Rewriting Case of Shinra

On The Way To A Smile: Case of ShinRa

* * *

At the Ancient Ruins — The mission assigned to Tseng, leader of the Shin-Ra Company’s Department of Administrative Research, also known as the “Turks”, was to obtain the ancient and mysterious stone, known as the “Black Materia”. Just as he had almost fulfilled his mission, Sephiroth suddenly appeared and severely wounded him, leaving him on verge of death. The bleeding wouldn't stop, and he could feel his consciousness slipping away. Just when he had already accepted death, Aerith and her friends appeared. They too had arrived at the ruins in pursuit of Sephiroth.

For a long time, Tseng's main duty had been to monitor Aerith, a descendant of the Ancients, waiting for the right moment to recruit her for the Shin-Ra Company. Occasionally he would feel pressure to use some of his subordinates more 'persuasive' methods, but all in all, this practice was an exception within Shin-Ra Company. Previously, they had tried to control Aerith’s biological mother with force, but unfortunately this led to her death. This new approach was clearly a consequence of this earlier failure. Tseng's guilt made him reflect heavily on his own actions.

Aerith was the last remaining descendant of the Ancients. Tseng felt unworthy to be in the presence of such a majestic existence as her. He embodied the dark machinations of the company he served. He couldn't let himself get too close.

* * *

The first time Aerith spoke to him was when she was still just a child.

“Thank you for your hard work as always.”

At first Tseng couldn't believe what he had just heard from the young girl. Seeing how silent he stayed, Aerith continued.

“You’re protecting me, aren’t you?”

When Tseng thought about his mission, it was probably best to take advantage of this situation. But Tseng went ahead and told her the truth. That was probably the most honest moment in his life.

“I’m Tseng from Shin-Ra Company. I have something to speak to you about.”

“I hate Shin-Ra!”

As he watched the young girl run off, Tseng was relieved. He felt that he had done the right thing. Even if the day came when he would have to take her away by force, he still wouldn’t be able to lie to her.

Years passed. Eventually Aerith came into contact with the anti-Shin-Ra group Avalanche, and the situation took a sudden change. Tseng became agitated by Aerith's political stance. He couldn’t get a grasp of the situation at hand, and because of that, he treated Aerith with an attitude of such pretense evil that even his subordinates turned cold toward him. He tried to think of what he should say to them.

This isn’t pretense evil. To Aerith, Shin-Ra itself is evil. That’s why evil should act like evil—

* * *

In the end, aware of his approaching death, he chose to approach Aerith as a Turk.

“Damn it. Letting Aerith go was the start of my mistakes.”

Even so, Aerith still shed tears for Tseng. She didn’t see him as an enemy, but rather a casual acquaintance who had watched over her since she was a child. Tseng knew that this unexpected encounter, at the moment of his death, was something positive, but all he could mutter was a sarcastic comment.

“I’m not dead yet.”

After Aerith left, Tseng quietly awaited his death. But it never came. He was drifting in and out of consciousness, but he still couldn’t feel his spirit merging with the Lifestream.

It was Reeve who saved Tseng in the end. An odd little robot cat – riding on the back of a Giant Moogle – appeared before Tseng. Reeve was assigned the mission to spy on Aerith and her comrades using this robot cat.

“That was close, Mr. Tseng.”

“Where’s the Black Materia?”

“…”

There was no answer. The robot stood, frozen, as if it had stopped working. It took a while before it began speaking again,

“Excuse me. I’m controlling both No.1 and No. 2 at the same time – it can be a little difficult.”

“I see.”

Tseng had no idea how difficult it actually was, but he waited for Reeve to speak again so that he didn't disturb his concentration.

“I’ve handed the Black Materia over to Cloud for the time being. That is a wiser choice than letting Sephiroth have it, yes?”

Cloud. The fact that he was so closely linked to this chain of events was a mystery, but on the other hand it was logical, inevitable even. Somehow Cloud was the key to all of this, but no matter how much Tseng thought about it, he couldn't figure exactly out how he fit.

In any case, the Black Materia was better off in Cloud's hands, if he wanted to prevent the Ultimate Black Magic, Meteor from being summoned.

“Cloud has the Black Materia — I see.”

“As for yourself, Mr Tseng — I’ll contact Shin-Ra for you.”

“—Right.”

“One more thing— My identity as a spy has been found out but I will be staying with them. They’re quite an interesting bunch. I’m very interested in what they will do. Right, lets get you moved somewhere.”

Tseng had a lot of questions for him, but as he was lifted up by the Giant Mog, he lost consciousness due to the pain. His memories of what happened next were sketchy at best.

Three men carried Tseng onto a boat. The men were his former superior and his subordinates. Why had Reeve contacted them, and not the company directly? Had he been in constant contact with them. Question after question came to mind, but Tseng didn’t have the strength to say anything. He was unconscious for most of the trip. When he regained consciousness, he found himself in a small room. The air had a distinct smell of sea foam and rusted metal, he knew he had been taken to Junon. A doctor arrived almost immediately and began his treatment.

* * *

While Tseng was incapacitated, Aerith was killed, and the Black Materia was now in Sephiroth's possession. He used it to summon the Ultimate Black Magic, Meteor. It was said that upon impact, everything on the Planet would be gone within three to seven days.

Ultimately, it was meaningless whether the planet was destroyed in 3 days or in 7 days, the people needed some ray of hope to cling onto, something to focus on.

* * *

Midgar, Sector Zero, close to the Shinr-Ra Building—

On huge pillars, constructed almost overnight in Sector Eight, sat a dangerous looking weapon, a cannon hastily flown in from Junon. Scarlet, Head of the Department for weapons research, was responsible for overseeing the development of this super weapon, naming it "Sister Ray", which seemed like a funny name, considering this weapon was their last defense against Sephiroth. Sister Ray was connected to all of the Mako reactors surrounding Midgar by a pipeline system, and the power was further amplified by means of a Huge Materia. The cannon was expected to completely destroy Sephiroth, who lay dormant in the Northern Crater, a large cave in the far north. It was hoped that if Sephiroth died, the nightmare in the sky which he summoned would also disappear. As soon as the threat to the planet had passed, the all powerful Weapons would surely return from whence they came.

“Theoretically, it’s perfect,” Rude said looking up at the Sister Ray.

“Theoretically? What about non-theoretically?” Reno asked with a serious tone he didn’t usually have.

“It leaves me concerned.”

“Then I’m relieved.”

“What do you mean?” Rude questioned.

“I thought I was the only one worried. Are we seriously going to fire this thing? Don’t we have to test it out first? Will Midgar be alright?”

“Would you be reassured if I said it’ll be alright?”Rude replied to the torrent of questions with a stern tone in his voice.

“Hey, don’t get mad.”

Unfortunately, Sister Ray didn't fulfill their expectations and ended up as a huge pile of scrap metal. At the same time, a bombardment of fire from one of the Weapons took out the upper floors of the Shin-Ra Building. As members of the Turks, Rude and Reno were used to the sight of destroyed buildings, but they felt differently for the Shin-Ra Building. They spent most of their time on outside missions, rather than pushing pencils around, so this building was like a home they could return to when their work was done. The gratitude of their colleagues, the scoldings by their superiors, joking and flirting with the female employees. When they’re out, they are on duty, but when they were back at the office, they could just kick back. It was the complete opposite for the regular employees. Nevertheless - or perhaps because of it - the Shin-Ra building was a very important place to them.

Reno and Rude's concern grew stronger when they learned that the company president, Rufus Shin-Ra was missing. There were many staff who witnessed the president's office receiving a direct hit from Weapon’s energy beam, so the word "missing", in this case, had a very different meaning. There was also uncertainty about the fate of most of the board members and senior staff. The Shin-Ra Company had nobody to lead it.

There were also many employees who had already given up their positions. With Meteor's imminent impact, it was understandable that they had more important things in their lives to think about.

Reno and Rude waited for the elevator so they could go up to the presidents office and see what happened to Rufus. The direct elevator to the executive floors wasn’t working, so they would have to try the regular staff elevators.

“This thing isn’t moving.”

“It looks like the emergency lock system was activated.”

“They managed to get that working pretty well.”

“Reno, Rude. Take the stairs.”

The two looked at each other blankly, before turning in the direction of the voice. A long haired man they were all too familiar with stood before them. They definitely hadn't expected to see him here.

“Chief!”

They had received reports that Tseng had died. Elena had even sworn revenge for her boss, and pursuit Cloud and his party to the Northern Crater. But she returned to Midgar unsuccessful. They both had vivid memories of how she had come back cursing, and repeated the word “revenge” like she was under a spell. All of the Turks were still under the belief that Tseng was dead.

“What’s wrong?”

Rude and Reno looked completely dumbfounded.

“You’re alive, Chief.”

“As you can see. But now isn’t the time to explain.”

“Yeah,”

Reno nodded several times to show that they needed no further explanation.

“Chief!”

Suddenly, they heard the voice of a young woman. The three turned around to find Elena standing there. The youngest member of the Turks made no attempt at all to hide her joy at finding the Chief still alive. She quickly ran to Tseng and hugged him.

“Oh come on, Elena. You know I want to do that too,” said Reno.

“No need to hold back, Senpai.”

“I’ll pass.”

Tseng placed a firm hand on Elena’s shoulder and stepped back a little. He took a good look at his three subordinates, and nodded.

“—Come on. Time to get to work.”


Darkness—
Rufus Shin-Ra's office had received a direct hit from Weapon's attack. A smile crossed his face as he began to slip away in the darkness. The idea that such monsters as the Weapons had laid dormant within the planet, was frightening. The shock wave from the blast had knocked Rufus to the floor. The whole building was rocked by explosions. Steel ceiling tiles dislodged and fell to the floor, narrowly missing Rufus' head. He quickly dragged himself underneath a desk to avoid the falling debris. He was prepared for death the moment he saw the Weapon’s fire heading directly toward him. But anger welled inside him. Anger at himself that he had actually accepted death. How could he even think that? Why would he accept his death?

What does it mean?

The anger let him think clearer. The Weapon might attack again. He had to escape quickly. As Rufus looked for some means of escape, his eye caught sight of a small switch with the letter, ‘L’. It was located underneath the desk, so that it was hidden from view.

It must be for some emergency use if it’s placed here. Perhaps it will be of use in this situation.

Rufus pressed it without hesitation. The floor beneath him snapped away with a “Gatan” and he fell about one meter down. He landed on a hard sloping floor and began sliding down it.

In the end, I still think I’m going to die. And not only that, it looks like I’m going to die inside an air duct that runs around the building’s walls and floors. It’s ridiculous. What would everyone think once they found my corpse? Right in the middle of a battle in which the Planet’s life was at stake, the President of the very Shin-Ra Company that had the power to fight with the enemy dies. Inside an air duct. Ha. What a joke. It’s a pity I can’t see myself now. But what is it with this air duct? There’s no reason why it should be built at such an abrupt angle. And that L switch—

Rufus suddenly remembered a conversation he had with his father maybe twenty years ago. He couldn't help but laugh out loud.

