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,,,,,,,,,<div class="wrapper"><div class="title">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="subtitle">Part One: The Sprawl</div>
<div class="mainmenu">- [[Hello there, wanna-be hero. You ready for your journey?|Start]] -
- [[About this project|About]] -
</div></div><div class="background">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">The idea for this story came from two sources.
The first was the revelation that Hironobu Sakaguchi's original vision for //Final Fantasy VII// resembled a detective story: http://www.ff7citadel.com/updates/00000224.shtml
The second was the presence of the text "Dark city fourth street" in a certain part of //FFVII//'s Debug Room: http://www.ff7citadel.com/secrets/sp_giantaeris.shtml
I learned and wrote about both things, as seen in these links, during my stint as Webmaster of the FFVII Citadel.
Here, then, is a //Final Fantasy VII// remake from an alternate world. Of course, it is only the first part. For this story, the US translation of the original //FFVII// was used as a reference for the names, places, and events; the Compilation does not exist in this timeline. The charaters' basic personalities have been preserved... most of them, anyway.
--RKasa, April 2020
//''DARK CITY FOURTH STREET ver. 1.0''//
//''- Credits -''//
''Writing, Design, and Programming:'' RKasa
''Game Engine:'' Twine 2.2.1
''Story Format:'' SugarCube 2.21.0
''Special Thanks:'' Hironobu Sakaguchi and the other creators of //Final Fantasy VII//
• [[How about it? Have you made up your mind? Mind boggling adventures await you.|Start]]
• [[Return to Title|Title]]
</div><div class="background">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">I opened the door. Standing there was a woman dressed in a coat and dark blue dress, both of which stopped just above her knees. The latter clung to her form, which had more curves than the snowboarding slopes north of Icicle. Doing my best to remain professional, I refocused my attention on her face, but most of it was obscured by the wide brim of her hat.
Something about her bothered me. Perhaps it was because she was completely dry, but as I thought about it, I realized that wasn't it. There's an umbrella stand in the foyer downstairs, so she must've used that before coming here.
"Are you Mr. Strife, private detective?" she asked.
"Yeah, that's me. Do you need something?"
"I'd like to hire you for a job. I'm willing to pay."
Music to my ears. "If that's the case, come on in."
I stepped back and welcomed her inside with a flourish of my hand. "Sorry about the low lighting, trying to save electricity, you know. Can I get you anything?"
"No, that's all right."
I looked at her face again, but still could not see anything other than her full pink lips, the tip of her nose, and the simple earrings she wore. I couldn't even tell you about the color or length of her hair; it was either pinned up or very short. Perhaps that little itch in the back of my mind would go away if I asked her to remove that hat, but on the other hand, maybe it didn't matter.
• [[Ask her if she'd like to take off her hat and coat|Avalanche 01]]
• [[Say nothing about the hat or coat|Shinra 01]]
</div><div class="background">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">I grimaced. It was probably my landlady with a fresh new complaint. There's no way someone would seek out my services this late at night.
I undid the knot in my tie and started unbuttoning my shirt as I ambled toward the small back room I called home. All it contained was a cot, a dresser, and a small washroom, but I couldn't afford both this office and a "proper" apartment. Besides, I didn't need a whole lot to survive.
Whoever it was at the door knocked again, and then a third time, before giving up and going away. By that time, I was undressed and halfway into bed. I was sure they'd be back at a more reasonable hour to try again.
Joke was on me, though. They never came back.
''The End''
• <<back "For those in a hurry">> (rewind to previous passage)
• [[For those with a little time|Title]] (return to the beginning)
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">I gestured to the coat rack standing next to the door. "Would you like to take off your coat and hat?"
The woman nodded. She shrugged out of her coat, which I took from her as her arms left her sleeves. I turned around to hang it up on the coat rack, only to look back at a pair of dark brown eyes which I hadn't seen in five years.
"Tifa? Tifa Lockheart?"
Her hat now being held by both hands in front of her, she averted her eyes slightly and nodded. Her long brown hair was done up into a bun; together with the dress, she looked like an elegant lady on her way to see //Loveless// in the theater district. I picked up the hat and gingerly placed it on a hook above the coat.
"It's been a long time, hasn't it?" she said.
"Yeah. I'm sure we have a lot of stuff to catch up on, but it's late and you said you have a job for me."
"Yeah, I do."
I pulled out one of the chairs in front of my desk. "Have a seat?"
"Sure."
Without sitting back down myself, I buried my hands in my pockets and stared at her. "So what's going on?"
She looked around nervously, her eyes darting from place to place, examining every corner of my office.
"Tifa? Is there something wrong?"
"N-no, nothing. It's just, well, what I need to talk to you about is of a sensitive nature, and I can't have anyone overhearing us."
I cocked an eyebrow and folded my hands as I leaned my back against the desk. "Is this something that could get me into trouble?"
She nodded. "Big time."
• [[Ask her to tell you more.|Avalanche 02]]
• [[Politely decline the job.|Neutral End 01]]
</div><div class="bg-shinra">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">I chose to ignore the fact that I couldn't see most of my guest's face. What was important was the job itself. I pulled out a chair from the front of my desk and invited her to use it, but she remained standing. Sighing, I leaned up against my desk and crossed my arms.
"So, miss, tell me: what brings you here tonight?"
She took a brief glance around the office before answering. "I, or rather, the person who sent me here needs to have a group called AVALANCHE investigated. We believe they're plotting something, but we don't know what yet."
"AVALANCHE? Never heard of 'em."
"Most people haven't. They're an environmental group believed to be headquartered somewhere in the slums."
"Under the plate, eh? That's a big place. And what exactly are these environmentalists planning? A protest? A boycott?"
"Something bigger than that, and potentially destructive. That's all we know."
I turned the woman's words over in my mind. An environmental group was targeting her boss, or the boss's organization. It didn't take me long to put two and two together.
"So why's Shinra coming to a private eye instead of investigating this themselves?"
Something about the way I said that must've set her off, because the next thing I knew, she had snatched the hat off of her head and slammed it into the chair I'd previously offered her. I could see now that she had short straight blonde hair, carefully pinned back, and bright brown eyes, which were now glaring at me.
"We //are// investigating this, but we're only capable of so much! A private detective such as yourself might be able to turn up a few things we overlooked. Or are you too dense to realize that?"
I glared back. "You sure you wanna piss off someone you're trying to hire? Which department sent you here? Peace Preservation? Urban Dev.? The Turks?"
"You don't need to worry about that. All you need to know is that, yes, I do work for the Shinra Electric Power Company."
"I bet it's the Turks," I said, pretending to ignore her. "I've heard that they sometimes send candidates for possible future openings on little missions such as hiring outsiders for investigations. Seems like a lot of these candidates are young women. You're another one hoping to get into Reno's pants, eh?"
"It's not Reno-- I mean, I'm not..."
As she trailed off, I furrowed my brows and stared at the floor. There were benefits to working with Shinra. For one thing, they paid better than anyone else. On the downside, taking a lot of jobs from them wasn't a good look for a detective who wanted to maintain a reputation of being impartial and independent. I had to think about this.
"So, are you interested or not?"
• [[Tell her you're interested|Shinra 02]]
• [[Tell her you're not interested|Neutral End 01]]
</div><div class="background">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body"><<set $flower to 0>><<set $tifaflower to 0>><<set $marleneflower to 0>><<set $avaclient to 0>><<set $meetaeris to 0>><<set $silkdress to 0>><<set $satindress to 0>>It was a rainy Tuesday night on Fourth Street, in Sector Four of Midgar, the smog-choked largest city on the planet. Not quite a downpour, but more than a drizzle. Certainly enough to keep most people from walking around outside, even during rush hour. Still, whether people chose to travel by foot or by vehicle, all this rain was bad for business.
Who am I, you ask? The name's Strife, Cloud Strife, former SOLDIER First-Class with Shinra's Peace Preservation department. I don't wanna get into my backstory now, but the short version is that I arrived in Midgar six months ago and set up this detective agency. The rent here on the upper plate is steep, but I managed to finagle a pension from Shinra, so I make do. What would be even nicer is getting a bit of work every once in awhile.
As things were now, I had to run my operation on a shoestring budget just to be able to pay the bills on time. For instance, I'm currently conserving electricity by operating my desk lamp, a ceiling fan turned on low, and nothing else.
I peeked through the vertical blinds for the umpteenth time. The rain showed no sign of stopping, and the prospect of any walk-ins seemed even dimmer. Yawning, I turned away from the window and stared at the door to the back room, where my living quarters were. It was getting late, and some shut-eye was beginning to sound awfully appealing.
Just then, a knock came at the door.
• [[Answer the door|Neutral 01]]
• [[Ignore it|Neutral 02]]
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">I smirked, "Oh yeah? It's a good thing trouble's my middle name, otherwise I might be tempted to turn you down."
"You have a middle name?" she giggled.
"Being in SOLDIER means you can't shy away from trouble."
"Oh... so you made it into SOLDIER? I remember that was your dream when we were kids."
"Yeah, made it all the way to First Class."
"First Class, huh..." She disappeared into her thoughts. What these thoughts were about, I couldn't tell you. To be honest, I thought she would've been happier for me.
"So, enough about the past," she continued. "The reason why I'm here is because an organization I'm affiliated with needs some information."
"What's the name of this organization? And what kind of info are you after?"
"AVALANCHE. Have you heard of them?"
I shook my head. She walked over to where her coat was hung and pulled a flyer from its folds, which she then handed to me. The flyer was full of urgent declarations about mako, the lifeblood of the planet, and how Shinra is sucking it dry to power our appliances, and their ambitions. Seems like AVALANCHE was about preserving the environment.
"As for the info, we need to know certain things about the operation of Midgar's Mako Reactor No. 3. For example, staff shifts, security, that sort of thing."
I glanced up at Tifa from the flyer. AVALANCHE wasn't just any old environmental group.
"What're you planning at the reactor?"
"Why? You want in?"
"No. It's just... it would help me do my job to the best of my ability if I know what your goal is."
"We need to get to the central chamber with as little trouble as possible."
"Why? So you can blow it up?"
Tifa ignored me. "Can you help us gather intel or not?"
• [[Accept the job|Avalanche 03]]
• [[Decline the job|Avalanche End 01]]
• [[Decline the job and secretly report AVALANCHE to Shinra|Shinra 05]]
</div><div class="background">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">I picked up her hat and handed it back to her.
"I'm sorry but I can't risk my reputation on something like that."
"Are you sure you don't want to hear more about the job?"
The light in my office was dim, and the fan didn't do much to cool the stifling summer heat, but I was sure. Given the choice between a little bit more comfort now and a lot of trouble later, there was only one option that made sense.
"Yeah, I'm sure. I'm sorry."
"I see."
"There's a guy named Joe in the slums who may be able to help you. I'm sure he--"
I was cut short by the desperate look on her face. It was my choice not to get myself in too deep, but she didn't have that option.
"I've heard of him. Maybe I'll pay him a visit. Thanks for your time."
After gathering her things, I escorted her to my door and she left the office. Left alone again in the dimly-lit room, I listened to her heels as they clacked along the hallway and faded away down the stairs. A moment later, I saw the top of a large black umbrella walking away from my building.
The rain continued as it had been all night. I frowned and stepped away from the blinds. No point staying up any later.
I sighed and turned off the light.
''The End''
• <<back "For those in a hurry">> (rewind to previous branch)
• [[For those with a little time|Title]] (return to the beginning)
</div><div class="bg-shinra">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">"I'm in. Gimme the details."
"I'm gonna need to have you sign a few things, first."
Sure, of course. This being Shinra I was dealing with, naturally there would be a bureaucratic angle. I skimmed over the contracts and non-disclosure forms she handed me, didn't notice anything problematic, and promptly signed and dated them.
"Now then," the woman said as she finally settled down in the chair, "before we start, I'd like to properly introduce myself. My name is Elena, and, as you surmised, I am a trainee with the Turks. I will be your liason for this mission."
"Mission?" I sneered. "Look, I'm not in SOLDIER anymore, so I don't //do// 'missions'. If we're gonna work together, you need to call this an investigation."
Elena was unamused. "Have a bad experience in SOLDIER?"
I said nothing.
"Anyway, as I said before, a group called AVALANCHE is the focus of our... //investigation//. We need you to figure out what they're currently planning. We may also need for you to embed yourself with the group if you do come across them, so prepare yourself for that. Any questions so far?"
"Just one: you said they're in the slums, but you don't know where? Can you narrow it down for me a bit?"
"A fair point. Right now, we believe they're in Sector One, Sector Three, Sector Seven, or Sector Eight. If you could at least narrow it down to one of those sectors, we'd greatly appreciate it."
"All right. How do I pass on this info when I find it?"
"Contact me via this number," she said, sliding a piece of paper onto my desk, "and we'll go from there."
"And payment?"
"You'll receive a deposit today, and the rest once your role has been completed." Once again, she dug within her coat for some paper, but this time, the paper was in the form of a check. I stared at it harder than I had her curvaceous figure.
"That's all for now," she said. "I expect you'll get started first thing tomorrow?"
"Yeah..." I said, reading the amount on the check over and over again. "Yeah."
"All right. It's late and I should get going. I'll be in touch."
Suddenly realizing what was going on, I snapped out of my trance and saw Elena to the door. After she was gone, I pumped my fist. I was back in business.
[[Next|Shinra 03]]
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">"Of course. Anything to help out an old pal."
Tifa smiled. "Glad to hear it. You need payment in advance, right?"
"Yeah. Just a deposit would be fine for right now."
Tifa dug into her purse and pulled out a worn envelope, which she then handed to me. "This was all we could scrape together. I hope it's enough."
I peeked into the envelope. There was only about three thousand gil inside. Not nothing, but less than what I'd usually charge for this kind of work. "It'll do," I replied. "Now, you said you wanted to know about Reactor No. 3, right? I'll get started on the intel gathering first thing tomorrow."
"Thank you so much, Cloud!" said Tifa. "Let me give you my number so we can keep each other updated."
She took a pen out of her purse and asked if I had any paper. Without a word, I handed her the envelope. After scribbling down her digits, she put her pen away and turned to leave.
"Well, I hope to hear from you soon, detective," she giggled.
"Sure, just leave everything to me."
Tifa closed the door behind her, leaving me standing alone in the dark once again. This job sounded risky, but I trusted Tifa to know what she was getting us into.
I locked the door and started getting ready for bed. Tomorrow was gonna be a long day.
[[Next|Avalanche 04]]
</div><div class="bg-shinra">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">I shook my head. "No... no, I can't."
"What happened to your bravado from before?"
"It came to its senses. Look, Tifa, there's just too much you aren't willing to tell me about this gig. The deal's off."
"Very well," she said, her voice betraying hints of both annoyance and disappointment. "Just... don't tell anyone what I told you. Or that I was here."
"Sure, sure."
Tifa gathered up her belongings and left. After the clack of her heels disappeared, I sauntered over to the window and saw her leave through the front door, open her umbrella and walk away.
I frowned. Tifa was a dear friend from way back, but whatever AVALANCHE was planning sounded dangerous, and if innocent people got caught in the crossfire, it would weigh on my conscience.
I went over to my desk and opened a drawer. It took a few minutes of fumbling around, but eventually I found what I'd been looking for. It was a scrap of paper with a phone number on it. The colleague I got it from said if I ever needed to get in touch with the Shinra, this is who I've gotta call. I fished my PHS cell phone out of my trouser pocket and dialed.
A bored-sounding woman answered the line. "Hello, you've reached the Shinra Manufacturing Department in Administrative Research, this is Elena, how can I help you?"
Shinra Manufacturing... what? It took me a moment to realize she was talking about the Turks. The official name for their division never made much sense to me.
"Got a hot tip for you all. A group called AVALANCHE is planning something for Mako Reactor No. 3. Shinra may want to beef up security there these next few weeks."
"We'll do with this information what we see fit," Elena replied tersely. "Thank you for the tip. Please give us a call again if you have anything else to share. As we now have your number, //we// may also call //you//."
She hung up abruptly. I stared at the phone and muttered to myself, "Sure thing, lady. Now go take that stick out of your ass. See if I give you pricks any other dirt in the future."
I took a deep breath, tossed the phone onto my desk, and began to shut down the office for the night.
[[Next|Shinra 07]]
</div><div class="bg-shinra">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">Tifa and I talked about all sorts of things. The old days in Nibelheim, our respective journeys to Midgar, and what we were doing now. At one point she mentioned that she was volunteering with an environmental group, so I pressed her on that, asking them what they did.
"Oh, you know, just some organizing, protests, putting up flyers, that kind of thing."
"Flyers, huh? Can't say I've ever seen any."
"Really? If you spot one that mentions 'AVALANCHE', then that's us."
Jackpot. Tifa was indeed involved with these AVALANCHE people. "Interesting. So if I want to get involved, how do I do that? Through you?"
She gave me a small smile. "Maybe. We would need to have our leader vet you, though."
"I see." I glanced at my phone's display. "Damn, it's getting late. I need to be going soon."
"Oh, before you do, Cloud, can I ask you something?"
"What is it?"
"Do you know anything about mako reactors? Seeing as how you used to work for Shinra."
Mako reactors? "Not much, though Midgar's reactors supposedly have an interesting technical history, what with how they were built."
"Really? So Reactor No. 3..." she trailed off.
"What about Reactor No. 3? Oh, this is a bit of history I //do// know. Were you aware that despite its name, it wasn't the third mako reactor built in Midgar?"
"No, I didn't know that. Anyway, sorry to bother you about that, didn't mean to go off-topic."
"Sure..." I said, wondering why she was interested in mako reactors all of a sudden. Then, a certain thought occurred to me.
As we waved goodbye to each other, I realized that I needed to ring Elena the moment I got back to the office.
[[Next|Shinra 07]]
</div><div class="bg-shinra">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">I began my investigation the next day.
My first stop was Wall Market, a bustling shopping district in the Sector Six slums. It's a great place to gather information if you're a private eye. There weren't a lot of people here who trusted Shinra, so I figured that if the Turks had already come here, they hadn't turned up much. I found the local pub and took a seat at the bar. My fat check from Shinra had already been deposited, so I was tempted to order some nice expensive bourbon, but I knew that I shouldn't stand out too much while I'm on the clock. I asked the bartender for whatever lager was on tap instead.
During the course of the lunch hour, various patrons came and went. I chatted with a few of them but turned up no leads. Then, I overheard someone at the table behind me.
"Sure hope Tifa's cooked something good tonight."
Tifa... that wasn't a common name. Matter of fact, when I was growing up, there was a girl I had a thing for who had that name. It couldn't be the same Tifa, could it?
I focused my attention on eavesdropping on this conversation.
"You gotta stop eating so damn much, man. You're out of shape enough as it is. I'm worried you won't be able to do your job."
"Haha, don't sweat it. I'm in better shape than I look."
"Sure, Wedge. But seriously, wonder how long it's gonna take for the girls to be done."
"Should be any day now."
"We need to finish this up and move on to the next thing, pronto."
I took a sip from my drink. Whatever "this" was they were talking about piqued my interest. Perhaps this could be the lead I was after.
"Tifa's a go-getter, so I'm not worried about her. Jessie, though..."
Here it was, a perfect opening. I turned around. "Excuse me, but did you mention someone named Tifa?"
The two men, one slender and the other chubby, eyed me warily. Was my instinct right on the money? Or maybe it was my clothes? I'd wanted to tone down the detective look today, but it'd been raining heavily on the upper plate again today, so I'd needed my trenchcoat.
"Yeah. Why?" asked the slim one.
"Just wondering if it's the same Tifa I knew growing up. Not many girls with that name." I doubted she was the same Tifa, but perhaps this friendly conversation could go somewhere. In the back of my mind, I thought about other topics we might discuss once we got the ball rolling.
"That's true. Where're you from?"
"<a style="color:white;" data-passage="Nibelheim 01">Nibelheim</a>." I suddenly felt a jolt in the back of my head, as though I'd been struck by lightning. This sort of thing happened from time to time. Really need to see a doc one of these days--when I can afford one, that is.
"Oh yeah? Maybe she //is// your Tifa then."
"Come to think of it," the chubby one interjected, "didn't Tifa once mention a childhood friend with blond spiky hair?" The slim one nodded affirmatively.
What? Is this for real?
I did my best to stay cool. "Any chance I could meet her?"
The two men bent down across the table and whispered to each other, then the chubby one said, "We could give you her number. Whatever happens from there is up to you."
"Sure, that sounds reasonable."
The slim one scribbled some digits on a cocktail napkin and handed it to me. I thanked them, then watched as they drained the rest of their drinks and left.
Ordinarily, upon receiving a piece of intel like this, I would smile to myself and think about my next moves, but I couldn't this time. If those two were involved with AVALANCHE, then so was Tifa, who might be the same Tifa I once knew.
