Subject: ToM: Morning Date: Sat, 03 Oct 98 00:24:15 (PDT) From: Rune Reply-To: "MIDGAR" To: "Multiple Recipients of Mailing List MIDGAR" , "Multiple Recipients of Mailing List MIDGAR" [OOG: Ok, I know, bad name for a post but I wrote this during the night and I can't think of anything else. I also know I should've written this at least last week but I had too much homework for that, sorry guys.] Time: July 9th, morning Place: Sector five church > "Do you have anywhere to go, Razlo?" Wedge asked as the > mysterious man began to pace about. "You could join us for the day. > We don't plan to do anything big, just walk around and spread a few > whispers about the truth of Shinra. Rufus doesn't want us anymore, > and since no cash is on our heads, few people would bother to turn us > in just for the goodness of the city. I mean, we're portrayed as > fearful armed terrorists with suicide bombs on every one of us." > Wedge started to snigger at the idea, but turned it into a cough. > "So what about it? Want to come with us?" "Are you really sure Rufus doesn't want you? Of what I heard the only reason you all aren't on wanted posters all over the place is that he thinks that AVALANCHE has spread like the wind without their leader." Cera looked down and took a deep breath before he continued. "So if I were you I'd still be very careful with who I spoke to when talking bad about Shinra, 'cause if anyone hears that AVALANCHE still exists you'll have every bounty-hunter around on you tail. But of course..." he smiled a little while saying "... I don't have to say that to you, 'cause you've survived this far. But if Shinra rally succeeded in making everybody believe that you actually have these suicide bombs on you you shouldn't worry too much about bounty-hunters, you know, no one wants to be blown in pieces..." he said the last part like he was really enjoying saying it. Wedge, not sure of what to say repeated his question. "Well, do you want to come with us?" "Even though it wouldn't do anything good to my reputation as a law-abiding citizen if I were seen with you guys I'd like to go with you." He paused a little, thinking of the poster he saw the day before. "Well, I can't be with you all the time, 'cause I'll be in the tournament." "The tournament? What class?" "I didn't see anything about the classes, the poster was kinda torn, but I guess I'll be in the most violent class." "You have a deathwish or something? Or are you just so self-confident so you think that you'll actually win?" Cera grinned a little and said. "Probably the latter one." "I don't see that you got any weapons. Are you going to fight unarmed?" Wedge asked with a doubtful expression on his face. "Although I think I could if I wanted to I won't. There's no reason to make things harder than they are if it's no pride or fun in it... and in this case, it's not." "Then what kinda weapon are you going to use?" "You'll see." Cera said with a smile. "By the way, what's your name... Wedge, isn't it?" "Yes, do you watch MMW much?" "As a matter of fact I do, after all, I've been a mercenary for some time and catching wanted people isn't the most difficult task there is." "Are you saying that we would be easy to hunt down?" "No, I just said that there were more difficult tasks to get." Wedge didn't bother to continue the conversation so he went out to get some 'fresh' air. {Damn, I feel stiffer than ever, I really have to loosen up my muscles.} Cera thought and started to kick and punch the air in a leisurely manner. He then began to stretch all of his muscles. As he don't like to stretch as quick as possible it took at least twenty minutes, maybe more. {Ok, now I'm ready for some _real_ action.} He got into his fighting stance and hopped around as he had an opponent right in front of him. He avoided punches, kicks and whatever attacks his imaginary opponent threw at him and countered them with quick combos of attacks. after a while he got tired of avoiding blows and started to hit faster and harder while he also inserted some more advanced attacks such as spin- and jump-kicks, he also made some somersaults backwards and forwards before stopping, just to make sure that he was in a good shape. "Pretty good!" came a soft voice from behind. Cera turned around and saw Tifa leaning against the wall, smiling as usual. He returned a smile. "So you're up now... Tifa." He paused to give her a unsure glance to be sure he got the right name before telling her "Good mornin'!" "Good morning! Razlo, wasn't it?" was the obvious answer. "Yes, it was. I have to ask you something, about you." "Why?" "I just want to know if I've heard of you somewhere else." "And that somewhere might be?" "Have you ever worked in a materia-shop in Kalm?" Even though she was sure of the answer she thought for a moment before answering. "No... I haven't." "Didn't think so. But I had to ask. What seems to be more likely is that you are or have been one of master Zangan's students." "That sounds more like me. Do you know him?" "He visited my class in Wutai, but I don't know him so good. He mentioned you as one of his best students." "He did? How nice." "Maybe you even can give me a challenge." "Mebbe so." she said smiling a little wider. "You were going to spread some words about the truth of Shinra I heard. Are you going to go in groups taking a certain area each or are you going to do it more leisurely?" "The latter one, we're trying to relax at the same time as we do this." "Ok, then I will go with anyone who wants, and doesn't mistrust me as I only met a few of you yesterday. I'm waiting here thinking of something until the others wakes up." "You do that, I'm going out to get some fresh air." "Fresh? Then you better stay here." "You know what I mean." "Of course. Just go get your air." Cera said with a small laugh after Tifa as she left the church. [OOG: Due to my lack of sleep I couldn't think of anything more to write so I just stopped here.] == If a machine can understand the value of human life, maybe we can. /Sarah Connor, Terminator II Judgement Day /Rune _________________________________________________________ DO YOU YAHOO!? Get your free a yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com -------=========================+++++=========================------- This note comes from: The MultiVersal Dreams BBS @ (209) 754-5851 ----======= WWIV 4.24a via the PPP Project Software =======---- --------=========+++=========-------- Subject: ToM: A Question of Judgement.(Kurushimi-2) Date: Sun, 04 Oct 98 01:13:11 (PDT) From: "Anastasius Dumar" Reply-To: "MIDGAR" To: "Multiple Recipients of Mailing List MIDGAR" , "Multiple Recipients of Mailing List MIDGAR" {OOG: Harsh of very coarse language (After seeing what other people compared to myself think of “Language” as, I figure I should throw in a more detailed description.), some violence.} A Question of Judgement July 9th Early Morning (4:47 a.m.) The Church In The Slums (Sector 5) Kurushimi frowned, his long, slender fingers moving quickly as he deftly plucked the yellow, browning leaf from the stem of the small flower. Carefully manuvered to the center of the small grove, he tossed the diseased appendage into the soil to his left, obliterating it with a small mound of grey, yet somehow fertile soil. Located so close to the outside of Midgar, the nights and days in the church and the slums around it were still dictated by the sun, rather than by the digital numbers of a clock, as was the case in most areas of the slums. He had been here since late the night before, when a surprising amount of people had converged here, all solemn and quite serious. He had seen little of them, really, though the fact did not bother him in the slightest. He would not intrude upon them, certainly would never pry or evesdrop, though the small smile on his face faltered slightly when he recalled the short, brief conversation between himself and one of the men in the group; a relatively small, well muscled man who carried on his back an abhorently large sword. “You live here?” he had asked, noticing the late hour that Kurushimi had arrived back at the church, leaving for a short time to wander among the seemingly endless amount of desolate, miserable people in the slums. “Yes. I...live here.” the man had made him uncomfortable, the way he had stared into his eyes, each pair, yellow and blue, glowing; as though he knew Kurushimi for what he was . “Would you mind if me and several of my friends then, stay for a while? We need only shelter. A friend of ours... rests here.” Kurushimi had smiled, shrugged, and returned to his work, slowly transplanting and arranging the flowers in large, if uneven rings by colour. “I don’t own the church, Sir.” With no reply forthcoming, he had turned for a moment to see if the young man with the oddly styled blonde hair still remained behind him. He was set aback, though not surprised, when he received only a glimpse of the large sword as the young man walked away. He knew, of course, who he was, even if he did not know his name, and knew who he spoke of; the one who rested here. That must have been what -two months before? He would check the notches on the wall in the small utility room that served as his quarters to make sure. He had removed himself from the visible areas of the the church when they had come, though perhaps those that had arrived first may have seen him, tending the flowers. He had not wished to interupt, or to seem like an interloper, so he had done the easiest thing for all, and that was to hide. He had listened to their words -convinced after a lengthly debate with himself that he was not evesdropping, only observing, as was his given task- and it was for the first time that he realized that they were part of, if not all of, AVALANCHE, and he felt the cold pit of fear in his gut, something he was surprised that he was familiar with. If they were AVALANCHE, and Shin-Ra learned that they had come here, what might happen? Would the church be razed? Would a trap for them be set? If so, how many innocent people could be hurt by it? What would he do, if this place were destroyed? He needed some place, some place where he could see with his own eyes people willing to admit their faults, their wrong doings, and then try to do something about them. Few, if any, he felt, would attempt such a thing without the security, the comfort that a holy place such as this would offer. But they -all of them, had left as quickly as they had come, with the promise to meet back here in two months. That was when he had begun marking his wall, as he felt that these people could be his champions, and wanted to make sure he was not taken by surprise at their return. He had told Mother about them, said that if so many people from so different backgrounds could come together for a good cause, there had to be some hope for humanity as a whole. She had agreed, but said that these were people drawn together by a common goal, one way or another, and that the average person did not share such a common thing to look to, but rather remained focused upon goals to benefit themselves. ‘You are right, dear Kurushimi,’ she had said,’there may be hope, but there is much that still has yet to be decided.’ When he had counted fifty-eight notches on his wall, one for each rising and setting of the sun, as he had no other way to keep personal time, he had begun to wait for their return. He had not been present when they had come here, to take up temporary residence in the church, as he did not wish to interfere, even if it was only so much as things going unsaid because of a stranger’s presence. He had taken the opportunity to walk through the slums, to assist where he could, with repairs or with the wounded. It had been too long since he had done so, and it never failed to depress him the so many people could find their way into a place like the Midgarian slums. Returning to the church, he had resumed his work on the flowers, moving some that were too large or too old into pots or pans or pieces of scrap and junk that made the bulk of the slum’s terrain so they would not interfere with the growth of the others. Aerith had been by lately, and she often took the flowers that had been removed from the bed, selling them for a meager profit. He didn’t mind, of course, that none of the money she made found it’s way back to the church. She had been selling the flowers, occasionally tending to them in her free time, long before he had come, and had told him that she was able to help her mother with the money she made from the flowers, something which he could not condone. It would have been nice, he speculated, if some of that money, or any money, at that matter, found it’s way to the church. One could only do so much with rusting nails, wobbly hammers, and broken pieces of wood, and that included fixing the large hole in the back of the church that constantly plagued him. Prying up from the ground a particularily thorny, malicious looking weed from the fertile grey soil with the rusting trowel in his hand, he turned as much as he could without inflicting harm upon the flowers, and tossed it at a black garbage bag; empty, but with nearly a dozen similar weeds strewn around it A rock quickly joined the pile, carelessly tossed over his shoulder. It was still so very early, and few could find reason to come to the run-down church, especially at such an absurd hour. He felt the best at this time, when the chaotic sounds of the slums had at least partially died down, the flowers had yet to bloom to the day’s light, and everything seemed to stand still, like a moment frozen in time. Lacking the need to sleep, Kurushimi still felt what only he could call tired; not a need to sleep, but a slugishness that could easily be compared to a reptile on a particularily cold morning, moving slowly until the sun began to heat the ground, and the blood in its veins began to pump more rapidly. Tucking the trowel into the gap between his dirt-encrusted burlap pants and the length of thin hemp rope that held them around his narrow waist, Kurushimi stood, caution etched onto the delicate, fragile features of his face. He moved slowly, with a deliberateness that few people would have been able to manage, taking perhaps ten seconds or more to place each of his sandal-clad steps as he struggled to avoid traumatizing any of the precious flowers that thrived here. Stepping from the flower bed, the flowers still a hectic scramble of strikingly contrasting colours but for the middle where some semblance of order triumphed. Between smoothing the benches of splinters, keeping the roof from falling to rot and dryness and making sure the small amounts of graffiti that occasionally made their way onto the sides of the church were scrubbed free, his chosen task to arrange the flowers in a way that make one think of them more of a miracle and less of a coincidence of soil types and location had taken some time. Scooping up the several weeds and too-large rocks that could always be found in the flower bed if one looked hard enough, Kurushimi set them gently into a small plastic shopping bag, stinking of rot and the filth that clung to the inside, and tied it shut. Beating the legs of his pants and dusting off his hands, he walked down the aisle between the benches, sighing as he noticed the thin layer of grey that covered them all. Opening the cracked door on creaking, rusting hinges -a thing he would have liked to fix, but lacked the resources to do so, Kurushimi stepped from the quiet comfort of the church to the filthy, hard reality of the slums. It was a thing that always depressed him a little, being able to step from one world to the stark opposite in a single stride, and he hurried along, his sandalled feet drawing hisses from the sterile soil beneath them. He had created a small compost beside the church, where went the weeds and the composible trash and the empty birdsnests that he found in some hopes of possibly replenishing the small amount of soil it covered enough to grow something. It was a futile hope, he knew, as the life was being drawn from the soil at a rate faster than he comprehend more than the compost would provide. Still, it was the thought that counted, wasn’t it? Depositing the small amount of garbage that had collected in the bag along with the cast aways from his garden tending, Kurushimi rolled up the stinking plastic bag, held it in a fist, and with his small, enigmatic smile and slow, nonchalant stride, made his way back to the church, a small tune almost bubbling forth on his lips. The rock didn’t hurt him, but it stunned him for a moment, and he dropped the crumpled plastic bag. Shaking his head, hunched slightly over, he looked up to see three youths approaching, looking no older than he. One carried an old, chipped and dented base ball bat. The other a small switchblade, with perhaps four inches of tarnished steel gleaming mutely in the blaring light of a nearby neon sign. The last carried only a rock, jagged, though he paused to bend over and scoop up another. “There’s that freak, Cal. Th’ one that I seen make’n th’ shit’n the wall a’ the church disappear with a fuck’n freaky yellow glow.” the one with baseball bat said, his voice cracking slightly and his face a scarred mess of acne and bruises. Cal, apparently the one with the knife, grunted in aknowladgement to Scarface, who happened to be the one who had struck Kurushimi with the first rock. “Looks like some kinda faggot if you ask me, with his girly face and that queer little smile. Mebbe we should pound th’ shit out’a him, see if th’ motherfucker does any of that crazy glowing shit again.” Kurushimi winced as another rock struck his chest, thought the blow caused him no pain. The teenagers were probably quite drunk, looking for trouble, but he cursed himself as he realized that perhaps he was not as discreet with the use of his magic as he would have liked to think. There was perhaps fifteen feet now, between him and the three teenage boys, and he did the only thing he felt he could do; run like hell. The drunken boys must have been able to guess, as it seemed as though they were running before he was, shouting and bellowing in rage. Another rock struck him, this time in the back of the head, and the impact of the blow sent him, running at a sprint, to his knees. There was no more than forty feet between him and the door that led into the church, but it seemed an impossibly attainable distance, as he shook his head, clearing it and attempting to rise to his feet in time to be struck in the chest with a baseball bat. He crumpled from the blow, though the drunken youths were drunkenly surprised that the wet crunch of shattering ribs did not reach their ears. The frail looking kid couldn’t have weighed more than a hundred and five pounds soaking wet, and there looking, with his sleeveless tunic, to be almost no muscle on his thin frame. Nonetheless, the force carried from the blow felled Kurushimi, his glowing yellow eyes gleaming with tears. “I got ‘em, guys! The motherfucker is dead shit!” “Good!” cried the the other boy, who had picked up a piece of brick in place of the stones he had thrown, delivering a kick to Kurushimi’s ribs. Kurushimi wept, though the blows from the teens inflicted no pain upon his thin frame. He wept because he knew that it wasn’t their fault; they were products of their enviroment, likely growing up in the slums. No schooling, no support, they were damned, and they knew it, even if they weren’t able to admit it. He wished somehow, somehow he would have been able to help them in some way, get them adopted at a younger age by a couple living in Midgar, so that they might have gone to school, lived happy lives that were a far cry from the wretched, pathetic journeys and experiences the boys, smelling of cheap liquor. He curled up into a fetal ball under the constant rain of kicks to his head, to his chest, to his backside. There was a snap, and Kurushimi, tears soaking the dusty ground beneath him, was aware of a gasp of surprise. Scarface, wielding his bat, had brought it down, hard, upon Kurushimi’s back. He had expected a crunch and a cry of agony, or even a spasmodic jerk. Certainly he had never expected to find himself holding but the shaft of the bat as it split apart with a loud crack. “Holy shit! What th’ fuck is with this asshole?” Scarface blustered, backing up for a moment, holding the broken handle of the bat in his hand and an astonished look on his face. “I’ll fix the fucker! See if he can do that to a fuck’n knife!” Cal grunted, and brought the switchblade down, in a wide arc, across Kurushimi’s back. The fabric of his tunic parted with a loud rip, though the blade of the knife slid easily, as though oiled, across the surface of his back. It did, however, manage to split open his shoulder at the end of the arc, drawing blood although the wound had done little more than penetrate the eppidermis. Among kicks and fists, the three drunken boys cheered at the sight of blood, and Cal brought his hand down again, haveing reversed his grip on the knife’s handle, he was ready to finish the frightening young man with a blow to the back of his neck. The knife struck, and trembled for a moment before shattering like glass. Cal and the other two boys cried out for a moment as the shards of the blade exploded, receiving several superficial wounds. Nothing was said, but the three boys mutually agreed that they had seen enough of the apparently invincible kid, queer as though he might seem, and turned, running from the scene. Reaching behind his head, Kurushimi plucked from his skin the small tip of the blade, and tossed in away. He could feel his flesh, traumatized by the impact of the blows though not damaged because of them, begin to tighten as what he knew would be hideous bruises began to appear. The wound on his shoulder, still bleeding, had slowly begun to form a small scab, as had the small mark at the base of his neck. The bat and even the knife, so crudely made, would not normally even bruised him as they did. It had been too long since he had seen the sun. Kurushimi, still curled in the tight fetal position, wept. It hurt him to think that there was such potential for evil in the world, no matter the reason. Perhaps people as a whole _were_ evil, driven to good only because of selfish interest, a goal that demanded acts of good as a means to an end, rather than being an end in themselves. Sniffling back a stream of snot that threatened to cascade from his nostrils, Kurushimi rose shakily to his feet, and headed back to the church, the small, comforting smile absent from his face for the first time in a long while. {OOG: Well, I hope I got my facts about AVALANCHE straight, as I joined ToM right after all the important stuff happened. I had a brief look through the archives (something that is both tedius and remarkably time consuming) to try figure what had previously happened.