It was when he was only five years old. Rufus had woken up in the middle of the night to find that his father had just arrived home – which was rare. He was fully prepared to be sent straight back to bed as he hesitantly entered his room, but his father seemed in a surprisingly good mood and proudly showed him some new. They showed renovation plans for the Presidents office at the top floor of the nearby Shin-Ra building.

“What do you think? This is the room where I give out orders to the world.”

“Amazing.”

Rufus showed a lot of interest while trying to read the blueprints. He hoped his father would praise him for being so clever. However, he couldn’t really make anything of them. He just blurted what was on his mind.

“Father, where’s the escape route?”

His father couldn’t understand what Rufus was asking.

“Escape route? What?”

“If the enemy attacked, you need someway to escape.”

“Ah—”

Realizing what his son meant, he continued,
“Shin-Ra Company has no enemies. Even if there were, the President’s Office is on the seventeenth floor. No one would be able to attack there.”

“But... Mr. Palmer said the enemy came from space.”

“Palmer said that?”

His father furrowed his brow. It was a sign that he was angry. Palmer, head of the Space Program, could be in for some trouble tomorrow. But Palmer told him that being scolded was part of his job, so all would be fine. And anything would be fine by Rufus so long as he wasn't the one to get scolded. However, he felt that he had put his father in a bad mood, and that was anything but good.

“Father, I’m sorry. I’m kind of sleepy.”

“Listen, Rufus. It’s as you say—” continued President Shin-Ra, ignoring his son. “I will have an escape route built in case the enemy attacks. But let me make this clear, Rufus. I won’t use it. It will be for you once you become president. Of course, there’s no guarantee you will take my place.”

“Father—”

“Ha. Escape? Me?”

“Father, I’m sorry.”

“Why do you apologize? Are you admitting your idea was wrong?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re such a simple-minded one!”

Rufus felt like he needed an escape route right then.

“We will mark out the escape route with something that really stands out. “L”. Don’t forget it now. ‘L’ for “Loser.”

Rufus was thankful. Even though his father thought so little of him when he was that young, he was thankful that he at least listened.

The seemingly never ending shaft that lead all the way down to the ground floor from the President’s Office gave him plenty of time to reflect on his past. All of the trivial memories that had been forgotten went through his mind, over and over. When Rufus realized that they were all linked to his father, he realized that he was just a boy, like any other. All he wanted was a little recognition from him, and maybe even surpass his expectations some day. But he could only express this through insubordination and rebellion, which only led to his father either scolded him, or just ignoring him.

The tired old cliche of a relationship he had with his father, somehow seemed more hilarious than any joke he’d ever heard. Rufus couldn't help but laugh as he slid down in the darkness.

The shaft ended ended abruptly and Rufus found himself sliding into a bright room with white walls. He slid with so much momentum that he crashed into the opposite wall.

“Yikes!” *slight laugh*

Rufus laughed again at the pitiful sound he made. It seemed like pure slapstick to him. He realized that he had broken some ribs, but he still couldn’t stop laughing. After his collision with the wall, he was left lying in an extremely unbecoming posture. The idea that someone might find him like this amused him even more.

However, the pain from his broken ribs eventually pulled him back to reality.

He maneuvered his body into a position that was less painful, and slowly surveyed the room. It was a five meter square room. As well as the shaft's exit, there was a simple bed. The bedding looked expensive, but clearly it hadn’t been used for a very long time. On the wall to the right of it was a cabinet, and to the left was a steel door. Rufus slid over to the door, trying to bear the severe pain. There was no handle or knob, but there was a small panel which was obviously used to open the door. But Rufus had no idea what the code could be and he didn't have the strength for trial and error. For now, he gave up opening the door, and slid himself toward the cabinet with his legs.

I’m in such a state I just can’t bear to be seen by anyone.

The cabinet door opened easily. Inside were plenty of sterile boxes printed with the Shin-Ra logo. He took one of the boxes from the bottom shelf, the only one he could reach. Engraved on the lid were the words, “For L”.

“Ha.”

Rufus laughed out loud at the sight of the engraving. And again, he couldn’t suppress the laughter that welled up from the depths of his diaphragm, but his ribs immediately responded with piercing pain. He tried to control himself as he opened the lid. As he suspected, he found a potion and painkillers. He put aside the potion, as it had surely lost its effectiveness by now, or even become toxic. He did take the vial of painkillers though, placing it to his lips and tipping a few of them in his mouth. Then he relaxed as much as possible and waited for it to take effect. As he lay there, looking up, his eyes focused on a giant ‘L’ on the ceiling.

“Don’t make me laugh any more, dad.”

He realized he had taken a little too much of the painkiller as his mind slowly became hazy. Time passed. Surprisingly, the hours he spent under the effect of the medication were actually quite pleasant. However, he was also annoyed that at that moment, he couldn't stand at the head of his army. Finally, Rufus pulled himself up and walked over to the door. And supporting himself against the wall, he tried entering a random combinations into the keypad. However, this venture was not successful. The fact that he couldn't concentrate on task at hand was surely due to the effects of the medication, but it was he himself who decided to take it in the first place.

* * *

Reno and Rude stood in the ruins of the President’s Office.

“No one’s here.”

“No.”

"We've searched everywhere, right?"

"Yes, three times. "

“So he’s alive.”

“But where could he be?”

On the floor lay several steel beams that had apparently crashed down from the ceiling. They carefully searched the debris several times, making sure Rufus hadn't been burred under them.

“So— where else?”

With Meteor closing in, a permanent, powerful storm raged. The Turks had no time to deal with it and continued their search for Rufus. The rescue party had made their rounds, but they still hadn't received any reports that the president had been found.

Reno and Rude went through an inconspicuous door located near the entrance of the Shin-Ra building, leading half way underground, which was intended only for the use of executives. The entrance was kept quite simple, which really didn't fit the otherwise extravagant tastes of the former Shin-Ra President, Rufus' father. No decoration, no embellishments, just a functional, simple area. The ceiling, walls and floor were reinforced with exposed steel beams.

“Nothing here. Lets go, Rude.”

“Wait.”

Rude stopped Reno and pointed to a section of a wall.

“The color’s different.”

* * *

Rufus stood next to the keypad and stared at the keys numbered zero to nine. It was clear that he just had to try all possible combinations only, but it wasn't a particularly practical thought. He knew he would eventually lose track with this method. He had to think of something more efficient. Maybe the code had a certain meaning linked to it, one that had a meaning to Rufus. He had already tried the meaningful numbers that both he and his father knew—his mother’s birthday and the day she died—none of them were successful.

He had no idea how much time had passed since he had been in this room. He figured that since he was still alive, Meteor had yet to crash into the planet, and was still in the skies. In other words, Sister Ray had failed, and Sephiroth was still in the Northern Crater. Sooner or later, Meteor would wipe out everything and everyone on the planet.

Rufus thought about death again.

So my spirit will become one with the Lifestream coursing through this Planet. I wonder if father will be there too. Does consciousness have a shape? ...No, such a powerful flow of energy would shatter the consciousness of any single human being easily.

“Ah, I see now.”

He laughed again as he realized that he had forgotten one tiny detail - soon there wouldn't even be a planet. He reached into the side pocket of his white suit and took out the bottle of painkillers. He put three pills in his mouth, chewed them and turned back to the keypad.

“Ha.”

Even if he was going to die, he didn’t want to die like this. Since he first saw the keypad, a very specific combination had haunted him, but he hadn't tried it yet. He knew that by putting his hopes into this combination, he was admitting defeat. He didn't want to give his father that satisfaction, but this was no time for false pride.

Rude and Reno examined a steel panel that had a slightly different color than the rest.

“It’s just a wall, Rude.”

Before Reno could finish, the wall shook slightly. A steel panel approximately one meter squared disappeared into the floor. Rude and Reno looked at each other before rushing over to the hole left behind in the wall. They could see a white wall through the hole. It looked like a small room.

“Anyone there?” Reno went to look inside, but just as he was about to peep inside, Rufus’ face appeared through the hole.

“Good work,”

The young Shin-Ra Company President suddenly collapsed.

“Boss!”

While Reno looked after Rufus, Rude slid past him and entered the white room. It was immediately clear that this was a shelter.

Taking a quick glance around, he spotted that four of the buttons on the keypad were still lit up but were quickly dimming again. Rude didn't know it, but the late President had always used the same digits on any equipment that needed a numerical code. It was made up of numbers he would never forget, it was the birthday of his son.

“Rude, go find a doctor. And check outside while you’re at it.”

“How’s the Boss?”

“He’s sound asleep.”

Just as Reno said, a deep, quiet breathing could be heard.

“Looks like he’s relieved that we found him,” Reno tried to joke but failed.

“He's lucky,”

Rude went to take a look outside.

* * *

Rude stood in the darkness at the back entrance of the Shin-Ra building. The rain and harsh winds blasting against him. Everywhere lay beams and rubble from the outer wall which had fallen down. Floodlights were set up on the ground to aid the rescue teams, as well as powerful search lights from the helicopter hovering above. They glistened off the shattered glass scattered everywhere. Rude took a good look around, but remained calm. The fact that Rufus was alive had given all hope he needed. Rufus himself was the Shin-Ra Company after all. Whether for good or bad, the company would live on. And this in turn meant, so would the Turks. Rude could hardly imagine a life without the Turks.

The powerful gusts from a low-flying helicopter sent a fist-sized chunk of wood flying, grazing off Rude’s cheek. Rude smirked. He loved thrills. And Rufus always guaranteed to provide them.

Taking care where he stepped, Rude made his way toward the front of the building. Everywhere people were huddled on the ground. Arms and legs sticking out from under the rubble were common sights here. He wasn't sure whether they were dead or alive. Most people looked at Rude with blatant fear in their eyes. Perhaps this wasn't surprising with his shaved head and dark sunglasses. He didn't exactly inspire confidence. he just reeked of violence. Rude actually felt a sense of satisfaction with the reaction he usually got.

Busily rushing around were the rescue teams, made up of hospital staff funded by the Shin-Ra Company. Rude grabbed one of them and told him where he needed help. He didn’t know how he would react if he heard Rufus’ name so he made no mention of it.

“Is he a member of Shin-Ra?”

“Yeah.”

“Then he has priority.”

“I’m counting on you.”

The man nodded and called over to his colleagues who were carrying a stretcher, then headed towards the back of the building. As Rude looked at them, he figured he should take the lead and went after them. Just then, a young woman speaking over a radio caught his eye.

She was one of Cloud’s companions. They were part of a group that fought against, but for now, there was no reason to fight them. A confrontation was only necessary if they were ordered to, or if they stood in the way of an operation.

Rude quickly hid in the shadows and watched as she nervously paced up and down.

