Life as a SOLDIER
Disclaimer: She corrected the prologue, if anyone cares.
A/N: Well, I do! I don't like making mistakes! …uh, yeah. Here's the next installment of my story. Glad you're enjoying it so far!
Chapter Four: Secret Plans, E-Mail Addresses, and the Steak Incident
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"So, the 'berserk' option filled Cloud with immense strength?" asked sachoo.
Zack nodded. "Yes, it sure did. Not even Sephiroth saw it coming. I think this program is a bit dangerous, it nearly caused Cloud to try to kill Sephiroth."
"It doesn't matter," said sachoo. "If it enabled him to defeat Sephiroth, then it is a very useful program. It just has to be perfected."
"Perfected?" repeated Zack.
"Yes… Keep regular tests on it. Keep testing it on Cloud, okay? Make sure he knows how to control the 'berserk' program, and try not to overdo it."
"You want this to be a regular program one day?" asked Zack. "Why? I don't see any incident in the future when we'd need a program like this…"
"Oh, just in case. You never know when something or someone arises to challenge those in power."
"Who'd want to challenge Shinra?"
"No-one, of course. But you can't assume that. That's what being the sachoo is about. Planning ahead."
"…okay…" said Zack.
"You have your orders." Sachoo waved a hand. "You're dismissed."
Zack nodded and backed out of the room.
Meanwhile, over with Sephiroth…
Sephiroth stood on his balcony, looking over the Shinra Electric Company. He sighed bitterly to himself. "What was that strength that attacked me earlier today…? That Cloud, I didn't know that he would be so…" He looked down at the rest of Shinra, and saw Zack leaving the sachoo's office. "Hmm…Sachoo rarely sees anyone…Why would he want to see the lead programmer…?"
Sephiroth watched as Zack stowed away his laptop and trudged down the stairs, and into the dorm building.
"Whatever Zack had to do with this… I'll want to find out," said Sephiroth to himself, and turned around and headed back inside his room.
With Zack…
Zack walked to Cloud's room slowly, lost in thought. He wants me to continue testing the "berserk" program on Cloud… But, why Cloud? Why is he using the complete newbie as a guinea pig? Zack stopped, and glanced up at Sephiroth's room. …is it because Cloud, somehow, shares one of Jenova's cells, even though he's not from SOLDIER…? Zack sighed, and carried on to Cloud's room. "Hey, Cloud, are you awake?" asked Zack as he opened Cloud's door.
Cloud was awake; he was sitting up on his bed, looking down at the floor. "I'm awake," he said quietly. "I feel so tired, though…"
"I suppose that's natural, for you to defeat Sephiroth," mused Zack, sitting down next to Cloud. "You have no recollection of the event?"
Cloud shook his head. "No, I don't… All I remember is being flung across the room and hitting the wall…then I saw Sephiroth, then I blacked out. When I came to, I…Sephiroth was on the ground, defeated, and I heard your voice."
"My voice?" repeated Zack.
"…yes… I heard it, and sort of woke up… What happened?"
"You went completely berserk," said Zack truthfully. At least that's part of the truth… thought Zack to himself. "You attacked Sephiroth relentlessly; even he was surprised!"
"Sephiroth's not angry, is he?" asked Cloud anxiously, looking up at Zack in worry.
"Well, he's not exactly pleased…" said Zack slowly. "He's never been defeated before, nonetheless by a newbie. I'm pretty sure he'll do what he can to try and remove this black mark."
Cloud sighed sadly, looking down at the bed. "I'm sorry…" he uttered. "I--I should try to show more control over myself…"
"Don't blame yourself, it's not your fault," said Zack consolingly, patting Cloud on the back. "You did pretty good for a new kid! Really! You should concentrate on your first victory, that you accomplished something. All the SOLDIERs here can only dream of even challenging Sephiroth."
"Hasn't Sephiroth fought others?" asked Cloud curiously.
"Nah, everyone's too afraid to."
"Then how can he be sure he's the best?" asked Cloud thoughtfully. "I mean, if no one's fought Sephiroth before now, then how will we know if Sephiroth is indeed the strongest and the best? For all we know, there could be someone better out there then him."
"Like you?" asked Zack.
Cloud paused, then shook his head. "No, I--I have no strength, I'm nobody here… I'm only si--nineteen."
"Nineteen is an okay age."
"But you said that it's like a kid around here."
"It is, but it's still an okay age." Even though your profile says you're 16... thought Zack. Are you lying, or was there a mistake on your profile? "Well, enough of that, I got a surprise for you!" said Zack cheerfully, hopping of the bed.
"Eh? A surprise?" repeated Cloud, looking at Zack curiously.
"Yep! Here, I left it in your shelf, hold on." Zack strode over to Cloud's shelf, and pulled out a laptop. "Here, you get a laptop all your own!" Zack shoved the laptop into Cloud's arm happily. "See, aren't I a good friend?"
"You got me a laptop?" asked Cloud in amazement. "But, why?"
"Oh, I wanted to get you something. Also, I felt that you were a little lonely, without any other friends here, so maybe you could e-mail your friend!"
