Rufus sat amidst a myriad of flickering screens, surrounded on all sides by brightly-lit dials, buttons, switches, and levers. He was almost afraid to breathe for fear that some control would move and cause catastrophic damage.
Absentmindedly, he rubbed the yellowed label on the bottle Hojo had given him. Rufus watched the security monitors with half an eye, waiting for a glimpse of movement to betray the Turks' position. Otherwise, he was engaged with trying to find the control systems for ventilation and air circulation in the ShinRa building.
After making a complete circle of the tiny room, Rufus spotted the console, tucked away in the corner. He rolled over to it and tapped a button experimentally. The screen came to life, bathing Rufus in an eerie blue glow.
LIST OPTIONS AVAILABLE AT THIS CONTROL STATION?
"Yes," Rufus said. The screen went black for a minute and then flickered to life again.
MONITOR STATUS OF AIR INTAKE AND OUTPUT
MONITOR AIR CIRCULATION
SHOW AREA SCHEMATICS
MODIFY AIR INTAKE AND OUTPUT
MODIFY AIR CIRCULATION
Rufus looked down at the instruction sheet Hojo had given him. "Step 2," he read quietly. "Select MONITOR AIR INTAKE AND OUTPUT." Rufus repeated the order, louder this time, for the benefit of the voice-activation system.
ERROR. PASSWORD REQUIRED FOR THIS FUNCTION.
Again, Rufus consulted his sheet of paper. "Theta-orion-three-two-seven-blue."
ACCESS GRANTED.
Slumping wearily against the back of his wheelchair, Rufus sighed. If the whole process took this long, the Turks would be storming the control room before he was even done arguing with the computer.
AIR INTAKE AND OUTPUT MAIN MENU
OPEN VENTS
CLOSE VENTS
"Open vents," said Rufus. A list of the choices scrolled endlessly before him. He rubbed his eyes. "Why can't there be a big red button somewhere that says push here to accomplish diabolical plans with minimum effort and time?" Looking at the instruction sheet once again, he was relieved to find that only three steps were left.
"Open vent thirty-two-eighteen-A," said Rufus. A small circular vent by his right hand cycled open. Rufus popped the seal on the bottle and dropped it carefully into the opening. "Air intake and output main menu," he said. The screen obligingly reverted to its previous list of options. "Close vents. Close vent thirty-two-eighteen-A."
LOG OFF?
"Yes," said Rufus, slowly losing his patience with all the procedures. He almost wished he'd let Hojo take care of it.
SUCCESSFULLY LOGGED OFF. PLACE PANEL IN STASIS MODE?
"Yes," Rufus sighed, resisting the urge to pummel the console. He settled for an emphatic thump of his wheelchair arm and resumed watching the security monitors. The depository vent fed into a vast network of ducts that circulated all the main hallways; it would not take long for the microorganism to spread through the air to find the Turks. Busy dreaming of things to do to Hojo if the scientist's latest scheme failed, Rufus did not notice the dark bruise slowly beginning to cover his right hand.
x-x-x
It was with the utmost limits of his strength that Vincent refrained from launching himself in a suicidal attack on Hojo. When he finally spoke, it was in a voice that dripped molten fury.
"You," he said, spitting out each word with venomous hatred, "will…regret…that."
Hojo tapped a finger to his nose with wide-eyed inquisitiveness. "Ah. Somehow I am not convinced. You already have the short end of the stick, so to speak." He gestured to the shattered bottle lying on the floor, which was still hissing very faintly. "Do you know what that is?"
Vincent ground his teeth. "Another one of your abominable experiments, no doubt." His hand dropped down to his belt. The next moment, Cerberus was in his hand with the safety off, pointed at Hojo's forehead. Equally as fast, the scientist's arm came up, his own gun pointed at Aerith.
"She's not dead yet, but I can easily make that happen more quickly if you wish," said Hojo. Vincent lowered Cerberus. "That's better. Now, perhaps, we can have a discussion in a civilized matter."
"There will never be anything remotely civilized about you!" Vincent howled, and leaped.
Hojo threw up his right arm, catching the Turk across the knees. Vincent hooked his feet under the scientist's forearm and flipped backwards, kicking the gun out of Hojo's hand as he went by. The weapon went clattering along the metal floor and Hojo, already off balance, tipped forward onto his hands and knees. Vincent landed a short distance away, dropping into a crouch with Cerberus in his grip.
Hojo dove for his gun. Vincent's leg snapped out and caught him in the ribs. With a grunt, the scientist used the momentum of the kick and rolled sideways, coming to his feet in a matter of seconds. Hands held vertically at chest level, Hojo landed a flurry of blows to Vincent's neck. The Turk retaliated, bringing the triple-barreled muzzle of Cerberus down hard against the side of Hojo's head. Momentarily stunned, the scientist wobbled backwards. Vincent sent him to the floor with a kick to the chin.
