Days of Exile

Chapter 10 – Murder

11 December 0007

Meia never forgets.

That is how having photographic memory is like.

It could be a blessing, it could be a curse.

As Meia stared at the sight in front of her in Floor 67, she thought to herself that having a photographic memory was more of a curse.

Angry red lights flashed in the science laboratories, bodies strewn around as if they are useless and unwanted dolls. The smell – Meia cringed and pinched her nose. The room stank of the metallic smell of blood.

What had happened? She wondered. She had been cooped up in the Science Archives for so many hours – it was because of the loud explosion that Meia quickly finished her reading and left the spick and span room. Along the way, there wasn't anyone in sight. It was only in Floor 67 that this…

Meia closed her eyes, wishing that she could erase the sight out of her memory forever. Of course, she couldn't. She opened her eyes slowly, bracing herself to look once again at the lifeless bodies on the floor. She walked towards one of the bodies gingerly, half afraid that one would suddenly grab her leg or something. Nothing of that sort happened. Everyone was dead. Every single body was only an empty shell of what once was a life.

A tank was housed nearby, where Meia stood. Just that it was no longer a complete tank. Glass shards are strewn across the gooey wet floor. There was a metal door, but whoever that broke through must have done it with brute force. Meia peered closer at the damaged door, at an inscribed metal plaque.

Jenova.

Meia frowned. Her knowledge of Jenova was limited; Meia only knew that Jenova was an Ancient. A Professor Gast Faremis, head of the Science Department, worked together with Professor Hojo on analyzing more about this being… and that was all they ever knew about Jenova. Even the Turks, people who executed the most confidential of jobs in Shinra, knew close to nothing about Jenova. That was how tight-lipped the higher-ups were about this… thing.

Who is Jenova?

Okay, this has nothing to do with you. Meia told herself. Be calm, and get out of here before someone suspects you of this mess.

Just that she couldn't stay calm. Nobody in a right state of mind will stay calm after seeing a mass of dead bodies tossed haphazardly around a large trail of blood leading to the upper floors. She could only imagine what happened above…

Meia whimpered. Inwardly she chided herself for being so timid, but there was nothing she could do to give her courage. She wriggled her arms, as if she could shake off the chills pulsing through her nerves. Who was she kidding? She simply cannot do this. She needed to leave and get help outside the building. She could be the only one alive. Whoever – Whatever that killed all these people could still be around, and may not hesitate to kill her as well. She must run away now. NOW.

Then, she heard a voice echoing in the static silence. Not just any voice. His voice. "You there! Are you alright?"

Meia's heart relaxed when she heard it. She turned and her face was filled with relief. "Reno!" She yelled, and instantly regretted her actions. There was no way Reno was prepared to know her identity, she couldn't tell him yet. Now she had to explain why she knew his name.

Indeed, Reno frowned. "You… you know who I am?" His frown deepened and Meia could swear that Reno's left hand twitched slightly toward his pocket – where his weapon, the EMR, was hidden. "Who are you?"

"Oh!" She pretended to be sheepish about her blurting – which she really was. "I'm Matilda Ederfeld. Y-Yeah, I'm new!" She answered. "Mr. Tseng did warn me about you." She fibbed, hoping really hard inside that what she said was something normal.

Fortunately, it was. Reno wrinkled his face. "Tseng..." He narrowed his eyes at the thought of his leader. "Did he warn you against my flirting?"

"N-No. I mean, yes – No, I mean-" Meia stared at Reno helplessly. In return, Reno only laughed at her weak attempts to answer. Meia felt her dislike towards this. She had heard of Reno flirting with female staff, but she had always thought that it might have ended when he met her…

No, Meia, you silly girl. She chided herself. Reno did not ever tell you that he likes you, did he? Of course he's free to keep his… options open.

Pushing her disappointment further down, Meia took a deep breath before asking curiously, "What happened here?"

The redheaded Turk grinned. "Nothing that you need to worry your pretty little head for."

Meia no longer reacted with blushes whenever Reno paid her a compliment. It happened often when she was a child that absolutely adored Reno, but knowing Reno for a long time, Meia was used to his romantic innuendoes. Still, Meia pretended to blush and quickly subdued it by swallowing her saliva. "I believe I need to know." She insisted. "I'm Professor Hojo's new lab assistant."

