~Beginning of FF VII~

I was on my way to the upper plate, as today was a special occasion. It was the same day as my first day of school all that time ago… The day I made my first friend. How long has it been now? Six, seven years?

The streets of Midgar haven't changed, only the people in them. I've only gotten stronger since I left ShinRa, and I've passed on some of my knowledge into Aerith. I insisted that I teach her basic hand-to-hand and help her become proficient with some sort of weapon. She chose the staff, but even after three years, she still hasn't really gotten the hang of it. Aerith always went out of her way to avoid fighting, which I could understand. It didn't matter anyway, because as long as I was always there for her, she wouldn't have to fight.

Getting to the upper plate usually isn't hard, but ShinRa controls everything from the elevators to the train system. So if ShinRa is after you, it makes getting around a little more difficult if you don't want to be caught. Aerith manages to get to the top plate to sell her flowers, but she will only go at night for some reason. I've beaten down any soldiers who've come after me and Aerith, even a few Turks. But it's only a matter of time before they send in the heavy artillery; we just aren't high enough on ShinRa's top priority list to warrant high level Turks or SOLDIERs at the moment.

I reached my destination: the train station. I felt around my pockets for my fake I.D. that I bought after my first couple weeks in the Slums; it sure did make my life easier. In the ShinRa Public Records, like Sephiroth, I'm actually listed as "dead" thanks to the incident in Nibelheim even though they never found a body. However, in the ShinRa private computer, I am simply listed as "missing" ever since Tseng showed up at Aerith's church one afternoon. He didn't stick around to fight or even say anything, which was good for me. I don't like fighting Turks—you never know what they have up their sleeves.

The only thing I am still careful about is my eyes. They glow like any other SOLDIER's, which draws a lot of questions out of normal people and suspicion from the wrong kind of people. I tried growing my bangs out for a while, but I can't stand having hair in my face. So instead I got myself a cool pair of shades—you know, sunglasses? I love them. They rest on top of my head when I don't need them, and don't hinder my eyesight when I do need them. Sometimes I also use my hood, but that can sometimes draw more suspicion than having SOLDIER eyes.

I collapsed into a seat, and waited for the conductor to signal the all clear. The whistle sounded, and the train inched forward. It picked up speed, and soon enough the bland Midgar scenery became little more than a gray blur.

There were businessmen, businessesswomen, peasants, children, and shabby-looking gangsters all around me on the train. I never usually look at them in detail, except for the children. They fascinate me. How different would I be if I had grown up normally with my parents? Would I be like these kids with innocent faces? I was not envious, however. Thanks to my initial misfortune, I was now part of something much bigger than simply surviving.

The train drew into a tunnel, and before long we burst out into the sunlight of the upper plate. I could see the ShinRa building now; a cold shiver ran down my spine. Not from fear, but of the sheer strangeness of it.

Five minutes later, the locomotive screeched to a stop at Sector 8 Station. Most of the people in my car piled out, but a few remained. Some people do not like walking any farther than they have to, even on the Upper Plate.

I got off, ignoring the suspicious glance from the conductor. I was taking a big risk, coming up here where ShinRa security was so much tighter. But I didn't care. The business which brought me here was important to me- I promised them I would come back. I promised…

Mentally scolding myself for losing focus, I started on the long-remembered path to my old school through the bustling Sector 8. People of every kind you could imagine were milling about, off to their individual destinations. Bright neon signs and billboards that lit up the sky at nighttime were dull and put out in the daylight. An occasional automobile would come through the streets, causing a great, comical scatter. Infantrymen, with their faces hidden behind their standard issue masks and scarves, wandered about aimlessly, breaking the illusion of stern ShinRa control.

Occasionally, the dark uniform suit of a Turk would catch my eye amid the sea of all the other varied colored suits of businessmen. Turks were trained to blend in with the rest of the suits, but their neckties always gave them away: plain, and the exact color of the suit. The Turk that passed me on the other side of the street must have been new; I'd never seen her before. She was a young woman, with shoulder-length blond hair, and a deep scowl plastered on her face. I didn't have much time to study her, as the traffic carried her away in the opposite direction of my destination.

Some short minutes later, I arrived in front of the ShinRa Secondary Education Academy. Yuki and Clause…. They were in there somewhere, listening to some "teacher" spew basic information about math, science, the common language, in addition to useless facts about ShinRa history. The feeling I got when I gazed upon the building was very different from the feelings of exhilaration I once got from the sight of my old elementary school. A bell rang, signaling the end of classes.

