new job here. You're responsible for this department now."

"I'll remember," I replied.

"I know you will. Congratulations… Director."

He reached out his hand, and I shook it, smiling as I heard him use my new title. "Thank you, Reeve. Being called 'Director'… that's gonna take some getting used to."

"I don't doubt it," he grinned. "But you've earned it."

After he left, I finished putting my things away, then I walked over to the window for a moment and gazed out at the city laid out beneath me with all its lights, three of the reactors visible in the distance. It was a bit of a different view here than it had been in my old office, but I still felt sometimes like a bird in a cage. The outer wall of Midgar lined the horizon, with the reactors looming like towers over the city. What was out there past them? Past the badlands?

I didn't know. Aside from my memories of Junon, I didn't know all that much about the world beyond Midgar. But someday, I would go. I would see what was out there, as much as I could. I'd leave this city and never look back. In the meantime, though, I had a job to do as well as a mystery to solve. It was going to be a few days before I would be ready to sneak into the security office, what with my responsibilities here and in Weapons Development and with getting the equipment I needed for my little expedition. But I knew what I had to do, and I was bound and determined to get it done. One way or another.

Three days later, I was ready.

After leaving Garrett to oversee things in SO for a few hours, I left my office and headed to the elevators. I hadn't told him the real reason I would be gone, only that I had things to take care of upstairs and that I'd be back in a while. It was close enough to the truth, if a little vague. But he had still believed me, so here I was, on my way to do something that was both against company policy and most likely illegal. But it was the only way I would get any answers.

I rode the elevator up to the 61st floor, then walked casually across the cafeteria to the escalator room on the far right side of the area. As I slipped inside, I glanced behind me for a moment, my heart pounding in my chest. But no one was there. I rode the escalators up, one by one, all the way to the 67th floor. The room itself was accessible, but the rest of the level wasn't. The door leading to the main hall was locked with a highly-sophisticated electronic card reader, and my keycard didn't have the access permissions to open it.

Not yet, anyway.

Moving to the door, I went to the card reader. It was a complex bit of technology to be sure, but it wasn't foolproof. And I had spent quite a bit of time over the past few months learning how it worked and how to hack it. I set down the briefcase I was carrying, opened it up, and got to work. Inside were tools, not papers. But this was a good way to keep them hidden, and no one knew I had them.

Taking out a small screwdriver, I carefully removed the cover from the card reader, exposing the wiring. Then I took a few more tools out of my briefcase and got to work reprogramming the scanner to give my keycard authorization to unlock the door. It was delicate work and felt as if it took hours to do, but really it was only about twenty minutes or so later when I was finally finished. After screwing the cover back onto the card reader, I put my tools back into my briefcase, then swiped my keycard through the scanner. The light above it went from red to green as a little chime sounded. Music to my ears.

I smiled as the door opened. "Easy money…"

The hall curved down to the right, and I followed it around until it split in two. Ahead of me, the corridor continued into the lower part of Shinra's Science Division. Not my destination, and I had to push down my natural curiosity as I entered a side passage to the right, a narrower hall that led to a set of detention cells—I had checked the layout of this floor on my computer earlier, so I knew where everything was. A door was on the right side of this second hall just a short way in, and I made my way there before anyone could see me.

As I'd planned for and expected, there was only one security officer on duty today. Sometimes there were three or four, but usually when it was slow like this, Shinra only had one stationed here. Their cheap way of doing things had come through for me. So far, everything was going according to plan. There wasn't anyone in the cells today, so the officer was as bored and inattentive as I'd known he'd be.

He looked up as the door hissed open. "Yeah? Who're you?"

"Just a systems engineer from downstairs," I said, walking inside. I disarmed him with a smile. "I was told to run some diagnostics on the computers here. It won't take long."

"Don't be in such a rush," he smiled back. "Take your time."

I leaned over one of the two L-shaped desks on the right side of the room, giving him a nice view of my figure. I was wearing a knee-length skirt instead of my usual slacks. "Are you all by yourself today?"

"Not anymore," the officer said. "You got a name?"

"Sara. How about you?"

He turned in his chair to face me. "Kellin. I don't get many visitors up here. Especially pretty ones."