* * *

Reno watched the rescue team as they moved Rufus onto a stretcher,

“Where are you taking him?”

“We’ll take him to the hospital, but after that... I can’t say.”

“Can’t say? What the hell does that mean?”

“I mean, Meteor is on its way. What can we do when the planet’s about to be destroyed?”

“Well, that’s true. Come on, this way.”

Reno lead the rescue team through a small door to the lobby.

“This place is really messed up. That bald guy could have told us about this shortcut.”

“It’s a passageway for executives only. Don’t tell anyone.”

“—Yes, sir.”

Reno nodded, satisfied with the answer and lead them towards the main entrance. He was about to step outside when he saw a familiar figure. She stood with her back to him and hadn't seen him yet. He turned to the rescue team.

“Could I leave the rest to you guys? Something just come up,”

“Of course. He’ll be in good hands. By the way, what is the patient’s name?”

“He’ll tell you himself once he wakes up. Put him inside a good hospital room like you should.”

“Could he be— Rufus Shin-Ra?”

The paramedic holding the other end of the stretcher asked timidly.

“Shh!”

* * *

That "fateful day" - by many it was just called "that day". Rufus witnessed the miraculous events in the small town of Kalm, which was not very far from Midgar. Midgar's hospitals would soon be besieged by crowds of people, and it would be impossible to guarantee Rufus' safety. So when Rufus barely regained consciousness, Reno suggested that he should be moved to a small house in Kalm, which belonged to the Shin-Ra Company. He was being transported by helicopter, so he could be taken as far away as they wanted, but Rufus insisted on Kalm. He respected the opinion of his subordinates, so he agreed to relocate to Kalm, but he refused to just continue fleeing from one place to the next, in the face of the impending destruction of the planet.

Meteor was so close that you would think you could reach out and touch it. With such a surreal situation before them, the four Turks patrolled Midgar. They had taken care of Rufus's safety, but with Meteor’s imminent impact, that was quite a contradiction in terms. They decided to carry out their order until the very end.

“There is no point in thinking about what happens after the Meteor impacts. We will keep working and assume the planet will overcome this disaster,”

With those words, Tseng before he ordered his subordinates to assist in the evacuation of Midgar's population. The city was now under the influence of Meteor. The increasingly strong storms and the violent earthquakes brought down the first of the buildings. The city of steel screamed as though it were caught in surprise.

“It’s just like the chief to use his last orders for good deeds,” muttered Rude.

“What about it?”

“Atonement.”

“I see.”how true

Finally, even the former leader of the Turks, Veld, and their old colleagues arrived in Midgar. Reno thought this must be a mirage, conjured by Meteor.

Once long ago, the Turks had acted in a manner which was not in the best interests of the company. They had saved the world, and at the same time also Veld and his daughter, who had got caught in the crossfire. Now that Reno thought about it, the cohesion among the Turks had probably never been as strong as at that time. As he helped them to evacuate the inhabitants of the Midgar, Reno couldn't help but feel a certain nostalgia.

After the incident, President Shin-Ra and the executives ordered the Turks to be disbanded - or rather, killed. It was the Vice President, Rufus, who had rescued them from their predicament. And now they had just saved Rufus.

Reno had a feeling that he had done all that could be done. Now might come the end of the world. Rufus was their patron and now that Reno has helped secure his safety and reunited with the colleagues who he never thought he would see again, Reno was glad that he will have no regrets to leave behind any more.

* * *

On that fated day, Meteor was destroyed just before it's impact with Midgar, the destruction of the Planet was averted at the last second. It was the power of the lifestream bursting out of the Planet that saved it. The Ultimate White Magic “Holy” had triumphed against the Ultimate Black Magic “Meteor”. Cloud and his comrades had played a significant role in saving the world, but the majority of the population would never know. Rather, the general perception was that the planet had saved himself.

Reno and rude had experienced the critical moment not with their colleagues, but in the Shin-Ra building, directly in the shadow of Meteor.

“Why does it have to happen now?”

The building trembled with the impact of the lifestream. Through the numerous Windows, it burst into the Interior of the building, raging like a wild snake of light through the rooms and hallways and destroyed everything in its path. The two fled to a safe place, namely two cubicles in the staff toilet, and talked to each other through the partition.

“This is my fault.”

“What is?”

“If I didn’t suggest we come back to collect the tool box then— ” Rude began with a sorry face.

“Forget it, man. Now’s not the time to feel sorry.”

Rude noticed an unusual tone in Reno's voice, and stayed silent.

“Rude?”

Reno couldn’t stand the silence any longer.

“What is it?”

“We’ve known eachother for a long time, right.”

“You could say that.”

“We're buddies, right?”

“Yeah.”

"Well then, buddy!"

Rude noticed that Reno was back to his usual self. He could hear him opening the door of his cubicle and walking out. The next moment Rude's cubicle door was kicked, the door on Rude’s cubicle got kicked down. Rude caught it and kicked it back with full force.

“What the hell!”

“My last present to my best partner.”

“A door?”

“A thrill. The sort of thing you like.”

“—Not enough,” Rude replied as he got out of his cubicle.

"What do you say we take a look outside? I bet it’s exciting.”

“It’s a festival.”

The two walked out of front entrance, and were greeted by strong winds, whirled up by the Lifestream. Just then, a dazzling ray of light whipped past them.

“Woah!! That was the Lifestream wasn’t it?”

“Reno.”

“What?”

“This is the best.”


“Tseng, Reno, Rude, Elena,” Rufus turned to the four Turks the next morning, after the Lifestream had passed.
“What do you all plan to do from here?”

“I don’t remember being fired.”

The others nodded in agreement to Reno's words.

Rufus went on to give the Turks two orders. The first was to return to Midgar and gain an overview of the situation there, and the second was to gather allies.

“Just because people maybe on our staff, doesn’t mean they’re allies. Understood?”

“I know that. But what use will it be gathering allies now? What are you going to do?”

“I want information for now, no matter how little or how much.”

Apart from a few ribs, Rufus had also broken his right heel, and was suffering from a whiplash. He was therefore in a wheelchair, but he still hadn’t lost his dignity.

“Tseng.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I’m sure you’ve had enough—”

“There are still many things that only Shin-Ra can accomplish.”

Rufus nodded satisfied at his response.

“I’m sure this will be fun.”

The Turks broke into two groups and immediately set off for Midgar. Tseng and Elena were responsible for gathering information, while Reno and Rude were responsible for gathering allies. Their former colleagues, who had gathered here, had already parted to gather information from places other than Midgar, and would forward it to Kalm.

„ The likes of AVALANCHE have always said, Shin-Ra is the enemy of this planet,“ Reno suddenly said as if it suddenly came to mind.

“Yeah.”

“Looks like they were right.”

“Why’s that?”

“Just look around you.”

It seemed Reno's observation wasn't wrong. The Lifestream had saved the Planet from Meteor, however, Midgar, the stronghold of the Shin-Ra Company, had paid an enormously price. The punishment from the planet was not the complete destruction of the city, but it would take a long time to rebuild it. Midgar was not dead, but it was far from being alive - it was as though a death sentence had been imposed, in which they had forgotten to set an execution date. And since the people were aware that it was not Shin-Ra who had saved the planet, the company now faced hostilely. The population probably needed a scapegoat, someone responsible for this global disaster, and soon the name Shin-Ra fit that bill.

Reno and Rude reached the vicinity of the Shin-Ra Building in Sector Zero. Although this part of the city had been devastated most, there were a lot of people here. They had all come here, hoping for information and assistance.

“How ironic,” Reno grunted as he listened to the conversations amongst the evacuees. It was clear that they all considered the Shin-Ra Company to be the root of all evil, yet they all hoped Shin-Ra would also be the ones to do something to improve their situation.

“I want to gag their mouths with my socks.”

“Do it. I won’t stop you.”

“I don’t have any spares.”

* * *

Tseng and Elena were in Wall Market, in the slums of sector 6. It was easy to come by information here, but it wasn't always reliable. Even so the Turks used this resource regularly. It was now a mess; fallen rubble and girders from the upper plate lay everywhere. Though it didn't look much better than this before the disaster. Slums were just slums. The only real difference was the smaller number of people. The rumor that Midgar would collapse had apparently led many people to leave the area immediately under the upper plate, and to look for a place to stay at a safe distance.

On their way there, Tseng and Elena had met many people who were angry at the Shin-Ra Company. There were even people who threw stones at them the moment they saw their Turks uniform.

“It’s kind of hard to go about our job. Why don’t we change our clothes?”

You walked into the first clothing store they found — Tseng chose a t-shirt that made him look like a tourist on the beach of the Costa Del Sol, while Elena opted for a chic designer one piece. Freshly changed, they found a busy looking bar. Surprisingly, there were plenty of people there. Almost every table was already taken.
No sooner had they sat down at one of the few free tables, they began observing the clientele. Tseng’s eyes were trained on a man wearing a black shirt, sitting alone at a table for four people.

“He’s sleeping, right?”

“He could be—”

“Hey, Tseng...”

“What is it?”

“...I decided to stay with the Turks, partly because of my pride in my work, but... there's another reason...”

Elena had never tried to hide her affection for her superior, but until now, she couldn't tell him directly to his face.

“Continue.”

“Hmm?”

“It looks unnatural if we stay silent. I don’t care if you’re just going to talk nonsense. Just talk.”

“Nonsense…?”
Elena sighed audibly and then looked at Tseng. Tseng seemed to be concerned about the sleeping man since they entered the bar.

“Strange.”

Tseng got up and went over to the man, calling out to him.

“Are you alright?”

There was no answer. Tseng put a hand on his shoulder and slightly shook him. Suddenly he felt felt something sticky on his palm. He quickly withdrew his hand. Turning it around, he found a sticky black substance. Tseng looked back at the man. His entire upper body was covered by the ichor. Tseng hadn't noticed it at first, because he was wearing a black shirt.

“What’s wrong?”

Elena got up and walked over to the table.

“He’s dead.”

* * *

Reno and Rude were in the lobby of the Shin-Ra Building. Reno wrote a something on a large billboard, roughly the size of an adult.

“Anyone who wants to leave the city, follow the railway tracks down. No trains are in operation. No plans to resume service for now. There are no provisions here. Shin-Ra Company has ceased operation until further notice.”

* * *

The house in Kalm had two floors – On the ground floor was a living room, which was used for meetings, a dining room, a small kitchen, bathroom and a toilet. The upper floor had three bedrooms and Rufus was in one of them. He had his right foot in a cast now. Around his neck he wore a neck brace. And his torso was also heavily bandaged. So movement without the wheelchair was still very difficult. Rufus watched the hustle and bustle in the town from his window.