I suddenly felt a whole lot more conflicted about this job.
[[Continue the job; call Tifa|Shinra 04]]
[[Cancel the job; call Elena|Shinra End 01]]
</div><div class="bg-shinra">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">After leaving Wall Market, I happened upon an old abandoned playground. I leaned against a concrete, animal-shaped slide and took a deep breath.
Contracts that I couldn't easily back out of had been signed, so I was stuck with this job.
Besides, I needed to know.
I dialed Tifa's number.
"Hello?"
Even though had been five years since I had last heard it, the voice on the other end of the line was instantly familiar.
"Tifa, is that you? It's me, Cloud."
"Cloud? Oh my god... No way..."
"Tifa?"
"Yeah, I'm... I'm here. I'm all right. How did you get this number?"
"I overheard some guys in a bar talk about you, so I asked them about it."
"Oh, that must've been Biggs and Wedge. They mentioned something about that earlier. They're friends of mine, as you might have guessed."
"So, um, do you live in Midgar now? Where are you?"
"I work at a bar not far from here, but we're closed today and the place is a huge mess right now. Is it okay if I meet you somewhere else?"
"I'm hanging out in Sector Six slums at the moment, close to the Sector Seven gate."
"Oh, in that old playground? I'll be right over."
"Sounds good." We exchanged goodbyes and hung up.
As I waited for Tifa to arrive, I went over in my head what we should talk about. My number one rule for this conversation would be that under no circumstances should I be the one to mention AVALANCHE first. If she asked what I was doing in Midgar, I would tell her that I arrived six months ago and had a job on the plate, but that it didn't pay well. No more details than that. Maybe we would reminisce about the old days--actually, I expected that we would. We'll see how things go, and where they lead.
The heavy steel doors of the Sector Seven gate creaked open, and a busty young woman in a tank top and miniskirt walked out. She had long, dark brown hair and a familiar smile on her face.
Tifa was here. Let's hope I know what I'm getting into.
[[Next|Shinra 06]]
</div><div class="bg-shinra">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">About a week and a half passed since I called my contact at Shinra, Elena, with the tip about AVALANCHE targeting Mako Reactor No. 3.
I was in Sector One, on my way back from a specialty shop near the <a style="color:white;" data-passage="Loveless 01">theater district</a>, when the explosion happened.
All around me, windows rattled-- or shattered-- and cars slammed on their brakes. Some buildings closer to the reactor had fared worse. I gazed up at the smoldering reactor, which now belched fire in addition to smoke, and wondered if there had been any injuries, or deaths.
"What the hell..." I mumbled to myself as I turned around and stared in the direction of Reactor No. 1. A huge column of smoke--bigger than usual, that is--rose from its bulbous form. Tifa had told me Reactor No. //3//, so why was...
All of a sudden, I realized what had happened. Despite us being old friends and all, Tifa didn't trust me. Couldn't say I blamed her.
As I walked backward in a daze, I accidentally bumped into someone.
"Oh!" said a young woman's voice.
I turned around to see a girl around my age in a long pink dress, holding an empty basket. On the ground around her were scattered stems of flowers. Realizing what I had done, I immediately bent down and started picking the flowers up.
"I'm sorry," I said. "Should've been looking where I was going, huh?"
She bent down and joined me in collecting the flowers. "It's not your fault. I wasn't paying attention either."
"Don't blame ya. It's not every day that a mako reactor blows up."
"Mmm," was all she said, an odd smile on her face. "By the way, would you care to buy a flower? They're only one gil apiece."
[[Buy a flower|Aeris 01]]
[[Don't buy a flower|Shinra 08]]
</div><div class="bg-shinra">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">"What? Now? You see what's going on here, right? You should get out of here."
The flower seller shrugged and left. I headed toward the train station, but my line, and all the others, were delayed thanks to the explosion.
Dammit. It was gonna be a long walk back to Sector Four.
[[Next|Shinra 09]]
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">About a week and a half passed since Tifa came by the office and I turned down her proposal to help out AVALANCHE.
I was in Sector One, on my way back from a specialty shop near the theater district, when the explosion happened.
All around me, windows rattled-or shattered-- and cars slammed on their brakes. Some buildings closer to the reactor had fared worse. I gazed up at the smoldering reactor, which now belched fire in addition to smoke, and wondered if there had been any injuries, or deaths.
"What the hell..." I mumbled to myself as I turned around and stared in the direction of Reactor No. 1. A huge column of smoke--bigger than usual, that is--rose from its bulbous form. Tifa had told me Reactor No. 3, so why was...
All of a sudden, I realized what had happened. Despite us being old friends and all, Tifa didn't trust me. Couldn't say I blamed her.
I shook my head. This explosion was the start of something big, but it left an unpleasant taste in my mouth. I wanted no part of it.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a girl in a pink dress carrying a basket full of flowers. What the hell was she still doing here while everyone else was in a panic?
Like I was one to talk.
I adjusted my hat and left the sector.
''The End''
• <<back "For those in a hurry">> (rewind to previous branch)
• [[For those with a little time|Title]] (return to the beginning)
</div><div class="bg-shinra">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">"Sorry, but I can't do this anymore. I want out."
I was back in my office. The rain hadn't let up, and even though I had worn my trusty hat, the ends of my bangs were soaked. On the other end of the line, Elena didn't sound amused.
"Why? What's going on? We had a deal."
"I know, but something came up."
"What do you mean by 'something'?"
I bit my lip before answering. "It's something which prevents me from going any further, that's all."
The line went dead for a moment, then a deep male voice cut in.
"Hello, Mr. Strife. Do you know who I am?"
A chill ran down my spine. Wasn't a private dick in all of Midgar who didn't know who this was. "Tseng."
"Yes. Now, can you explain to me, in detail, why you are reneging on our contract? The deposit we paid you was more than sufficient."
"You want a refund, I can give it to ya," I said, grateful now that I didn't get that bourbon back in Wall Market. "I just don't want to get wrapped up in all this."
"What do you mean by 'this'? Or is it more like, //who// do you mean?"
What?
"Who is this Tifa, and why is she preventing you from doing your job?"
Another chill. They had planted a wire on me, or sent someone to eavesdrop, or something. I'd heard that crossing the Turks was a bad idea, and was now cursing myself for not taking that advice.
"I--I can't--"
"Reno, Rude."
All of a sudden, my office door burst open and two men in dark suits rushed in. The bald one grabbed me by the collar and slammed me against the wall, while the redhead extended a long pole, crackling with electricity.
"Our boss tried to ask for your cooperation," the redhead sighed, pocketing a PHS with his other hand, "but it seems you don't wanna play nice. What a pain."
The bald man said nothing.
I swore under my breath. Whether or not they'd be my last words would be up to them.
''The End''
• <<back "For those in a hurry">> (rewind to previous branch)
• [[For those with a little time|Title]] (return to the beginning)
</div><div class="bg-aeris">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body"><<set $flower to 1>>"Sure, I'll take a flower. It's a good deal."
The girl smiled and presented a yellow lily to me. After a bit of fishing around in my pockets, I found a one-gil coin and we made the exchange.
"This'll bring a nice bit of color to my office," I said, not even joking. "Thanks."
"No, thank //you//. Take care getting home, now."
"Yeah, you too."
We went our separate ways.
[[Next|Shinra 09]]
</div><div class="bg-shinra">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">"You're a fucking lousy detective."
Two days after Reactor No. 1 exploded, with AVALANCHE claiming responsibility, a Turk was in my office, pacing around in front of my desk in a disheveled suit and sucking on a cigarette. His name was Reno, and the bags under his eyes told a story of exhaustion, of the long hours he and his compatriots had been forced to work ever since the explosion.
"Look, we were old friends, and when we met up again that day, we got along well. How was I to know she wasn't telling me the truth?"
"Like I was saying, you're shit at your job," Reno replied, jabbing a finger at me. "You should've dug deeper before contacting us with any details. Don't trust anyone, and don't automatically believe that anyone will trust //you//."
"Gimme a damn break. Who's the detective here? You act like you know."
"'Course I do, dumbass. I was once the protégé of Joe down in the slums. He taught me everything I know about the art of investigation. Even a newbie like you should've heard of him."
"So you used to be in the private detective game as well? Why'd you give it up and become one of Shinra's elite thugs?"
"It pays //way// better."
I simply nodded. That, I could understand, but the idea of having Shinra be my one-and-only employer again didn't sit well with me.
"So," Reno continued, taking a long drag from his cigarette, "now the question is, what're we gonna do with you?"
"What do you mean? You got your intel--"
"Our //bad// intel."
"Whatever. Anyway, we're done here."
"Not quite. You see, you made the mistake of telling me that one of AVALANCHE's members is an old friend of yours, and my boss, Tseng, will want to leverage that. Ready for your next gig, Detective Strife?"
I scowled and said nothing. Truth was, I didn't know how to react to that, no matter how well this job would pay.
"Meet me next Monday at this location," he said, placing a small card on my desk, "and we'll talk."
"So, is this AVALANCHE-related?"
"Can't tell you."
"They planning on blowing up any other reactors?"
"Stay away from Sector Five on Monday, that's all I'll say."
I cocked an eyebrow.
"Keep that little tidbit to yourself," he smirked. "I'll see you around."
Reno extinguished his cigarette in the ashtray on my desk and saw himself out.
[[Next|Shinra 10]]
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">My investigation ended up taking two days, not one. Through a few acquantences and by chatting up a reactor engineer in a Sector Three diner, I managed to gather most all of the intel that Tifa wanted: shift schedules, locations of various facilities within the reactor, where the emergency exits were, and other odds and ends.
Upon giving Tifa a call to see about delivering this info, she asked to meet me near a scrapyard in Sector Two's slums, beneath the plate. It took me awhile to find the place; don't want to stereotype, but most of the slums looks like a scrapyard to me. She was already at the designated meeting spot, while I was just about on time. I took a few quick glances around; there was no one else in sight.
"Here you are," I said, handing Tifa an envelope. She took it, then pulled out the papers it contained and unfolded them. For the next few minutes, I stood in silence as she skimmed over my typed observations.
"Well, this lines up with what our own sources have found out," she said.
Huh? What does she mean by their "own sources"?
"Hold on, let me get this straight. You just had me dig around for info that you already knew?"
"We needed to be sure that you were trustworthy."
"C'mon, Tifa, you don't trust me already?"
"This wasn't my idea. I know you, but the others, including our leader, don't. They wanted to be absolutely sure that you wouldn't sell us out."
I nodded. It made sense. "So what happens now?"
"Our real target is Reactor No. 1. We need you to gather the same info as before, but in addition, we will also need floor plan diagrams and specific model numbers for the security systems and mecha being used."
"It'll take a little longer. That fine with you?"
"Yes."
"All right. Let's get outta here. I'll be in touch."
She nodded, then we went our separate ways.
[[Next|Avalanche 05]]
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">So, for the second time in less than a week, I went through the rigmarole of gathering info about a specific mako reactor. This task was more complicated than the previous one, though, thanks to Tifa's additional requests. Turns out that I wasn't able to get ahold of //all// the info she wanted, but it seemed to be enough, as once she received it she didn't ask for any more investigating.
She did have a different request, however.
"Our leader wants to meet you next Wednesday night. Are you free then?"
"Sure, I got nothin' goin' on," Besides, I thought, I still had to be paid the rest I was owed for this job, and Tifa admitted earlier that she didn't have the cash on her today.
"Great. Have you heard of Seventh Heaven?"
"Can't say I have."
"It's a bar in the Sector Seven slums. Come there just after 11PM."
"Why so late?"
Tifa shrugged. "That's just when he's available."
I got the feeling that there was something she wasn't telling me, but I didn't say anything.
"All right. Seventh Heaven next Wednesday night at eleven. See you then."
[[Next|Avalanche 06]]
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">The week passed by quickly. Before I knew it, it was Wednesday night. I was in Sector One settling old electric bills in person at Shinra's billing office and strolled out into the smoggy night. It was around eight, and in the nearby <a style="color:white;" data-passage="Loveless 01">theater district</a>, men and women better dressed than I'd ever be milled around before the evening performances started. As I walked through the crowded streets, I noticed a young woman, probably around my age, crouched down and peering through some sort of vent lit by the green glow of mako particles. She stopped and stood up, only to be startled by my presence.
"Oh! I didn't see you there."
"No shit--er, excuse my language."
The gal smiled and shrugged.
I continued, "I know it's none of my business, but what were you doing there?"
She ignored me. "Are you interested in buying a flower? Only one gil."
I cocked an eyebrow at her. She was a little weird, but also had an undeniable charm about her. The flowers she was selling were carefully arranged in a wicker basket hanging from her arm.
[[Buy a flower|Aeris 02]]
[[Don't buy a flower|Avalanche 07]]
</div><div class="bg-aeris">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body"><<set $flower to 1>>"Sure, I'll take a flower. It's a good deal."
The girl smiled and presented a yellow lily to me. After a bit of fishing around in my pockets, I found a one-gil coin and we made the exchange.
"This'll bring a nice bit of color to my office," I said, not even joking. "Thanks."
"No, thank //you//. Take care getting home, now."
"Yeah, you too."
We went our separate ways.
[[Next|Avalanche 072]]
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">"Sorry," I replied, smiling weakly, "but I can barely afford to keep the lights on. Every single gil counts for me right now."
"That's all right, I understand. Well, take care out there."
"Yeah, you too."
We went our separate ways. I still had plenty of time before my meeting with Tifa and the AVALANCHE head honcho, but since it was in a bar, I didn't see anything wrong with heading there a little early. Besides, they might cover my tab at the end of the evening if I play my cards right.
The closest train station was in Sector Two, so I headed over there and caught the next local down to the slums. As I disembarked at the ground-level Sector Seven station, a familiar sight caught my eye.
"That you, Johnny? What the hell are you doing here?"
Johnny was, like me and Tifa, a transplant from <a style="color:white;" data-passage="Nibelheim 01">Nibelheim</a>. He also worked in the detective business, though in his case, he was merely an apprentice. His boss was Joe, widely known as the best private dick in Midgar, whose office was in the Sector Seven slums. Why such a great detective operates out of the slums instead of on the plate is supposedly a long story, and one I never had time to sit through.
"Whaddya mean, what am I doin' here? I //live// in this sector, asshole! I should be asking //you// that question!"
"None of your damn business. For all you know, I'm on the job. Shouldn't you be working as well?"
"Not today, I ain't, but I'll have you know that it's been non-stop at our office the past couple weeks."
"Business been good? Glad to hear it."
"I'm sure."
I decided to let him have the last word and continued on my way toward Seventh Heaven.
[[Next|Avalanche 08]]
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">A big "CLOSED" sign hung on the saloon-style doors to Seventh Heaven, but inside, I could hear the sounds of dishes being washed. I took off my hat and pushed one of the doors open just enough so that I could peer inside.
"Hey, anyone home? Tifa sent me."
"Oh, are you that old friend Miss Tifa was talking about?" a young, girlish voice called out in reply. I couldn't see anyone, though.
"Yeah. Name's Strife, Cloud Strife."
"Mr. Cloud? Oh yeah, that was the name! Come on in!"
I stepped into the empty barroom, looking around for my host. Eventually, I noticed a little girl, probably about five or six years old, standing on a stepstool in front of a sudsy sink at the back of the bar. Trying not to be fazed by this strange sight, I strolled over to the bar and took a seat. The girl turned around.
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Cloud. My name's Marlene. Miss Tifa and everyone else is out right now. Can I get you anything?"
"Uh... you got any good, cheap bourbon?"
"Yup! On the rocks?"
"Straight... please."
"You got it!"
<<if $flower is 1>>Marlene was about to turn around, when she paused and looked at my hat. //Oh yeah,// I thought, //that's where I put that flower.//
"That's a really pretty flower," she said.
"Thanks," was all I could manage. Hate to admit it, but it was a little embarrassing.<<else>><</if>>As I watched Marlene pour the liquor into a glass, I shook my head and wondered about the legality of all this. I guess anything goes in the slums.
Marlene pushed the glass toward me, then went back to washing dishes.
"So, Marlene, how long are Tifa and all them gonna be out?"
"I dunno."
//Figures.// Nothing I can do now but wait.
[[Next|Avalanche 09]]
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">After a while--it could've been minutes or hours--the ground shook and every part of the building rattled as a thunderous explosion boomed from somewhere overhead.
"What the hell..." I muttered under my breath. "Marlene, you okay?"
"Yeah."
As the building settled, I realized that the explosion had come from roughly the same direction of Sector One. Was this AVALANCHE's doing? Considering the intel I had gathered for Tifa the previous week, there was no way I could avoid this question.
Marlene and I sat in silence for the next hour. Then, just as I started to nod off, someone burst through the front doors.
"Daddy!" Marlene exclaimed. I turned around to get a good look at him. He was tall and muscular, with skin quite a bit darker than his daughter's. He was dressed for war, complete with dog tags and a gatling gun attachment grafted onto his right arm. On his face, he wore a scowl, aimed squarely at me.
"Who the hell're you?!" he exclaimed. "Marlene, I thought I told you, don't let anyone in while we're out!"
"Daddy, this is Mr. Cloud!" said Marlene.
"Oh, you're Tifa's friend? The detective?"
"That's right," I replied, nodding a greeting.
"Well, thanks for helpin' us out. We were able to pull off this mission without a hitch because of your info."
"So that explosion was your doing?"
"Damn right. Shinra's been killin' the planet for far too long with those mako reactors. It's about time someone put a stop to it."
For a moment, I thought about bringing up the fact that AVALANCHE's bomb probably killed a bunch of people on the side, but thought better of it. This guy didn't look like the type I wanted to mess with. Instead, I changed the subject.
"Are you AVALANCHE's leader?"
"That's right. Name's Barret Wallace."
"Nice to finally meet you. Like your daughter said, my name's Cloud. Cloud Strife. I'm here for the rest of my fee."
[[Next|Avalanche 10]]
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">"Yeah? Hold on and I'll give it to you after the others get back."
"Fine, whatever," I shrugged, before turning back to my drink.
From behind me, I could hear Barret either harrumph or sigh. He took a seat elsewhere in the bar and chatted with his daughter while I sipped my bourbon. Wasn't the best I ever had, but it was all right, and, most importantly, cheap.
The minutes dragged on. Two people in red bandannas showed up, then another one. Each time, I turned back to Barret, and each time, he shook his head. Meanwhile, the newcomers disappeared down a secret elevator located by the pinball machine. How many people did we have to wait for, anyway?
After about an hour had passed, Tifa swung open the saloon doors. "That's everyone," Barret said. "Hey Tifa, your detective's here to get paid."
"Oh, Cloud!" Tifa said, strolling up to me. "Thanks again for the intel. It was quite helpful."
"Yeah, I could tell. You got the rest of my fee ready?"
"Barret?"
"All right, guess I've got no excuse to put it off any longer," Barret said, slowly getting up from his seat. He went behind the bar and pulled out a cash box, then counted out some bills. "We owe you 1500 gil, right?"
"Sounds right, as little as it is."
Barret slammed the bills down in front of me. "It's what we've got. You'll have to deal."
"So, why did you want to meet me anyway? Isn't my work for you all done now?"
"Not quite," Barret replied. "Your intel was so good that we're wonderin' if you'd be able to help us with the next mission."
"If you double the pay, sure."
Barret grumbled, "I'll never be able to sent Marlene to school at this rate, but... all right."
"It's a deal, then. What's the job?"
"This time, we'll need all the info you can find about Midgar's Reactor No. 5."
"We hear the layout's a little different from Reactor No. 1's," Tifa explained, "and besides, Shinra will probably step up the security after what happened tonight."
"No doubt," I said. "Well then, I'll get started first thing tomorrow."
"Thanks." Barret pressed a button on the pinball machine to activate the elevator. "I'm gonna go discuss tonight's mission with everyone else. You coming Tifa?"
"In a moment."
As Barret went downstairs to who knows where, Tifa walked behind the bar, with Marlene following close behind.
<<if $flower is 1>>"That's a beautiful flower," said Tifa, pointing at my hat. "Where did you get it from?"
"A streetside florist in Sector One, if you can believe that."
Then, it struck me. What was I doing hanging onto this thing with two beautiful ladies in front of me? Now the question was, who should I give it to?
[[Give it to Tifa|Avalanche 12]]
[[Give it to Marlene|Avalanche 13]]<<else>>[[Next|Avalanche 14]]<</if>>
</div><div class="bg-shinra">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">Another weekday, another earth-shattering explosion.
This time, as Reno had implied, it was in Sector Five. As the newspapers would report later, Reactor No. 5 had been the victim of a smaller, but still destructive, bomb set by AVALANCHE. Just one thing bothered me, though. If Reno and the Turks had known about this bomb ahead of time, then why hadn't they been able to stop it?
