A/N: For anyone who read Fates of Worlds, when a 'similar' incident to Tseng manifesting in Deepground happened, be aware that what energy Tseng released here is actually less, in a much smaller space, in a less spectacular form. The only reason it downed him to this extent in the first place is because he only has eight years of energy buildup (no, the buildup of his adult body doesn't count, because only his soul was sent back), not over five hundred, so it was still impressive for so little energy buildup. It also made it easier to recover from.
Finally, sorry about the discussion towards the end of the chapter, about 'contracts'. I never agreed that unfair contracts should have become a thing, but a book I've been reading recently about debt ("Debt: The First 5000 Years") has actually put that into a new perspective, and has made me even more certain contracts are largely intended to enslave people, using the premise that morally, the debtor owes the creditor compensation, while the creditor is allowed to disregard all human decency and rights in the name of money.
Now, some contracts and 'creditors' (the ones writing the contracts) are actually decent, both in their terms and in how they handle their clients/debtors, but for all the rest...Why is everyone so determined to destroy themselves by going along with something completely and utterly unfair, rather than forcing the laws and the way they're handled to change? I expect some people will be unhappy with the discussion at the end of the chapter as a result, but hey—the point is still perfectly valid for the story.
And no, for anyone who somehow jumped to 'anarchy' with my saying 'bad and unfair contracts have to go', I'm not in any way encouraging a complete collapse of society (AKA anarchy).
Sorry about the long A/N, and on with the story!
Nibel Stress
The following day was, thankfully, quiet.
Kunzel was still in recovery after his infusion, Genesis spent most of the day at Tseng's to maintain Airmed, and both Angeal and Sephiroth were sent on group missions with other SOLDIERs under their command. Of course, that also wore out Genesis, leaving him ready to crash by night (and he ended up sleeping well into the next day, too).
Veld was dealing with the fallout of what had happened with the case overseas, and Kariya was alternately escorting Heidegger, helping to see to Neirine, and helping to take care of Tseng. He also had to inform Veld that Heidegger was ranting, repeatedly, about 'everyone keeping the Wutain trash away from him', and Veld knew there was no way to postpone Tseng's departure on his mission.
Weiss and the Tsviets were mostly just in their rooms, Weiss recovering from what he'd suffered through while the other four took care of him—and stewed silently. Actually, by what Rosso and Nero saw in the rest of Deepground, it looked like it was all quiet, not just in their room, which was odd—that meant no training exercises were going on, and that had never happened before.
Cloud worked diligently on Vincent's gun, which he finished in the afternoon, while Vincent just sat in companionable silence with him and Tifa watched the process intently. Though, because Tifa was never one to be silent for long, she ended up provoking both into at least some discussion with her.
It was afternoon before Tseng woke, and he was still so tired he just spent the rest of the day and following night in bed. His waking only meant Genesis could let Airmed dissipate and leave to do his own thing. Needless to say, that took him to Kunzel's recovery room, both to visit and to update the younger man.
If Tseng was honest with himself, though, he was shocked no one had yet asked him about what had happened. Then again, he didn't have the answer to that question anyway, and because it had been so unusual, he had deliberately not been thinking about it, especially since he likely would have gotten an answer—if not from Airmed, then from Minerva. He had faced quite enough in one week, and needed a break to absorb everything that had already come up. Obviously, there were still issues, but by that point, resting and seeing to Neirine was about all he could manage. Maybe the others had also realized that?
Morning came far too early, but he was thankful for that in some ways—less time to dream, to remember, to have nightmares. On that same token, he could have done without being startled awake by Veld coming in with all the things he'd taken away from Tseng during his enforced vacation (which had been anything but one). Both Veld and Kariya had promised to take care of Neirine during the time he would be out at Nibelheim, and apparently, the older man was now certain Tseng had gotten over his recklessness. As such, he and Angeal would be going to find Cloud and Vincent later that day, something the Wutain was thankful for.