} & Anastasius Dumar. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com -------=========================+++++=========================------- This note comes from: The MultiVersal Dreams BBS @ (209) 754-5851 ----======= WWIV 4.24a via the PPP Project Software =======---- --------=========+++=========-------- Subject: ToM: And some sins can never be forgiven Date: Wed, 07 Oct 98 01:02:18 (PDT) From: "Adam Lim" Reply-To: "MIDGAR" To: "Multiple Recipients of Mailing List MIDGAR" , "Multiple Recipients of Mailing List MIDGAR" [OOG: OH MY GOODNESS! ADAM'S NOT DEAD? No, I aint. This is one post in a very long time. Caution everyone, ther may be some harsh language. Also, in this post, it has to do with someone that will be put more in depth later. Now let's see if I can remember this] By the way, it's "speech" {thinking} A house of refuge in a city gone wrong around it. Not tonight, but a night years ago. {Okay.....single card tells de whole story. On de one hand, my people disowned me...... ......my wife Lilandra, been taken off dis planet well before her time........ ..........an' I done racked up more enemies den de legendary devil hisself in a tenth as many years around the crime game.} A tall, clean man in a Turk-like outfit with black gloves stands alone. The candles are lit all around him, but that is all that provides him light. He doesn't mind however. He just stands there, with his brushed back brown hair, and his dark sunglasses on even though there is no sunlight. There is never any sunlight in this city. {On de OTHER hand, I'm de best damn thief in de world....... .....I got a power to play with people's minds dat makes sure I STAY de best.... .......an' dis payment means I ain't never again got to take a job dat'll eat away at me.} {Single card tells it. 'M I gonna win or lose when de las' card be turned over?} The man always carries a deck of cards in is pocket. He lives life by chance, like a game. He shuffles his deck, and takes out the top card and flips it over. "Damn," says the man, as he realizes that he has the ace of spades. "Ace of spades? Isn't that the card of death?" a voice says from behind the man. In an instant, the young man pulls out his hand gun. "Maybe for you it will be!" he shouts. The bullits are fired, but miss, as they hit the wood of the church's balcony. Now another man, dressed in a Turk-like outfit appears. He is somewhat smiling and he reaches in his coat pocket. The first man, braces himself for what may be his death. "If I weren't me, I'd be worried about your skills," replies the second man. His face cannot be seen. "But I AM me. You do superior work Mr. G. Very superior work. You've impressed me, and I'm not easy to impress." "You paid me ta round up some bad folk. I done what I was paid ta do. Don't need your compliments now, jus' need our debt settled, no?" "Yes....." says the dark man. With his hand still in his jacket, he reaches, and pulls out a metallic capsule, and tosses it to Mr. G. ".......a most peculiar fee to request......but a reasonable one.......for ME at least. I trust for you as well?" The man known as Mr. G responds, "Trust all ya want." He continues, "About those men I gathered-- 'Headhunter' an' de others-- what makes dem worth dis much to a man like you? You coulda got dem yo'self." He holds up the capsule, to prove what he is talking about. The dark man just grins. "Know what? Never mind. Some t'ings better left unknown I guess." The dark man begins to turn around and leave. "But hold up. 'Nother t'ing. No more jobs for me. Dis was de last. Don't call, don't write, ya hear?" Now this time it was Mr. G getting ready to leave. He opens the door and brushes back his hair. "I belive in de cards. But dis time, I'm outta dis game here an' now." "Have faith Mr. G-- that you will be 'out' when you hear from ME, that you are out......" "........And that will only be AFTER one more job. My new...........ASSOCIATES........require your specific talent for insinuating yourself where you do not belong." This made Mr. G upset. "BELIVE DIS XENOS-- AS OF TODAY, YOU CAN'T AFFORD ME NO MORE!" And with that, Mr. G walked away, still clutching the capsule. Xenos was determined to have the last word though, "Every man has a price Mr. Gordon. I think I know yours." ========================= ========================= Place: Northern Continent Date: July 9th, 2000 Time: Afternoon {.......Every man has a price ta charge, an' a price ta pay.....} The snow falls lightly on the hair of Mr. Gordon as he thinks to himself and watches his breathe appear and disappear in the cold air. The quiet rumble of the snowmobile is the only sound that could be heard throughout the arctic desert. "Gordon. Not made nothin' of a peep-noise, since we lefted Corel backways. Huh Headhunter?" that voice belonged to a large over-weight man with a drawl similar to Mr. G's. The man wore a thick, plaid, winter coat and had been guzzling the same bottle of beer, the whole trip. "Joe's right, Roland. What's the matter? Cat got your tounge? You're normally nothin' but too much talk," replied Headhunter, a short blonde-haired girl who looked to be nothing more than 10 years old, but with the brains of an adult. "Got nothin' t' say. You just keep drivin' an' let's get done wit' dis," exlaimed Mr. G, who we now have found out his first name, Roland. {..Whatever it is. Can't stand no more o' dese memories comin' back on me. It's like de gas I used ta get from Aunt Cherry's jambalya and corn bread-- felt fine goin' IN, felt like shit comin' back up.} The woman known as Headhunter glanced back at the emotionless Roland, then whispered to her companion, "I don't like the sound of our meal ticket, Joe. I think he's planning something. You steer and I'll check on him." "Burrrrp, uhhh, I dunno where to pilot to?" Joe answered. "Just keep heading south, we should reach grass area soon, the dock us up on the beach, that's when I'll phone the boss, he'll take care of the rest, okay?" "Uhhh, okie dokie." Roland's head was bent low, he was flipping a card over and over. his eyes were moist, and hi bottom lip began to quiver. Head hunter moved over towards Roland. She gabbed a handfull of his hair and pulled it up so he could look at her. "Owww!" "I STILL hate you, Roland Gordon. It's because of YOU, I'm getting younger everyday. But still, why your sudden fit of responsibility in this situation? Why come easily?" Headhunter frowned angrily at Roland and continued to yank at his hair. "When we were betrayed by Shinra...." "Wait a minute, WE weren't betrayed by anybody! It was YOU who got us trapped in that cave! The boss and Shinra had nothing to do with it!" "Anyways, when we were 'trapped', an' lost all our good materia-- I felt somethin' dat I never felt b'fore. Somethin' good." "Oh? And what is it that turns a devil into an angel?" "I care 'bout somethin' now. No more fightin'. More den dat, I won't say," replied Roland, and he went back to stare at his card. Thoughts flodded his head now, as he reflected the past. His wife, Lilandra. His friends. He said that he wouldn't say any more, but what if he would say it? What would it sound like? Love? *********** flashback *********** "Roland? What is it sugah?" "I...... I wanna say, Lil'. I DO, but.......got a wall up in me somethin' fierce." "I thought we brought our walls down last night? If it's dat you.... LOVE me, dat's okay ta say. I want ta hear you say it...so much." "But I........" "Here, take this." "Queen of hearts....?" "Carry it an' think of me in dose times we ain't t'gether-- thogh I hope those're few." ************* ************* "......Me, to.....," whispered Roland. Headhunter frowned and grabbed the card from him, "What are you holding?! 'No fighting'? Then what's this?!" "It's just a card......." "I don't care!" Headhunter threw the card deep into the snow and all Roland could do was watch it disappear in the distance. "You won't be needing that where you're going, you--- WHOOAA! Joe, what's wrong?!" "It's not resplonding...urrp...no more! I tried ta park tha t'ing an' we went in tha water!" "You fuck-up! Get out! Both of you!" The three jumped out of the snow-mobile, and onto the sandy beach. The water pulled the vehicle lower and lower until it couldn't be seen anymore. "Lucky I had my PHS phone on me. Goddammit Joe, we lost all our food!" "I know, I'm sorry. I dropped my beer too." Roland snickered, "That t'ing was half em....." "Shut the fuck up Gordon! I didn't say you could talk!" "Bite me, bitch!" "Wanna say that again you peice of shit?" asked Joe, as he pulled out a long rifle, and shoved it into Roland's stomach. Headhunter took out her phone and pressed a number of buttons. To: "Multiple Recipients of Mailing List MIDGAR" Blue Plate Hotel, Sector 3 8:23 PM A groan escaped Argoulor as he slowly stood up. His head was spinning and his vision was dark and blurry. "That..." He announced, "hurt like Hell." Gradually recovering, Argoulor slowly drew himself up and stared at his surroundings. "They stuffed me in a closet," he muttered, "screw up once and you get demoted to laundry.... now, how am I going to get out of here?" Argoulor tried the door, "Must be blocked off, got to do this the hard way." Drawing himself away from the door, Argoulor gathered all his strength and made a mad rush at the door. This rash move was quickly followed by a loud thump and a groan from Argoulor "Damn...." Again Argoulor tried to break through and again was repelled. "Damn stubborn door." He muttered, "I guess I need another option.... AHA!, Kytira's stuff. Looks like the lovely lady will be breaking me out of here." Foraging through the pack, Argoulor produced a tiny metal sphere. "Rage bomb," he declared, "Consists of a thin outer shell contained with an elemental charge in the core. On breakage of the shell the elemental charge is release giving a random elemental blast." He quoted from a manual he had read some time back, "Sounds fun." With that he flung the tiny sphere at the door, which released a blinding electrical flare that flung the door from its hinges. Argoulor quickly moved over to the smaller closet where he had his duffel