Chapter 2- Signature
"…You've got to be kidding me." Jade sighed and allowed the curtain to fall back into place. Yesterday's storm did quite a number on the town. Many homes and streets were flooded, making transportation by foot or car impossible. Even if one did try to go outside, they would just get stuck in the knee deep muddy water. It made mako collecting impossible.
The teen flopped down on her bed and stared blankly at the ceiling. Her 'new' client had texted her. He wanted more mako ASAP. The quicker she got it, the higher her pay would be.
Her eyes glanced over to her money stuffed bear. At this point, she had enough gil to never work again but the thought of another million gil was far too tempting. The brunette's eyes glowed with greed. With one last look at her bear, Jade hopped off the bed, threw on some day clothes, grabbed her backpack and ran out the door.
Even while wearing rain boots; it was a pain in the ass to waddle through muddy waters to reach her destination. Water spilled into the boots, soaking through her white socks and staining them a coffee brown.
'This is for a million gill.' She kept reminding herself as she trudged through the town and into the forest where the reactor laid. With every step, it seemed like the ground was trying to pull her down. Mud, grass and other vegetation attached themselves to the soles of her boots, making it increasingly difficult to move.
'I'll get more money if I go faster.' Her pace sped up even with the earth pulling her back. After a grueling hike through the forest, the teen stood in front of the mako reactor. Shallow pants wheezed out of her windpipe and she had to use a nearby rock for support. Psychical strength was never a strong point for her.
Jade pulled out a syringe and with practiced motion, plunged the needle deep into her arm. The mako was already beginning to take effect.
She could feel her muscles heal and her vision correct. With a fluid motion, her glasses came off; tucked into one of her many jacket pockets. Muscle enhanced by mako powered her strides as she jumped into the reactor, landing on all fours like a cat.
Glowing blue eyes scanned the run down reactor, checking for any signs of life. The coast was clear. Jade straighten up from her crouched position and shrugged off her back pack, taking out a few empty glass vials.
The pool of life energy glowed before her eyes. It was a magnificent shade of jade; illuminating the dank and draft reactor. To be honest, it was a welcome change of scenery from everyday Gongaga, even though she was here yesterday. For some reason, the glowing pit of mako relaxed her. It was her sanctuary and her main source of income. As the saying goes, kill two birds with one stone. In this case it was money and a nice, quiet place free from judgement and pressure.
Jade stood there for a while, basking in the soft light that radiated from the pool.
"It's quite nice isn't it?" Blue pupils dilated as a foreign voice rung out through the reactor. She didn't even have time to react as a sharp pain erupted from the base of her skull. Her brain was firing off neurons at a rapid pace as the brunette fell to her knees before slumping over; the upper half of her body making a splash in the florescent liquid.
Little air bubbles escaped her lips as the mako rushed into her mouth and slowly trickled into her lungs. The teen's body was screaming for air. How could she, a human enhanced with liquid mako, succumb to a single blow to her head? Whoever hit her had some sort of experience with tripped out humans, mako or otherwise.
Suddenly, a hand gripped the back of her neck and hauled the teen's body out of the glowing liquid; dangling her a good foot off the ground. Flecks of green were hacked out of her lungs as she took rapid breaths to try and replenish the amount of oxygen circulating throughout her body.
"So you're the mongrel who hacked into Shinra's databanks. And now you're stealing mako? Tsk tsk. Don't you ever listen to your parents but hey- who am I to talk?" Strained cerulean eyes saw Christmas colors dancing in her vision. Who or what was her attacker? If it could easily knock down a human tripped out on mako… no this thing can't be human. It had to be a SOLDIER; Shinra's muscle army.
The SOLDIER slung her over their shoulder like a sack of potatoes but uttered out a small groan of complaint. "Geez you're heavy. Can't a guy get a hand around here?" Jade's brain was still swarming with stars. She could feel her limp, lifeless body being handed from one SOLDIER to another. Throughout all the gibber gabber bullshit, she concluded her attacker was male- most likely.
Pale hands swung lazily from side to side with every step the behemoth who held her took. Everything was fuzzy, like static. Jade danced on the thread of consciousness and unconsciousness for a good five minutes or so. Throughout those precious minutes, the scenery changed. They were out of the reactor and in broad daylight. Blue eyes squinted and saw a pair of black leather shoes sloshing through the muddy waters and another set beside them.
She also heard someone complaining about mud, water and ruining new shoes but her brain decided to quit on her. It had too much excitement for one day and was shutting down even faster with the mako burning out of her system. The brunette let out a quiet groan before her mind went blank. The soothing noise of rotating helicopter blades lulled her to sleep.
The stench of chlorine and alcohol stung her nostrils and rudely awakened her from her slumber. Dull brown eyes slowly blinked open and scanned the room. By the look of the snow white walls and the stench of disinfectant, Jade safely concluded she was at a hospital in a major city. None of the infirmaries in Gongaga was this high tech.
She swiveled her head to gaze at the only window in the room she was in locked in. Even without her glasses she could see the sky. It was a red hue from pollution and she could stare directly at the sun without being blinded. If she did that back home, her retinas would have been fried.
The brunette slowly flexed her muscles, making sure they all worked correctly and whatever creature hit her didn't paralyze them. Nodding in satisfaction, the girl slid out from the clean white sheets and looked around the room for her spectacles. Everything looked incredibly fuzzy. Jade knew she wasn't getting anywhere like this so, with tentative steps, she walked forward.
