Tseng XXXVI: Debriefing
Tseng traveled by helicopter shuttle to find the Turks' headquarters all but deserted. Chief Veld was on the phone giving orders and collecting information when Tseng stopped by to report in and let him know that he was back on his feet. He raised his hand in greeting when Tseng put his head through the door, and Tseng nodded and withdrew, not wanting to disturb the chief during such a critical time. He made his way to his office, where his phone was already ringing when he opened the door. Knowing fully well that it was probably Rufus on the phone, he stepped around his desk without rush and sat down before picking up the receiver. He was feeling better, but would rather not overexert himself and preferred to sit down. "Good afternoon, Mr. Vice President", he spoke into the phone as calmly as he could, although his heart was beating quicky at the anticipation of hearing Rufus' voice. "How are you?", came the response from his master. "Better", Tseng reassured him. "Would you like a coffee?" – "Always", Rufus replied and Tseng hung up to make coffee.
When Tseng entered the secret room where Rufus was kept in captivity, he was sitting on the couch in a rather unusual outfit consisting of a tight, white sweater that reached down to his mid-thighs and simple loose white pants. He smiled at Tseng as he approached and set down the tray with the steaming mugs. The Turk looked up inquisitively (and not at all to get a better look) and mused: "You seem to be in a good mood, sir." Rufus reached for his coffee. "It pleases me to find you back among the living." Watching him sip coffee, Tseng explained: "I had two blood transfusions and a bunch of medical checkups in the morning. I think I'll be back to normal in another day or so." After a short pause, he added carefully: "Though I would love to know how come I'm still alive." Rufus put down his mug and reached out his hand toward Tseng. "Come sit with me." The Turk hesitated. "Are you going to force yourself on me again?" Rufus chuckled. "Do you want me to?"
Tseng's mouth twitched, but said nothing as he stepped around the coffee table to take a seat next to the Vice President. "I don't know what that means", Rufus pointed out, resting his arm on the back of the couch behind Tseng. Not knowing himself what he wanted, he answered evasively: "Maybe not today." Sipping more coffee, Rufus sighed in response: "Just let me know when you change your mind." He turned his head to face Tseng and revealed out of the blue: "It was Reeve." Confused as to what Tuesti had to do with whatever was going on between them, Tseng asked: "Reeve Tuesti, sir?" Rufus nodded. "He's the one who healed you and helped me get out of there. We found him, or rather, he found us", he added. "He got away on his own, but then came back when he heard the shooting." He looked at Tseng directly. "That guy's got a real knack for magic. You should ask him if you ever need help in that respect."
Tseng stared in disbelief at Rufus after these revelations. Not only had Tuesti suspiciously gotten away from Avalanche all by himself, now he was good at using materia all of a sudden? Tseng had never heard anything about Tuesti being skilled at fighting, stealth, speed, or magic. Although a high aptitude for magic had a tendency to correlate with high intelligence, reaching a sufficient skill level in it also required months or years of training. Training he was unaware of Tuesti having undergone ever in his life. He sighed and said cynically: "I should thank him, then." Rufus nodded and continued, putting his arm around Tseng's shoulder: "It gets wilder. He's the one who summoned Shiva." Tseng stared at him. Supposedly, only very skilled magic users, such as SOLDIER members or those qualified to enter SOLDIER, which means rare and unusual talents, were able to summon espers. Not an office worker like Tuesti. And where would he have gotten the materia in the first place? "I know! Isn't it interesting?", Rufus exclaimed at Tseng's disbelief, but Tseng was not fully inclined to agree that 'interesting' was quite the appropriate description. "Suspicious" was a more fitting description.
