The SOLDIER's fist came down hard; Cloud jerked his head to the side. He barely avoided the blow. It tore into the vehicle beside him, metal tearing almost like paper under the brute strength. The SOLDIER's other hand still held him in place; fortunate he had decided to use naked aggression and not simple crush his skull or crack his ribs. The SOLDIER aimed another blow; Cloud jerked his head again, but not fast enough, the SOLDIER's fist clipping his ear.
SOLDIERs; genetically engineered servitors of the Shinra corporation. Use on Eastern Continent: Forbidden after the devastating destruction by Sephiroth; the oldest. SOLDIERs created for deployment and combat in the Wutai war; in the aftermath repurposed for a variety of functions as servants. Shinra did not accept the accusation levelled by some groups: SOLDIERs were effectively slaves.
Cloud yelped in pain. The SOLDIER grinned. The pain in his ear too distracting, hardly aware the SOLDIER was tightening his grip on his shirt, drawing him into the air. One hand still clutching his shirt, the other moving with predatory slowness towards his face. Little chance the SOLDIER could not easily kill him. A vain hope it would at least be quick.
Other jobs never went anywhere. He pursued a number and nothing stuck. That was how they found him, staring at the paper and looking at the want ads. The third time he had quit the department checking for rogue SOLDIERs returning to the Shinra corporation's seat of power in Midgar. Never wanted to dwell on the question why they came back. Life was tough in the West and towards Wutai.
But Cloud lost his taste for the job, though he could pick SOLDIERs out with scarcely a second thought. He tried deliveries, he tried admin work. Hated detection but he was good. Why they came for him.
Wrecked vessel off the coast, five SOLDIERs reportedly heading to Midgar. The last SeeD pursuing them stuck on life-support.
The bang jolted Cloud out of his acceptance. The SOLDIER's eyes were glassy, unfocused. He recovered, blinked; another shot. A gun. His gun. Dropped somewhere in the alley. A third shot, the SOLDIER's forehead erupted open, Cloud wincing. The fall came next, the ground rushing up to meet Cloud, the SOLDIER collapsing limp on top of him. Was he saved? At the end of the alley a familiar figure stood holding his dropped gun. Tifa.
"Do you like our Chocobo, Mister Strife?"
Her footsteps echoed in the cavernous hall. No detection job had required this in the past, but these SOLDIERs had tried to infiltrate the company. That was what caught Zack out. Some concern in high circles, the Shinra corporation casting doubt on his department's ability to check. The corporation was more than capable of ascertaining a subject's humanity; their method more precise, more clinical – and more in need of bone marrow. That little detail always a chilling aspect of the SOLDIERs make-up.
And now here he was, ready to try the test on a proven SOLDIER – check it still functioned. Shinra corporation bending or outright breaking its own rules. The chocobo warked and fluffed its feathers. "Artificial?"
A snort from the woman; long black hair, red eyes, immaculate poise and make-up-
The hands holding the gun shook, her eyes fixed on the SOLDIER lying face-down. Cloud struggled to his feet, keeping his hands open and apart, venturing closer to her.
"Of course not."
"Expensive?"
"Very."
He gently took the gun from her; she relinquished it easily. She did not belong in the slums. Too clearly different. Her poise was gone , but the make-up, the hair, the thick coat to hide the finery beneath was other, too pricey, too wasteful. And-
"It seems you feel our work is not a benefit to the public." Dismissive. She stalked away, heels clacking across the floor.
Cloud followed. "SOLDIERs are like any other machine. If a hazard – my department."
"Is this to be a blush response?" Hojo. How long had he been waiting, watching?
"Mister Strife, this is Professor Hojo." As if Cloud did not know who the man was. Never comfortable with the limelight or business. The creator of SOLDIER and creepier than expected. Cloud took his hand; cold, clammy. Resist the urge to wipe it.
"Blush response is too crude-"
"Yes, you call it by another name." The man glared at him, pretensions of hospitality gone. "I want to see a pass. A human."
Not part of the plan. "I thought-"
"Positive first, then negative." Hojo sneered. "Unless you wish us to take on faith that your little machine works?" He nodded to the case at Cloud's side.
Resist the sigh. Get this out of the way. "Too bright in here." Tifa crossed to the window and pressed a switch. "You want to try?"
Hojo shook his head. "Her."
Dark in the slums, but she was too bright.
Tifa stood out like a candle in the darkness. Nothing for it. Shinra had abandoned her. She had no relatives, no money. Nowhere to go. Cloud took her home. Hid her light. They were quiet on the way back. They would need to talk about it. Talk about the death at Tifa's hands. What had the first time he caused been like all those years ago? Covered with time and alcohol. Lost in indulgences. She was experiencing it all for the first time. Or possible worse; he had killed a malfunctioning machine. She had killed another SOLDIER.
He ran out of questions, Tifa's eye still large on the display. An answer, but-
Hojo snorted. "You are dismissed Tifa." She rose from her chair and stalked from the room. "Well?"
"A SOLDIER." Cloud shifted in his chair. "Never seen a girl one before."
"She's the first of a new project. A prototype of sorts." He whirled to face Cloud. "But she nearly evaded you did she not? Your little test almost missed what she was."
"She doesn't know."
Hojo grinned, too close. "Prototype. Better like this."
"How can she not know what she is?" All of this staged for his benefit. The limits of their testing. If this was the direction the company was taking, how could they possibly keep-up? Of course the plan. Shinra had never taken the ban well, their flouting of restrictions here telling.
"Give them memories and they don't worry about origins or how long they have left. More stable." Hojo tapped a finger on the desk.
"More controllable. The others like her?"
Hojo shook his head.
Tifa stopped in the middle of his apartment. "Water?" She nodded, gazing at the floor. Cloud stumbled to the kitchen, searching through cupboards for the least unwashed glass. His own hands trembled as he filled it with water. Her hands shook when she took it. "Shakes?" Another nod. "Me too. Real bad." A deep shuddering breath. "Never gets any easier."
Something went out of her and she sank back onto the sofa. She was not about to flee this time; circumstances different now. This time she saved his life. He winced, bruises from the fight catching him. A swift change of clothes in the bedroom, and something remotely the right size for her and a blanket. She rose and left for the bathroom silently.
The thread of conversation was difficult to pick up when she returned. He, drawn back into the business of executing renegade members of her kind; she the first of a new type, now reeling in the strange new knowledge her past was a lie. Or perhaps someone else's. Tifa sipped at her water, pulling the blanket around her. They shared a bottle of whiskey, left the TV blaring away with films from near a century before and the lights off.
"They're going to go to the Shinra corporation." Her words jolted him back awake.
"What?"
"The other SOLDIERs." Tifa kept her gaze on the TV. "They'll go back. They have to. Like I- I want to."
"Why?"
Tifa shook her head. "Something calls me."
"Tifa? I've seen your files. I've seen how SOLDIERs are manufactured, how the brains are put together." Nice going, Cloud. Way to make her feel better. "There's nothing like that."
"It's not something designed." Tifa fidgeted. "I can feel it now."
"What about before? While you were there?"
"I-" Tifa opened and closed her mouth a few times. "It wasn't as bad. But it was there. Something- Something's below the main offices. I feel like I should be there." She met his gaze. "I know the others will too."