Moonshine's Guide - Yeah. I'm kinda making up the riddle as I go along - considering that, it's pretty good that it's still making sense. Usually authors plan out the mysteries before they set out writing... not me. Oops. Keymaker was a fun interlude... I actually got the "blow the light" thing from the movie Equilibrium. The finger knives are my creation. so they're MINE. (goes on an obsessive rant)

Echo The Ethereal - Axel is actually one of the "Reno-clones". There's another one from the Simpsons... the dude with red hair... can't think of the name right now, but he kinda looks like Reno. No tattoos, though. Btw, getting that tattoo musta hurt like hell... I mean, cheeks, right on cheekbones? I'd be screaming in pain... guess Reno's a tough guy when it comes to pain.

Chapter 18: DNR

"I want her conscious, damn it."

Arien threw the file onto the bed, stuck her hands in the lab coat pockets, and stared at the speaker across the bed. "And how exactly are you going to do that?"

"That's your call, isn't it? You're the only one on the team that has the medical education."

She picked up the file again. "I didn't specialize."

"Yeah, well that's still three years more than any of us." He stared down at the still body between them, his white lab coat unbuttoned and making him look more slovenly. Arien thinned her lips. They were in lab coats because they were posing at physicians so that they would not be questioned about their presence here; Reno could at least try to look the part.

She thinned her lips and stared at him again in exasperation. She waved the file in his face. "It's a miracle she's still alive. What are you asking for? Another miracle? I told you, we can't remove the bullets." Arien had no idea what was up with this Reno's obsession in getting Esile McKinnon up and conscious. For all she cared, she wasn't a physician, and her job as the officer in the Research Sector of the Admnisitrative Department pretty much meant that all of her patients were DNR – Do Not Resuscitate – and that was usually Reno's rule as well. She didn't like this at all. Usually when Reno broke the norm as a Turk, he had something extremely sick and twisted in mind, and for a man who could probably be diagnosed with an ADD, OCD with a fresh dash of paranoia, "sick and twisted" was an understatement of the century. Nope, she didn't like this.

"I want her alive, so she can talk. After she's given her pretty little speech, I don't care if she's poached and fried."

Arien winced at graphic description. "You know, after what you're going to do, she is probably going to be poached and fried. But I told you, it's impossible to remove the bullets." A loud emphasis on the word "is", just in case Reno missed the glaring expression. Her effort was wasted; he did miss it.

"Care to tell me why she'll fry?"

"I've already told you."

"No you didn't."

"Fine." She took a look at the scrawls on the file. "First of all, she's allergic to most forms of anesthesia. The strongest we can give her is Selenath infusion, which is strong enough to knock her out but won't shut down her pain sensors."

"Meaning?"

"That if she wakes up in the middle of the operation, the pain will shock her and kill her."

"Get acupuncture anesthesia. She won't be allergic to those. Okay. That's one." He began counting on his fingers. "I want five reasons."

"Isn't that one enough?"

Reno grinned at her. "Nope."

"Second, the bullets Michele used are EK27's, meaning that extraction is close to impossible. Any further contact on the shell will cause the bullet to act as a Taser, frying her cerebral cortex."

"Get the hospital to work on extraction method. That's two. Three more to go, baby."

"Three, the bullets have to come out in the exact angle they went in, and most likely that's going to be difficult. Screw this up and she will have massive internal bleeding in the brain or she'll be rendered to a babbling infant. She won't be useful to you either way."

"Just get a good surgeon, which I'm sure we'll have plenty as soon as we flash the gils, yo. Two more."

"We also can't go running into a hospital with a woman with bullets in her head. Besides, this patient didn't get admitted into a Shinra-affiliated hospital, carting her out would be even more trouble. People talk, words get around."

"Get her turfed out then. One more." When he heard no response, he shrugged. "Okay! You didn't make the cut. Let's get going, yo."

She sighed, and followed Reno out the room.

"Ivy, I need your opinion."

"About what? Men?" Ivy smiled mischievously as Arien rolled her eyes. "No, I'm joking dear. What is it?"

"You worked in the pharmaceuticals department."

"Yes, I did." She rolled the dough out on the sheet.

"Strictly speaking, the development sector."

"Mmhmm."

"Okay. This is going to sound bizarre." She took a breath. "Know any good acupuncturist?"

