Once More, With Feeling... – Chapter 41: Assessments and Assignments
Summary: A certain Vice President does some poking around…
Author: Illusor Meaneld
Rated T: for Descriptive violence and injuries, No Adult Situations, No Cussing.
Disclaimer: I did not create, and do not own the characters from Final Fantasy 7, They are owned by Square-Enix, and I am simply borrowing them for my own (and hopefully your) enjoyment.
Cori had been working as the Secretary in the Turk Offices for more than a year now. She'd originally had dreams of being a full Turk, only to discover in the field that she couldn't handle the pressure. The offices were still stressful, busy as the Turks always were, and being partially privy to snatches of top-secret information she was under intense scrutiny, but it was a different kind of pressure to her, and this kind, she was good at.
Good at or not, however… today was looking to be one of 'those' days. It started out with Acquisitions. Several shipments labeled for delivery to the Science Department were misplaced, and there were an increasingly large number of backed up 'requests' for supplies that were either improperly submitted or generally confusing. And of course, whenever things went this wrong, someone high up decided the Turks should deal with it.
Cori was getting very tired of politely speaking to the Science Department head.
As if that headache weren't enough, the Weapons Department had decided that they needed to get their hands on some rather shady materials. Which of course the Turks were also supposed to look into. Since Acquisitions was too public for that kind of transaction.
And if that weren't enough, she had to file and label massive amounts of paperwork due to several 'top-secret' disruptions recently. All in all, if she hadn't been quite so good at her job, she would have been quite visibly vexed by the arrival of that particularly noisy boy from the SOLDIER Department. If they had a problem too, well she thought she just might have to ask Tseng for some Shinra paid de-stressing ice-cream. Though she would have to wait to ask him until he came back from escorting the two youngest Turks to the Communications department…
"Good Afternoon, welcome to the Research and Development offices, what can I help you with today?"
"Hey Cori! How'sit going?" the young man, Zack, she placed his name after a moment, smiled winsomely at her. She brought up her mental file on him even as she smiled back.
SOLDIER Prodigy, trainee of Lieutenant Angeal Hewely, immature, incorrigible flirt, friend of Turk Intern Cloud Strife, rival-turning-friend with rookie Turk Reno, prone to rash decisions, exceedingly fond of squats, and apparently developing a crush on every kind-faced female over the age of 15.
"Everything is going nice and smooth, what can I do for you SOLDIER Zackary Fair?"
The youth's shoulders drooped as she deflected his flirtation again. "Awww… Come on Cori, don't be like that, and just call me Zack yeah? My mom always called me 'Zackary'."
All the more reason to continue, Cori thought, "Was there something in particular you needed?"
"Actually, yeah I do, … um, I heard my friend Cloud already got out of the infirmary and everything, and I was hoping to find him. Is he here?"
"Cloud and Reno, left just a few moments ago, heading for the Communications Department with Tseng, I'm sure you can catch up with him there." This said, Cori turned back to her computer, adjusting the glasses on her nose, after all the mess with Acquisitions wasn't going to sort itself! If only, she mused wistfully for a moment.
"All right, thanks! I'll catch you later Cori, don't work too hard!"
With that the young teenager rushed out, as noisily as he'd rushed in. what was it with boys that age and noise? Reno was equally disruptive, though… come to think of it, that Intern Cloud was nice and quiet. … why couldn't the rest of them be more like him? He had a much better attitude in her opinion; she wouldn't mind a few more 'Cloud Strifes' as Turks.
It was relatively calm for the next 12 minutes, the quiet in the office punctuated only by the hum of the air conditioners, and the clack of her fingers on the keyboard. She almost sighed when the office door opened again, but she stiffened in her seat when she looked up and found the Vice President standing before her.
"Vice-President Shinra, sir! What can I do for you?"
Good evening Miss Stone." The young blond nodded calmly, "I'm looking for Tseng, where might I find him?"