I was in the Sector Five slums, in front of a church, the very place Reno had wanted me to wait for him. I gazed up to the plate, which was still trembling in the early morning light, and then stared at the abandoned building before me.
Despite some old rocket wreckage lodged in the roof, the building seemed to be in fairly decent shape. I was curious about what it looked like inside. Reno hadn't said anything about //not// entering the place. Still, the meeting place was out //here//, not in //there//, and I didn't want to be in any more trouble with the Turks than I already was.
[[Go inside the church|Aeris 03]]
[[Stay outside and continue to wait|Shinra 11]]
</div><div class="bg-aeris">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body"><<set $meetaeris to 1>><<if $avaclient is 1>>To my surprise, I wasn't dead. I was lying on something soft, which had cushioned my fall. Slowly, I opened my eyes.
I was in a dilapadated old church, which was brightly lit. There was a giant hole in the roof, but it looked like it had been there long before I fell through it. Surrounding me were dozens of flowers, which must've been what had broken my fall. They smelled sweet, and felt oddly familiar. I sat up,<<else>>There was about ten minutes before Reno was supposed to get here, so I figured a little peek wouldn't hurt.
When I touched the door, it swung open easily, with barely a creak.
To my surprise, it was brightly lit inside. The giant hole in the roof enabled what little sunshine touched Midgar's slums to stream down to an exposed patch of ground, where numerous flowers grew. Sensing something familiar about these flowers, I walked up to them,<</if>> and that's when I noticed her.
It was the flower seller from Sector One. Was this her garden?
"Oh, hello again," she greeted. "What brings you here?"
"Just had a little bit of time to kill. What about you? This where you grow your inventory?"
<<if $flower is 1>>"Yes it is, and thank you for your business the other day."
"It was the least I could do for such a hardworking gal as yourself."
She nodded and smiled.<<else>>"Yes it is, though I can't seem to move them no matter how hard I try," she replied, giving me a pointed look. Man, this gal was //harsh//.<</if>>
I changed the subject. "What a strange place this is. I've heard that it's next to impossible for plants to grow in Midgar, but here, they seem to be thriving."
"It seems like most people here don't care for flowers, though. I wonder why the flowers go through the trouble of growing here," the florist replied.
"Maybe they do it for you?"
"Huh?"
"I mean, you like flowers, right? Enough to try and share them with everyone else for the low, low price of one gil."
"I'm just making do with what I have."
"Sounds like me. What's your name?"
"Aeris. I live not far from here. What about you?"
"Cloud Strife, private detective."
"A detective, huh. Sounds like an interesting--" Aeris froze.
Following her line of sight, I happened to see someone walk through the front doors. It was <<if $avaclient is 1>>a Turk, the one they call <<else>><</if>>Reno.
[[Next|Aeris 04]]
</div><div class="bg-shinra">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">Deciding it'd be wise not to let curiosity get the best of me, I continued to wait in the designated meeting spot.
About ten minutes passed before Reno showed up, with two Shinra grunts in tow. "Good to see you could make it," he greeted.
I just wanted to get this over and done with. "What the job?"
"We were originally gonna ask for your help with //this//," Reno said, thumbing back at the church, "but something else has come up. We need to find the source of a leak and plug it up."
"What do you mean?"
"Someone told AVALANCHE the identity of one of our informants, who also happens to know what Shinra's next move is."
"Sounds bad."
"It //is// bad. We'll pay you twice as much as before."
"Not like I have a choice."
Reno smirked. "No. No, you don't."
"All right," I sighed. "Anything else I should know?"
"It's all in here," Reno replied, handing me a stapled sheaf of papers. I folded the packet and shoved it in my coat. "Now get goin'."
"Yeah, yeah."
I walked away from the church to find the nearest train back to Sector Four.
[[Next|Shinra 13]]
</div><div class="bg-aeris">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body"><<set $flower to 2>>"//Shit//," I heard Aeris swear under her breath.
<<if $avaclient is 1>>The redheaded Turk strode into the church, a metal nightstick slung on his shoulder. Behind him were two Shinra grunts.
"Who the hell are you, and what're you doing here?" the Turk called. "I've got some business with the young lady there."
I turned to Aeris. "You know him?" I whispered.
"Yeah, but I wish I didn't."
"You in trouble with the Shinra?"
"It's complicated," she muttered. "Look, right now all I care about is one thing. Can you get me out of here?"<<else>>Reno strode into the church, a metal nightstick slung on his shoulder. Behind him were two Shinra grunts. "This isn't where I asked you to wait, Strife, but I'll let it slide just this once."
Aeris glare shifted to focus on me. "You know him?" she whispered.
"What about you?" I whispered back. "You in trouble with the Shinra?"
"It's complicated," she muttered. "Look, right now I don't care what your relationship to Reno is. Can you get me out of here?"<</if>>
I glanced back at Reno. His patience was clearly wearing thin.
<<if $avaclient is 1>>[[Next|Aeris 05]]<<else>>[[Help Aeris escape|Aeris 05]]
[[Talk to Reno first|Shinra 12]]<</if>>
</div><div class="bg-aeris">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">"Let's make a run for it," I whispered to her. "Can you fight? You know, in case we get caught."
"Yeah, a little. What about you?"
"I've got some materia and a piece on me," I replied, patting my hip. I never left the office without my trusty Quicksilver.
"All right. We can get out through the back. Let's go."
Aeris made a break for the back room, and I followed right on her heels. Soon after, we could hear Reno barking orders and the grunts' heavy footsteps, heading our way.
"We have to climb up and leave through the roof," said Aeris.
"Sounds like you've done this before."
"Many times," she sighed.
We ran up the stairs, and just before we reached the first landing, the grunts burst through the door. Before they could open fire, I squeezed off a shot and managed to disarm one of them. Right above me, Aeris was frozen in place.
"What the hell're you doing?" I yelled at her. "Keep climbing!"
She nodded and continued her ascent as I fired off a few more shots at the grunts. It looked like I managed to wound one of them, too.
For a moment, I wondered where Reno was, but ultimately decided that I didn't care. I just wanted to get out of here as soon as possible.
[[Next|Aeris 06]]
</div><div class="bg-shinra">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">I strode up to Reno.
"Hello, Reno."
"Hello, Detective. Why weren't you at our meeting spot?"
"I was just killing time with that florist over there. Should we go outside and continue this conversation?"
Reno glanced at Aeris, then sighed wearily. "Sure." He turned to the grunts and told them to wait for him here. They stayed inside the church after we left.
It wasn't as brightly lit outside as it was in the church, but before I could ponder this any further, Reno tapped his nightstick on his shoulder and asked, "You wanna hear about your next job?"
Just then, the sound of gunfire erupted from inside the church. A cold sweat formed on my forehead.
"You worried about Aeris?" asked Reno. "Don't waste your time. She's resilient, like a damn grease stain." I couldn't decide if his tone was frustrated or admiring.
"So what's the job?"
"We were originally gonna ask for your help with //this//," Reno said, thumbing back at the church, "but something else has come up. We need to find the source of a leak and plug it up."
"What do you mean?"
"Someone told AVALANCHE the identity of one of our informants, who also happens to know what Shinra's next move is."
"Sounds bad."
"It //is// bad. We'll pay you twice as much as before."
"Not like I have a choice."
Reno smirked. "No. No, you don't."
"All right," I sighed. "Anything else I should know?"
"It's all in here," Reno replied, handing me a stapled sheaf of papers. I folded the packet and shoved it in my coat. "Now get goin'."
"Yeah, yeah."
I walked away from the church to find the nearest train back to Sector Four.
[[Next|Shinra 13]]
</div><div class="bg-shinra">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">After reading the docs Reno foisted on me, I set out on my next job for Shinra first thing the following morning. My destination was a tailor's shop in Wall Market, where I would be meeting Elena. The plan was to secure the informant, a two-bit gangster named Don Corneo, before AVALANCHE got to him. As to how exactly I was supposed to do that, those details were annoyingly vague.
I entered the shop to find Elena, dressed in a plain t-shirt and jeans, examining a sexy green evening gown.
"Good morning ma'am," I greeted, tipping my hat. "And for what it's worth, I think that'd look good on ya."
Elena glared at me, slightly flustered. "It had better, for what they're charging. I had no idea they had expensive things like this in the slums."
"You know why I'm here, right?"
"Sure do. Let's get you fitted right away."
That was an unexpected reply. "Fitted? For what?"
Elena went up to the counter and addressed the old man there. "Sir, can you make a dress for my friend here? Make him look as flattering as possible."
//What?!//
The old tailor adjusted his glasses as he stared at me. "Oh ho, this will be a challenge. Come over here young man, so I can get your measurements."
As the tailor dug around for a measuring tape and other tools of his trade, I stepped up to the counter and whispered to Elena, "Just what the hell am I //doing// on this job?"
"It wasn't in the dossier?" Elena whispered back.
"Reno had conveniently left out the part about crossdressing."
"Ah. Well, once a day, Don Corneo picks out his, er, companion for the evening from a lineup of three young women. We suspect that AVALANCHE will send a representative to take part in this lineup, in an attempt to get some information out of the Don. We are here to be the other two candidates, and thwart their plans."
"So why me? Reno couldn't be your partner on this?"
"The Don is already acquainted with Reno, and apparently," Elena said with a cough, "the Don likes his girls with a bit of muscle on them."
Just then, the tailor reemerged and began to take my measurements.
"So, what kind of dress would you like?" he asked.
"Make him something soft and shimmery," said Elena. "Is that all right with you, Cloud?"
[["\"Yeah, sounds good.\""|Shinra 15]]
[["\"Can you make it shiny instead of shimmery?\""|Shinra 16]]
</div><div class="bg-aeris">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">Aeris and I managed to make it out onto the roof.
"Follow me," she said, hopping over to the next rooftop. "I'll show you the easiest way to get down."
"So, you do this often?"
"What do you mean?"
"Running from the Turks."
Aeris stared off to one side and chuckled. "Don't they recruit for SOLDIER? They must want me to join pretty badly."
"So this //does// happen often. And the Turks do more than recruitment, but you know that, right?"
She looked back at me and was about to say something, but stopped.
"What is it?"
"Are you in SOLDIER?"
"Was. What tipped you off?"
"The pale green glow in your eyes."
Ah, of course. Members of SOLDIER are infused with mako to enhance their battle capabilities, but that isn't common knowledge. Who //was// this gal?
"Let's get going," she said, before I could ask her anything else. "My home's close by, and Reno won't follow me there."
I shrugged, wondering why, then scampered after her across the scrap-metal roofing.
[[Next|Aeris 07]]
</div><div class="bg-nibelheim">BURIED MEMORIES NIBELHEIM</div>
<div class="body-eggs">That's right, I'm from Nibelheim. It's a small village nestled at the foot of a mountain range on the continent to the east. Not many people in Midgar have heard of it.
I don't remember much about my childhood there.
I //do// vividly recall the time I returned as a member of SOLDIER, five years ago.
But that is a tale for another time.
<<back "Go back">>
</div><div class="bg-loveless">MY BLOODY VALENTINE LOVELESS</div>
<div class="body-eggs">That reminds me. Once, I took a job where someone offered to pay me with tickets to //Loveless// instead of cash.
"They're very good seats, easily worth more than your fee."
"So you say," I replied, "but I can't use tickets to a play to pay the bills. Besides, I don't like shoegaze."
They looked at me, confused. "But you could sell the tickets!"
"Too much of a risk. How would I be sure I'd get what they're worth? Listen, just pay me the amount we agreed to."
Eventually, they relented and I got paid, the proper way.
Good thing, too. //Loveless// tickets would be more of a hassle than they're worth. And I really, really don't like shoegaze.
<<back "Go back">>
</div><div class="bg-aeris">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">After a brief swing through the Sector Five slums, we reached Aeris' house, and what a house it was. Unlike just about everywhere else in Midgar, the grounds were brightly lit, and a garden full of grass and flowers was thriving just beyond the small but well-maintained two-story home. Behind both, water poured from a broken pipe, giving it the appearance of a waterfall. And here I thought that scene in the church was idyllic.
Aeris pulled a keyring from a jacket pocket and opened the door. As she stepped through the entryway, she turned back to me.
"Thanks for your help, Mr. Strife."
I had my reply to her all ready.
<<if $avaclient is 1>>[["\"Sure thing. See you around.\""|Avalanche 19]]<<else>>[["\"Sure thing. See you around.\""|Shinra 14]]<</if>>
[["\"What, you ain't gonna invite me in?\""|Aeris 08]]
</div><div class="bg-shinra">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">As I left Aeris' house behind to seek out the nearest train station, a chill ran down my back. I had run away from Reno and Shinra troops with their mark. The Turks no doubt would have something nasty planned for me when I got back to the office.
It was while navigating a maze of scrap-filled alleys that my PHS rang. The screen displayed Reno's number. Hesitantly, I answered.
"Strife here."
"Oh man, what the hell was that, huh? Can't resist a pretty face?"
Reno was on the verge of laughing. I hadn't expected this.
"So what's it to you?" I replied, irritated that I had seemingly worried for nothing.
"It's cool, it's cool. Aeris slips away from us all the time. Once more isn't gonna make that much of a difference. So, where are you? We still have to discuss your next job."
I told him my location.
"Okay. I'm actually not too far from there right now. Sit tight and I'll see you in a few."
"Sure." I hung up.
As Reno had promised, he arrived less than ten minutes later. I just wanted to get this over and done with. "So, what the job?"
"We were originally gonna ask for your help with that whole Aeris business," Reno said, "but something else had come up. We need to find the source of a leak and plug it up."
"What do you mean?"
"Someone told AVALANCHE the identity of one of our informants, who also happens to know what Shinra's next move is."
"Sounds bad."
"It //is// bad. We'll pay you twice as much as before."
"Not like I have a choice."
Reno smirked. "No. No, you don't."
"All right," I sighed. "Anything else I should know?"
"It's all in here," Reno replied, handing me a stapled sheaf of papers. I folded the packet and shoved it in my coat. "Now get goin'."
"Yeah, yeah."
I left to continue my journey back to the office.
[[Next|Shinra 13]]
</div><div class="bg-aeris">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">"Huh? Why do you wanna come inside? We barely know each other."
Naturally, I had a good excuse ready. "Since I helped ya escape, I'm in trouble with the Turks now too. I //want// to take your word for it that Reno won't follow us, but--"
"Aerith, who is that?" called a voice from further inside. A moment later, an old woman poked her head around the door. "Oh! Who may you be, sir?"
Guess "Aeris" was just a nickname. Meanwhile, "Aerith" glared at this newcomer. "//Moooooom...//"
"I'm just a passerby who helped, um, 'Aerith' here get home," I said. "The Turks were after her for some reason."
The woman turned to Aeris. "Again? Dear, what have I told you about spending too much time away from home?"
Aeris muttered something unintelligible. The old woman turned to me.
"I'm Aerith's mother, Elmyra. Would you care to come inside for a cup of coffee?"
I smiled. "Yes, ma'am."
Aeris sighed and backed away from the door while Elmyra invited me in.
[[Next|Aeris 09]]
</div><div class="bg-aeris">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">If I had known what time it was, I wouldn't have taken Elmyra up on her offer. Turns out, it was getting late, and the coffee she brewed was //strong//. I was gonna be up all night.
Aeris didn't say much, and Elmyra stuck to small talk, so after a half-hour passed, I figured I should take off for the evening. Didn't want to overstay my welcome, after all.
"Thanks for the joe, ma'am, but I need to get back to the office."
"The slums are dangerous after dark, though. Perhaps you should stay the night."
Aeris rolled her eyes. "Mom, he's a complete stranger! Why're you being so sweet on him?"
"Oh, I don't know, dear. Maybe it's because he reminded me of that nice boy you used to date."
Aeris sighed. "That's ancient history, Mom."
"Ma'am," I cut in, "it's all right, really. I can handle myself on these streets and night."
"Oh, don't be silly, sir. Aerith, be a dear and make the bed in the spare guest room."
Aeris trudged upstairs. Elmyra was a persistent one, all right. It looked like I was gonna be spending the night here after all.
I turned in about an hour later. The bed was comfortable, in a nostalgic way...
[[Next|Nibelheim 02]]
</div><div class="bg-nibelheim">BURIED MEMORIES NIBELHEIM</div>
<div class="body-eggs">"Oh Cloud..."
I was lying on top of my bed in my mom's house in Nibelheim. My mom was nearby, pacing around and looking at me every so often.
I must be dreaming about old times.
"You've grown so much. I bet you're popular with the girls."
Without getting up, I just shrugged.
"I've been worried about you ever since you left home. You should settle down and get a nice girlfriend to take care of you."
"You don't approve of my life now?"
"I didn't say that, but it's so dangerous..." My mom paced over to a window. "An older girl would be best for you, I think. Someone who can already take care of themself."
"What're you trying to say?"
[[Next|Aeris 10]]
</div><div class="bg-aeris">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">"What? I just said, 'Get up!'"
I opened my eyes. It was still dark outside, and a shadow loomed above me.
"Aeris? That you? What time is it?"
"Early. Look, you should leave."
"Why? What'd I do?"
"Nothing, it's just..." Aeris trailed off.
"All right, I'll go," I muttered as I sat up.
Aeris averted her gaze and pursed her lips. "Sorry, I didn't mean to sound snippy." She turned back to me. "You live on the Upper Plate, right? Do you know how to get back?"
"Sort of. I'm not very familiar with this part of Midgar, but I can figure out my way around."
"From here, the train station in the Sector Seven slums is probably the easiest to get to."
"Really? All the way over there?"
Aeris shrugged. "The monsters on the way aren't very tough compared to other areas."
Ah. That's what she meant by "easy".
"I can show you how to get there, if it's all right with you."
I nodded. "Sure would appreciate the assistance."
"Okay. Let's go before my mom wakes up."
[[Next|Aeris 11]]
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">I still had plenty of time before my meeting with Tifa and the AVALANCHE head honcho, but since it was in a bar, I didn't see anything wrong with heading there a little early. Besides, they might cover my tab at the end of the evening if I play my cards right.
The closest train station was in Sector Two, so I headed over there and caught the next local down to the slums. As I disembarked at the ground-level Sector Seven station, a familiar sight caught my eye.
"That you, Johnny? What the hell are you doing here?"
Johnny was, like me and Tifa, a transplant from <a style="color:white;" data-passage="Nibelheim 01">Nibelheim</a>. He also worked in the detective business, though in his case, he was merely an apprentice. His boss was Joe, widely known as the best private dick in Midgar, whose office was in the Sector Seven slums. Why such a great detective operates out of the slums instead of on the plate is supposedly a long story, and one I never had time to sit through.
"Whaddya mean, what am I doin' here? I //live// in this sector, asshole! I should be asking //you// that question!"
"None of your damn business. For all you know, I'm on the job. Shouldn't you be working as well?"
"Not today, I ain't, but I'll have you know that it's been non-stop at our office the past couple weeks."
"Business been good? Glad to hear it."
"I'm sure."
I decided to let him have the last word and continued on my way toward Seventh Heaven.
[[Next|Avalanche 08]]
</div><!-- Avalanche 11 was deleted --><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body"><<set $tifaflower to 1>>I plucked the flower from my hat's band and presented it to Tifa. "It's yours if you want it."
"Oh, Cloud... thank you."
Marlene covered her mouth and giggled. What was so funny?
Tifa carefully took the flower and turned away for a moment to fill a highball glass with water. She placed the flower in this makeshift vase, which she then set down next to the cash register.
"It'll bring a bit of color and fresh air to this place," she said.
"Yeah."
[[Next|Avalanche 14]]
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body"><<set $marleneflower to 1>>"Marlene was complementing it earlier, too." I plucked the flower from the band of my hat and presented it to the littler girl. "How about it, youngster? Would you like it?"
"What, can I really have it?" Marlene exclaimed, excited.
"Of course."
"Yay!"
Tifa leaned forward on the bar. "Now what do we say, Marlene?"
"Um, thank you, Mr. Cloud."
I smiled. "You're welcome."
[[Next|Avalanche 14]]
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">Marlene ran upstairs, leaving me alone in the bar with Tifa.
"I'm glad you decided to help us out again," Tifa said, coming out from behind the bar to sit on a stool.
"Well, it's not like I've got any other work coming in," I shrugged.
"Oh come on, don't tell me that's the only reason why! Aren't we old friends?"
"Yeah, I guess, but--"
"You probably forgot our promise, too."
Promise? I had no idea what she was talking about, and said so.
"So you //did// forget. It was seven years ago, shortly before you left town. We agreed to meet up by the well."
"Oh... oh, //that//. Yeah, I remember..."
