A/N: Updating a day early...again! Haha, I decided that I want Sunday to be my update day. Why? Just because. Sunday feels right. B-) Good things happen on Sunday...like my day off, football, new episodes of The Walking Dead...yeah! XD
Thanks for all the awesome reviews, guys! I am having entirely too much fun with this. XD
Enjoy the latest chapter! :D
When we finally arrived at the wastelands surrounding Midgar, it was nighttime. I had lost the small comfort of Dean and Grant; the two of them had collected their pay and gotten off at Kalm. They seemed to share my distaste for Midgar.
There were no windows in the back of the van, but from where I was sitting I could catch a glimpse of the city by looking out the front windshield.
The darkness made the lights of the sprawling metropolis even more striking, and seeing it in person caused dread to settle heavily in the pit of my stomach. It looked exactly the way it did in the game's opening sequence—more defined, yes, but the same structure was there. Greenish lights and smoke were visible from the eight mako reactors lining the perimeter of the city. And there, in the center...even from here, I could see the looming tower of Shinra Headquarters.
I frowned thoughtfully, an image of the train station flitting through my head, Cloud standing with his Buster Sword. Talk about nostalgia...only it wasn't really nostalgia. That hadn't even happened yet.
If I did something, I could stop it from happening...
Now I sighed, turning my attention away from the city and closing my eyes. Inevitably, with the center of all the trouble so close, my thoughts had turned back to that. But I couldn't start having crazy ideas right now. I had to focus on just what was going to happen when I stepped out of this vehicle, and how I was going to escape the Turks' grasp.
Escaping the Turks...who was I kidding? I was in way over my head. These guys were trained killers—if they wanted something, they were going to damn well get it. I would be better off at least meeting with Tseng...maybe I wouldn't actually live up to their expectations, and they'd let me go. Of course, that'd be the best-case scenario.
It wasn't like I could escape from Midgar anyway...I was bad enough at navigating cities back home, never mind a place like that. Trying to play against the Turks, who knew the city like the back of their hand, was just a bad idea.
Just thinking about it was depressing...
It really sucked being alone like this. If I had at least been with someone...Lloyd or Zelos or Sheena...maybe I wouldn't have been so nervous. I could at least have faith then that even if we didn't figure out what to do right away, we'd at least be able to rely on each other.
With only myself to count on...what the hell was I going to do?
Well, if I somehow managed to get myself killed here, at least it wasn't like last time. At least my family and Earth were still safe. There was that, right?
...I still wasn't exactly keen on dying after fighting like hell to survive all this time. Ugh.
"You still awake, yo?"
I opened my eyes in reply, surprised to find that I had actually nodded off for a few minutes. I glanced over in the direction of the redheaded Turk, noting that I could no longer see the city in the distance anymore. We were surrounded by buildings.
"I've called my boss and made some preparations," he told me. "We've got you set up in a hotel in Sector 8. Nice place, too, right on LOVELESS Ave."
I nodded slowly, only half listening. We were in the city, which meant things were going to actually start happening now. Part of me was sizing Reno up. Could I escape this guy if it came down to it? Could I fight him if I had to, and win?
My mind kept bringing up the lovable post-Meteor Turks from Advent Children. Reno had spent most of the movie being comic relief, and even Rude had had some funny moments. When I thought of those Turks, I figured I could take them.
Of course, these two weren't the same. Meteorfall hadn't happened yet, and these guys still had their jobs and a very powerful company to work for. I had always liked Reno's personality, and he seemed like the sort of person I could get along with, but at the same time...
In the game, Reno had been part of the mission to drop the Sector 7 plate, crushing god knew how many helpless civilians in the slums. Regardless of what he appeared on the outside, I had no idea what sort of person he really was at this point. It was better not to underestimate what he was capable of.
Kunsel had straightened up, looking over with interest. "Hold on...don't tell me it's the Weyland?"
Reno smirked. "That's the one."