Reaching down with his left arm, the Turk clamped his claw around Hojo's neck and lifted him to eye level.
"Remember what I said," he growled, shaking with rage and the after-effects of adrenaline. Feeling strangely weak, he brought his weapon up to rest against Hojo's head. "No mercy. And now I'm going to finish this." Hojo sneered, despite the gun pressed tightly against his skull.
"No, you're not," said the scientist. "In fact, you won't be alive long enough to watch me kill your lady friend over there on the floor. Did you even wonder why you're shaking so much?"
Vincent squeezed harder. The scientist was not deterred. With a maniacal gleam in his eye, he easily pried Vincent's claw open and dropped lightly to the floor.
Slowly backing away, never taking his eyes off the Turk, he reached down and picked up his gun. "That bottle on the floor?" he said, addressing Vincent again. "It's full of a bioengineered virus. The moment it was exposed to your unique genetic structure, it began altering your DNA. Soon, you'll have so many mutated sequences that you won't be able to function. Clever, is it not?" Hojo smiled widely. "So, you see, there will be none of this 'finishing' business. At this point, you probably couldn't even lift your gun."
By now, Vincent was lying on the floor, convulsing uncontrollably. His breathing was shallow and raspy as he struggled for air. "You monster," he croaked.
Hojo shrugged. "Call me what you want. I'm not the one that's – urk!" The scientist suddenly pitched forward, falling to the floor in two pieces.
A translucent man with short black hair and bright blue eyes stood behind Hojo. "I call him dead," he said.
x-x-x
A flicker of movement on one of the screens caught Rufus' attention. "Finally!" he whispered, glimpsing Elena's distinctive blonde hair in hallway thirty-two-nineteen. "At last you'll pay the price for your betrayal." His hand itched. Absentmindedly, he scratched it and nearly jumped out of his wheelchair when a sharp knife of pain stabbed up his arm. "What the – " Rufus glanced down at his hand. It was black with bruising.
Frantically, he pulled open his robe. His entire body was covered in bruises. Ripples of pain coursed through his body as the neurotoxin he'd released into the vent took effect…on him. Elena, entirely unaffected, walked out of the camera's view and disappeared down the hallway.
Rufus' last words were "Hojo, you lying traitor. How long have you been planning this?"
x-x-x
The ethereal man stepped over to Vincent's side, laying his buster sword on the floor. He laid his hands lightly on the Turk's black hair; a faint greenish radiance came from beneath them. The convulsions stopped abruptly and Vincent slowly sat up, swaying dizzily. As soon as his eyes cleared enough for him to see, he gasped. "Zack," he said.
The man looked faintly surprised. "Do you know me so well?"
"No," said Vincent. "But I have been mistaken for you. Since my disguise consisted of shorter hair and blue contact lenses, it would make sense I inadvertently mimicked your appearance."
"Ah," said Zack. "This would have been the old man that runs the café, correct?" Vincent nodded. "That is my father. He still has not come to terms with my death, it would appear."
Vincent frowned. "Your death?"
"Why, yes," said Zack. "Live people generally don't come out of the Lifestream or emit a strange glow, and you most certainly can't see through them. Now, let me see to Aerith." He laughed at Vincent's incredulous expression. "My old girlfriend. But don't let that stop you. Dead men pretty much forfeit their claims to the living." He moved to Aerith's side and gently touched her head. As she stirred, Zack quietly picked up his buster sword and smiled at Vincent before he faded from sight in a swirl of green and white.
"Vincent?" Aerith's voice sounded thick, like she had just woken from deep sleep.
Holding back tears of relief, Vincent slid to her side and wrapped his arms around her. "Are you all right?"
She pulled his head to hers and their lips met in the gentlest of kisses. Pulling away, she looked straight into his crimson eyes.
"I am now," she whispered. She murmured something else, something that Vincent couldn't quite hear.
"Pardon?" he said, leaning forward slightly.
Aerith smiled. "I said, let's go outside. A laboratory is kind of a lousy place to declare undying love for someone."
Vincent got to his feet and pulled Aerith up beside him. "But you'll tell me that when we get out of here?" She nodded, still smiling. "Then let's go," he said. He offered his hand. Aerith slid her hand into his, and together, they walked outside into the sunshine.
x-x-x
"So," Reno said to Tseng. "How long are we gonna have to wait under this stupid hedge? There's ants. And beetles. And I'm hungry. Why didn't Elena at least let me have a drink before we started this stupid mission? Why are we crouched under a thorn bush? There's a branch poking right up my…"
Tseng decided now was a good time to make use of his remaining duct tape. It really was a shame to let anything go to waste.