"Anything else I should know, sir?", he inquired, feeling sour at the realization that Tuesti had apparently outperformed him in what was supposed to be his job – keeping the vice president away from harm. Though, in a way, it was Tuesti's fault to begin with that they were separated from Zack and Sephiroth. "I hope that there will be some consequences for Sephiroth?", Rufus changed the topic. Staring at his hands, Tseng responded weakly: "It's not his fault that this happened." Rufus rolled his eyes. "He was supposed to guard Reeve, which he did not do. Reeve leaving by himself was a terrible misjudgment, but one that he made because Sephiroth was too preoccupied with his personal issues to do his job. But –" He moved a little closer to Tseng. "The truth of the matter is that, if Reeve hadn't shown up when he did, I would not have known what to do and you would most likely not be sitting here right now. Or I, for that matter." Tseng tried to interject, but Rufus continued without wavering: "It would have been in Sephiroth's power to keep all of that from happening and it was his negligence that made it all possible."
Tseng finally managed to get out what he wanted to say: "He's been through a lot lately. He needs more time to get back to his normal form. He's already making progress and –" Before he could finish, Rufus interrupted him: "Tseng, let me be really frank: nothing good will come from you enabling him. Next time, you might not be so lucky to be saved by a stroke of luck. Do you want to take responsibility for whatever happens whenever he messes up? You can't always jump into the line of fire." Knowing fully well that he was right on a rational level, Tseng buried his face in his hands. But despite everything, he still wanted to protect Sephiroth as well as he could. Rufus gently rubbed his shoulder and concluded with a softer tone: "I just don't want to see you getting hurt. He needs to be held accountable in some way."
It was at this time that I thought I finally understood why I had not only been with Zack this whole time, but Tseng as well. I had no close relationship with him in life. I did not even know him that well or like him that much. But seeing him that desperately trying to defend my beloved against his master, whom he usually tried to please as much as possible made me think that perhaps this Turk was a key to bringing back some happiness to Sephiroth. Perhaps I should have tried much harder in life to understand their relationship, but it never occurred to me as anything suspicious or unusual. Sephiroth did not like a great many people, and him openly disliking someone like Tseng, who was loyal to the company to a fault, only fit his character. I never questioned it. Even Tseng knowing things about Sephiroth that no one else did would not raise my suspicion because Tseng, being the vice chief of the Investigative Department, was supposed to know everything. But he seemed to understand Sephiroth on a personal level far beyond what he could have taken from reports, and he cared far more than was appropriate for someone in his position.
I almost felt sorry for him, seeing him being torn apart between his job and whatever it was that connected him with my love. But I also wondered if there was any way he could be of help, if only there was any way to let him know what Sephiroth needed. They were quiet for a minute as Rufus sipped his coffee and Tseng was collecting his thoughts. He finally raised his voice again to state: "Well, that's up to President Shinra anyway." Rufus nodded, clicking his tongue. "Then I guess nothing will happen whatsoever with how much my old man worships that guy." Shaking his head, Tseng shot back: "Is this what it's about, sir?" Rufus stared at him and then cleared his throat. "Anyway, what happened to his eyes? They weren't always like this, were they?" Finally reaching for his own mug that was already halfway cold, Tseng guessed: "I think Hojo did something to him just a few days ago. He's been completely out of it since then."
"Speaking of Hojo…" Rufus reached for his tablet lying on the table with his free hand and tapped on it a few times. He put it down on Tseng's lap and, pointed at the device, and asked: "Care to explain that?" Tseng picked up the tablet, which displayed a classified file, the top line of which read: "Hojo Kimiko, code Aurum". He shrugged dismissively. "I think this isn't commonly known, but it's not a secret that Hojo was originally from an influential Wutaian clan. He was cut off from his family when the war started because he refused to leave the company and rejoin the Wutaian side. If our intel is correct, she's his niece." Hojo Kimiko. She was another interesting figure in Sephiroth's life. From the way they talked, or rather, yelled at each other whenever they crossed blades on the battlefield, I could tell that they had been acquainted for a long time. Sephiroth never said much, but knowing that he spent some time in Wutai growing up made it relatively easy to guess how they came to know each other.
