It was barely an hour before Quistis and her SeeD team were scheduled to leave the DSRC to track down Squall and Rinoa; and tensions were running somewhat high in anticipation of their new deployment. Having been elevated to leadership of the SeeD team under what were among the worst possible circumstances she could imagine, Quistis' morale was in particularly dire straits, although she was exerting a significant effort so as not to let it show.
"Now, the Galbadians are allowing us to decide our own means of searching for Squall," she said, "because of course Galbadian troops will be conducting a major search as well. However, they will be sending a few troops along with us to...observe."
"To make sure we don't turn around and help Squall get away from them, you mean," Jeck said, folding his arms.
"Well, we've gotta ditch them somehow," Irvine said.
"First things first," said Quistis. "The most important order of business is getting onto the mainland. Once we're there, we can decide our next move."
"Man," Zell said. "I dunno if I can take this. I mean, even pretendin' to help out the people who did all that stuff to Rinoa! Damn, I wish Squall'd let us help him!"
"Why, so we could totally blow our contract and maybe get the Galbadians to fire missiles at Garden again?" Jeck asked. "Yeah; I'd sure do all that to help out some Sorceress."
Zell bristled. "Hey, watch it, man! They're our friends, and we've gotta help 'em! You better not be taking the Galbadians' side over Squall!"
"Hey, I'm bein' realistic here," Jeck replied, not intimidated. "Leavin' us out of it was the only smart thing Squall did; if he hadn't, he'd have brought the Galbadians down on us like nobody's business. So unless you really wanna see your friends back at Garden get blown up sometime soon, you'd better be grateful for that."
Zell clenched his fists, glaring daggers at the other SeeD. "There somethin' you wanna say to me?" he growled.
Jeck's air remained as haughty as ever. "I've been sayin' things to you, champ. You been listening?"
"That's enough!" Quistis declared, stepping between the two of them. "Regardless of Squall's actions, there's nothing we can do to help anyone as long as we're stuck on this facility. Until we're sent out, we have to be on our best behavior, and not let our emotions take control of us."
"We can't just sit around and wait!" Zell protested.
"What else are we gonna do?" asked Irvine. "The Galbadians are gonna send us out soon anyway; we won't get anything by fighting our way through them." He shrugged. "Sit and wait is the best thing we can do right now."
"That's right," Quistis said. "There's no point in dwelling on this. Let's just focus on the next step."
"You mean finding Squall?" Nida asked. "Like, exactly what the Galbadians want us to do?"
"Hey!" Zell exclaimed. "No way am I helping the Galbadians track down Squall!"
Jeck rolled his eyes. "Man, you really haven't been paying attention, have you?"
Zell rounded on the other SeeD, but this time it was Selphie who jumped in between them. "HEY!" she exclaimed. "Stop it! It's not gonna help anything if we keep fighting each other! First we gotta escape from this place, and then we can find Squall and help Rinoa, okay?"
Zell backed down. Jeck didn't seem particularly chastened, but he kept quiet. The room fell silent for a time, before the doors slid open and a Galbadian administrative officer stepped in.
"I'm instructed to inform you that you're to depart this facility at 10:00 precisely, as per the plan discussed. In the mean time, you're to be briefed on the Sorceress by our senior scientist in the magical field."
Another man had entered the room behind him; a tall individual with a harsh expression and greying hair. His hands were hidden in the pockets of his lab coat, which was closed in such a manner as to completely hide whatever he might be wearing underneath, save for the bottoms of grey pants and a pair of fairly nice rubber shoes.
"Good day," he greeted. "My name is Jesir Nells Vaider. Some of you may be familiar with me, or perhaps even my work. I've dedicated much of my life to the study of magical and para-magcial phenomena, and unfortunately what could well have been the crowning achievement of my career has just escaped from my laboratory."
"You were doing research?" Zell demanded. "On Rinoa?" He clearly meant to say more; but for a few short seconds, he was lost for words. "...You sick bastard!" he eventually exclaimed. "What gives you the right?"
The doctor sighed. "Oh, yes, this again. While I could stand here and justify my actions to you, I simply don't feel the need. Ultimately, as an officer of Galbadia, I follow my orders, and now I am here to help you follow yours. That's all that matters for the moment."
Quistis bit back her first six or so responses. "...Fine," she said, curtly. "What do you have to say?"
"You undoubtedly know the capabilities and disposition of your Commander Leonhart far better than I," said Vaider, "so I'll address my attention to the Sorceress. Now, there are two possibilities as to what her condition will be should you find her; she may be too weak from her experience here to put up any sort of resistance at all, or she may have sufficiently recovered to put most or all of her abilities to use. Given her resilience, there's unlikely to be any middle ground; and the quicker you recover her, the more likely she will be in the former, more manageable condition. I must emphasize that for this reason, it is in your own best interests to find her as quickly as possible."
Quistis was devoting quite a bit of her brainpower to the cause of not screaming at the man with his cold, heartless tone; but Nida seemed to have a fair grip on what he was actually saying. "Do you know something about her abilities that we don't?"
"Yes," he replied. "I imagine I know quite a bit that you don't. But what is most relevant to us here is that the Sorceress' powers and her normal physical status are very intricately connected. The trauma she has been exposed to here in our laboratories appears to have stimulated her powers far beyond their normal levels; and given that my research subject will be absent during her recovery, I am unable to determine conclusively whether the effect is temporary. I speculate that the Sorceress may complete her recovery as a far more powerful magical force than she had previously been."
"Hey, stop calling her 'the Sorceress,' all right?" Zell demanded. "She's got a name, you know! She's a human being!"
