Her
The one who started it all
Vincent Valentine was brooding. Mika Shinra was gaping at the colossal aircraft in the hanger bay. "It's so beautiful! Vincent please come look!" Mika cried. Vincent snorted.
"And you didn't want to see the ship…"
"You're boasting, Valentine, and I don't like it."
"I have my rights to boast, Lady Shinra," Vincent took a step forward and paused, "What do you think of Lucrecia Crescent?"
"From a friendly standpoint or my employer stand point?" Mika asked turning to face the Raven-haired Turk. He shrugged and sighed. Mika then sighed and said, "Both then. From a friend point of view, she is really nice and friendly; she left me a card for my birthday a few weeks ago. But as her employer-"
"Lady Shinra…don't," Vincent warned.
"Vincent Valentine you asked what I thought about her so that is what you're going to hear! But as her employer I think she could be a little more concerned about what people think and what is going to happen with all these experiments," Mika said finishing off her statement, "Any questions?"
Vincent turned to face her, "Just one."
"Shoot."
"Why do you hate Mako and experimentation so much?" Vincent asked politely. He expected for the Lady not to answer, and he watched carefully as she walked over to the railing and leaned over a little bit.
"I guess it's because I have a bad feeling about it. In Cetran Lore there was a woman by the name of Lilith, she was a Cetra, and she warned of terrors to come if something or someone was provoked, "She turned to Vincent," There is more to the story. I know there is, but the text in the book that we have at the library…cut off after provoke so we don't know exactly what were dealing with. For all we now the Mako could kill us! Or cause an illness."
"Yes, Ma'am those are all good points, but what if the Mako cures illnesses. My Lady, I'm sorry to say this but you are paranoid," Vincent said calmly.
"So! I just have the best interest in mind for my people! Obviously Daddy and the executives don't…all they want is money," Mika said, "And it is NOT your place to point fingers Mister Valentine." Mika turned away and walked down the stairs.
"Wait Lady Shinra!" Vincent cried scrambling down the stairs to the Aerial Bay and pushed his way through the crowds of people. When he got himself threw the crowd, Lady Shinra was no where in site.
"Great," Vincent sighed, "How am I going to explain this?"
Mika Shinra walked through all the checkpoints with just a quick flash of her badge and began to walk up the stairs and into the ShinRa Library.
"Hello Lady Shinra, how may I assist you today?" an older woman asked.
"I just need a book and a database, then Miss Sybil, I will be out of here and heading down to the Research labs," Mika said waving away the older woman's offers of assistance. Mika walked over to a shelf and selected a book. She opened it to the pages about Cetran Lore.
The Cetras believe that the calamity that fell from the sky, which is now named Meteorfall, carried a passenger that would come as a fake Cetra. Mika snapped the book shut. Jenova was found at the Northern Crater, could she be the thing that Lilith the Cetra was talking about? She needed to show this to somebody that would believe her…but who? Vincent.
Mika began to walk down the halls of the building, and she was beginning to think there was somebody watching her.
-In Nibelhiem at the ShinRa Manor-
He and the others had just gotten back to Nibelhiem and Hojo was already at his desk, while the others were getting coffee or in the lab. Hojo pushed the papers out of the way. He had to rap his mind around the thought that Mika Shinra might be the missing link in the Jenova Project. Hojo slammed his fist on the table as Professor Gast walked into the room.
"So I take it we're not doing the Jenova Project then? I'm sorry Hojo I knew you were looking forward-" Gast was cut off by Hojo.
"Gast, we have funding for the Jenova Project, the President even offered a test subject," Hojo said grimly.
"Really he offered a corpse? That's great!" Gast said with wonderment as he set a cup of coffee in front of Hojo. Hojo pushed the cup away.
"Gast you don't get it! He offered us a live specimen-" Hojo was cut off.
"I have to work on blue prints for the containment chamber then!" Gast said ignoring the live specimen comment.
