Disclaimer: I make no money from this work. Anything recognizable to the Final Fantasy VII series and its associated parts belongs to Square Enix and affiliated companies.
Green Dreams
Chapter Twenty-Two: The Easy Part's Done
General Sephiroth made no secret of his distaste for office work. During the exams, thisdisgruntlement was magnified until it became utter loathing because of the exponential increase in paperwork that landed on his desk.
Propping his elbows on the paper-covered desk he rubbed at his throbbing temples. His eyes were starting to ache from squinting at tiny print, and he dug the heels of his hands into them before pulling back. Mako seemed to do wonders for any other pain but tension headaches. Sephiroth decided he needed to work in a spar today. He'd been sitting behind this desk for the past two weeks without reprieve except for sleep, meals, and chastising Zack when he got lazy. He'd even given up going to the vending machines when they started getting low on everything—the first thing to go was Snickers of course. The exams would begin on Monday, and then he'd have a legitimate excuse to be out of the office.
But until then… There was a low knock on his door. Frustrated at the thought of more paperwork being delivered, he bit back a low groan and instead called in a quick, "Come in."
The door was shouldered open by a spiky blond head.
Sephiroth felt his previous headache drifting away as a new one came to replace it. Strife was ever a puzzle, which Sephiroth would have delighted in taking apart if he'd had the time to. Perhaps when the exams were over…
"Sir, this is from Zack." Strife held up the brown, cardboard box in his hands a little higher as though Sephiroth couldn't see it. The blond stood patiently before him, his face not showing any of the strain of holding what had to be a heavy box. In fact, Strife was perfectly polite whenever he came in for Zack. In some ways Zack's trainee was also his intern. He rarely made eye contact though, and there was something about the formality that was…detached, which bothered Sephiroth. That layer of coolness over all of Strife's interactions with him was absent when he was with Zack or amongst his friends. The General wasn't sure what that distance between them was, and he felt instinctively it was more than just rank.
"Just put it in the corner and I'll get to it later."
"He says it's urgent, sir."
"In the corner will be fine. I have plenty of 'urgent' memos that come before that." Sephiroth deliberately disregarded Zack's box, knowing the man in the next room down would be annoyed to find his delivery was being dumped for later. It was just a little reminder that sometimes people had other priorities than fun.
"Sir…"
Sephiroth wondered if Strife would back down. No doubt Zack put him up to this, but he wondered how far the blond would push the wondered if Strife thought he had the same leeway over him as Zack did, being the First's right-hand man practically. Would that make him bolder?
Strife chewed on his lip for just as second before speaking up again. Good. "General sir, Lieutenant-General Fair ordered me to make sure you opened it."
The formality was a little irksome, but Sephiroth had never stopped him before. The General supposed he could, but he somehow doubted Strife would heed it, even as an order. The thought cheered him up a bit as he leaned back in his seat to really look at the cadet. Strife didn't fidget, but he didn't look directly at him either, rather looking out the window behind him. He liked to see the cadet's backbone, though he wasn't sure why it manifested when it did. He didn't make eye contact, but he also continued to stubbornly fight Sephiroth's order.
Strife began to chew on his lower lip again and Sephiroth's eyes were drawn to it. He felt the slightest inclination to smile at the unconscious action, but a deeper reaction in his gut forced him to look away. He would not name it.
"Bring it here."
Strife complied and slid the box on to the table, exhaling at the weight left him. He stepped back but made no move to leave. The blond had always dismissed himself after delivering whatever it was without being asked, and the first time he'd done it the General had been a little surprised. Most Firstshad that privilege, but Seconds and below often waited for direct orders. It was another little thing Sephiroth had picked up on. He'd even mentioned it to Zack, and the First had just laughed. This time though the blond didn't leave, which probably indicated Zack had told him to stay.
The box was unmarked and taped together with Hello Kitty scotch tape, undoubtedly from Zack's desk. There was only one First who signed every form with bright-colored pens and bought Hello Kitty scotch a desk drawer he pulled out a box cutter and sliced through the thin tape. His audienceof one watched him in silence. The box immediately opened like some cardboard flower, and inside were perhaps a hundred Snickers bars.
…So this is why the vending machine has been out.
Sephiroth calmly stared at the entire box of them for a moment, before lifting his eyes up to Strife. The blond didn't seem surprised. He'd probably put the box together considering Zack could be perfectly inept when it came to the strangest things. The man could put up any kind of camping tent there was, but had trouble wrapping presents.