After getting cleaned up and dressed, Tseng sighed at his reflection and wondered again how he'd ended up in this state, only to dismiss the mental query a moment later with a shake of his head. Wondering would get him nowhere, especially when he didn't actually want the answers Minerva would give him, not yet. As such, he headed out after checking on Neirine one last time. Since she was doing well, he was sure she'd be all right with Veld and Kariya to check on her. Not long after, he was at the Turks' office, and the other present Turks were giving him grins and waves as he passed them on his way to Veld's office.
At the open door, he paused to watch the man sort through several books and papers which looked like documentation forms, then asked, "What are you doing, Veld?"
"Trying to find a clause to negate the Executives' demands to take a specific Turk anywhere, or to be attended by one in particular," the man replied.
"I'm not sure such a thing exists," Tseng answered. "What happened?"
"Heidegger is demanding that I have you attend him," Veld sighed, and the younger man's eyes widened. "That's obviously not something I want to do now that I know what he's done to you, so I need a way around that. As you said, there doesn't seem to be such a clause."
For a long minute, the Wutain Turk was quiet, but then he stepped closer to the man's desk as he offered, "Maybe it's not that you need to find a rule letting you arbitrarily refuse to turn over a specific Turk, maybe it's that you need to find things which counteract such a demand by their nature. My requirement to work on a long-term and undercover mission would likely fit the terms to negate me from being able to be sent to him, regardless of his demands. Anything like that, or anything else you could find which would become an automatic negation, might be the way to go."
Looking up at Tseng thoughtfully for a moment, Veld gave a nod and said, "We may be able to do that. I have until you get back from Nibelheim to find out if those can be used. The fact that the long-term mission is already in play is something I can use up front if it also lets you refuse up to the point that you leave to actively take up your new identity. Speaking of, you're sure you're good with the name and identity you picked?"
For a moment, Tseng paused, then said softly enough that he knew no one in the outer office would hear him, "I'm already familiar with Haruna Hayashi, the former because I was already using it when I needed a break, and the latter because I had friends with that name in my hometown. I can't try to hide being from that area of Wutai—the general looks of people there are too notable to other Wutains. It's better to just admit it, since it's one less thing to try to explain at a later date."
"I see," the man sighed faintly. "Then, we'll use it. You've assumed Maya will be involved in this?"
"Besides the fact that she'll have to make or tailor my clothes, you mean?" the Wutain replied with a raised brow. "And yes, it has to be her. I can't trust a man that close to Haruna." Veld acknowledged the point with a small nod, so Tseng went on, "But because I don't know anything about the cover you're actually setting up for me or what my specific purpose is, I don't know if she would be involved further."
"We'll discuss that when you get back from Nibelheim, then. Speaking of, I have the data for that so you can take a quick look. I think, since we're sending Commander Hewley with you, it would be viable to also send you into the mountains to both deal with the rise in Mako-poisoned monsters and to check on the Reactor. I expect you'll be away for at least one full day, though I'm assuming it will be closer to two or three. As Donnel is away for the time being, you'll be taking over as the pilot for the two of you."
"All right," Tseng agreed, then hesitated for a moment before deciding to ask anyway. "What happened with Balto, Donnel, and Eonna?"
"We flushed out a base of operations for AVALANCHE, but it cost Balto his life and Donnel isn't fit to travel." Tseng felt a sudden pain in his heart at the loss of one of the Turks he'd known well even before having met him in this past, but had to push it aside as Veld kept talking. "He'll recover, but he and Eonna are stuck in Cosmo Canyon for at least a week while he recovers. The only good thing I can say came of it is that the members who had been in the village have now left, and don't look to be returning anytime soon. Of course, that may just be because of the presence of the two Turks, but I don't think it's that, especially not with the shape they're in," Veld explained as he retrieved a folder for the younger man and offered it to him.