Cloud blushed slightly. "You--Did I tell you about Tifa?"
"Tifa? Is that her? Yeah, you mentioned her once." Zack checked Cloud's expression. "What's wrong? Why are you red?"
"Huh…! No-nothing!" said Cloud. "She--She's just a friend!"
"Just a friend?" repeated Zack. "Then why are you acting so flustered?"
"…I'm--I'm not flustered," said Cloud shaking his head. "Really, Tifa and I are hest friends."
"Hmm…" said Zack suspiciously. "If you say so."
"That's right," said Cloud, his cheeks still slightly flushed as he opened the laptop. "I could e-mail Tifa, but I have no e-mail address. How do I get one?"
"Oh, it's easy, here, I'll guide you through it!" Zack sat down next to Cloud and walked him through the e-mail creation process. "You know we're not supposed to have girlfriends," said Zack suddenly, catching Cloud unawares.
"She--no, Tifa's not a girlfriend!" stammered Cloud, his face red slightly. "She's just a friend who happens to be a girl!" he said quickly.
"Mm-hmm," said Zack. "Okay. Sorry, just wanted to make sure you weren't breaking any rules. Cause I have a girlfriend!" said Zack proudly.
"You do?" asked Cloud. "But--"
"Not a word to anyone, right?" asked Zack with a wink. "I'll tell you about her. But first, let's e-mail your friend Tifa!"
"Sure," agreed Cloud, "you want to e-mail her to?"
"Let's do it together, yeah!" said Zack.
Cloud bent over the laptop and typed up:
To: Tifa, it's me, Cloud! My friend Zack helped me get my own e-mail account, so now I'm e-mailing you! Isn't this cool? I have a whole bunch to tell you about!
My friend Zack, he's a cool guy. He's supposed to be my trainer person, but now we're good friends! He kinda reminds me of you sometimes. It's really great, being a new kid and having a friend like Zack. He seems to now the ropes of Shinra, so I'll be fine.
Also… I had a fight with the SOLDIER best-of-the-best named Sephiroth. I defeated him, though I have no memory of how. Zack said that I had gone berserk and relentlessly attacked him…I wonder how I could forget something like that…?
Ah! I'm out of time, it's almost dinnertime! I'll e-mail you again! Bye, Tifa! Cloud Strife
Cloud finished typing his name, and hit the "send" button. "How quickly does e-mail work?" asked Cloud as he signed out.
"It works pretty fast," said Zack, standing up. "It surely is a whole lot faster the snail mail. Let's go, I hear we're gonna have yummy things for dinner tonight!"
Cloud nodded eagerly, disconnecting from the internet and turning the laptop off, hurrying after his friend to the cafeteria. "What yummy things are we having tonight?" asked Cloud.
"Steak! And mashed potatoes! With gravy!" said Zack happily. "It's a treat! I love Saturdays the best!"
"Steak?" repeated Cloud. "Yum! I didn't know they had steak here!"
"Cloud, we're Shinra! We get everything! Come on, let's grab a table!" Zack took Cloud's hand and led him to a table where the two SOLDIERs that were Zack's friends were sitting. "Hey, guys! How you is?"
"Hey Zack!" said one SOLDIER.
"We're good!" said the other SOLDIER. He noticed cloud. "Hey, isn't that the kid you--"
"Yes, this is the guy I told you about," said Zack, giving the SOLDIER a warning glance. "Cloud, these are my friends."
"Hi," said Cloud shyly, looking down at the table.
"Hi," agreed the other SOLDIER.
"So you're Cloud?" asked the first SOLDIER. "I heard you kicked Sephiroth's ass! Is that true?"
Cloud glanced at Zack, who nodded slightly, and said, "Yes, Cloud defeated Sephiroth earlier this morning… But I'm sure it was just beginners luck!" said Zack loudly with a laugh. "Right, Cloud?"
Cloud nodded, staring at the table.
"Doesn't he ever talk?" asked one SOLDIER.
"He does when he's in the mood to talk," said Zack, slapping Cloud's shoulder playfully. "Usually he's silent as the grave, though."
"So, Cloud, were you from?" asked one SOLDIER.
"Yeah, you never told us, and it doesn't say on your profile," said the other SOLDIER.
"Uh…I'm from Nibelheim…" muttered Cloud, not looking up. "That's somewhere close to Midgar…"
"You're so quiet," said one SOLDIER.
"That's just his personality, don't worry about it," said Zack.
"But you'd think you'd have fixed that up by now!" exclaimed the other SOLDIER. "I mean, you're the--"
"Ah, steak's ready!" said Zack, cutting across the SOLDIER. "Let's go get some food! I want mashed potatoes too!" Zack took Cloud's arm again and hurried him to the serving table, the two SOLDIERs behind him.
A whole crowd of SOLDIERs surrounded the serving table, but there seemed to be a problem. The steak was sure ready, but it was huge, and uncut. It sat there on the table as a huge pillar of meat.