"Please inform the Lieutenant General that his…gift has been received." Before Strife could move though, he added, "Wait a moment."
Standing up, he put the box in the corner of the room before retrieving another empty box from a pile of them. Sephiroth did not like clutter, but it was inevitable during the exams, and he made up one stack of paperwork, he dropped it into the box before carefully stuffing more in the sides around it. Once it was completely full, he closed the box and masking-taped it together.
Sephiroth handed it to Strife, giving the boy the slightest hint of a smile as he did. "Please also inform the Lieutenant-General that if he has enough time to raid every vending machine on the compound, then he has enough time to complete these." Turning around he crossed back to his desk but didn't sit. Now that he'd stood up he didn't want to sit back down to work again. For the briefest of moments his eyes shifted to the box of Snickers in the corner and then to the blond still standing there.
The General thought Strife might have wanted to salute when he shifted the box, but after a nervous twitch of a smile, he nodded and turned, leaving the room and walking the whole five feet to Zack's door. Sephiroth just shook his head.
Anyone else and it would be hazing.
"Well, did he open it?"
"Yeah."
"And?"
"He said, 'If you have enough time to raid every vending machine in the compound, then you can do all this.'"
"What?! That's why I sent you to get all those Snickers!"
"I know."
"Well, Cloud, have a seat. I'm going to teach you the finer points of paperwork."
"You're not serious."
"Cloud, the art of paperwork is to skim for specific words. If you see 'Scarlet', 'Hojo', anything to do with the science department in fact, rip it in half and toss it in the garbage. Now, this is Sephiroth's signature. Notice all the perfectly circular loops. If it's addressed to him, sign his name. If it's addressed to me, scribble something that has a big 'Z' in the front."
"…"
"I'm kidding Cloud."
"Shinra SOLDIER cadets, the SOLDIER Examinations will begin on October eighth. Each class has a written exam that will not be curved. Failing any exam can put you at a serious disadvantage for the physical examinations."
The cadets in the gym shuffled and glanced at each at that proclamation. There had to be almost all the cadets on Shinra's compound here. There were two recruitment dates, which meant two days in the year to sign up for the Cadet Program, but everyone started at the same time, and everyone ended at the same time. These exams had been long in coming, and it finally seem to hit people that all their work was building up to this point—and this was where their dreams stood the chance of failing.
Cloud was in a corner of the room with Dan and Reno. Dan, of course, looked suitably terrified, while Reno looked nonchalant. It was perfectly normal behavior for Dan and Reno to be at complete odds. Cloud didn't worry about the written exams, he was more concerned with the physical one; the one he'd failed before.
"The written examinations begin Monday and will last one week. At various intervals a bunker will be taken for mako testing. Any and all cadets who fail this automatically fail the exam and cannot retake it."
The silence in the room was deafening. This might have been announced before at some point, but the weight of the science exam was huge because it was also uncontrollable. Dan might have gulped. Cloud had known this was coming of course, but it had seemed like a distant trial, a sun on different mountains. Now it was barely days away.
"The week after the written exams marks the beginning of the physical examination. Those of you who remain will be given more information at that time. SOLDIER wishes the best of luck to you all." With those parting words, the SOLDIER First exited the gymnasium, and the room erupted in talk.
Dan immediately launched into a distressed monologue about study schedules and why he hadn't color-coded his notes, while Reno loudly remarked he might go clubbing tonight, and Cloud stayed silent. His blue eyes watched the other cadets distantly, trying to piece together records of what had happened before. It was…depressing.
Dan had been on his team, he remembered that much. He didn't quite remember how they failed or what exactly happened, except that within the first three hours they'd been ambushed somewhere tight and the whole team had gone down. Cloud's team hadn't stood a chance.
They had three days until the written exams, and no more than seven days to a mako examination. Cloud didn't remember what this entailed, not anymore. He couldn't even remember his own results. He'd passed though by the skin of teeth likely, but this time might be different.
Zack had come to cheer him up on Monday morning for the first exam, explaining that he wouldn't be around much for the rest of the week since he left in an hour to deal with more of AVALANCHE's messes. Zack never gave him any details, but he'd been erratically around when he wasn't leaving on missions. He'd stolen some of Cloud's bacon (well, what looked like bacon) and threw it away from him warning him about the food. The blond didn't dignify that with an answer.