Ivy stopped her powder-covered hands and looked at her friend, who was standing next to her, arms crossed. In powder blue sweater and blue jeans, she still exuded the 'don't-mess-with-me' air. She had also gotten a little crabby in the past few days. "Erm, why do you need one? Reno's sex drive down?"

"Funny." Arien played with a strand of raven hair. "We need a non-chemical anesthesia. The patient's allergic to anything stronger than Selenath infusion."

"Never knew you turned a doctor."

"I'm not. We need information. Last time I checked, dead people can't speak."

Ivy started molding the dough again. "Hit her double dose."

"Can't. Selenath infusion doesn't shut down the sensory neurons. The moment the subject wakes up she'll go into an arrest."

"Why does she need surgery?"

Arien dropped her shoulders. "Okay… confidential, but the patient has three bullets in her brain. Kinda need them out to make her talk."

"Slam anesthesia straight into her brain."

"Can't. Don't know if her brain can take it. She might have an infection, and Selenath will feast on it."

"Do a biopsy to check."

"She's a plant because she has three bullets in her brain and we cut a piece of her brain out?"

"Okay. I get your point." She raised her flour-covered hands in mock defeat. "I'll look into it. I'm not promising anything." She continued to shape the dough in silence, then asked, "how do you feel about it?"

"Are you playing the shrink? Because technically, we can't receive mental treatment."

Ivy ignored the dripping sarcasm. "No, I'm just curious. Usually it's not your job to revive a plant."

"It was Reno's idea." A sigh. "Personally I'm against. Information can be collected from others."

"What did he say?"

"That this is the fastest."

"You know," Ivy said with interest, "he's nasty, he's a jerk, he insults people, he's not a people person, he's trigger-happy, and…"

"He also has ADD, OCD, paranoia and maybe the verbal case of Tourette's to finish off the list. I know, one more year going to school instead of doing my high-pay job and I can get my medical license, Ivy. Get on with the point."

"I still can't understand why you like him. Want him."

"Because I'm a masochist with sadistic tendencies," she replied acerbically.

"Really."

A faint sad smile cracked Arien's façade in two, but it knitted back before Ivy could widen the crack. They were so defensive of themselves, the Turks. Like small displays of feelings could shatter them. Fragile, or just really plain heartless?

In the meanwhile, Rufus Shinra had a fresh batch of headache, and he had a bad feeling it was going to stick around for a while. Groaning, he released the report from his clutch and opened the drawer for painkillers. Sure, mako radiation stopped you from most form of diseases that were biological, including cancer, meningitis, to common cold, but the great Lifestream treatment could not take care of stress-induced migraines. He currently hated everyone in the world, including his fiancée, for being the involuntary cause of the entire problem, Hojo, for being Dr. Quack, and his Turks, for attracting trouble like tornadoes to trailer parks. He especially hated Reno, for out of all the trouble-magnets, he managed to attract every single one that was possible.

He picked up the phone and pressed the blue button. It ranged twice, then a bored voice answered. "Rufus, I don't give a damn if you're dying in a ditch, I'm busy."

"Or you're on the network looking at naked female bodies while you have a perfectly functional one just for yourself, plus some if Arien's in a forgiving mood," Rufus retorted. "I need Elena, Arien and you in my office now."

"Er, Arien's not here, yo."

"Well, bring her in then!" Rufus slammed down the phone, then winced again. The pain level just went up two notches, and he was getting an acute premonition that it wasn't going to go down anytime soon. He screwed off the cap, and popped three yellow pills into his mouth. Better play safe and up the dosage.

Trr. Trrr.

"Arie, come back to the office now. It's an order, not from me, it's from Rufus, and if you're late my ass is gonna be on the grill. So get your sorry ass in the office."

"O… kay," Arien said as shut the phone with a snap and stood up while sliding the phone into her pocket, "thank you… for your colorful order?"

"Going?"

"Yes," Arien said as she reached the door handle. "Thanks Ivy."

"Anytime, Doctor DeVir."

"You know, Madame Shrink?" She turned as she stepped out the door. "You're getting just as wry as me. Need some LSD?"

"Read it."