When he peeped through the gap in the curtains, he immediately noticed the many people on the streets. Kalm had also been affected by the Lifestream, but there weren’t many houses damaged to the point where they were uninhabitable. Many refugees had arrived from Midgar after hearing that it was safe here, which slightly intimidated Rufus. Since he could remember, he had never been around crowds without bodyguards of staff to contact. The notion that only a thin wall stood between him and the anger and discontentment of the crowds outside, made him a little anxious. And it was just a normal wall too, not the thick reinforced walls that the Shin-Ra Building had. The Shin-Ra Building was a fortress build by his father. Sooner or later, every son must leave his father's house, and start on his own from scratch. For him, this time had now come. This was no time to fear the people out there. He had to dive in, feet first and do what he had to do. And that could be nothing less than the reconstruction of the world.

The doorbell rang. Once, and then a second time. When he ignored it, the doorbell rang twice more. He wasn't expecting anyone. It wasn’t someone he knew. Suddenly he heard someone attempted to forcibly open the door. Rufus wheeled himself over to the bed, taking the revolver from underneath his pillow, hoping he wouldn't have to use it. He took the gun in his hand and pulled the sleeve of his robe over it with the other hand. He dragged the chair from the window over to the door, then struggled to pull himself from his wheelchair onto it.

Rude had reinforcing the door, so after a while it seemed the uninvited guest had given up trying to open it. For a moment, calm had returned, and the person had apparently left. But soon, the sound of breaking glass could be heard. It was clear to Rufus that the intruder had changed their strategy. From the subsequent noise, it seemed more than one person had broken their way inside.

“Damn it,”

Rufus removed the safety lock on his revolver.

* * *

It was evening when Tseng and Elena set off towards Kalm. They talked mostly about the disease they had seen in the Slums. After leaving the bar, they notice many other people who had the same symptoms as the dead man.

“Did you learn anything about it while I was resting?”

“It's the first time I've seen anything like that, Tseng.”

In other words, these symptoms had only started to manifest in Midgar. For Tseng, it was still too early to know anything about this disease. He wondered if there was anything different about today and yesterday. I was clear - the Lifestream. It had not only destroyed the city, but had also punished it's inhabitants.
In other words, those symptoms have only started to become widespread today, and we don’t know much about the disease, Tseng thought to himself. Is there anything different about today and yesterday? I see — The Lifestream. So the Lifestream didn’t just destroy the city. It must be punishing the people of this Planet too.

“I hope everyone can remain calm.”

“Who knows.”

Elena remembered the panic among the customers at the bar when they had noticed the man was dead. At first they had gathered around him and gawked curiously, but someone suddenly shouted "what if it's contagious!?". Panic broke out. It was every man for himself as they pushed and shoved, trying to get out first.

* * *

Reno and Rude were a little ahead of Tseng and Elena, and were already in the vicinity of Kalm. In fact, they could have used the helicopter, but it was unclear at this time what the fuel situation was, so it was probably best to go easy on it for now.

“We going to Sector Five tomorrow?”

“And what are we going to do at the company residential area? Ah wait, you think there might be some allies there.”

“There's a warehouse there. I’d like to secure some vehicles— and weapons.”

“Weapons huh. Yeah, we’ll need some.”

Reno sighed audibly when he remembered the resentment he saw in the exhausted faces of the people of Midgar. They couldn’t conceal their discontent from them.

* * *

Rufus was surrounded by a handful of men.

“Looks like you’ve gotten yourself in quite a mess, Mr. President, ”

An unshaven man, possibly the leader of the group, pointed his hunting rifle at Rufus.

“Indeed. But now’s the time that I fear most. There is nothing more dangerous than a foolish mob,”

Rufus looked into the bloodshot eyes of the man before him. He could see the blame in his eyes for everything that had happened, and was sure he was going to be killed. He could probably take out one or two of them with his hidden revolver, but there were three of them in his bedroom, and he could hear a few more outside. It was impossible to kill them all.

“We might be foolish, but at least we know who should be taking the responsibility for everything that’s happened.”

“Oh? Then let me ask you this. What will you do after you leave this house? Have you thought about your futures?”

“What do you mean.”

“There are two kinds of people in this world. People who give orders, and people who take orders. It is a question of one’s abilities, and has nothing to do with superiority or inferiority. Often when an incident occurs, it is the ones who give orders that are made to take responsibility. As a result, those who remain lose their direction, and panic arises. Then everything comes to a grinding halt.”

“Strange way to beg for your life,”

He had a mocking tone to his voice.

“You seem to me to be playing the leader of this mob right now, but how long will it last? What kind of future can you give them?”

“We're just a foolish mob, remember? If we survive today, that’s all that counts, right?”

"You speak only for yourself. I wonder, how do the rest of you see things?"

“No, not “we”. It’s just you,”

Rufus was aware the others had set their sights the leader now.

“You have some sort of plan?” asked one of the other men.

Rufus turned to look at the man. He was in his thirties, and seemed to be relatively wealthier. He wore an expensive looking navy blue jacket, and had a sturdy build.

“Why of course. First I would secure my home. Kalm can’t shelter all the Midgar refugees. It looks like you’re one of the locals here—”

“Yeah.”

“Do you want this town to become like Midgar?”

“—”

The man was clearly imagining to himself what would happen. You could almost hear the clattering of cog in the man's head.

“Surely we need to help the refugees!”

The man with the gun cut in, as though he wanted to reaffirm his status as the leader.

Rufus promptly answered him,
“Take this for example. What do you do when it rains? Where would the overwhelming number of people go? Perhaps anyone would provide them shelter out of good will, but think about how big Midgar’s population is. It may not be very big, but you can’t shelter them all. Can you lay their discontent and anxiety to rest? What can you tell them when all you care about is living for another day?”

“Shut up!”

The man raised his voice. Rufus stayed calm, it seemed he was right about the man. As the leader of a small group like this, he might me ok, but he couldn't be entrusted with a larger group.

“Well, you maybe right, what exactly is your plan now, Mr President?"

The man in the blue jacket had an understanding tone to his voice. Rufus considered whether this man was the real leader of the group.

"If I tell you, I'm as good as dead."

* * *

When Reno and Rude arrived back in Kalm, they immediately noticed that the town had dramatically changed since they left that morning.

“That's a hell of a lot of people.”

When they got to the house, the whole street was crowded. And not only that, there were strangers coming in and out of the house as they pleased.

“The President!”

The two immediately rushed to the house, but didn't go any further. The door was open. When they peered inside, they saw men and women sitting, exhausted on the floor. Even in the entrance, some of them lay on their backs, seemingly asleep.

“They’re all ill.”

Rude had quickly grasped the situation. The people had the same symptoms they saw in Midgar — their clothes and bandages were soaked in a black liquid — Many of them were gathered together.

“Rude, you check the ground floor.”

Reno made his way upstairs, trying not to step on anyone lying there. It was the same up here. Reno was perplexed at what he saw as he searched for Rufus, without success. He finally gave up and went back down to the hallway, where he met Rude.

"I can't find him anywhere."

“Seriously? Lets go outside, partner. If we stay here we’re gonna get—”

Reno noticed one of the sick people glaring at him and sheepishly smiling back, urging Rude outside. Tseng and Elena had just arrived.

“Chief, the house has been overtaken,” Reno tried to summarize the situation.

“We must find the President. He may have been taken away. We have to confirm if anyone knows what happened.”

“I’ll take the house. You guys can be a bit intimidating,”

Elena walked straight past them to the door.

“Elena, be careful. Watch you don't get infected.”

“Don't worry. If it were contagious, we would have been infected already,”

Her response seemed pretty obvious to Reno.

“Well then.”

“Go find any witnesses,” ordered Tseng.

Reno and rude nodded silently, then went off in different directions.

* * *

The two eventually returned back to the house and reported to Tseng, the hateful tirades they heard against the Shin-Ra Company, but nobody had seen Rufus.

"It's just how it is. It's understandable that people are angry, "

Tseng watched the sick and injured people in the street, unable to find the strength to walk on their own, and had to be carried.

Even if there were witnesses, Tseng figured it was unlikely they would tell them anything.

* * *

Rufus estimated that it had been two weeks since he had been taken from the house in Kalm. After he was disarmed, they knocked him out with a drug. He had no idea where he had been taken. However, he assumed he had been taken to a cottage owned by the man with the dark blue jacket. He had given his name as “Mutten”, but that wasn't necessarily his real name. Rufus figured he was probably locked in the cellar. Countless people could be heard walking around above him. If those people were refugees, then this might not be a cottage in the countryside after all, but another house in Kalm. Mutten's companions could also be gathered here. Without a plan, it was best he patiently waited for the Turks to find him.

Rufus looked around the unusual room he had imprisoned in.

Well, thought Rufus as he looked around the strange room. The entire interior was red. The furniture looked expensive, but were decorated with eerie ornaments depicting men and women, half mutated into monsters. There was a heavy chain shackled to Rufus’ feet, which was attached firmly to a hook on the wall. Why had Mutten converted a room in his house into a dungeon? That said a great deal about his character, and gave Rufus the chills. Also, the fact that he was obviously over-cautious - chaining an already severely wounded man - did not bode well.

However, apart from the fact that Mutten had robbed Rufus of his freedom, he treated him almost like a guest. A middle-aged woman who seemed to live there, looked after his wounds and brought him food. However, it seemed she was ordered not to answer anything. She responded only with silence.

A middle aged doctor came and looked at Rufus' injuries. After giving a quick examined , he put a few tablets on the table and left. Rufus didn't know whether he had recognized him as the Shin-Ra president or not. He had thought about shouting as loud as he could for help the next time someone opened the door, but he couldn’t imagine what would happen afterwards.

Every few days Mutten would appear. He was trying to learn what plans Rufus had for the development of Midgar. Rufus had actually intended to draw up a detailed plan, based on the information gathered by the Turks, but it was doubtful he would be allowed to make contact with them now. Due to the lack of information at hand, Rufus could only give Mutten a rough idea of his plans.

First he would build a town on the east side of Midgar. Since the land in the East was already level, the work would be a lot easier, and would progress rapidly. They could use debris from the ruins of Midgar as a resource. All the necessary tools and machinery they needed for cutting and welding work could be retrieved from the warehouses in Sector Five.

Rufus was fully aware of the strategic importance of these conversations. If his counterpart felt he had drawn every bit of information out of him, his life would be in danger. Rufus had to laugh. He was like a court jester, who had to think up new tricks to entertain the king every night, or be sentenced to death.

“Tell me everything. I won’t kill you.”

“Then remove the shackles from me. I won’t run away.”

The day we trust each other will never come, thought Rufus to himself.

* * *

From time to time the Turks met to share information, but on closer inspection it usually turned out to be useless, and they still had no clue as to the whereabouts of the President. Nevertheless, Tseng didn't even think about abandoning the search for Rufus.

