"Do you need anything?", Tseng typed into his phone as he walked out of Honeybee Inn, and sent the message to Zack. He needed to check on Sephiroth as well, but Sephiroth usually ignored his messages unless they were directly related to his missions or things he personally deemed important. So he needed to stop by in person.
There was still time, so he would stop by at the Turks' HQ to check in with the Vice President first. The bouncer gave him a curt nod as Tseng walked past him, but Tseng ignored him. Although he was a semi-regular customer at this den of vice, he had no intention of getting friendly with any of the people working there. The owner was an ally of the company, but one worthy of trust. He had his own share of shady business that Shinra was tolerating to a certain degree, but there was no telling how long this business relationship would remain mutually beneficial. He would rather not create an unnecessary conflict of interest in the first place that might get in his way in the future.
That equally applied to the host he usually visited. They understood his physical needs, but their relationship was strictly professional. But there was no person in the world that could (or would) give him what he desired on a personal level. He was walking past the electronics store when his phone beeped. He was still holding it when the message arrived, so he looked at it immediately.
The response from Zack had come sooner than he expected. Was he getting better already? "I need you to leave Aerith alone", the message said. Heat rose into Tseng's ears. "I'm just following orders", Tseng typed in by reflex and closed with "I'll check up on you later". He quickly sent the message and then realized that Zack's request seemed really strange given the situation. Was he not still preoccupied with Angeal? Why was he confronting him about Aerith now?
He began to suspect that Aerith must have overdone it and then perhaps spilled that Tseng had asked her to distract Zack a little, but he did not blame her for it. Zack could appear like a klutz at times, but he was pretty smart in his own way. Tseng had not realized that Zack would be so bothered about him talking to Aerith, considering that Zack had known for some time that she was under constant observation by the Turks. Suddenly he was bothered by it? Did Aerith tell him anything? He smiled wryly. So even Zack realized it. "It's strictly professional", he typed another message to explain that whatever he may be thinking was untrue. Tseng knew that he was an open book to Aerith, but Zack was not supposed to know of these things. But he was factually incorrect in suspecting that there was anything inappropriate going on, or so he tried to convince himself, not realizing that his thoughts going that way in the first place was in itself an admission of guilt as charged. Even Zack would realize that once he read the message, as any sane adult would. It may have been true that he never talked to Aerith unless he absolutely had to, but that did mean he did not do other things. He had his reasons not to talk to her, but he could not possibly tell her boyfriend. He did not want to betray too much of what was going on inside him, so he started typing: "I just thought it would be good for you to talk to her." Was that too nice? He added: "The company needs you back on track ASAP". Zack had not replied in the meantime, so he hit "send" and then called a helicopter to pick him up at Sector 7 and take him back to the Turks' HQ.
He was dropped off at the Helipad and entered Turks' HQ. He walked past security and checked into the electronic system by swiping his card over the reader. This would notify Chief Veldt that he was on site. The Turks' movements were continuously monitored and logged through their cellphones, ID cards and key cards. This was for safety purposes but was also used to observe the Turks in order to catch possible signs of disloyalty as early as possible. Despite acting on his own behalf at times, there was no need to worry about being questioned about his activities, but there was no doubt that someone who cared enough could easily figure out that he had been to Honeybee Manor. The extensive Shinra surveillance systems were the one of the backbones of not only the Turks' work, but of the whole Midgar security structure. Tseng was well aware that his location was tracked all day every day, and that there were security cameras pretty much everywhere, at least on top of the plate.
He walked on through the well-lit hallway into the Turks' waiting room where two large leather couches were facing each other over a long coffee table. Rude was seated on one side, his eyes covered by his usual dark shades, and Reno laid on the other side, his arms crossed behind his neck, looking more annoyed than usual. Tseng gave a curt greeting and walked past the seating area. Reno called after him: "Did you have fun?" Tseng jumped and blushed over both ears upon hearing this. He stomped on toward his office without saying anything.
He slammed the door shut and rested his palms on the desk, exhaling audibly. Reno would just never stop teasing him. Tseng was unsure if the red head was unaware that he himself was an open book with an unsavory story written into it. Or perhaps he did not care. Everyone knew fully well that the reason for his permanent nasty mood was that Rude was not into men. But neither of them would agree to switch partners to put a slightly healthier distance between them either.
At least Tseng had enough self-awareness to not accept missions involving Aerith anymore. He straightened himself and walked around the desk to sit down. As soon as he was seated, the phone rang. He picked up and asked: "What is it?" A soft voice inquired: "Do you have time for coffee?" Tseng paused for a second and then hung up. He walked over to the coffee maker and grabbed two mugs, a larger and a smaller one. He put the smaller cup under the nozzle and pushed the button for a strong brew. He filled the larger cup with cappuchino and put the two mugs on a small tray and walked over to the side wall. He pushed a few buttons on a panel and the wall moved aside to reveal a hidden reinforced door. He activated the iris scanner and entered the short passage behind the door. After the door closed, he used the code word "Leviathan" to unlock the second door.
