EDGE
1.
The sprawling metropolis of Edge never ceased to amaze Yuffie, despite being deprived of its trademark illumination.
The Shera flew in wide circles over it, as Cid patiently waited for the permission to land, allowing her to marvel at the magnificence of a place raised and kept upright by the will of people who had survived through the disasters and the conflicts which had taken place there. Surely it had grown bigger and bigger since the last time she visited it.
In an instant, she realized she might just had the chance to pay a visit to some old friends she had not seen in quite a long time and who happened to lived right there. Friends whose lives were tangled with the history of that place, just like Yuffie's one. She wondered how they were doing and she resolved to take care of that business as soon as the chance would have appeared.
The only lights were coming from a few places where emergency illumination had been installed in the form of portable floodlights, mainly at crossroads and squares. The streets were surprisingly bright since the vehicles, with no automatic traffic regulations available, got stuck in the evening rush hour and gridlocked the whole city. Moreover, people had resorted to torches to light their way or to provide illumination inside their households. It seemed like the power shortage had forced the citizen of a modern metropolis to revert back to the tools of the Stone Age.
Some other folks had taken the chance to take it to their rooftop and behold at the somehow spectacular sight of the bustling city of Edge all cloaked in darkness or to stargaze at the mysterious phenomenon that took the sky. The two events combined could really have upset some of the most touchy individuals in town.
Luckily for the inhabitants, the brand new Edge General Hospital, in the distance, seemed to be working and still towered the surrounding building with its gleaming white façade. Several other buildings in the distance were still provided with electricity and they were probably the key ones that managed to keep at least the basic services still running.
It was not quite right to say that chaos reigned. But people sure were not having the time of their life. At least without exactly knowing the nature of the green streaks in the sky.
"Look! It's almost pitch black" Yuffie exclaimed, marvelling at the scenery
"Just like Reeve told us" Cid told her "If that in the sky was the aurora borealis it would be quite a romantic scenery"
"Reeve was also telling us that there's someone behind this blackout and our near-death experience with the airship suddenly blacking out as well" Cade observed
"If so it is" Cid though "things are going to get a shitload more complicated than they are at the moment!"
Yuffie turned to Cade "Could really be that there's someone behind it?"
"Well" Cade told her "According to our intelligence division, a paramilitary group has been targeting the WRO since we found out about the Singularity!"
"Who?" Yuffie asked
"The Meteor Purification Movement" Cade explained "They had conducted a sort of small-scale guerrilla war against the WRO in the past few weeks"
"A guerrilla war? But why? Who are these guys?"
"We don't know. It is better to say that we know little about them"
Yuffie paused
"You said… Meteor?" she asked again
"That's right" Cid intervened "That's exactly what you are thinking!"
"Oh, here comes the part of the story where I'm missing…" Cade sighed
"Hey, where were you those days? Hidden underground?" Cid asked, referring to the days when the Meteor summoned by the disgraced SOLDIER Sephirot lingered in the sky above the then-city of Midgar, threatening the whole planet. Yuffie had given her contribution to protect Gaia and her citizen back then, just like Cid, the first of an impressive row of achievements
"I perfectly knew what was going on these days. I was just not on the frontline. Just that!" Cade replied, smiling and opening his arms
"Didn't you say that the WRO had closed the intelligence division down? If so, who's running intelligence right now?" Yuffie pointed out
"Well, somebody must have picked that information, right? An intelligence division or a group of dark suited man smoking cigarettes and wearing sunglasses even during night time. Anyway you want to call them…" Cade answered
"Great answer" she responded, sarcastically. She grew worried when she turned to Cid
"Don't you think that…?" Yuffie tentatively asked
"No way!" Cid replied firmly, before whispering "At least, I hope…"
"What? What are you hoping?" Cade enquired
"Nothing" the mechanic steadfastly cut short "Besides, how many spins into the sky are those punks on the ground going to make us do? I'm running out of goddamn fuel" he complained
"Just fly towards the HQ. they'll pick us up eventually and tell us to land" Cade suggested
Cid toyed with the stick and the Shera glided towards the newly established WRO headquarters, a towering building resembling the old Mako reactors that were the unmistakeable landmark of the then-city of Midgar. It consisted of a main building, modelled like an upstanding artillery bullet surrounded by a ring of secondary buildings, which featured the landing sites, among many other things. It was built on the boundary between the ruins of Midgar and the suburbs of Edge.
"Airship Shera" a voice came through the radio "Cleared to land on pad 7-S. Follow the beacon at your 030 degrees"
"Oh, at last! Copy that!" Cid replied with signs of relief. He tilted the stick so as to turn the airship towards the assigned landing pad. Cid oriented the searchlight onboard the ship in order to illuminate the tarmac.
He gradually closed the throttle while the Shera gently descended almost vertically. Once the lskids touched the ground, the engines came to a complete halt.
A squad of WRO personnel surrounded the ship. Cid, Cade and Yuffie made their way to the hatch and descended among plumes of smoke from the exhausts of the hydraulic system of the ship cooling off.
A man with the customary grey WRO uniform came towards them running
"Greetings, Sirs! Cade, nice to see you back at the headquarters!" the man told them, hastily saluting and trying to catch his breath "Sorry if we may seem lacking of any regards to you, but we are in a frenzy. The situation had escalated in a short time …"
"I heard of and saw the blackout! And by the way, nice to see you too, Evan!" Cade exchange the greeting , patting the man on the shoulder
"I heard about the operation in the Mythril Desert, Cade. If anyone was capable of pulling that off, you had to be the only one crazy enough to do it all by yourself!" Evan laughed, then he turned to Cid "Cid, sorry for making you wait up in the air! Unfortunately, we had to run double checks on anything coming close to the HQ!"
Evan Kallstrom, a WRO Major, was acquainted with Cid and Cade, having worked on several mission with them. He was a spirited guy not much older than Cade, a down-tuned version of Cade himself, as Cid once portrayed him. Now he was a liaison officer within the headquarters, with the task of coordinating the field activities of the WRO
"Pardoned" Cid conceded "…this time!"
"Good! I won't pull my luck, then" Evan nodded "And you must be Lady Yuffie Kissaragi!"
"Please call me just Yuffie!" the ninja implored "It's good to be back in Edge. This headquarters is brand new, though!"
"Precisely" Evan confirmed "We built it at record time after the Deepground Conflict. I personally think it serves better the dual mission of our organization"
"Like what?" Yuffie asked
"Supervising infrastructures and services like healthcare and public order. Take this blackout: we had to deploy 8 battalions of the Peace Force to look after the townspeople of Edge. The blackout somehow came along with those things in the sky!" he said, pointing upwards
"Where there any accidents?" Yuffie asked
"Surprisingly not" the WRO officer shook his head "Our call centre was flooded with calls from scared citizen but, apart from a few episodes of burglary, the situation in town is stable. Anyway, we are pleased to have you back, Yuffie"
Yuffie smiled
"So, what's our plan now, Evan?" Cade asked
"What? Reeve did not tell you already?" Evan replied
Cade shook his head "We are not that intimate, unfortunately!"