"Well, that's the most interesting part, in fact," said Vaider. "Certainly she was, once, human. However, the Sorceress powers have been known to have profound and unpredictable effects on an individual, physically and psychologically. There is no guarantee that the individual who recovers will be at all human, or bear any great resemblance to the person you knew."
"That's just because of what you did to her!" growled Zell.
"Not entirely. I did not make her a Sorceress, although I admit that my research did inadvertently aggravate her condition, a side effect I was not anticipating. So I cannot avoid partial responsibility; you are correct."
"Is that all you can say for yourself?"
"Zell," Quistis snapped. "You're not helping anything."
"I offer no defense for my actions," Vaider said. "You may judge me however you wish; it's of little concern to me. What is of concern is that the Sorceress be prevented from causing serious damage, now that she is free from confinement. If you do not recover her quickly, she will certainly have the magical ability to inflict serious catastrophe. What her mental disposition will be is unclear, but I am far from optimistic."
There was silence then for several seconds. The eight SeeDs' expressions varied across a fairly wide spectrum, but their actual dispositions were not too different.
"Is that all?" Quistis asked cooly.
"The aim of my research was to devise a means to counter the Sorceress' power," said Vaider. "I intend to continue in that endeavor using the data I have already collected; it is possible that I may find results that will be useful to you. However, I have none at this time."
Quistis nodded. "Then I think we're done here."
"Very well." The doctor turned and left.
"Man!" Zell exploded, delivering a vicious jab punch to the air in front of him as soon as the SeeDs were alone again. "Can you believe that guy? Talkin' about Rinoa like that, like she's...some frickin specimen!"
Jeck snorted, but Quistis jumped in before he could speak. "We'll be leaving shortly," she declared. "Make sure your gear's in order and your GF's equipped. I'm sure there will be plenty of opportunities for action soon enough."
Thankfully, no one offered further comment.
A little more than a year earlier, Squall had carried an unconscious Rinoa all the way from Fishermans Horizon into Esthar. Perhaps it was simply that the previous episode had faded into the past, but he seemed to be having a much more difficult time of it now, as he trekked northeast into the southern Lanker region with Rinoa once again slung over his back.
It felt as if he'd been walking for hours, but since it was barely noon according to the sun, much of the perception had to be in his head. Still, his shoulders and legs were aching, and despite his concerns over Galbadian pursuit, he decided to pause and rest. Setting Rinoa carefully down in the grass, he sat beside her and contemplated whether his GF could provide a better strength-junction.
"We can't stay put very long," he said, equally to Rinoa and to himself. "If the Galbadians haven't found the hovercraft yet, they will soon. Our only chance is to keep moving."
Rinoa didn't answer. Squall thought she was conscious, but it was hard to tell; her eyes fluttered open and closed, but never seemed to focus on anything, and her body had been totally limp ever since he had taken her from Battleship Island.
"...I wish I knew what was wrong with you," he told her. "I can't even guess what that damn doctor did to you. I wish I could've been there sooner. I never should have left your side, let you go off to Timber on your own...what was I thinking?" He seemed to remember there had been an explanation, one that had sounded perfectly reasonable to him at the time, but now he could not for the life of him recall what it had been. "I'm sorry, Rinoa. I failed you. I'll never let that happen again."
I said that already, he thought. ...Dammit, I don't even know if she can hear me. What good are my promises, anyway; I'm here now, and she looks just as bad as ever! I'm still not able to help her.
Squall didn't know much about medicine, but still he attempted to check her vital signs. She was breathing; the breaths were somewhat ragged, but regular enough. And she had a pulse, which made sense because people without pulses don't normally breathe. And she might or might not be in a semiconscious state, or some kind of delirium. Squall tried to remember back to the first-aid courses he had taken in Garden, but about the only thing that came to him was how to cast a Cure spell.
...Cure. The blue aura surrounded Rinoa, and seemed to have no effect at all. The same proved true for a Curaga and Esuna spell; whatever was wrong with Rinoa; it was more than simple magic could cure.
How long had it been since she had eaten anything? Squall only knew that she hadn't had any sort of nourishment since he had taken her, and that he didn't have any to give her. And he'd been on the run for nearly a day, now.
"Dammit!" Squall said out loud. He should have thought of that earlier. How was he going to bring Rinoa back to health when they were out in the middle of the countryside and he didn't even have any food? What had he been thinking?
Of course, the problem was precisely that he hadn't been thinking. He'd been so busy resolving to protect Rinoa and pillorying himself for not doing so that he hadn't thought for a moment about the things he'd have to do to accomplish this goal.
He was well into a whole new round of self-chastisement over this point before he realized that the best course of action would be to actually start thinking.
Okay. Rinoa needs food and medical attention. I'll probably need to find a town somewhere nearby. It'll have to be a pretty small town, one that's isolated from the Galbadians and where I can hide out until Rinoa has recovered enough to travel again.
Winhill was the first place to come into mind, but he quickly dismissed it; the town was too far west of him by now, and it didn't have any kind of hospital. Unfortunately, that one town composed about the full extent of his knowledge as to the of the southern Galbadia continent.
He took a few minutes to agonize about the problem, until a solution called for attention from the north; a train whistle, distant but unmistakably clear.
Trains only whistle when they're passing through a town, Squall thought. I must be pretty close after all.
Quickly getting up, he again hauled Rinoa onto his back, and ignored the protests of his own weary muscles. "You ready?" he asked of her. "Come on. Hopefully, we can have you feeling better soon."