[[Next|Nibelheim 03]]
</div><div class="bg-nibelheim">BURIED MEMORIES NIBELHEIM</div>
<div class="body-eggs">My home village of Nibelheim was a tiny hamlet, with a town square ringed by Tudor-style houses. In the center of this square was a wooden water tower, and on top of this tower's upper platform was where I waited for Tifa. My skin broke out in goosebumps as a chilly breeze whistled past. Up above, the sky was blanketed in stars. I stared at the lights in my house, wondering if Tifa was ever gonna show up.
"Sorry I'm late," said a voice from the bottom of the ladder. Finally, she was here. I said nothing as she climbed up.
"So, what did you want to talk to me about?"
Now that she was here, I could feel some nervousness set in. "You know I'm leaving town, right?"
"So are all the other boys."
"Yeah, but I'm not gonna do something boring like them."
"Boring?"
"You know, go to college, look for a job."
"Well then, what //are// you going to do?"
I stood up. "Join SOLDIER. I'll make it to First Class, and be the best, just like Sephiroth."
Tifa sat down and dangled her feet from the edge of the platform. "The famous war hero Sephiroth, huh. Sounds like quite a challenge."
"I'll make it, though it'll take awhile. It'll probably be years before I'm able to come back here."
She turned to look at me. "Will you be as famous as he is?"
"I-I'll give it a shot," I replied, turning away from her with warm cheeks. "Maybe you'll see me in the papers one day."
"Hmm..." Tifa stared up at the stars. "Well then, will you promise me something?"
"Huh?"
"If you get famous, and I get in trouble, will you come to my rescue? I want to experience that at least once."
"What?"
"Rescue me if I'm ever in trouble! Be my hero!"
"Wow, um..."
"Promise?"
It was a goofy request, but I couldn't say no to her. "All right, I promise."
[[Next|Avalanche 15]]
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">I stood up and paced around the barroom.
"So wait, you want me to help out AVALANCHE--for free, I'm assuming--to fullfil your 'promise'? That doesn't make any sense!"
"How so? If Shinra gets their way, you, me, and everyone else on this world are at risk! Think of it this way: by rescuing the planet, you're rescuing me as well."
"That's some wild logic, there. Besides, you're forgetting something."
"Which is...?"
"I'm not famous. You said you wanted me to rescue you //if// I became famous."
"That..."
"I can't keep the promise. But I //will// take on this second job." I put on my hat. "It's late, and I've got a lot of work ahead of me. See you around, Tifa."
"Okay... See you, Cloud."
I turned around and left Seventh Heaven.
[[Next|Avalanche 16]]
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">I was back on the job first thing the following morning. Shinra had indeed stepped up their reactor security since AVALANCHE's debut bombing, which made my job tougher than before. Fortunately, it seemed like Reactor No. 5's wasn't //that// much different than No. 1's, but the beefed-up security presented its own challenges.
It was while I was staring out a train window when the idea hit me: the tunnels.
Anyone could see them from the trains going to the slums: tunnels embedded within the plate that snaked throughout the city, from the Shinra Building at the hub to the reactors on the perimeter. Surely those would be the best way to get into Reactor No. 5 without raising much of a fuss.
When I got off at my stop, I grabbed a system-wide train map from the nearest kiosk and brought it back to the office with me. I pored over it, identified the areas I'd need to know more about, then started making some calls.
A plan was starting to come together, but there was one other thing that bugged me, which was the escape route. There was apparently a brand new security door in a certain part of the reactor that'd present some problems. Worst came to worst, I would join AVALANCHE in their mission and help them disable this lock in person. However, I hoped it wouldn't come to that.
[[Next|Avalanche 17]]
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">Shouldn't have gotten my hopes up. I couldn't figure out how to explain the mechanism in time, so as it turned out, I'd be joining Barret and Tifa at Reactor No. 5 a few days later.
While AVALANCHE traversed the train tunnels beneath the plates, I showed up for "work" disguised as a technician and pretended to be busy while waiting for them. Then, the alarms began to sound. They were here. I quickly made myself scarce while the civvie staff began evacuating. In other words, I headed straight for the reactor core.
When I got there, I could see Barret and Tifa setting up the bomb way down at the other end of a long platform. The alarm klaxon was almost completely drowned out by the loud churning of machinery. Beneath my feet, bright green liquid bubbled and glowed.
All of this was starting to give me a headache.
[[Next|Nibelheim 04]]
</div><div class="bg-nibelheim">BURIED MEMORIES NIBELHEIM</div>
<div class="body-eggs">The reactor's interior shrunk, and so did Tifa. Her clothes changed, too.
Barret was nowhere to be seen, but now there was an injured body in front of Tifa. A long, thin sword lay on the floor next to them.
"Papa..." I could hear her sob. She leaned over to his face, as if trying to hear him say something.
Suddenly, she stood up. "Sephiroth?! He did this to you?"
She wiped hear arm across her eyes and picked up the sword. "Dammit! I hate them! Sephiroth, Shinra, SOLDIER--if only they had never come here!"
Her shouting turned to screaming. "//I hate them! I hate everything!//"
Tifa ran into a darkened entrance at the end of the walkway.
[[Next|Avalanche 18]]
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body"><<set $avaclient to 1>>"Cloud! //Cloud!//"
I came to. Barret was gripping my shoulders and shaking me so hard that I was starting to feel dizzy. "Whoa, hold on, I'm okay."
"You sure? You looked passed out, but more important, we've gotta get out of here!"
"Glad to see you could make it," Tifa added, "but Barret's right. We don't have much time before the bomb goes off."
"Yeah. Now, here's that escape route I talked about," I said, getting to my feet and pointing in a certain direction.
"You sure we can crack that security?" Barret asked.
"We've gotta."
Barret, Tifa, and I rushed off to meet our fate, which was in the form of a console with various buttons. I tried to explain, as quickly as I could, how to operate the console and the intricacies of how it worked, but was eventually cut off by Tifa.
"So what you're saying is, basically, we need to press these," she said, pointing to six buttons one at a time, "simultaneously?"
"Uh, yeah... seems so."
"All right, let's do it!" Barret exclaimed. It took a couple tries to get the timing right, but soon, we had nailed it.
I guess it really was as simple as that.
We ran out of the door to a catwalk overlooking Sector Five. As we made it to the T-shaped intersection middle, Shinra troops arrived to cut off both exits. From the third doorway, a single set of footsteps approached. Even though a sinking feeling was settling in my stomach, I turned to look at the newcomer. It was none other than President Shinra, the Shinra Electric Power Company's founder and CEO. What the hell was //he// doing here?
"So, you all must be AVALANCHE, correct?"
"Yeah," Barret roared back, "and don't you forget it!"
"And you," the President said, turning to me. "Were you once in SOLDIER? You have that mako glow in your eyes."
I said nothing. President Shinra shook his head.
"It's sad to see one of our esteemed SOLDIERs winding up as a lowly terrorist, but we can't expect all of you to be like the heroic Sephiroth."
I narrowed my eyes at the President as he continued to pontificate on Sephiroth's supposed brilliance. What did that have to do with anything? Barret must've had the same thought I did, and he yelled as much to the President.
"This place is goin' up in smoke soon, just like Reactor No. 1! Serves you right!"
"So long as you lot go down with it, it'll be a small price to pay," President Shinra sneered. "Now, if you'll excuse me..."
A helicopter swooped down to pick up the President. Barret tried to run toward him, but the force generated by the helicopter's blades held him back. The chopper disappeared, and in their place was a massive robot, armed to the teeth.
"What the hell is that?!" Barret yelled.
The robot suddenly charged toward us and exploded. We had jumped away as quickly as possible, and it seemed like none of us were badly hurt, but I had lost my footing. That is to say, the catwalk now had a gigantic hole where we had once stood, and I was hanging off the edge of it. Barret and Tifa were on the other side, too far away to help. Both of them yelled at me, probably encouraging me to hang on, but my ears were still ringing from the explosion and I was slowly losing my grip.
Then, an even bigger blast came from within the mako reactor. AVALANCHE's bomb had gone off, and the entire structure shook. That was enough to jostle me free from the catwalk.
The ringing in my ears cleared just enough for me to hear Tifa's screams as I fell to the ground below.
[[Next|Aeris 03]]
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">I left Aeris behind and decided to head for Seventh Heaven, to let Barret and Tifa know that I was okay.
When I got there, the barroom was empty save for Marlene, who was once again behind the counter.
"Mr. Cloud!" she exclaimed. Mere moments later, the pinball machine to the right descended down into the basement, and came back up with a full load of people.
Tifa ran up to me and gave me a hug. "Thank goodness you're okay!"
Barret let out a laugh. "You a tough one, Mr. Detective! How in the hell did you survive a fall like that?"
"I landed in some flowers, if you could believe that."
"Flowers? In Midgar?" scoffed a ponytailed gal. That's when I took full notice of three people in red bandannas, who had come up with Tifa and Barret.
"Oh!" Tifa said, realizing what was going on. "You never met the rest of our group, did you? This is Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie."
Tifa gestured to a dark-haired muscular guy, a chubby guy, and the ponytailed gal in turn. We all exchanged greetings.
"Anyway," I continued, "it's a long story. Important thing is that I'm here. So what's going on with you all?"
The AVALANCHE members all looked at each other warily.
"Huh? Did something happen?"
[[Next|Avalanche 20]]
</div><<if $avaclient is 1>><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div><<else>><div class="bg-shinra">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div><</if>>
<div class="body"><<set $silkdress to 1>>After the tailor finished taking my measurements, he told us that the work on both of our dresses would be done in a few hours.
As he began measuring cloth, I turned to <<if $avaclient is 1>>Jessie<<else>>Elena<</if>>. "So, what now?"
<<if $avaclient is 1>>Jessie<<else>>Elena<</if>> looked at me, her hand on her chin. <<if $avaclient is 1>>"You're gonna need more than just a dress to pull this off. How about we add a wig?"<<else>>"We'll have to put a bit more work in to transform you into an attractive woman. For starters, you'll need a wig."<</if>>
"All right, is there a wig shop around here I can get one from?"
The tailor piped up. "Sorry, but I couldn't help but overhear your conversation. If it's a wig you're after, try the gym up the street. There's a lot of people like you who frequent the place."
"What do you mean, 'like me'?"
<<if $avaclient is 1>>Jessie chuckled. "Just ignore him. The important thing is that we know where to get one now. Let's go!"<<else>>"Don't worry about that, Cloud," Elena replied. "It's a lead. Let's get on over there."<</if>>
She was right, of course. We left the shop and headed for the gym.
[[Next|Shinra 17]]
</div><<if $avaclient is 1>><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div><<else>><div class="bg-shinra">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div><</if>>
<div class="body"><<set $satindress to 1>>After the tailor finished taking my measurements, he told us that the work on both of our dresses would be done in a few hours.
As he began measuring cloth, I turned to <<if $avaclient is 1>>Jessie<<else>>Elena<</if>>. "So, what now?"
<<if $avaclient is 1>>Jessie<<else>>Elena<</if>> looked at me, her hand on her chin. <<if $avaclient is 1>>"You're gonna need more than just a dress to pull this off. How about we add a wig?"<<else>>"We'll have to put a bit more work in to transform you into an attractive woman. For starters, you'll need a wig."<</if>>
"All right, is there a wig shop around here I can get one from?"
The tailor piped up. "Sorry, but I couldn't help but overhear your conversation. If it's a wig you're after, try the gym up the street. There's a lot of people like you who frequent the place."
"What do you mean, 'like me'?"
<<if $avaclient is 1>>Jessie chuckled. "Just ignore him. The important thing is that we know where to get one now. Let's go!"<<else>>"Don't worry about that, Cloud," Elena replied. "It's a lead. Let's get on over there."<</if>>
She was right, of course. We left the shop and headed for the gym.
[[Next|Shinra 17]]
</div><<if $avaclient is 1>><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div><<else>><div class="bg-shinra">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div><</if>>
<div class="body">"Hi, I'm the manager here. So you're the one who wants to be cute, huh?"
I was asked this question by a drag queen at Wall Market's gym, a large room divided into sections with free weights, exercise machines, and a boxing ring. <<if $avaclient is 1>>Jessie<<else>>Elena<</if>> stood right behind me, <<if $avaclient is 1>>an odd smile on her face<<else>>saying nothing<</if>> as I was being grilled with unexpected questions. Word travels fast in this neighborhood.
"Y-yes..."
"So you have a wig we can borrow?" <<if $avaclient is 1>>Jessie<<else>>Elena<</if>> asked.
"Sure do, but..." the manager trailed off, looking in the direction of an especially muscular guy shadow-boxing in the ring.
"Hey, Big Bro!" she called. "They're here!"
Big Bro stopped and leaned against the ropes, staring at us. "You here to borrow a wig?" he bellowed. "Then you're gonna have to beat me in squats, first!"
This declaration caused all heads in the gym to turn towards us. It was a challenge, and it looks like I had no choice but to accept. I shrugged out of my coat and undid my tie.
"Very well, muscle man. Bring it on!"
[[Next|Shinra 18]]
</div><<if $avaclient is 1>><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div><<else>><div class="bg-shinra">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div><</if>>
<div class="body">We walked out of the gym fifteen minutes later with a luxurious blonde wig. Back out in the street, <<if $avaclient is 1>>Jessie<<else>>Elena<</if>> looked me up and down.
<<if $avaclient is 1>>"There should still be some time before your dress is done, so maybe we should find some accessories. You know, so that you'll be even more convincing."<<else>>"We have some more time to kill before our dresses are done, so maybe we should accessorize your costume even further."<</if>>
"Oh for crying out loud..."
<<if $avaclient is 1>>"Hey, don't you care about pulling this off?"<<else>>"Look, do you want this job to be successful or not?"<</if>>
"I'm gettin' paid either way, aren't I?"
<<if $avaclient is 1>>"Yeah, but don't you have a rep to uphold? You don't want to be known as the detective who half-assed a job."<<else>>"Of course, but it's a matter of how //much// you'll be paid."<</if>>
I sighed. She was right.
"Okay, then, so what's next?"
<<if $avaclient is 1>>"Cologne of some kind. Oh, and makeup! And maybe some lingere..."<<else>>"Let's find some cologne, for starters, and put some makeup on you. Oh, and we should see about getting you some proper lingere."<</if>>
"//What?!//"
<<if $avaclient is 1>>"We've gotta be prepared for anything, since we don't know how the Don makes his selection."<<else>>"Hey, I don't know how thorough the Don is when he picks out a girl for the night. It's best to be as prepared as possible."<</if>>
"All right. So what're //you// wearing under those pants right now?"
<<if $avaclient is 1>>Jessie<<else>>Elena<</if>> turned beet red. <<if $avaclient is 1>>"That's none of your damn business!"<<else>>"I don't have to tell you that!"<</if>>
"Okay, okay," I said, stifling a laugh and dropping the subject of her mystery panties. "Is that everything?"
<<if $avaclient is 1>>"Jewelry would be nice. How about a tiara for the princess look?"<<else>>"Some jewelry, maybe a tiara, would be an excellent finishing touch, I think."<</if>>
"Yeah, sure. We gonna have enough time to dig up all these goodies?"
"<<if $avaclient is 1>>Shouldn't be a problem if we split up<<else>>If we split up, we should.<</if>> I'll find you some jewelry and makeup. Can you can handle the rest?"
I shrugged. "I don't have much of a choice."
<<if $avaclient is 1>>Jessie smiled. "Nope! Now let's finish off your outfit. See you back at the tailor's in an hour?"<<else>>Elena nodded. "That's right, you don't. Let's get to work. See you back at the tailor's shop in an hour or so."<</if>>
"Yeah."
We parted to begin our respective searches.
[[Next|Shinra 19]]
</div><<if $avaclient is 1>><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div><<else>><div class="bg-shinra">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div><</if>>
<div class="body">A couple hours later, we were ready.
<<if $avaclient is 1>>Jessie<<else>>Elena<</if>> had made me up with lipstick, mascara, and rouge, and I was dressed to the nines in a <<if $silkdress is 1>>silk<<else>>satin<</if>> dress, blonde wig, sexy cologne, diamond tiara, and <a style="color:white;" data-passage="Honeybee 01">bikini briefs</a>. The tailor looked upon me beaming, clearly proud of his work. <<if $avaclient is 1>>Jessie<<else>>Elena<</if>> herself wore that slinky <<if $avaclient is 1>>orange<<else>>green<</if>> number I had seen her examining when we first started out on this mission.
We set out from the tailor's shop and headed straight to the end of Wall Market, where Don Corneo's massive mansion lay. Even from the outside, it looked like a gaudy den of debauchery, and I groaned at the thought of what its owner, who I'd never met before, was like. I hoped that we could get this over and done with, as quickly as possible.
The Don's flunkies ushered us in, with leering gazes, then pointed the way to the office of their boss. <<if $avaclient is 1>>Tifa was already inside, standing in her best come-hither pose.<<else>>Inside the office was another girl, a brunette with a long ponytail and wearing a sheer orange dress. Was she from AVALANCHE?<</if>> Don Corneo himself, a fat, balding toad of a man, was seated behind an expansive mahogany desk, chomping on a cigar. Once the doors were closed, he wasted no time in leaping up and eyeing us all lustily.
"Oh, wonderful, wonderful. What a lovely selection of ladies today! Who shall I choose?"
I did my best to avoid his gaze as he hemmed and hawed, when finally, he made an annoucement.
"My companion for tonight shall be..."
<<if $avaclient is 1>><<if $silkdress is 1>>[[Next|Avalanche 22]]<<else>>[[Next|Avalanche 23]]<</if>><<else>><<if $silkdress is 1>>[[Next|Shinra 20]]<<else>>[[Next|Shinra End 02]]<</if>><</if>>
</div><div class="bg-shinra">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">"...this healthy-looking cutie!"
With a flourish, Don Corneo knelt before me. What the hell?!
"A-are you sure?!" I sputtered. "I'm really the one you want?!"
"Of course, dear! Don't be so modest!"
I pleadingly glanced over at Elena, but she was ignoring me, or at least, pretending to.
The Don looked up at the pair of flunkies guarding the door. "You and your men can have these other two." The bodyguards promptly escorted the brunette and Elena from the room. Once they were gone, Don Corneo locked the door and turned to me, lust in his eyes.
"My bedroom's in the back. So, shall we get down to business?"
I frowned, then tore off the wig. The Don's eyes widened, and before he could say anything, I cut him off.
"Just listen to me. It's all right. I'm here on Shinra's behalf."
"You are? But I've never seen you before."
"I'm a private eye hired by the Turks. AVALANCHE heard about you and wants to grill you for whatever dirt you have on Shinra."
"AVALANCHE?" Corneo shivered. "You mean, the group that blew up those mako reactors?"
"The very same," I nodded. "In fact, that brunette you let in here might be one of their members."
"And the other blonde?"
"She's with Shinra. You really dodged a bullet this time, Don."
"Whew!" Don Corneo collapsed in a heap on the floor, leaning against his desk. "I must thank you then."
I waved this off. Kind compliments like this didn't mean much coming from such scum. "All in a day's work."
"To be honest, what I had heard about Shinra's plans has been weighing on me. I can't believe they're going to drop the entire Sector Seven plate just to be rid of AVALANCHE!"
//What?//
I did my best to play it cool, as though I had known this the entire time. "Yeah, it's pretty drastic."
"Seems like AVALANCHE is headquartered in the Sector Seven slums. I'm just glad they aren't here in Sector Six!"
I'd heard enough. Right now, I just wanted to return to the tailor's shop and change back into my familiar old clothes, but I had to wait for Elena. "Yeah."
Just then, a knock came at the door. "Hey, you still in there, Strife?" My savior, right on time.
"Yeah," I said, unlocking the door and letting Elena in. The Don was still on the floor, hyperventilating. "We done here?"
"I took care of that brunette--and the Don's bodyguards--so yeah, we can go."
"Thank god." This dress was starting to ride up in uncomfortable places.
Elena and I strolled out of Don Corneo's mansion, and back into the grimy, neon-soaked Wall Market. I turned to her.
"So what's this about the Sector Seven plate being felled?"
[[Next|Shinra 21]]
</div><div class="bg-shinra">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">"...this lovely brunette!"
With a flourish, Don Corneo knelt before the gal with the ponytail. Elena and I glanced at each other.
Corneo glanced at the bodyguards standing at attention by the door. "You and your men can have the others."
Elena started to protest, but we were both quickly escorted out and into the hallway.
"So what do we do now?" I whispered.
Elena swiftly knocked out the guards. I was stunned. This petite lady was future Turk material after all. "//I'm// getting out of here and going after that brunette. As for you, I've been told that if you failed, we'd be letting you go, without pay. Sorry."
I shrugged. What else was I to expect, after botching things twice in a row? "No hard feelings."
I tore off the wig and left Elena to deal with things on her own. A few hours later, the Sector Seven plate would fall, rattling the rest of Midgar, but that had nothing to do with me.