"Tseng left about 20 minutes ago to the Communications Department Sir. would you like me to take a message for you?" her hand immediately grabbed a stack of notes and a pen in preparation.
"No thank you, Miss Stone, what are the chances he still is in Communications?"
"I don't have any other meetings scheduled for him yet sir. It's possible he would still be there."
"Thank you, Miss Stone." And with that, the young man turned and left. Cori stared after him for a few seconds, before turning back to her work with a sigh, making a quick memo to Tseng noting the time of the Vice President's visit, in case he didn't catch the Turk himself.
27 minutes after that Tseng returned to the office, taking her note and confirming that he had not yet encountered Vice President Rufus. He briskly informed her to alert him should Rufus Shinra return, and then proceeded to task her with an inquiry as to the replacement phone order he had placed several days prior. Adding that to her ever-growing list of tasks, Cori internally sighed again,
Yep… it was definitely one of those days.
She settled down to fill out a request form for her ice-cream.
Rufus Shinra loved a good mystery, he liked it better if he could figure it out behind his father's back. The President was quite fond of shoving potentially damaging secrets under the rug, whether metaphorically, or literally. And not to say that Old Man Shinra did a particularly BAD job of running the company, but Rufus had a few ideas about improvements, and, … more than that, liked to be more 'in-the-know' despite his Sire's efforts.
In this hobby, Rufus had one particularly stalwart accomplice.
Unlike his superior, Veld, … Tseng had a firm grasp on his 'Shinra' loyalty, and knew when to keep his mouth shut during reports. Furthermore, he seemed to see Rufus as an extension of the Presidency, in a way that Veld likely wouldn't until the 'Old Man' stepped down or died … if the current Turk Head lasted that long. But those musings aside, Rufus had managed to sink his teeth into a particularly juicy tidbit of information, one that he savored more than the sweets he used to sneak during parties as a child, one that he couldn't wait to discuss with his personal Turk.
Tseng, when not in meetings, which Rufus had reason to know were not scheduled today, could often be found in or around the Turk offices. As he had discovered was the case after a brief conversation with the secretary in charge. His short investigation led to his current position, paused as he was outside the Communications Department Mrs. Stone had reported as Tseng's initial destination. The Turk in question was not in sight, but Rufus was momentarily arrested by the unusual noise and activity within the habitually sober office. A few moments of assessment noted a handful of teenagers rough-housing on one side of the room near one of the counters. While teenagers were not, in and of themselves, unusual, classes were currently in session. And if that were not enough reason to pique his curiosity, the young men in question were notable if only for their varying attire. One Turk, a red-head Rufus thought he vaguely recognized, A SOLDIER, with the trappings of a Second-Class, and a SOLDIER Prep. cadet. An extremely unlikely group of acquaintance, and yet, despite the odds they seemed to behave in a familiar and friendly manner. The cadet, notably the smallest individual, with blond hair only a few shades darker than Rufus own, was vocally trying to reclaim his 'phone call'. His voice high-pitched in a way that told the Vice President he'd yet to hit puberty. Were they really accepting applicants so young? The boy looked no older than 12, and skinny to boot
Putting the question aside for the moment, Rufus quietly caught the eye of the Communications Clerk, the older employee had been watching over the youthful altercation with one eye and a twisted half-smile, but quickly met Rufus' gaze respectfully at the Vice President's motion. Once assured of his attention, the young Shinra raised one eyebrow and silently mouthed Tseng's name over the ruckus. The Clerk, long familiar with subtle behavior nodded towards the door behind Rufus, and jerked his thumb to indicate the hallway beyond. Rufus dipped his own head once more in acknowledgement and left with the rowdy teenagers none the wiser.
As he wandered further down the hallway, Rufus took a moment to glance in the rooms he passed by via the small viewing windows adjacent to the doors of the meeting rooms. As he'd rather expected, he did not spot the Turk in any of those rooms, most Turks disliked the 'meeting rooms' on principle. It would have been more convenient though, those rooms which lacked viewing windows, disused offices and the like, he would have to open the doors and 'peek' inside, an action which often came across undignified.