They had said goodbye to the house in Kalm after it was taken over by the refugees, in the meantime, they occupied a house in the residential district of Midgar's Sector 5. Following Elena’s suggestion, they spread rumors that Midgar was going to collapse soon. Consequently, many residents packed up and left the city.
Though, even without the rumors it wouldn’t be long before Midgar, now little more than a heap of rubble and a breeding ground for the disease, was deserted. For Tseng and his people, this couldn't happen quickly enough. Many of Shin-Ra’s secrets rested in Midgar, and they wanted to avoid anyone getting their hands on them.

“We’ve got trouble,” reported Reno. “Some of the remaining army from Junon have taken over the head office. I think there are about a hundred of them. Some guy named, “Gate” something from military school is leading them.”

“What’s he after?”

“I don’t know. Looks like they’re making preparations for some kind of assembly.”

And so Tseng and Elena set off to get a better picture of the situation there, while Reno and Rude left to procure the necessary weapons.

In Sector Five was the residential area, originally built to house Shin-Ra employees, in the vicinity of the Mako reactor and warehouses. Only those with a pass could enter this area. It was surrounded by a high fence, and there was only one entrance. The large robust gate could only be opened with a numeric code. In addition, in a state of emergency, the system automatically switched to an emergency code known only to those with security clearance.

Rude and Reno made their way to the gate, constantly repeating the code Tseng had given them. When they reached the gate, they discovered it was already open.

“The army did this?”

“Possibly.”

They made their way to warehouse number 8, where the weapons were stored, cautiously looking in every direction. On their way they came to warehouse number four. They noticed the delivery entrance was left open. Reno and Rude looked for a hiding place where they could observe what was going on.

“Hey, they’re just average civilians.”

In the warehouse, they saw men and women of all ages, even children.

“Warehouse Four holds the construction tools and machinery.”

Just as Rude said, the people were carrying out construction equipment ranging from small to medium in size. The children were carrying smaller tools such as drills.

“What are they going to do with it all?”

Reno had barely finished speaking when they heard cheers from the direction of Warehouse Five. It seems they had managed to gain access to that one too.

"This is bad, Reno. The emergency fuel supplies are in Warehouse Five.”

“Mako?”

“No. Oil, gasoline, alternative fuels for emergencies. We’ll need it.”

“Well, this is great.”

Wanting to settle the situation as peacefully as possible, Rude and Reno stood before the crowd and spoke in a friendly tone,

“We’re personnel from Shin-Ra Company — Who’s in charge here?”

“I am,”

A beautiful young woman stepped forward. Actually, she was still just a girl.

“Oh?”

Reno looked at her.

“What are you doing here?”

Rude continued with a low voice. The woman suddenly looked anxious.

“We were told to collect the machinery we needed to build a town from—”

“By who?”

“A Mr. Kylegate from the army.”

“So it’s this Kylegate that told you the passkey to open the gate and warehouse door?”

“Yes, that’s right. Sorry, did we do something wrong? We heard that the Shin-Ra Army are now independent and were starting to rebuild the town so we came here as volunteers.”

She looked anxiously at Reno and Rude, who in turn briefly exchanged glances. They were curious what the army was up to, but the girl and the rest of the people really did seem to simply be volunteers.

“Well, if you’re just taking those tools then there won’t be any problems,”said Reno nodding at Rude slightly.

Quickly Rude added, “But only take the fuel you need for the time being. It must be rationed.”

“Yes, sir.”

The girl went back to work. Rude and Reno stood watching over them until they had finished gathering everything they needed. They watched the last of them loaded a small generator onto a trolley and pushed it out of the gates. The volunteers were all friendly and polite.They even thanked Reno and Rude as they left.

“Midgar has a bright future.”

“We can’t say that yet. Come on.”

“What?”

“We must secure transport, weapons and fuel. Then we have to change all the passkeys. The doors and gates – everything.”

By late night, Tseng and Elena had joined Reno and Rude, but even with their help, they didn't finish up until the early hours of the morning. When the four finally got home, they decided to catch up on some sleep, but just before noon, they were suddenly awoken by Veld, who barged in out of the blue.

“You gave me quite a surprise for an old man who’s supposed to be dead.”

“I should be the one surprised that Turks are sleeping for this long.”

“You're just happy to see us again, right?”

“—” Veld replied to Reno’s playful remark with silence, before beginning his report on Junon’s Liutenant Kylegate.

“The lieutenant was supposed to be on leave, but he has ordered his troops to Midgar. This morning he organized a meeting at the east of Midgar and made a speech. It was about the construction of a new town. He managed to get his hands on construction machinery belonging to Shin-Ra—”

“Veld… Sir,” Tseng began unsure how to address his former superior.

“Your information conforms to what we have gathered, but please tell me. On what grounds do you come to us with this information?”

Rude and Reno looked at each other, unsure of what Tseng was getting at. Veld was founder of the Turks.

“A reason—” Veld’s eyes narrowed. “Retribution, or perhaps paying back a favor?”

“—I thank you for your information, but there is no need for retribution, and you don’t owe any favors.”

“What the hell? ” Reno interrupted, “What’s all this about needing a reason for information and retribution? Who cares about that? I’m just simply—”

“Simply what?”

Tseng invited him to continue, but Reno quietened down. Veld gazed back and forth at the two of them.

“Reno. You Turks are like my—”

Veld couldn’t finish and swallowed his words, and the room fell silent. A moment later, Reno eagerly nodded and opened his mouth again.

“The tools were taken away by volunteers from the warehouse yesterday,”

He spoke in a formal tone, almost as if he was ashamed of his little outburst earlier.

“But a lieutenant shouldn’t know the passkey,” mused Rude.

“That’s exactly my point. While on vacation the lieutenant stayed in Kalm. And he knows the emergency code, which he really shouldn't. Who gave it to him? And where exactly did the President disappear to?”

Hearing Veld’s words, they all suddenly stood up, but Tseng calmed them down and asked, “What kind of man is Kylegate?”

Veld shared all the information he had regarding Kylegate. He was born into a wealthy family, but after losing both his parents, he became head of the family. He really had no need to work for the military, but he applied, stating that he wanted to contribute to world peace by destroying the Shin-Ra's enemies. As a soldier he was very competent, but his character left a lot to be desired.

“He is known to be sadistic and cruel. Whether it's training or on the battlefield, he always goes one step too far. There are rumors that he joined the army just so he could legally indulge those sadistic desires.”

“I see—Then do you have any idea where the President may be?”

“—In Kalm. At Kylegate’s mansion.”

Before Veld could finish, Rude, Reno and Elena rushed out of the room, but Reno paused to look back—

“Where are the rest of the Turks? With the full group we'd be a hell of a lot more powerful"

“They are spread out around the world gathering information— But they’re also leading their own lives now. We all gathered together under Meteor because we all felt the same way that day. But we can’t force any of them to come along with us now.”

Hearing Veld’s words, Reno looked for a moment as if he wanted to object, but eventually left without saying a word.

“What do you plan to do now, Sir?”

Tseng as he made his way to the door to follow his subordinates.

“I'll head back to Junon. Reeve should be on his way there now. "

“That is curious.”

“Yes. And Reeve is not the only one you should keep in mind."

“The Turks are different. Perhaps the same could be said of everyone that gathered that night. They are all loyal to your teachings.”

“In other words— They’re not exactly predictable,”

Tseng stood by the door, letting Veld go first.

“Get the President out of there.”

Tseng looked at Veld and muttered softly,

"I would have welcomed it after all this time, if you had come with us..."

* * *

Mutten Kylegate struck Rufus, who could not move, three times.

“I can’t tell you something I don’t know.”

“Tell me the new code!”

“Someone must have changed it. I only know the emergency—”

Mutten struck him again without waiting for him to finish. The blow was hard and accurately, exactly as he had been trained.

“I see. So you’re a soldier—”

“You’ve passed by me countless times. But to you, I’m just another one of your troops, right?”

“—I’m sorry,” Rufus sincerely apologized. But at the same time he thought to himself, If this house belonged to Mutten, he had to have either come from a very rich or a very renowned family. According to company policy, preferential treatment of socially better off soldiers was prohibited, but in practice it was a different story. In this Mutten's case though, there must have been other problems that prevented him from being promoted. And this tastelessly furnished room was perhaps an indication of this problem.

“You have flunkies, right?”

Mutten suddenly changed the subject.

“Where are they?”

Mutten's choice of words appeared to Rufus another indication of the lack of intellectual depth.

He must have a very unrefined mind if he can refer to people as lapdogs, thought Rufus.

“I was taken away while my subordinates weren’t present. They don't know where I am, and I don't know where they are."

“I see,”

Mutten seemed to believe him, but he still decided to hit Rufus. But before he could land the blow, someone knocked on the door.

“What is it!?”

“You have a visitor,”

It was the voice of the woman who had been taking care of Rufus.

“A visitor? Who could... Never mind. I’ll be right there!”

Mutten went to the door, and once again turned to Rufus.

“This morning we began construction of the new town. My people and a lot of volunteers are involved in the works. You should have seen the crowd that gathered at the east of Midgar. I can hardly wait until my city is finished, Mr. President. I'd really like to show it to you, but probably not.”

* * *

Ultimately, Mutten would never see this new town, which was given the name 'Edge'. Shortly after he left the room, the angry voice of a man could be heard. The voice was familiar to Rufus. Then he could hear gunshots and the woman screaming. Suddenly he could smell burning, and the crackling of flames could be heard, as well as the sound of people screaming, trying to escape.

Rufus tried to get up from the chair he was sitting on, but his body wouldn’t obey, and he fell to ground. With his ribs aching, Rufus looked around the room. Outside, a vulgar voice could be heard.

“Mr. President, where are you!”

Rufus recognized it as the voice of the man who had pointed the hunting rifle at him in Kalm. What exactly that meant was unclear to Rufus, but he assumed that something must have caused a rift between the two men. Either way, it didn't appear that the man had come to rescue him. He didn’t know what the situation was, but most likely they had some dispute amongst themselves. In any case, it didn’t seem like help had come.

Rufus decided to hide himself under the bed. He quickly crawled along the floor.

“—” Rufus felt a sharp pain, and grimaced

His ribs ached again, he wanted to cry out in pain but he suppressed it by firmly biting his lower lip.

What do I do now? If he sees the chain on my foot he’ll know where I’m hiding.

Rufus rolled onto his back and looked at the bottom of the bed. There were two metal hooks on which several whips were stowed away. Just the thought of what they were used for made Rufus shudder. He took one of them in his hand and gripped leather-bound handle.

“President!”

The door was brutally kicked in and a man came into the room. From where Rufus was hiding, he could only see his boots. The man walked over to the bed, noticing the chains, and tapped them with his foot.

“Heh, hiding under the bed huh?”

Come on. Closer.

He did exactly as Rufus expected, and cautiously approached the bed.

Come on, peek down. Lets see your face.

But the only thing that the man revealed to Rufus was the silver muzzle of his hunting rifle. Immediately, Rufus grabbed the gun barrel with his left hand and pushed it upward against the bed.

“What are you doing!”