bag. "Goodbye Business Man Quin Q. Quentin," he said as he changed into his Shinra beta "Hello Scum of the Earth Argoulor." Realizing that Zeng and Kytira would be coming back to finish the job, Argoulor made for the door and almost pushed the button on the first elevator As if by magic, Argoulor realized Zeng was in that elevator and coming up. Argoulor moved to the next elevator and hit "Lobby" As Zeng, in the lobby, Hit "10" on the elevator Argoulor had passed. Arriving in the lobby, Argoulor leisurely strolled to the door and left. "Zeng!" he froze as he heard a familiar feminine voice call the name, "Where’s Argoulor?" She asked him. he thought, He turned to face her almost laughing as he realized Kytira's mistake, "I... left him in the closet, Leia is our biggest concern." "Yeah," She replied, "Listen, could you do me a favor? I need to go see if Leia's okay, could you report in for me?" "Sure..." Argoulor lied, "No problem," "Thanks," She smiled, "Just leave my stuff there too. I'll pick it up when I get there." +-------------+ | HARPER HALL | Araby Fandom Weyr's Out-Of-Game and | FANDOM WEYR | General Pern Discussions, | DISCUSSIONS | Hosted by The MultiVersal Dreams. +-------------+ Subject: The opening statement... Date: Wed, 14 Oct 98 10:04:01 (PDT) From: trevor alexander Reply-To: "MIDGAR" To: "Multiple Recipients of Mailing List MIDGAR" OOG: Sorry about the tardiness of this first installment. I have been adjusting to a new atmosphere as we have moved. Outside Midgar, mid-afternoon He had seen this before: the large doors with the "7" emblazoned across them. He knew this place too well, having been there once before. He knew what lay ahead of him. He knew who was there to help, and more importantly, who were there to harm. He had seen ALL of this before. Echo was silent as Armada sat upon the saddle. He looked worn from travelling. He was less trusting, and a little quicker to use his sword. He didn't like being hurt, so his idea was "do unto others before they do unto you". His six o'clock shadow and goatee gave his square jaw a rugged look. His eyes were fixed on the untameable structure in front of him. His cold stare was menacing. Armada had grown up. No longer was he the eighteen year old kid who thought he could make it by himself. He was a warrior. Crossing the globe had taught him many lessons, some of which are still evident from the scars he has. He no longer wanted just answers; he wanted closure. He needed closure. His passion for recovering the past had to be put to rest. He no longer had a need for the human race. His eye-for-an-eye attitude was what made the strong survive. Echo had also matured. He was no longer a young, naive bird. He had become wise to people and their habits. He had covered Armada's back countless times. His silver-colored helmet glimmered in the sunshine. He had a majestic, yet warrior-like look. His eyes spoke volumes about their travels. They pierced the human soul. He trusted no one except Armada, although one other person has been close to him. He listened to no one but Armada. Most importantly, he was loyal to Armada. His jet-black feathers gave his blue eyes a vengeful image. He was much larger as well, having matured physically. His muscle mass increased almost two-fold. He looked like a tank on orange legs. His beak was razor-sharp, and he used it much like a guillotine. His legs were more muscular, as well. Echo just looked mean. Armada hopped off the saddle. He swung his backpack off his shoulder, and fished around in it until he produced a small card. "Remember this?" Armada asked Echo, flashing a small card with the number 7 on it. Echo just stared. His eyes never moved from the doors. "Excited, eh?" Armada said, trying to break the tension. Again, no response. Armada stood up, place the card in the slot, and the doors slid open. He replaced the card in his backpack, and swung it back on to his shoulder. He climbed back on to the saddle, and Echo entered the city walls. Midgar was about to get a new visitor - for the second time. Everything was the same. It took his eyes a few minutes to adjust to the darkness. The slums hadn't changed. He remembered everything. The church was still missing the wall. The woman's house where he got caught picking flowers. The fight where he and Echo killed two Shinra soldiers. Jairen Quicksilver, Vixen, and the others. Leaving after he couldn't find any clues. Meeting his girlfriend. Leaving Kyomi because of his need for closure on his parents' situation. He stopped thinking about the other stuff. Kyomi. The Warriors of Supreme Fighting Championship. He had met her there. Her beauty was frightening. Her personality was one of a kind. And to top it all off, she could kick some serious ass! He dwelled on her for a few seconds. Why did he leave? Why did he need answers? What is she doing now? Where is she now? Does she still remember me? The last question scared him the most. It has been close to three months since he last saw her. He could never break down the walls that held in his emotions for her. The only way to see her again would be to win the qualifying rounds of the W of SFC here in the slums to make it to the Championship tournament. She would be there, undoubtedly, as she was the number one warrior on the island of Mideel. She would be angry with him for leaving in the middle of the night, but he only needed to hear the sound of her voice. Anything more would be a bonus. He snapped out of his daydream to find Echo arriving outside the small town where Avalanche was reported to have their headquarters. "Let's go to that Seventh Heaven place," Armada said. "I hear they serve everything." Echo agreed with the suggestion by heading towards the bar. Seventh Heaven. The best watering hole in the slums. Perhaps the best in Midgar. Armada had heard stories of Avalanche, but had never run into any of the big players in the group. He pushed the doors open. It was dark inside. A small girl was behind the bar. Armada sat down at one of the stools. Echo stood behind him. His eyes followed the girl's every move. Armada looked at the bottles, trying to make a selection. A sheet of paper was taped up behind the bottles on the mirror. He strained to read: Qualifying Rounds of the Warriors of Supreme Fighting Championship begin tomorrow at nine o'clock. He sighed. "What can I get you, stranger?" the girl asked. "I'll have a whisky, and he'll have a water," Armada replied, gesturing towards Echo. "Right away, sir," she said. "Hey, do you know where I could sign up for that tournament?" Armada asked. "The W of SFC?" she quizzed. "You're a little late. Only Shinra employees can get in now." "What?" Armada said, in disbelief. "In fact," she continued, "only Shinra employees know about it. I stole this poster 'cause I'm gonna watch it on TV." "So I can't compete," he said, sounding a little sad. "Well," she began, "I can sorta tell you how to rig it." "Tell me. I'll make it worth your while." "Tomorrow, head to the Honeybee Inn and hide out in one of the dressing rooms. When the competitor comes in... BANG!" "Won't they try to kill me if I'm not supposed to be fighting?" "No, it's all for ratings. They won't care as long as you do well." "Why is Shinra only allowed to enter?" "I heard it's 'cause they want to develop this new type of Soldier. You've heard of Alpha and Beta?" "Yeah." "Now they want to create a Soldier Omega. They need the strongest soldier in their force. This new Soldier rank will be twicw as strong as Soldier Beta, so when he wins the Championship...." "... Shinra will win the prize money! One million gil would go far in research." "Here are your drinks." The girl turned around to replace the bottle. When she turned around to face Armada, both he and Echo were gone. The drinks were untouched and a bag of gil sat behind the glasses. Armada headed straight for the inn. He got a room in order to make the preparations for the next day's event. He was going to blow the top of this competition. The alley in front of the Honeybee Inn will never see carnage like it will tomorrow, he thought. On that note, he fell asleep. -------=========================+++++=========================------- This note comes from: The MultiVersal Dreams BBS @ (209) 754-5851 ----======= WWIV 4.24a via the PPP Project Software =======---- --------=========+++=========-------- Subject: ToM: An unlikely and odd image... Date: Wed, 14 Oct 98 23:53:14 (PDT) From: Daly Reply-To: "MIDGAR" To: "Multiple Recipients of Mailing List MIDGAR" [OOG: This post seemed boring the first time, so I had to add some stupidity to make it seem not so dull as it really is. ***** Time: 8:35 Place: Sector three slums hospital. Kytira stared down at the hospital bed where Leia was resting on. She sighed deeply and immediately cringed while making a face. The smell of hospitals didn't settle with her stomach too well. Pretty soon she'd get sick from it and run out screaming for normal air. She brought her hand down to Leia's face and pushed a lock of her hair away from her pale face. Upon hearing a loud clicking noise behind her, Kytira whirled around, alarmed. "Oh, I'm sorry, Miss DeLeurie. Didn't mean to give you a start," the small nurse quickly apologized as she entered the room, pushing a cart with several clean bed sheets lying on it, neatly folded and smelling laundry fresh. "That's alright," Kytira replied. She turned back to gaze at her sister. "Is she going to be okay?" The nurse picked up two of the white sheets off the cart and set them at the foot of Leia's bed as she nodded. "Yes, she's okay now. The doctors said she was just in shock, so, when she wakes up and fills out all the necessary forms, she can leave." Letting a sigh of relief escape, Kytira watched the nurse leave the room, wheeling the cart with her. She eyed a nearby chair and dragged it towards the side of the bed to sit down. She flopped onto the chair, savoring the thought of not having to stand and being presented with the opportunity to relax, even if for a moment. She started at Leia, feeling guilty. "This is the second time something like this has happened. And it's also my fault." Kytira sighed, lowering her head. "I didn't listen to you... I'm such a horrible sister..." She paused, staring into space as she thought back to what happened. -FLASH- (Start of flashback...) "Get lost," Kytira replied through clenched teeth, her patience dwindling as her eyes gave off a cold and harsh glare. "I'm busy right now." Leia's face fell as she bit her lip. She stared at the ground. "S-sorry, Kytira..." she said in a small voice as she turned around and walked away, obviously upset with her sister. When Leia turned the corner, from her jeans' pocket, she pulled out a small white sphere. It fit perfectly in her palm and reflected some of the light from the main hallway's chandelier. "What is this anyway? Hmmm...." She squeezed it in her hand gently, then tighter as the seconds ticked away.... "EYAGHHHHHHHHH!!!!" In the living room, the book, 'Crime and punishment,' dropped