Rufus had poked his head into about 5 different offices before he once again found himself hesitating in fascination despite himself. The most recent office was occupied, three men sat huddled around a desk with a silver laptop on it, listening closely to the voices emanating from it. The room's occupants jolted in rather amusingly guilty looking alarm at the Vice President's entry. There was a slow pause while the three 1st Class SOLDIERs regarded the blond in the doorway, and he regarded them in turn. It was in those several tense seconds that Rufus Shinra realized that the 'noise' coming from the laptop was familiar, and in fact he had heard very similar noises just moments earlier… in the Communications Department. He felt a brief but silent shock, as his mind fed him the conclusion,… why were Shinra's Highest ranking SOLDIERs listening in on the phone conversation of a Cadet? Rufus had no more time to analyze the eavesdropped telephone dialogue, as Sephiroth recovered his poise and firmly closed the laptop lid, turning to fully face the young Vice President.
"Mr. Shinra, what can I do for you?" came the smooth baritone, so calm and precise there was no hint he'd been the slightest bit discombobulated by Rufus' arrival. As if following their superior officer's cue, the two Lieutenants straightened in their chairs and turned their full attention on the blond interloper as well.
"Good Afternoon, Sephiroth, call me, Rufus please. Mr. Shinra is my father, as of yet. In fact, I'm looking for Tseng, I was informed he'd headed this direction, have you seen him by chance?" He plastered a pleasant smile on his face, one look at the equally meaningless smile on the General and Rufus had discarded any idea of asking after their unusual behavior. His mind noted it though, filing it with the other recent incidents of note, as something to deal with later.
"Actually I have seen Tseng, he stopped by to pass on a memo, and then briefed me that he would be in his offices if there were further questions. I imagine you can find him there."
"I appreciate your cooperation on the matter, General, enjoy your afternoon." With a nod he quietly retreated, closing the door behind him.
Rufus mind swiftly sorted information as he walked, so familiar with the hallways of his father's building that his feet guided him with only the slightest conscious input. He catalogued now the faces of the cadets he'd seen terrorized by the SOLDIERs, not one of them matched the cadet whose phone call those same SOLDIERs were eavesdropping on. The small blond boy had been in the company of a Turk, the vibrant red-head Rufus was fairly certain was Veld's newest. Didn't he have a partner now? Some Intern? … a few more mental files and Rufus remembered some paperwork about a Turk Intern not from the Special Ops. Program, … perhaps the blond cadet then.
Rufus carefully filed his observations away again as he reached the Turk offices once more. He had barely stepped inside before the particularly efficient secretary, Miss. Stone, had quietly informed Tseng of his arrival by intercom. It was mere moments before the Turk Second in Command stepped out smoothly, gazing in silent inquiry at the young Vice President.
"Have you a moment to offer an opinion for me, Tseng?" Rufus asked simply, the Turk's left eye flickered the slightest bit, silent acknowledgement of Rufus' code.
"I could find time for you Vice President." Tseng turned one shoulder as if in preparation to turn around. "Shall we convene in my office?"
Those two statements to Rufus meant the Turk had no pressing engagements, and his office had been swept for bugs already today. A simple nod from the Vice President, and the two of them proceeded into the room indicated. Rufus waited a moment for Tseng to close and secure the door behind them, before preceding him to one of the two equally distant placed chairs in front of the desk. It was quiet for several moments after they both sat down. Rufus, mentally shuffling his notes, and Tseng… doing whatever it was he did in silent contemplation.
"What opinion did you require Rufus?"
"How aware are you, Tseng, of the depths of the Science Departments current… issues?"
"… Deeply." Was the curt, quiet answer, which meant he was investigating and cleared for the information.
"And the Weapons Development Department issues?" Rufus continued his prompting.
"Vaguely."
Rufus' lips twitched in a faint smirk, "They might be related." He added, the Vice President was quite used to Tseng's small movements and non-committal answers, therefore he was quite surprised with the dark-haired Turk turned his head to stare at him intently.