No, from now on, it was back to regular, unexciting investigations for Detective Strife.
''The End''
• [[For those in a hurry|Shinra 13]] (rewind to previous branch)
• [[For those with a little time|Title]] (return to the beginning)
</div><div class="bg-shinra">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">"We can't talk about that here."
I nodded. This was, after all, the big secret that AVALANCHE had been hoping to learn about. Still, it seemed like an extreme solution to Shinra's problem. If they knew they were in the Sector Seven slums, why not just send a squad of troops to take them out? Unless...
"Is Shinra gonna frame AVALANCHE for the deed?"
"Zip it, Detective."
I sighed and followed Elena back to the tailor's shop, where we changed out of our evening gowns. Afterward, we went to the area's largest bar, where Elena sat down in front of me and dabbed at my face with makeup remover.
"So what happens now?" I asked.
"What do you mean?"
"With me. I hope you and your boys in the Turks aren't going to force me to take on something else."
"What's wrong, pay's not good enough?"
"That's not it." I couldn't say what was really on my mind, so I made up an excuse. "I need a break."
"I'll let them know. As for that... //thing// you heard about in Don Corneo's mansion, pretend you didn't, okay?"
"And if I don't?"
"Do I really need to explain the consequences of doing that?"
I sighed. "No ma'am."
"Just put it out of your mind. It's none of your business."
"Yes ma'am."
Elena finished up. "Well, I need to get going. Your check should be waiting for you back at your office when you get in."
"Looking forward to it."
She nodded, gathered up her things, and left. My body heavy with fatigue, I made my way over to the bar and ordered a scotch. It had been a long day, but at the time, I had no idea that it wasn't over yet.
[[Next|Shinra 22]]
</div><div class="bg-shinra">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">Another evening, another thundering noise from elsewhere in the city.
This time, thanks to Elena, I already knew in advance that it'd be the Sector Seven plate.
I turned on the TV. The talking heads were going on about AVALANCHE being the culprits, but even I could see how badly thought-out Shinra's plan had been. AVALANCHE was an environmental group opposed to mako energy. How would dropping one of Midgar's plates advance their cause?
As I switched the TV back off, I shook my head. This crazy city gets to me sometimes.
I tried to spend the rest of my evening curled up in bed with a cheap paperback, but I couldn't stop thinking about the plate. How many people had Shinra offed just to be rid of a ragtag band of terrorists? Wasn't there a better way of handling such problems?
From its spot on the nightstand, my PHS rang. It was in my hands and next to my face within seconds.
"Strife Detective Agency, Cloud Strife speaking."
"Hello Mr. Strife. This is Tseng, of the Turks. How are you this evening?"
Ahh, it was the boss man himself. "Kinda on edge, what with Sector Seven in ruins and all. Shinra doesn't go in for subtlety, huh."
"So, you know."
"More or less."
Tseng sighed. "Personally, I would've taken a more covert route, but our President likes things big and flashy."
I wasn't expecting Tseng to be so //conversational// about all of this, and it bugged me. "Let's cut to the chase. What's the reason for this call? Another job?"
"It's potentially more than that. Much more."
I wasn't sure how to feel about that. "Oh yeah?"
"Yes. Can you meet me in my office in the Shinra Building tomorrow morning at 9AM?"
"And what if I refuse?"
"You wouldn't do that, would you?" His tone was almost mocking, before snapping back to his businesslike demeanor. "Just come. I promise I'll make it worth your while."
I wondered what I would have to lose, then almost immediately thought of a few things. Still, I was intrigued.
"Sure. Sure, I'll be there."
"Very good, thank you."
Tseng gave me the floor and room number of his office, and after confirming the time, we ended the call.
So then, that was it. Tomorrow I would be heading to the Shinra Building for an in-person meeting with the leader of the Turks.
[[Next|Shinra 23]]
</div><div class="bg-aeris">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">Aeris and I walked into the Sector Five slums. From neighboring buildings, I could hear TV reports about AVALANCHE'S latest reactor bombing.
We passed by a large, broken drainage pipe, from which we could hear moaning sounds. Aeris shuddered.
"What's wrong?" I asked her.
"There's a sick man in there, but he doesn't have an ordinary illness. It makes me uncomfortable."
"Is it someone you know?"
"No, and that has nothing to do with it. It's hard to explain."
Aeris said nothing as we continued out of town to a maze of scrap, and finally to an old playground just outside of the Sector Seven gate.
"Just head on through there and follow the signs to the train station," she said, pointing at the gate.
"Thanks." I glanced at my watch, then dug out a train schedule from the folds of my coat. Seemed like I'd just missed the train, and the next one wouldn't be here for another hour. I told Aeris as such.
"Oh, is that right. I'm sorry to hear that."
"Don't worry about it. I'm not in a rush."
I expected her to curtly bid me farewell and leave, but instead, she sat down on one of the swings. "Hey, if you don't mind my asking, what was your rank in SOLDIER?"
[[Next|Aeris 12]]
</div><div class="bg-aeris">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">"Me? I was First Class."
Aeris nodded. "The same as him, then."
"The same as who?"
"My first boyfriend," she said sullenly, staring at the ground. Was this the "nice boy" her mom had mentioned the previous night?
"Did... something happen to him?"
"He died, or at least, I //think// he did. I never got confirmation."
I nodded. "There were a lot of casualties during the Wutai War."
"It wasn't in the war, but on a mission afterward. He went missing about five years ago, but I'm pretty sure he died much more recently."
A sharp pain flared up in the back of my skull upon hearing the words "five years ago", but I ignored it.
"What was his name? I might've heard of him. Hell, maybe I know what happened to him."
"His name was--"
Aeris was interrupted by a sound coming from Sector Seven. The massive metal gate was creaking open, and through it came an old-fashioned chocobo-driven carriage. As the carriage veered off the to right, I could see that standing in the back was a familiar face, dressed in a revealing blue outfit.
"Tifa?!" I exclaimed.
"No, his name wasn't Tifa," Aeris said, still reminiscing. "Isn't that a girl's name?"
"No, no," I replied, pointing at the carriage. "See that lady over there? That's Tifa. I grew up with her."
"Ahh, an old girlfriend?"
I was taken aback by this inquiry. "N-no way!"
"What, is she out of your league?" Aeris smirked.
"You're starting to piss me off, you know that?"
"Why's she going to Wall Market dressed like that?"
"Damned if I know."
"So what're you gonna do now?"
<<if $avaclient is 1>>[[Follow the carriage|Aeris End 01]]
[[Go to the train station|Aeris 13]]<<else>>[[Next|Aeris 13]]<</if>>
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">"Seems like Shinra has something big planned for us," Barret said, crossing his arms, "but we don't know what yet."
Biggs continued, "Word is, though, there's someone in Wall Market who //does//."
I nodded. Wall Market was in the next sector over. It was the biggest shopping district in the slums. Supposedly you could get anything there.
"So, do you know who it is?"
"Don Corneo, the infamous gangster and pimp," said Wedge. "Now we just have to figure out how to get him to talk."
"I had an idea," said Tifa, "but the guys here are against it."
"Yeah? What is it?" I asked.
"Every night, Corneo selects a young woman out of a lineup of three to be his companion for the night. I suggested that Jessie and myself should try to win this little competition and then get the info out of him once one of us is alone with him."
Jessie nodded. "Tifa and I are prepared to do this, but Barret, Biggs, and Wedge are scared about what might happen to us."
"I know that Tifa and Jessie are tough and can hold their own in a fight, if it came down to that," said Barret. "But still, I..."
Just then, Jessie clapped her hands together. "I know! What if Cloud here came with us? If anything happened to me or Tifa, he'd be our muscle."
"Hmph," I said with a smirk. "Last I checked, I wasn't a member of the fairer sex."
"But you don't have to be! Crossdress and come along with us. You have a pretty face and lean frame, so I'm sure you could pull it off!"
I gave Jessie an unamused expression. Still, it wasn't a terrible idea.
"I'll do it, but only if you pay me quadruple of what you did before."
Barret looked as if he was about to explode, but Tifa kept her cool. She touched him on the arm. "We picked up a lot of gil during our battles in Reactor No. 5, so we should be able to cover it."
"Rrrgh, you're right," Barret grumbled. "Okay, Mr. Detective, looks like you're working for us again. Now the three of you go get dolled up!"
[[Next|Avalanche 21]]
</div><div class="bg-aeris">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">I looked at my watch. I'd killed enough time here; the wait for the train shouldn't be too bad now. "I'm gonna catch the train back to Sector Four. Whatever Tifa's up to is none of my business."
"All right. Be careful getting home."
"You too. See you around, Miss Florist."
Aeris gave me a faint smile and waved goodbye as I headed toward the Sector Seven gate.
[[Next|Aeris 14]]
</div><div class="bg-aeris">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">As per Aeris' instructions, once inside the Sector Seven slums, I followed the signs and quickly found the train station. Unfortunately, there was some bad news awaiting me when I looked up at the departure board.
"Damn, the train's delayed?!"
Just my luck. According to the board, there was no telling when the next train would show up, but it wouldn't be for awhile. After sitting around in the waiting room for what felt like--and might've been--hours, I sighed and left the station, deciding that it'd be better to kill time in the streets.
I decided to seek out the office of the hot-blooded detective Joe. As I walked the streets, examining signs and flyers for hints as to where his office might be, I encountered another familiar face from Nibelheim.
"Hey Johnny, how's it hanging?"
"What're //you// doing here, Cloud? Need to see my boss about something?"
I shrugged. "You mean Joe? Maybe. I've never met him before, and since he's Midgar's best and I'm in the same line of work, I thought I should pay my respects."
Johnny folded his arms and looked away. "He's uhh... actually, he's not around right now."
"What? Why not?"
"Can't say. I've been sworn to secrecy."
"Oh yeah? So who's running the office in the meantime."
"Yours truly," Johnny replied, his chest puffing up with pride. "And get this: I'm no longer an apprentice, either!"
"So you're an honest-to-goodness detective now? Welcome to the club."
"Heh heh, thanks!"
It was good news, to be sure, but Joe being away from the office meant that my little sidequest was over. "I gotta get going. Need to catch a train back to Sector Four."
"Oh, you haven't heard? All the trains are delayed."
"I know, but I still gotta find out when the next one'll be."
Just then, Johnny's PHS rang.
"Hello?... Oh, hi Ti--//what?!//... Okay... okay... I'll do my best! Bye!"
Johnny pocketed his PHS and turned to me. "Can you help me evacuate Sector Seven?"
"What? Why?"
"There's no time to explain! If Sector Seven isn't cleared out, then a ton of people will die!"
[[Next|Aeris 15]]
</div><div class="bg-aeris">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">That sounded bad. "What can I do to help?"
"Let's start by telling everyone we can!"
"Right."
Johnny and I split up to knock on doors and alert everyone we saw about the impending doom, whatever it was. We met again near the Sector Seven gate, and this time, Johnny had <<if $avaclient is 1>>Marlene<<else>>a young girl<</if>> with him.
"Tifa asked me to get Marlene here to someplace safe, so I'm gonna go do that! Make sure everyone else gets out!"
"Johnny, wai--"
"Thanks, Cloud!" Johnny ran off with the girl on his shoulders, waving back at me.
I sighed, and continued the evacuation work on my own. Then, from somewhere up above, I heard the sounds of gunfire. I needed to get out of here myself, and soon.
I ran out into the crowd of people milling around in the Sector Six playground. A lot of them tried to ask me questions which I couldn't answer. All I could do was tell them to wait.
Then, my PHS rang. An unfamiliar number was displayed on the screen.
"Strife here."
"Mr. Strife! It's Elmyra, Aerith's mother! Aerith has been taken by the Turks!"
"What?"
Before she could answer, the screeching sound of twisting, buckling metal echoed from the Sector Seven plate above. The crowd around me began to panic, and ran further into Sector Six. Soon, right before my eyes, that massive metal plate tilted ever so slightly downwards, then fell to the ground with an ear-splitting thud, sending up clouds of dirt a hundred feet high.
When the noise subsided, I found that Elmyra was still on the other end of the line.
"Mr. Strife? What was that noise? Are you all right?"
"I..." I stared at the wreckage. Did that really just happen? What the hell was going on in this city?!
"Sorry, I just... I'm fine. I'll be right over, ma'am."
[[Next|Aeris 16]]
</div><div class="bg-shinra">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">The following morning, I was on a train bound for the center of Midgar: Sector Zero, home to the Shinra Building, which contained Shinra's worldwide headquarters. I had never been to the place before, not even during my stint in SOLDIER, and found myself wondering what it was like. Anything to take my mind off the dread that had formed in the pit of my stomach over Tseng's request for a meeting.
I disembarked at the Sector Zero stop and looked up at the gigantic seventy-story skyscraper in front of me. Shinra sure did know how to build 'em impressive. I walked inside and was able to find the elevators quickly, despite the size of the marble-tiled lobby. After boarding an elevator, I double-checked the numbers Tseng gave me and pressed the button for the 54th floor.
This floor was far less ostentatious than the lobby, consisting of rooms of cubicles, with doors to small offices scattered about. I soon found Tseng's. It was smaller than I expected, but at least there was enough room for a few people to sit comfortably. Besides Tseng, another Turk was standing there waiting for me. He was tall, bald, and wore a pair of dark sunglasses, a ton of earrings, and a frown.
"Glad to see you could make it, Mr. Strife," Tseng greeted. "This is Rude, one of my subordinates."
Instead of saying anything, Rude just nodded. We all exchanged handshakes, then Rude closed the door and took the seat next to mine, in front of Tseng's desk. The Turk leader folded his hands together and leaned forward slightly.
"Mr. Strife--"
"Just 'Cloud' is fine," I said. "Sorry to interrupt."
"Very well, Cloud. Although we didn't get started off on the right foot, you have done fine work for us since then. Thanks to you, AVALANCHE was not able to get wind of yesterday's plans through Don Corneo."
I shrugged. "Just did what I was hired to do."
"However," Tseng continued, his expression turning grave, "some of their members //did// notice what Shinra was up to at the Sector Seven Pillar, and got in an altercation with Reno, who you've met before."
"Yeah. He all right?"
Tseng shook his head. "He was badly injured. Given the recent turmoil in Midgar, we thought it best to bring someone new into our ranks while he recovers, which may take awhile. She doesn't know it yet, but that someone is Elena, who you also know."
"Okay, so what does this have to do with me?"
"I was just getting to that," Tseng frowned. "If, somehow, the situation continues to take a turn for the worse, we will need to recruit even more people. Besides Elena, there haven't been many suitable candidates for us to choose from lately. We would like for you to consider throwing your hat in the ring."
"So wait, back up a minute, you think AVALANCHE escaped? You think they're gonna blow up more reactors, or worse?"
"We have to be prepared for anything."
"And you want //me// to join the Turks?"
"I want you to be ready to, if we require it. It's a good job, with flexible benefits."
I didn't care about their health plan and 401k. I just wasn't sure that I wanted to work for Shinra again, but I didn't know how to tell Tseng this.
"You don't have to give me an answer right away," Tseng replied, "but the sooner the better."
I was about to say something, when the phone on Tseng's desk rang. He picked up the receiver.
"Tseng here... yes... I see... All right, we'll check it out."
Tseng hung up and gave me a thin smile. "Well, looks like we're done here. Can we see you to the elevators?"
[[Next|Shinra 24]]
</div><div class="bg-aeris">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">I hastily bid farewell to Aeris and ran after the cart. Unfortunately, it had disappeared by the time I reached Wall Market.
I scoured Wall Market, trying to find Tifa, or at least some answers, but nothing came up. I tried calling her at one point, but for some reason, her PHS was turned off. What in the world was she up to?
Sighing, I returned to the playground only to find that Aeris was now gone. Having overheard in Wall Market that all the trains in Sector Seven were delayed, I backtracked and took a local to the upper plate from the station in the Sector Four slums.
That night, the entire city rumbled. At first, I thought it might've been an earthquake, but a news bulletin that popped up on TV was quick to correct me: the support pillar holding up the Sector Seven plate had been destroyed, causing said plate to fall. A hard lump formed within my stomach. The newscast continued, and although I caught the word "avalanche" at one point, I was too out of it to pay attention.
//Tifa probably thought I was dead after I fell down to Sector Five,// I thought ruefully. //Now I guess it's my turn.//
I hoped that AVALANCHE made it out somehow. However, I would never find out if they did for sure.
''The End''
• <<back "For those in a hurry">> (rewind to previous branch)
• [[For those with a little time|Title]] (return to the beginning)
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">We decided that the best way to carry out this plan would be to approach the Don's mansion, one at a time, so that he wouldn't become suspicious. Since Tifa already had a sexy little blue number in her wardrobe, she went first, and even went to the extra trouble of hiring a chocobo cart to take her to the mansion.
Jessie and I headed for Wall Market a little while later. Since I didn't know the first thing about women's clothing, she was going to help me out.
At a tailor's shop, Jessie went up to the counter and addressed the old man there. "Sir, can you make a dress for my friend here? Make him look as flattering as possible."
The old tailor adjusted his glasses as he stared at me. "Oh ho, this will be a challenge. Come over here young man, so I can get your measurements."
The tailor dug around for a measuring tape and other tools of his trade, while Jessie examined a sparkly reddish-orange gown.
"Hey Cloud," she asked, almost timidly. "Do you think I'd look good in this?"
"Don't see why not," I shrugged. "The orange would complement your hair."
Jessie whispered "We have to succeed in getting the Don's attention. I have a bad feeling about this information he supposedly has."
"Listen," I whispered back. "If all three of us get in, we'll get the dirt. There's no way this plan could fail."
"I suppose you're right."
Just then, the tailor reemerged and began to take my measurements.
"So, what kind of dress would you like?" he asked.
"How about something soft and shimmery?" Jessie replied. "Is that all right with you, Cloud?"
[["\"Yeah, sounds good.\""|Shinra 15]]
[["\"Can you make it shiny instead of shimmery?\""|Shinra 16]]
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">"...this healthy-looking cutie!"
With a flourish, Don Corneo knelt before me. What the hell?!
"A-are you sure?!" I sputtered. "I'm really the one you want?!"
"Of course, dear! Don't be so modest!"
I pleadingly glanced over at Tifa and Jessie, but they was ignoring me, or at least, pretending to.
The Don looked up at the pair of flunkies guarding the door. "You and your men can have these other two." The bodyguards promptly escorted Tifa and Jessie from the room. Once they were gone, Don Corneo locked the door and turned to me, lust in his eyes.
"My bedroom's in the back. So, shall we get down to business?"
Timidly, I nodded. Once we were in his bedroom, he locked the door. I paced about the room while the Don tried to butter me up with sweet words. I had to be sure that we wouldn't be interrupted. As soon as the footsteps out in the hallway died down, I tore off the wig.
The Don's eyes widened, but before he could say anything, I pointed my gun at his crotch. "Call for help and I'll shoot it off," I said.
As the Don whimpered, I heard a knock at the door. "It's us!" said Jessie. "Can you let us in?"
I unlocked the door and Tifa and Jessie stepped through, once again back in their street clothes and armed to the teeth. Jessie tossed me a shopping bag containing my regular old clothes.
I headed toward a screen in one corner of the room with the bag. "Take it away, ladies. I'm sure you and the Don here'll have plenty to talk about."
Tifa cracked her knuckles and Jessie aimed her gun at the Don. I lowered my own weapon and changed as the two of them began their interrogation.
[[Next|Avalanche 24]]
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">"...this sexy young thing!"
With a flourish, Don Corneo knelt before Tifa. That wasn't much of a surprise. I would've picked her myself.
"Oh, what an honor!" said Tifa. There was a slight mocking edge to her tone, but neither the Don nor his guards seemed to notice.
"I'm glad you think so!" Corneo replied.
As Jessie feigned disappointment, I sighed and let my eyes wander around the gaudy office, wondering what was in the cards for us next.
The Don looked up at the pair of flunkies guarding the door. "You and your men can have these other two." The bodyguards promptly escorted the me and Jessie from the room. Once we were back in the hallway, one guard led Jessie to a room on the left, while I was taken to one on the right.
Inside the room I was shoved into were four thuggish members of Corneo's gang. I shook my head. A girl must be desperate to have to come here.
Keeping my head down, I wandered about the room for a little while, but was unable to find anything I could use as an escape hatch. The four sets of eyes on me, all creeping closer, didn't help matters either. Finally, I decided I'd had enough.
I grabbed a katana from the floor, leaped up on a low table, and tore off my wig. "You all want a piece of me?!"
The lustful stares of the men turned to furious ones as I unsheathed the blade. It'd been a long time since I'd last used a sword, but handling this lot would be a piece of cake.