"Guess I've underestimated how tight-lipped he can be. Then wait for a minute or two and you'll have all the answers you need"
"All the answers?" Cade questioned
Evan sighed "Please Cade, have I ever let you down?"
"At all, Evan" Cade replied "At all!"
"Then relax. Things are going to be hectic from now on. Better cut some slack when you have the chance"
The trio was escorted outside the landing area. They were brought in front of an indoor security checkpoint after passing through a hangar door.
"Now everyone" the WRO officer explained "The blackout isn't our only concern. As I told you before, we had to step up our security measures. I hope you don't mind that… Lady Kissaragi, I mean Yuffie" the man pointed at the shuriken fastened to Yuffie's back "I think you have to give that thing in…"
"What? No way I'm going to separate from it. What if someone mishandles it?" Yuffie protested
Cade stepped forward, before the argument regarding the feasibility of carrying around a weapon like that in a place where people were already quite concerned about strangers carrying unconcealed weapons escalated into a brawl
"Evan, I vouch for her. Let her keep her toy" he finally offered
Evan stood there thinking for a while
"Well then. If you say so, Cade…" he made a gesture to the guards next to an array of body scanners and metal detectors. The guards stepped aside
"Yuffie, you should thank your friend here. Normally only security personnel is allowed to retain their weapons. But Cade here is quite the man…"
"Oh, I don't think she'll do that soon" Cid laughed
Yuffie rolled her eyes upwards "Just don't call this a toy, won't you?"
Evan made a confused look on his face. Cade shook his head.
The WRO officer took them to a security booth. He made a gesture to the men inside it. Three badges came out from a slot beneath a bullet-proof window
"These are your personal badges" he explained holding three plasticized cards in front of them "Be sure to have them with you every second you spend inside here. Otherwise I think things are not going to turn out nice, no matter if your uncle is the master of puppets!"
"I reckon that" Cade said, as he looked around the quarter leading to the lift shaft. At every corner stood at least two WRO soldiers, all well-armed.
"You were not joking when you said that security is tight here inside" Cid noted "I bet even the vending machines are guarded"
"Somebody is bothered by the disappearance of the Sangaria cans!" Evan joked, then he turned stern again "Seriously, when you will hear the briefing, you may want to think that they still are inadequate"
"Is the situation so desperate?" Cade asked, alarmed
"A blackout in the middle of a planetary emergency is enough worrying to deploy an army just to guard a block party, if that would be of help!"
The group proceeded towards the elevators. They went through a curtain of guards and other security checkpoints before entering the lift and riding towards the very last level of the main tower.
"Are we going to be briefed straight away?" Yuffie asked
"Well, it's just a matter of minutes" Evan explained "I'll be speaking myself so as you can tell, allow yourself a couple of minutes"
"If you had to speak why did you come to pick us up, then?" Cade asked
"Somebody told me to"
"Who?" Cid asked
"Reeve thought that if I had taken you to the briefing room, that would have made you save some time" Evan explained "Passing through the security checks and all"
"And I thought I was still a trusted figure inside here" Cade sighed
"Looks like being uncle's little boy on our side doesn't pay that much…" Yuffie poked him
"Ah, bite me!" he scoffed
Yuffie frowned upon his reply. The lift came to a halt
"We're here" Evan announced
"What? No voice on the PA announcing the floor?" Cade asked, seemingly surprised "Can't we get enough funds to fit our escalators with that kind of hardware?"
Evan rolled his eyes
"Is he always like that?" Yuffie asked
"Sometimes he's even worse" Evan explained "but somehow most of us still love him. And not just because we're afraid he could spy on us on behalf of his uncle!"
"I would lie about a murder if that meant I could still look my beloved colleagues in the face!" Cade chuckled, as he followed Evan to the entrance to the briefing room.
2.
The briefing room was a giant hall, wide and high. The audience was hosted on stalls facing a podium towered by a giant screen behind it. The personnel summoned to take part to the briefing was flowing from all the entrances. A line of guards formed a line between the seats and the stage.
Amongst the faces of the WRO personnel crowding the hall and already taking their place on the seats, Cade spotted a familiar one. He raised a hand as his eyes met the ones of a blonde girl whose hairs were collected in a ponytail.
Cade walked towards her
"Kayla" he greeted her "Nice to see you again!"
"Cade" the girl replied reaching for him and hugging him. Cade slightly blushed as he did not expect such gesture, especially in the briefing room of the WRO headquarters. Kayla somehow sensed his stiffness "Is everything all right?" she frowned
"Me? No, at all! I mean… I'm all right. I've just had a tense journey back from Wutai" Cade told her with a smile
"Wutai?" the girl marvelled
"Oh, sorry" Cade brought a hand to his head "I didn't tell you. After our operation in the desert I was sent to Wutai straight away for a side mission"
"A side mission?" Kayla asked again
"Oh, it's a long story. Maybe next time we hang out I'll tell you"
"It would be great!" Kayla exclaimed, smiling "Unfortunately, I don't think they are going to give us some time off. At least not until this mess will end…" she meekly said
"Did you witness the black-out?"
"Of course!" Kayla nodded "And those Mako currents in the sky almost simultaneously!"
"Mako currents?" Cade enquired
"That's how we call them" Kayla explained "Since they first appeared some hours ago, we established a direct communication channel with the Cosmo Canyon observatory. According to our scientist, it's a sign we are getting closer to the Singularity"
"I'm not surprised everyone here is in a frantic mood!" Cade observed
"And there is more!" Kayla told him
"More?" Cade questioned
"Apparently the MPM is behind the power outage. And there are rumours that they had done something more…" she explained "But maybe the high brasses are going to make all things clear now. At least to us!"
"It would be the least they could do…" Cade noted
"I beg you pardon but isn't your surname 'Tuesti'?" she joked
"Apparently I'm not entitled to the full disclosure of facts. Not by virtue of blood, it seems" Cade explained, smiling
"Nice to see you're still one of ours" Kayla replied, patting him on the arm
"But I am one of yours. I mean, I still can get killed by a bullet or the claws of a beast I mean…" Cade said
"I see…" a mask of apprehension briefly passed over Kayla's cheerful visage. She briefly tight her lips
"Have I said something wrong?" Cade asked her, noticing her apparent distress
"What? No, no!" Kayla quickly replied
"Hey, don't worry!" Cade reassured her "I promise you'll have the pleasure to be accompanied at the WRO Grand Ball by none the less than the nephew of its founder and director… that is me! Before the world ends, agreed!" he swore, hand on his chest
Kayla chuckled "I doubt the WRO has ever held a Grand Ball before, but I graciously accept your invitation!"
"I'm just here waiting for someone to shout 'Hey we fucked everything up! The world is going to end again! Go back to your families or do whatever you wanted to do' and such" Cade told her "So maybe we can have our private prom right when the world is literally crumbling under our feet"
Kayla laughed again. Cade found himself surprisingly fond of that laughter. Somehow he started wishing that he could actually have the chance to spend some time with her. Without talking about assignments, missions or anything pertaining to their respective jobs. Just two human beings enjoying the warmth of a relationship.
