Everybody ready for a fairly long-winded chapter? I know I am!
About a week later, Zack called a meeting of 'Song Club'. It was pretty much just a jam session with me, him and Cloud.
It was Zack's idea to call it 'Song Club'. He'd watched Fight Club the day before, so he enforced some of the Fight Club rules.
Rule 1 of Song Club: You do NOT talk about Song Club.
Rule 2 of Song Club: See Rule 1.
Eventually, 'Song Club' matured into a band. I'd included two of my workmates from Banora in the band: waiter Reno and chef Rude. We called ourselves 'the Turks' when we did gigs.
The bliss of success was soon marred by Zack's fanaticism over his stupid rules. Reno had reported one of our gigs to Lazard, which seemed reasonable to me, but Zack kicked him out of the band. I apologised profusely to Reno as he left, so we were still friends. Not long after Reno was fired, Rude left, saying that it wasn't any fun without Reno. Now that I look back on it, he was probably right.
Zack was playing us a song he'd written a few days before when I got a phone call. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and glanced at it. There was no name, just a number, so it wasn't anyone I knew.
"I gotta take this," I said apologetically to Zack, who nodded and kept playing.
I pressed the 'call' button on my phone and held it to my ear. "Hello?"
"Is that Luke Riordan?" a deep voice asked.
"Uh, yes, yes it is. Why? Who's asking?" Yes, I was a bit suspicious. A guy with a deep voice calls me and knows my name, but I have no idea who it is? You'd be suspicious too, wouldn't you?
The man on the other end of the phone chuckled. "Calm your fears, Mr Riordan. My name's Rufus Shinra."
I gasped audibly. "Rufus Shinra? The owner of Mako Reactor?" For the uninitiated, Mako Reactor is the best club in Midgar.
"That's right. I'm an old friend of Lazard."
"Of course you are," I said somewhat sarcastically.
"You're part of a band, aren't you?" Rufus asked me.
I glanced back at Zack and Cloud. "Sorta."
"Well, I was wondering if you would be interested in playing at my club in a couple of weeks."
My eyes bulged in their sockets. "Would I?" I made some show of clearing my throat and composing myself. "I mean, interesting proposal."
Rufus laughed. "Call me when you know for sure." Then he hung up on me.
I walked back to my friends, grinning like the Cheshire Cat.
"What's got you so happy?" Cloud asked.
"What would you guys say if I told you that Rufus Shinra wants us to play at Mako Reactor in a couple of weeks?"
"I'd tell Cloud to call the loony farm," Zack smiled at me.
"Well, don't. Because, and I'm dead serious about this, that was Shinra on the phone just now, and he wants us to play at Mako Reactor in a couple of weeks."
"Seriously?" Zack shouted, amazed. Soon, though, his look became sceptical. "Wait… How does Rufus Shinra know about us?"
"You remember Reno-Gate?"
"How could I forget?" Cloud said melodramatically, passing a hand over his eyes.
"Well, Lazard and Rufus are old friends. I imagine that Lazard told him about us."
"You know, I'm no longer pissed at Reno."
"I'm sure he'll swoon with delight when he finds out."
**GREEN**
"No freaking way!" Tifa squealed.
"Actually, yes freaking way," I corrected.
"There's only one problem," Zack interrupted our euphoria.
"What?" I asked flatly.
"We have no drummer. And we need another guitarist."
"I can fix that," Yuffie jumped in. "I know a couple of guys. They used to be in a band, but everyone around them quit suddenly a while back."
"Sounds perfect," I said. "Who are they?"
"A drummer named Angeal, and a guitarist named Genesis. I can call them right now, if you want."
"If you don't mind."
She pulled her phone out of her jeans and stood up. "It's the least I can do," she belittled it, winking at me as she walked off.
Tifa cast a puzzled look at me. "What was that?"
"What was what?" I asked obliviously.
"Yuffie just winked at you."
"Yeah. So?"
"I want details." She looked like she wouldn't give up until she knew, so I gritted my teeth and told her.
"When Yuffie took me home after the date last week, she kissed me."
"Seriously?" Zack asked.
"Why are you so fond of that word?" I deadpanned.
He shrugged. "It's as good as any other."
Yuffie came back from her phone call, and she was smiling. "They're in. They'll be here tomorrow."
"Excellent," I smiled at her.
**GREEN**
Angeal turned out to be a bulky man in his early thirties, with medium-length black hair and a trimmed beard on his chin. Genesis, on the other hand, was a man in his late twenties, with well-kept brown hair. All in all, they seemed like nice guys.
"So just to make it simple," I explained to them, "we write our own songs, and we don't really stick to one genre."
"Now that's the way to make music," Genesis approved.
"Thank you," I nodded to him. "Anyway, we'll play through a shortlist of songs that I've put together, then make some decisions about what we'll play at Mako Reactor."
Angeal nodded. "Let's do it."
**GREEN**
At the end of the jam session, we'd worked out exactly what we were going to play. Here's the list (the writer's name is in brackets):
1. "Last Night" (me)
2. "I Will Follow You Into the Dark" (Zack)
3. "Summer Paradise" (Zack)
4. "Over & Over" (me)
5. "Happiness" (Cloud)
6. "Check Yes Juliet" (me)
7. "Photograph" (Cloud)
8. "I'm Yours" (Cloud)
9. "Comatose" (Zack)
10. "Drive By" (me)
11. "Everything" (Cloud)
"So we're set?" Angeal asked me.
I nodded. "I'll call Shinra and tell him we're in." I pulled my phone out of my pocket.
"Hold on," Genesis interrupted.
"What's up?" Zack asked.
"We don't have a name."
Everyone looked at each other, expecting an idea.
I sighed heavily. Why was I the ideas man? "How about 'SOLDIER'?"
"Soldier?" Cloud asked, puzzled.
"No, SOLDIER. In all capitals."
Angeal looked downcast for a while, until his face brightened. "I like it," he approved simply.
"So do I," Genesis agreed.
"Okay then, a vote," Zack decided. "All in favour of calling the band SOLDIER?"
Everyone's hands went up.
"SOLDIER it is."
"Zack, why did you do that?" I said exasperatedly. "We had no other options."
He shrugged. "I like to be methodical."
I rolled my eyes but said nothing.