I slashed my way through the four flunkies, wounding them enough so they wouldn't be foolish enough to follow, then rushed out the door. Jessie was running down the hall towards me, wearing her armor and fatigues in place of that orange dress. She had a pistol in one hand and a shopping bag, containing my clothes, in the other.
"Picked these up from that spot near the entrance where we'd left them." Jessie looked down at the katana. "What, don't tell me you forgot to pack your gun under that dress!"
"Oh," I said sheepishly. I had, but had forgotten it was there.
I tossed the katana aside and rolled up my skirt to retrieve my trusty Quicksilver. "Let's rescue Tifa."
"Right!"
We rushed into the Don's office, only to find it empty. Then, we heard some voices coming from beyond a door at the back. We tested the handle, but it was locked.
Jessie knocked. "It's us!"
The door opened, and Tifa stood there in her standard tank top, miniskirt, and fighting gloves. Cowering on the bed before her was Don Corneo, his face bright red and coated in sweat.
I took the bag from Jessie and headed toward a screen in one corner of the room. "Take it away, ladies. I'm sure you and the Don here'll have plenty to talk about."
Tifa cracked her knuckles and Jessie aimed her gun at the Don. I lowered my own weapon and changed as the two of them began their interrogation.
[[Next|Avalanche 24]]
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">"Shinra sent you on a fact-finding mission about AVALANCHE," said Tifa. "What did you learn?"
"T-they ordered me to find out where you and the man with the gun-arm were."
"And?"
"I sent my men out, and that's when they found a bar in the Sector Seven slums. And it seemed like the rest of AVALANCHE operated out of there as well."
Jessie asked, "Who ordered you to do this?"
"They'd kill me if I told you?"
I peeked my head out from behind the screen just in time to see Jessie thrust her pistol towards the Don's nethers and snarl, "//Who?//"
"I-i-it was Heidegger of Peace Preservation! He has a plan to take care of AVALANCHE once and for all, but he needed to find out where they were headquartered first!"
"A plan, you say?" I replied, sauntering out from behind the screen, Quicksilver back in my hand. "Thanks for slipping us that little bit of information."
Corneo gulped, apparently realizing that he'd slipped up.
"What is this plan? Tell me, or you see this fire materia here?" said Tifa, holding up her glove to reveal a shiny green orb slotted near the knuckles. "I'll use it to roast your balls to a crisp."
Whimpering, the Don replied. "N-no! Don't! I'll talk! Heidegger wants to destroy the support pillar holding up the plate!"
"What do you mean?"
"You know, the sector plate! The entire plate that hangs over whatever slum AVALANCHE is headquartered in will come crashing down! And that means Sector Seven! You and your AVALANCHE friends are going to be //squashed!// I'm just glad it's not Sector Six!"
"What the hell?!" Jessie exclaimed. "They're going to destroy the entire sector just to get rid of us?"
Tifa turned to me. "We need to get back there right away and warn everyone! You coming?"
Under other circumstances, I would've begged off, but not this time. My conscience wouldn't allow it. "Yeah, of course."
As Tifa, Jessie, and I discussed our next course of action, we had somehow missed the Don inching further up on his bed, chuckling all the way. I turned back just in time to see him press a large button on one of the nightstands. The floor vanished beneath our feet, and we fell down into a dark, putrid sewer below.
"Have fun with my little Apps!"
From somewhere in the darkness came a monstrous roar.
[[Next|Avalanche 25]]
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">We turned around to see a misshapen beast with broken shackles dangling from its wrists. It must've been at least twenty feet tall.
"Dammit, what now?!" I exclaimed, but Tifa and Jessie were already firing up their weapons and materia. I shrugged, cocked my pistol, and joined them. The thing was a pain to take down, but we eventually did so, leaving us alone in the dark sewer once again.
"We have to get out of here and warn everyone in Sector Seven right away!" Tifa exclaimed.
//Yeah, no shit//, I thought. I squinted in the darkness, wondering which way to go, when Jessie took my hand and dragged me along.
"I know what you're thinking," she said over her shoulder, "but we had these sewer lines mapped out ages ago, just in case we needed to use them for travel."
"Damn, you AVALANCHE folks really know what you're doing."
"Heh, we try."
Eventually, we found our way out of the sewer and into an abandoned railyard. It wasn't long before we arrived at the Sector Seven train station. There were a few commuters minding their own business as the monitors overhead displayed delays for every single line.
From a little ways off in the distance, we could hear the distinctive rat-a-tat of Barret's gun-arm.
[[Next|Avalanche 26]]
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">We ran in the direction of the gunfire.
There was a huge crowd gathered at the base of the plate's support pillar. I immediately pushed through them and shouted, "Shinra's bringing the Sector Seven plate down! Get out of here now if you want to live!"
Cue the panicked screaming as the crowd rapidly dispersed. As this happened, I spotted Tifa discussing something with Johnny. The redhead ran off, and both Tifa and Jessie joined me at the chain-link fence that circled the pillar.
"Johnny's gonna go get Marlene from the bar and take her to safety," Tifa explained. "Let's get up there and help Barret!"
I nodded and joined the gals in making the long climb up to the top of the pillar. Along the way, we came across the bodies of Biggs and Wedge. They were too far gone.
There was a large circular platform at the top of the pillar, where Barret was single-handedly fighting off a cadre of Shinra troops. Just then, someone dropped down from a helicopter right in front of a control panel. It was the Turk, Reno.
"Ah!" Tifa exclaimed, running over to him to stop whatever he was doing with the panel, but it was too late. He turned around with a smirk on his face.
"Well, that's that. Say so long to your precious home, AVALANCHE!"
Jessie and I shot at Reno. Both of our bullets found their mark, and he stumbled backwards, and over the railing. Meanwhile, Tifa clacked away at the control panel's keyboard. I went over to her.
"He activated the pillar's self-destruct mechanism and locked it up! I can't figure out how to disable it!"
Barret's gunfire suddenly stopped. When we turned around to look at him, the Shinra troops were gone, and directly in front of him was a helicopter with an attached platform. Standing on that platform was another Turk, one with long black hair, and next to him were Johnny and Marlene in handcuffs. If memory served me correctly, this Turk was Tseng, the group's leader
"I wouldn't mess with that if I were you," Tseng said to Tifa. "The self-destruct is made to go off immediately if someone tampers with it."
"//Marlene!//" Barret yelled.
"And Johnny!" Jessie chimed in. "What're you doing with them?!"
"Oh, do you all know each other? I was going to take them back to Shinra's headquarters, and squeeze every last bit of intel on AVALANCHE that I could from them." Tseng glanced down at his watch. "Well, well, look at the time. I should be going."
The helicopter sped off. Tifa took another look at the control panel.
"We need to get out of here!" she yelled. "There's no time!"
"Hey, let's use this to get out of here!" Barret said, indicating a cable attached to the edge of the platform. He shot at it enough so it would break, then the four of us gripped to it tightly and swung toward the Sector Seven gate, right before the plate came crashing down.
We kneeled in the sandy dirt of Sector Six, coated with the dust of Sector Seven, the ground still shaking from the plate's impact. Barret soon found his footing and rushed over to the gate, now completely blocked off by a mass of compressed metal.
"Biggs! Wedge! Dammit! //Dammit all to hell!//"
[[Next|Avalanche 27]]
</div><div class="bg-honeybee">THE YOUNG BUBBY'S GROUP</div>
<div class="body">I got the Bikini Briefs at the Honeybee Inn, a seedy gentlemen's club and love hotel tucked away in a corner of Wall Market. It used to be member's only, but declining business means that they'll let just anyone in these days.
As it happens, the Honeybee Inn was in the midst of a revival. The gay community of the Midgar slums had adopted the place as a hangout, and so, once a week, "Men's Night" get-togethers would be held there.
I was at a loss on what to do about underwear for my costume when I ran into the organizer of these events in the Honeybee Inn's central lobby.
"Hey there, bubby! Are you lost? Is there anything I could help you with?"
I turned around to get a look at the guy and was immediately taken aback. He was dressed only in shorts, and had an impressive handlebar mustache and muscles that looked like small boulders. This, then, must be that "Mukki" I had heard about.
I lowered my hat and mumbled something about sexy underwear for crossdressing.
Mukki pulled me aside. "Say, are you the bubby I've been hearing about who wants to look pretty?"
Again?! Word travels //really// fast in this neighborhood. Nevertheless, I nodded.
"Okay! I understand! Wait here!"
Mukki opened the door to one of the rooms and was met with a wall of steam. He disappeared into this room, where he was met with a cacophany of male voices. These died down after a moment, and I continued to wait for a few minutes while girls dressed in bee costumes wandered about the lobby. Then, Mukki returned.
"Lucky for you, we have a whole stack of fresh, brand-new pairs which we use for promotions. Here! Take one!"
Mukki handed me a pair of sparkly red briefs. I examined them, then looked back at him, confused. They were sexy all right, but...
"These are //men's// briefs."
"I know! This is just my opinion, but if you're new to crossdressing, you should be as comfortable as possible. Don't worry, they won't make your junk stand out too much when you're in a dress. Come back when you're ready to take the next step!"
I nodded, tucked the briefs away in my coat, and thanked him. Then I got the hell out of there.
<<back "Go back">>
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">AVALANCHE's next course of action was clear: they needed to rescue Marlene and Johnny from whereever they were being kept in the Shinra Building. I already told them I would be joining them, as I was, by now, too wrapped up in their business to refuse. Besides, I figured that it was a bad time to say no to Barret, should it have come to that.
Unfortunately, train service to and from the slums was completely suspended, and besides, Barret, Tifa, and Jessie were still public enemy number one. We needed a way to get to Sector Zero--the city's hub, where the Shinra Building was located--without drawing the company's attention.
I suggested that we case Wall Market for hints on how to do that. The others agreed. We split up into teams of two and began our search. I happened to be with Barret.
Our first few stops didn't bear any fruit, but when we inquired about a route to the upper plate at the weapon shop, the man behind the counter asked if we had any industrial-strength batteries.
"Batteries?" Barret replied. "What the hell does that have to do with gettin' up to the plate?"
"You'll see when you get there. So, how 'bout it? Just 100 gil each."
I eyed him suspiciously. Was he trying to pull a fast one on us? "Mind if we take a look at these batteries first?"
"Fine," the man sighed. He turned around for a moment, then plopped a few heavy-looking objects the size of milk pints on the counter. I pulled one toward me and looked it over. It was old, but some of the wires and contacts were brand-new, as if they had recently been repaired. On the underside was a worn label bearing the Shinra logo, a serial number, and some technical minutiae. Regardless of how useful they may or may not be, 100 gil was a steal for batteries like this. It wouldn't hurt to bring them along with us, and I told Barret as such.
"Yeah? You think we could use these?"
"Sure," I said, before lowering my voice to a whisper. "And if we can't, we could resell 'em and get way more back than what he's asking."
Barret nodded, then turned back to the weapon dealer. "We'll take 'em all."
We paid for the batteries and left the shop, where we ran into Tifa and Jessie.
"Hey, we just heard about a big hole that appeared just off of Corneo's mansion," Jessie said excitedly. "Apparently some kids are trying to climb up to the plate from there."
This was our most promising lead yet. I turned to Barret. "Think our new batteries have something to do with that hole?"
Barret grinned. "Only one way to find out."
[[Next|Avalanche 28]]
</div><div class="bg-aeris">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">It was still afternoon by the time I got back to Elmyra's house, but looking at the place, you could've sworn it was later than that. The sunny little cottage I had left this morning had somehow taken on a grey pallor.
I brushed the dust of Sector Seven off of my shoulders, removed my hat, and knocked on the door. Elmyra answered within moments.
"Oh, Mr. Strife..." She broke down into tears and buried her face in my chest. I stood there for awhile, saying nothing, just letting her get it all out. Finally, she backed away and asked me to come in.
I took a seat at her dining table. "May I get you something to drink?" Elmyra asked.
"Some water would be great. Got a lot of dust stuck in my throat."
Elmyra nodded and poured me a glass of water, then sat down in front of me with her head bowed. This was getting us nowhere, so I decided to cut to the chase.
"So Aeris has been kidnapped by Shinra? They actually succeeded this time?"
"Yes."
"And you want to hire me to bring her back, I take it?"
"No--I mean, you're a private detective, and this is out of your jurisdiction, so I'm sure that there's nothing you can do."
"But you're still hoping I do //something//."
"Yes, well... I believe my daughter sees something special about you."
"Special? Me? You've gotta be joking," I scoffed. "I'm just another ex-SOLDIER trying to make a buck in this fucked-up, crazy city. But what about Aeris? Why has Shinra been itchin' to get their hands on her? What's so special about //her?//"
Elena stared into her glass, her voice heavy with sadness. "Aerith... is an <a style="color:white;" data-passage="Nibelheim 05">Ancient</a>. The last one left."
"You aren't her real mother?" I asked.
She shook her head. "Are you old enough to remember the Wutai War?"
"Of course. I was a little boy then, but that subject was hard to avoid back in those days."
"About fifteen years ago, my husband was away, fighting in that war. One day, I got a letter telling me that he would be coming home on leave. I went to the train station on the date indicated, and... he wasn't there."
"So what happened next?"
"I returned to the station every day afterward hoping to see him, praying that there had just been some mistake in the date on the letter. Then, one day, I came across a very young girl sobbing and hugging her dying mother. Unfortunately, one saw such sights with regularity during the war.
"This woman opened her eyes and looked at me. I'll never forget how clear and bright those eyes were. She said to me, 'Please look after Aerith,' before closing them, probably for the last time."
[[Next|Aeris 17]]
</div><div class="bg-shinra">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">With the silent Rude taking the lead, I was taken over to the elevator bank. As we waited, Tseng said to me, "On second thought, maybe we should bring you with us. I want your assessment on this situation, and perhaps it could help you make your decision."
Rude nodded, while I continued to be left in the dark. Sure, this was fine, being a captive audience for the Turks and their mysterious task.
We boarded the first elevator that arrived and took it to the 66th floor. "This floor, like all the others from the 60th on, can only be accessed with special keycards," Tseng explained. "Very few people get to see what's on these floors, so consider yourself fortunate."
The door soon opened on the 66th floor. A nearby placard described it as the first level of the Science Department's main laboratory.
Rude was on his PHS since we first boarded the elevator, and once we got off, he hung up. "They're heading this way," he said. Me, I was astonished that the big man could actually speak.
"All right. Let's get out of sight, then ambush them."
We hid nearby. Three people soon came up to the elevators--well, two people and what looked like some sort of orange-furred wildcat. The other two were a large, dark-skinned man with a gun-arm attachment, and the flower seller from the slums. What the hell was she doing here?
The elevator chime dinged and the doors opened. With swift steps, Rude walked over to the elevator as they entered, and Tseng and I followed close behind.
Rude tapped the shoulder of the man. He turned around and jumped.
"W-whoa!"
Pointing at the ceiling, Rude said, "Would you kindly press the button for the next floor, please?" Was he being sarcastic? Don't tell me that the stoic bald Turk has a sense of humor...
"The Turks?" the gun-armed man exclaimed. "Gotta be a trap!"
Tseng strode into the elevator next to Rude, while I continued watching from behind. "Breaking into this building must've been a real thrill, eh?" He turned back to me. "Get in here, Cloud. There's someone that I want you--and our guests--to meet."
[[Next|Shinra 25]]
</div><div class="bg-shinra">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">Rude swiped his all-access keycard and punched in the 69th floor while Tseng cuffed the gun-armed man and flower girl, and placed a leash and muzzle on the beast. I hung back and watched, silently.
The 69th floor, as it turned out, was mostly the lobby for the 70th floor, which held President Shinra's office. The President himself, a stout, balding man--though one with a more dignified air than Don Corneo--sat behind an expansive desk, chomping on a cigar. Also present in the room were a man wearing a red bandanna around his head and my old childhood friend, Tifa. Like the group Tseng and Rude had brought in with them, they were in handcuffs. At Tseng's cue, the grunts guarding them took off, but not before dragging the flower girl out of the room.
"Why's that girl here?" I whispered to Tseng. "I've heard you've been after her for awhile."
"It's a long story. Perhaps you might hear some of it from the President," he replied, indicating the desk before us.
President Shinra stood up as the gun-armed man shouted at the President, asking where he had taken Aeris. <<if $meetaeris is 1>>Oh yeah, that was the flower girl's name, wasn't it?<<else>>Must've been talking about the flower girl.<</if>>
"She's safe," the President said calmly. "As the last surviving Ancient, we wouldn't have it any other way."
"'Ancient'?" Tifa asked. "What're you talking about?"
"You don't know? The Ancients--or the Cetra, as they called themselves--were a race of people who lived thousands of years ago. As the last remaining member, that girl will lead us to the Promised Land. I'm expecting a lot from her."
"Isn't the Promised Land just a legend?" asked the beast. I tried not to act surprised as I heard it speak.
"All legends have a grain of truth to them," the President replied, "and this one is no different. We're aiming to find that fertile land, and exploit it."
"Mako!" the gun-armed man exclaimed. "You're hoping to find mako!"
"But of course. And that's where we will build the next Midgar, one that will be even bigger, better, and, most importantly, more profitable."
The man fired a string of expletives in response, but President Shinra merely sat back down and ended the meeting. As Tseng called the troops back in, Rude approached the gun-armed man and began to drag him from the room. That's when Tifa turned around and her eyes met mine.
"Cloud? What are you doing here?"
I tipped the brim of my hat to avoid her gaze. "I had some business to discuss with the Turks. That's all."
"Oh," Tifa replied, anger rising up in her voice. "So you're working with Shinra now?"
"So what if I am? I've worked with them--no, //for// them before."
"I expected better from you."
"Bullshit," I replied, remembering how she had misled me about AVALANCHE's first reactor bombing. This time, I didn't shy away from her gaze. "You didn't trust me the last time we met, and you don't trust me now."
"And should I have a reason to trust you?"
Now I was the one who was angry, though I wasn't completely sure why. "No."
She said nothing more as Tseng roughly grabbed her and dragged her away.
[[Next|Shinra 26]]
</div><div class="bg-shinra">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">I followed Tseng, Rude, and Shinra's troops down to the 67th floor and watched as they locked up the AVALANCHE members and their new beast friend in a few cells.
"What's Shinra going to do with them?" I asked Tseng.
"That hasn't been decided yet. The animal, which was given the codename 'Red XIII', will probably remain here in the Science Department. The same with Aeris."
"That Red XIII I can understand, but why is Aeris being kept in the Science Department?"
"There's plenty that Shinra doesn't know about the Cetra people, so they need to conduct experiments on her." Tseng was noticably uncomfortable as he said this, but I decided not to pry further.
We took an elevator down to the 66th floor, where all of this began. We arrived in some sort of storage area, which was filled with wooden crates. A large, round tank dominated one corner of the room. Something about it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
"What's in that thing?" I asked the Turks, pointing at the tank.
"Why don't you take a look?" Tseng replied.
I nodded and approached the tank's door, which contained a porthole window. Inside was something I never thought I'd see again.
It was a headless female humanoid named Jenova, suspended in formaldehyde. The last time I had seen it...
I turned to Tseng. "Why is Jenova here?"
"Shinra couldn't keep it in its old location after what had happened." Tseng pointedly looked at me. "Wouldn't you agree?"
I turned back to Jenova. It made sense. But wait...
"How... how much do you know about me?"
"Enough," Tseng replied. "I've reviewed your old Shinra military records, and am aware of your involvement in //that// incident. If you're going to be considered for the Turks, these are the sorts of things that I must look into."
I nodded, although it made me wonder. Given what they apparently know, wouldn't the Turks be //less// likely to want to take me on?
Tseng, Rude, and I left the storage area and arrived, once again, in front of the elevators.
"So, Cloud, what are you going to do now?" Tseng asked. "Rude and I have some work to wrap up, but if you'd like, you can use some of the facilities here on the upper floors. We can give you access to the employee cafeteria and lounge, as well as the gym."
The simple pleasures of a hot meal and a shower in a large corporate headquarters sounded appealing to a down-on-his-luck private eye such as myself. "I think I'll take you up on that."
"All right. Come back down with me to my office and I'll get you a temporary keycard."
"Sure."
Just then, the elevator dinged. We got on board and returned to the 54th floor.
[[Next|Shinra 27]]
</div><div class="bg-shinra">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">On our way back to his office, I asked Tseng why AVALANCHE was here in the first place.
"One of their members, Biggs, had escaped before the plate fell. He was with a little girl. We took him hostage and brought him back here. Undoubtedly, the other surviving members came to rescue him."
That there were "other surviving members" spoke to some severe incompetence on Shinra's part, but I held my tongue. "What happened to the little girl?"
"Apparently, one of the civilians escaping the sector took her into his care when Biggs was captured."
I nodded. I hadn't known many of the people in Sector Seven, but wondered if it had been Joe or Johnny. If they themselves had managed to get out, that is...