Zack had given him a one-armed hug right there in front of everyone in the cafeteria, much to Cloud's embarrassment, before taking off with a jaunty wave. The blond had taken one look at Reno's wiggling eyebrows and dumped the rest of his breakfast.
The first class they were being tested on was theory, and in the end he made up a lot of his answers based on his own experiences. That was what the theory was based on after all, so he wasn't too worried. Despite all his calm during the test though, when he saw two SOLDIERs and a doctor were standing outside the test room he'd come pretty close to panicking. Thankfully the other boys were also stiff and nervous at the sight of the lab coat and Thirds, and Cloud was able to mix into the group while he tried to remember Tifa's meditative breathing exercises.
Their bunker was first for the mako examinations.
They were led through the labyrinth of Shinra's buildings and herded over to the medical building, a large, white structure with the typical Shinra logo pasted above the door that was the main hospital on the compound. Cloud lingered at the back of the group as they squeezed through the doors and were led to a large operating theater, before the boys were ordered to line up.
"This is the mako examination. We expect your full cooperation in this test. Results will be determined on site. Those of you that fail will join the ranks of the regiment army tomorrow morning. You will not resume the written examinations." The stiff-necked SOLDIER concluded with a short nod before standing aside for a man in a white lab coat.
Some of the boys grumbled about the importance of this test, but everyone knew if you couldn't handle mako then you could never be a SOLDIER. Shinra didn't waste the expensive chemical, so only the cadets who lasted the year of training could take it, and if they failed then that was the end of the line.
Cloud instinctively tensed as the doctor—though he might have actually been a scientist, that wasn't clear—in front of them pushed his glasses up his nose. "W-welcome cadets. All you need to do i-is stand there." He spoke quickly and stuttered,but Cloud hardly listened as his eyes focused onthe stains of chemicals on the man's gloves, and he though he could almost smell the acrid stench from fifteen feet away. He forced the bile down and focused on looking and feeling impassive.
"We'll s-simply swab you across the chest with a l-light concentration of mako. Reactions c-can take time, so if there's n-no immediate reaction, you may s-still need to come back. B-By tomorrow's results, we can a-ascertain if you qualify for s-stronger treatments as S-SOLDIERs." He pushed his glasses up one more time before turning to the nurse beside him. In her hands was a metal tray with a small pile of cotton swabs, a pair of long steel, medical tweezers, and a dish of water.
Reno shifted his weight next to Cloud, brushing up against him, and the blond flinched. He was so tense his muscles might cramp if he didn't move, except he felt frozen where he eyes were drawn to the stuttering doctor who left the room for a moment before returning. In his hand was a small beaker, holding no more than an inch of mako inside. The blond half-expected his hand to shake, but it was steady.
Cloud's eyes were drawn to it, as was everyone else's in the room. Many cadets had little experience with the dangerous substance, and in its liquid form it was at its deadliest. Cloud shuddered as the brilliant green acid sloshed in its reinforced beaker as the scientist set it down on the tray. He had no desire to be anywhere near it. He could feel the powerful urge to leave the room, and he had to force himself to stay still and look unmoved.
"I-If you would kindly remove all clothing on the torso. T-That way this c-can be done quickly." The boys removed their shirts silently, tossing them down on the theater seating behind them quickly. Cloud could feel his nipples pinch in the air conditioning and his own nervousness. Reno's stomach was clenched tight, the bottom of his ribcage just barely visible as he sucked in his stomach to ground himself. Dan twitched on Reno's other side, the muscles in his arm spasming from being held too tight. Cloud could feel beads of sweat slide down the back of his neck.
Uncapping the top of the beaker, the doctor took the forceps and carefully picked up a cotton ball, heedful not to squeeze it too tight. With practiced ease, he dipped it into the beaker, barely letting it brush the mako though it soaked it up quickly, and began to glow faint neon green. The sight was enough to make Cloud's vision blur black like he was going to faint for a second.
The doctor had to act quickly; otherwise the mako would consume the whole cotton ball. With efficiency, he swiped the mako-covered end of the cotton ball just above the first boy's nipples. Without even looking for a reaction he did the same to the second.
