Book II, Part I: Outbreak - Vector's Gambit

Chapter XIV - Focus Groups

[July 12, 2152 | Trabia Garden, First Floor, Dormitories | 6:34 PM]

Ben's eyes slowly opened as he started to wake, adjusting to the light shining from overhead in the sky above...

'Wait,' he drearily thought, weakly bringing a hand up to shield his eyes from a glaring brightness that was most certainly artificial in nature. 'This isn't Esthar...'

As he drifted more back into wakefulness, he realized that he was laying in his own bed in his dorm room and slowly sat up, protesting against the groaning aches of his body in an effort to figure out how he got back to Garden.

"You know, I hope this doesn't become a thing with you," a voice said from beside him, one that he recognized as Angel's after a moment. He turned to see the Vayash Moru sitting on the small chair in the room, putting down a magazine of some sort that he had been reading.

"...You and me both," Ben said grumpily, pushing himself up on the bed to lean against the headboard and prop himself up. "How long was I out this time?"

"Only about an hour," Angel remarked. "You did a pretty good job patching yourself up, so I guess you were just exhausted."

"Healing magic is one of my specialties," Ben said. "You know, when I don't get one-shotted by a demon and can actually use it."

"Fair point."

Angel leaned in towards Ben, folding his hands in his lap as he spoke. "So, what made you go and decide to take on the big fish all by yourself?"

"Doesn't matter," Ben replied, bitterness creeping into his voice along with the disappointment that Angel could see on his face. "I failed her."

"Who?"

"...Yuna."

"Bring this around for me," Angel said, leaning back again with a curious look on his face. "How did you fail Yuna?"

"I couldn't kill Sin," Ben replied, slamming a fist on his bed in frustration. "I couldn't get rid of it and keep her from having to fight it again, from having to see it again and remember everything she went through the first time to try and get rid of it and keep everyone from suffering..."

"Be honest - did you really think you could kill it by yourself?" Angel said, a bit of skepticism creeping into his voice. "We could feel that thing's energy all the way out here, you know, and it was hundreds of miles away."

"If it had been the same as it was last time? Yes."

The steel in his words surprised Angel - he knew that Ben was tenacious and confident more often than not, but the conviction with which he spoke was beyond what he'd seen out of the boy in his experience. He was about to ask Ben to elaborate on what he meant when a knock came at the door, and he stood up before Ben could try to climb off the bed.

"Sit - I've got it."

Ben frowned, but obliged. He didn't like having to have others do things for him, but he was also smart enough to realize that he needed to take it easy for a little while longer. Angel's footsteps plodded out of the room, followed by the sound of the door opening and the faint sounds of another set of steps alongside Angel's own as he walked back towards Ben's small bedroom. Absently, Ben realized how sharp his junctions made some of his senses - he'd never have been able to pick out different sets of footsteps on carpet like that before - as Angel walked back into the room, followed closely by Silvia and Andréa to his surprise. He'd not heard Andréa's movements, he thought to himself, nor had he been expecting either of the two of them to show up.

"Instructor Bayloh told me what happened," Andréa said, and Ben could sense the admonishing look in her eyes even beneath the headwrap she wore. "You're not dead, at least."

"At least," Ben echoed, sighing. "I screwed up, though. That thing...it isn't the same. Something's different about it that I can't figure out."

"Elaborate."

"Back on Spira, Sin was created when Yu Yevon used the body of the Final Aeon - the summon created by a summoner's guardian sacrificing themselves - to be reborn. Yu Yevon wore Sin like a suit of armor to defend itself, and it went after places where lots of people gathered so that it could kill them and absorb their bodies to make itself stronger. It had some kind of consciousness before, but it was...primal, almost, like Jecht's mind was slowly being taken over by instinctive thought."

"Jecht?" Silvia asked.