A shot went off and pain flooded through Rufus' left hand. He let go of the gun barrel and rolled out from his hiding place in the direction of the man. He no longer felt the severe pain in his side. He used the momentum of his roll, kicking the man below the knee with his leg cast.

“Urgh!”

The man staggered back a few steps. Rufus got up and swung the whip in the direction of the man. The whip wrapped itself around the man's arm, and he dropped his rifle. Fortunately for Rufus, it fell right by his feet. He quickly stooped down and pointed the rifle at the man's chest.

“I win.”

Suddenly, smoke started filling the room.

“You stupid F-! Come on! Fire! You’ll be burned to death anyway! How are you going to free yourself from the chains!?”

Rufus had no choice but to let the man live for now. He quickly considered how he could reason with him.

“You killed Mutten?”

“Yeah, I did. We grew up together! He’s always been treating me like s***! ”

“I see. Then he only has himself to blame.”

“Don’t try to draw me to your side. I haven't forgotten how you humiliated me!”

This must be karma, thought Rufus. He couldn't have possibly guessed things would turn out like this. That moment, a shot rang out and the man collapsed. Rufus looked at the rifle in his hands. At first he thought he had accidentally fired it himself. But the next moment, he noticed another person had entered the room.

* * *

“Boss!”

The front garden of Kylegate's mansion, which was located in the outskirts of Kalm, was completely overcrowded with refugees from Midgar. The fire had been started in the kitchen. The four Turks arrived shortly after the property had burnt down.

“Boss!”

The Turks frantically searched for Rufus amongst the emaciated refugees. Soon, they received a vital tip-off.

“Someone saw a middle aged man carrying out a man in a white suit that had his head and feet in bandages,” said Elena with a worried face.

“That must be the President,” Tseng said.

“Who could the middle aged man be?” asked Reno.

“We need to question the refugees! “said Rude.

“Just one question, Chief, “Reno said, eyes narrowing. “Can we do this the Turks’ way? They all hate Shin-Ra anyway.”

“You have my permission. But do not harm the volunteers who are helping with the construction, clear?”

“Why?”

“The plan to rebuild the city is most likely the President’s idea.”

* * *

Just moments ago in the cellar of the burning mansion, a middle aged man was pointing a gun at Rufus.

“How do you feel, President Rufus Shin-Ra?”

It was the doctor who had examined Rufus.

“...Not so great.”

“Then you should throw away your gun. It’ll just make things worse for you.”

Since they both held rifles, the doctor's words irritated Rufus a little, because, really, he wasn't in any worse position. Rufus felt uneasy at the doctor’s words.

“Doctor. If you throw yours away, then I will do the same.”

The doctor just smiled and pointed his gun barrel directly to Rufus' face. Rufus watched as he tightened his finger on the trigger slightly. Without hesitating, he pulled the trigger of his rifle, which was aimed at the doctor's chest. Other than a quiet "click", nothing could be heard.

“Mr. Shin-Ra. You didn’t know the man who possessed that gun. He hated Mutten. All Mutten did was make him do all the dirty work, while he reaped the benefits for himself. That’s why he emptied every last round into Mutten's body, venting his years of frustration. Except for one last shot, which I guess went off down here."

Rufus sighed as he looked at the corpse on the floor.

He never did think about the consequences did he?

“My Name is Kilmister. When I was younger, I worked for the Shin-Ra Company. Well, I was only an assistant to the assistant of Professor Hojo."

He’s one of Hojo’s staff — I have a bad feeling about this.

“Now throw away that gun.”

Rufus saw no alternative, and threw the gun to Kilmister’s feet. Kilmister took out a small vial from his pocket and handed it to Rufus.

“Take a sniff of this. It will make you unconscious for a moment. If you don’t, I’ll shoot. I’m going to need your help, so I won’t kill you, but that doesn't mean I won't hurt you,”

As Kilmister finished, he handed the vial to Rufus. Rufus took it, and when he opened it, he recognized the smell right away. It was the same drug Mutten had given him in Kalm.

* * *

When he came to, Rufus found himself on the back of a truck. Besides himself, there were nine other people . Five young men and four women, all around the same age. They all looked exhausted, crouching with their arms around their knees. That wasn't the only thing they had in common. At first he thought the people were just covered in dirt, but on closer inspection it was clear that their skin was covered in a black liquid. Even their hair was covered by the sticky substance. Their occasional groaning was a clear indication that they were suffering. The young woman next to Rufus lost her balance and fell into him.

“...I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“You— You don’t have the disease,” she said in a sorrowful voice. “I’m really sorry if you get infected.”

Rufus broke his ribs when he slid down the shaft from the top floor of the Shin-Ra Building. Then he was held captive and tortured. Not to mention that he had been threatened with a weapon. After all of that, would it be this disease that finishes him off? Rufus laughed at the thought of it. He didn't know anything about this strange disease, but he definitely didn't need anymore brushes with fate. Stuck here on the back of the truck, there was nothing he could do about it. Even though the road conditions weren't the best, Kilmister put his foot on the gas and the truck bounced more the faster drove. Rufus considered whether he should dare to jump off the back, but Kilmister's words came to mind:

"I’m going to need your help, so I won’t kill you."

Kilmister probably wouldn't actually kill him.

I doubt my life’s in danger. Wherever it is he’s taking me it will probably be better than passing out in the wild here.

* * *

Kilmister stopped the truck in a rocky inlet near the coast in front of the entrance of a cave. Just like when he was taken to Mutten’s cellar, Rufus had been unconscious for most of the trip, so he had no idea how far away they were from Kalm. The fact that they were at the coast meant they were no more than three to four hours away. Even uninjured, that distance would be difficult on foot.

Kilmister pointed his rifle at the patients and gave them instructions. But even without threatening them, it didn’t look like they had the strength to fight back. The young woman Rufus had spoken to earlier, helped him off the truck bed. Since he had no walking stick, he had to support himself on her shoulder until they reached the cave entrance.

“I hope we both get better soon,” said the woman.

Indeed I hope so too, thought Rufus.

As soon as they entered the cave, there was a steep drop. There was a 5 meter long ladder placed almost vertically against the cave wall. Rufus had difficulty climbing down. Once he reached the bottom, he tried to look up, which, with his whiplash, caused severe pain to his neck. The slope was too steep and slippery for them to climb without a ladder. As expected, Kilmister removed the ladder once everyone reached the bottom.

"Inside, there are several passageways, all of which lead to dead ends. Choose one and make yourselves at home"

“What about our treatment?” asked a young man.

"If I call you, you come here. No harm will come to you,”

Kilmister answered in a calming tone and then disappeared.

To their surprise, they found enough beds for everyone, even hospital gowns were laid out for them. Each of the patients brought their things through one of the passageways and settled there, as they were told. Out of habit, Rufus chose a place to rest, which was deepest into the cave system, and a fair distance away from the others.Not long afterwards, a teenager, whose symptoms weren't quite as bad as the others, went around distributing food - bread, cheese and water.

“Was everyone threatened with a gun and brought here?” asked Rufus.

“No. We’ve all been Doctor Kilmister’s patients since we were children. He’s the local doctor in Kalm. When he said that he would cure our disease, we trusted him as always. I and a few others helped him bring stuff here to this hospital.”

“Hospital?”

“Yeah. We all have to be placed in quarantined. He told us that if we stayed in the town we'd eventually be chased out...”

The boy looked nervous as he spoke.

“He only has the gun so that you don't try to run away.”

“I’m a patient too, but… It looks like he doesn’t trust me. By the way, where exactly are we?”

“He told us not to tell you.”

Looks like this stay won’t exactly be the most pleasant, thought Rufus.

One day, it was Rufus' turn to be treated by Dr. Kilmister. At the foot of caves entrance, a partitioned examination room was set up. While Kilmister changed Rufus' plaster, the boy who had distributed the food stood behind him with a gun in his hand.

“Doctor. Is there any progress being made towards the cure for this disease?”

“Of course.”

Rufus noticed as Kilmister glanced over at the boy.

“What are you after.”

“Why, I’m a doctor. I simply want to rid the world of this disease.”

“That is commendable. But why did you bring me here?”

“Jenova.”

“What?”

Of everything Rufus had expected to hear, that name was definitely not one of them.

“Those suffering from this disease have alot of cellular similarities to those of members of the military I examined during my research for Professor Hojo. Of course, these were no ordinary troops, but the fighters of the elite SOLDIER.”

“Please explain,”

In reaction to Rufus' words, Kilmister and the boy exchanged glances again.

“I will, in due time,”

Kilmister remained silent and continued with his treatment.

“At least tell me this – Is it contagious?”

“I will also tell you this in due time.”

It was clear for Rufus that the disease was not contagious.

Hmmm It can’t be contagious, thought Rufus.

* * *

Three months had passed. The bandages that supported Rufus’ ribs had already been removed, and finally the day had come that he could bid farewell to the cast around his leg. Kilmister solemnly handed him a walking stick.

“This pipe used to be part of the Shin-Ra Building.”

“What’s the situation in Midgar now?”

“The disease is still endemic. The number of infected is rising. But there are still a lot of people working hard on the new town to the east of Midgar. The work there is progressing feverishly.”

“Who's leading them?”

“Well, it seems there are a number of different groups. By the way, Mr. President – Do you know anything about the Shin-Ra Company’s assassins?”

Rufus shook his head and waited for Kilmister to continue.

“All those who have gained unauthorized access to the company buildings and warehouses received a threatening letter. It said that they would lose their lives if they tried it again. Since the sender obviously knows their whereabouts, nobody dares to go there.“

*slight laugh*Those foolish Turks,

Rufus smiled to himself.

“Mr President. There is still time, but I would like some of Shin-Ra's equipment. Could you tell your assassins for me?”

“What sort of equipment?”

Rufus spoke calmly, trying to hide his very real anxiety.

“Professor Hojo’s equipment.”

“And you’ll be using it for our treatment I presume.”

Kilmister smiled, and for moment Professor Hojos sinister grin came into Rufus' mind.

“...Of course. Also, as I mentioned before, I still need...”

“Jenova.”

“Exactly. Where is Jenova now?”

“I don’t know. I was going to look for it after leaving this place-”

Kilmister suddenly looked at Rufus as if evaluating his worth.

“Fine, then we must find a new location. This place is not suitable for research purposes.”

Research…

“Dr. Kilmister. Are you a doctor or are you a scientist?”

Kilmister fell silent for a moment.

“Your treatment’s is over”

Kilmister took out the gun from under his lab coat and pointed it at Rufus.

* * *

Afterwards, Rufus spent some time to learn how to walk again. Due to his still ongoing whiplash injury, he sometimes felt dizzy, but after a while he was able to move freely in the cave complex. He took a look around at the other "rooms". Some of them were no longer inhabited. The boy who had brought him food and water was now dead. There were now three men and two women left. Four of the nine patients had already died from the disease.