Neither boy moved at first, and Cloud didn't dare glance down at them. His eyes were fixed on the beaker of mako. The doctor took up another cotton ball and moved down the line quickly, the discarded cotton balls slowly filling up the water dish. As he got to the end of the line, he first swabbed Dan and then Reno. Cloud could barely see Dan twitching out of the corner of his eye, and Reno had his lower lip tightly held between his teeth, obviously stifling any reaction.
Everything narrowed down for Cloud as soon as the scientist went for another ball. He had no idea what might happen, but he knew what it felt like to get even a little liquid mako on your skin. There would be a burning sensation, the edges would turn icy cold, and his nostrils would become raw from breathing in the fumes after a couple minutes. Cloud hoped that would be the extent of it, but his gut clenched at the thought of any of it going badly. What if this caused an imbalance in him? Would he mutate?
The doctor stepped up before Cloud, and the blond tried to relax his hands enough to unclench his fists. He could feel sweat dribble down his back, but he kept his expression blank and tried to do the same for his mind as the doctor dipped the cotton ball into the mako and drew the forceps up, before cutting a smooth line of green across his chest.
Tseng stared at the stubborn looking blond boy in the picture. His profile was unremarkable, his grades had shot up about midway through the year, and though it was impressive to be trained by a First Class SOLDIER, Tseng still wasn't really seeing it.
Reno said Cloud had told him. And considering this was the redhead's friend, he had been the obvious answer. However, Strife didn't seem like the sort of person who would know that kind of information. After all, he'd grown up far from Midgar, in a tiny village Tseng was sure he'd never been to before, and Tseng seriously doubted anyone could be subtle with that kind of hair.
So had Reno lied? No, Tseng was fairly sure he'd been sincere. Perhaps it was through Strife he'd heard about the guns? Reno was more than just a slum rat after all. He was a shrewd one, and that could be a volatile combination.
Perhaps Cloud was not referencing his friend at all, but a codename for something or someone else? That would make Strife an incredibly convenient cover, but it wasn't impossible. Though anyone who checked up on Strife with half a brain would find nothing. Other than the boy's seemingly miraculous hidden ability that Fair had spotted,Strife was unexceptional.
…But unexceptional wasn't really Reno's style. He picked at puzzles compulsively, and he didn't befriend people who couldn't be useful, Tseng knew, taking a risk for a big prize. After all, their first meeting had been exactly that. Tseng, looking like a high executive in his dark blue suit, had actually been pick-pocketed by the scamp. In a hallway too! Of course, Reno hadn't gotten three steps before Tseng had him by the collar, but the redhead was his usual cocky self, telling him he'd only be "relieving him of the weight of his wallet". The boy hadn't realized at first he was a Turk, but he'd faltered a bit on his cocky attitude when he'd been dragged down the hall and to the Turk's offices. Tseng knew his department had a nasty reputation in the slums, and he cultivated it.
That had been the beginning of their absurd relationship, and Tseng liked to think he had the slippery Reno pretty much pegged down. Still… unless there was anything to indicate "Cloud" was actually a codename, Tseng would keep his eye on the blond. With the exams it wouldn't be difficult to watch the boy in action, though he'd be in a controlled environment. Maybe even if Strife didn't drop a clue, then Reno would.
Cloud lay on his bed and contemplated what his body was telling him: he could feel a slow burn aching across the swab mark; the green coloration was long gone. His skin was red now though, irritated and sensitive to touch. The edges, as expected, felt icy cold. He'd anticipated being in more pain, but it felt like a serious rug-burn with some salt dashed on it, nothing he couldn't easily block out.
The other boys hadn't faired quite as well. Dan's hands had kept wandering up to his bare chest, flittering around the burn without touching. He had whimpered, and even Reno hadn't said a word aboutthe lack of manliness at handling the pain. The redhead had bit his lip and calmly told the doctor when he came around that he was "fuckin' fine". The crack in his voice gave him away.
Mako burns weren't the kind of ache most people experienced. It was like the initial shock and startling burst of pain of a smashed toe, except that burst of pain kept throbbing the way a broken arm did, and it didn't let up for a long time. This was unrefined mako burning through layers of skin and irritating every nerve it could reach. SOLDIERs were injected with treated mako that had been refined, but if you couldn't handle the raw stuff then injecting any form of mako straight into the bloodstream would be deadly—for you and possibly for anyone around you if you mutated.
It didn't take long to get a taste of mako treatment gone badly. Acker, the first boy in line, collapsed roughly two minutes after exposure. His mako streak had begun to swell, and the doctor immediately ordered him to a bed and an IV. He'd failed.