out of Lanai's hands as the scream pierced through the silence. Heading into the hallway, she found her foster sister on the floor, unconscious. "Leia????" Lanai ran and knelt beside the small girl's body, shaking it as hard as she could, hoping she'd either open her eyes or show some sign of life. "Leia!!!!" "What's going--??" Kytira ran into the hallway from the kitchen and her eyes opened wide in horror. "--!!??" She knelt next to Lanai and her eyes darted between her twin sister and Leia. "What happened???" Lanai shook her head in frustration, "I-I don't know...!!!" Kytira stared at her foster sister and then noticed her small fist, clutching something. She quickly brought Leia's hand closer to her and pried it open. Lying in her palm, were the remains from the shell of a powerful rage-bomb. "Oh god..." Kytira cursed under her breath as her Lanai glanced at the pieces of the rage-bomb then glare at her twin fiercely. "What??!! Why the hell did you give her a rage-bomb???!" Lanai's right hand shot out, striking twin sister hard across the face. "How could you be so stupid???!" After that move, Lanai jumped to her feet, skittering on the hard wood floor as she sprinted around a corner to the kitchen to get the cordless phone. Kytira remained silent, rubbing her cheek and staring at Leia's body, her eyes wide in horror. At the same time, she was cursing at herself. That was one of her rage-bombs. She must've left it lying around somewhere. Lanai ran back into the hallway, the phone tucked under her chin and pressed against her right ear. She knelt down next to Leia and turned to Kytira. "What are you doing???! Idiot!!! Go get a hi-potion or a restore materia!!! Argh!!! Just do something!!!" Upon hearing her sister's voice screaming at her, Kytira snapped out of it and nodded as she ran off. -FLASH- (End of flashback...) 'That was a long time ago...' Kytira thought, pausing as she blinked at a rate slower than normal as she began to realize something that had never come to mind before. "I'm starting to act like Lanai...." Kytira lowered her head and shook her head. "No, I'm not Lanai nor am I like Lanai... She was so different before she died... she changed... wait, no..... what if I'm the one who's changed....?" *** Time: 8:43 Kytira made a face as her lips curled in disgust. "How can people stand watching this crap?" she muttered out loud, pressing yet another button on the hospital bed rail. The TV up in the corner of the room switched channels to yet another soap opera. Watching uninterestedly, Kytira leaned on her fist and made a face as the couple on TV began kissing. "Oh, Warren." "Oh, Irene." Kytira rolled her eyes. "Oh god..." She glanced over at Leia who was still unconscious. "And to think you watch this kinda stuff..." Her attention returned to the TV, her disgust rising to another level as she changed the channel again. "Then why did you cancel our date?" the girl questioned the man, giving a puppy-dog face. "Gina, I had to." The man replied. A frown fell on Kytira's face. "The idiot's lying. Kick his butt, Gina." She leaned further back in her chair and once again hit a button on the rail and the TV flipped to another channel; another soap opera. She sighed and removed the bobby pins in her hair. Shaking her head, her dark hair tumbled free. She ran her fingers through it and she clicked off the TV, annoyed with what the TV believed was entertainment. She turned to the small stand nearby the hospital bed, interested solely on the small pile of gil a SOLDIER had been so generous to lend her. Sliding her hand along the table and using the other hand to catch the money when it fell over the edge, she stuffed the gil in the pocket on the maid dress' skirt that was under the white apron she was no longer wearing and headed out the door. In the hallway, she seized herself a cup of coffee, plunking two cubes of sugar into the black lukewarm liquid. She brought the plastic cup to her lips as the aroma was starting to take a rather weak effect on her. After the small sip, she winced, shuddered and set the cup back on the counter. She popped a sugar cube into her mouth and made her way down the hallway toward the payphones and the elevators. "Ghhh..... decaf." Picking the phone off the receiver, she inserted a few coins into the slot and punched in several numbers. Leaning on the wall, she watched several doctors, nurses, patients and visitors pass by, all of them giving her odd looks because of her appearance. She returned the look and a glare as they moved out of sight down the hall or to the elevators. It wasn't the maid apparel that caused the attention since she had taken off the hairpiece and the apron. It was her overall appearance. She looked like she had just came out of a storm. Her black hair was tangled and knotted in scattered areas, her pale skin gave quite a contrast to her hair. The once white canvas shoes were now slightly beige with dirt spots distributed unevenly and her shoelaces untied. Lastly, there were the white stockings. Several runs ran up and down her legs, a few holes here and there, and her left stocking was down to her knee, the garter hanging mid thigh while her other stocking was up all the way. Finally, Kytira heard the voice on the other end and answered it. "Yes, this is Kytira DeLeurie, First Class. I'm just checking if Zeng Jarstan had reported in yet...." There was an odd silence from the voice on the other end. All Kytira heard was the rustling of papers and the phone crackling. the secretary answered. "WHAT???!" Kytira exclaimed, drawing more eyes on her from the surrounding people. She ignored their gazes and asked, "Are you sure?" There was more rustling of papers and the sound of gum snapping loudly, then the pop of the bubble was heard. She groaned and wondered where Zeng had run off. Because of Kytira's tired mind, an unlikely and odd image of him at a sleazy nightclub, drunk from cheap beer, dancing wildly with several other women to the upbeat techno music while dishing out cheesy pick-up lines, came to mind. Kytira's face burned up and in a loud voice, she cursed several times, receiving even more derogatory glares from the surrounding people. "Huh? Oh, nothing, forget it. Thanks." Kytira grumbled then brought the phone back to the receiver. Heading towards the elevator, various thoughts of anger and confusion screamed through her head: 'Why the hell didn't that moron report in???' 'Oh no.... what if something happened to him? What if he got in a fight?' 'Yeah right. He's probably at some nightclub, dummy... Either that or on the floor of a bar, unconscious from either vodka or tequila.' 'Don't let him get to you. He's just trying to piss you off....' Kytira stuck with the first thought as she entered the elevator and angrily slammed the palm of her hand on the first level button. All the people in the elevator remained quiet. Some held a frightened look in their eyes on seeing the mark of SOLDIER in Kytira's eyes but they didn't dare to say anything as she whirled around, giving an icy gaze to the inside of the steel elevator doors as it lowered. *** [OOG: Hmm... this is the first post that I didn't have to put a warning language on.] -- ICQ: #18219424 AIM: DalyW7 Yahoo! Pager: Da_Ly I've been trying for some time to develop a lifestyle that doesn't require my presence. --Gary Trudeau +-------------+ | HARPER HALL | Araby Fandom Weyr's Out-Of-Game and | FANDOM WEYR | General Pern Discussions, | DISCUSSIONS | Hosted by The MultiVersal Dreams. +-------------+ Subject: ToM: Tension between the eyes of different colours Date: Thu, 15 Oct 98 10:41:08 (PDT) From: "Adam Lim" Reply-To: "MIDGAR" To: "Multiple Recipients of Mailing List MIDGAR" Place: Sector 5 Time: 1:00 pm Date:July 9th, 2000 The heat was immense as the trio walked down the streets of Midgar in search of AVALACHE. Adam wiped the sweat from his face, and took off his hooded cloak, which reavealed him wearing a black t-shirt and black jeans. Natalie glanced up at the dark sky of Midgar and squinted. She let out a sigh, and tried to keep pace with the others. Matrim, being the shortest of the three, was constantly taking quicker steps to keep up. Adam, the tallest just walked his usual pace, but even that was too fast for them. "Hey, did you see her? I think she is in AVALANCHE," replied Matrim, as he ran to catch up. He pointed toward a lightpost where two people stood. "Are you sure Matrim? I mean, how could they just appear out of the blue?" asked Natalie. She looked over at Adam to see if his expression agreed with hers. Instead he turned his head away, and watched two children share a candied apple. Natalie frowned, and nudged Adam with her elbow. "Hm? Oh, sorry....." Adam said. Matrim was at least 10 feetawaynow, so the others ran to catch up. Standing there, were twp people, one man, one woman. They were busy talking to eachother when up came the three. Matrim tapped the woman on the shoulder lightly, "Umm, excuse me but do I know you?" "If you knew me, then you wouldn't be asking me that now would you?" the woman responded, her head still turned the other way. Matrim shrugged, "Y-you're in AVALANCHE aren't you?" This time, the woman turned around sharply and fell into her fighting pose. "Don't worry, we aren't here to fight, we just wanted to find somebody from AVALANCHE," Natalie explained, as she held out her arms. Adam took a few steps away from the group, and put back on his cloak. {Hmph, I don't trust these people, they're probably MPs off duty. That explains why she was so quick to fight.} He remained a few feet outside of the conversation, enough to hear what they were saying, but far enough to react to anything. The woman glanced to her left, then back at her partner, she then brushed back a few strands of hair from her face and lead them to a picnic table. "Okay, who are you and what do you want with AVALANCHE?" the woman asked. "First of all, let me introduce us, I'm Matrim Aether, this is Natalie Gordon, and he's............. ......Adam? Where'd he go?" Matrim searched around for Adam. Adam flicked a pebble up from the ground and caught it in his hand, then he tossed it at Matrim, who turned around and saw where he was. ".....And he's Adam Lim," Matrim spoke. He pointed over to where Adam was, but now Adam was standing beside the table. Natalie gave Adam a look as if to say 'Will you stop playing games!' The man whispered to his friend, "What's up with that guy? Something tells me he's up to something." The woman whispered back, "Don't worry, I think Rio told me about his friend named Adam, though I'm not sure." "Well, then, I've been looking for AVALANCHE for some time now. I wanted to find out more about them, and hopefully....