A moment afterwards, I heard a click. I whipped around just in time to see the shooter before I heard the boom of the gun. The same blond Turk I saw earlier, standing about fifty feet away in the shadow of an alley. To me, it felt as if time had slowed everything down except for myself. I swiftly drew my sword, and positioned it to deflect the speedily approaching bullet. After I heard the 'ping' of deflection, I raced forward towards the Turk, prepared to defect more bullets if I needed to. Behind me, I heard the confused din of the departing students; hopefully they were smart enough to stay within cover. Turks would not hesitate to shoot even if civilians were in between them and their target.

The Turk only had time to fire twice more before I was upon her. I dodged both shots before promptly striking her weapon with my blade; it soared out of her hands and, with a sharp crack, connected with the solid brick wall on my left. The Turk let out a shriek—the mistake of a rookie. My earlier assumption must've been correct- she was new.

The sudden whoosh of air into my ear alerted me to the presence of the second Turk. I had no time to dodge; as all of my concentration had been on Blondie, I was unprepared to deal with a second assailant.

The kick connected with the right side of my head- I rolled with the impact, and used my own attacker's force to jump and rebound off the wall he obviously wanted me to crash into. My grip on my weapon had not faltered, and as I traveled through the air towards the bald Turk, I brought it up behind me in preparation of a two-handed overhand strike. However, this Turk was no amateur; he caught me by my forearms and used my own momentum to throw me over his shoulder and into the ground. The force of the throw made me roll and skid back into the street. My sword was freed from my grip and embedded itself point-down in the ground at the spot of my initial impact- I continued a few feet behind it.

My head cracked painfully against the pavement. My vision was momentarily knocked out—I compensated by taking in all the sounds around me. Harsh words and the sound of feet slapping ruthlessly against the ground, coming towards me: the Turks. Loud, stressed voices varying in pitch and depth were from the students, as well as some random civilians who just happened to be passing by the spectacle. But one noise made itself heard above all the rest:

"Rin!" Female, sounded close to my age…

At the sound of my name, I regained my senses and got to my feet. I calculated I had approximately three seconds to look for whoever called my name before the Turks were upon me—I wasted none of it. I zoned on the source, having blocked all other sounds once I heard the girl's shout.

There. A Wutainese girl, who was being dragged away in the street, away from my fight, by a boy who looked her—our, age. My heart almost jumped out of my mouth.

Yuki and Clause.

I whipped around to face the Turks, and roughly forced my nerves to calm. The blond lady Turk was charging at me, screaming. I could see fear and hesitation in her eyes; I was an experiment and a freak. I had come to terms with that a long time ago; I embrace it. It is who I am.

However, the bald Turk continued past me, and disappeared into the throng of people running away. I cursed. Did they see? Did they know? The chances were very high.

I couldn't—wouldn't let them become part of this mess. This ended now.

I grabbed the remaining Turk's forearms much like the bald one had done to me, and twisted my torso to throw her as far away into the school grounds as I could. I didn't follow up with a magic attack like I wanted to; she was only a rookie. Instead, I went after Yuki and Clause.

I wretched my sword from its place in the concrete, and shoved it back into its sheath. I ran at top speed down the street, shoving civilians out of my way. I relished the feeling that ultimate haste gave me, the feeling of my legs pushing unnaturally strong against the pavement, propelling me forward. I glanced down the branching alleys for any signs of the bald Turk or my friends- not for the first time, I wished I had Akuma with me. I had no way to find them beyond sight. Curse his lazy ass…

I ran past dozens of alleys, and skidded to halt as that familiar voice reached out to me again.

"Riiin!" It was more of a screech this time, betraying fear. My heart sped up again.

I continued blindly in the direction of the sound, into a small alley that gradually got wider and bigger the farther you went. At the end was the bald Turk. Under his foot was Clause, unmoving. Yuki had the Turk's left arm wrapped around her neck, with the other holding a gun to her head.

"Let them go." I said immediately. I drew sword and tossed it to the ground between us.

Yuki's eyes widened impossibly at the sight of me. "Rin…" she choked out.

My eyes locked onto hers. "Don't worry Yuki, I'll get you out of here in a sec."