After waiting another ten minutes without further reaction, whether through the actual burn or by breathing it in, they were sent back to the bunker. The doctor had called out for them to return immediately should something change, and that the feeling should dwindle by curfew. They'd have to return tomorrow morning so the scientist could see if there were any further changes or results.
Reno and the others tried to put their shirts back on as Cloud walked out carrying his, and the shouts of pain at irritating the incredibly sensitive skin couldn't pull the blond back from where his mind wandered. The familiar burn of mako had sent too many gruesome and unpleasant memories back into the forefront of Cloud's mind, and all he wanted to do was lay down and try to distract himself from the pain.
Cloud knew that being a SOLDIER would mean real mako treatments. It would mean syringes of liquid, fire licking up his veins, and Hojo looming down on him. It was worth it, he told himself as he gritted his teeth as another wave of pain rippled across the stain on his chest when the wind from outside hit it, everything is worth it.
Tseng tapped his chin thoughtfully as he sat at the head of the roundtable. On his right was Rude, currently without a partner, and a couple other older faces, along with a handful of others who were also new blood.
The Turks were always few in number but this year had not been a good year for them. One of their veterans had been killed by AVALANCHE, and another had disappeared after an assignment on the North Continent. That was actually a fairly frequent incidence—most attributed it to death and didn't ask questions.
They also didn't gather together like this all that often, and even then two were out on assignment—one would likely not come back, that was intentional—and Veld was in his office as he'd taken to doing of late. He was letting his second, Tseng, run the meeting. Tseng was still looking into why exactly, but if people though Tseng was paranoid, then they'd never compared him to his superior.
"Turks, those of you who have been members for longer than two months are allowed to nominate and sponsor a cadet to join. Does anyone want to start?"
There was silence for a moment before Rude's hand rose.
Tseng's eyebrow shot up. "Rude?" He couldn't quite keep the skepticism out of his voice. Rude, normally so taciturn, had never nominated anyone in his six years here. In fact, it wasn't even that common to nominate anyone, since most Turk trainees were chosen by consensus, but it happened sometimes. Tseng was curious to know who had caught the man's eye.
"I would like to sponsor Cadet Reno to be a Turk."
Tseng's mouth tightened. The other Turks noticed the tension but wisely didn't say anything. Rude looked as placid as ever. His superior's clear doubt didn't seem to faze him at all.
"Why?"
Rude paused a moment to survey Tseng but remained silent.
"You are aware that he would most likely be your new partner?" Tseng leaned back in his chair as he regained some of his composure. No one was quite sure why Tseng disliked Reno except Rude, and nobody dared to ask.
"…"
Tseng sighed. "Despite his immaturity, if you sponsor him I cannot stop you." He twirled his pen around his fingers for a second before looking back up at Rude. "Do you understand?"
"…"
The files on Reno were pulled up, and the Turks around the table read through the meager information.
"He looks fine," one commented.
"He's from the slums," said another.
"Reminds me of that guy with the two guns before, what was his name?"
"Starts with an R. The one who—"
Reno was clearly an acceptable choice to the other Turks, that much was obvious, and Tseng couldn't say he wasn't surprised, though Rude nominated him did catch him off guard. Reno certainly had a lot of the qualities of the Turks, even if he was messy, obnoxious, and too easily broken by sexual advances. Half the work of the Turks though was molding their trainees—if they didn't die—and Tseng couldn't help thinking he might help push Reno along.
"Do you think we can switch teams?"
"I hope that guy's not on my team."
"You think they'll give us something besides a gun?"
"I heard you have to kill three people to pass."
Even though it was eight a.m. on a Monday morning and all the cadets were crammed into the cafeteria, there was the constant thrum of talk. Team assignments were to be given out, and everyone was excited. They had to wait nearly half an hour as the buzz built up before a Second Class SOLDIER finally walked in and was almost immediately swarmed. In his hand was a long sheet of paper that had the groups and details for the physical exam.
"Do you think we'll get lucky, Cloud?" Dan's eager voice cut through the noise around them as the boy turned to three of them were sitting at their usual table on the far side, Cloud thinking about how he'd make things work out, whether he got a good team or not. Reno sometimes left to go talk to someone before coming back to share whatever he heard, while Dan kept checking the door and then the SOLDIER to see if an announcement would be coming shortly.