*gulp*.....become a member," Matrim replied. The woman smiled slightly, and put out her hand, "My name is Tifa Lockheart, and my friend here is Jairen Qui......." "Just Jairen," the man corrected. Jairen hadn't taken his eyes off of Adam, the entie conversation. It was as if the two were playing a game. Jairen was trying to see Adam's face, while Adam lowered his head more and more, to hide it. Natalie then spoke up, "A friend of ours suggested that we find you. He's a member himself." Tifa rose an eyebrow, "Really? And who might this friend be?" "Rio, Rio Yokaze." Tifa sighed and smiled even more now, "Oh, okay then. Very good, any friend of Rio's is a friend of ours. Why don't we go some place........less public, to talk more?" Natalie smiled, "Sure. Ready guys?" Matrim nodded, and Adam still stood there atempting to hide his face, while staring at Jairen. "Hmph, does your friend over there talk, or is he a mute?" Jairen snapped. Tifa gave Jairen a harsh look. "I talk, just not to people like you." Adam said. Jairen turned around quickly. "What's that supposed to mean?!" "You know what I mean." "No I don't buster, why don't you explain." "Jairen, now's not the time," Tifa commanded. Jairen ignored her, and angrily stared at Adam. "Why were you staring at me so much? And why was it that you were so quick to grab that knife when I came closer to the table?" Adam asked. Jairen kicked the knife away and answered, "Knife? What knife?" Adam pointed to it. "That one." "Well, why did you put on your cloak when I looked at you?" "Proper security messures." "Ha. Listen hotshot, I don't know what it is you or your friends are trying to pull, but it doesn't fool me." "Really? And what may I ask do you think we are planning on doing?" "Well...you're probably some spy from Shinra." Jairen spoke out of anger now, and his eyes shifted to a pale orange. Adam snickered, "Well then, I suggest you stay on your toes, because you never know when the Shinra can strike," he said nonchalantly. Jairen's eyes grew narrow, and he barked, "You, may be friends with Rio, but you are in way friends with me." Adam smiled and said, "If my intent was to be your friend mister Jairen, then why would I have put on my cloak?" And with that, Adam walked away. {Don't think that this is the end, pal, because if you ever try anything funny on me or my friends in AVALANCHE, I'll be right there to hold the gun to your head.} Jairen thought to himself. {That guy imposes a threat to me, but I'll give him time. Let's just hope that the rest of AVALANCHE are "nicer"} [OOG: There you go. I know it's kinda short, but, it's hard to type when you're holding ice on your ribs. Anyways, whoever wishes, can take it away from here.] ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com -------=========================+++++=========================------- This note comes from: The MultiVersal Dreams BBS @ (209) 754-5851 ----======= WWIV 4.24a via the PPP Project Software =======---- --------=========+++=========-------- Subject: ToM: What Now? Date: Fri, 16 Oct 98 00:17:24 (PDT) From: henrym a yesic.com Reply-To: "MIDGAR" To: "Multiple Recipients of Mailing List MIDGAR" == OOG-Oh my God. Adam, I thought you were dead, abducted by aliens, bought Metal Gear Solid, etc. Damn. I haven't posted for.... A long time. == Time: 1:10 PM, July 9, 2000 Place: Sector 5 == "Hey, Adam!" Matrim called after his friend. Adam didn't even turn. "Men," Matrim thought he heard Tifa say. "Uhm, did you say we should talk in a more private place? I have an apartment in Sector 1, we could go there..." Matrim started. "Sure, that sounds okay," Tifa said, brightening. == Time: 1:45 PM, July 9, 2000 Place: Sector 1, Apartment building == The group of 5 had trekked through Sectors 6, 7, and 8, to arrive in Sector 1, Jairen and Adam glaring at each other all the while. Matrim inserted the key into the socket, and turned. Nothing happened. "Sorry. This lock's always been a pain in the ass." He said, and tried again. After turning several times, the lock gave in to Matrim's persistance and the group entered Matrim's small apartment. Jairen and Tifa occupied the 2 chairs at the table, leaving a single La-Z-Boy recliner to be split among Matrim, Natalie and Adam. Adam sat in the recliner, Natalie on his lap. Matrim remained standing, leaning on the wall. "So... what's going on with AVALANCHE?" Matrim asked, breaking the silence. "I mean, it's been pretty quiet, the last 2 months." "Yeah. We have been pretty quiet. We're trying to recruit new members. And we don't want to alert Shinra of our presence, especialy if we don't have to." Tifa supplied. Matrim nodded. "What about meeting places and stuff? Does AVALANCHE have a headquarters or something?" Tifa shook her head. "Well, sort of. We met recently in a church, in the sector 5 slums." "... So, um, what now?" == OOG- Okay, I know it was sorta short, but once again, I'm in a rush and my farkin' math teacher assigns homework every night no matter what. So does my science teacher but that's okay, because she's nice, and she sorta looks like Helen Hunt. == "Vampiro says to look for hidden doors. I want your blood." -JJ and Jeff "You know, if you've never owned a PC before, macs aren't so bad. I mean, that way, you won't know what you're missing." -Me -------=========================+++++=========================------- This note comes from: The MultiVersal Dreams BBS @ (209) 754-5851 ----======= WWIV 4.24a via the PPP Project Software =======---- --------=========+++=========-------- Subject: TOM:Flirtation Date: Sun, 18 Oct 98 00:54:11 (PDT) From: KKid1 a aol.com Reply-To: "MIDGAR" To: "Multiple Recipients of Mailing List MIDGAR" Month 2, day 2, late evening Outside Blue Plate Hotel Kytira half-ran to the hospital, leaving Argoulor to silently brood. "They almost got me this time... I need to be more careful, I'm dealing with two at a time," His train of thought continued, "If I can kill one, or at least put one down for awhile, I can deal with the other, but... how do you deal with a super-human killing-machine?... I need to find their Achilles' heel," the ideas began to slowly connect, "that would all be down in SOLDIER personel, SOLDIER HQ, with roughly every member of SOLDIER waiting to string my intestines up and down the hall... scratch that plan. How'll I get my hands on the files then? bribe someone? too risky, peek over someones shoulder? too unreliable, impersonate Zeng? nah.... wait a minute... I fooled Kytira, I could fool more people, hey, I could even fool a Turk if I had too, okay, maybe not a Turk, but I could get in the front door at least..." The double doors leading into the Shinra building looked incredibly intimidating. "Well... here goes," he marched in, not having the slightest clue where to go, but knowing that so long as he looked like a SOLDIER, he could follow someone in uniform to the right location. Oddly, the moment Argoulor stepped into the door, he realized he knew exactly where to go, as if he really was SOLDIER and had done this thousands of times, and, without knowing why, he strode confidently up to the elevator, entered and without even looking, pushed a button and ascended to a higher floor. The two metal doors separated, and Argoulor realized this was the correct floor. he resisted laughing at what he thought was dumb luck, he immediatly came up with a plan to handle the woman. "Hello there," he smiled warmly, "How've you been?" "Jarstan," she muttered, thinking she recognized the face, "Your late. You were SUPPOSED to report in immediatly, where the hell have you been?" "Hey," he replied with a smile, "it took me a little longer to beat the guy than I expected, so, what do I do now to stop staring at the most beautiful thing on the upside of the plate?" he gazed deep into her eyes "Listen," she said, her irritation diminished, "I'm still working her for at least another half hour," Argoulor cut her off, "Ah don't worry, I might be pursuaded to take over for a half hour, for a price," she peered quizically at him "One half hour for you, one half hour with me," he said, "at a nice resteraunt, and I pay," he smiled slyly, "Deal?" She was charmed "Deal." she replied "Okay, just move along and leave this to me," he said as she got up to leave, gently herding her into the elevator "Good night," he said to the closing door, "Gullible bitch," he added when it was closed. "Now, twenty minutes to search the files, three to get out, and seven to get as far away from here as is possible." He began to raid the files "D... D... where the hell is D?...AHA D! DA, DE, DI.. no wait, DeLeurie... found it... lets see.. 5'6", Female, 120 pounds... blah blah blah," He shuffled through the papers "Psyc Profile, no, history, no, Med profile... that might be useful... Hmmm... poison immunity, no good. Well well well, what do we have here, I just found her Kryptonite." With a smug smile he folded the paper and stuck it in his pocket, "I wonder what the secretary will think when she comes back and her lover isn't here?" -------=========================+++++=========================------- This note comes from: The MultiVersal Dreams BBS @ (209) 754-5851 ----======= WWIV 4.24a via the PPP Project Software =======---- --------=========+++=========-------- Subject: ToM: How high can you scream? Let me count the decibles... Date: Sun, 18 Oct 98 23:09:27 (PDT) From: Daly Reply-To: "MIDGAR" To: "Multiple Recipients of Mailing List MIDGAR" "How high can you scream? Let me count the decibels..." [OOG: AHEM... violence and language warning.] Place: Shinra HQ Time: Late evening ***** Zeng slowly walked through the hallway to the secretarial office. From his current place, he could here people chattering, obvious signs of life. Entering the secretarial room, there was a large clump of people waiting in front of the desk, the empty desk. Oddly, the secretary was nowhere in sight. Zeng sighed and took his place behind the clump that would most likely be the line-up. His mind was not thinking how boring it was or where had the secretary gone. His mind was trying to figure out where Kytira had run off. When he had come out of the Blue Plate Hotel, Kytira was nowhere. He figured she might have gone to a nearby cafe or bar to get a drink, but she wasn't there either. Finally, he figured he could probably find her at Shinra HQ since she had offered before to report in for the both of them, even though Zeng specifically asked her not to go. 'Where is the secretary anyway??' Zeng thought, glancing at the empty and messy desk. Papers were scattered all over the desktop and he could barely see the smooth oak. The people in the 'line' were getting more impatient by the second until finally, the familiar looking woman walked into the room. She spied her desk, her cluttered desk, in absolute shock then at the meandering line of people. Her eyes fell on Zeng and turned cold as she marched over to him. "What do you call this??!" she shouted at the SOLDIER. Zeng blinked at stared at her strangely, not understanding what she was talking about. "Excuse me?" She pointed at the cluttered desk, 'That!! You said you'd finish up for me! It doesn't look like you've been doing much!!" He stared at her blankly like she had gone out of her mind, "What are you talking about??" Suddenly, another familiar female voice was heard. "Zeng!" He turned his head towards to see Kytira marching in, a glare shot in his direction. 