In one of the rooms, he saw a woman who groaning with pain. She was the woman he had spoken to on the truck. Beside her, sat a worried looking man, taking care of her. He noticed Rufus standing there.

“The doctor said there isn’t much medicine left, so he’s reducing the dose. I gave her mine too, but it looks like it’s wearing off.”

It didn’t look like there was anything Rufus could do for them. He made his way to the treatment area and called to Kilmister. The man soon appeared in his white lab coat, looking quite frustrated.

“They tell me there’s not much medicine left.”

“Yes. Practically everything I had has been used up.”

“You had medicine?”

Does that mean he’s had a cure for this disease all along?

“Wait there,”

Kilmister disappeared for a moment and came back with a ladder.

“Can you climb up?”

Rufus grabbed hold of the ladder, thinking it was his chance to escape. He climbed up carefully and finally reached the top, but he found the barrel of Kilmister’s gun pointing in his face.

“Hold it, you hear me from there.”

Now that Kilmister's face was close, Rufus could see that his skin was pale and he was sweating heavily.

“You don’t look too well, Doctor.”

“I want medicine.”

“What medicine?”

It became clear that Kilmister had been giving the patients a slightly diluted version of the stimulant that the Shin-Ra Company had administered to members of SOLDIER.

“It can’t cure the disease, but it can at least alleviate the pain.”

“So that’s what their so called "treatment" is?”

“I haven’t been tricking them. I have to figure out the cause of the disease first. Until then, I can do nothing more than to deal with the symptoms.”

“And you’ve been infected too?”

“No,”

Kilmister explained that by taking a diluted version of the stimulant, he could work without sleep.

“But you can become dependent on the stuff,”

Rufus was speechless at first, but he quickly realized that he had found a way to control Kilmister. A satisfied smile crept across his face.

“Do you have a phone? Or a pen and some paper.”

“Who are you going to contact?”

“Shin-Ra’s assassins. They know where the stimulants are stored.”

Kilmister's eyes lit up for a moment, but he wasn't going to be guided by impulses. He ordered Rufus to go back down the ladder. A few moments later he threw a pen an some paper down and told Rufus to write him a letter to the Turks. Rufus wrote only about the procurement of the stimulants. He needed to earn Kilmister’s trust for now. The Turks would know what they had to do.

Kilmister had gone to Midgar with the letter, and hadn't returned for quite a while. The Turks had not appeared either. The food rations, which Kilmister distributed before he left, were slowly running out. Rufus had instructed Kilmister to go to the Shin-Ra building, to ask for the Turks and hand over the letter to them. He was expected to return with the medicine within three days - unknowingly leading the Turks right to him. It had now been over a week.

Rufus had got into the habit of passing time by walking around the entire cave system every day. The woman's condition was getting worse and she was drifting in and out of consciousness. The man who looked after her was now suffering from severe pain, but he still found the strength to hold her hand, hoping for a miracle.

“I’m sure Kilmister will be back soon,”

That moment, Rufus wondered why he had said that to them. He had nothing to support his statement.

Why did I say that to them?

Everything went quiet all of a sudden. The fact that it had been raining outside for quite some time hadn't escaped Rufus, but he would never have imagined the water would penetrate into the cave. And not just at the cave entrance - water was starting to leak from the ceiling too. It seemed there were small cracks in the ceiling, and water was streaming down the walls as though they were mounted with faucets.

It had been raining outside for days and suddenly Rufus realized the water was getting into the cave too. It wasn’t just at the entrance either. The water was starting to leak through the roof where Rufus has been staying. It appeared there were many holes and water was now streaming its way in like the taps were turned on.

After so many days of rain why does this suddenly happen now? The water must have accumulated somewhere, thought Rufus. We have to evacuate somehow.

As he made his way to the cave entrance, he spoke to all of the other residents and briefly explained the situation to them.

He stood below the cave entrance and looked up, which still hurt his neck, but there were no signs of anyone around. All he could hear was the steady patter of rain. Rufus looked around carefully. If the rainwater were to flood the entire cave, they could just float for a while, until the water level had risen high enough for them to reach the exit.

“This is the least I can do…”

Rufus went back inside and told the others that they should prepare to evacuate. There was no answer. By now, the patients had gone more than a week without the stimulant, which acted as a painkiller. The were too focused on withstanding the pain to even utter a word.

“Five people huh…”

Rufus resolutely began carrying the patients, one by one, to the entrance of the cave. All had become so emaciated that even Rufus, who himself wasn't exactly in the best physical condition, was somehow able to drag them to the entrance.

The water was already up to their ankles and was rising quickly. Rufus looking around for something that could serve as a flotation device. He noticed a couple of wooden beds. A piece floated away from them on the surface of the water. First he removed the metal fittings from the folding beds, then disassembled them, and pushed the wooden frame together with the slats toward the entrance. They moved surprisingly fast with the current. Rufus returned to the patients.

“Those of you who can swim, swim. If you can’t, then hold onto these frames. One person per frame.”

A few hours later, the water level had risen to Rufus’ chin. Some of the patients could no longer stand and were relying on the wooden frames to keep them afloat.

I’ve done all I can now –
Rufus had done everything in his power. He cleared his mind and concentrated on the ledge high above him. In the end, he too had to take one of the slats in order to stay afloat. After a few more hours, the water had risen so far that they were only a meter or so from the ledge. Suddenly the situation changed. The water had stopped rising.

Did the rain stop or did it have something to do with the geography of the cave?
Rufus bit his lower lip. We’ll just have to wait for help.

When he looked around, he noticed that two of the patients were missing. Now there were only two men and a woman. It was the young woman from the trucks. She was grasping onto two bed frames, one stacked on top of the other, the man who had looked after her held on too. As Rufus wondered if maybe she was already dead, there was a sign of life from her, she grimaced with pain. Somehow, Rufus found himself breathing a sigh of relief.

A few more hours passed, but their situation hadn't changed. The water level had neither risen or fallen. Rufus could feel his body temperature dropping having been submerged in the water for so long. Inwardly, he had already accepted death.

We don’t have long left, he thought.

“Huh?”

He felt as if someone had called out to him, but there was no one around that had the strength left to do so. When he looked around, he thought he saw movement on the surface of the water. Something black slowly made its way toward Rufus. He narrowed his eyes in order to see more clearly. At first he assumed it was some of the black ichor coming from one of the patients. However, it moved through the water as though it had a will, as though it were moving in a specific path. Frightened, Rufus tried pushing the water away from himself in an effort to expel the approaching black liquid. But the waves Rufus created had no effect on it. It moved independent of the current.

Soon, Rufus' white suit was covered in the viscous black substance. The suit was already dirty, so wasn't its usual pristine white, since he had been wearing it every waking second, day in, day out - in the event that the possibility of escape should arise. He looked at his sleeves which were now dyed jet black

This is the end.

The black liquid crept up his neck and finally reached his face. Rufus felt like it was trying to get into his mouth, so he desperately kept it closed. But there was still his nose! He quickly held it with his hand. Although he would suffocate, he would much preferred this death. But when the liquid reached his ears, he could no longer stop it. He pulled himself together, because he didn't want to cry under any circumstances. A short time later, he lost consciousness.

It tried his nose next. He covered his nose with his hand. He wasn’t going to be able to breathe now but he would rather suffocate than let the ooze win. However, the ooze soon made its way into his ears and with a cry, Rufus lost consciousness.

* * *

“Mr. President! Mr. President!”

Rufus regained consciousness with the sound of someone calling to him.

“The flood was most unfortunate. Sorry I’m so late,”

Kilmister lowered the ladder into the water. Rufus grabbed onto it, wondering how he was still alive. As he looked around, the only remaining patients were the woman and the man, who clung desperately to the bed frames.

“Hey, are you two alright?”

The man looked up.

“Help has arrived!”

At first, the man looked at Rufus apathetically, but soon his expression signaled that he had understood. Quickly, he looked over at the woman and called to her, and she weakly nodded her head in reply. Rufus wanted to help the woman and stretched out his hand to her. Suddenly, a gunshot rang out above their heads. The woman drifted away from the wooden frames, floating for a moment, and finally sank into the water.

“Pamela!”

The man let go of the frame and tried to swim toward her, but he didn't have the strength. Rufus still grasping onto his own frame, and pushed himself off the wall with his feet to catch up with him. When he reached him, he grabbed his arm.

“Pamela…”

He cried out, but could hardly even breath. man wailed but couldn’t find the strength to cry out any louder. Rufus dragged him through the water and they reached the ladder.

“Get up.”

“But-”

“You must think of nothing but survival.”

The man stared for a while at the spot where Pamela had sunk into the water. Rufus realized that, until now, he didn't know the woman's name. After a while, the man looked up at Kilmister. He had hatred in his eyes.

“We couldn't do any more for her. I was simply easing her pain. Pamela wouldn’t hate me for that.”

Somehow, Rufus doubted that Pamela would see it that way, and could understand the man's reaction. He seemed hesitant, but soon started to climb the ladder.

Indeed, nothing can be done for her now. But what about this man?

“What’s your name?” asked Rufus.

“Judd.”

“Judd, now isn’t the time. Leave Kilmister to me.”

Judd climbed up the ladder without responding. As he reached the top, Rufus made his way up behind him. Before he could set foot on the surface, he felt a sudden surge of pain tear through his entire body. He could feel something seeping from the corner of his mouth. As he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, he saw the same sticky black liquid that had been oozing out of Pamela and Judd.

“My, my, Mr. President. Looks like you'll also be needing the stimulant from now on,”

Kilmister had a cheerful tone to his voice.

“Ugh-”

Rufus heard Kilmister struggling above, and the next moment his rifle sailed past him, falling into the water with a loud splash. Rufus suppressed the pain and looked up. It was obvious that someone was choking him from behind.

You fool, Judd! I told you this isn’t the time!

“Argh!”

This time it was Judd who cried out in pain. Rufus was relieved and suddenly felt as though a weight had been lifted from him. He almost let go of the ladder. Finally, with all the strength he had left, he cried out,

“You’re late!”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” smiled Reno.


* * *


Cliff Resort was built in the early days of Shin-Ra Company as a health spa for its staff. However, people preferred spending time by the sea than in the mountains, so it was eventually shut down. The lodges A number remained in the same condition for all these years. Rufus, Tseng, Elena, Reno, rude, Kilrnister and Judd split into two cars and made their way there. Waiting there, were a large number of patients. Most of whom were patients of Dr. Kilmister that the Turks had brought from Kalm. Rufus was suspicious at first, but Tseng explained everything to him.

* * *

A little over a week ago, Kilmister showed up at the Shin-Ra Building and called loudly for the Turks. Reno and Rude were on guard duty at the time. Kilrnister said that he had a letter from Rufus Shin-Ra for them. Full of hope that they could finally find out about the whereabouts of Rufus, Reno and Rude came out of hiding and went to Kilmister.