Cloud didn't answer Dan's questions, but Reno did,scoffing at the other cadet. "You make your own luck."
A bunch of Thirds waiting on the side of the room clapped their hands and shouted to get the group of cadets to calm down. Once everyone was seated before them, they sat back down at their table and let the Second come forward.
He was a rough looking man, tall with big shoulders not unlike Barret, and his voice boomed out across the room. "Cadets! Today marks the first day of the physical examination of the SOLDIER Exam. There are eight-five participants this year, fifty-five cadets and thirty regulation soldiers."
Murmuring broke out at the mention of army members coming back for a trial. Those who failed the SOLDIER exams were required to join the army for three years. If they hadn't failed the mako exam, then after two years they were offered a second chance at the exams. However, if they failed again they had another three years added to their service. It was a gamble, though clearly a popular one if thirty men were trying again. Cloud hadn't made it through a year as a regulation soldier.
"There will be seventeen teams, each with five members. The goal of the test is to last for two weeks under hostile conditions. Food, water, and ammunition will be hidden throughout the building. You will be required to outlast and outwit the other teams if you have any hope of surviving. You will be judged not only on your methods of survival, but on your application of all you've been taught, and your teamwork."
Immediately people starting talking in hushed voices, wondering just what the SOLDIER meant by "surviving". Cloud was characteristically silent, letting even Reno wonder aloud as to the rules of the game. The blond already knew what to expect. He had been tempted all week during the written exams to share some of his knowledge with Reno, but always it had come down to an explanation he didn't have. After what had happened with Tseng's guns, Cloud waited and held his tongue.
"The rules are as follows: Each team will be given color-coded armbands to signify their team. The weapons you will be using are these," One of the troopers next to the SOLDIER lifted up an unfamiliar gun. It was long and thin like a military rifle, except the barrel was particularly elongated. It wasn't like the guns they'd been training with. "This is your weapon. Only two of these will be given to each team. More of these will be hidden throughout the area," the SOLDIER explained.
"This is your ammunition. It holds eight rounds." The other trooper now held up what looked like an ordinary magazine, though Cloud knew it was actually thinner and lighter than a regular cartridge because there weren't regular bullets in there. The cadets here were expecting to be given the same rubber pellets they practiced with, however that wasn't the case. Paintballs were cheaper, left clear marks where someone was hit, and were less dangerous for head or neck hits. Hence, they were perfect for a controlled battle situation like the exam.
The SOLDIER didn't cough to regain attention, just angrily glared out at the crowd until their voices dimmed and finally quieted. "The examination will be monitored through cameras and a regular sweep made by personnel. You are free to attack as you would in a real battle. Killing all your opponents, however, may not be to your advantage. Think wisely."
Other than a couple quiet whispers, the room remained silent.
"When I announce your group, you will sit at a table together, beginning with the table in the farthest corner and moving right across the room before starting on the next row. Do not attempt to switch groups or sabotage another team before the official start of the exam, or you will be penalized." Before anyone could speak, the SOLDIER started barking orders at the troopers by his side. They cleared the back row tables of the cafeteria and stood at attention.
"Team 1: Dent, Williams, Gris, Moxley, and Wylie. Team 2…"
As the names were called, boys shuffled off to their designated tables, trying to act tough as they were separated from their friends and seated with total strangers. Reno was called up with Team 6, sneering at Dan and waving briefly at Cloud before cockily walking off. Cloud nodded to him as he left. Reno's teammates didn't seem overly enthused to see him. Two of them looked like friends and they clearly saw Reno as a threat rather than a teammate. Cloud looked over the teams called so far, faces vaguely familiar from class and practice, but Reno, for some reason, seemed out of place. The blond continued to stare, trying to think of what was wrong. There was Reno's team for the exam, the paintball he probably would have loved, getting spectacularly drunk once he passed—
No… Cloud couldn't recall seeing Reno in the exam at all, not even in the group that failed. Reno had been in his bunker, so he must have been at the mako exam at least. As Cloud dredged up the memories though, full of holes as they were, he could still see his team members, the army guy and Dan, and he remembered Maxwell being on a tough team and a handful of others, but Reno and his bright hair was missing.
Had the Turks picked him up already? If that was true, then Cloud may have really changed Reno's future. He and Reno were together quite often, and Reno had subtly changed in the last months as they'd had gotten closer, so it couldn't be that much of a jump to imagine Cloud had that kind of influence. He might have unintentionally headed off incidents where Reno would have caught the eye of a Turk, or perhaps he'd even curbed Reno's attitude enough to stay under the radar.