'There she is,' he thought, trying hard to ignore the secretary that was screaming at him. "Why the hell didn't you report in???!!!" Kytira shouted as the secretary blabbered on in the background, "You said you'd finish up your work for me??? What do you call this???! You said after you finished up for me, we'd go on a date!" Kytira paused. Her eyes darted at the secretary then at him to throw an icy gaze. "A date???!" she repeated viciously. "Flirting on the job again???! You jerk!!!" Zeng remained silent, his rage building as well as his confusion while Kytira and the secretary continued shouting at him until finally the inevitable happened. "Hey!!" the secretary snapped at Kytira, walking around the silent Zeng to face her. She examined her clothes again and scoffed right in her face. "Stay out of this!! This is between me and him! Not you! He asked me out first, you slut!" "What???!!!" Kytira's jaw dropped wide open and she immediately turned on the secretary. "I got a damn right to speak as I damn please! He owes me an explanation of why he didn't damn report in like he said he would!!!" 'I said I'd report in????' Zeng thought, completely confused. "Wait your turn!!" The secretary screamed. "He owes me dinner!" "Who doesn't??!" Kytira shouted in return, raising the decibels on her voice even more. "You're probably so damn easy, that--" "EASY???! Ha! I wouldn't talk! You're the one who looks like you'd fit in perfectly at a local strip club! Besides, I'm sure that's where you were instead of reporting in!" "Your mom!" Kytira snarled. "I was outside the hotel talking to Zeng, you cheap-ass bitch!" 'Kytira talked to me????' Zeng thought, confused. "Yes, I know you're mom's a damn whore too," the petite secretary shot back. Kytira's eyes widened into an evil glare as she clenched her fists tightly. "Fuck you, bitch!" "Better bitch than ugly bitch!!!" she retorted snobbishly, crossing her arms across her chest and turning away, nose in the air. "UGLY???! Look who's talking!!" Kytira glared at her menacingly and screaming match round three took place. "You're the one with the face that only a plastic surgeon could love!!!" 'How could Kytira have talked to me?' Zeng thought as Kytira made a fist at the woman. 'When I came out, she wasn't there.' The secretary whirled around. "You want a piece of me???" Her right fist was so tight that she was digging her nails into her own palm, close to drawing her own blood. "Yeah! Extra crispy, you fat cow!" Before Kytira could give the first strike, the secretary's hand flew from her side, slapping the SOLDIER in the face. 'Was she hallucinating?' Zeng mused, blocking out the two women were in the middle of a duel. Kytira's head didn't move back, instead she gave her a cold death gaze in return, reared back then gave the secretary a fierce slap followed by a backhand slap on the way back. The secretary staggered a few steps back before recovering. She then charged Kytira, her stiletto heels making quick click sounds against the smooth tile. She jumped, grabbed a handful of Kytira's long dark hair and pulled it roughly down towards the ground. It suddenly came to Zeng and everything made sense. 'Argoulor!' he thought to himself, mentally hitting himself in the forehead. 'Of course! I didn't find him, he must have left and Kytira ran into him.... and he must've came here.... But why??' Several other SOLDIERS came in right as Kytira screamed loudly. She brought her hands up and dug her nails deeply into the secretary's hands, piercing the flesh and exposing fresh blood until finally, the secretary had no choice but to release her hold on Kytira's hair. The secretary backed up as Kytira quickly smoothed her hair out in one quick and fluid movement, moving in to throw the woman through or at a wall. However, the SOLDIERS that had just came in immediately ran to save the small secretary from becoming Midgar's first human shot put. Zeng pondered more on why Argoulor came to SOLDIER headquarters. It couldn't have been to ask the secretary out on a date. But what was it then? The group of soldiers cut in front of the angry Kytira, and held her back as she and the secretary exchanged curses and insults. "Let me go!!" she shouted, thrashing wildly. "The bitch deserves it!" "You're the bitch!!" "Your mom!!" Kytira yelled back, flailing her arms as the SOLDIERS continued to keep her away from the secretary. A deep growl came from Zeng's throat at as the insults flew from each side. Anger and annoyance throbbing in his temples from having their argument interfere with his own thoughts. "SHUT UP!!!!!!" ".........." Everyone in the room fell silent. Kytira stopped her screaming, as did the secretary and they all turned to stare at Zeng, surprised by his sudden outburst and display of anger. He turned to the secretary. "The person who asked you out wasn't me. Don't even bother asking for an explanation." "But, I--" Zeng silenced her with a threatening glare and she silently walked back to her desk. The rest of the soldiers let go of Kytira and lined up in front of the desk to sign in. Zeng then turned to Kytira, who was blinking in surprise. "You said you talked to me, right?" "Well, duh," she replied haughtily, still angry about losing the chance to throw the secretary into a wall. "I told you to wait for me," he responded. "That wasn't me." "Excuse me???!" "That was Argoulor." Kytira shook her head. "No way. I saw you. It was you." She narrowed her eyes. "Where is my stuff anyway??" "Argoulor has it." "Yeah, right!" she shouted, crossing her arms across her chest stubbornly. "Are you keeping it for yourself??! Isn't it enough that you fried my sister???!" "WILL YOU SHUT UP AND LISTEN??" "GIVE ME BACK MY STUFF!!" Kytira shouted in his face, ignoring his previous request. "I ALREADY TOLD YOU, 'ARGOULOR HAS IT!!!'" The secretary, who was now back behind her desk, clearing up the clutter was watching this heated debate and found it extremely entertaining. "You two fight like--" In unison, Kytira and Zeng turned their heads to the secretary, "SHUT UP!!!" She quickly complied, returning with her own duties. "Where is my stuff???" Kytira repeated, still refusing to believe him. "Argoulor has it!" "Stupid liar!!!" Kytira's right hand lashed out to slap him but Zeng, who was expecting this reaction was prepared for it. He caught her hand before it could strike his face, tightly gripping her wrist. Kytira shook her right arm around, trying get out of his hold while shouting, "You had it, dumb-ass! I saw you!!" This time her left hand lashed out also and once again, Zeng caught it with other hand free hand. He now had a hold of both her wrists and she was furiously struggling to free them. "Think about it," Zeng said to her in a calm, yet firm, tone of voice as she continued to struggle. "Didn't 'I', seem strange to you? Maybe a bit different?" Kytira clenched her fists, raising them. She quickly shot them down, finally getting out of Zeng's grip. Her jaw clenched tightly as she tried hard to calm herself before she ended up garroting him. "You had it, dummy! Don't tell me you sold it! If you did, I swear I will--" "--Kytira, shut up and think about it for a moment, will you?" Kytira glared at him, releasing her breath from its toll of screaming to at least use a second to think about it. 'I don't know what the hell he's talking about,' she thought, still glaring at him. But he creeped me out like..... Argoulor had before... oh no....' Her thoughts led to reality and reality struck her in the face, hard as the color began to drain away from her face. "Th-that was Argoulor?" she asked in a small, weak and disbelieving voice. Zeng nodded. "Yeah." He paused and gave her a peculiar look. "How come you didn't notice anything?" "That was Argoulor?" Kytira repeated, still disbelieving. She shook her head slowly. "How come I didn't see it?" "He had to be the one who talked to her, too." He glanced over at the secretary's desk, but she was nowhere to be seen. He turned back to Kytira. "How come you didn't notice? You had to have noticed something different about him. What about his eyes, his clothes...," he raised up his left hand, showing Kytira the back of it with the tattoo of a gemini glyph on it. "Didn't you realize he didn't have this?" She blinked and swallowed hard. "Well, I did get a strange feeling around him, I thought the clothes were a bit different, I didn't see his hand at all,--I didn't even look there. And, I didn't even notice his eyes... I-I was tired and all but..." Kytira's voice trailed off as the answer slowly sank in. More color drained from her face. "The sunglasses..." "What??" "The sunglasses I was wearing...." Kytira repeated weakly. "They were really dark, plus it was the alley... it was kind of dark. I-I didn't notice..." Zeng grimaced and opened his mouth to yell at her for not paying close attention. Immediately, he clamped it shut. Kytira was already upset from what had happened to her sister and she didn't need more mental anguish. Guilt rose up in him for exploding at her as well as for 'frying her sister,' as she had so eloquently phrased it. He lowered his gaze, trying to think of something he could do to make it up to her or at least get her mind off all the 'tragedies' of this day. He raised his head, trying not to take notice of the tears welled in Kytira's eyes. "Listen, umm..." he cleared his throat before continuing on, "Do you want to go for dinner?" Kytira blinked in surprise by his sudden invitation. "Wh-what?" "Do you want to get something to eat?" She shook her head, not wanting to go to eat because he would take it as a 'I-forgive-you-for-frying-my-sister' action. "Um, uh... no thanks, I'm not really that hungry--" An audible and contradicting growl came from Kytira's empty stomach, cutting her off. Embarrassed, her face flushed bright red and she turned away shyly Zeng coughed to stop him from laughing. "I know a good restaurant in Sector 4. Come on, it'll help get your mind off all of this..." Kytira bit her lip. "I-I don't know...." She thought about Leia and going back to the hospital to stay with her. "Maybe I shouldn't... I should probably go to the hospital and--" "Are you sure? I know you're hungry," he reasoned with her. "Besides, what if you pass out halfway from hunger? Then what?" An image of those men on the train, leering at her with that perverted grin plastered on their faces came to mind. Kytira blinked and glanced up at him. "Okay, let's go," she answered quickly, grabbing his wrist, trying to drag him to the exit. He didn't budge. He pulled back on her arm. "Uh, Kytira?" "Yes?" "You might want to change your clothes." "Why? Do they have a dress code?" Zeng brought his fist to his mouth and coughed, pointing down at her. "Huh?" She blinked. She glanced down and laughed when she realized she had forgotten she was still wearing the maid outfit. She smiled. "Oh yeah..." *** [OOG: Yeah, I know, my reply to K Kid's post was given at a pretty fast speed, (heh ^_^;;;) But, the pace will slow down, ok peoples? ^_^] Daly -- ICQ: #18219424 AIM: DalyW7 Yahoo! Pager: Da_Ly I've been trying for some time to develop a lifestyle that doesn't require my presence. --Gary Trudeau +-------------+ | HARPER HALL | Araby Fandom Weyr's Out-Of-Game and | FANDOM WEYR | General Pern Discussions, | DISCUSSIONS | Hosted by The MultiVersal Dreams. +-------------+ Subject: ToM: Things of the Past. Date: Sat, 24 Oct 98 01:53:18 (PDT) From: "Anastasius Dumar" Reply-To: "MIDGAR" To: "Multiple Recipients of Mailing List MIDGAR" {OOG: This post contains scenes which may be disturbing to some viewers. Discretion is advised. :0)} Things of the Past July 10th The 2:05 a.m. train en route to Sector 4 slums. 