"Jecht was the last guardian who became the Final Aeon and was turned into a new body for Sin," Ben explained. "When we fought Sin, it seemed like he was trying to lead us to Zanarkand, almost like Jecht was fighting for control and had a plan in mind before Yu Yevon's will finally won. This Sin...it was like it was just a sentient being itself without Yu Yevon guiding it and knew exactly what it was doing, not relying just on instinct."

"What makes you say that?" Angel questioned, folding his arms.

"It was adapting to how I was fighting it," Ben replied. "When I first attacked it, it brought out a few little Sinscales to try and slow me down along with a Sinspawn I'd fought in the past. I killed it pretty easily since it wasn't very strong, so the next thing it brought out was something I'd never seen before. It was bigger and hit harder, but it was pretty slow overall, so I used Shiva to help wear it down and got a good shot on its head to kill it. But after that..."

He winced a little as he remembered the punches he'd initially taken from the last Sinspawn he'd been faced with. "It's like it learned from how I was fighting and made something specifically so it would be strong against me. The last Sinspawn I fought was smaller, humanoid, and a lot quicker than the one before it but still had a ton of power. That's why I think it's different - if it was the Sin I knew, it would have just kept making lots of spawn of all kinds no matter what happened and how many died, but this one was only making one at a time and seemed to be trying to figure out my weaknesses before it made a new one."

"Katanas would likely be interested to know all of this," Andréa remarked. "How much of an assessment of the spawn's abilities did you get?"

"A pretty good one - firsthand," Ben said, rubbing his left arm where it still stung. "Wait a minute..."

"What is it?" Angel asked.

"Hyne, I should've realized it sooner...Wilhelm didn't just bring Sin here, Wilhelm's controlling it too. That's why it seemed so sentient, and why it didn't kill me when it had a chance...!"

The three Planeswalkers in the room shared a look with each other, none of them saying anything as Ben's statement hung in the air. Wilhelm bringing Sin into the world for destruction's sake was bad enough, but if the Author of the Tenth Realm had a motive behind it...there was no telling what was bound to happen.

"Wilhelm? Arthur Wilhelm, the president of Vector Industries?" Silvia asked, breaking the silence - she recognized the name from mentions in the news as well as talks with her father. "What does he have to do with this?"

"Long story short, Wilhelm's the one who brought the thing that destroyed Balamb here in the first place," Ben answered, turning his gaze to Silvia as he pulled himself to a sitting position and started to get out of the bed.

"...He's not who he seems to be, is he?"

"Think less 'businessman,' more 'potentially omnipotent being that created a universe,' really. Should we give her the details later, Andréa?" Ben asked, turning to his squad leader. Andréa just shrugged.

"It seems like everyone's finding out lately - why not."

"Who else figured it out?"

"Tetsuya."

If Ben had been drinking anything, he might've spit it onto the floor if the look of surprise that crossed his face was anything to go by.

"He's sharper than you give him credit for," Andréa remarked. "I've known him since childhood - I would know."

"I'll take your word for it," Ben replied, conceding the point. "So...what are we going to do now?"

"We," Andréa began, gesturing to herself and Silvia, "are going to continue gathering information on Sin and what we can do to combat it. You are going to refrain from anything even remotely strenuous for at least six hours."

"But -"

"That's an order, Powell."

Ben's face scrunched in annoyance, but he sighed and nodded anyway in compliance. Andréa wasn't finished, though.

"You just went up against something that, for all intents and purposes, should've squashed you like an insect. If it weren't for Instructor Bayloh, it would have. Regardless of how you feel now, you need to take it easy."

"And, you know...you don't need to try and do everything yourself," Silvia added. "You're part of a team, and the whole point of a team is to help out the other members when they need it. Going off and trying to do everything alone defeats the whole purpose."

Andréa nodded her approval. "SeeD go through years of education, training our abilities and honing our skills. We prove our skills over and over again, proving our prowess in the arts of combat, just to be put in squads where you don't always get to use your abilities. Do you know why?"