'Just like it happened with her' he recalled. He painfully recalled, might add. The remembrance briefly shook his smile.
'Then why do I act like I have to hide something from her?' he thought to himself 'Cid is right: she is literally throwing herself into my arms. Well, more or less…'
"Anyway" Kayla continued "What did you had to do in Wutai to forsake your last chance of catching some breathe?"
Cade was about to reply but Yuffie's squeaky voice, coming from behind him, spared him this task
"Oh, sorry Cade" the ninja apologized, in a sly tone "Have I interrupted something?"
Cade had to fight against the sudden and unbridled impulse to choke the princess of Wutai, right there in front of probably a hundred witnesses
"At all" he calmly replied, instead "Kayla, this is Yuffie Kissaragi. Princess of Wutai and former head of the Intelligence Division of the WRO" he solemnly explained
Yuffie slightly frowned at Cade's portrayal. She shook her hand with the WRO scientist
"A princess? I doubt a simple handshake will do then…" Kayla told her
"Don't worry" Yuffie assured her "I'm not too fond of reverences"
"She's not too fond of her role as a princess either" Cade joked
"Fuck you, Cade!" Yuffie exclaimed, almost immediately shutting her mouth with her hand. Thank the Maker the crowd inside the hall was making enough chatters to cover her swearing
Kayla laughed "I swear she is nowhere near as a princess, honestly" she observed
"I told you" Yuffie said, quite embarrassed. She swiftly regained her composure as she addressed to Cade again "Why don't you introduce me your friend instead of tricking me into making people believe I'm the daughter of a shore man?"
"Whops, my fault!" Cade apologized "Yuffie, meet Captain Kayla Walker, member of the scientific staff of the WRO. Kayla, meet Yuffie Kissaragi of the House of Shinobi., former head of the Intelligence Division of the WRO "
Yuffie smiled at the blonde girl. Although sternly wrapped in the greyish WRO daily uniform, the ninja could sense that Kayla emanated a radiant attitude around her. Despite her being so close to Cade, Yuffie felt like she could get along with Kayla pretty well. She also wondered if her and Cade were friends or maybe something more.
'Are you jealous again, Yuffie?' a voice rang inside her. She shook that thought away.
Again, then, Yuffie could not chase away the resemblance she envisioned between Kayla and a girl she had met in her first journey across the world to save Gaia. Same smile and same quietude. She immediately felt a deep although brief fit of grief upon that thought.
"They let you brought that in?" Kayla pointed at the shuriken strapped to Yuffie's back
"Oh, someone put a word or two…" Cade vaguely explained
"Don't act like you're the key-holder here" Yuffie countered "Remember that if it wasn't for Evan, we would be still stuck at one of those checkpoints down there"
"I did my best" Cade surrendered. Kayla smiled again at the verbal skirmish between the two of them
"Why do I feel like there's beef between you?" Kayla asked
"How could you say that?" Cade answered, seemingly offended "Yuffie is a valuable asset to the WRO. We might have a divergence over some trivial topics but we are professionals!"
"Okay, I see" Kayla sighed "It's just Cade being Cade…"
"Hallelujah!" Yuffie exulted, hugging Kayla "I think I found my lighthouse of salvation here"
Kayla smiled "Cade is not that bad, once you get to know him! At least he gets his job done"
"The problem is the way it is done…" Yuffie grumped
Cade and Kayla laughed together. Suddenly their laughter was cut short by a harsh and, unfortunately, familiar tune
"Tuesti, interrupting some kind of love affair?"
Cade turned. As he feared, Brad Clawbourne was taking part to the briefing too.
"Brad!" Cade saluted "Nice to see your ankle is doing fine!" he cheered
"You're lucky Tuesti" Brad hissed "I would have made you pay for it if only you did not bail out to Wutai!" the bulky and bullish WRO officer hovered "And I'm not going to raise my arms right here!"
"What happened Brad? Did your father spank you when he found out that you had been a naughty boy?" Cade poked him
Kayla and Yuffie laughed. The latter quite nervously
"Like I give a damn, Tuesti!" Brad concluded. He then turned to Yuffie "Halloween is far away on the calendar, spunk!"
"Not to bad at all" Yuffie promptly replied "I'll have time to convince you to lend me your face as a nice Halloween costume!"
Brad faltered "Ouch, Brad!" Cade intervened "Need an ointment for that burn?" Kayla laughed again.
Brad grumped an turned its back on the trio before vanishing again in the sea of WRO personnel
"Just for the records, who is that chump?" Yuffie asked
"Brad Clawbourne, son of the director of the General Staff of the WRO" Cade explained
Yuffie grinned her teeth, worriedly
"Don't worry!" Kayla told her "He's the black sheep of the flock. Apart from the morons who follow him just because he's the son of a big head no one else would dare to defend him"
Yuffie whistled in relief. She felt compelled to reply to that mountain of muscles and bad intentions but obviously that impulsive behaviour meant the possibility of stepping on the toes of somebody important. She was inside the WRO headquarters, after all.
A chime sounded throughout the hall. It meant that the briefing was about to start
"Luckily for you" Kayla told them "I kept a couple of seats"
"Not in the front row, I hope" Cade asked
"I know you, Cade" Kayla assured him
"Where's Cid, by the way?" Yuffie asked as they approached their places
"I'm here!" the grumpy voice of the mechanic came behind her, muffled by the toothpick dangling form the corner of his mouth. He reached for his seat
"Where have you been? Buying popcorns?" Cade joked
"Gone to check some stuff on my own…" Cid simply replied
Cade nodded as the lights in the hall dimmed and the figure of Colonel Zansteid, aide-de-camp of Reeve Tuesti, walked up to the stand on the podium. Reeve itself followed him. The audience froze at the sight of the chief of the World Regenesis Organization, who had come in person to oversee the meeting. Next to him, Adrian Clawbourne was sitting, father of Brad Clawbourne and head of the General Staff of the WRO.
"At ease, people" the colonel ordered, as the attendance sat down "Thanks for being here. I'm glad to see that despite the blackout you all found your way here!"
A stifled laughter came form the audience
"Joke of the century, incoming" Cade quietly said
Yuffie poked him between the ribs
"Anyway" Zansteid continued "The situation has greatly changed and evolved since our last assignment out there in the Mythril Desert. And, unfortunately, not for good"
"The scientific officer will brief you about the phenomenon occurring right in the sky over our head. Surprisingly the population took the apparition of the Mako streaks quite well. Looks like nowadays nothing really scares people that much after all that has happened in the past years. I can anticipate you that the general population has been told that investigations are underway so if anyone of you leaks anything more than what has already been told by the media, you'll have to face the consequences. I know that maybe the world will end eventually, but the passing for those who will break the silence over the matter will not be so comfortable"
Discrete laughters again rose from the audience
"Besides, as the World Regenesis Organization, we have to deal with another side of the story, something more human, I'd say. As you already know our operations revolving around our plan to counter the threat posed by this phenomenon have been slightly hampered by the Meteor Purification Movement, an underground movement which is responsible for minor assaults on our installations and convoys around the world. We had begun a crackdown on those elements already and for a day or two it seemed like it was nothing more of a hay fire… until today!"