After the third step, she found herself unable to move. Brown eyes blinked in confusion as they looked down and saw a metal chain around her right ankle. The cuff wrapped firmly around her joint and prevented her from getting three feet away from the bed.
"You've got to be kidding me." The girl said to no one in particular and yanked on the metal. It didn't budge.
"Afraid not. Those chains are reinforced with tilkal and galvorn. Not even a SOLDIER can break them." Jade swiveled her head and saw a figure leaning against the ivory doorframe. She squinted her brown eyes but the figure was still incredibly blurry. The only two things she could make out were the person had bright red hair and was wearing a black suit.
"…"
"Not much of a talker are ya?" The human pushed them self-off the frame and shoved their hands in their pockets. "Well then, I guess I'll have to do the talking for ya." The talking red mop of hair slowly walked closer to the glasses-less girl.
When the mop was only three feet away, Jade was finally able to get a good look at him. Fiery red hair pulled back into a streamline ponytail was the most prominent feature. His green eyes were second. This was the man who had knocked her out with a single blow, the one who looked like a walking talking Christmas tree.
"Oh? Like what you finally see?" The redhead smirked cockily. "Sorry but I'm not into teens."
The brunette snorted. "And I'm not into old men. What's your point?"
Brown eyes glared right back into green ones with a challenging look. The two stared down each other for what seemed like minutes, neither of them moving. It was a silent challenge, one that could not be bested through the use of words or violence.
"Reno, Jade, break it up." A new voice came into the room.
Reno was the first to break eye contact. "Tseng," He nodded disdainfully towards the newcomer but backed off on the chained female, allowing the black haired man to talk.
Jade raised an eyebrow at the newcomer. A gut feeling told her this man was not to be trifled with. He was dangerous and could make her life a living hell if he wanted to. Slowly but surely, she scanned him as well. He didn't look like he could do much physical harm.
"Jade Fair, it is nice to finally meet you. I am Tseng of the Turks." The man pulled out a chair and gestured for her to sit on the bed. Jade did so warily, her brown eyes locked onto the newcomer.
"You're here for two things. One, you stole mako from Shinra and distributed it in the form of a drug to normal humans. As you know, drug distribution in Gongaga is a lifetime sentence in prison. Not to mention, you are a minor distributing drugs to other-"
"Just tell me what I need to do to get out of here." The Fair sibling was tired of listening to the man talk. She knew he wanted something from her and had a pretty good guess on what it was. Either work for Shinra or go to jail. He probably had some form of blackmail and illegal documentations- enough to convict her for a lifetime in prison.
Tseng pulled out a stack of papers from his suit and handed it over to her. "We are offering you the position of a technology specialist Turk. You were able to breech four levels of Shinra security, a feat unheard of outside of the Turks. You'll be paid handsomely and all of your criminal charges will be erased. All you have to do is sign on the dotted lines."
There were at least ten legal document sized papers, each detailing the strict procedure of her job. She scanned through it for a few seconds before looking at Tseng. "I will need some time to look over all of this."
"Of course. Take as much time as you need." Tseng stood up and walked towards the doorway with Reno tailing behind him. The hospital door closed with a click, a sign it was locked.
"…So I really am a prisoner here." Jade sighed heavily and turned her attention to the papers in hand. The text was small, too small to be read with her blurry eyesight. Her pale hands felt around the bed for any lumps or bumps. Nothing.
It wasn't until fifteen minutes later that she had found her spectacles on the bedside table. A sigh of relief escaped her as she slid the frames on and observed the room with 'new' eyes. It was plain hospital room with the exception of the cuff attached to her leg to prevent escape.
The teen sighed once more, pinching the bridge of her nose with her index finger and thumb. This wasn't supposed to happen; she wasn't supposed to get caught. But the idea of supposing was just an ignorant man's way of living in the past. For now, she had to move forward.
Determination washed off the brunette in waves as brown eyes, hidden behind the glare of her glasses, scanned the papers like a machine.
Hours passed by. The red sun of Midgar gradually dipped below the horizon and made way for the pale moon in the night sky. The stagnant smog of mako pollution blanketed the city in a layer of pale green vapor.
Jade churned out signature after signature. The pen gradually lost its ink and a nurse had to bring in a replacement. All the dotted lines had been signed on save for one. Brown eyes scanned the fine print once more.
By signing this, I acknowledge that I am now property of the Shinra Company. If at any time I disobey or refuse an order, the Shinra Company can dispose of me how they see fit.
Was it worth it? Was it worth throwing her whole life away just to make Zackary Fair's life a living hell?
Her signature was on the page before she finished that thought. She wanted his time in Shinra to be a living hell, even if she had to condemn her own life to see to it. He made her life in Gongaga miserable. Now it was time to return the favor.
"I see you have finally finished signing the papers." Tseng's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. The paper was snatched out of her hands in an instant, earning a couple of papers cuts and a loud hiss from the girl.
The man gave the papers a quick glance before he placed them in his suit. A slightly tanned hand extended to the chained girl. A moment of stillness passed between them before Jade finally mustered up the strength and willpower to shake the man's hand- sealing her fate. She was now the property of the Shinra Company and there was no space to back out.
"Jade Fair, I-Tseng of the Turks; welcome you to our ranks."
Haven't updated this in over a year. Will continue to update. Still getting back into fanfiction, well,writing it at least. So what did you guys think of the chapter? Can you tell where the writing style differentiates?
Storm Caleum