Days of Exile

Chapter 32 – Newfound Allies

9 January 0008

I don't think anyone is coming at all.

Meia curled up against the wall, hugging her knees so tightly that her stomach hurt. Since Kunsel and Fred left her in the cell, she did not hear from them. They had promised her that they will be back the following day to get her out. The occasional guard who gave her meals told her that today was the ninth of January, which was two days after Kunsel and Fred left.

Do they still want to help me? She thought. Or are they all going to let me stay here… No, don't be dumb. She shook her head at her silliness. Maybe they ran into some kind of trouble…

That worried her a lot. She wanted to escape, but she did not want to impose on others at all… That would be a lie, though. Of course she wanted to get out as soon as possible, and she would try any method to escape. She had resorted to 'bribing' her good friend Kunsel with information of Zack Fair; she can do anything.

If they were caught planning to save me, then I really am in trouble. Hope they are okay... Her thoughts led back to her escape plan. With no PHS, I can't contact anyone to bail me out. I bet Cassie and KK had figured out that I'm captured. But it makes no difference… She thought of what she had said. They never agreed with my decision, and I did tell them that I will be accountable for my own doings. Of course they won't be willing to risk their lives to help me.

Thinking back, it was pretty stupid to go to Nibelheim. In the end, I got nothing on saving the Planet from Meteor, AND I'm stuck here with no one to call for help.

I am such an idiot. Now I'm all alone. Meia looked up, only to see grey walls and dim lights. Is there anyone out there?

Reno…

Meia curled up tighter and wept for the umpteenth time. She has not been so alone for a long time. From the day that Reno found her, half dead in the Sector 4 slums, Meia did not remember a significant moment where she was helpless. Sure, she was alone physically, but somehow there was always someone around. The Turks, Reno, Randy or Heidi…

It has been too long since Meia was alone. It frightened her, just like how it first did, the first night without Sunny, Carmelle and Tihan. Shinra's cells were humanely clean; the only thing that affected her was the silence. Meia had forgotten how eerie silence could be. When the nights turned late, Meia could not hear anything outside her cells. The guards took turns to patrol, but they did it with such stealth.

In fact, she had spent the last two nights singing and humming to drive away the empty silence. She also entertained herself with thoughts; happy thoughts with Sunny, Carmelle and Tihan, memorable thoughts as a Turk, bittersweet thoughts of Reno. But there was only so much Meia could do. So she cried like how a helpless young girl would, sometimes so hard that the guard would peep in to see if she was on the verge of hyperventilation.

It's all my fault. I should have been more careful? Am I going to die without seeing any of them?

At last, Meia stopped crying, tired from all that emotional exertion.

"Hey," said a voice. Her metal cell doors clanged, and a small portion of the door window slid open. A guard spoke from the other side of the door, face full of concern. Meia stared at him with surprised puffy eyes. It was the first time anyone initiated a conversation with her. "Are… you alright? All that crying is not going to help you, you know."

Meia shook her head and waved him away. Unless he unlocked the doors to let her go, she could not see how else he could help her, and he knew that.

"Well, um… Well I can't get you out, obviously. I also can't bring people to you." The guard said slowly, obviously considering whether he should even suggest this to her. "But you look like you need some comfort…"

Meia tensed up at his words. If he was unlocking the door for any reason of "comfort", she will attempt to claw his face with her nails. Instinctively, she covered herself.

"Hey! It's not what you think! Feeling really insulted here…" The guard said steely. "Just thought you might like some comfort food. A bar of chocolate or something…" The guard gave a nervous laugh. "I could smuggle it up for you."

Meia's face lit up for a brief moment, but she hid it quickly. What is the guard playing at? She could not tell, and she did not trust herself to trust him so easily. She shook her head, ignoring her disappointment of the disappearing chocolate. "No, thank you." She croaked, looking away.

"Well, I guessed so." The guard shrugged. "I don't usually do this, you know..." Meia looked at him again. "Well, it's not common to have young girls locked up here, unless you are a spy or something. If not… the way I'm seeing you cry your eyes out every night, I'm guessing you were captured as a test subject."