Zansteid turned towards the screen, where a picture appeared. It showed a submarine sailing across the sea, emerged
"The Dragonette Gullwing-class submarine here pictured set sail from Junon yesterday. It was sent on a reconnaissance mission over the Corel-Junon Rift, along with a small team of scientists. Its task was to run a series of surveys over an anomaly in the seismic activity. The Gullwing-class submarines are small vessels and at their peak they can withstand a day and a half of solitary navigation. That's why somewhere in the middle of its cruise it was scheduled to meet up with a resupply ship and proceed for the next half of the cruise. Guess what, gentlemen: after the last report we received before the scheduled rendezvous the submarine disappeared from our screens"
A murmur grew between the ranks of the audience. Past a few seconds of silence from Zansteid, the murmur disappeared
"Of course" the Colonel continued "it also failed to appear at the meeting point with the supply ship. Where had it gone, you might ask? Well, the submarine sure has disappeared. We cannot say the same for its crew, though…"
The picture on the screen changed. As the new image appeared, shock and confusion got a grip on the people watching it. The murmur reappeared, only more noisy and animated.
On the screen, lines and lines of body bags were arranged on a surface. Although Zansteid did not explain the contents of the picture, it clearly spoke for itself. The crew of the Dragonette had been murdered and left adrift in the ocean
"Fucking Holy Hell!" Cid exclaimed "They high-jacked a damn submarine and killed all of the crew. This sure raises the fucking bar…"
"But those people are…dead!" Yuffie exclaimed
"Nice discovery" Cade scoffed, amazed at the ninja's naivety
"An entire crew of a submarine gets killed, the world is about to be destroyed and you act like it's no big deal?" Yuffie cried, angrily "What's wrong with you?"
"Just because I don't seem concerned that doesn't mean I'm not giving a fuck!" he calmly explained
"There's more" Zansteid continued, managing to catch the audience's attention once again "The corpses we have found numbered thirty-six plus the five members of the scientific crew. We have one body amiss. Maybe it's still to be retrieved but if my lifelong career taught me something , that thing is to get ready for the worst"
Almost everyone gulped upon these words.
"We have to work united and as a whole, everybody. I won't express myself any further, so I trust your wits to work out what that I'm thinking… what all the Joint Staff is thinking!"
"Mole" Cid told
"This is not good" Kayla thought "And probably there's more than one"
"And after this unpleasant happening" Zansteid continued "A couple of words about the blackout. It was not because of a faulty piece of equipment or a physical assault to a power station. Our IT Security Division confirmed that the electricity grid network manager has been hacked. We went in lockdown mode soon after the blackout took place so we have been sheltered by any attempt at cracking our databases. Additionally, reports indicated that the breach in our IT system included the mainframe of our airships"
Cid nearly jolted upon those words
"Well, it wasn't your fault…" Cade maliciously commented
"Where do you want my knuckles?" Cid nervously retorted, pulling a smile from Yuffie
"Luckily no accidents involving our fleet of airships have occurred. But this act of cyber-terrorism told us one thing: we should get ready to be struck anytime, and a nywhere"
"Optimism, come and hug me!" Cade pled
Kayla briefly laughed "Damn you and your making me laugh even here!"
Yuffie scoffed "It's just plain annoying"
"You whish you had my sense of humour" Cade told the ninja, who just waived her hand
"This is all I've got to tell you" Zansteid concluded "I'll leave my place to Colonel Groundham"
"Groundham?" Cade marvelled "Last time I checked in he was a Major…"
"There's been a spate of promotion recently" Kayla explained "Don't ask me why…"
"Trying to please they key figures. So they don't turn to the other side!" Cid guessed, almost as he had said the first thing that came upon his mind. Cade thought it was a pretty decent guess, though.
Groundham, the same officer who had held the briefing in the compound after the Mythril Desert assignment, exchanged a salute with Zansteid and took the stage
"Good evening, Sirs" he greeted "the Colonel has probably already got you well tired. Since I'll have to explain you the plan the Scientific Department has drawn, I'll try not to get you asleep"
The audience chuckled
"Comedian-of-the-year number two" Cade remarked
"They're just trying to shake the anxiety off" Kayla countered
"And they're doing a great job, I'd say!" he replied "I'm smooth as a pillow right now!"
Kayla laughed again.
'What a pair of love birds' Yuffie thought, again coming to terms with the fact that she might have felt a mote of jealousy again. Although, she liked Kayla's laughter too.
"The situation, put in very plain words" Groundham started "is that the Mako in the atmosphere is concentrating into a mass that, soon enough, will reach a critical density and open up a sort of black hole near the planet. This will result in a massive liberation of energy that will have catastrophic consequences for the life on Gaia as we know it. Moreover, it seems that the Lifestream has been heavily influenced by the Mako piling up in the exosphere"
The image in the background switched again to a series of seismographic charts
"These reading have been collected form different parts of the world in a range of just two days" the officer continued "Earthquakes are rocking the world at an alarming rate. Fortunately for us they are all small scale ones and Edge, as far as we are concerned, is not built on seismic land so the HQ won't be compromised"
"Anyway, after days and days of hard work, we have finally devised a plan to counter the threat of what we have called the Mako Singularity: according to a computer model, we can drive it to an energy level even higher than the one of its critical mass so as it will collapse in itself, greatly reducing the amount of energy liberated in the ensuing explosion. There still will be some consequences here below, such as further modifications of the Mako flows under Gaia's crust, or malfunctions in electronic equipments, but they will be temporary. And by then we will be able to minimize the harm to the population. To sum everything up, our plan is to make the Singularity suck itself up by chucking even more Mako inside it"
"In order to do so, we will need quite a large amount of Mako delivered to the point where the singularity is building up. We are now studying a way to physically deliver it. The Mako will be extracted in the Northern Crater region, where it presents itself in the most convenient form for our purposes…"
"The Northern Crater?" Yuffie exclaimed
"That won't mean that…" Cade enquired, visibly worried
"We will launch an extracting operation from our outpost in Icicle Inn, where the local personnel has already been alerted and is ready to be deployed and welcome us…" Groundham continued briefing
"God, of all places on Gaia!" Cade sulked, grinning his teeth
"What's so bad about it?" Yuffie asked him "Is it because of the awful weather?"