"Oh, so you ARE new!" Reno exclaimed. "I thought that you looked new." Reno crossed his arms and regarded her semi-seriously. "Professor Hojo's assistant, huh? How does he grill his subordinates?" He grinned.

"Erm… Mr. Reno? I don't think it's an appropriate time to chat, isn't it?" Meia said respectfully.

"You're right." Reno beckoned her to follow him. Meia asked of him again what happened in the Science departments, but Reno kept changing the subject and asking about her instead. Meia was irritated by his evasiveness but understood exactly what he was trying to do. It was standard Turks policy to keep the details of their job private. That means that anything that happens in his work cannot and must not be revealed to the general public… even if they are from Shinra as well. Whenever they find an unrelated person in the scene of their work, the Turk would need to get them away from danger without alarming them. Reno was currently doing his job as a Turk. Whatever that happened here must've been a Grade A, or even Grade S incident that warranted absolute confidentiality.

It amused and annoyed Meia. Although she understood the importance of confidentiality, she wondered how Reno was going to help her, the Shinra employee. After all, she personally witnessed the aftermath of a massacre in the Upper Floors. For now, Meia decided to keep quiet and not argue further.

She was about to follow Reno into the staircases when she thought of something. "Are there anyone else here?" She asked.

"All the staff have been evacuated." Reno answered lightly. "I believe you are the only staff left."

"What about the others?" She asked again, this time stopping in her tracks so that Reno can stop as well.

"Others?"

Meia nodded, thinking about Aerith. She could still be locked in the Science departments or something… or dead. "Yeah…" She said slowly. "Anyone else that we might have… forgotten?"

Reno shrugged. "Apart from a new Shinra rebels-"

That was all she needed to hear. "Then why aren't we saving them?" She asked.

"Okay, look, Matilda." Meia almost smiled at Reno's lack of salutations. It sounded just like Reno to jump straight into calling one's personal name immediately. "This group of people whom we've just caught? They are the anti-Shinra group, AVALANCHE." Reno reached his hands out like claws. "Big, nasty people!" He spread his arms out. "I can't just release them back into the wild and then waste my time capturing them again!"

The wild… Meia frowned at the expression, but said nothing. There it was again. The name AVALANCHE. Meia had no clue who they were, but she was curious to find out. She frowned and chose her words carefully so as not to reveal that she knew more than she should, especially her knowledge of Aerith's existence. "We need to save these people." She said. "They are rebels, yes. But they deserve to die a more justified way than this."

Reno shook his head. "They are a threat to Shinra. And they are strong."

Meia was surprised to hear that. Coming from one of the cockiest Turks, it sounded foreign. A shiver ran through her spine. If Reno thought that the rebels were strong then… they must be really strong. However, Meia couldn't leave this place knowing that there were people possibly alive, especially if Aerith was involved. "How can you belittle a human life so?" She shook her head at Reno. "If you aren't going then I will."

"Wait! Mei… I mean…" Reno faltered and Meia turned to him, frowning.

"Excuse me?"

"Sorry." Reno really sounded apologetic and sheepish. "It's just that I almost saw you as someone else. Sorry, Matilda. Alright, you win. I'll go check out on the rebels."

He was calling me. Meia. She pursed her lips to stop herself from smiling. In fact, she had to clamp her lips so hard that it hurt. Somehow knowing that Reno thought of her was enough to make her smile. But that was not the important thing at this moment. Meia stiffly nodded her head and allowed Reno to walk past her into the corridor that led to the cells.

What the heck was that about?

Reno felt like kicking himself when he almost called Meia's name. At an urgent time like this, why was he thinking of Meia?

When the explosion started, he was still with Rude, talking about the events of the evening, right up to the capture of Cloud and the other AVALANCHE members. Suddenly, they were thrown into a frenzy of half-evacuating employees working overtime and directing SOLDIERs to their rightful places. Reno had heard nothing about what had happened. Till this moment, he was still clueless about the origin of the explosion. He was just doing a last round of checks to ensure there were no straggling employees when he found a half-traumatised employee at Floor 67. An attractive one too. He thought with a small grin.

Only that she had a crazy bout of justice and insisted that he go free the captured AVALANCHE members, just because they don't deserve to die in such a manner. Her stubbornness reminded him of Meia, in fact, he almost called her so. Who did she think she was, thinking that she can just help anyone, unarmed at that too. Normally, Reno would've just ignored her and let her stupidity lead to her own demise. But not today. He cannot afford to do so – Floor 67 was highly confidential. The more important task was to lead the naïve employees away from the building, as far away as possible before she discovered other things that she shouldn't. It would be a waste to kill such a sweet face.

