"I hate this place," Yuffie thought as she motioned for Cid and Cait Sith to follow her through the brush.
It had been a couple of days since Cid went all sexist and pissed her off, and Yuffie Kisaragi was determined to get Cid to change his tune once this little espionage mission was complete. After all, SHE was the stealth expert, not him! So, once they parked the Shera in a clearing in one of the nearby forests, Yuffie immediately took charge and led the pilot and toysaurus through the thicket towards the City of the Ancients. Once they reached the outskirts, Yuffie had given them a crash course in blending into the scenery as they moved in closer and closer to get a better look at the throngs of Repentant crawling over the Ancient buildings. The trio had remained hidden from sight for two hours, and it seemed as if they might be able to stay incognito.
Still, Yuffie had hoped she would never have to return to this place. After all, this place was haunted by bad memories. Four years ago, Yuffie stood by as one of her friends died at the hands of Sephiroth. While the others in their group had kept her at a distance (especially after that incident in Wutai where Yuffie had stolen all the party's materia), Aeris was always there to lend a sympathetic ear and make her feel welcome. Yuffie hated herself for a long time after being able to help Aeris, and couldn't stop herself from crying when Cloud commended her body to the Forgotten City's watery depths.
"Not now!" Yuffie reprimanded herself as she fought back tears. "Gotta focus on the mission and find out what these bastards are up to. Gotta make sure Aeris's sacrifice isn't in vain!"
"Hey kid," Cid whispered, shattering Yuffie's inner monologue, "you see anything?"
Yuffie collected herself as she continued looking through her binoculars. "Nothing in particular, old timer. Those Repentant creeps are just moving from building to building, hauling off books and stuff like that. Nothing that tells us what they're looking for. Argh, this is getting us nowhere!"
"Yuffie, calm down!" Cait Sith pleaded. "Look, do you know where they're taking those books?"
Yuffie calmed down and pondered Cait Sith's question. "Actually, now that you mention it…they seem to be taking all that stuff to that auditorium. You know, the one with the music box and the large crystal?"
"That place where that old coot showed us Aeris's prayer reaching the Planet?"
Yuffie nodded. "Now that I think about it, this Cyrus guy seems like the kind of arrogant prick that wouldn't teach his cronies what he knew about translating the Ancient language. He must be in the auditorium looking for…well, whatever the hell he's looking for!"
"Well, what the fuck are we waiting for, then?" Cid said as he stood up and grabbed his spear.
"W-wait a minute! Cid, we can't just go rushing in there! There's too many of them, and we still wouldn't learn what we came here to find out!"
"Yuffie's right," Cait Sith added. "We gotta prevent a battle. At least until we figure out what Cyrus is up to."
"You don't think I know that? I was just going to suggest we find some sort of crack in the wall or something so we can get a peek inside the auditorium. What, you think I'm that fucking stupid to just go and expose myself?"
"All right, all right! Gawd, sorry I doubted you, Cid," Yuffie relented. "Well, we better…wait, do you hear something?"
Cid was about to reply as several dark-clad figures emerged from behind and pounced on them. One had an overpowered shock rod and used it to short-circuit Cait Sith. The others grabbed a hold of Cid and Yuffie as one assailant produced a pair of syringes and, after stabbing the pair with them, injected whatever chemical cocktail into the pilot and the ninja. Yuffie managed to wriggle free and swing her fist at one of the assailants and connected.
That assailant's partners grabbed Yuffie and drove their knees into her stomach. Yuffie felt like throwing up as the world started to spin. She turned to watch Cid pass out due to the drug and fall to the ground hard.
"No…damn it…" Yuffie muttered as she succumbed to the drug and collapsed at the feet of her captors. The world went dark as she drifted into the abyss of dreamless sleep, clinging only to her anger...
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Cait Sith's onboard systems rebooted after what seemed like an eternity, but had only been about a half hour. He was locked in what appeared to be a cellar with only a couple holes giving his prison illumination. He tried moving his arms and legs, but he quickly realized that he was strapped to a table. The room he was in appeared to have been converted into some kind of lab by the Repentant. He quickly decided to run a diagnostic scan of his systems and make sure he was in working condition.
"Hmm, other than some slight external charring, I think I'm okay. Wait, where's Mog?"
"Nice to see you woke up. I wanted an opportunity to speak to Reeve's puppet."
Cait Sith quickly turned to see where that voice came from. With the flick of a switch, a tall, black-haired man carrying a cane and wearing a tattered grey overcoat emerged from the shadows and into the light. Cait Sith had heard the reports, and had gotten the description from Reeve before rendezvousing with Cid. He knew who this man was.
"Cyrus Thresher," Cait Sith stated with a snarl…or at least, as much a snarl he could muster. "Where are Cid and Yuffie?"
"They're fine. Those two are just sleeping off the effects of the sedative my comrades injected them with. They'll be out for another hour. In the meantime, I wanted to see Reeve's creation with my own eyes…the machine that could use materia."
"Materia…" Cait Sith looked at the materia slot on his paw. It was empty.
"Looking for this?" Cyrus said mockingly as he took Cait's Time Materia out of his left coat pocket. He tossed it into the air once before catching it and pocketing it again. "You know, it takes quite a bit of concentration to call forth the spirit energy to properly use a materia. And as I'm sure you know, more powerful materia require more spirit energy to use. Yet, you have no spirit energy of your own and can still call forth the powers of the Planet. I don't suppose you'd like to tell me how you accomplish such a feat?"
"Yeah, like hell! I'm not gonna help ya out. I don't care what you say or do! And just you wait…Reeve and Cloud'll come and take you and your Repentant down!"