He thought furiously through the implications of what he'd just realized, only half listening for his name. If Reno was taking the exam, then that meant Cloud had changed something. How had Reno been picked for the Turks the first time? Cloud had no idea, but he stared at the redhead across the room wondering how this would change his known future.
The blond rubbed his knuckles over his eyes and took a deep breath. This didn't mean Reno couldn't be a Turk. It would just be delayed. The redhead was made for the Turks; everyone knew that, but the blond still couldn't help but fear that he'd unknowingly done something irreversible.
"Team 10: Strife, Megarian, Gavish, Tamboia, and Biegel."
Dan immediately jumped up, turning to Cloud with his hands clutched over his heart in a very girlish gesture. "We're on the same team, Cloud! Can you believe our luck?" Letting the boy babble on, Cloud grunted and crossed the room to where one boy was already sitting. He was smiling at them as they approached.
As Dan and Cloud sat, the other spoke. "I'm Aaron, nice to meet you. I've seen the both of you around." The purple-haired boy offered his hand, which Dan took immediately.
"I'm Dan, and this is Cloud." Dan was a perfect gentleman, introducing them both, and Aaron offered Cloud his hand too. The blond shook it tightly once and quickly retracted. Dan seemed to have already taken a shine to Aaron, who was certainly more cordial than most of the boys here. "We're actually from the same bunker. Isn't that lucky?"
Aaron agreed, and as the two started talking, Cloud noted only one other boy joined them. He wore his military outfit loosely, pants too low so his boxers could be seen when he was sitting, his jacket unbuttoned and shirt un-tucked. His face was red from acne, and he had a thin white scar along the top of his hairline of his temple. Cloud had a distinct image of a much more immature Reno. They held themselves the same way, with an air of arrogance born of tough lives.
"Oh, you must be Megarian or Biegel." Aaron turned to the boy now, just noticing him sitting here, and offered his hand again. The other cadet crossed his arms on the table and turned his face away.
Not one to be put-off by blatant rudeness, Aaron resumed his conversation with Dan and occasionally asked questions of the other who refused to acknowledge any of them. Cloud wondered briefly if the guy would be a problem, but dismissed it. He'd led unrulier people than a teenager; he could handle him.
The blond surveyed the rest of the room as Dan and Aaron talked, looking at who was on what team. He didn't recognize any of the members of Reno's team, and most of the other teams seemed to be an even distribution of skills to Cloud's knowledge. He had been sure they were broken up based on scores, though Cloud was sure he'd done better this time around. Perhaps Zack had fiddled with it—in which case Cloud might have to mention how favoritism wouldn't help him. Had the SOLDIER done that before to land him on a better team even though it hadn't helped?
Megarian, their last member, was actually in the army, which was why he wasn't there, as Cloud remembered. The SOLDIER would probably explain that as soon as people finished getting acquainted with each other. Biegel, the surly one at the end of the table, Cloud barely remembered at all. Hopefully that meant the boy would keep his head down or fail quickly.
"Cadets! Now that you have found your teams, some of you might find that you are missing one person. If you are a four-man team here, it means your last member is a regulation army member. They will join us at the site of the exam. You have one hour now to prepare. You are allowed to bring one bag, which will be examined before you leave. It must be small enough to carry as a pack, and certain objects are forbidden: this includes guns, certain kinds of food, and bombs. If you want to see a complete list, there is one in each of your halls. Be back here in one hour!"
Dan and Cloud rose with the other boys, merging into one loud group as they headed back to the bunkers. Reno was already there by the time they reached their room. It hadn't exactly been cozy, but missing three people, now four with Acker gone to the regulation army, it was even barer. Everyone knew they wouldn't be coming back here for more than to pack up the last of their stuff—whether to bring it to the new SOLDIER Third's apartments or the army barracks.
Cloud packed extra water skeins, his small knife (hiding the larger one on himself), a permanent marker, and any manner of paraphernalia he could think of that might be useful. He knew not to over-pack because he would need the space for things they picked up and the like. Cloud had to remind Dan of the same though. The boy seemed insistent that he would really needed a book in case he got bored, a box of tissues in case someone got a cold, and even toilet paper. After finally helping Dan cut ten pounds off his bag, he and Cloud were the last to leave their bunker.