Whatever. He thought. After I'm done appeasing her, I'll drag her out of the place if I have to. This place is creeping the hell out of me.

He almost choked when he saw the bloody sight on Floor 67. No wonder Matilda was freaking out. Reno had no idea how to assure this lost lamb that everything will be alright. How do you convince a witness that there wasn't a massacre? In fact, Reno himself cannot be convinced that there wasn't a massacre. He knew nothing about what had happened.

Definitely need to ask Rude about this later.

The cell doors were just before him. True enough, the entire AVALANCHE was trapped inside, sleeping. Reno snorted to himself. Why did he need to take orders from a lowly employee?

"This is stupid." Reno muttered to himself. He paced a little along the corridor. Finally, he made up his mind. "That's it. I'm going to go back and tell her that the cells were broken out of. If she doesn't believe me and wants to be a hero, so be it. That moron can go save them and get herself killed, for all I care. Just more paperwork, that's all." Reno made a face. He was going to turn away when he spotted Tifa sleeping in the middle cell, the same one as the blond impostor, Cloud.

With a groan, Reno looked at the guard, knocked unconscious on the floor. He reached in and pulled out the key to unlock the middle cell. Quickly, he tossed the keys back to the guard. He peered at Tifa and Cloud, both still sleeping amidst the sounds of the cells opening.

Reno considered a moment before deciding against waking Tifa up to help her escape. Indeed, he knew that he could never come to terms with Tifa, ever. Not when Shinra was responsible for the obliteration of her hometown. Not when Reno and Rude deceived the entire townspeople into thinking that they were innocent travelers. He doubted that Tifa would leave with him even if he tried. He had seen the look of loathing on too many faces, Tifa included. The best he could do was to leave the door open for them and hope that when Tifa woke up, she would have enough sense to escape.

Well, about time I head back to that cutie.

Reno walked back and found the long-haired brunette exactly where he left her. Good girl.

"Were there anyone inside?" Matilda was clearly worried… perhaps a little too worried for someone who should have nothing to do with AVALANCHE… Reno shook his head. He wasn't going to overlook that possibility that this new employee might be in cahoots with AVALANCHE, but he had enough drama for the night. He can always catch this little rat anytime he wanted.

"Nope." He lied. "The cell doors were wide open. No one's in there. I think they broke their way out. After I send you out safely, I'm going to go back and capture them again." He groaned. "When Tseng hears this, he isn't going to be happy."

Matilda bought every single word he said, and Reno wasn't surprised. He had always been a smooth liar.

If Meia was relieved to hear that everyone had escaped and was safe, she did not show it. At least they are safe now. She sighed in relief. Finally cooperating like a good innocent employee, Meia followed Reno into the emergency elevator. Despite the situation, Meia marveled at how Reno could remain calm, even nonchalant. He tried to make small talk with her while traveling 60 floors down. What could Meia do, but to pretend to be blindly grateful that she was rescued from the mess?

When they've reached the lobby of the Shinra Building, Reno turned to Meia and smiled. "Well then, Matilda." He said brightly. "Go home, take a shower, sleep it out." Reno turned. "I'll see you tomorrow morning."

Meia tightened her jaw at Reno's aloofness in the entire matter. "Mr. Reno." She said.

"Please, just call me Reno."

"Mr. Reno," Meia insisted. "What happened up there?"

Reno paused for a while. He turned back towards Meia and said, "You don't have to worry about it. It was just a drill."

Meia stared at Reno incredulously. "A drill." She repeated.

"Yep, just a drill."

"You don't call many dead bodies over each other and soaked in blood, a drill!"

"Pretty convincing, huh?" Reno grinned. "Shinra gets better and better each year!"

"Mr. Reno…"

"Realistic as it may look, this is just a drill. A phony. Why do you think I'm not freaking my head out?"

Meia resisted narrowing her eyes at him. Gee, I don't know, Reno. She mused. Maybe because you are trained to do so?

"No one is actually killed, Matilda." Reno assured Meia. "Some are dummy models, some are employees acting. Maybe next year you can help us out." Reno mused.