Seeing Rufus' sour expression and his bad mood owing to the life-threatening migraine, Reno was the only one brave enough to step up and get the folder out of Rufus' hands. After reading the first sentence, he handed it over to Elena with an "I-can't-give-a-shit" expression on his face. Elena, after reading the first line, turned it over to Arien with a "not-my-expertise-and-I-don't-understand" face. Arien, however, continued beyond the first sentence, and her face clearly told her fellows that she didn't like what she read.

"Yes," Rufus said seeing Arien's reaction, "this is a problem."

"What kind of problem?" Elena asked.

"Let's just say this," Arien replied, flipping through. "Right now, Hojo's experiment batch 27B is the size of Reno's humility compared to this."

While Reno protested with a loud "hey!", Elena asked "That bad?".

"Yup."

"Wait," Reno interrupted. "That just totally went over my head, yo."

"Hojo's experiment batch 27B had the entire Shinra Tower evacuated for biohazard level 2 for two weeks," Arien explained. "Basically the only personnel who could be in there were those who were following biohazard protocols. And us… because we're immune to viral disease. I wasn't in the sector yet, so I don't know the details, but according to Tseng's report people just started dying left and right. This in turn crippled the company works for over a month, since new staff had to be hired and quickly. Hojo himself lost two of his assistants. But…"

"Take your time, I've got all day."

"This one is level 5," Arien continued, ignoring the redhead. "Meaning that any personnel who could have been down there – children, temple guards – are all considered carriers, and can spread an unknown disease."

"Any symptoms present?" Elena asked.

"No, because the only ones who had direct contact would be us, who aren't very prone to pathogens, are we? But the lab found a new form of bacteria on all of our clothes, so there's a chance we sprayed the Edge with a new disease." Arien clenched her teeth and forced a smile. "Meaning that the entire town could be a zombie town within a few days."

"Nuke it." Reno always wanted the easy way out; he never cared if he accidentally killed an important dignitary on the way or erased the entire city off the map.

"Can't. We've already carried the pathogen into another area. We can't put the entire continent on quarantine."

"Wait a minute," Reno said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Which one are we talking about? Because you know, it's not like we don't come close to bio weapons everyday, given our jobs."

"The fish, down in the temple entrance."

"Oh." Silence. "Crap."

"Yes, I would assume that would be the correct response."

"I need you to go back down there, grab a specimen," Rufus said tonelessly, ignoring the three's horrified expressions.

"Uh, Rufus? If it's a level five biohazard contamination, then wouldn't that mean that medical personnel should get down there?"

"No, because Turks are immune to pathogen diseases, and the medics are not," Rufus said with a small smile. "No more arguments. Reno, get on it. I want Rude to go as well. Arien, you're staying behind with Elena." He looked at the three squarely. "That way we'd get two hospital problems out of the way at once."

"Three bullets, one in the right frontal lobe, one in the stem, one in the cerebral cortex." Arien read out loud. "Yippee."

"We can't extract it," the man stated. "She'll die within two hours. The hemorrhage will be out of control."

"Uh, hello?" She waved her hand in his face. "I don't care if she bleeds out from every orifice. I just want her to be able to talk. Now get onto it."

"Family history?"

"I'm not her family, but she's allergic to most forms of anesthesia. I'm sure you gentlemen would love to solve this challenge."

"You seem to know a lot about medicine."

She raised her eyebrows in mock surprise. "I trained as a medical attendant in the Academy. One more year and I would have qualified. Unfortunately, most of my patients are DNR under my superior's orders. Now can we get on with it?"

"How do we extract it? EK27's can't be touched, you know."

"Suction," Elena said.

The four looked at her in surprise. "Suction?" One of the physicians repeated.

"Suction. No point of contact."

"And do it right, it has more chance to come out at the right angle than the orthodox method," another mused out loud.

"Okay, great. Now we have two problems down, two more to go." She said as she pulled out her cell phone. "We need her bounced in here, and we need a non-chemical euthanasia. The last one's a toughie. Anyone up for the grab?"

"I'm cursed."

Rude said absolutely nothing, because one, he didn't feel like talking, two, Reno just blabbed as a rule, and three, he agreed. As the chopper took off, he sat back and let Reno pilot the thing. The redhead was better at driving and piloting anyway.

"Instead of getting a nice cushy job, I get this," Reno continued. He jerked the control stick to the left which made the chopper move to the left so suddenly that any other man would have gotten motion sickness. But Rude was used to Reno's "dodge-and-drive", and so he just sat there calmly.