"Aeris and Red XIII somehow got swept up in their rescue efforts, and that takes us to when we surprised them on the 66th floor." By this time, we were back in Tseng's office, where, after a bit of digging around in his desk, he handed me a keycard. "Here. This will grand you access to the 61st and 64th floors. Take some time off, enjoy the facilities, and consider our offer."
I took they keycard, shook Tseng and Rude's hands once more, and bid them good day.
[[Next|Shinra 28]]
</div><div class="bg-shinra">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">I decided to hit the gym first. Back at the office, I liked to lift weights whenever I had the time--which was often--but it was nice to be able to use machines for a change. I worked my core muscles until I was sore, then borrowed a clean towel and some soap and hit the showers. The water was steaming hot, just the way I liked it.
After pulling my dirty old clothes back on, I went downstairs to the employee lounge for a meal. It was already well after lunchtime, so the place was pretty empty, but I managed to get a fresh salad, soup, and sandwich. It was the healthiest I'd eaten in weeks.
As I finished up, I heard some sounds coming from the elevators. Some of it sounded like gunfire, mixed in with the telltale white noise of magic. I started toward them, curious, when my PHS rang. It was Tseng.
"Cloud, where are you? Have you left yet?"
"I'm on the 61st floor. Just finished eating. What's goin' on?"
He ignored this question. "Meet me on the 64th floor. And take the stairs."
Tseng hung up, leaving me to stand there, staring at my phone. Looked like if I was to get an answer to my question, I'd have to seek it out myself.
[[Next|Shinra 29]]
</div><div class="bg-shinra">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">I met Tseng on the 64th floor and from there, we made our way back up to President Shinra's office. However, I was not prepared for the sight that awaited me.
President Shinra was behind his desk, slumped over, blood pooling onto his desk and the floor. Sticking out from his back was a long, slender blade which I never thought I'd see again. There were two other people present in the room, but I paid no attention to them as I approached the President's desk.
"Sephiroth..." I said under my breath. "Did he do this?"
"It appears so," said one of the others. I turned to look at the speaker and recognized him immediately. It was Heidegger, the head of Shinra's Peace Preservation department. "By the way, who are you?"
"His name is Cloud Strife," Tseng replied. "I'm headhunting him for the Turks. He also used to work for your division."
"Is that right," Heidegger replied. He turned back to me. "You were in the military, yes? What rank were you?"
"SOLDIER, First Class. I was on that mission in Nibelheim five years ago where Sephiroth..." I trailed off. I couldn't bear to continue.
Heidegger squinted at me, then nodded. "Ahh yes. I seem to remember we had a SOLDIER with spiky hair on that mission. But... no, never mind."
"What is it, sir?"
Instead of giving me an answer, Heidegger addressed the other person in the room. "Palmer! When is the Vice President due to arrive?"
The other person, a chubby man in an unflattering brown suit, palmed the receiver of his PHS and replied, "H-he fought off someone from AVALANCHE and escaped on his helicopter! He says he'll land again shortly!"
Tseng stared at the impaled corpse of President Shinra and grimaced. "Cloud, you worked with Sephiroth, yes? Would he have anything to do with a group like AVALANCHE?"
"What? No way! Whatever Sephiroth is up to is on his own terms, and it's not good, either."
"I was afraid of that," Tseng sighed. "And with those AVALANCHE members having just escaped with Aeris and Red XIII, we have more problems on our hands." He turned to Heidegger. "Sir, I know we just took on a new hire, but may I have your permission to add another? The Company's situation has become even more dire, and given his past experience, Cloud here could be a valuable asset to us."
"Gyahaha!" Heidegger laughed, causing me to cringe a little. "I like your decisiveness, Tseng! Yes, go ahead! Our new president will soon need all the help he can get!"
Tseng turned back to me and held out his hand. "So, how about it? Will you join Shinra's Turks and help us track down Sephiroth?"
I took Tseng's outstreched hand and shook it, my expression grim.
"Whatever Sephiroth's up to, I'll be there to stop it. You can count on me... boss."
[[Next|Shinra Ending]]
</div><div class="wrapper"><div class="end-shinra1">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="end-shinra2">Shinra, Part One</div>
<div class="mainmenu">To be continued...
- [[Return to the beginning|Title]] -</div>
</div><div class="bg-nibelheim">BURIED MEMORIES NIBELHEIM</div>
<div class="body-eggs">Before my eyes, lightning flashed--or did it?
The sky was dark, or was that the ceiling?
From this darkness, I heard a familiar voice, brimming with confidence and purpose.
"The blood of my ancestors, the Ancients, courses through my veins. I am one of the rightful heirs to this world!"
<<back "Go back">>
</div><div class="bg-aeris">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">I simply nodded and awaited the next part of the story.
"My husband and I had no children, and those were lonely days for me. Besides, how could I refuse such an earnest plea? I took Aerith under my wing.
"Fortunately, Aerith and I became close rather quickly, and she soon opened up to me. She would tell me all sorts of things, like how she escaped from a research laboratory, and that she wasn't lonely because her mother returned to the planet."
I took a sip of my water. Aeris sounded like she might've been in trouble with Shinra since she was just a little kid, but I had no idea yet what the megacorporation's motive was. And what was this "return to the planet" business about?
Elmyra continued. "One day, she came to me and said, out of the blue, 'Mom, please don't cry.' I asked her if something had happened, and that's when she told me that someone close to me had died, and that his soul returned to the planet before he could reach me."
"Did you believe her?"
"No. Not until I got a letter from Shinra saying that my husband had died..."
My eyes widened. Ancients have this sort of power? But if that was so, why wasn't Aeris sure about the fate of her old boyfriend? Had this power of hers weakened over time? Regardless, I was starting to see why Shinra might want someone like her on their side.
"Is that why Shinra is after her?" I asked Elmyra. "Is it because of this ability?"
She shook her head. "No, it's something else. The first time that Tseng of the Turks came to visit us was when she was still a child. That was when I learned that Aerith was an Ancient. Tseng said that Aerith would 'lead us to a land of everlasting happiness', and that that is why Shinra was after her."
"And what did Aeris say?"
"She insisted she wasn't an Ancient, and when Tseng asked if she ever heard voices, she denied that as well. However, having lived with her for years up until that point, I knew the truth."
"Tseng didn't drag her back to Shinra with him right then and there?"
"No, and although the Turks have come after her regularly since then, they haven't been able to since. Over the years, I've gotten the impression that Tseng sympathizes with Aerith's plight, though I don't know for sure."
I leaned back into my chair and rubbed my chin. "So, let's say that's true. What makes this time different, then?"
"I'm not sure."
Now //this// was a mystery. Aeris' special powers, the Turks' seeming reluctance to capture her all these years, a supposedly marvelous place that Shinra was determined to find... I wanted to uncover every single one of these secrets.
"Will you help me, Mr. Strife?" Elmyra pleaded.
I grinned. "For starters, call me Cloud. And second, you bet I will. I won't even charge you--for this first job, anyway. We'll see about the rest."
"I'm afraid I can't afford much if it comes to that..."
"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," I said, standing up and putting on my hat. "Right now, I'm off to rescue your daughter."
[[Next|Aeris 18]]
</div><div class="bg-aeris">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">It took me awhile to figure out how to get back to Sector Four, but I did eventually, and that's when I started working my contacts at Shinra. I primarily asked about the Science Department, figuring that since Aeris had escaped from a lab, she might've been sent back to one. <<if $avaclient is 1>><<else>>I also tried getting ahold of Elena, given the slim chance that the Turks might be willing to throw me a bone, though it appears that she had blocked my number.<</if>>
All these calls were fruitless until someone, a little reluctantly, suggested that I should set up an appointment with Midgar's mayor. I didn't have much to lose, so I dialed his number.
"Hello, Mayor Domino speaking."
"Hey, Mr. Mayor? My name is Detective Cloud Strife. I'm working on a case and need to get in touch with someone at Shinra's Science Department. One of my contacts said you'd be able to help me."
"Ah, and who is this contact?"
I gave him the name.
"I see, I see. In that case, you had better come here in person so that we can have a chat. I will have my deputy waiting for you in the lobby. When's a good time?"
//Interesting//, I thought. He must've had a feeling that the particulars of my case couldn't be discussed over the phone. Wondering how much he knew, I told him that I'd be available whenever. We set up an appointment for later that afternoon.
[[Next|Aeris 19]]
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">Turns out that the kids trying to climb up to the plate couldn't get very far, because they needed to activate certain pieces of equipment to do so--which //we// had the batteries for. Thanks to that hole and those batteries, our climb was successful, and within a couple of hours, we were standing right in front of Shinra's headquarters, a massive, steel-clad skyscraper in the very center of Midgar.
"So where do we start?" Jessie asked. "You were in SOLDIER, right Cloud? You should know this building pretty well."
"I don't, now that I think about it. I've never been to the Shinra Building before. This is as new to me as it is to all of you."
Barret nodded and folded his arms. "All I've heard are rumors. Supposedly, every floor from the 60th on is high-security and blocked off even to most employees."
"Sounds like the sort of place where they'd take the daughter and friend of AVALANCHE's leader," I replied.
"Shall we start there?" Tifa inquired. "If they aren't on one of those high-security floors, we can simply work our way back down."
Tifa's suggestion was sensible. We all turned to Barret for his approval.
"It's a plan!" he said. "Let's get going!"
Barret was fired up, ready to burst into the lobby and start raising hell. However, I wasn't sure that was the best approach.
[[Support Barret's approach|Avalanche End 02]]
[[Suggest they take the side stairs instead|Avalanche 29]]
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">"Whoa, whoa," I exclaimed, clamping a hand onto Barret's shoulder. "It wouldn't be wise to bust into Shinra's headquarters that way. We need to be all quiet-like."
"Oh yeah?" Barret exclaimed. "And how do we do that?"
"Let's take the stairs. I noticed an emergency exit stairwell just off to the side there," I replied, pointing to a dark corner to the left of the main entrance.
Tifa nodded. "It'll be a long climb, but the important thing is that we succeed, yeah?"
"I agree!" Jessie chimed in.
Barret grumbled under his breath. He was outnumbered, and I suspected that despite his determination to raise a ruckus, my suggestion was the best one.
We sneaked over to the stairwell, picked the lock, and began the climb up to the 59th floor.
We climbed...
[[Next|Avalanche Stairs 1]]
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">"All right," I said, "let's go!"
Tifa and Jessie pumped their fists in the air and shouted "Yeah!" It was like a cheesy scene from an adventure movie.
Barret rushed toward the front doors and flung them open, then ran inside. Tifa, Jessie, and I followed. The lobby was massive, but well laid out, so it wasn't long before we spotted the elevators.
After fighting off a handful of security guards, we reached the elevator bank and pushed the up button. We waited in silence for a minute or two, then suddenly, we were completely surrounded by regular Shinra troops and SOLDIERs alike. There were far too many of them for the four of us to deal with, so we remained frozen in place, unsure of what to do next.
A moment later, the elevator dinged and Tseng strode off and through the troops to stand in front of us.
"Well, well. Here on a rescue mission, eh? It's a good thing we were notified in advance."
Notified? Don't tell me that someone in Wall Market ratted us out. Maybe it was that weapon shop clerk...
I swore under my breath as the sounds of dozens of guns being cocked echoed throughout the lobby. When we had first heard about the hole in the plate, Barret commented that it was a miracle. However, as we all knew, miracles were exceedingly rare in Midgar. Too bad that we needed another one if we wanted to survive this.
That improbable second miracle in a row would never come.
''The End''
• <<back "For those in a hurry">> (rewind to previous branch)
• [[For those with a little time|Title]] (return to the beginning)
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">...and climbed...
[[Next|Avalanche Stairs 2]]
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">...and climbed...
[[Next|Avalanche Stairs 3]]
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">...and climbed some more...
[[Next|Avalanche Stairs 4]]
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">...damn, this was a tall building...
[[Next|Avalanche Stairs 5]]
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">...I mean, when we first started our ascent, I didn't think that 59 floors would be that much, but by the time you hit the 12th floor or so, it really starts to sink in...
[[Next|Avalanche Stairs 6]]
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">...and that's not even halfway...
[[Next|Avalanche Stairs 7]]
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">...and by the time we hit, say, the 41st floor, I was more exhausted than I had ever been in my life, but we still had, what, eighteen floors left to go? So we continued to climb...
[[Next|Avalanche Stairs 8]]
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">...and climb...
[[Next|Avalanche Stairs 9]]
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">...and finally, we reached the 59th floor. We spent the next hour sitting in the stairwell, catching our breath...
[[Next|Avalanche 30]]
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">...and then, we emerged from the stairwell and into the Shinra Building proper. To be more specific, we found ourselves in a large room with marble floors, decorated with golden busts of Shinra's executive officers.
Security was light, but not so light that we weren't noticed as soon as we arrived. We fought off a small grouping of security guards, and found that afterward, one of them had dropped something. It was a keycard with the number 60 on it.
"Well, that's one down," said Jessie, "but if we need to go any higher, that means getting even more keycards."
"Couldn't you have made a fake keycard or something before we came here?" I asked her. "You've hacked the security for most every other AVALANCHE mission thus far."
"Oh, sure I could've, if my computer and other equipment wasn't buried under tons of rubble along with Biggs and Wedge."
Tifa's expression became pained, and Barret's brow furrowed. Meanwhile, I was mentally kicking myself just for bringing up the subject.
"Sorry," Jessie and I said simultaneously. After the awkward moment passed, we sneaked by some more guards to reach the stairs for the 60th floor.
[[Next|Avalanche 31]]
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">The 60th floor was the first restricted-access one in the building, so security was quite a bit lighter than on the 59th. From there, we took the open stairs up to the 61st floor. In an expansive employee lounge, we chatted up oblivious workers for info, scoring a 62nd floor keycard in the process. This would grant us access to the next two floors in the building, and then we'd have to seek out yet another keycard.
The 62nd floor was special: in addition to a corporate library, it contained the office of Midgar's mayor, a man named Domino. He knew right away that my companions were members of AVALANCHE, and was all too happy to hook us up with a 65th floor keycard.
"But why?" Tifa asked as Domino handed the card to Barret.
"Why not?" Domino replied, his tone a little jovial. "Shinra has trampled all over me for far too long. They make all the decisions for Midgar and //I// get all the blame whenever something goes wrong."
"Sounds like a fantastic job," I replied sarcastically, "but thanks for your help."
"Give 'em hell for me, will you?"
We nodded, left Mayor Domino's office, and continued our journey.
[[Next|Avalanche 32]]
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">On the way to the 65th floor, we came across an employee gym and a storage facility. The 65th floor itself contained a scale model of Midgar, complete with status lights and electronic panels for each sector that contained reams of information. The status lights for Sector Seven were all red. Ironically enough, we found a 66th floor keycard on the carpet just under this part of the model.
The 66th floor, as it turned out, was home to the offices of most of Shinra's executives, as well as their conference room. At the time of our arrival, a meeting was going on.
"Maybe we should listen in," I suggested. "They might be discussing what to do with Johnny and Marlene."
"Yeah, but how?" asked Jessie. "There's guards posted right by the conference room's doors."
Just then, a suited Shinra employee emerged from the nearby men's room and loudly talked about the smell.
"The bathrooms are pretty close to the conference room," I replied. "There might be a vent or something we could hear from."
"It's worth a shot," said Tifa. "How about Jessie and I check out the ladies' room, while you and Barret go to the men's?"
"It's a plan," Barret decided. The four of us split up.
[[Next|Avalanche 33]]
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">Lucky for me and Barret, there was a vent right above one of the stalls in the men's room. Barret was too big to fit, but I wasn't, and he was able to give me a lift up while no one else was around.
I wriggled through the duct and soon found myself looking down into a plush, gilded meeting room. A bearded man in a navy blue suit was talking. I'd seen him on the news before. If memory served, his name was Reeve, and he was the exec in charge of the Urban Development Department.
"The damage estimates for Sector Seven are in," he said. "Not including the rescue operations and the Turks' expenses, it's estimated at ten billion gil."
I tried to suppress a low whistle. That was a lot of change just to try and get rid of a tiny little group like AVALANCHE.
Reeve continued, "My department ran some more numbers, and our total estimate for rebuilding is somewhere between--"
"We aren't rebuilding," President Shinra interrupted.
"What?"
"Sector Seven will be left as is while we reinstate the Neo-Midgar plan."
"So, the Promised Land of the Ancients..."
"...will soon be ours. In the meantime, raise mako electricity rates by 15% in Midgar, and 10% in our other markets."
I sighed as this went on. It had nothing to do with our mission. The executives continued discussing electricity rates, then moved on to the topic of the Science Department's experiments on someone named Aerith, or was that Aeris?
Wait, //Aeris?!// The florist from the Sector Five slums? What the hell was //she// doing here?
[[Next|Avalanche 34]]
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">I started paying more attention.
Hojo, the head of the Science Department, apparently had Aeris in his clutches and was now trying to "breed" her, as if she was some animal, so that research on her could continue for decades. He also mentioned something about her being an "Ancient", and President Shinra asked if the research would hinder the company's search for some "Promised Land". This was getting messier and messier.
Still, it was a lead. Aeris was a friendly face, and she might know something about where Johnny and Marlene were taken. As Hojo left the conference room, I quickly wriggled out of the duct and rushed over to Barret.
"An acquaintence of mine is here, held captive in the Science Department. She might know where Johnny and Marlene are."
Barret nodded and took out his PHS. "Let's regroup with Tifa and Jessie and head over there."
We all met up by the stairs, which Hojo had carelessly left open. No keycard was required for us as we made our way up to the 67th floor, home to some more storage, as well as a handful of laboratories. I had no idea where Aeris might be, so we began our search.
Upon entering the storage area, I came across something that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, something I never thought I'd see again.
It was a large, round storage tank containing a headless female humanoid named Jenova, suspended in formaldehyde. The last time I had seen it...
"Why is Jenova here?" I muttered under my breath.
Barret had no idea why I was freaking out and shrugged. Then, something caught his eye.
"Hey, look over there!"
The four of us followed his pointing hand to a cylindrical glass tank, where none other than the flower girl was sitting on its steel floor.
[[Next|Avalanche 35]]
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">We ran over to the cylinder, but then it started to raise up and into a matching hole in the ceiling.
"Damn! It must be going to the next floor!" Barret exclaimed.
"Hey, there's an elevator!" Tifa said, pointing to the back of the room. We all rushed over to it and took it to the 68th floor.
By this time, Aeris' enclosure was in an expansive room filled with computers, chemicals, and other equipment. Standing in the middle of this laboratory was Hojo, and within the cylinder with Aeris was a grotesque purple monster. It looked like trouble, whatever it was.
Barret, apparently deciding to add to this trouble with some of his own, rushed to confront Hojo. "Hey! What the hell are you gonna do with this girl?"
"That's none of your business," replied Hojo, a wirey old man with long, jet-black hair. "And who are //you// to disturb our breeding experiment?"
"Breeding?" I shouted. "With that monster? Are you sick?"
"They are both species on the verge of extinction, I'll have you know. I'm just doing nature a favor."
Tifa was bristling with anger. "I don't believe this. This woman is a human being, not some sort of specimen," she said, before kicking the tank, hard. A crack formed, which soon led to the whole tank shattering. Aeris covered her face, but the monster took no such precautions, and a shard of glass punctured its eye. It panicked and ran off to some dark corner of the lab. Meanwhile, Aeris peeked out from between her fingers and looked right at me, as if to say, //Why are you here?//
I grabbed her hand and began to rush for the elevator, when another monster, which looked larger and more vicious, blocked our way. "Not so fast," Hojo said from behind us.
I drew out my gun. "All right, everyone. Let's smoke this thing."
[[Next|Avalanche 36]]
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">With five of us, including Aeris, wailing away on the monster, it wasn't long before we had killed it, but there was even more trouble waiting for us afterward. Hojo had used the opportunity to call security, and before we knew it, we were surrounded by guards. Tseng and a bald turk, who he called Rude, were leading this pack, and they rounded us all up and threw us in holding cells back down on the 67th floor.
When I was tossed into our new, cramped home, there was already somebody occupying the space: Johnny.
"Hey! So this is where you were, huh?" I knocked on the wall to the right of the door, which was shared by the cell that Barret was taken to. "Hey Barret! Johnny's here!"
"What?! How about Marlene?"
"She's in the cell to the left of ours," Johnny replied. "Don't worry, the Shinra haven't done anything to her... I think."
Barret let out an audible sigh of relief. "Who else is in there with you. I'm here with Aeris--that's your name, right?"
"Yeah," Aeris replied.
From the left wall, I could hear Tifa's voice.
"Barret! If you can hear me, it's like Johnny has said. Marlene is okay! She's sleeping right here, and doesn't look injured."
"How about you and Jessie?" I asked.