Kayla threw Cade a concerned look. Cid kept his head straight but couldn't help to turn his eyes towards him
"Nothing" Cade cut short "It's just an issue of mine against cold places"
"Well, if so…" Yuffie concluded, focusing her attention back at the briefing
"The mission is of critical importance" Zansteid had regained the stand and had taken back the microphone "Our field and liaison officer Major Evan Kallstrom will explain the details of the operation"
Zansteid stepped down the podium as Evan got a hold of the microphone
"Good evening everyone" he began "Let's take a quick look at our operation in the Crater Region. We'll have to face a plethora of logistical issues and the weather is not nice and all but the Mako collected in that peculiar spot offers the advantages of being easy to extract and to transport"
"We will set up an advanced base exploiting the WRO outpost which lies just north of Icicle Inn, outside the town. From there we will establish a direct link between the theatre and the WRO headquarters. The extraction team will operate directly on site so it is of utmost importance that the designated areas pinpointed on this map behind me will be secured for the entire length of the operation. The MPM will try to strike at us when we will be more vulnerable, and this is probably a golden opportunity for them"
As Evan was talking, images behind him changed following the points of the briefing he was illustrating
"Apart from the advanced base" Evan continued "We will have to establish a secondary outpost to support the extraction team. It will serve as a loading station to load the Mako into the transports that will bring it where we need it. The Scientific Division has already drawn the members of the support team that will run the test on the Mako loads before hauling them to their destination. As far as security is concerned, we have formed a task force directly led by the here present Major Clawbourne"
Brad Clawbourne stood up and turned his shoulders to the stage
"Major?" Cade exclaimed, aghast "This cannot be!"
"Say 'hello' to his dad…" Kayla downheartedly commented
"I've got a bad feeling about this…" Cid muttered
Cade, who was still standing with his head bowed down hidden between his hands, had been hit with two of his worst nightmares: being directly commanded by the worst element in the entire WRO and having to return to a place which did not really harboured pleasant remembrances. He was beginning to sweat cold. He could swore his hands were trembling.
"Are you all right?" Kayla quietly asked him, placing a hand on his shoulder
"Not really" Cade replied, trying to sound joyful. He patted the hand Kayla had placed on his shoulder "But I'll try to soldier on!"
"Come on" Yuffie assured him "He might be an egocentric, immature, dickhead but he won't feud with you in such a delicate circumstance…"
"You know him too little" Cade shook his head
Meanwhile Brad had smiled upon the announcement, greatly pleased. Cade could swore he was menacingly grinning instead.
"You will all receive further details about your assignments on your PHS. This operation will begin in 6 hours from now on. Everyone who is involved in this operation must not leave the headquarters until operation begins, for safety reason. This is a pivotal step towards the resolution of a major catastrophe which is lingering upon us. I urge you to be careful and act at the peak of your potential. That is all!"
As murmurs followed the end of Evan's briefing, Reeve Tuesti himself stood up and walked towards the podium
"Just a couple of words before dismissing the briefing" he said "First and foremost, I want to thank you all for your efforts. One would take your performances and deeds for granted, as you are all WRO members who decided to join on their own will. I'm not one of them. I recognize that behind the work of reconstructing and preserving our world there's the dedication and faith of each and every one of you"
"We have to face once again a challenge" he continued "And this challenge may seem out of our reach. But as long as we will be able to think ahead of our obstacles and as long as we will have the will to put plans into action, we will succeed in our most important mission. Which is to give hope to every person out there even in such fragile times. We have hearts and brains and souls, and they are the best tools we could whish for when carrying out our mission. My wish, on my side, is that each of you will use these tools in the best manner. We have a world to protect. Be aware of that. Good luck everyone!"
As Zansteid officially dismissed the WRO officers, everybody stood briefly up to attention before clearing the seats and crowding the passages to conversate. It took a while for Cade to summon the strength to get up, but he eventually stood up and thought about making a straight line towards his bunk in the sleeping quarters, provided it was the same as it ever was last time.
"Cade, don't leave so soon!" a voice called him. It was Evan
"What now? Do I personally have to trek to the Northern Crater instead of flying there with an airship like the rest of us?"
"No" Evan shook his head "Reeve wants to see you and Yuffie in his office as soon as you can…"
Yuffie turned his head "At last. I'll have the chance to see him, then!" she happily said
"Of course" Cade nodded "Tell him I'm already on my way!"
"Good. Hang on, Cade. It's for the sake of the planet. You'll do good!" Evan chimed as he resumed pursuing his commitments "And check your PHS every now and then, you might end up with a big surprise"
Cade scratched his head
"I'd better go as well" Kayla said "The scientific department will be twice as hectic now. Let's keep in touch, especially you Yuffie!"
"Sure thing!" the ninja cheerfully waived at her
"Do you have any plans after we save the world?" Cade asked, all of a sudden
"Me?" Kayla replied "Well, I guess I have. And guess who they involve…" She winked at him as she walked away. Cade temporarily blushed upon her response
Cid patted him on the back "That's a good start" the mechanic considered
"Well, that surely is easier than saving the world!" Cade said
"Look, you two!" Cid exclaimed "I have to go as well. Might check what those nerds have set up for the upcoming trip. Don't make Reeve wait too long!"
"We won't!" they both replied, as Cid made his way out of the hall.
"So, is there something between you and Kayla?"
Cade stopped right in the middle of the corridor, as Yuffie broke the silence for the first time since they had left the briefing hall, on their way to Reeve's office.
"Me and Kayla?" Cade faltered. Yuffie had soon realize that the relationship between he and the girl was Cade's soft spot. Coupled with her unborn curiosity, it was becoming a battlefield where she could have enjoyed the advantage of playing on the home ground
"Yes, you and her. Who else?" the ninja pressed him, standing still next to him, hands on her hips.
"Well" Cade admitted "We have a sort of friendship…"
"I don't believe you!" Yuffie shoot him down
Cade sighed, letting his arms fall down "All right!" he conceded "We have hanged around a bit in the past, but there's nothing more to it. I swear!" he made clear, hoping that the answer would have satisfied the nose poking princess of Wutai
"Why?" she kept asking, instead
"What?" Cade asked
"Why isn't there something more serious between you two?"
"Why are you asking?" Cade frowned
"Nothing" she replied "Just small talk, I guess"
They both resumed walking
"I just find relationships on the workplace… compromising" he continued, after a while
"Oh, that's a pitiful excuse" Yuffie said "Are you afraid of softening up because of a girl?"
"It's not that" Cade tried to explain. The last thing he needed to do was to illustrate his sentimental life to a nasty newsmonger like Yuffie "If it's over in your private life then even your job is fucked up"
"Well, then try to make it work, She is nice, beautiful, funny and even smart for being a blonde. Plus, she is basically all over you!"
Cade sighed "Why is everybody telling me that?"
"Because it's true, you clueless!"
"If so, why do you even care?"
"For no apparent reason" she replied "You are just too similar to someone I know who was oblivious to people who loved him"
All that Cade wanted was to punch the ninja in the face and make her stop talking. Obviously, it was an act which would have brought about a huge number of consequences. So he diplomatically decided to let the vibe of the moment glide over him until the urge of doing something violent and stupid would eventually fade away.