"My girlfriend's a psycho, my boss is nuts, the world's screwed up and there's always some crazy shit going on."

Rude, who happened to know Reno's past relationships, didn't really think that Arien qualified as a "psycho" compared to the past females; he distinctly remembered a girl who smoked three packs a day, had excessively large blinking eyes, and in the end tried to kill herself by shutting herself up in the janitor closet on the thirty-second floor of the Shinra Tower. Another one set the kitchen on fire on purpose when Reno decided that the girl had served her purpose. Then there was this girl who only felt pleasure when she was having sex while doing headstands. Nobody really knew how exactly Reno had facilitated that relationship, and to be honest, nobody was that interested enough to ask. All in all, Arien was pretty functional compared to others. Compare was the keyword, though. She was a Turk, and that meant she was screened for the lack of sanity.

Rufus was not a nut. Rufus was very far from being insane. Sure, the man was a cold-hearted manipulative bastard who didn't give a damn who died as far as he was the one sitting in the comfy rolley chair, but insanity applied more to the redhead himself rather than the blond president. Rufus had been born to power play, and that usually twisted up people; it was natural. Reno was just about as unnatural as anyone could be, from the tip of his flaming head down to his toes. Who did he think he was, talking about Rufus?

The world screwed up? The world was always screwed up, and partially Rude's world was screwed up because he was unfortunate enough to be Reno's partner. Arien had her benefits – her marksmanship and her medical education was always a plus when materia wasn't around – but still Rude was officially his partner. So whenever Reno did something insane, thoughtless or just plain inexplicable, Rude was around to clean it up.

And being a Turk, Reno attracted "crazy shit" like metal to magnets. It wasn't the problem's fault that Reno was involved.

"Where is it?"

"The old elevator shaft at the harbour." Reno landed with a loud crash onto the ground, hopped off, and opened the back door, pulling out some large bags. "These suits are gonna be pain in the ass, royal."

"What suits?"

"These."

Rude looked at it without much interest. It was white, baggy, and looked like something that the Shinra soldiers might have used seventy years ago. Or something that Hojo's lackeys may have used. It had a helmet with a mask right where the mouth was, and a plastic hose was connected from that to… what? Nothing. Reno was pulling out oxygen bottles. He tossed one to Rude.

"Come on, let's get done with."

The suit was just about as uncomfortable and immobile as what he imagined. The two men helped each other set the oxygen masks on their backs; after they were ready, they walked clumsily to the shaft. Rude pressed on the button. Nothing moved.

"The elevator's dead. I fried the system and the cable's snapped."

"Great."

"Hope you can climb." Reno tied a rope onto a handle nearby. "Rude?"

Rude pried open the door with a crowbar. Reno turned and winked through the plastic visor.

"See you down there."

Rude could see absolutely nothing as he shinnied down the rope. He did not have enhanced vision like DeVir, and Reno was an ass enough to bring the glow-bar with him down. When he landed with a loud thump, Reno was pulling at the trapdoor that was cleverly positioned on the roof. He was pulling at it to no avail.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to open this damn trapdoor. It's latched." He yanked it again. Rude said nothing but gestured Reno to move; in the steady glow of the glow-bar, Rude saw Reno nod. He moved aside, and Rude yanked at the trapdoor with all his might. The trapdoor creaked, then came off clean into his hands. They dropped in. The door was open.

"Know the way around?"

"Arien did." He blew into the microphone right in front of the mouth. He was replied by a loud "Ow!" and then a bark of "What!?" from The Edge.

"Need directions around the basement?"

"Can I just spit it out or do you need a walkthrough?" came back Arien's irritated reply. She sounded busy.

"A walkthrough might gain you some favors in bed."

"Don't need it." But she started anyway. "Go left first. Keep going until you hit a bend…"

"Never mind. Found it."

"Found it?"

"The concrete blocks are kind of a tell-tale sign."

He heard Arien's jovial laugh from The Edge. "Okay then," she said cheerfully. "Be careful. Don't eat those fish."

"I don't get sick."

"Except your mind already is."

"Shut up, yo." Before she heard those words she hung up. He gestured to Rude to enter the debris-littered room that he had previously trashed without a thought. How was he to know that the consequences would be a bitch?