My heart was pounding. I wasn't used to being flirty like this, but it was all part of the plan. I almost felt sorry for the guy. But I knew what I had to do, and throwing off his suspicions was part of the game. Then I'd have him right where I wanted him. I couldn't help blushing a little, though. I'd never really thought of myself as pretty.

"Thanks," I said, batting my eyelashes at him. I put my briefcase on the desk and opened it. "Must get lonely sometimes, huh?"

"Yeah, it does. I'm not married, by the way."

I flashed him another smile over my shoulder. "Neither am I."

Kellin leaned forward. "I've always liked smart girls."

"Is that so?" I said, raising an eyebrow.

It was almost fun, bantering like this. I could have kept going for a while, but I didn't have the time. So I decided to move things along and gave him the most sultry stare I could muster. Then I started to untuck my blouse. Kellin's widened eyes and sudden, heavy swallow were very flattering and exactly what I'd been hoping for. As I reached behind me to work on the back, I quietly took some of the other items I'd brought with me out of my briefcase. While I held them in one hand behind my back, I reached up with the other hand and unfastened the top button. Then I pulled my collar just a little to the side, teasing him with a small glimpse of the skin below my neck and shoulder.

I gazed at him. "Better lock the door."

Kellin was up in an instant, moving to the wall panel and tapping a few keys to do just that. As the light above the door went from green to red, he walked toward me, the hunger clear in his eyes now. Exactly as I'd known it would be. I shook my head and pointed to his chair, which he'd left in front of a large, U-shaped computer console.

He tried again. "Come on, baby…"

"Go sit down," I purred. "I'll come to you, okay?"

"You're makin' a game out of it, eh?" he grinned, racing back to his chair and having a seat. "Sounds like fun."

I wove slowly toward him. "Yeah. Now just relax."

"Sure thing. You've really got my blood pumpin', you know that?"

"Do I?" I unfastened the next button.

Kellin nodded. "Hell yeah. You're as hot as they come, Sara."

I smirked as I drew closer. "Flattery will get you everything, Kellin. And everywhere. Now shut your eyes."

My left hand was still behind me, had been this whole time, but I'd gotten Kellin so completely enthralled with me that he had never even noticed. That was the whole idea, of course. Still smiling, he closed his eyes, and after they were shut, I turned his chair so he was facing away from me. Then I bent low and whispered in his ear.

"Ready for a surprise?"

He laughed. "You bet. Lay it on me."

Straightening, I took the bottle and cloth I'd been carrying and put them in both hands now. After unscrewing the cap, I poured out some of the chloroform onto the cloth until it was good and wet. Keeping the cloth well away from my own face, I replaced the cap, put the bottle off to one side, and leaned in close to Kellin again, putting my mouth near his left ear so I had his full attention.

"Alright, stud," I breathed. "Here it comes."

I slid my left hand lightly across the right side of his face, turning it gently toward me as if I was going to kiss him. He tilted his head up as I knew he would, no doubt hoping to feel my lips or maybe something even better, and as soon as he did, I tightened my grip on his head and held it steady. Then, as he finally began to realize what was going on, I slammed the cloth full of chloroform over his face with my other hand. Kellin struggled, grabbing for me and trying to yell, but I kept the cloth over his mouth and nose for the next five minutes or so until he sagged and went limp in my arms.

After he was out, I put the cloth aside, picked him up, and laid him down in the back of the room behind the computer console where he'd be out of sight of anyone entering the room after I had left. I knelt over him for a minute and pulled a small vial from my pocket. Although he was unconscious for now, the chloroform wouldn't last long, not more than twenty or thirty minutes. The tranquilizer would keep him out for the next two hours, though. More than enough time for me to get onto the main computer and do some digging.

It wasn't hard for me to force the liquid down his throat. I just had to hold his nose shut so he'd swallow it. When that was done, I slipped the empty vial back into my pocket and looked at him for a moment. I admit, I felt a little bad for tricking him and leading him on, but it had to be done. And besides, he wasn't really my type.

"Sweet dreams, loverboy," I whispered.

Then I got to work, sliding into Kellin's chair and moving up to the central computer console. I dove in, navigating through the system and hiding my tracks as I went. Aside from watching prisoners, the security station also monitored all incoming and outgoing transmissions for the Shinra Building. If someone in this place had sent some kind of signal to the mechs in Reactor 3 that day, the transmission logs would have a record of it. All I had to do was find it.