"I didn't figure you'd be cooperative," Cyrus dryly commented. "But it doesn't matter. My plan will go forward with or without your assistance. However, I do need your help with one other matter."
"Oh yeah?" Cait Sith retorted. "And what's that?"
"Something you're very good at: relaying information. I'm sure your creator's been scratching his head raw trying to figure out what exactly I'm up to. I just want to ease his mind and let him know directly. Nothing sinister about that, is there?"
"And if I tell ya to go screw yourself?"
Cyrus shook his head as if he was disappointed. "Unfortunately, you're not going to have a say in this particular matter. I only need you to record and transmit…and I'm fairly certain that's a separate function from your AI protocol."
Cait Sith's eyes went wide at that last comment. "No…you wouldn't…"
"Why not?" Cyrus asked. "I have issues with killing fellow humans unnecessarily, but you're not human. If fact, technically you're not even alive. Removing your AI processor would be no different than flipping a switch or pulling the plug on a coffee maker. But I'm not without a heart even for something like you. So, before we shut your AI down, I have someone you might want to say goodbye to."
Cyrus sidestepped and motioned towards one of the room's corners. Cait was able to turn his head just enough to see what Cyrus was pointing at…although he soon wished he hadn't.
There, in a pile of twisted metal and shredded pink fluff, was Mog. The Repentant had taken the defenseless moogle and completely destroyed him, leaving him a battered mess of steel, stuffing, and wires. Cait Sith looked at the body of his companion and suddenly felt something he never felt before: pure, unadulterated rage.
"DAMN IT! DAMN IT ALL TO HELL!" Cait Sith screamed as one of the Repentant opened his access panel and removed the processor that governed his AI program. Suddenly, Cait began to lose any form of sentience as his AI started to fragment and shut down. The last thought Cait Sith had before the program had completely disintegrated was one of regret:
"Reeve…Father. I'm sorry I failed…"
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It had been a couple of days since the WRO had last had contact with Cid Highwind and the crew of the Shera as they embarked on their mission to spy on the Repentant. Since then, Cloud and the remaining AVALANCHE members had done their best to pass the time at WRO Headquarters, whether it be playing poker with some of the enlisted men and women or volunteering for routine monster hunts. They also checked in with Shelke on a regular basis to see if she was able to find out any new information on Cyrus or the Shinra control implants…but so far, Shelke had not been able to bring anything worthwhile to light.
Cloud sighed as he continued tuning up Fenrir. He wanted to change the oil and was on his back unscrewing the oil pan's plug, draining it. There were no monster hunts on schedule for today and he had no real desire to play cards. Besides, working on his motorcycle always helped keep his mind at ease…and if things were about to get rough between the WRO and the Repentant, he wanted to make sure both Fenrir and his swords were ready for battle.
"Hey, Cloud!" the soft, familiar voice of Tifa called out.
Cloud finished unscrewing the plug and looked up to see Tifa's smiling face. Although his face never showed it, her smile always made him feel better whenever he felt sad or guilty. Her smile seemed to dispel the darkness he held in his heart and bring him closer to the light. Again, he wondered if the feelings he felt were just those of a close friend or something more…
Cloud set his thoughts aside as he replied, "Hey Tifa. What's going on?"
Tifa sat down beside Cloud. "Nothing. Reeve and Shelke hadn't heard anything from Cid or the others, and I got tired of listening to Barret's rants or Vincent's brooding. I just hate waiting while our friends are in danger."
"Yeah," Cloud agreed. "But there's not a whole lot we can do. We just got to have faith in Cid and Yuffie and hope they're all right."
"I guess," Tifa said with a sigh. "So, just changing Fenrir's oil?"
"Something to keep me busy. Want to help?"
"Really?" Tifa asked, sounding a bit surprised. "Um, sure! What do you need?"
"Can you grab that oil filter sitting over there?" Cloud asked as he pointed towards a nearby toolbox.
Tifa sprang up and walked over. She grabbed what looked like a filter and walked back over to where Cloud was working. "Is this is?" Tifa inquired as she handed the object over.
"Yeah, that's the one. Thanks."
"No problem!" Tifa said with another bright smile. "Hey Cloud?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you think this is ever going to end? You know, us rushing around the world, protecting the Planet?"
Cloud sighed as he removed the old oil filter and replaced it with the new one. "I hope so. I just…"
"…Cloud? What is it?"
Cloud cleared his throat. He was never comfortable talking about his feelings. "I just want us to be happy. And not just us, but Marlene and Denzel and all our friends. It's just…hard. Maybe this time, after all this is over…we can start living normal lives..."
"Cloud, what are you…" Tifa started to ask as a voice came over the loudspeakers.
"Cloud! We need you and your friends in the debriefing room, on the double!" Reeve's voice commanded.
Cloud quickly slid out from under Fenrir as both he and Tifa ran as quickly as they could to the debriefing room. Whatever Reeve needed to talk about sounded urgent, and with Cid and Yuffie in the middle of a large number of Repentant, Cloud figured things must have gone bad.
"Run now…worry later," Cloud thought as he navigated the corridors of WRO Headquarters. He'd find out soon enough what was making Reeve panic; and if he needed to, he'd find a way to save his friends.
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Author's Notes:
Couldn't sleep, so I figured I'd post this chapter and take the weekend off. Hope you guys like it.
Hope the suspense is building. What's gonna happen to Cid and Yuffie? Will Cyrus reveal his plot? WILL SOMEONE WRITE ME A REVIEW BETWEEN NOW AND NEXT CHAPTER?!
I know the answers to the first two questions...and I'll share them with you eventually. As for the third question, that's up to you to answer. I LIKE REVIEWS! (Ok, stop being a spaz, Truth...idiot)
Later,
"The Exile" Cyrus Truth