Rufus took back the device and scrolled down. "There's nothing in here about her relationship with Sephiroth. What do they have to do with each other?" Tseng sipped his coffee and said: "This happened before I joined the company, so aside from what's in the files, I can only tell you the hearsay. Well, including from Sephiroth himself. I guess perhaps you should be filled in, but please keep this to yourself because it's obviously classified" Rufus put down the tablet and nodded, and Tseng continued: "When Sephiroth originally started his combat training, it seems they realized that there was no sword master in Midgar competent enough to actually train him. I heard it was Professor Gast's suggestion to send him to Wutai for training."
Rufus raised his eyebrows and retorted: "That's wild." Tseng shook his head and continued: "Not that much. Shinra and Wutai used to be on the same page about a lot of things. How do you think Hojo got his position? And how do you think Fuhito is able to turn our own SOLDIERS into mindless drones that rival the strength of our own class 1st?" Fuhito, one of the leading figures of Avalanche, was well-known to Rufus. He was a scientist who produced SOLDIER-like warriors and other monsters for Avalanche, just as Hojo did for Shinra. And Fuhito likely had learned whatever he knew in Wutai, who possessed their own share of know-how on bio-engineering, although they mostly used it to produce a variety of supernatural creatures to fight their wars for them. "Although Hojo was originally against it, he still made arrangements to allow Sephiroth to stay with his own family. To keep tabs on him, most likely." Rufus scratched his head. "That's a really unexpected revelation." Tseng shrugged again. "There really is no juicy story here, sir. Sephiroth was forced to come back just before the war started. I heard he didn't want to leave Wutai at first, but now I don't think there's any risk of him defecting or anything. The Wutaians hate him, his boyfriend and best friend are both gone. He has nowhere to go." Hearing this, I was certain that he must be wrong. Aside from that one younger friend that we shared, I wondered what Tseng would say if he knew that Sephiroth still had Hojo Kimiko's number saved in his phone. I had no idea why he had it, or why he sometimes sat forlorn in our living room, his thumb hovering over her entry in his contact list as if he was debating with himself whether to call her, but never quite making up his mind to do it. And just the day before, she had gone out of her way to see him off in Wutai. Perhaps Sephiroth was not as alone as everyone believed him to be.
Rufus clicked his tongue again. "Bird in a cage. Just like me." Tseng looked at him again to find a sarcastic expression on his face. "I think I'm beginning to understand him a little better." Tseng shook his head, but refrained from commenting that their situations were in no way comparable. "Anyway", Rufus changed the topic again. "Aren't you off-duty today?" – "Ah, well", Tseng stammered. "I wanted to start putting together the report about our mission to Wutai. I won't have time to write it in the coming days, I think, with Lazard on the run." Rufus looked skeptical, and Tseng rushed to add: "And to check how you're doing." Rufus shook his head. "You must be really bored to sacrifice a day off to write a report." Tseng scratched his head, but then chose to be honest about it: "I don't really know what to do when I'm off duty, so I might as well be productive." Rufus pulled him closer in response and leaned his own head against Tseng's. "You know, I wouldn't mind it if you came to visit me more often. When you're bored, I mean." Tseng savored the moment for a little bit, but wondered why it was that his resolve not to get involved with his boss that was once so strong grew weaker and weaker every time he was actually in Rufus Shinra's presence. And at this point, he was not even completely opposed anymore to the idea of stopping by more often. Of course, he had not forgotten what Rufus had done, quite in contrast to what Reno believed. But Tseng did not think that what Rufus had done was necessarily worse than whatever else that was happening in this company, even considering that he had put the Turks in grave danger.
As he wound himself out of Rufus' embrace and stood up, the latter was quick to say: "Sorry!" with a disappointed look on his face. But Tseng, shaking his head, reassured him: "Don't be, sir. I'm just going to get my laptop. I'll be back in a minute."