I scrolled through the lists of log entries, sorting by date as I paged further and further back and hoped the older ones hadn't been purged by now. They shouldn't have been, at least not yet. Most of the logs and other records were kept on the system for a year before being wiped or archived. It hadn't been quite that long since the Reactor 3 incident, so what I was looking for should still have been there.

Only it wasn't.

There was a gap, clear and obvious, in the log entries for the day of the massacre. I wasn't really surprised. Whoever had sent the signal to the roboguards must've deleted the file to cover his tracks and hide the evidence of what he'd done. Clever, but I knew how to recover lost files. It was part of my job, after all.

Reaching into the pocket of my skirt again, I took out a small flash drive and plugged it into the computer. I ran the file recovery program I'd installed on it earlier and directed it to the computer's main drive. It was where all the log files were stored. Of course, there would probably be lots of other junk files restored along with the logs. That was just the nature of the beast. I would just have to search until I found what I was looking for. Not very exciting, but necessary just the same.

After the program had brought up a list of all the recovered files, I started scrolling through it, scanning the items one by one. Most were, as I'd expected, junk or temporary system files. Nothing important. But farther down the list, I hit paydirt. A single transmission log, dated the same day as the Reactor 3 massacre. And the timestamp was 9:05 MST. Just five minutes after the protest had started. Those people had barely gotten the chance to say anything before the mechs had come storming in and shot everyone in the room.

The next step was to open the log file and see what it could tell me. So I did, and as I read what was in there, I sat back and sighed, closing my eyes for a moment as I tried to take it all in. I felt angry, as much at myself as at whoever had done this, and hurt. And guilty for the part I had unwittingly played in the disaster, a part I should have seen earlier but hadn't wanted to. Maybe I'd been afraid to.

The log file had recorded that the transmission that had been sent was an activation signal. One that had been directed right at the group of roboguards that had carried out the massacre. The signal analysis in the log file clearly showed that the beacon had been used to switch the mechs from standby to combat mode. And from there, the mechs were fed false sensor data indicating the presence of intruders in the control room on the top level. Lastly, a final command had been embedded in the signal, instructing the mechs to auto-destruct after every target had been eliminated. A function I had never included in my enhancements for the roboguards. Which could mean only one thing.

My designs had been altered.

They had been twisted and perverted into killing machines instead of the protectors I had meant for them to be. I felt almost violated. My work had been subverted and used to kill innocent people. I should've known better. At least that's what I kept telling myself. I should've been less trusting of Scarlet and kept my files secured so only I could make changes to them. But I hadn't. It hadn't even occurred to me before that Shinra would alter my work behind my back.

Then a chill suddenly swept through me. My designs for these few mechs had been changed, that was undeniable now. But what about the rest? Had my other weapon designs been subverted, too? I didn't want to believe it, but it seemed likely. I hadn't seen anything different a few days ago when I'd been on the Weapons Development network looking at them and adding some new ones. But that wasn't the only place that the weapon schematics were stored. Scarlet also kept copies of both her work and mine on her computer. If she had made changes to any of my designs, that's where they'd be.

No one was allowed to touch her computer except her, though. Not even me. I didn't know her passwords, but I did know how to get them. And once I did, I'd have to secure access to her computer to find out if my hunch was right. That wasn't going to be easy or quick, though. She didn't leave the division very often. I could set the first part of my plan in motion from my own computer in SO, but I would have to wait until Scarlet went away again to finish the job.

I had learned just about all I could from the log, but before I closed the file, I noticed one more command embedded in the signal. It wasn't directed at the mechs, though. Instead, it instructed the reactor's main computer system to lock the lower door of the room the protesters had been in until everyone in there was dead.

My hands not quite steady, I closed the log file and copied it to the flash drive. Then I closed my file recovery program and unplugged the drive. I was done here. After putting the flash drive back in my pocket, I went back through the system until it was right where Kellin had left it. That way when he woke up, he wouldn't know I'd been on it. Then I got up, picked up my briefcase, and went to the door.