Tseng took it to flip through the data on the Mount Nibel region, cocking a brow at the monster statistics and wondering why nothing was done about it the last time through. Instead, it had been left to fester, the Reactor remaining damaged despite the crew's attempts to fix it. Then he blinked in realization and muttered, "It's deliberate!"
"What's deliberate?" the older man asked, going back to his paperwork.
"The Mount Nibel Reactor was deliberately damaged and left that way on purpose," Tseng replied. At Veld's puzzled frown, he elaborated, "There's a top security lab in the Mount Nibel Reactor, and that lab is solely run by Hojo. There are things he wants to test which can't be accurately tested in a lab for viability in a real world setting, so his way of 'testing' them is to let the lab leak and see what happens."
"...I see," the Director sighed. "Well, we can't do anything other than some clean-up just now, so head out to the office to finish going through that. The Commander should be here soon. If you meet something too difficult for you to handle, which I doubt, don't hesitate to call for backup."
"All right," Tseng agreed, then took the file into the main office and to his desk so he could go through the rest of it. That task didn't take him long, so he debated returning the folder to Veld—only for Angeal to walk into the room.
"Ready to go, then?" Angeal asked curiously.
"As much as I'm likely to be," Tseng agreed with a faint sigh. "Hang on while I return this and collect the data needing to go to Nibelheim. Our task has also been expanded to helping to clear some of the infected monsters."
"Is that why we're now expected to be sometime between one and three days?" the larger man asked in vague amusement.
"Likely," the Wutain Turk agreed, heading back to Veld's office with the mission folder. The man just motioned to the corner of his desk, where there was a locked, metal box and a backpack to put it in. Dropping the folder on the desk, Tseng quickly put the heavy box into the backpack, sealed it, and rejoined Angeal so the two could head out.
Out at the landing pad, while Tseng was doing the pre-flight check, Angeal asked him quietly, "Have you recovered enough to actually go monster hunting?"
"I think so," the Wutain man agreed. "How much of it I'll be able to handle is questionable, but I can do some."
The man fell silent until they were sitting in the pilot's and co-pilot's seats, as the engine was just starting up. "Straight to town, or something else, first?"
"There's a path from Shinra Manor to the Reactor, and I think the Reactor and the monster clearing should be done first. We can make our way through that path, check on Vincent, and head to Cloud's later, regardless of whether or not our ex-Turk is still there. Using the same route to get back will mean we don't leave a trail for someone to follow, and the fewer trails we leave, the better," Tseng explained, finishing at about the time the helicopter was ready to lift off.
Angeal nodded his agreement to the plan, then turned his gaze forward as Tseng directed them to Nibelheim via the fastest route possible, which meant heading to the northern continent, then flying east to the plains north of the Nibel Mountains, then turning south again. It actually shocked the Commander when local time was only a little after noon, and they had just landed outside the Mount Nibel Reactor, which amused Tseng. They spent much of the remaining daylight hours killing monsters, some Mako-infected and some just ornery—like Dragons.
Both realized the monster problem was a lot bigger than they'd originally assumed, so they scheduled the full next day for monster hunting as well. They then retreated to the Reactor, where Tseng led the way to the hidden path and they followed it to the Shinra Manor basement. The Wutain directed Angeal to the hall past the labs to check the room for Vincent while he went to the library hall to put the data he'd been given in the appropriate places. Other than one stack on one of the lab benches, which turned out to be important data—very important data.
"The door's unlocked and no one's there," Angeal reported back soon after. "Though, the middle coffin was blasted to pieces. There weren't any remains of a body or any blood in the room, so I guess no one's hurt."
Tseng raised a brow, but agreed, "Vincent may have had a transformative fit, hence the destroyed coffin. If the door's open, then we'll find him with Cloud, or he'll find us when we retrieve Cloud. About tomorrow..."
"Yes?" Angeal asked, head tipped to the side.
