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.

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