He stepped into the room where Rufus Shinra was sprawled over a leather couch similar to the ones in the sitting room, but smaller. "You're late!", the Vice President called when Tseng entered and rolled his eyes. Tseng set the tray on the coffee table, grabbed his coffee mug and sat down on the leather armchair placed diagonally from the couch. "I had business to attend to, sir", he replied curtly. Rufus swung his long legs off the couch and sat up to take his own coffee from the tray. Leaning back, he took a sip.
His elbows resting on the back of the couch, he watched Tseng from the corners of his eyes. "Did something happen in Modeoheim? You're back early." Tseng closed his eyes while taking a sip from his own cup. The Vice President was hard to please. Tseng was back earlier than planned from Modeoheim, but Rufus would have wanted him to come back to the office immediately. It was understandable that the young man was bored, given the circumstances, but still, Tseng could not let himself be pushed around too much. "The mission was a success, more or less. One target was eliminated and the other disappeared." Rufus looked at the ceiling and pressed on impatiently: "Soooo? Who died?" Tseng put down his cup and crossed his legs. "Angeal." Rufus sighed and glanced back at Tseng. "We put an insane amount of money into all these abominable research projects, then we paid the products premium salaries and now we're paying new freaks to destroy them. All of it wasted, and for what?"
Tseng had taken over the duty to oversee Rufus only a week ago, but he was vaguely familiar with his viewpoints just from reading the reports on his case. He was not here to convince Rufus of anything; even his more controversial viewpoints were to remain his own. President Shinra had insisted on Rufus taking over the company after his own death, and to lead the company however he saw fit. That is why he never ordered any kind of reeducation for his son to bring him back in line with Shinra politics. The Turks were simply supposed to protect him, keep him company, while limiting his interactions with the outside world to the bare minimum. He noticed that Rufus was staring at him with one hand behind his neck and an ankle resting on the other knee. "You seem different today", he remarked. He pinched his eyes a little when Tseng didn't respond. "Oh, I get it!", he continued. Knowing fully well what was coming, he closed his eyes expectantly. Rufus got up and rested his hands on both sides of the armchair Tseng was sitting on, his face uncomfortably close. "You didn't go to Honeybee Manor for business", he guessed. He was right, of course, because he had read Tseng's tracker as he usually did.
Despite his son's transgressions, the President Shinra had surprisingly insisted to keep Rufus' security clearance more or less intact, giving him access to the company's intranet. Even if he was only allowed to view records and logs, his permissions allowed him to keep up with pretty much anything happening in the company. Though the only people he was able to contact directly by phone and e-mail were Tseng and Veld, the chief of the Turks. His previous "companion" who had been in charge of him until a week ago had given up on her duty because she could not handle Rufus' habit of spying on her while she was out going about her daily business, including her private life. Tseng took over this duty, knowing what it could possibly entail, and that Rufus Shinra had absolutely no respect for anyone's privacy.
"A man has needs", Tseng explained. "Needs indeed", Rufus repeated as he pulled back and let himself fall on the couch again. "What about that girl?", he asked, watching Tseng from the corner of his eye. Tseng's expression froze. "What girl?" Rufus waved a hand around. "That Ancient girl in Sector 5." Tseng's thoughts raced. He had not realized that the Vice President was aware of Aerith, and that she was the last ancient. Or that he knew where she lived.
Rufus looked straight at him. "How is she?" Tseng blinked. "Do you know her?", he asked in confusion. Rufus stared at the ceiling again. "Hmmm. I remember her. She was kept in the research department with her mother for a while." Right. Rufus was a little younger than Tseng, but he would still remember the little girl with auburn hair and bright green eyes growing up in a glass cube if he ever visited the research department around that time. Still, he was not supposed to know where she lived, but as a high-up company insider, who was also quite smart, it was not inconceivable that he could have deduced the location, simply from looking at the locations where regular mission regularly took Turks' members, and the respective observation reports. The reports did not mention her name, but with some dedication, he could have found out relatively easily. Shinra Electric Power was not yet his, but he still had access to all of these secrets. "Kept", Rufus had described the way she had been accommodated in the Research Department; although there was little doubt that this was a fitting description, him making it sound as if she was some kind of animal in a cage made Tseng angry. "More money wasted", Rufus concluded. Heat rose in Tseng's neck. How could he say that? Aerith was not just a number on a spreadsheet.
"And we're continuing to waste money on whatever new passion project Hojo comes up with. Sometimes I wonder who's in charge here." – "Not you", Tseng muttered bitterly under his breath. Rufus folded his hands over his stomach and looked directly at Tseng with his eyebrows raised. "Sorry, I forgot." After a short pause, he added with a smirk: "She's your passion project, too" Tseng folded his arms and looked away.
Rufus sighed again. "You have problems." Tseng did not want to continue this conversation and got up from his chair. "I have some more things on my to-do list for today. I'll stop by tomorrow again." As he turned toward the door to leave, Rufus called after him: "Does it turn you on to spy on a little girl or something?" Tseng briskly marched over to the door and punched a security code into the panel and confirmed by saying "Leviathan". The door slid open and Tseng stepped out without sparing Rufus another glance.