Test subject? Meia tried not to react at his guess. She hoped that it would never come down to that. "I… I don't know…" She said in as small a voice as she can. "I don't really know why I'm here…"

"I'm sorry that it had to happen to you." The guard said. That was all he could really say to the woman, or any pitiful person under the greed of Shinra.

It was hard to stop Meia's brain from thinking that her former colleagues were mean and heartless. That was how they work. Emotions and relationships were not contributing factors in the many decisions that they make.

When any of them tell us to go ahead, we do, trusting that they will be fine and they will escape with their own means. Well, most of the time they survive. Injured, but alive. But Haato… That's how he ended up in the coma for three years. Still, no one hesitates to stop the others from making certain decisions… They really trust each other…

Meia looked up from her thoughts in understanding. They must trust me too.

That guard had changed shifts already. With no one to talk to, Meia gathered back her senses.

I cannot do this forever. Crying and moping and wishing will not work all the time. She sighed. Reno also wouldn't always bust through walls to save the day too.

It's my fault. So suck it up, Meia. It's up to me to get myself out.

First, she scanned the room, searching every nook and cranny for something amiss. There were none. Oh well, you never know. Meia shrugged. Closing her eyes, the former Turk began to expand her imagination, finding possible ways to escape. However, all of them involved getting someone to open the door. If that ever happens. After crawling around the room to look for hidden latches and openings, Meia gave up.

Sighing, Meia fell back against the bed. I'll think later. She closed her eyes and briefly thought about all the research papers that she had seen in the Shinra Mansion. Hojo was, in his own words, a true scientist. A mad one, at that. Meia still found it difficult to think about his experiments without her stomach twisting in disgust. There were things, terrible things, that she saw in the mansion.

No wonder the information must be kept top secret. She thought. Oh wow, Meia. She self-chided her stupidity a short while after. To come to that conclusion was really a no brainer.

But there were interesting things. She did not find out about how to solve the Meteor crisis, but she discovered many other things. Zack Fair was not the only one who was experimented. Also, while Professor Hojo was the main contributor to the research in the last ten years, but many, many years ago… he was not the only one…

Ah. Meia sighed again, and covered her eyes with her arm. They weren't joking about keeping those information confidential. If they knew what I know… no amount of Phoenix downs can save my hide… This is serious stuff… I really have to get out, as soon as I can.

But how?

It was a short trip from Reeve's office to the cells on Floor 67, but it took Reeve Tuesti some time to settle the many things on his schedule before he could make that private trip. This morning, he received a private call from Cassie Windell. She was a former subordinate under his deceased colleague, Veld. She, like Meia Etsky, was a Turk until the company accused them of infidelity. It surprised Reeve to hear from someone who should think twice before contacting or being in Shinra's sight. There, Cassie explained her doubts and her request for Reeve to help Meia.

"Why should I help her?" Reeve asked.

"Well-" Cassie said slowly, but not without confidence. "Because you were Veld's close colleague. And… you know, you are the next person with power I can trust here… And because you did not expose Meia's identity when you discovered her."

"I did that because I have better things to do than to expose backgrounds of little assistants."

"I trust you, Mr. Reeve."

And thus…

"Right this way, sir," said the guard on duty. Reeve nodded politely and followed one of them down the corridor.

He stopped just after a few doors down, and slid the window open. "Hey, you over there!" The guard spoke into the room. "There is someone here to see you. Keep your distance from the window."

Reeve heard some movement of shifting on the bed. The next thing he knew, a familiar face popped by the window. Recognition flitted across her tired face. "M… Mr. Reeve," Meia Etsky greeted.

"Good afternoon, Miss Ederfeld." He peered inside the room. "It seems that a lot has happened."

"Mr. Reeve," Meia asked, suddenly checking herself to look presentable. "What are you doing here?"

"I heard that you were caught, so I dropped by. You must have done quite some work to be kept here." He placed a hand on the window of her cell door. "You surprised the Moogletarts off me."

Meia's eyes widened. "Then, please! You got to hear me out" Meia pressed against the sides of the door.