The SOLDIER whistled, impressed, and then turned to me. "They're really giving you the royal treatment...that's one of the nicest hotels in Midgar."
I wasn't sure if I should be happy about this or not. Somehow I doubted I'd be getting any sleep tonight, anyway. Not to mention I'd look horribly out of place in some upper-class hotel; I was covered in blood and snake saliva.
As if on cue, the van slowly ground to a halt, and Rude turned to look over his shoulder at us.
"We're here." They were the only words I'd heard him speak all day.
Midgar by day wasn't any nicer looking than it had been at night.
I scowled at the glass, wondering at the point of such an enormous window in the room when the view it looked upon was so ugly.
Maybe it was just a matter of perspective. I saw the mako reactors and Shinra HQ as ugly, though the buildings themselves weren't horrible looking. I just hated how colorless this place was—just grey everywhere. Grey buildings, grey roads, grey smog. There wasn't an ounce of natural plant life anywhere. It was kind of hard to grow trees in a park when the city was elevated above the ground—and its very energy source sucked the natural life from everything.
I shook my head and drew the curtains shut. What an awful place.
It was obvious enough right now that Midgar was still under construction, though. The city wouldn't be finished for a long while. To build a structure like this...how much did that have to cost? The sum had to be astronomical.
Sighing, I tried to put the image of the city out of my mind for now. I had to be leaving in about fifteen minutes, so right now I needed to focus on mentally preparing myself for what was coming up.
The Turks had given me a card to give to the hotel's front desk, and in exchange the woman there had given me my room key. The Weyland was about as fancy and luxurious as I'd been expecting; I did receive some looks just walking to my suite.
At first I had wondered why the hell Shinra would care about whether I had a nice room or not, but then I had seen the placement of the hotel and everything made sense. Sector 8 was directly in front of Shinra HQ, and the Weyland Hotel was on the corner of LOVELESS Avenue and the road that led up to Shinra's front steps. I could see the front steps from my window.
When I was right in front of their noses, there wasn't much I could do to escape. They wanted to keep an eye on me, that was for sure.
Today was the day I was supposed to meet with Tseng. I still hadn't spoken with the man at all; Reno had just told me a time to report to Shinra HQ, and the receptionists at the front desk would direct me to whatever place Tseng wanted to meet me in.
Since my clothes from the day before were pretty gross, I had showered and changed into the only spare set I had. Unfortunately, it was just a pair of casual Earth clothes—jeans and black t-shirt with the Batman symbol on it. They didn't look unusual in this modern city setting, but I just knew Tseng was going to be wearing a suit, and I'd be sitting there in my—
Oh, who the hell cared. It wasn't like I wanted to impress them anyway.
On the other hand, maybe I could work this to my advantage. I went into the bathroom and took one last look in the huge wall-length mirror.
I messed with my hair for a minute, then grinned slightly. I had washed off the remainder of the eyeliner I always wore, which helped—makeup made me look older. Still, I couldn't quite pull off the teenager look anymore. I definitely didn't look like a fighter, though. Just a normal civilian.
...Well, except for one tiny thing. There was that scar on my chin—the one Kratos had given me at the Tower of Salvation. It extended diagonally through my chest area, ending on the outside of my left ribcage, though thankfully all of that was covered by my clothing. But that tiny portion that was visible...
I shook my head. It wasn't like the fact that I had a scar would mean anything to them. Hell, I had told everyone back home that I had fallen and cut my chin on the corner of the bathroom sink, and they had bought it.
Self-conscious, I pressed a thumb to the scar and then let out a frustrated sigh. I remembered feeling Kratos' sword hit my jawbone. The wound had been deep, and it hadn't been healed right away. The scar was probably going to stay there for a very long time, and no amount of makeup concealer would hide it. The Turks would probably use it to identify me should I try to escape, too—
Ugh, why was I thinking about this? It was too late for that. I had to just bite the bullet and walk right into the lion's den.