All the letter said was, “Give as much of the stimulant as possible to this doctor”. Since they could make head nor tail of it, and were suspicious whether the letter really came from Rufus, they told him to come back the next day. Rude then went back to their makeshift office in sector five to consult with Tseng, while Reno tailed Kilmister.

Tseng somehow felt that it really was the President’s handwriting, but couldn't say for sure. However, he came to the conclusion that they should give the doctor the stimulants and then secretly follow him.

Reno followed Kilmister, which led him to Kalm. Kilmister had apparently disappeared from his clinic about half a year ago, and the refugees had set up a small hospital themselves. The patients celebrated his return and pleaded with him to treat them. Reno watched through the window as Kilmister grumpily examined patients. He came to the conclusion that Kilmister's own health was waning.

The next day, Kilmister returned to the foyer of the Shin-Ra building and and examined the piled up boxes containing the stimulants. He opened one of the boxes, picked up a canteen of water, diluted some of the stimulant in it, and drank it.

The Turks looked at him dumbfounded, as he sat on the ground and asked them to wait until the drug took effect. He then lay down. The Turks had no choice but to wait, since he was the only one who of Rufus' whereabouts.

After a while Kilmister's complexion and mood had improved considerably. He ordered the Turks to carry the boxes to a location near Midgar. Clearly taking advantage of the situation, he asked Tseng if there was a vacant facility he could make use of. He was looking for a remote, but not too distant place, where a large number of patients could live.According to Kilmister, he wanted to research a cure for the disease and make a contribution to the world. When it became clear that the Turks didn’t quite trust him, he suddenly started telling them about Rufus' current condition. Since he could tell them exactly where Rufus was injured and how badly, the Turks had no choice but to believe him. In addition, he boasted that he was the person who rescued Rufus from captivity in Mutten's mansion, and that the Shin-Ra Company should be grateful to him. When the Turks asked Kilmister why he had waited so long to contact them, he laughed, replying that he wanted to recruit Rufus Shin-Ra to his cause.

Cliff Resort immediately came to Tseng's mind and he decided to lead Kilmister there. The doctor was very impressed with the location and immediately ordered the patients to be brought there. The Turks were reluctant to take orders from a drug-dependent doctor, but Kilmister threatened to leave them in the dark about Rufus' whereabouts if they didn't comply with his wishes.

So they followed his instructions and made several trips to transfer the patients from the Kalm to the Cliff Resort. Kilmister ordered the Turks around as if they were his subordinates. But eventually, he was so pleased with the way things were going, he agreed to lead them to Rufus.

The fact that they had arrived at the cave a little later than Kilmister, was due to the fact that Reno had lost sight of the doctor’s truck in the heavy rain and flooded roads. Reno later insisted that his failure was actually a triumph, by claiming that it was all thanks to his unique instincts that lead them to the cave, even without any guidance.

* * *

Rufus spent his time in the Cliff Resort as a patient. There still was no cure, so he just took the diluted stimulant, which merely suppressed the pain. On good days, when he didn't have a fever, the Turks filled him in on the latest developments, and talked about their plans for the future.

One day, something suddenly popped into Rufus' mind while talking to Reno.
“What’s at the center of the new city?”

“Hmmm, a plaza. A big round plaza with nothing there. There’s a road extending straight to Midgar from it and surrounding it are other streets. That’s why we call it the center of the city.”

“In that case, build something there. Yes, build a monument there.”

“What kinda monument?”

“An ostensible kind- A monument to commemorate how the planet repelled Meteor.”

“An ostensible kind? Then what’s its true purpose?”

“To claim our place.”

“Ah! Having it in the center of the city means Shin-Ra owns the place! You come up with the best ideas, Boss!” replied Reno.

* * *

The Shin-Ra Company was still being held responsible by the general public for the disaster, but since they provided materials and equipment, as well as fuel and medicines, they soon enjoyed at least some degree of respect and trust.

One of Shin-Ra’s former executives, Reeve, made a large contribution by sending building materials and workers from Junon. It was clear that Reeve had now assumed a hostile attitude toward Shin-Ra, but as long as the work of the Turks and Veld rounded up former company employees for the benefit of the Society, he wouldn't cross them.

Reno, with the help of some volunteers, began to construct the monument. Many people were excited by the idea of building a landmark in the center of the city, and were happy to help. Amongst them, there were even some who knew that Shin-Ra was behind it, and protested, but Reno always dealt with this problem "the Turk's way".

The number of patients at Cliff Resort fluctuated, but all in all the place worked wonderfully as a spa. However, one day there was uproar when Kilmister announced that at present rate of consumption, the stimulant would soon be used up. Elena had become accustomed to life in the town and had become close to the people, so one day she suggested they should distribute the stimulants in the town. Rufus had agreed to this, but it resulted in the depletion of stocks in the warehouse. So Rufus ordered the Turks to gather together the anyone who has pharmaceutical knowledge, and begin the production of the stimulant - but under a different name.

They had intended to use Shin-Ra’s facilities, and if necessary, they could negotiate something with Reeve, but Kilmister wasn't satisfied. He demanded that they should first secure a was not sufficient amount for Cliff Resort.

Tseng and the others knew that he was only thinking of his own dependence, but for some unknown reason, Rufus was always very lenient with him. The stimulant was obtained from the tail of the Nibel bear. Since the dose of the active ingredient used to relieve pain wasn't as high as for it's actual purpose, it was possible to produce a substantial amount from only one tail. Elena immediately set off to take care of the procurement of the active ingredient.

“Hey Rude,” Reno looking unusually troubled. “Why's the Boss being so lenient with Kilmister?”

“He’s waiting for the results of his research. That’s what I think.”

“What research? If he’s just going to waste money to kill a little pain then even I can do it,” Reno grunted.

“I’ve provided some of my cells as one of the healthy people. He should find out something soon enough.”

“I want wouldn't mind being examined. I mean, we’re surrounded by so many sick people, but nothing’s happened to us. Weird, isn’t it?”

“The Boss said it isn’t contagious,”

Reno admitted his doubts and Rude gave him a playful punch to the side

“How about a little training, partner? Been a while.”

“Why?”

“A healthy mind and a healthy body. If both is in harmony, we won’t fall ill.”

“Stop talking like an old geezer,”

In the same breath, Reno took a fighting stance, and soon they were engaged in a sweat-inducing Sparring match.

* * *

Hooligans – That's how the elderly patients at the Cliff Resort referred to Rufus and his entourage. Some said they couldn't understand why the cohesion of this group was so strong. Even in changing times like these, they still saw themselves as the President staff, but why they were still clinging to these long outdated hierarchy, wasn't quite so clear. To outsiders, they seemed at times like children playing adults. Children who either had nothing enjoyable to look forward to at home, or had no home at all, and therefore indulged entirely in their game.

* * *

One evening, two years after that fated day, Rufus dropped by Kilmister’s room.

“Well, doctor? Shouldn’t it be about time you revealed the results of your research to me? I'm very intrigued to learn what the relation between the disease I have and Jenova is.”

“...Why not. So, first things first, with regard to an effective treatment, there has been no progress since the outbreak of the disease two years ago."

Kilmister, who had obviously just administered a dose of his home-made stimulant, was in a great mood, and delivered this devastating realization almost like a hilarious joke. Rufus listened to him without the slightest change in his facial expressions.

“But I know, in principle, what the cause of the disease is.”

Kilmister continued, explaining how the first patients had come in directly contact with the Lifestream. He proudly announced that this realization came to him quite early, after he had questioned the patients.

“But there is a common characteristic which connects all of the patients. They are all either depressed, or had accepted death - does this sound familiar, Mr President?"

Indeed, thought Rufus.

“A global catastrophe had just occurred, naturally they had many concerns and fears about the future, and that death was near. That's why the number of patients had risen so much. Also…”

Kilmister then came to the subject of the black liquid. Rufus remembered the black liquid in the flooded cave - the black liquid that seemed to have a mind of its own.

“Among the patients, the vast majority had seen this black liquid in hindsight. I believe they have either come in contact with, or drank the water without noticing it. We are talking about water after all. If you think of it like that, it can reach you wherever you are, if it wants to."

“What do you mean when you say "if you think of it like that"?” Rufus asked, curious in the doctor’s choice of words.

“The pain and fever the patients suffer from are symptoms that their immune systems are fighting against a foreign body. Compared to other diseases, perhaps this one is too fierce for the body's immune system to handle, but with this opponent, it's perhaps no surprise..."

“And who is this "opponent", as you put it?”

“…Sephiroth’s genes... or Jenova’s genes – or rather, remnants of their shared consciousness. It's as I told you before. They resemble the distinct characteristics of members of SOLDIER.”

Rufus froze at the mention of Sephiroth's name - in fact, this had vaguely crossed his mind when he had been overpowered by the black liquid.

“Mr President. I would like to investigate Jenova. Where is it now?”

Kilmister showed no concern about Rufus' reaction.

“Unfortunately, I do not know of its whereabouts either.”

“Then order your subordinates to find it.”

“Let me think about it.”

“Fine, but don't take too long.”

Rufus just nodded. Kilmister made his way to the door. He was still quite excited and appealed to Rufus once more.
"There was a project that I once proposed, which was rejected by Professor Hojo. I'm dying to give it a try. I'm sure I can create something even beyond Sephiroth."

Just as he was about to leave the room, Kilmister said in his usual tone,

“Long ago Professor Hojo rejected a project I proposed. Even now I am itching to give it a try. I think we might be able to create something beyond Sephiroth.”

“What about the cure?” asked Rufus without turning round.

“It's too late for those who already show symptoms of the disease. Those who are health should be fine as long as they don’t cloud their hearts with darkness. You're welcome to announce this to the public... but don't mention the water. It would just lead to panic..”

Rufus, who himself suffered from the disease, left the room in silence.

* * *

The next morning, Kilmister was found dead. Somebody had shot him. As Tseng examined his corpse, Judd approached him and confessed to the crime.

“Where did you get the gun?”

“I can’t tell you – I wasn’t told to keep quiet about it, but I owe the person that much.”

When Tseng reported the situation to Rufus, he didn’t seem surprised.

"oh"

“Tseng, listen to me.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Shin-Ra Company must find Jenova and secure it.”

“…Yes, Sir.”

“Our goal is to keep it safe and not let anyone get their hands on it, be it mad scientists or-”

Rufus remembered Kilmister’s words, “Or remnants loitering in the Lifestream.”

“Yes, sir. I'll make the necessary preparations at once.”

* * *

Rude and Reno were in the process of repainting the sign to Cliff Resort to the name 'Healen Lodge'.

“‘Healin’? What does that mean?”

“It means to heal the world.”

Reno and Rude turned to find Rufus approaching from behind them.

“Our methods maybe a bit reckless, but... We are Shinra Company. It won’t surprise anyone."

Rufus’s voice tingled with excitement.

"Let's get to work.”