"AH-HAH! I GOT IT!" yelled a voice from behind them all. Cloud, who happened to be closest to the steak at the time, looked back, and let out a surprised yell as Sephiroth charged full speed towards him, his Masamune at the ready. "HIIIIII-YAAAAAAAA!" yelled Sephiroth, slicing the steak cleanly in two. "Yes, steak is served! Sephiroth has spoken!"
All the SOLDIERs chattered excitedly as they each took their own steak while Cloud sobbed hysterically on Zack. "Scary! So scary, Zack! I thought he was going to slice me in two!"
"There, there, it's all right," said Zack with a nervous smile as he patted Cloud on the back.
Sephiroth looked back with a self-satisfied smirk, and walked off with a plate full of mashed potatoes and gravy with steak.
"Wuuuuh!" cried Cloud some more as Zack lead him towards the serving table.
"Will Cloudy-woud feel better if Zacky-wacky gets Cloud some steak, mashed potatoes and gravy too?"
Cloud nodded.
"Okay, go wait at the table, I'll bring you some," promised Zack, picking two plates up. "I'll meet you there."
Cloud scampered off to the table, and sat down with a resigned sigh. That really was scary, thought Cloud bitterly, drying the last of his tears away. What was Sephy thinking, cutting the steak like that! Cloud stopped. Wait, did I just call him "Sephy"…!
"Here ya go, Cloud!" said Zack cheerfully, placing a plate full of steak, mashed potatoes, and gravy on the table in front of him. "Enjoy!"
Cloud nodded. Sephy seems an okay name for Sephiroth… thought Cloud stubbornly to himself as he chewed on the steak. I mean, 'Sephiroth' is a long name…Yeah, I'll call him Sephy…
"Steaks good tonight!" said one SOLDIER.
"True that!" agreed the other SOLDIER. "I love Saturdays the best! They always save the best meals for Saturday!"
"That's because Saturday is the best day of the week!" said Zack.
"WHEE! SATURDAY!" cheered the three SOLDIERs as Cloud ate on in silence.
I wonder what hey have so much to talk about? thought Cloud. Well, no matter… I have nothing to say, and anyway, someone has to listen to all that talk… Cloud looked over to where Sephiroth was sitting, alone.
Sephiroth glanced at Cloud, narrowed his eyes, and flashed him the finger.
Cloud gasped. Well, I never! thought Cloud as Sephiroth picked his empty plate up and took it to the kitchen to wash. He sighed. I'll never figure Sephy out, though Cloud as he ate the mashed potatoes and gravy. His moods change so often, it's hard to tell what he's thinking… I mean, is he still angry as Zack said he was, or am I forgiven now?
As Sephiroth walked out of the kitchen and walked towards the exit, his glared at Cloud with something like an unspoken threat.
Cloud nodded to himself. Yeah, I suppose that means he's still angry.. I just hope he doesn't hold this grudge on me too long… Or worse, demand a rematch…
After dinner, in Cloud's room…
Cloud waved Zack goodnight, and closed the door. "Boy, I'm tired…" he yawned, stretching. "I should catch some shut-eye… But first, I'll see if Tifa wrote back yet…"
Cloud turned his laptop on, went online, and checked his e-mail. He brightened. "Ah! Tifa wrote me back!" he exclaimed as he saw he had one unread message.
To: Cloud! It's so great that you got an e-mail account! I already sent you a letter, but now we can communicate almost instantly! Glad you're evolving with the times!
You made a friend! That's good, Cloud! I was afraid that you'd be lonely, but now I can see you'll be fine! Zack sounds like he's a nice guy, I do hope you two become good friends. But always remember that I'm your best friend:3
So, you beat up the best SOLDIER? I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but if it concerns you, then I'd call it a good thing! I beat up people who try to hit on me, so I can understand berserk. You dislike fighting, so you probably blocked out the brutal defeat. Don't take my word for it, however, I'm not good at these sort of things…
Remember, Cloud, if the other boys are mean to you, give me a call, and I'll come pick you up, okay? Bye!
Tifa Lockheart
Cloud smiled to himself. Oh, Tifa… I'll be fine. There'll be no need for that…
To: remember that, Tifa. Thanks for writing to me! I'll write as often as I can, so you don't have to worry about not hearing from me! From now on, I'll let you know about everything that happens to me around here so you don't worry, okay? I'll talk to you soon! Bye! Cloud Strife
Cloud hit the "send" button, and signed out, turning the laptop off. "The world is a beautiful place," said Cloud to himself, placing the laptop on the shelf and flopping onto the bed. "I can't wait for a new day…"
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Well, here ends chapter four. You all loving it? I hope so. Oh, and a quick note, the e-mail addresses up there are 100 made-up. They're not real e-mail addresses (at least I don't think they are), so please don't try to send e-mail to those. I used the Yahoo! E-mail service because I use it, there was no intended humor in using Yahoo! as the e-mail service. No humor intended, okay? Thanks for reading, and don't forget to let me know what you think of the fanfic, okay? Bye! Keep you're eyes peeled for chapter 5!