I gave up on the mirror and walked back out into the main room, where all of my stuff was spread out on the sofa. The maids had taken my clothes from yesterday and they were currently being put through the wash. Kerberos was lying on the couch, the silver designs on its sheath gleaming in the light. Next to the sword was an assortment of gels left over from my previous journey, ones I always carried around as a precaution—one apple gel, three lemon gels, a melange gel, a pineapple gel, and a miracle gel. I had half a panacea bottle left as well.
Then there was my fully loaded first aid kit, complete with lots of extra bandages. Along with that came a Swiss Army Knife and a compass, the broken unicorn horn, one of Zelos' white headbands ("With this, hunny, you can be as awesome as me!"), my wallet, and my cell phone.
Was it safe to leave these things here? I wasn't even a hundred percent sure I'd be returning. Who knew what might happen...
The gels could be passed off as home remedies, but they might be dangerous. I wasn't sure what exactly they were made of. Hopefully the same stuff as potions here...but then again, I hadn't used a potion and didn't know how they worked. They might not instantaneously heal wounds the way they did in the game.
The main problems here, really, were my wallet and cell phone. My wallet had about twenty American dollars in it and some change, along with my driver's license, my student ID, my debit card and a host of credit cards.
I grimaced. The best solution here would be to get rid of them all—burn the money, throw away the change, shred the cards, smash the phone. Leave no trace of my previous existence to avoid arousing suspicion.
But I didn't like that solution. Just thinking about how much trouble that would mean for me back on Earth was a nightmare. Calling a billion companies to get replacements, going to the DMV, paying a shitload of money for a new iPhone...augh. Not only that, if I did somehow get back to Earth and ended up far away from where I actually lived, I was completely screwed if I didn't have any identification or sources of money. Then I'd be busy having a whole new adventure.
I was planning on getting back to Earth as soon as possible. It was kind of hard to give these things up—that was almost like giving up on going home.
Frowning, I gathered everything up and shoved it back into my bag. I'd just have to leave it all here and hope to god no one went through my bag. Maybe I'd figure something out later.
Whoops...eight minutes left till the meeting I was supposed to attend. Though I wasn't trying to make a good impression, the thought of arriving late and having the leader of the Turks glare at me was kind of scary.
I settled on leaving my bag in the bedroom, and then took nothing with me save for my suite key. Shutting the door behind me, I glanced both ways down the long hallway outside. There was no one else in the corridor. Taking a deep breath, I headed over to the elevator.
The walk to Shinra HQ was even shorter than I'd anticipated. I walked up through a plaza with a small fountain, and then I was pretty much right there at Shinra's front door. A lot of people were milling about, some of them in suits and some in casual wear. I remembered vaguely that the ground floor was open to the public.
Gathering my resolve, I made my way up the steps and inside the building.
The inside of Shinra Headquarters was exactly the way it had been depicted in the games. This room had two levels—the ground level was a sort of reception area, with a large Shinra logo depicted on a hologram behind the front desk. Staircases on either side of the front desk led to the upper level, where I could see a seating area and two elevators on the back wall. The entire place was very clean and well kept, the marble floors polished enough for me to practically see my reflection in them.
All in all, just a little intimidating. Walking in here made me feel kind of small and pathetic.
Nonetheless, I sucked it up and walked over to the front desk. Two receptionists were there; one of them was busy on a computer, but the other smiled pleasantly.
"Good morning! What can I do for you?"
"Um, my name's Brittany Furness," I replied, trying not to sound timid. "I'm scheduled for a meeting with the chief of the Tu—er, the Investigation Sector of the...the General Affairs Department." Wow, that was smooth. I could barely even remember the Turks' cover name. I'd have to be careful about that.
She didn't even seem to notice my blunder. Instead she just nodded, turning to her computer for a moment. "Let's see...Brittany, Brittany...ah, there you are. Ten o' clock! You're right on time." She stared at the computer for another second, finished whatever she was doing, and turned back to me.