"Related?" He inquired with a slight cocking of his head that told Rufus he now possessed the man's full attention. After a moment of surprised hesitation, the blond continued.
"According to my personal records, the Science Department was invaded, a specimen stolen, and a computer virus uploaded to the system." Tseng nodded, acknowledging the truth of Rufus' acquired information. "Two nights ago, the Weapons Development Department was also invaded, and despite Scarlet's denials, Dangerous and experimental weaponry was stolen. Both Departments computers were accessed despite extensive security encryption and intrusion counter-measures, though the hack on the Weapons Department computers appeared to be clumsier, or at least more rushed."
"I had not been briefed on the second raid, Vice President. Shall I view this as an assignment?"
Rufus' smirk widened, "You may, though I suggest caution. The reports I've seen are incomplete, or were, perhaps, tampered with."
"And what prerogative if I locate the responsible party?"
"I want the hacker alive." The young Shinra stated firmly, well aware of the shark's grin spreading on his face. "Someone that talented should be quite… valuable."
"I'll serve to the best of my ability, sir." Tseng dipped his head, "Was there anything further you wished to discuss?"
"No thank you, Tseng. Do keep me updated." Rufus stood then, adjusting his coat around him, pausing a moment after he'd sufficiently straightened his attire. "Tseng, one more opinion, …"
"Sir?" the dark haired man stood as well,
"I have noticed continuing unusual behavior from the General and his Lieutenants, worrying behavior perhaps." Tseng seemed held silent, considering for several long seconds before his dark eyes met Rufus' own.
"As you are aware, sir, the current state of affairs with Wutai are potentially volatile, the President's orders were to have the high rank SOLDIERs on stand-by. It is likely, with their limited recourses, they have taken to keeping themselves occupied in unusual ways."
"Hmmm, Boredom is quite a plausible theory." Rufus pondered, "It would be best to keep up moral in the likely event of a continuation of the war. I shall have it looked into Tseng, your observations are invaluable as always."
Tseng nodded in acknowledgment of the compliment, and Rufus turned and strode from the room, letting himself out with a practiced hand. As he walked towards the elevators, he sorted his thoughts once more, That was the second time Tseng had offered a vague theory regarding the SOLDIERs, and though Rufus had not specified the more recent 'witnessed behaviour' he knew that Tseng must have witnessed some of it himself. Rufus' thoughts drifted back further, the Turk Secretary, Mrs. Stone, had initially directed Rufus to the Communications Department in his search for Tseng, there he encountered the teenagers with their phone call. Not one of the three boys present should have had clearance for said call. Which meant Tseng must have set it up. Such was not uncommon of course, it was considered an 'under the counter' perk for the Turks. And then there were the Ranking SOLDIERs themselves, they mentioned speaking to Tseng, Was he protecting the SOLDIERs? And if so, from what? For what reason? Rufus could not divine it, if the Turk WAS protecting them, Rufus was sure Tseng had sufficient reason to explain even his omittances when speaking to his Vice President. Rufus would still remember though, when the time came that such information would no doubt prove important.
Regardless of Tseng's behavior, Rufus had to take his theory as relatively sound. Bored Military of any kind was still a rather serious Morale problem, one it was best to handle quickly. The blond took a few moments shuffling through names and resources as he considered how best to address the dilemma of poorly occupied SOLDIERs. Whomever he assigned to the task would require confidence, ingenuity and patience … someone who could address the lack subtly, without offending the prickly pride of the higher ranked. A slow smile spread across Rufus' face as he thought. The General and his Lieutenants weren't the only individuals within Shinra who seemed not to have enough to occupy them, he knew just whom to visit.
He had not often visited the floor in question, but never-the-less the Vice President was well aware of where his chosen quarry lurked. This was the smallest of the five core Departments, downsized as it continually had been over the years, it no longer even took up the entire floor. Rufus allowed his feet to lead him to the largest office, comfortably decorated despite the diminishing company status of its owner.