Immediately, Reeve stepped back as the guard stepped forward. "Mr. Reeve, are you alright?" When Reeve nodded, the guard turned his attention back to Meia. "Hey, you!" He barked. Step away from the window! You'd better behave, if not you will get a taste of this!" The guard swung the company-made EMR proudly. Reeve believed that Meia wanted to roll her eyes.

"Please, Mr. Reeve! Let me out! I don't know why I'm here!" She pleaded. "At least listen to me!"

Reeve shook his head. "I'm afraid I can't," said Reeve calmly. You are not in my jurisdiction. I won't help you, even if I can. While there is no proof that you are guilty, there is also no proof that you are innocent. You don't have an alibi, do you?" Meia hung her head, knowing very well that she could offer neither. Reeve looked around. "How long have you been here?"

"It's been 2 days, sir."

Turning around, he asked the accompanying guard. "Has she been given any chance to clean herself up?"

"No, sir!" Replied the now nervous guard. "We received no such orders from Professor Hojo!"

Reeve shook his head. Hojo never had any extra thought for other people, regardless of gender or age. "Then I shall give the order. Give her a basin and a washcloth."

"Yes, sir."

"Thank you, Mr. Reeve," said Meia, a little awkward and shy that someone had to think for her hygiene and personal care.

"This is the best I can do for you." Reeve frowned. "At least you can clean yourself up before the company decides what to do with you."

"Wait, Mr. Reeve!" Meia called out as Reeve was about to walk away. "What is happening out there? I feel so lost in here."

Reeve glanced at Meia, noting the guard beside him shifting uncomfortably. "You would not need to know, since you are not going anywhere. Well then, goodbye Meia. It was nice meeting you, but unfortunately I believe this is the last you'll see of me." Without waiting for her reply, he walked off, sighing. Behind them, Meia continue railing at them, begging to be let out.

"Mr. Reeve…" asked the guard when they were out of earshot. "May I be so bold as to ask the relationship between you and the suspect?"

"Suspect, huh?" Reeve mused. "Miss Ederfeld and I are merely acquaintances, nothing more." The guard looked as if he wanted to continue, but Reeve's body language showed no interest in entertaining his doubts. Finally, the guard saluted as the executive entered the lift again back to his office.

Reeve sighed when he was finally alone. It was hard to smuggle any verbal information to Meia while the guards were still around. At least he could still bring across the main information. After that, he had to behave as professionally as he could. Hopefully, the guards suspected nothing. More importantly, he also hoped that she had caught his implied message.

And she did.

When Reeve and the guard left her cell, she did her fair share of shouting for help and pleading innocence. Then, Meia sat on the bed with a sigh of relief. Reeve's unusual knowledge and usage of the word "Moogletart" could only mean one thing.

Veld's Turks knew of my disappearance already.

Does this change anything? Meia doubted so. More like, she would rather not think that they would save her. From the looks of it, Reeve was not going to save her either. It was still up to her to decide her own fate.

A black dot on the floor caught her attention. This was not here previously. She picked it up cautiously and felt a spurt of excitement when she realized what it was. Reeve… He must have dropped this in when he placed his hand over the window. She quickly placed the small earpiece on and tuned it slowly until she could hear something. A room full of people talking.

"Hey, hey, hey!" said a girlish voice that sounded really familiar. "Look who's here!"

"Cloud!" another female voice, not as high pitched as the first one, exclaimed. "How are you feeling?"

"Urgh…" a male voice answered. "Not really good, but I'll survive. How about you, Tifa? We both fell into the Lifestream, right?"

Meia's jaw dropped; so surprised that she could barely register what Tifa's reply was. She recognized those two names. There were from AVALANCHE. She was listening in to their conversation through Cait Sith.

"Hello, Meia," Reeve's voice surprised her. Somehow, the voices of AVALANCHE faded slightly so that Meia can hear Reeve better. "No one can hear you here, and no one can hear me talk to you, except for Cait Sith. Listen. This isn't going to sound nice, not after how I treated you in the cells. Hope you've gotten the message about the Moogletarts."

Meia wished she could reply and give an indication to assure the executive that she understood that he had to play a neutral party, and that she appreciated that he risked himself to visit her.