But the hardest part of it was that her word had basically summed up one of Cade's worst blight of his personality. She was right. It was the same thing his uncle Reeve had told him. Yuffie had hit bull' s eye with that remark. Maybe it was true that Kayla maybe, and maybe, wished something more than a plain friendship. Maybe that was the chance to move over, at last.
'It won't end up like last time. It can't! At least, I hope it won't…' Cade pondered
He chased away these thoughts as, finally, two guards let them slip through the entrance to the wards where Reeve's office was located
"How about you?" Cade asked
"About me what?"
"Ha! Who's playing fool now?" he joked
"Oh, crap!" Yuffie barked "Do you really have to be so childish?"
"Me? I spilled the beans about me, I think I should get something back"
"Geez!" Yuffie exclaimed "All right, then. For your information, there's no one on my trail that I know. And there's no one in my life either…"
"But that doesn't mean that I'm open to possibilities!" she added "My life is a mess already as it is. The last thing that I want is to have something else to be bothered like a boyfriend or whatever else!"
Cade nodded "See? Now we're even!"
The door behind which Reeve's office was located appeared in front of them. A green led gleamed right to the handle, meaning that the door was unlocked. Cade stepped forward and pushed it open
"After you" he offered
"Well, thanks!" Yuffie replied. She walked in into a spacious room lit by a line of rectangular lamps running along the wall. Reeve was standing right in the middle, in front of the desk
"Yuffie!" he exclaimed "I'm glad to see you again. And in one piece!"
3.
"What do you mean 'in one piece'?"
"Well Cade" Reeve explained "I had the awful feeling that, after the stunt you played in Wutai, Yuffie might have been hurt or maimed. Thank God I was wrong!"
"Hey, I've got a sound reason to explain what happened out there…" Cade protested
"He is quite right" Yuffie stepped in "Unfortunately I was caught in a confrontation with some rotten apples in the law enforcement agency. It was inevitable!"
Cade gestured towards the ninja "See?" he pointed out
"I'm nonetheless glad you are OK Yuffie. And that you are back with us!"
"I couldn't possibly turn down a call to save the world" Yuffie joked. Then she asked "Have you heard anything from anyone else, recently?"
"Well" Reeve started listing down "Barrett is back in Corel trying to work around some oil extraction sites. I know that Cid pays him a visit every now and then. Cloud and Tifa are apparently leading an ordinary life. And Vincent, well…"
"It's alright… I guess" Yuffie cut short, shaking his head
Cade briefly stared at her as a gloomy shade veiled her eyes. They lit up back in a split second, though
"And how are things at home? Apart from your misfortunes with the Civic Guard?"
Yuffie laughed "It's quite alright. Trying to put that place back on its feet"
"Well, tell Godo I would be happy to lend a hand should he need it!"
"I'll do!" Yuffie promised
Reeve walked back to his chair behind the desk
"Why don't you take a seat?" he invited. Yuffie and Cade followed suit
"Anyway" Cade continued "Yuffie is here. Trust me, I always catch my man"
"I see that" Reeve replied "That's why you're going to the Northern Crater along with the task force. I need someone like you over there"
"I'm glad you trust me" Cade smiled
"It's quite hard to trust anyone these days. Even harder after what happened to the submarine"
"How could it be that the MPM has been able to infiltrate so deep between our ranks?" Yuffie asked
"It's a good question" Reeve answered "I wish I could give an equally good answer"
"What do they profit from pushing life on Gaia to extinction? Nothing much, I guess…" Cade pondered
"What if their goal is the usual tirade of building a new world from the ashes, or something like that?" Yuffie guessed
"It could be their aim" Reeve replied "But apparently, if the Singularity explodes, there won't be nothing much to build upon to"
"Let me recap this" Cade intervened "We are trying to prevent the world from being wiped out. But at the same time someone else is trying to accomplish just that. And they are committing a ton of resources to that, attacking installations, high jacking IT systems and sending agents to infiltrate the WRO…"
"They are either fanatics to the bone or there must be something more hidden behind their actions" Yuffie said
Reeve nodded "There are lots of things that should be followed closely. Unfortunately the current crisis is putting a strain on our resources. That's why I called you here!"
"C'mon, Reeve!" Cade told him, smiling "Place your order"
Reeve slightly rolled his eyes "Watch closely the operation in the Northern Crater and try to spot anything or anyone misplaced. There's a huge chance someone from the MPM will show up and try to meddle with our efforts right there"
Cade paused
"Sounds like a good plan to me" he finally said "But what if someone actually shows up?"
"Try to contain the situation at the best of your possibilities. And rely to us all the information you can get"
"Sorry, eam!" Cade intervened "As much as I appreciate you and as I worship you as a leadership figure and all, don't you think is plan is a bit slapdash?"
"I hate to admit it" Yuffie murmured "But he is not completely wrong. You are telling us that your only hope to deter an ambush is that two people fend off an enemy which is pretty much invisible and that could strike at any moment"
"If it was for that, I could have conceived a plan like that too" Cade added "No offence, of course!"
"None taken" Reeve shrugged, thinking upon what he had just been told
"Look" he finally said "You won't be totally alone. The detachment at the Icicle Inn outpost is alerted and will be ready to assist you in virtually no time"
"Besides" he continued, standing up and walking towards the wall, hands behind his back "I'm perfectly aware that I'm asking an ant to move a boulder. But Yuffie had kept up with more powerful enemies in the past? Am I right Yuffie?"
"Well" the ninja hesitated "Yes, I think"
"And Cade, you just have to avoid taking risks. Do you really think that there's an army of fanatics waiting for us out there? In a place like the Northern Crater?"
"I hope not" Cade replied
"Look" Reeve continued "This assignment is not vital. Is crucial. I've always held up the belief that no man or woman here is expendable. Of course I would make an exception here and there but even if so, that would be for an awful good reason. And believe me, this time it is"
"Are you telling us we are the bait for the big fish?" Cade asked
"You are not kamikaze" he added "I don't expect you and I don't want you to sacrifice for the sake of the mission. Especially you Cade"
Cade stood head up upon hearing Reeve calling his name
"But I need someone who I can trust and someone who fights well to protect the mission. And people that fit this description you can count them on your fingers. That's why, again, I need you"
Silence filled the room for a while
"I see" Cade eventually broke the hush "So, up next: going along the task force to the Northern Crater, keep eyes peeled for people behaving strangely and make up a plan if someone not much mellow shows in"
"Sounds like a good schedule to me" Yuffie considered
"I hope you don't mind being under the orders of Brad" Reeve tentatively asked
"I'll try to stay away from him as much as I can"
"Unfortunately his father pressed really hard"
"Don't worry" Cade assured him "I perfectly see!"
"And I hope" Reeve continued "That you won't mind staying a bit in Icicle Inn…"
"Ah" Cade was caught wrong-footed by that question "Well, not really. I mean, it's just a place"
"You sure?" Reeve pressed on
"Absolutely" Cade firmly replied. Yuffie witnessed the last exchange puzzled. She wondered why Cade was so spooked by that place.
"Good" Reeve nodded "If so. I haven't anything else to tell you. Or do you have?"