After unlocking it, I stepped out into the hall and hurried back the way I'd come. But when I got to the intersection, I paused. This time, I didn't deny my curiosity. I decided a quick peek at the Science Division couldn't hurt, so I turned right and walked through the doorway. I had heard a little about the place during my time at Shinra, but mostly just rumors. What did they do here?

I crept past an office on the right and followed the corridor a short distance until it opened into a large storage bay. Stacks of large wooden crates with the Shinra logo on them stood along the far wall. But those weren't what caught my attention and made me gasp in shock, my eyes wide as I stared open-mouthed in disbelief. There were many tall, wide tubes of some thick, impact-resistant glass that stretched from floor to ceiling. Most were a couple feet across, but the largest was at least three times that size. And all of them were occupied.

Inhabited by monsters.

Some were lean, four-legged things with dark brown hides, snouts like pigs, sharp claws on each foot, teeth like razors, huge fangs, bright red manes, barbed tails, and foot-long spikes down their backs. Others floated in the air, pink things with whiplike tails, four arms, and six red eyes. And then there was a huge, hulking brute with misshapen arms, a pair of thick, stubby legs, and a head that was all mouth and teeth. And bouncing in front of it were three smaller creatures that looked kind of like yellow ladybugs with a single green eye.

A few men and women in lab coats walked back and forth between the thick glass tubes, observing the monsters and jotting notes onto the clipboards they carried. I slipped behind the nearest set of crates before any of them could see me. And when I did, I noticed that the largest of the tubes actually seemed to be a lift of some kind. It was the one with the big brute and his little pets.

One of the scientists flinched when the brute punched at the inner wall of the tube it was in. The glass held, though, as I figured it must've been designed to do. Even so, the guy staggered back a few steps as one of his colleagues walked up to him and patted him on the shoulder. He laughed and shook his head.

"Don't worry, they can't get out," the man said.

The other scientist glanced warily at the monster. "You sure?"

"Yeah. These holding pens are built to keep them restrained. They like poking at them, though. This bugger especially. We'll need to send him to the upper level soon. Professor Hojo wants to run some tests on it and observe its abilities. That poison breath in particular. So don't be long. You know he hates it when we're late."

"Right," the scientist said. "I'm finished here, anyway."

Poisonous monsters? What was Shinra thinking, making creatures like these? It scared me and bothered me more than I wanted to admit as I backed away from my hiding spot, my eyes still locked on the glass tubes. What would happen if these things ever escaped? I remembered the star pendant I'd hidden away on the 63rd floor so many months ago. It could protect against poison, although I hoped I'd never have to find out firsthand. I knew where to get it if I needed it, though, so I decided to leave it alone for now. I could always get it later. It was still in the air duct where I'd put it, so it wasn't going anywhere.

There was also a large metal dome across from the main lift, but I couldn't see what was inside it. There was a door with a single window on it, and it was sealed shut. What was in there? I thought I saw a bit of writing below the window, but I couldn't make it out from here. And I didn't want to get any closer and risk being seen. The pinkish light that shone through the glass was pretty eerie, though.

In any case, I had to get off this floor and downstairs before Kellin woke up and decided to come looking for me. I didn't need his interest or the complications that running into him would cause. So I snuck off toward the hallway, my eyes still on the monsters as I moved. But when I left the storage room and finally pulled my gaze away, I let out a little shriek as I nearly walked right into another man who had just emerged from the nearby office.

"You don't belong here," he wheezed, his voice cold and nasal.

I swallowed. "I, um… I-I just got a little lost, sir."

He looked at me as if I were an insect, his dark eyes narrow behind his round glasses. The man, obviously another scientist, was wearing a white lab coat and black tie over his button-down shirt and slacks, and his long black hair was pulled into a ponytail. I was thoroughly creeped out, to say the least.

The man sniffed. "This isn't a place for the unwary."

"I-I know," I answered. "I… I'll just be going now. Downstairs. And away from here. Far away."

"See that you do," he hissed.

Then he brushed past me without another word. I was just starting to hurry away when I heard one of the other scientists calling for him. When I heard him being addressed as Professor Hojo, I froze for just a moment and glanced back over my shoulder. I had almost run into the director of the Shinra Science Division himself and hadn't even known it. What a day this had turned out to be. Shaking my head with a sigh, I hurried back to the escalator room and went downstairs.