Finding a fish corpse that wasn't already badly decaying was a pain in the ass, and trying to pry it out from the concrete sandwich was even worse.

"Why the hell do I have to break by goddamn back to find a piece of sushi?" Reno complained. Arien did not reply, and he did not expect Rude to reply in the first place.

"Reno."

"Found it?"

Rude nodded.

"Arien, found it."

"Don't touch it!" Came back the warning. "Use the tongs. The thing might be radioactive as well as viral."

"I thought we didn't need docs."

"We don't get cancers, infections, but there's no experiment that shows what regular isotopic radiation can do to mako-mutated bodies. Just DON'T TOUCH IT!"

"Fine, fine, whore," Reno muttered, but he used the tongs to pick up the fish and slide it into a plastic bag labeled "BIOHAZARD". He gestured Rude to find another one.

The scavenge took another hour, and by that time the two Turks were exhausted and famished. "We've got two," Reno reported. "Now what, Doc?"

"Get the hell out of there," came back the stern reply. "Before it does anymore damage."

"Okay." He stepped over the concrete precariously, both of them eager to shed the suits and go back to the mindless cleanliness of the offices.

"BP stable, second bullet out."

'O2 level?"

"Normal."

Arien was in the audience chamber, watching the procedure. She was not interested in helping out the physicians, but as soon as Esile was conscious she had to get in there. God only knew how long that woman'd last, and if she went back to sleep there was no coming back. Arien had once chance. She sat on the cushioned bench, arms crossed, frowning.

"Okay, close up."

"Guess she's not hearing the alarm clock right now," she stretched. She rapped on the glass. "Hey, call me when she wakes up. I'll be in Room 204."

Arien was in her REM cycle when the phone beeped loudly, rousing her from her dream. She jumped, nearly fell off the bed in an odd tangle of blankets. In moments she was running through the corridors; however, she did compose herself when she opened the door to Room 342, Elena now behind her.

"Who… who is it?" said a weak voice amidst the beeps of the monitors. Arien glanced at the monitor; 80. Normal. She switched on her headset. "Can you hear me?"

"What…?"

"Yeah," said Reno into the headset all the way across in Junon. He was pulling off his contaminated suit and was sealing it in a bag, while Rude was putting a bag marked with the word "BIOHAZARD" in black letters on orange which contained two fish corpses. "Go."

"Roger that," Arien replied. "Okay. Your name?"

"Wait… who are… you?"

Arien moved to her peripheral vision area. "Your name?"

"A… Arien…"

"Yes." She picked up the clipboard. "Your name?"

"Es… Esile… Jenna… Mc… McKinnon…" she took a deep breath. "Why are… you here?"

"Why, can't I visit an old school friend?" Arien threw a sinister smile. "Actually, I'm here to ask questions. About your husband."

"W… why…?"

"Mm, let's just say that I'm still madly in love with him and I'm mad that he didn't let me have his fetus," she said sarcastically.

"R… rea… lly?"

"Wrong, but I'm a Shinra official. I need information."

"What… what… are you?"

"Arien DeVir, level 20 officer, Shinra Company." She flashed her ID. "Okay. Question number one. Any odd behavioral patterns with your husband?"

"He started to go out with his friends… on Sunday nights…" she breathed. "Said he made some… new friends… at work…"

"What time?"

"Around… eight…"

"Any plans to go to a party that sprang up since your husband started to hang out with your friend?"

"Yes… we were…" gasp. "Supposed to… go to… a party… on Sunday…"

"Where, what type, and when?"

"Seven… cocktail… Sunp…" she gasped, then started to twitch. Arien glanced at the monitor again, saw her heart rate go up to 110, then steadily rising. Arien stared at the monitor, then shrugged.

"What's going on?!"

"She's dying."

"Shouldn't we call for help?"

"No," Arien replied coldly. "We leave her here. We're done."

"N… no…" Esile protested weakly. "Please… don't leave me… here…"

"Esile!" Prince Charming was dashing into the bedroom. Jack McKinnon looked more frazzled than ever, and his eyes had the lost puppy look that made her want to kick him. His kind was suited to quiet, boring lives. It was their damn fault if they got into messes, but why involve a child?

"Oh my god! What's happening to her?"

Arien wasted no glance on the dying woman. She turned on her heels and left.