"Meia, listen. I'm trusting you with the conversations of AVALANCHE. I believe that you will do what is right – to build a bright and realistic future for everyone to live happily. AVALANCHE is going to fight their best to save the Planet from Meteor."

What is Shinra's role, then? Thought Meia. And how does listening to AVALANCHE's conversation help save the Planet?

"If you really want to save the Planet, you will need to help AVALANCHE, some way or another. Truthfully," Reeve spoke softer. "Shinra cannot do much to save this. And unfortunately, I'm the only person who thinks so. I'm feeling less secure about my position in Shinra, I need someone to stand in the gap, should anything happen to me."

Yeah, right. Thought Meia, prodding at her bunk bed. The first thing I will need to do, in order to help you, is to get out of this metal box.

"I know you can hear me, Meia. The system says you're tuning in to what I'm saying. I trust that you will be able to help me."

Meia closed her eyes and sighed. The plea that was sent out was extremely tempting. With much exaggeration, it would really be something that she wants to do, for once. A plan that has a bigger purpose than serving the immediate needs of a mega-company. This was someone who shared the same, if not bigger, visions of how life should be.

Knowing full well that Reeve could not hear her, Meia whispered. "… Okay, Reeve. I'll help you fulfill both our dreams."

"Okay, we'll stop here," Reeve spoke again, oblivious to what Meia said. "Cait Sith just said that Cloud has something to share."

Reeve's voice faded as Cloud called for attention. There was hesitation, but Cloud managed to say, "Everyone… I'm sorry. I don't know what to say…"

"Don't say anything, Cloud." Nanaki said quickly. "All you've been doing is apologizing."

There was a short silence, with what Meia imagined Cloud to be taking a deep breath. Then Cloud began his story. "I never was in SOLDIER. I made up the stories about what happened to me five years ago, about being in SOLDIER. I left my village looking for glory, but never made it in to SOLDIER… I was so ashamed of being so weak; then I heard this story from my friend Zack..."

Meia sat up in her bed and gasped so loudly that she had to clamp her mouth tight.

In the cells of Floor 67, the two guards were on duty when they heard a soft gasp coming from the cell just a few doors down.

"What was that?" asked one of the guards. "It came from that girl's cell, right?"

As he moved to go closer, his partner pulled him back. "Relax, pal. This girl has been a little cuckoo. One moment she cries, the next moment she hums and sings." He sighed. "There was one time she was mumbling to herself and staring at the floor."

"Sounds… terrible," commented the first guard. "It's really scary to be taken as Hojo's test subject, huh?"

"Well, no one really knows what she is in there for," rejoined the second guard. "Also, no one is able to explain why we have to keep changing guards for duty."

"You mean none of us has taken a second duty here since she came here?"

"Yeah. There is no information as to why she had to be kept here. If you ask me," the guard said with a lower tone. "This looks pretty top-secret to me. Perhaps she is the Ancient that they've been talking about."

"Well, she doesn't seem like it. She seems a little blank up here." The first guard tapped his own head. "Such a pity. She was quite a cute one."

Zack Fair…

She did not expect Cloud to mention Zack's name at all. Zack Fair, Brother Zack. He had been dear to her and Kunsel.

"… I created an illusion of myself made up of what I had seen in my life… And I continued to play the charade as if it were true."

I don't get it. So Cloud was pretending to be Zack Fair?

"Illusion, huh…?" A rough voice added. For the life of Meia, she could not identify the person's name to the voice. She may have a strong visual memory but her audio memory is like a normal person. "Pretty damn strong for a 'lusion, I'd say."

"I'm physically built like someone on SOLDIER. Hojo's plan to clone Sephiroth wasn't that difficult. It was just the same procedure they use when creating members of SOLDIER."

Meia was just as surprised to hear Hojo's name. But Cloud was talking so fast, she could not stop to think.

"You see, someone in SOLDIER isn't simply exposed to Mako energy. Their bodies are actually injected with Jenova cells… For better or for worse, only the strong can enter SOLDIER."

That is exactly what the reports said, thought Meia.