I returned my gaze to the Turk—his own eyes were protected by shades. "Release them. They have nothing to do with this."

"On the contrary—" said a deep voice behind me. At the same time, I heard three bullets leave a gun in rapid succession. They all found themselves in my back.

Another scream from Yuki. My breath left me at impact, and the force knocked my forward to my knees. A strange paralyzing effect rapidly spread from the bullets, alienating the flesh it touched. Mere seconds passed, and my legs and arms already would not respond to my commands.

I forced my head around, to look at the shooter. I already knew who it was—the voice gave him away. Tseng. He stood there, an unreadable mask on his face.

"W-why…" I gasped out. Yuki was weeping now, and the bald Turk released her into a heap on the ground. Remarkably, she found the strength to get up and come to me. She knelt down next to my now prone form, and took my face in her hands.

"Rin—we've missed you—I knew you weren't dead—hold on, just hold on—"

I could only look at her, the paralyzation having reached my fingertips, toes, and face. A gloved hand appeared on her shoulder, and this time, gently forced her away from me. The bald Turk stepped over me, and flipped me onto my stomach with his foot. He drew my arms behind me to cuff them. I heard Yuki retreat to Clause, still trying to stifle her sobs and failing. I hoped he wasn't hurt. I'd have to kill that Turk if he was. And if he was, it was all my fault. The Turks only went after them because they're—they were, my friends.

The last thing I heard before the darkness crept into my mind was Tseng's voice: "Well done, Rude. Is Elena…?"

Meanwhile….

A man and a woman sat on top of a children's playground slide.

"No kidding. The same class."

"The same as who?"

"The first boy I ever liked…"

I first thing I became aware of was the hard surface I was lying on. It defiantly wasn't my bed…

Then the smell hit me; or rather, the lack of it. I tried to sit up, but found my hands were still tied behind my back. I groaned, and used my abdominals to pull myself up instead. I already knew where I was.

It was a cell- a small square room with a sad excuse for a bed and not much else. The door was solid, and a guard would be stationed somewhere outside. The cells were very close to Hojo's lab, and for a good reason.

There was an annoying buzz in the air, making my head hurt. That's probably what woke me up in the first place. I realized that it was a machine outside my cell that was making the noise, and a few moments later I heard a commotion outside the door.

"…prepared. Don't want….…understand? Its capable of… …grown… … down easily." It was hard to make out, but I was 97% sure that was Hojo's voice. A ball of ice-cold dread knotted my stomach.

The door suddenly shot open, and two guards came in. Unfortunately, I was still cuffed, so it was their lucky day. They each seized an arm and proceeded to march me out to the waiting scientist. Correction—mad scientist.

"Yes, excellent behavior. It's nice to know at least one specimen is intelligent realizes the futility of trying to escape…" Hojo mumbled in a disdainful tone.

'We'll see about that when these anti-SOLDIER cuffs are off...' I thought bitterly.

Judging from memory, I suspected we were headed to the testing facility located on the current research floor. It was identical to the training ones on the SOLDIER floor, except for the fact that Hojo's had no safety restrictions and a considerably more diverse selection of programs.

We entered the room, and I was quickly thrown into the hologram chamber after my cuffs were removed. I fought with a holographic sword identical to my real one, with no materia. I was forced to run about two dozen programs before Hojo called it quits, including a number of rounds with Sephiroths set at various difficultly levels, rounds of several anti-SOLDIER monsters from Wutai, one round with first-class Zack, three rounds of different squads of three second-class SOLDIERs, and one round with a top-notch Genesis and Angeal. Needless to say, I lost many of these fights. When I could no longer stand after five straight rounds with Sephiroth, Hojo simply sent a guard in with an Elixir. Regardless of whether I drank it or not, he started the next program. I did not have the strength to be stubborn and consumed the Elixir quickly.

It finally ended after about two hours. I was in the middle of the fight with Angeal and Genesis; I felt like I was getting cut to ribbons, even though I knew I could acquire no real injuries in the simulator. Hojo abruptly ended the program when it became apparent I was not going to win. I sank to my hands and knees on the hard metal floor, barely noticing the guard enter the chamber and re-cuff me. He hauled be back outside, where we marched behind Hojo back to the science floor. I lost consciousness along the way, with that weird buzzing invading my mind again.

My daughter. My only daughter. Won't you come back to Mother? There is someone who wants to see you again very badly…