Meia felt her anger rising. "Don't treat me like a dumb kid." She growled. She continued to point out her doubts with a growing irritation. Reno was treating her lightly, like coaxing a small child to go to bed. Meia grew angrier by Reno's off-handed remarks and half-hearted comments. Finally, when she was about to throw another nasty retort, Reno suddenly grabbed the cuff of her shirt and pulled her roughly.

"Listen to me, you dumb employee." Reno growled. Meia saw that Reno was finally ticked off with her questioning. "Whatever you've seen here, you better forget it, or keep it in your heart forever. Because if I were to hear any peep of information about this going around as your stupid office gossip, I will personally come and silence you." Reno narrowed his eyes and stared down at Meia. "So I suggest if you want your life, you keep your…"

Suddenly, he trailed off and stared at Meia, frowning. Their faces were so close that Meia could see every eyelash on his eye, but was too scared to do a mental count. Meia was not scared for her own life, okay maybe she was – Reno looked like he was ready to strike her dead in a second. Meia was more flustered and distracted by the fact that Reno was this close to her. If not scared for her life, Meia was actually more distracted by Reno's face.

Before she could react, Reno released her roughly and she fell onto the floor. "Okay, I get it!" She whimpered in way that (she hoped) looked convincing to Reno. "Please don't kill me!" She looked at Reno. "I'll keep my mouth shut!"

As if being released from a trance, Reno stared at Meia. "Oh… Yeah. You better keep your mouth shut…" He mumbled, now regaining his composure. He glared at her. "What are you waiting, then?" He asked, giving her a hard shove. "Go home." Meia didn't need to be told twice. Quickly, she ran out of the building and made her way back to Rod's garage.

Back in the safety of Rod's garage, Meia frantically found an old phone. Thanking the deities that it was working, Meia dialed Veld's number and told him everything that had happened – the useless papers on Sephiroth, the infiltration of the dubious AVALANCHE, the destruction of the Science Laboratories, how Reno brought her out and warned her to keep quiet.

She could almost hear Veld smiling when she was talking about Reno. "Protocol barely changed." He commented lightly. "Tell me about that thing that I've tasked you to do."

Meia quickly told him everything that she discovered. When she was finally done with all that she had to say, Veld's voice was grave and serious. "Meia." He said. "I need to recall all the exiled Turks back. If what you say is true, then we need all the help we can get."

"Sir," Meia answered. "Allow me to pass the message. It's far too risky for you to contact them."

"Very well."

They quickly hung up the phone, knowing that if they were to talk any longer, their conversation could be discovered over the tapped phone lines. No one in the Upper Sectors makes a phonecall without Shinra knowing. It's just a matter of whether they want to eavesdrop in mundane telephone conversations. Then again, Meia doubted that Shinra was free to listen to anyone's phone lines now. Meia then took a bet and made another phonecall, this time to Rod. "Rod," She said seriously. "When are you guys coming back?"

"What's up?" Rod's voice asked jovially.

"I've been craving for some butterscotch Moogle-tarts." She said crossly.

She heard the rod-user give a loud sigh of frustration. "I'm obviously not near where you are now, Meia." He said. "How long can you wait?"

Meia gave a moment to ponder. "How about getting me ten Moogle-tarts for my birthday?"

There was a short silence as Rod thought about her unusual request, but he soon understood what she meant. "What?" Rod exclaimed over the phone. "Are you insane? I thought we discussed about this – only four Moogle-tarts!"

"No, I want ten. Please try, Brother Rod!" Meia pleaded, using a sickly sweet voice because it was the most effective way to annoy Rod into agreeing something. "It would mean so much to me!"

"Argh, stop using that annoying voice! Fine, I'll do my best then." With a click, he hung up. Meia replaced the phone on the receiver with a loud sigh of relief. It seemed that Rod had gotten her secret message.

While in Kalm, the four Turks and Veld had decided that should they need to meet up again, they would send a secret message to communicate without fear of being discovered. It was granted that unless stated otherwise, the meeting location will be in Kalm, Veld's hideout. Moogle-tarts meant 'the Turks'. When Meia asked for ten Moogle-tarts, she meant that she wanted all the exiled Turks to meet in Kalm by 15th December. Rod would need to arrange the time of meeting from then on.