"It has nothing to do with the Jenova Reunion," continued Cloud. "But weak people… like me, get lost in the whole thing. The combination of Jenova cells, Sephiroth's strong will…" He paused. "… and my own weaknesses are what created me. Everyone knew that."

There was a pause as everyone took in what he said, but that was not the end. Cloud said in a quiet tone. "I'm… Cloud… the master of my own illusionary world."

Cloud… Meia felt a pang of sympathy for him. She could not begin to imagine how he might feel.

"But I can't remain trapped in an illusion anymore," said Cloud, sounding more confident now. "I'm going to live my life without pretending."

Good for you, Cloud. Meia smiled.

"You're sure messed up, Cloud!" laughed Tifa.

That rough voice said again. "That means there ain't no difference from before!"

"By the way, Cloud," piped in Cait Sith. "What are you going to do now? Don't tell me you're going to leave the ship?"

"Well…" answered Cloud. "I'm the reason why Meteor is falling towards us."

Meia remembered that too. How she saw Tifa fighting so hard to prevent Cloud from passing the Black Materia to Sephiroth. Nobody could have stopped Cloud even if they had tried – they were all paralysed by some unknown force.

"That's why I have to do everything in my power to fight this thing."

"Good!" That rough voice said again. It annoyed Meia that she could not really identify the person behind this voice. "Then you're gonna keep fightin' to save the planet!?""

"It's like you always told me, Barret."

Ah! It's that one! Meia finally remembered. The one who was carrying the Black Materia for Cloud. And the one who was angry with my suggestion to bring Tifa under Shinra's care.

"Oh, uh, you mean that!" Barret exclaimed.

"What?" said Nanaki. "I don't understand!"

Then, in unison, Cloud and Tifa said, "There ain't no gettin' offa this train we on!" while Barret said some variation of that sentence. Everyone laughed and cheered. Even Meia smiled on the other side. They left the room joking and celebrating the return of everyone.

Meia assumed that the meeting had ended. She was wondering what she should do when Reeve spoke again, "Strange, isn't it?" Reeve said. There was a pause, of which Meia assumed was Cait Sith speaking in Reeve's mind. "Well, Cloud's story makes more sense now, that is true. However, some things did not quite add up."

There was a pause again, as Cait Sith talked to Reeve. Then Reeve said, "Cloud said he failed getting into SOLDIER, but his eyes were a sign of Mako exposure. A lot of Mako exposure."

They are right, Meia realised. If Cloud had failed to enter SOLDIER, he would not have such bright cyan eyes. It also did not explain how he got his hands on a SOLDIER First Class uniform. They were exclusive only to people who are in SOLDIER First Class. Meia wondered whose uniform he was wearing. Probably Zack Fair's, but why?

"Meia," Reeve said, this time addressing Meia. "Thank you for being here. I hope you will be able to get more from the conversations than just entertainment. Make sure the guards do not catch you with the earpiece." Meia responded by clapping a hand over her ear to cover the small earpiece.

"I think it's a pretty good deal, isn't it, pretty?" Cait Sith chortled out loud.

"Cait Sith, who are you talking to?" Yuffie asked curiously.

"Ah! No one! No one at all!"

Without thinking, Meia laughed.

"Oi, you!" shouted the guards from one end of the hall. Meia pulled off her earpiece and swiftly stuffed it in her underwear. Mere seconds later, one of the guards' face appeared by the window. "Don't creep us out with your singing and laughing, will you? We ain't all crazy here!" Before Meia could reply, the guard walked off.

Hm. This is an interesting turn of events. She mused. Apparently, they thought I went nuts. Perhaps I thought I did… Maybe I'll use that to my advantage.

With something to do while in the cells, Meia might actually not feel bored, or lonely anymore. However, this was not going to be permanent solution, if Meia were to help Reeve. She had better think of an escape route, before it was too late.

Interestingly, what I said last year about "Days of Exile" not being a novelization seems to be wrong. It is becoming a little more centralized on the game. Not that it's not good, it is beneficial to me on many ways, but I'll talk about it the next time.

Yeah, so far I'm still hanging on with the updating, huh? Pretty impressed with myself. Well, please read and review! It means a lot to me still!