"Good Afternoon, Mr. Tuesti." Rufus greeted congenially as he stepped through the office doors. Brown eyes darted up at his entrance, and the Head of the Urban Development Department cleared his throat in surprise.
"Vice President, sir! What an unexpected pleasure, what can I do for you?" The surprise dissipated quickly, a smile darting across the older man's face instead.
"You are an intelligent, and observant man, Mr. Tuesti, and I've noticed how you conduct yourself in meetings, I have a small, pet-project for you, … if you are amenable?"
Reeve Tuesti blinked once, his smile never fading. "Of course, Vice President, what do you wish me to do?"
"It has come to my attention, that Shinra's Ranking SOLDIERs seem to be lacking proper diversions under the current climates, and I would like to see if some better accommodations could be arranged for them." Rufus paused for a moment, "How familiar are you, Mr. Tuesti, with the current peace negotiations with Wutai?"
Reeve hesitated, his brow furrowing in thought before he replied, "As far as I understand, the president has several diplomats in Wutai conducting the negotiations, I hear that Lord Godo and Lady Kisaragi are less cooperative than desirable. I've also heard that it's likely the attempts at treaties will cease any moment and we'll once again devolve into War. Due to the tense atmosphere, the President put down orders for all the 1st Class SOLDIERs to remain on standby, and to participate in minimal mission assignments if any. … Was there something more, Vice President?"
Rufus was hard-pressed to resist a grin, he'd definitely chosen well with Tuesti. "That is an accurate sum of it, Mr. Tuesti, my assignment for you is to research those individuals on 'standby', I would prefer if you can tailor engaging and stimulating activities for them individually."
"So, you would like for me to find them entertainment?" Reeve clarified carefully.
"I would like to task you to subtly occupy their time. Entertain them, or find appropriate entertainment for them within the strictures of their current orders from the Presidency. It is possible, that those men particularly accustomed to freedom and action, might turn their more highly tuned impulses on less desirable subjects. I need you to find them acceptable ones. With the highest ranking officers engaged in such activities, the morale of the entire Department will be easier to maintain, and with such an important and pressing political climate, morale is key, particularly concerning the General and his Lieutenants. They are the face of SOLDIER after all."
Finally the spark lit in the Department Head's eyes, "Of course, Vice President. I will precede with this project immediately, sir."
Rufus dipped his head, and allowed a narrow smile at Reeve before he turned and made his way back to the elevators again. The Head of Urban Development was more subtle than most in the company gave him credit for, and more clever than even he would willingly admit. Rufus would enjoy seeing the results of his labor, and enjoy more, hiding this secret under his father's nose.
((Author's Note: I actually wrote this chapter along side Chapter 40, but in an effort to give you a bit more consistence in the updates, I saved it. ^_^
Now I've actually addressed this particular Frequently Reviewed Concern before, but it just doesn't seem to stick for some reason. I've had a lot of people express concern about whether or not my fanfiction is 'discontinued' when I haven't updated for a while. Well the answer is 'Absolutely not!' I've been a bit busier in recent years, with various events and stresses, but I certainly have not run out of interest for the Final Fantasy Fandom, nor am I likely to, I also have a WHOLE lot more story plots written down than I've even scratched at. I'm not even halfway through the main plot twists I've come up with so far, so just be patient and we'll get there! It may not seem like it sometimes, but things are spiraling up to a mini-climax rapidly here, I'm just trying to put all the steps in the correct order! Which I have to admit, I'm having a real blast doing! :D
On another note, I do get the occasional inquiry as to when 'Rude' will show up… I have to admit this causes all sorts of bafflement for me. … Rude has ALREADY shown up! Most prominently in Chapter 31, "False Witness". I don't know if this particular scene was forgotten or something, but there ya go. Rude has been here, and will be here again. So… um… no worries?
-Jianre M. A.K.A … Illusor Meaneld.))