"No, not that I know" Cade replied, standing up from his chair
Yuffie stood up as well
"I'm sorry Yuffie but you're going to freeze to death if you walk around the Crater dressed like that" Reeve pointed out
"Oh, crap!" Yuffie realized "Sorry, but Wutai hasn't experienced a snowstorm in ages!"
"Don't worry. If you wait five minutes I'll get you a uniform delivered right here"
"What about me?" Cade asked
"You already have one…" Reeve replied
"I know" Cade grinned "Do I have to pick up something else before departing?"
"Not that I know" Reeve echoed him "Just remember to replace the patch on your vest?"
"Which one?" Cade enquired
"Do you take a peek at your PHS every now and then?" Reeve sighed
"I was planning to do so, actually" Cade offered
"Good for you captain Tuesti!" Reeve replied
Yuffie sarcastically clapped her hands "Congratulations!" she chimed
"Shut up!"
"Hey, quit it. You two are going to work together. Get along. At least for me!" Reeve scolded them
"Sure thing!" Yuffie said, looking at Cade sideways
"I'm going to crash on the bed, then" Cade announced, yawning "I'm pretty tired"
"All right" Reeve walked to him and gave him a quick shake of hand. Cade patted him on the back
"Watch yourself out there!" Reeve heartfeltly instructed him
"I'll do!" Cade promised just as sincerely, before walking away outside the room trailed by what Yuffie could swear was an apprehensive but at the same time proud glance towards him
"All right Yuffie" Reeve exclaimed, after Cade had disappeared from his eyesight "Let's wait for your clothes!"
After a while since Cade had left for his bunk, Reeve reverted back to his seat
"What do you think?" he asked
"About what?" the ninja replied
"About him"
"Oh, about him!" Yuffie exclaimed. She paused a bit to recollect her thoughts. She didn't really had terms of endearment for that guy but it wouldn't have been nice to trash talk him at his shoulder and in front of his uncle. Besides, to be honest, her opinion about Cade was not completely negative. She had began to discover a positive side of his persona, surprisingly. Maybe it was the influence of Kayla, whose adoration and fondness for him (it could not be clearer than that; that poor girl could have kissed the ground where Cade treaded. If only that moron knew, or at least tried to convince himself to open his own eyes!) balanced the great load of despicability that Yuffie initially bore.
"I don't know" she tried to express herself "He's not an ordinary kind of person, this for sure!"
Reeve laughed "Well, if I had got a Gil every time somebody told me that I could fund the WRO by myself!"
Yuffie smiled "At first I wanted to smash his face or break his bones one by one. He nearly saved me in Wutai, I admit, but he threw me in such a messy situation with my dad…"
"Well, it may sound inappropriate to notice it" Reeve told her "But it wasn't entirely his fault back then. At least that's what it seems to me…"
"He is reckless, brash and doesn't seem to be fully aware of what people are thinking about him. If I really have to list some of his worst traits, these should do" she commented
"I see" Reeve replied "Guess it kind of fits in"
"On the other hand, he has a very cheerful spirit" Yuffie continued, his voice softening a bit "I mean, he manages to stay calm even when everyone around him is getting out their heads. Right now humanity is on the brink of extinction but apparently is greatest concern is having a good night of sleep" she thought out loud smiling "He is cool enough to think of a solution even in the tightest of spots. He carries out his job. I mean, he gave me that kind of idea, at least"
"Sure he does" Reeve told her "Cade is quite respected for being one of the boldest officers in our ranks. He has quite a dislike for teamwork but when he leads someone into battle or into an assignments everyone stick close to him. He's a natural-born leader in that sense"
"On the other hand" he continued "His unconventional ways of carrying out the missions he is assigned to have caused me quite a number of headaches"
Yuffie laughed "It must be quite hard to hold his reins. And what about his parents? Do they get as much headaches as you do?"
"His parents are dead"
It was as if Yuffie skin had turned into a wintertime meadow, every square inch of her skin covered into a thick layer of biting yet invisible frost. Yuffie could feel her head spinning around as the revelation struck her and made her realize quite a number of things she had not taken into account. Of course, she was not ready to justify some of his behaviour just because he had lost his parents. Yuffie itself had lost her mother while she was just a little kid and that did not impacted her life really that much.
'Are you sure about that? Because you are not really the portrait of a girl who doesn't make his dad worried at all…' a voice rung in his head.
She decided to shake of that feeling at once and to shed some light over the topic
"I suppose he did not tell you…" Reeve guessed
"No… no…" Yuffie murmured "He actually told me, now that I think. It must have slipped from his mouth though!"
A somber silence fell into the room
"When did it happen?" she finally asked
"Ten years ago" Reeve recounted "He still lived with his parents in Icicle Inn. His dad was my brother"
"Icicle Inn?" Yuffie exclaimed, further realizing the cause of Cade's distress with regards to that place
"Right there. Cade still hates that place"
"He was a bit shaken up during the briefing" Yuffie remembered "But what happened there?"
"It's kind of a long story" Reeve explained, sinking in his chair "Back then I was still head of the Shinra Urban Development Commission. The company was carrying out an extensive search and destroy operation to hunt down an eco-terrorist group which was responsible of a series of attacks against Shinra Mako reactors"
"You are talking about AVALANCHE, right?"
"The embryonic AVALANCHE" Reeve nodded "The one that had just been formed out of Cosmo Canyon. We were tipped off that one of their hideouts was in Icicle Inn. So the Infantry and the Turks landed there to investigate and possibly suppress them"
"Unfortunately, the operation spiralled out of control and the Shinra forces began bursting into every home in town and in the outskirts. A platoon entered into Cade's parents estate and was ambushed by a group of AVALANCHE terrorists which had taken shelter into a barn. His parents were caught in the crossfire and were gunned down as they tried to take cover. Their house was turned into a battlefield and was virtually levelled"
"How did Cade managed to stay safe?"
"He had gone hunting early in the morning. He later told me that a storm got him stuck outdoor more than he expected" Reeve recalled, his voice growing sadder and sadder as he dealt with that memory "Probably that saved his life"
"How did he came to know about it?"
"The operation was a partial success but soon voices and rumours that the Infantry and the Turks had behaved dreadfully began circulating. When I first saw the pictures of Icicle Inn I recognized Cade's household and I immediately took off. Apparently, Cade had made it back in town after the storm had subsided, alerted by the explosions and the gunfires"
"The Shinra forces had already departed when I arrived so the inhabitants of Icicle Inn were rallying to assist the wounded and to provide shelter for the displaced. Cade was there, next to his burnt down house. He was pale and catatonic. He was sitting next to his dead parents. He was trying to bury them but he only ended up frostbitten. He was so close to die holding a shovel in his hands…"
"And then what happened?" Yuffie enquired, her heart beating faster as the tale unravelled
"I managed to sneak him back to Midgar where he received medical treatment"
"I guess he must have gone berserk once he woke up. I mean Shinra came down and killed his family. Or AVALANCHE, as far as it mattered… and he had nowhere else to go!"