With a faint sigh, he said, "I don't think I can handle another nearly full day of monster hunting on mountain paths just yet, and I have data here I need to find and copy for the other Turks and our allies—like you, Genesis, and Sephiroth. I was thinking I'd join you in the morning, we'd break for lunch, and I'd come here to do that data collecting while you keep hunting until supper. We'd meet up for supper again and do more hunting together afterwards. I think the best time to retrieve Cloud will be early morning the following day before anyone's up."
For a minute, the older man was silent, but then he sighed, "Tseng, reverse the order of that. It's not like any of this stuff here is especially dangerous to someone like me, and rather than stressing yourself with speed-research, take your time. If you really want to help me for the afternoon only, I think that will work, but if you need to stop and rest at any point, please let me know. Earlier, I realized it's not hard to find a lot of things to kill in a very small area of these mountains, so I was able to let you rest without going far. But it would help a lot if you would tell me instead of wearing yourself out nearly to collapse before I notice and pull a tactic like that."
The Wutain actually snorted at the words and said, "Fine, research primarily for me tomorrow. I'll at least try to remember to let you know. I normally don't even notice myself until I'm about ready to collapse. I think that's a throwback from my mind figuring I've got the training to just keep going at it when my physical body is now younger and lacks that training."
"So...You're not deliberately doing it, you just don't expect or realize it's a problem?" Angeal mused thoughtfully, crossing his arms. "I guess that makes sense, and that may be part of how Genesis has worn himself out more than normal, too. I guess the only fix for that is actively training your body back into that shape?"
"It is. I was working on that in those scenarios when I was training Neirine, but less than a week of active training isn't nearly enough time to make up a fourteen year difference in skill and physical adaption," the younger man admitted a bit tiredly, then rose from putting the last file in place. "Let's get some sleep."
Once Tseng had led the way up to the Manor and they'd found rooms to sleep in—which had required some minor housekeeping in the form of fresh bedding—they were able to settle in and sleep.
MB
Cloud and Vincent were both sure they'd heard a helicopter in the mountains the day before, and while that wasn't completely unheard of, it was pretty rare and normally meant someone from Shinra was in the area. To distract himself, Cloud had begun working on a truncated form of First Tsurugi while Vincent took his new gun into the mountains to kill some monsters as a test run. It had worked very well, so the man had dubbed his new gun 'Infinity Chaos', much to Cloud's amusement. That night, Vincent had parked himself at the kitchen table, and both Cloud and his mother slept restlessly.
A knock at the door in the very early hours of the morning was answered by his mother (he must have gotten some sleep if he hadn't heard her get up and go downstairs), and soft voices drifted up to his room. One of those voices, besides Vincent's and his mother's, was familiar, so he rose and dressed quickly, then crept down the stairs, stopping abruptly partway when he realized who was there. He sat down hard to just listen to them as he tried to resolve not seeing Tseng as an enemy.
"Because I have it, too, obviously," Tseng was saying to his mother in a dry tone.
"That's true," Vincent agreed blandly. "You got here sooner than we expected, though."
"How long did you think it would take?" an unfamiliar man's voice asked curiously.
"At least a month," Vincent shrugged. "By then, we'd have had to wait for spring."
"A lot of things apparently fell very neatly into place for both Genesis and Tseng, though," the unknown man replied in amusement. "Your return timing was actually shockingly well chosen, even if it was apparently accidental."
"But you still don't actually have a reason to take Cloud with you, and if I leave here, I'll be as good as dead," Rayne scowled at the two men.
"And as Cloud and I already told you, Mrs. Strife, he was remodeling my gun to give them a reason to retrieve him," Vincent told her, sounding vaguely amused.
"Why would you be dead, though?" the unknown man asked in confusion. Cloud thought maybe he did know him, but he wasn't sure from where. Something about Zack always came to mind when he pondered it, though, so maybe that was one of the memories he still hadn't fully recovered? If it was tied to Zack, the man was probably a SOLDIER; his reference to Genesis, another SOLDIER, also supported that thought. But, because Zack was sleeping just then, it wasn't like he could ask him.