Meia only can hope that Rod can successfully contact the rest of the Turks. Their current PHSes, the ones given to them while they were Turks, were location-trackable, but only within Midgar. Outside Midgar, Shinra was unable to track their locations. Meia used to think that it was dumb because it was more important to track people outside Midgar, many SOLDIERs and Turks could not be accounted for because of this PHS flaw. After being chased out of Midgar, she considered it a blessing. Being back in Midgar meant that if Shinra wanted to, they can find her again. That was why she could not use her PHS, but had to rely on Rod, who was out of Midgar, to contact the others.

She took a deep breath and was suddenly aware of her surroundings. When was the last time that she felt alone? Not since being picked up by Reno along the alleys in the upper plates of Sector 4. That's right – she had not been truly alone since then. Meia clenched her teeth and tried to shut out thoughts of tonight's happening.

In the end, she reached for her PHS. A risky business, but she couldn't use Rod's residential phone because they could easily trackable. Using her own PHS was trackable only if Shinra employees were tapping into the phonecall at that moment, and Meia was taking the risk that everyone is in too much of a frenzy to do that. Then again, Meia wasn't really making a sound and logical conclusion. All she wanted was to hear him again.

"Reno here."

Meia couldn't resist a smile when she heard his voice, even if he sounded tired and impatient. "Reno? It's… It's Meia."

"Me- I mean, hey," Reno said, his tired voice melting into the sincere one that Meia was familiar with. "Is everything alright? You calling and-" He paused. "Are you alright?"

Meia giggled, realizing how much she missed being able to see and talk to him anytime she liked. "I'm fine." She lied. "But I was wondering if we could-"

"Yeah, I'm coming!" She heard Reno call out, away from his phone. Soon, Reno spoke back into the phone. "Hey, I kinda need to go."

"Reno?" Meia asked again, sounding a little more desperate than she wanted to. "Could we please meet now? I really…"

Miss you? Need you? The options floated in her mind, but none was what she wanted to say. "Please. I want to see you." She choked out softly.

Reno was quiet for a while. "You have no idea how much I want to drop everything that I'm doing now and find you." He said sincerely. "But I'm sorry. Things are really hectic here."

Meia felt her heart drop. "But… Please…" She whined a little. "Can't you put down your work for tomorrow? I'm sure that whatever big thing it is, it's not-"

"Listen." Reno said firmly and urgently. He dropped his voice into a whisper. "Listen, but don't panic… … The President is dead."

She felt a chill, hearing those words. "Dead?" She repeated.

"Assassinated, to be exact." It scared Meia to hear that Reno sounded unsure, afraid even. "… I'm sorry, I can't reveal more. In fact, I'm not supposed to tell you all these but take my word on this, I really can't leave now."

Meia nodded. What could she do? It wasn't like she didn't understand the nature of a Turk job. Maybe that's why no one has a love interest outside the Turks. She mused. No normal person could tolerate the unpredictable lengths of loneliness.

"Meia?"

"Yeah, I'm here." She croaked.

"Could I just ask you a question?"

"Shoot."

"Do you remember- Was there ever a SOLDIER First Class by the name of Cloud?"

Meia frowned. "No. Only Sephiroth, Genesis Rhapsodos, Angeal Hewley and Brother Zack were SOLDIER First Class. Of course, if there were new SOLDIER First Class after I left, I wouldn't know of it." She felt bad for sounding a little sour in her last sentence. It wasn't Reno's fault that Shinra wanted the Turks dead and gone.

Reno did not notice her bitter tone, indeed he was too tired to notice. "Thanks, baby."

"Eew!"

Reno chuckled weakly. "I'll find you as soon as I'm done."

Meia shook her head, though Reno could not see. "It's fine, Reno. We all know that a Turk's work is never done. I'll see you when I do."

"… Sorry." Reno said. Meia knew that he truly meant his apology.

They hung up. Meia kept the PHS and crept into her bed. She hugged her knees and tried to ignore her fast-beating heart.

We can deal with all these tomorrow morning. Go and sleep now. She thought, telling herself that things will be alright. Thoughts and questions bombarded her mind, but she was too tired to handle them. She looked forward to falling asleep, where she could toss her worries aside until her waking moment.

But sleep did not come to offer her the realm of peace that she needed to slip into.

Hello one and all!

Have you guys been reading my blog? I know I'm pretty irregular, but I'm going to make it a commitment to blog at least once a week! As such, the author's notes and review replies in this chapter will be on my blog (Aha! The unhanded tactics of yours truly!)

Yup, you can find my website on my author's profile but I'll paste it right here:

aichioluv dot blogspot dot com

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