Angel didn't give Ben a chance to answer. "Because it works. It keeps people alive and safe and gives you someone to watch your back and rely on. It gives you constant camaraderie and ensures you always have someone who knows what you're going through. That's why there's seldom any contracts negotiated for combat situations that we'll send only one SeeD in for. It's not how SeeD works. Seeds are planted in groups, because the ground is prepared for them to grow together. We work together. We live together. We fight together."

Ben didn't say anything at first.

"You're right."

He sighed, looking down at the bed instead of up at the people around him.

"I went off and tried to do everything myself, and I didn't get anywhere like that. I'm so used to relying on myself now that I never realize when I don't have to go it alone...it's a bad habit. Sorry for screwing up like this, you guys."

He finally looked up, and the pained and annoyed expression on his face was gone, replaced by a look of calm and acceptance.

"I'll do better."

"I'll be expecting it," Andréa said, nodding. "I've got high standards for my squad to maintain, you know."

"Just rest up for now," Angel said, standing up from the chair again. "You'll need all the rest you can get soon."

"I will," Ben replied, watching as the trio turned to leave. No one said anything else as they walked out of the room to leave Ben to rest, and he watched them go before his gaze drifted over to the sheathed Diviner resting in the corner of the room.

"I'm going to do better...I promise."

The sizzling sounds of cooking meat came loudly from the tiny kitchen of Tetsuya's dorm room before subsiding as the meat hit the pan and started searing, joined a few moments later by the clattering of pans and silverware as the one in front of the counter started work on the rest of their food. Tetsuya sat on the couch in the room along with Yuki, talking and occasionally sparing glances back at the one doing the cooking. Never in a million years would Tetsuya ever have expected Uriko to have an interest in the culinary arts, but there she was, throwing dishes and ingredients around with a fluidity that he usually saw reserved for swordsmanship or other combat skills.

Even more unlikely, she'd offered to do it. Tetsuya, rightfully so in his opinion, figured that she was getting back at him or his sister in some way by attempting to poison the both of them, but she swore that she was serious.

Warily, Tetsuya had agreed - whether his stomach would hate his brain for it later remained to be seen, but the smells starting to come from the kitchen didn't seem all that bad, he had to admit. He wasn't sure just what she was cooking, though it smelled like steak, and he turned his attention back to his sister as he left Uriko to her mission in the kitchen.

"Did you talk to dad yet?" he asked. "He called yesterday and asked about you, but I didn't know where you were to tell him. Told him you were fine last time I saw you, though."

"Not yet," Yuki said, a momentary wince crossing her face as she realized she'd completely forgotten about it. "I'll call him when we're done eating - I've been so wrapped up in a project I've been working on at Arkives that I completely forgot about calling him back once you told me."

"Project at Arkives...?" Tetsuya thought, curious. For a moment, his mind wandered back to all of the research he'd done on Planeswalkers recently in Trabia's information hub, but he tried not to let anything show on his face as he replied.

"What kind of project?"

"I was doing some research on magic absorption and how it works," she replied, her face instantly lighting up. "See, Dr. Odine in Esthar is the most famous researcher to ever work on the idea, which is what led to him making the Odine Bangle - even though that works a little differently than actual absorption - so I was reading up on some of his more recent work after the Ultimecia Incident, and -"

"Whoa, whoa, easy there, sis - take a breath," Tetsuya laughed, putting a hand up to try and get Yuki to slow down a bit. She tended to get pretty excited when she was talking about a new magic subject, even though Tetsuya got lost more often than not when she wandered off into talking about mathematical formulas and magical theory.

"Gomen, gomen," she said, brushing back some of her hair as she tried to contain her excitement. "Anyway, did you know that there haven't been any real records of successful magic absorption outside of using Sorceress powers, besides a few scattered accounts that may or may not actually be correct?"

"Really?" Tetsuya asked, quirking an eyebrow. "You'd think someone would've experimented with the idea before Odine, wouldn't you?"