"Surprisingly not" Reeve shook his head "I mean, it's not that after a few days he was back on his feet again and cheering and doing whatsoever. He briefly went into depression but he never really blamed anyone, all he wanted was to move on. He had always been tougher than the average"
"I see" Yuffie commented, as she pictured in her mind the painful scene of a boy grieving the loss of his parents and trying to soldier on despite everything that had happened. It was a noble sentiment for sure.
"That explains lots of things" the ninja said
"I guess: his will to throw the heart beyond the obstacle, his apparent unyielding optimism. But also his stubbornness and his uneasiness to disclose himself to others" Reeve explained
"What happened next?" Yuffie pressed on. She had grown unhealthily curious about the life of Cade. At least the more she knew, the better it was for the time she was around him
"I felt guilty for what happened" Reeve continued "Today, if I tell him that what happened was partly my fault, he slaps me in the face and lectures me about the importance of moving on, but you know…" he smiled at the image of Cade nagging him about not being overly attached to the past. Yuffie laughed too
"I decided that the best thing for him was offering him a place that would have given him a roof over his head and some companionship. So I reserved a slot for him in the Shinra Infantry Corps"
"What?" Yuffie shouted, shocked
"Ironic, isn't it?" Reeve grinned
"That is an understatement" Yuffie commented, still with her jaw dropped "How could he have accepted such a deal?"
"I was terrified too that he would have kicked me repeatedly just for proposing him that. But for some kind of reason he accepted nearly straight away. Guess it was the weight of the circumstances…"
Yuffie paused for a moment, trying to weave together the revelations. Again, it was not as if she was ready to condone Cade for his actions, past, present and future. Simply what she came to know put him under a new light.
"Not that his time in the Shinra Infantry was a smooth one. I came to know that he was continuously teased for being the nephew of the head of the Urban Development Commission, virtually the major of Midgar and right hand of the president. He got beaten up pretty wild but he soon learnt to pay them back. At least if he harboured anger, he already vented it while he was in Infantry"
"He doesn't seem to be a violent kind of guy, on second thoughts" Yuffie observed
"Look Yuffie" Reeve stood up and walked near Yuffie, who stood up as well "Cade is a complicated man. I'm not defending him because he is virtually my son, or at least I like to think it that way. But I know for sure that he is a good guy. He won't turn on you or let anything harm you or whatever. Just be patient and you'll see that it takes time to get along with him, but when it happens you'll also find out that you might even like him" Yuffie slightly blushed upon these words
"As a person. Like him as a person!" Reeve hastily added, embarrassed, almost as he realized the involuntarily double-entendre
"Oh, for sure" Yuffie replied "I trust you Reeve. If you say so, it must be true"
"Oh, it's just something I'm damn sure of" Reeve laughed "Now, if that lackey hurries up with that uniform you could afford some time to rest too!"
Yuffie stared at the clock on the wall. She had lost the sense of timing. The tale had been dramatic but Yuffie was dangerously, at times, curious and the story he had been told was, in a sense, entertaining. Interesting, to be more fair.
"There's something missing in the tale" Yuffie pointed out "If he joined Shinra, how come he told me he joined the WRO just a couple of years ago?"
"That's a part I would like him to tell you" Reeve replied
"That means that I will never know it?"
"It means that maybe someday he will tell you"
"Guess I'll never know, then!" the ninja sighed
Yuffie was trying to make her way to the quarters were the room she had been reserved was. After a couple of times of getting lost and finding herself back on the same spot, she was about to give up and prepare herself to spend the night on the first couch she would find.
She rounded a corner and stumbled upon Cade, nearly colliding with him
"Oh, hey!" Yuffie greeted him
"Got lost?" Cade asked straightforwardly
"What are you doing here?"
"Somebody from the security room told me that someone was wandering on this floor. Thought I could give a hand…" he smiled
"Well, actually you could" Yuffie replied, exhausted by the fruitless effort of finding her place "I've been stuck in these corridors for like hours and I'm nearly collapsing"
Cade chuckled
"Hey!" Yuffie protested "Tomorrow is a big day and I don't want to look like a zombie on the airship!"
"You can always sleep on our way there" Cade teased her, backing off immediately as Yuffie gave him a menacing look
"Alright!" he gave up "Come with me. What's your quarter?"
"A-127" Yuffie recalled
"You mean that one?" Cade pointed at a door where the letter A and the digits 1, 2 and 7 were painted in large cases and in bright red.
Yuffie dropped her jaw in disbelief "I swear I've walked past here a thousand times!" she cried
Cade tilted the corner of his mouth "Maybe you are really tired" he surmised
"Well, probably. Tired as fuck!" the ninja replied
"Well, good nigh then" Cade told her "See you tomorrow!"
Yuffie nodded. As Cade turned and walked away Yuffie, unexpectedly, found herself addressing him again
"Cade!" she cried
The man turned in her direction
"Sorry…" she said, almost whispering that word
"Sorry… for what?" Cade asked, puzzled by that apology
'Yeah, for what?' Yuffie thought to herself
"Nothing!" she quickly and alarmingly replied, before disappearing in her bunk.
Cade scratched his head
'She really needs some sleep!' he thought, shaking his head as he walked away.
Somewhere else in the WRO headquarters, an officer was walking towards the office of General Adrian Clawbourne. As he approached the waiting room, the security guard staffing the desk raised his head. Upon discovering the identity of the visitor, the guard nodded and made a gesture to the officer as if he was cleared to proceed.
The door slid open.
The officer entered. At the desk General Clawbourne was sitting facing a screen installed behind it. The display was showing a resume of the briefing held moments ago, complemented by additional information of communication
"Everything is in place. The plan will be carried out tomorrow as planned" the officer said, after briefly clearing his throat
"Good!" General Clawbourne exclaimed. He spun his chair, facing the visitor
"If everything will proceed as expected, this whole thing will be over in a couple of days" he added
"Why shouldn't it be so?" the visitor asked
"That ninja, Yuffie Kissaragi is not an ordinary warrior" Clawbourne commented
"I've read her file" the visitor nodded "We will deal with her accordingly"
"And keep an eye on Tuesti junior as well" Clawbourne recommended "He's an unpredictable kind of guy. God knows what he is capable of pulling off"
"Tuesti is the least of our concerns" the visitor replied, with a hint of anger in his voice
"Be alert anyway! This is the turning point of the entire plan. I want nothing to be left to chance" Clawbourne cut him off
The visitor nervously nodded "Is the cover story holding up?"
Clawbourne waived his hand "Absolutely" he said "We managed to get half of the scientific staff on our payroll, by hook or by crook"
"Good" the visitor replied
A brief moment of silence ensued
"Any more questions?" Clawbourne asked
"No" the visitor answered
"Good. Go on then. Give me a signal when the operation is underway"
"Of course"
The visitor turned back and walked off the office.
Clawbourne pulled a drawer from his desk. He gave a look at its content and briefly smiled.