Back in the cafeteria, they were told to rejoin their group. Aaron had over-packed in the end, and Biegel seemed to have no bag on him at all. The SOLDIER called for attention, and reminding them to stick to their teammates, they were led out the door in lines.
A ride in a private train car and a short walk through one of the better slums (rotten wood and thin metal houses instead of ones made of garbage), they were led into a chained-in area that announced itself as Shinra property. There were spots like this dotting Lower Midgar, places reserved for SOLDIER training, prototype testing, and various Science Department-related activities. It looked like this area was uninhabited except for the occasional monster, though the large crowd and the floodlights had scared them all off.
It must have been a service sector at some point, because all the buildings were multi-story offices with signs out front for long-gone businesses in hardware, fuel, and other products. Off to the side and a ways down was the medical station, and beyond that was another building all lit up that Cloud presumed was where the exam was monitored.
The building in front of them was taller than its neighbors by a good ten stories, and had been fixed up recently, probably so it wouldn't immediately collapse when the cadets got inside. In front of it already waiting for them was another large group of people, all dressed in army fatigues. They eyed the cadets in an unfriendly way, probably unhappy to be mixed in with the rookies.
"Attention!" The soldiers automatically stood at attention, though many of the cadets did not immediately react. The SOLDIER didn't appear to care any which way. "This building before you was the headquarters of an electric company from a time before Shinra had risen to power. It has eighteen floors, so each team will be placed on a floor."
Cloud stared up at the looming structure, getting a sudden wave of déjà vu. He'd briefly wandered its halls sweating and nervous, unknowingly being stalked. He'd hardly been inside for three hours, led by Megarian the solider if he remembered correctly, before he'd been hit in the back of the head from four feet away—almost point-blank range. He'd been woozy, but he must have been shot a second time or fallen because he'd come-to inside the makeshift hospital outside the building, "killed" in combat and therefore failed.
Some more shouted orders from the organizing SOLDIERs had the teams formed into a line by number. Megarian joined them then, and no one missed the look Biegel threw at him. It was clearly resenting, and when Biegel looked away in the direction of Aaron, the boy flashed him a ridiculously flirty look, knowing it would only upset the other cadet. Biegel sneered at him uncomfortably. Cloud took it all in, aware that this wasn't a good start for teamwork points.
Megarian was a husky young man, with stubble he probably shouldn't have had in the army, and wavy dark hair that was a tad longer than army regulation. He towered over Dan, though when Aaron offered his hand he gave him a warm shake.
They shuffled forward, Cloud at the front of their group. They were given five lime green armbands, the symbol of their team. Dan wanted to make a team name, but when nobody jumped at it he quieted. Aaron tied his armband around his neck, almost like a matador. Biegel shoved his around his wrist and pulled his jacket sleeve down to hide it. Cloud and Megarian tied theirs around their upper arms, and after a moment Dan did the same.
They grouped together as they waited to be called inside to be placed on a floor. Cloud observed the other teams around them, noting the royal blue color of Reno's team, and that Maxwell's orange-colored team seemed to be entirely composed of bullies.
"I'm John. You?"
Megarian was standing by Cloud, looking up at the building. "Cloud."
The soldier glanced down at him briefly. "The last time I took this, people fought dirty."
"People fight dirty in war. This may be a mock-war, but it's still war." Cloud's serious tone must have caught Megarian off-guard because the man didn't answer right away.
"I agree." He said finally.
Cloud nodded and didn't speak after that. He'd get along with Megarian just fine.
It was only a couple minutes later before they were called. They're bags were checked for contraband, then an army trooper led them into the building and down a couple of twisting hallways before opening the door to a room. It was a generic office, with dusty broken desks, a couple filing cabinets, and two ancient computers. "This is where you will be starting the exam from. Do not leave this room before the whistle blows or you will be penalized."
Nodding, Cloud gave the room a brief scan as he walked in. This was just like last time; his team had gotten the first floor. Only this time, Cloud knew their base camp wouldn't be here. Anyone who tried to go through the floors systemically would start here, so they'd be easy pickings. He knew what they needed to do, and what kind of tactics would be best to both survive, and show the proctors what they could do.
Dan, Aaron, and Megarian stopped as Cloud stood in the center of fairly large room. Biegel looked disinterested as he stood off to the side.
"Team 10,"Cloud began,"This is our strategy…"