"Right, but all I've seen are bits and pieces of experiments that were never really duplicated. A few accounts of people saying that they'd figured out a way to absorb elemental spells, a couple others saying that they'd "tapped into the flow of magic" and a dozen other showy phrases to describe how they thought they'd figured out how to really master the way mana works, but...nothing concrete. No one could ever replicate things the way that all these people said they could, and most people just dismissed them as frauds from the start."

"People looking to make a quick bit of Gil from suckers?" Tetsuya asked, chuckling, as Yuki nodded.

"Probably," she replied, glancing up momentarily at the sound of a somewhat loud crash and some muttered choice words from the direction of the kitchen. "But I've been looking into a lot of it anyway, just in case they had some grains of truth somewhere that I could use."

"Why the sudden interest?" Tetsuya asked, curious.

"It's just..."

Yuki's voice trailed off for a moment as she fiddled with her hair, starting to tie it back into a loose ponytail. "I've been wanting to learn more than just what we're being taught in classes. SeeD training is nice, but...you never see anyone just sitting idly, only working on what they're given by the instructors. They're always striving for more, and I thought I could do more to live up to that myself."

"Huh...that sounds like my little sis, alright," Tetsuya grinned, leaning back into the comfy sofa. "You know, I -"

"Food's done!"

Uriko's yell from the kitchen interrupted whatever Tetsuya was going to say next, and his head whipped around in the direction of the food as he started to get up from the seat. Whatever she had been doing in there, it smelled like a culinary masterpiece, and he idly wondered if he'd need to prepare Esuna magic to deal with the poison that just had to be somewhere in the meal.

Uriko just didn't do things out of the goodness of her heart. It just wasn't normal.

"Okay, you've gotta level with me here. How much poison's in that food you just cooked?" Tetsuya asked skeptically, eyeing the trio of cooked steaks and other food that Uriko had set out on the small table in the kitchen. Uriko turned, whipping the oven mitt she was holding around into Tetsuya's shoulder in one smooth movement as she glared up at the taller boy.

"I take my cooking seriously, thank you. Idiot."

"I've never seen you take anything seriously," Tetsuya shot back, ducking under a follow-up swing before holding his hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay - sorry!"

"Where did you learn to cook like this?" Yuki asked, moving towards the table to sit down. "It smells delicious...did your mom teach you?"

"Some, yeah, but I learned a lot on my own," Uriko replied, putting the oven mitt down to grab plates and silverware. "I've been practicing for a few years now, and I even thought about trying to take some cooking classes while I'm here if they have any."

"That's really neat," Yuki said, smiling as she sat down.

"So...why all this?" Tetsuya asked, also taking a seat. "I mean, you just randomly show up and offer to cook us dinner? What's the catch?"

"I just...wanted to apologize. Mostly to Yuki."

Tetsuya looked at Yuki. Yuki looked at Tetsuya. Neither one said a word - that was the absolute last thing they'd expected to hear come out of Uriko's mouth.

"...Say what?"

Neither of them could see Uriko's face as she continued, but her tone was a lot quieter than before. "I said that I wanted to apologize. I acted like an idiot during the field exam, and I nearly got us both killed."

"Uriko..."

Yuki didn't really know what to say - they'd grown up worlds apart from each other, but everything she knew of her cousin was completely at odds with what she was hearing now. She was used to Uriko being brash, rude, and quick to act...not apologizing for being stupid, especially not to her younger cousin.

"I made a mistake, and I almost lost my chance at ever becoming a SeeD because of it. I should've thought about what I was doing, and not put both of us in danger by trying to take over," Uriko said, turning around and starting to take one of the steaks from the table. "So...sorry. I won't do it again."

Tetsuya thought momentarily about saying something, but decided not to once he saw Uriko's face and all the annoyance and frustration that was there. For once, he decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and not try to goad her over it...the apology seemed hard enough for her, he realized.

"It's okay," Yuki said, putting on a smile. "Andréa-nee-san made sure nothing happened, so it's all in the past now, right?"

"...Yeah, sure." Uriko's hands moved quickly as she took out her frustrations on her steak, carving away at it as she started to eat.