"He said if his daughter doesn't comply with human testing, she becomes the missing link in our Jenova Project. If Mika does not keep her opinions to herself, she will be our live specimen." Hojo said with a groan.
"No! We can't do that to a human! We can't do that to lady Shinra!" Gast said. His coffee cup that he was holding fell from his hands and broke as it hit the floor.
"We have to comply, we have no choice!" Hojo said.
"Well I do. I resign my title of Head of Science Department. And you are now the Head!" Gast said.
"You…You…can't do that," Hojo stuttered.
"I just did Hojo. And if you can really experiment on Lady Shinra, I don't want to see what will happen to your mind," Gast said cleaning off his desk. As he finished, he said, "I hope you, Professor Valentine, and Doctor Crescent are happy with the choice that you have just made. I mean I can't believe after all the inconclusive data we established on Jenova…I can't believe you Hojo are going to follow through. This could kill her." Hojo watched as Gast walked out of the office and wondered if Gast was right. As Gast slipped from his sight, that would be the last time he saw his good friend. The last time he saw his friend alive, that is.
-Back at Midgar-
"Which one of God's puppies did I kick? Hey Solider boy. Hey wait you listen to me! I'm a Turk damnit!" Vincent yelled flashing his badge and then chasing the Solider. "I don't have time for this! Hey stop that is a restricted area!" Vincent pulled out his gun and fired a round at the Solider. The Solider fell to the ground and Vincent kicked the body and a card fell out. Vincent picked it up and read it, "Great, Bounty Hunters, after the president no doubt."
Vincent unhooked his call-in radio and paged in, "Vincent Valentine reporting in. We have a breach on sector three, does anybody copy?"
"Mister Valentine is Lady Shinra safe?" the radio hissed.
Vincent could feel his heart sink. Mika was defenseless and his job was on the line as it was, and with the current security breach, she was even less safe than she was. Vincent hit the talk button, "Sir I have some bad news-"
Vincent was cut off by a mass of blond and white tackling him to the ground. Mika Shinra was not dead. Vincent sighed of relief as Mika got off him and he was able to finish speaking to his superior.
"Well since she is safe. And there is no real threat here, she will remain here and watch over the rest of the staff, all the professors will be staying, only the President and his guard are being moved to a disclosed location. I will notify you, Valentine, if we believe Lady Shinra's life to be in any danger. "
"Well?" Mika asked.
"You're father is being moved to a disclosed location until the rest of the bounty hunter's are found. You will watch over the company and I will watch over you. The professors are not being moved, only your father, the security center will notify me if they think you are in danger Lady Shinra. Now," Vincent said straightening his tie, "Why did you tackle me?"
"Look Vincent," Mika said opening the book, "I have never seen this page."
Vincent read the sentences over and over again. His back straighten and he said, "It has some meaning Lady Shinra, but what is so important about a Meteorfall that happened thousands of years ago?"
"The Meteor carried a 'fake Cetra'. Where is the only crater where something was found at excavation?" Mika asked snapping the book shut.
"The Northern Crater," Vincent responded.
"And Lilith warned about something being provoked, we shouldn't mess with things like Jenova!" Mika said.
"I'd take this up with your father if you are so certain that this is true. That Jenova is a 'fake Cetra' and in old writings a Cetra warned about something. I don't personally believe it Lady Shinra, but if you feel this strongly about this…then tell your father," Vincent said stiffly, "I think Mako is not dangerous and nothing is going to happen. So they found a dead thing in a cave. Big deal. What you're talking about probably happened five hundred years ago."
Mika sighed, "You have your way of seeing things Valentine, and I have mine. Alright? Now I have to make a phone call. So let's go Turkey."
"It's Vincent." He said.
"Alright Vinnie," Mika said with a smile, "Let's go tell my father that he can't use Jenova."
Vincent sighed, hopefully by the end of the quarter he would be reassigned to somebody that was less headstrong.
End of Chapter 2
A/N: Oh no one more chapter till Hojo goes insane. Oh dear. And I really like this story.