"You can find him on the twenty-third floor, office number 232. If you need any help locating the room, feel free to ask any of the employees up there."
"Okay, thank you." I forced a smile, and began to trudge up the stairs leading to the elevators.
The doors opened almost immediately after I pressed the call button, so I had precious little time to mentally brace myself for what was coming. I stepped in and pressed the button for the floor I needed, and the elevator began moving up. It didn't even stop once to let in other people; in a building this big, what kind of luck was that? The world was apparently against me stalling.
As it turned out, the twenty-third floor was completely unremarkable. I stepped out of the elevator into an open area with a few chairs, potted plants and a coffee machine on a table in the corner. Directly ahead was a hallway lined with numbered doors. It looked like the inside of a typical office building.
I walked down the hallway, passing a few other people along the way; they were all dressed professionally, but few wore suits and none of them spared me a second glance. This definitely wasn't the Turks' floor, that was for sure.
My theory was proven when I stopped at office 232. Every door had a metal plate depicting not just the office number, but also the name of the person who used it. This door had no name inscribed—just a blank space where a name would go. This was a spare room.
Nervous, I took a deep breath and knocked.
"Come in," a voice called from the other side.
The knob turned easily, and I let myself in, forcing a neutral expression on to my face.
The inside of the office was about as unremarkable as the floor itself. It contained a desk, a filing cabinet, and a few chairs. The walls were bare. Actually, the only interesting thing about this room was its occupant—the dark haired man that was circling around the desk to meet me.
He smiled easily, surprising me. "You must be Brittany. My name is Tseng—chief of the Investigation Sector. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
Caught off guard by his friendliness, I almost forgot to shake the hand he held out.
"Ah, pleasure to meet you too," I replied out of reflex, and inwardly cursed myself. Why was I being nice? I had already worked out the plan in my head! I was supposed to be Kratos-y and standoffish! If he thought that was what my personality was like, it wouldn't look strange when I gave vague or clipped responses.
"Please, have a seat," he told me, moving back around to the other side of the desk. I complied, not knowing what else to do.
Tseng arranged some of the papers on the desk before sitting down himself, so I had time to really get a good look at him. As expected, he was wearing a flawless black suit and tie. His black hair was tied up the way it had been in Crisis Core.
He was pale with fine features that appeared decidedly Asian; he looked just the way I thought he would, right down to the tilak in the middle of his forehead. You'd think I would be used to it by now, but it was still weird meeting people for the first time when I already knew them.
Finally he seated himself, looking up and meeting my gaze. His eyes were coal black. I forced myself to look right back at him, knowing that he would pick up on it if I averted my gaze. He'd pick up on any body language at all, so I had to stop myself from fidgeting. Shit, this was like being at a job interview conducted by a freaking FBI agent...
...Except I had to convince him that I wasn't good enough for the job. This was ridiculous.
"I'm glad you came," he started out, steepling his fingers. "But I must admit, I'm surprised. Recruits picked up by my sector are generally of abilities exceptional enough to be guaranteed a job in SOLDIER—this means bypassing many of the standard evaluations the normal applicants would have to endure. It's rare for someone to refuse such an opportunity, you see. Might I ask why you're so against the idea?"
I took a breath before speaking, forcing myself to speak slowly. "Sorry. It's simple enough—I'm not interested in working for a company. I like the freedoms of what I'm doing now. I don't like staying in one spot for long, and I prefer to work alone. That's all."
Tseng nodded and then adopted a thoughtful expression, as if he were actually considering the points I had laid out before him.
"I see," he said at length. "I must apologize as well. Reno is a very competent subordinate of mine, but it seems he hasn't adequately explained the benefits of being in SOLDIER. You see, members of SOLDIER enjoy a great deal of personal freedom, more so than many of the other company employees."
I fought the urge to scowl. If it were anyone else, I would've just walked out—but this guy was the leader of the Turks.