"So, can I ask a question?" Tetsuya said, starting to grab a steak of his own. "Why'd you join SeeD, anyway?"

It took Uriko a few seconds to respond with her mouth full of food. "Honestly? Money."

"...You're kidding."

"Have you seen what SeeD officers make at higher ranks?"

"...You're not kidding one bit."

"Not everyone has these big, noble goals of "saving the world" on their mind, you know."

Tetsuya just sighed, shaking his head before getting up to grab a drink from the refrigerator. "Want one?"

"Please," Yuki said, nodding. He reached into the fridge and grabbed three cans of soda before closing it again and setting one down in front of each of the girls at the table.

"So, I told you my reason - turnabout's fair play. What's your reason?" Uriko asked, popping another bit of steak into her mouth with a smirk.

"My reason?"

Tetsuya seemed a little off-guard by the question, but he shrugged and decided to roll with it anyway. "I figured that it'd be the best way that I could do something with my life, even if I don't really know exactly what I want to do yet. I wasn't big on the idea of helping with Dad's company, and this seemed like a good enough alternative."

"Spoken like a true layabout," Uriko quipped.

"Hey, I'm not that lazy," Tetsuya protested, jabbing a fork in Uriko's direction. "Ask Ben."

"I would, if I ever saw him," Uriko shot back. "He's never around - he's better at hiding from work than you are."

Tetsuya wisely decided to keep his mouth shut for fear of saying something he wasn't supposed to, and he mentally breathed a sigh of relief when Uriko turned her attention to Yuki.

"So, what about you? Why'd you decide to join?"

"Trabia's the best facility in the world for learning magic techniques and theory," Yuki said without hesitation. "I want to learn everything there is to know about magic - how it works, how to create it, how to use it for all sorts of things...anything I can."

"Kinda figured you'd say that, with all the classes you're taking on it," Uriko said with a nod. "Still practicing with that bloodline gift of ours?"

"...A little," Yuki said sheepishly. "I haven't really gotten to train it much, since I've been focusing on learning other things...nii-san's better than me at it right now."

"Tetsuya, beating you at something magical? What kind of crazy alternate dimension am I in?" Uriko said, raising an eyebrow in Tetsuya's direction.

"Real funny. I started learning how to use it before she did, so I've just had more practice with it. She'll beat me pretty easy once she starts using it for real, I think."

"Want to have a match when we get done eating?"

"Sure," Tetsuya replied, grinning. "Just don't get mad when you lose."

"As if I'd let you beat me, you knucklehead," Uriko snorted. "You're going down."

Across the table, Yuki just sighed and kept eating as the two family members started to sling insults and verbal jabs at each other, their food momentarily forgotten. No matter how much Uriko might have changed, she realized, some things would always be the same.

[July 12, 2152 | Balamb, Town of Balamb | 7:55 PM]

Dusk was falling over the remnants of the shattered town of Balamb, what would have been a normally quiet atmosphere instead marred by the sounds of shouting, equipment, and heavy footfalls as SeeD teams rushed about in an attempt to aid the damaged town. Sin's attack had demolished the greater part of the small port town, leaving citizens injured and killed amongst the ruins of their home. The attack had been brief and lightning quick, more of a natural disaster than an attack, shattering the lives of those who lived in Balamb in the blink of an eye. It had gone scant minutes after it had come, leaving only some of its spawn behind that had been held at bay by the few people in the town capable of using a weapon in any capacity, but that was little consolation to Cid and Edea Kramer.

Garden had been caught completely off-guard by the attack, and even Squall's team would have been too late to aid the citizens of Balamb during the brief encounter. Cid had mobilized relief and assault teams immediately once he caught wind of the attack, and Balamb SeeD had reached the town almost within the hour to begin assisting. At first, they had thought Sin's attack a sudden, devastating storm until they reached the town and found the Sinspawn roaming the ruined streets, but beyond scattered reports from the townspeople and small reports from Trabia Garden - who had discovered Sin's existence just before the attack - they knew little of what the beast that had done this truly was. Its power was without question, though - Balamb's current state was testament to that.