Suddenly, a rather young-looking Tseng sat down quietly beside him and said plainly, "I know you don't like us, and that you don't have any reason to, but I don't have any idea what I could do to prove things will be different this time."
"That would be cheating and giving you the ability to plan a trick," Cloud replied with an annoyed frown. While he knew the other three were still talking, he now had to focus on the man beside him, so lost track of their discussion. Wait, was the stone on Tseng's head red? Wasn't it supposed to be black?
The Wutain sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "And you're always going to assume anything a Turk says or does is a trick, aren't you?"
Cloud was silent for a long time, not sure how to answer, but that seemed to be enough for Tseng to assume the worst, causing pain to cross his gaze.
"...Did you know that the only reason any of the Turks are—sorry, were—still alive after fighting AVALANCHE's first incarnation was because Rufus essentially exchanged our lives for our freedom?" Tseng asked quietly.
"...What?" Cloud asked with a furrowed brow. He'd never heard that before.
"We pretty much assumed we had no choice. And we didn't if we wanted to live. Dignity was less important at that juncture than survival," the Wutain sighed. "It was only after it was too late to take it back that we realized there were worse things than being executed by Shinra Company. Our only saving grace is that Rufus finally grew up and realized we should be treated like people, not like the dirt beneath his boot."
After a pause, Cloud realized there was a lot wrong with the whole statement. "What makes a 'contract' binding, Tseng?" the boy asked quietly.
With a surprised blink, the older man asked, "It's binding because it's something we agreed to do."
"Why is that binding, though?" Cloud asked, watching the Wutain intently. He was actually curious about the response he'd get.
"Because honoring something you agreed to is just that—a question of honor," the Wutain replied, sounding a bit irritated. "Why are you even asking about something which should be obvious?"
Cloud snorted at the reply, and at the question. "If the agreement you're making is actually reasonable, yes, it would be best to 'honor' it. What about a contract which isn't reasonable?" Tseng blinked in obvious confusion, so Cloud elaborated, "One of the things we have to fix is to stop suffering. By default, that means any contract which causes suffering has to be made null and void. Any unreasonable contract causes suffering.
"By all rights, the only one who can actually hold you to any agreement is Minerva, and I really don't see her forcing you to hold to a contract which defines you as a slave in exchange for not being killed. In fact, I'm pretty sure she would prefer you toss that kind of contract in the fire as soon as it's proven the other person won't treat you well. She'd prefer you just walk away from that suffering, and take as many others with you as you can, and screw the contracts. They're just pieces of paper that can burn, or they're empty words. The only way they have power over anyone is if the person chooses to let it have that power."
"It's binding—" Tseng began.
"Where the fuck are your chains, Tseng?" Cloud glared, and silence fell below. A moment later, both Vincent and the unknown man appeared at the foot of the stair. He noticed the Wutain staring at him with wide eyes, his mouth slightly open in shock. "Really, where are the chains forcing you to obey? And why would you even want to obey a contract meant to make you—less than human? Nothing is forcing you to, and if people stopped abiding such things, they'd have no choice but to change. Stop just taking shit you know is wrong! Maybe then you'd realize why I don't trust your kind!"
Tseng's eyes narrowed and he retorted, "Maybe you don't realize this, but breaking a contract, at least one that's written and signed, has legal repercussions, up to and including imprisonment or execution!"
"Sure it does," Cloud agreed. "If you don't have the sense to walk away. And I'm pretty sure Rufus had nothing to hold over you, Tseng—no paper, no signatures. On top of that, any contract you never knew the complete terms to is invalid from the start, and that's even in Shinra's laws, as a company that wants control over people. Those terms they put in 'fine print' and 'legalese' are just a cheap way to try to get around that so they can screw people over. Especially if they won't let you take it home to read at your leisure or take it to a lawyer to go over it with you—then you know there's something there you shouldn't be agreeing to sign. That's assuming there's even an actual document to start with. Carry-over to others isn't a valid term, either.