He spent the next few minutes explaining the benefits of the job to me. I found myself feeling even more surprised, because Tseng actually made it sound attractive. It was a good thing I knew better; every company made themselves sound attractive to work for. He was probably spouting passages right out of the employee manual.
"So as you can see," he continued, "those in SOLDIER do have some choice in the work they do. Many hold different areas of expertise, and take on the types of missions they prefer. Director Lazard, I hear, is very understanding in these matters. And because an individual SOLDIER is equivalent to the strength of a company of infantry troops, in many instances the missions are performed alone."
I shook my head. "You put up a good argument, but..."
"Hmm, so you still aren't interested," he observed, straightening his posture and considering me for a moment. "Tell me, what can I do to make the position more attractive to you?"
My brow furrowed. "Um...no offense, sir, but you seem pretty adamant about getting me this job...why is that?"
This caused him to pause. Then he offered me a thin smile, his friendly demeanor slipping slightly. "As it so happens, we have a department assigned to seeking out recruits for a few reasons. The first being, of course, to bolster our numbers in SOLDIER and increase the success of the program. As for the second...well, this applies to exceptional cases like yours."
"Exceptional cases?" I blinked.
"Yes," he replied. "You displayed strength equivalent to that of a SOLDIER without any mako treatments. Theoretically, this should be physically impossible."
It was very hard to keep my expression neutral at this. Because I realized he was right—it was strength granted by my Exsphere, but they had no way of knowing that.
"Despite that, we have several witnesses that will testify to your strength. I'm confident that should you enroll in the SOLDIER program, you will be an asset to this company and you will find success in many of your future endeavors. However..."
I gulped. That was a big "however."
That thin smile again. "You must understand. Should you choose not to enroll in the SOLDIER program, and instead continue on as a mercenary, free to be hired by just anyone, there could be...complications."
"You're afraid I'll become a threat to the company," I responded in a flat voice, inwardly feeling shocked.
He shook his head. "I speak not for myself, but as a representative of Shinra. Please don't take my statements personally."
Well, he'd pretty much said it, hadn't he? Complications...it wasn't hard to figure out what he meant by that. If I chose to walk away from this, I would be branded as a threat to Shinra. Though I probably wouldn't publicly be considered a criminal, I'd be a fugitive to the company. And I'd probably be hunted down. Maybe even by Reno and Rude, or Tseng himself.
Either way, it wouldn't end well for me.
"So now you see why we orchestrated this meeting. I must ask you to reconsider your decision," Tseng said.
I frowned. They wanted me to take the job—they'd rather I be an asset to the company than dead. That was the real reason why Tseng was trying so hard.
"I'll join, but only on one condition," I said slowly.
That friendly PR smile returned. "Name it."
"Hojo can't be the one to administer the mako treatments. And after that, I want absolutely nothing to do with the Science Department or any sort of medical tests."
Tseng raised his eyebrows quizzically, but I kept my face carefully blank. Finally he wrote a few things down on a notepad on the desk, and then returned his gaze to me.
"If that's what you want, then it can be arranged. I trust this means I've secured your cooperation?"
I paused for a moment, understanding that I might be making the biggest mistake of my life. But there was little else I could do, so I met his eyes.
"Yes."
He gave me a pleased look, though his eyes had been cold through our entire conversation. "Excellent. Welcome to SOLDIER, Brittany."
Yeah, I was definitely going to kick myself for this later.
A/N: Because honestly, it's useless to try running from the Turks. XD
Yeah, I know this is similar to Cloud's recruitment in The Fifth Act. I liked the "meeting with Tseng" idea, and being noticed by the Turks was really the only way I could think of to get OC Brit into SOLDIER (and consequently the middle of the action). Of course, The Fifth Act is still far superior. I AM UNWORTHYYYY
On another note...review! You know you want toooo! :D At this point, we still have three or four more chapters to go before this story's caught up. I'm gonna try to write like mad to increase the amount of regular updates I can actually do. XD
Next time: Mako. Waking nightmares. Genesis.