"Look at all this," Cid said, almost to himself. "So much destruction...I can't even begin to imagine what kind of creature could do this in so short a time."

He watched as Balamb SeeD - his SeeD - moved with brisk efficiency, beginning to clear more damaged areas to have space to work with and aid the civilians affected. A hand reached out and took hold of his as he watched, the reassuring touch from his wife calming his nerves somewhat.

"Something far larger than anything we may have faced in the past," Edea said, turning to face her husband. "I fear it is only beginning."

Cid was the Headmaster of Balamb Garden, a forty-two year old man who had survived not just the Ultimecia Conflict as it had come to be known, but also the Sorceress War itself. He was a former soldier, a father to the men and women that served in his employ at Balamb Garden, and a man who was not afraid to stay a course once it was set regardless of hardship. The founding of Balamb Garden from nothing and training of SeeD, designed to combat Sorceresses, was testament to his determination and drive to succeed and to see others do the same.

Yet, like any other person, Cid Kramer felt fear, uncertainty...a primal feeling in his heart that was unlike anything he'd ever experienced before, telling him that it was hopeless and making him wonder what could possibly stand against something so like a god among men. Even Sorceresses had weaknesses, Cid knew, fallibility that could be used against them to bring their terror to an end if required.

Cid was not so sure that the beast called Sin possessed such traits.

"I pray that you are wrong, dear," Cid replied. "Try as I might, I can't see how we can do more to combat this creature. SeeD is powerful and skilled, but I am not sure that even their might can stand up to this threat."

The former sorceress looked over at her husband with a calm expression, seeming to gaze into his deepest thoughts in an instant as she had done hundreds of times before over the years they had been together.

"That is because they cannot."

Edea had been Cid's wife for nearly twenty years, and Cid had always depended on her as a point of stability, someone to help him through the hardest times and reassure him that he was on the right path even when he thought otherwise. Some of the hardest times in his life were the years spent apart from Edea as he created Balamb Garden and the first SeeD, and the time spent knowing that those same warriors that he trained may one day be forced to kill the one he loved for the good of the world. It stunned him momentarily to hear the words escape her lips, but he pushed the surprise aside, wondering if she was giving in to the same fears that he was suffering.

"Alone, at least," Edea stated, looking into Cid's eyes. "You are looking at this all wrong, my love. You think that Garden can handle this alone - it isn't able to. Garden is neither large enough nor strong enough to face this threat alone. But what of the allies you have made over the years? The people that you have come to know as friends, comrades, brothers and sisters? Do you really think that if you asked for help in your most dire times, that they would not come to help you?"

She raised a hand and gestured to the SeeD moving about and tending to the wounded and distraught citizens of Balamb, a kind smile growing on her face as she did. "The SeeD you trained are fine people, the best and brightest that the world has to offer, but you have so many more that you can depend on alongside them. What of Duke Haroldington and Dollet, the finest navy the world has to offer? What of General Caraway of Galbadia, who stood against both Sorceress Adel and myself to protect his nation? What of President Loire and Esthar, who helped stop the Ultimecia Conflict?"

"Garden is strong," she began, squeezing Cid's hand reassuringly, "but SeeD is not an invincible force. The whole world is in danger - do you honestly believe that your allies would refuse you if you call for aid, knowing what is at stake?"

Cid closed his eyes, pushing his glasses back up slightly on his face as he listened to his wife's words.

"No...I suppose they would not," he replied, nodding. "Ever since I created SeeD, I've envisioned them as the great protectors of the world, keeping the peace when all else failed and all seemed hopeless. But you're right, my dear...the world isn't helpless, either."

He opened his eyes, and the fierce determination of Cid's youth shone brightly in the twin orbs behind the thin spectacles he wore.

"I'll sound the call. Garden will not stand alone."