"In your case, with Rufus, there was nothing to stop you from walking away from him for treating you so badly, or to stop you from refusing to obey orders to commit crimes. You made a choice to do so, and used that 'contract' as an excuse. And again, what will the President do—kill everyone because they all decide a piece of paper isn't worth it anymore and toss it out?" Cloud then paused with an unhappy look and went on, "On second thought, don't answer that—he'd probably repeat the Sector 7 fiasco. Or worse. Which, if you won't stop by ending him, means we've already lost. Prove to me you're not still controlled by a non-existent leash, Tseng, and fuck all those contracts which cause suffering for a change."
"He's got a point," Vincent said, before Tseng could reply. When Tseng turned to him to glare, the older man offered, "Loyalty has limits. Sector 7 was the most terrible kind of proof of that. Contract or not, I couldn't have dropped the Plate, and would have rather died than obey such a term—there was nothing viable or reasonable about that kind of action. What's more honorable? To refuse to obey an order leading to innocent deaths or to abide it?"
Tseng's gaze moved to the larger, unknown man, and Cloud realized they were sharing a discussion of sorts with their eyes, but finally, the Wutain sighed. "We already discussed the need to stop that, or a similar incident, from happening again. I had never thought of any of this in terms of contracts or of tossing them in the trash, but in legal terms, I don't think you can just do that..."
"You can if you destroy the contracts, and guess what—you're a Turk. That means you can go destroy them so no one even has any to worry about if following the terms becomes too hard," Cloud snorted. "But even if you couldn't destroy them, it's ultimately the Turks who keep Shinra in power, so if you chose to turn on him, he'd still be royally screwed and would have no choice but to give up. If his assassins won't obey orders, it's pretty hard for him to kill people. And if some of the SOLDIERs can start enforcing real honor on their peers, they won't obey orders to go on a mass killing spree, either."
"Leaving Deepground," Vincent threw in.
"Deepground is actually about seventy percent dead right now," Tseng admitted quietly, pinching the bridge of his nose. "No, that's not from us having accessed it to retrieve Weiss, that's from them trying to kill Weiss for questioning them like a good General should do and it failing spectacularly. But for all the rest...I need to think for awhile. All of society has been taught to abide by contracts, so to be told to just toss them aside is...mind-boggling. On several levels." He paused and motioned down the stairs as he said, "Cloud, meet Commander Angeal Hewley. Angeal, meet Cloud Strife. What about your gun, Vincent?"
"Cloud made it shoot three different bullets for me—literally of three different types, not just three of one type. He's the type of person who could actually specialize in Turk weapons and probably make them work, even with 'impossible' specs. There used to be a category of Turk which was solely for staff who didn't go out on missions, but took care of our other needs. We can remind Shinra of that," Vincent explained.
Tseng's lips quirked in a faint smile, and Cloud suddenly felt like he'd walked into a trap planned by 'Turk Vincent' and Tseng. "That will do nicely," the Wutain agreed. "So, are you ready to go, Cloud? We'd like to be safely inside the Manor before daybreak."
With a pouting sigh—he knew he had to go with them, regardless of trust—Cloud agreed, "Yeah, I just have a few more things to pack. If the hit on my mother is removed, could we arrange for her to join us in spring?"
"That we can do," Tseng agreed, rising. "We'll wait for you downstairs."
Cloud returned to his room and packed up the last things he needed into his bag, hoping this was really the path he needed to take. That it was based on engineering helped, as it meant any fighting he would do would be his choice, but there were still so many questions and so many things to worry about. Shinra Company...It was like walking into the Dragon's den, and no one escaped unscathed. He'd already learned that one very well in the past. Future?
And this time...who knew?