"We're fine."
"Now we've just gotta figure out how to get out of here," Jessie added. A chorus of "yeah"s from everyone followed.
Some rescue mission //this// turned out to be.
[[Next|Avalanche 37]]
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">Day turned to night. Some of us slept, while the rest chatted through our cells' thin walls. Unfortunately, they weren't thin enough for us to break through.
At one point, Tifa asked Aeris about the Promised Land, a phrase which we had overheard during the Shinra executives' meeting.
"They said you were an Ancient and that you would lead Shinra to the 'Promised Land'. What did they mean?"
"My mother--that is, my //real// mother--and I are Cetra, a race of people that thrived long ago."
"Your real mom? So the one you have now is..."
"I was adopted by my current mom, Elmyra, when my mother passed away, or as the Cetra say, 'returned to the planet'."
"And the Promised Land?" I asked.
"All I know is what my real mother has told me: the Cetra were born from the planet, speak to the planet, uncover the planet's secrets, and eventually return to the Promised Land, a place of supreme happiness."
"Sounds pretty metaphysical," Johnny observed. "And Shinra believes that this 'Promised Land' is a real place?"
"Seems so."
"Do //you// think it is?"
"I have my doubts," Aeris replied. "However, there's so much about my people that I don't know, so who can say for sure?"
Something else about what Aeris said bugged me. "Back up a little bit: what do you mean by 'speak to the planet'?"
"Exactly what it sounds like. I can hear the planet's voices."
"You mean, like, right now?"
"Not here. Only in certain places, like the church."
"That's kind of a crazy ability to have."
"It //drives// me crazy sometimes. The planet can be noisy."
"I can bet."
"Not to interrupt," Johnny said with a yawn, "but it's late. Maybe we should get some sleep."
"You're right," I replied. "We'll need to save our energy to face whatever's coming next."
"Yeah, we'll need a plan to bust out of here," said Barret from the adjoining cell, "and I don't know about you all, but I'm too tired right now to think of anything."
That was someting we could all agree on.
I made myself as comfortable as I could, and soon drifted off to sleep.
[[Next|Avalanche 38]]
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">The scent of blood woke me up, several hours earlier than I had intended to.
When I opened my eyes, the door was unlocked. I shook Johnny awake.
"What's going on?" Johnny replied as he squinted in the bright light of the cell. "I smell blood..."
I nodded. "Yeah. Let's get everyone else up."
We split up to rouse--and free--the others from their cells. The metal hallways of the Science Department were scratched with the claw marks of monsters, and splattered with bloodstains. As we walked up to the elevators, I could spot a trail of blood going from the storage area to the stairs. Corpses of lab workers and monstrous specimens alike were scattered about the place.
"What the hell happened here?"
[["\"Let's find out.\""|Avalanche 39]]
[["\"It's none of our business. Let's just get out of here.\""|Avalanche End 03]]
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">My detective's instincts were burning. I just //had// to find out what was going on. The look on Johnny's face told me that he was feeling the same way.
I followed the trail of blood back to the storage area, but I was not expecting the sight that awaited me.
Jenova was gone. Her containment chamber had been forced open, and was the origin of the blood trail. A sinking feeling formed in the pit of my stomach, but regardless, I had to continue.
We followed the trail upstairs, and then even further, eventually arriving to the 70th floor, the highest level in the Shinra Building. This was the home of President Shinra's office. The President himself was there, but there was something wrong.
He was face down on his deks, and had a sword sticking out of his back. A familiar sword.
There was someone else present in the room, but I paid no attention to them as I approached the President's desk.
"Sephiroth..." I said under my breath. "Did he do this?"
"Who's Sephiroth?" asked a sleepy Marlene.
Just then, that person that I sensed rushed toward the stairs. It was someone we had seen at the meeting earlier, a fat executive named Palmer. Barret and Johnny grabbed him before he could disappear.
I walked up to him, my brows furrowed. "What happened here?" I demanded.
"I-I don't have to tell you AVALANCHE people anything!" Palmer wimpered back, as definatly as he could.
Not in the mood to take any shit from a cowering fat cat, I grabbed him by the shirt collar. "What the hell is going on?" I shouted. "//Answer me!//"
"S-Sephiroth came."
"//Sephiroth?!//"
"That's what I said! I saw him with my own eyes! He said something about not letting us have the Promised Land."
I glanced over at Aeris. She shook her head and shrugged.
"And then he killed the President?" I continued.
Palmer nodded profusely.
"So is Sephiroth on our side, then?" Jessie wondered. "Does he intend to save the Promised Land from Shinra?"
"Hell no!" I replied. "Whatever Sephiroth has planned, you can bet it's nothing good."
Just then, the drone of a helicopter echoed throughout the room. I let go of Palmer's shirt, and Barret flung him toward the stairs. However, Palmer ran in the opposite direction, toward a door directly to the left of the President's desk.
"That helicopter belongs to Vice President Rufus, the President's son," said Barret. "Though I guess he'll be 'President Rufus' from now on."
"How do you know it's him?" I asked.
"Besides President Shinra, he'd be the only other person with helipad access on this level of the Shinra Building," Johnny replied. "We need to get out of here, otherwise they might get the wrong idea about who killed the President."
I nodded in agreement. We ran toward the stairs.
[[Next|Avalanche 40]]
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">"Good idea," said Aeris. "We might not get a chance like this again."
We went down to the lower floors to find the rest of the Shinra Buildings carrying on as though nothing ever happened, albeit in a reduced capacity, since it was so late at night and all. After making it back to the 59th floor without incident, we made a beeline for the stairs and started the long descent.
Gotta say, it's //much// easier going down fifty-nine flights of stairs than going up them.
We left the building and headed for the place where we had come in: the giant hole that connected Sector Zero to Wall Market. I decided that this is where we should part, since I didn't live in the slums.
"Good luck getting back home, Aeris," I said.
"And what about us?!" Barret roared. "Most of us don't have a home to get back to anymore!"
"Come with me and I'll talk to my mom," Aeris offered. "I'm sure we could work something out. We don't have much space, though, and there's a lot of you."
"Hey, how about I go with Cloud?" said Johnny. "I mean, we're both detectives and all."
"What," was all I could manage.
Tifa smiled, "Oh, that's a great idea! C'mon, Cloud, it would only be for a little while."
All eyes fell on me as I pondered Johnny's proposal. Not that I had much of a choice.
"Fine."
We all said our goodbyes, and Johnny and I headed back to my office in Sector Four. Guess I'll have to clean all that junk off my couch in the main office.
The following morning, Johnny and I received a bit of news that would change our lives forever. It led to us collaborating on an epic case, but that's a tale for another time.
''The End''
• <<back "For those in a hurry">> (rewind to previous branch)
• [[For those with a little time|Title]] (return to the beginning)
</div><div class="bg-avalanche">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">In addition to supplying electricity, running a private military, and building Midgar, Shinra had its hands in other things, like vehicle manufaturing. All of Shinra's latest models of cars, light trucks, and motorcycles were proudly displayed in the lobby.
This was convenient for us, since they would make great getaway vehicles. We commandeered three of them--a Hardy Daytona-model motorbike, a pickup truck, and a sedan--and burst through the glass front doors and onto the closest highway, while scores of Shinra troops and mecha followed us from behind.
After shaking all of them off, we found ourselves at the end of the unfinished highway, where a crane's hook and wire dangled over the edge. Jessie fired up the machine and lowered this wire so that it reached the ground below, just outside of the locked gate that formed the barrier to the Sector Five slums.
This was how we escaped from Midgar, and now, we needed to figure out our next step. Me, I couldn't stop thinking about Jenova and Sephiroth. Something was up, and I needed to find out what.
However, before I could do that, I owed everyone here an explanation.
"What's the closest town from here?" I asked my companions.
"That'd be Kalm," Jessie replied. "It's to the north."
"What's the Shinra presence like there?"
"There's some, but not as much as in Midgar."
I nodded. "Let's head there and chill for a bit. I need to tell you all a story that relates to what happened tonight, and it might take a bit of time...
[[Next|Avalanche Ending]]
</div><div class="wrapper"><div class="end-avalanche1">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="end-avalanche2">AVALANCHE, Part One</div>
<div class="mainmenu">To be continued...
- [[Return to the beginning|Title]] -</div>
</div><div class="bg-aeris">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">"You are here for the Ancient the Turks captured earlier today, correct?"
My jaw dropped upon hearing this. I was in Mayor Domino's office on the 62nd floor of the Shinra Building at Midgar's hub. Normally, I would need a special keycard to go anywhere above the 59th floor, but since Hart, the deputy mayor, led me up to Domino's office from the front lobby, this was not a problem.
"I might be," I replied, eyeing him warily. Was this a trap?
"Her loved ones must be worried about her. It's a good thing they hired you."
"How did you know I was here for her?"
"Oh, I happened to overhear one of the Turks talk about an encounter they had had with a man fitting your description while he was chasing the Ancient. Of course, I didn't know it was you when we talked on the phone earlier. Now your inquiry about the Science Department makes sense."
"So, do you know where she is?"
"She's someone the Company has been after for a long time, so they probably took her to one of the main laboratories, which are on the 67th and 68th floors."
"How do I get up there? Those floors are even more restricted than this one, right?"
The Mayor placed a keycard on the desk and slid it towards me. It had the number 67 printed on it. "The highest floor I personally have access to is the 65th, so I had to call in a special favor for this one. Please, take it."
"Just one question before I do. Why are you going behind Shinra's back like this?"
"Why not?" Domino replied, his tone a little jovial. "Shinra has trampled all over me for far too long. They make all the decisions for Midgar and //I// get all the blame whenever something goes wrong."
"Sounds like a fantastic job," I replied sarcastically while picking up the keycard, "but thanks for your help."
"Give 'em hell for me, will you?"
I nodded, left Mayor Domino's office, and headed towards the stairs. From this point on, I'd have to exercise caution.
[[Next|Aeris 20]]
</div><div class="bg-aeris">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">The next handful of floors was nothing to write home about, but the 66th was special. As it turned out, it was home to the offices of most of Shinra's executives, as well as their conference room. At the time of my arrival, a meeting was going on. I decided to spare a moment and see if I could listen in, but the guards posted by the doors were discouraging, to say the least.
Just then, a suited Shinra employee emerged from the nearby men's room and loudly talked about the smell.
//Of course//, I thought. Maybe I could find a way to listen in from the restroom. I entered and soon found a stall located right beneath an air conditioning duct. After making sure that no one else was around, I stood on top of the toilet and hoisted myself up through the vent.
I soon found myself looking down into a plush, gilded meeting room. A bearded man in a navy blue suit was talking. I'd seen him on the news before. If memory served, his name was Reeve, and he was the exec in charge of the Urban Development Department.
"The damage estimates for Sector Seven are in," he said. "Not including the rescue operations and the Turks' expenses, it's estimated at ten billion gil."
I tried to suppress a low whistle. That was a lot of change just to try and get rid of a tiny little group like AVALANCHE.
Reeve continued, "My department ran some more numbers, and our total estimate for rebuilding is somewhere between--"
"We aren't rebuilding," President Shinra interrupted.
"What?"
"Sector Seven will be left as is while we reinstate the Neo-Midgar plan."
"So, the Promised Land of the Ancients..."
"...will soon be ours. In the meantime, raise mako electricity rates by 15% in Midgar, and 10% in our other markets."
Was this "Promised Land" the place that Shinra wanted Aeris to find? They sure seemed confident that they'd discover it now that they had captured her.
The executives continued discussing electricity rates, then moved on to the topic of the Science Department's experiments on someone named Aerith.
//Jackpot.//
[[Next|Aeris 21]]
</div><div class="bg-aeris">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">I started paying closer attention.
Hojo, the head of the Science Department, apparently had Aeris in his clutches and was now trying to "breed" her, as if she was some animal, so that research on her could continue for decades. He also mentioned her being an "Ancient", and President Shinra asked if the research would hinder the company's search for the "Promised Land". The meeting wrapped up not long afterward.
As Hojo left the conference room, I quickly wriggled out of the duct, then carefully sneaked out of the restroom and made my way up to the 67th floor. Time to begin combing this place for Aeris.
One of the main rooms on this floor was a storage area, and upon entering it, I came across something that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, something I never thought I'd see again.
It was a large, round storage tank containing a headless female humanoid named Jenova, suspended in formaldehyde. The last time I had seen it...
"Why is Jenova here?" I muttered under my breath.
I stared at this tank for several seconds, when the sound of someone banging their fist against glass caught my attention. I looked in the direction of this dull noise to see a cylindrical glass tank, where none other than the flower girl was sitting on its steel floor.
[[Next|Aeris 22]]
</div><div class="bg-aeris">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">I ran over to the cylinder, but then it started to raise up and into a matching hole in the ceiling. Fortunately, there was an elevator against the back wall. I made a beeline for it.
By the time I got to the 68th floor, Aeris' enclosure was in an expansive room filled with computers, chemicals, and other equipment. Standing in the middle of this laboratory was Hojo, and within the cylinder with Aeris was an orange, furry beast with scars, tattoos, and a flame at the end of its tail. It looked like trouble, whatever it was.
I ran over to the cylinder and tried in vain to find a way to open it. From somewhere behind me, I heard Hojo demand, "Who are you, and why are you disturbing our breeding experiment?"
"Breeding?" I shouted. "With that animal? Are you sick?"
"They are both species on the verge of extinction, I'll have you know. I'm just doing nature a favor."
"Nature doesn't need your help," I deadpanned, before drawing out my Quicksilver and firing a few shots at the cylinder, above Aeris and the beast's heads. A few cracks formed, which soon led to the whole tank shattering. Both Aeris and the strange animal covered their faces. Aeris peeked out from between her fingers and looked right at me, as if to say, //Why are you here?//
I grabbed her hand and began to rush for the elevator, when a large monster blocked our way. "Not so fast," Hojo said from behind us.
"This is the result of one of Hojo's previous breeding experiments," said an unfamiliar voice from somewhere behind me. I turned around to see the beast continue, "We'd best take care of it before moving on. I'll help."
I was startled, to be sure, but I nodded and drew out my gun. "By the way, what's your name?"
"Nanaki, not that anyone in this lab calls me that."
"All right, Nanaki. Let's smoke this thing."
[[Next|Aeris 23]]
</div><div class="bg-aeris">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">The three of us eventually killed this monster, but there was even more trouble waiting for us afterward. Hojo had used the opportunity to call security, and before we knew it, we were surrounded by guards. Tseng and a bald turk, who he called Rude, were leading this pack, and they rounded us up and threw us in a holding cell back down on the 67th floor.
"Some rescue job //this// turned out to be," I grumbled.
"Did my mom hire you?" Aeris asked.
"Sort of."
Aeris gave me an odd look. "What do you mean 'sort of'?"
"I, uh, kind of //wanted// to do this, even if your mom didn't ask me. Still, she's the one who told me you were captured, and it was obvious she wanted someone to rescue you..."
Aeris just nodded and turned away, staring into space. The room fell silent.
"Wonder how my grandpa's doing," Nanaki said after awhile.
"You have a grandpa?" I asked.
Nanaki huffed. "It's none of your business. I was only talking to myself."
"Hey, no need to be so uptight," I shrugged. "We don't know how long we're gonna be stuck here, so we all have to get along."
"Sorry. I'm just not in the mood right now."
Well, this was awkward.
Without saying another word, I made myself comfortable on the metal cot and soon fell asleep.
[[Next|Aeris 24]]
</div><div class="bg-aeris">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">The smell of blood woke me up, several hours earlier than I had intended to.
When I opened my eyes, the door was unlocked. I shook Aeris and Nanaki awake.
"What's going on?" Aeris replied as she squinted in the bright light of the cell.
"That scent..." Nanaki murmured.
I nodded. "Yeah. Let's check it out."
We left our cell. The metal hallways of the Science Department were scratched with the claw marks of monsters, and splattered with bloodstains. As we walked into the elevator lobby, I could spot a trail of blood going from the storage area to the stairs. Corpses of lab workers and monstrous specimens alike were scattered about the place.
My detective's instincts were burning. I just //had// to find out what was going on. I followed the trail of blood back to the storage area, but I was not expecting the sight that awaited me.
Jenova was gone. Her containment chamber had been forced open, and was the origin of the blood trail. A sinking feeling formed in the pit of my stomach, but regardless, I had to continue.
Aeris and Nanaki followed close behind as I ascended the stairs.
[[Next|Aeris 25]]
</div><div class="bg-aeris">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">We followed the trail upstairs, and then even further, eventually arriving to the 70th floor, the highest level in the Shinra Building. This was the home of President Shinra's office. The President himself was there, but there was something wrong.
He was face down on his deks, and had a sword sticking out of his back. A familiar sword.
There was someone else present in the room, but I paid no attention to them as I approached the President's desk.
"Sephiroth..." I said under my breath. "Did he do this?"
Just then, that person that I sensed rushed toward the stairs. It was someone we had seen at the meeting earlier, a fat executive named Palmer. Unfortunately, we couldn't stop him before he vanished down the stairs.
"Dammit!" I swore. "Now how're we gonna find out what's going on?"
Just then, the drone of a helicopter echoed throughout the room. Someone was coming in for a landing on the helipad outside. Aeris tugged on my arm.
"We should make a break for it, now!" she insisted.
"No, not yet! Not until I find out what happened!"
"Is it really that important?" Nanaki asked.
"You bet it is."
The whirring of the helicopter blades subsided. The helicopter had landed, and before we knew it, someone had entered the room from a glass door near President Shinra's desk. It was a well-groomed young man in a long white coat. He examined the corpse, then sighed and shook his head. That's when he noticed us.
"And who might you be?" he asked.
"Shouldn't you introduce yourself first?" I shot back.
"If you insist. I'm Rufus Shinra, the Vice President--no, //President//--of the Shinra Electric Power Company. According to Palmer, who called me on my way over, my father here seems to have had a run-in with Sephiroth."
"//Sephiroth?!//" I exclaimed.
"Yes. I'm as surprised as you are," he replied, looking me up and down. "Former SOLDIER, are you? The eyes are a dead giveaway."
"That's right. Why did Sephiroth kill the President?"
Rufus sighed, and looked at Aeris. "He said something about not letting us, meaning Shinra, have the Promised Land. Do you know anything about this, Ancient?"
"You know who I am?" Aeris replied.
"I've been briefed. So, about Sephiroth..."
"I don't know anything, honest," Aeris said, shaking her head. "I'm as lost as everyone else here is."
"I see. Well, then, I suppose we'll have to recapture you three now." Just as Rufus pulled out his PHS, a nasty smile crossed his face. "How about we make this interesting? I'll give you a ten-second head start on your escape attempt."
"We need to get out of here," I whispered to Aeris and Nanaki. "Now."
They agreed, and together, we bolted for the stairs.
[[Next|Aeris 26]]
</div><div class="bg-aeris">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="body">Ten seconds passed, and by the time we boarded an elevator heading for the front lobby, they were upon us.
These elevators were the types that ran up and down the building on the outside, contained within glass tubes. A large flying mech was in the elevator opposite of ours and fired, shattering the glass. Thankfully, I had a long-range weapon on me, and Aeris and Nanaki were both pretty adept at using materia-based magic. We managed to destroy this machine shortly before reaching the lobby, and shook off a handful of guards once we did.
All of Shinra's latest models of cars, light trucks, and motorcycles were proudly displayed in said lobby. This was convenient for us, since they would make great getaway vehicles. We commandeered a pickup truck and burst through the glass front doors and onto the closest highway, while scores of Shinra troops and mecha followed us from behind.
After shaking all of them off, we found ourselves at the end of the unfinished highway, where a crane's hook and wire dangled over the edge. After a few minutes of messing around, I figured out how to lower this wire so that it reached the ground below, just outside of the locked gate that formed the barrier to the Sector Five slums.
This was how we escaped from Midgar, and now, we needed to figure out our next step. Me, I couldn't stop thinking about Jenova and Sephiroth. Something was up, and I needed to find out what.
However, before I could do that, I was obligated to fill Aeris and Nanaki in on certain details regarding my past.
"The closest town from here is Kalm, right?" I asked my companions.
"As far as I know," Aeris replied. "It should be just north of Midgar."
"You know what the Shinra presence is like there?"
"No idea."
"I don't know, either," Nanaki chimed in, "but whereever we go, we'll need to be exercise caution."
I nodded. "Of course. Seeing as how we can't reenter Midgar right now, let's head there and take a break. I need to tell you all a story that relates to what happened tonight, and it might take a bit of time...
[[Next|Aeris Ending]]
</div><div class="wrapper"><div class="end-aeris1">DARK CITY FOURTH STREET</div>
<div class="end-aeris2">Aeris, Part One</div>
<div class="mainmenu">To be continued...
- [[Return to the beginning|Title]] -</div>
</div>