2:23 a.m. Ulysses frowned, scratching at the heavy growth of beard itching from the sweltering heat. His thick, bushy black eyebrows drawing together, he punched in the data again, waiting for the small message that would tell him his command had been accepted. ERROR. INVALID COMMAND ENTERED. “Fuck!” The words came from his lips an eyeblink before his hand connected with the side of the monitor. “Ulysses, what in fuck’s name are you doing? You want to break the fucking monitor?” Ulysses stood and turned, scowling, hands spaced to the sides of the large keyboard, fingers spread, pale beneath the dark skin. “What the hell is going on with this tin can?” The man snorted, coming up beside Ulysses to glance at the monitor before rolling his eyes and sitting in the plush chair. “Shit man, _Frank_ wasn’t this stupid when he _first_ got here. I say we lock you up in the custodian’s office with a bottle of whisky and some porno magazines and bring Frank up to work the machines.” A flurry of rapid hammering on the keyboard produced a rapid series of charts and a small rotating three dimensional image of a large chamber. “Must’ve bullshitted your way through the system. Weren’t you in weapon tech before you got here? ‘Heard you did some kind of smuggling or shit. Should’ve known better than to trust a black man, ‘specially one like you.” His eyes darted to the side, a smirk on his face as he waited for the burst of outrage he had long come to expect from mUlysses. “Get the fuck out of my chair and I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that, motherfucker. Mouthy little shit, I’d just have to send one word of complaint to Shin-Ra about your fucking racist comments and disrespect to your peers and you’d be outta here, back to sweeping floors at a whorehouse in Midgar’s slums. Fuck Bill, you’re an asshole.” Ulysses took his seat back, and clicked the small pointer on the screen upon one of the charts, bringing forth a larger, three dimensional graph, constantly shifting and moving. “Yeah, I know. See you around, Ulysses.” “Huh?” Ulysses brought to the foreground a long table of numbers accompanied by a bar graph, for visual representation. All bars, constantly shifting and moving, remained green, in the “Safe” mode. Bill snorted, and turned for the door. “Four o’clock; time to head home to my loving wife.” “Yeah. Everything’s looking pretty good here, in another couple of weeks I’ll have this baby running at one hundred three percent gross.” “Sure, man, gotcha. Anything you say.” Bill disappeared as the door closed, and the lights went off. “You little shit!” Ulysses shouted after him, rewarding with loud laughter that drifted down the hallway of cold steel. Sighing, Ulysses worked in the dark, the monitor flickering light over his face. Going through a few security measures, he set the system to shut itself down if any of the dangerous zones of the reactor reached even warning levels, let alone terminal. That done, he stood, and headed for the door, sealing it behind him with his maximum security card. He had been at the reactor for just over seven months, and was still learning things about the system and how it operated, after being demoted from Shin-Ra’s Defense Department in research and development. Things were, however, coming along nicely, with both Jennifer and Caspian having adjusted quickly to the hot, humid conditions and the unique way of life in Gongaga. Caspian would be turning seven this year, and Ulysses hoped to get him a new six speed mountain bike for his birthday. Shutting off the lights as he went down the hall, Ulysses paused, irritably tapping his hand on his thigh as he waited for the elevator to come up to the third level of the reactor. When the door finally slid open, Ulysses, after waiting for so long, nearly missed it’s stop, forcing his hand between the doors to make them open again. Mentally running through the various shortcuts and energy saving techniques he had been implementing over the last few months as the lights from the elevator shaft spun past at a dizzying rate, he smiled. He was no longer making the ludicrous amount of money that he was in R&D, but one hundred three percent gross output made for what he hoped would be a substantial raise. Stepping from the elevator, his heavy boots, made the thick, often rough terrain of Gongaga’s jungles sending echoes down the linoleum hallway, he figured that he was the last one here, all of the thirty other employees of the plant had likely gone home to the small town of Gongaga. Pausing at the door, he took his card from the wall and punched out, fishing out his wallet as he stepped out from between the massive steel doors. Putting his wallet and time card away, he started down the narrow dirt path, about a kilometer and a half from Gongaga, that would lead him home. It was the middle of the afternoon, and after what could only have been fifteen minutes, Ulysses had discarded his lab coat and shirt, his sinewy torso gleaming with sweat, the thick, curly black hair on his chest matted down. Listening to the sounds of the forest, muted now, in the stifling midday heat, he let his mind wander, though he was far from imaginative enough to discover any truly fascinating concept as he did so. He paused for a moment at the first bridge, one of three that crossed the gap between a trio of the many suddenly sharp, debris filled ravines in the rain forest. Suspended with steel cable and made of sturdy, treated oak, the bridge had been able to withstand the massive tractors and construction machinery needed to build the reactor. Nonetheless, Ulysses still could not step on to it without a long pause, a quick glance at the sixty foot fall into mud, bushes or quicksand. He stepped onto the bridge, fighting back the choking in his throat as the bridge, despite it’s sturdy design, seemed to sway slightly as he placed his weight upon it. Glancing over his shoulder, making sure there was no one to see him, he rushed into a sprint, his heavy boots clomping in a rapid flurry of steps. He didn’t stop until he was sure that only the red, fertile Gongaga soil alone lay beneath his feet. He was on his way, running across the second suspension bridge, when everything seemed to stop. His entire body went numb, though moments before that he was aware of a searing heat that seemed to pass over him, razing his back and shoulders, making his small afro curl up and disappear, along with his eyebrows and the slight growth of beard on his face. He turned in time to catch a blur of movement, and then the vision in his right eye went black, and he was aware of a spinning sensation, a crack, and a sound something like hitting yogurt with a spoon. Ulysses awoke a short time later, a throbbing pain in his right arm and the vision in his right eye gone. He tried to blink, but only a single eyelid, his left, would respond. At first, he couldn’t feel his legs, and he seriously contemplated the urge to scream, fighting it back as he attempted to rationalize the situation. A coppery taste in his mouth. Given his current situation, probably blood. A broken arm, possibly paralyzed from the waist down. Looking up, he found the sun to have mostly disappeared behind the horizon, and he was shadowed at the moment by the large suspension bridge. That would mean a good forty foot fall. Luckily, he supposed, he had landed in the thick mud of the riverbed, though he wondered if, paralyzed as it seemed he was, he would be better off dead anyway. His fears were quelled as a stinging, tingling sensation began to form in his toes, and slowly traveled upwards to his waist. After what must have been an hour of sitting in the warm muck, he sighed in relief as he sat up, and wiggled his legs around. Caked with drying mud, he attempted to stand, fighting the suction of the wet earth all the way. He wrestled for a while with his still-numb legs to free them, though the suction held them fast. His hair was gone, as he could no longer feel the weight of his afro, and his back cried out in protest whenever he moved. “What that fuck happened?” he muttered to himself, rolling over to break the sticky mud’s hold on his legs. Laying belly down in the mud, he feebly kicked his feet, and then rolled back onto his back, sitting, and then tentatively standing up. Shaking his now bald head, he was rewarded with a moment of vertigo and nearly fell back into the mud. Thinking about it only now, his right hand slowly lifted to his face, and brushed over a large, crusty mound on his lower left cheek. Following it gently his mud encrusted fingers, a sickening feeling growing in his gut, he realized that there was going to be a whole lot more wrong with his face than a missing eye. Feeling, after standing for a few moments, somewhat more steady, he began to look for a way out of the riverbed. The banks of the stream weren’t loose or rocky, nor was it incredibly steep, perhaps a slope of fifty degrees. The only reason the bridge had gone up was because it was forty feet deep and probably a hundred feet wide, and filling even a portion of it in would have taken far too much effort. Favoring his broken left arm and stumbling more than he cared to admit, Ulysses slowly made his way up the slope, filthy, sore, and thoroughly shocked. He tired to reason just what it could have been that knocked him off the bridge like that. The way the trees seemed to explode, and the force at which he had been knocked from the bridge suggested some kind of force, but of that magnitude, and the intensity of the heat could only have been caused by an explosion, of somewhat catastrophic proportions. Looking up beyond the red soil of the river bank, he felt like he was going to throw up. Most of the trees, if they had not been completely obliterated, had either been knocked down, ripped from their massive root systems, or completely blackened by fire. Smoke still drifted gently from the foliage, and Ulysses supposed that he was lucky to have been knocked from the bridge into the mud by the shockwave of the blast, which had probably saved him from dying in a blazing inferno. What had happened to Gongaga? What had happened to Jennifer and Caspian? Panic suddenly taking control of his body, he stumbled, fell, and clawed his way from the river bank, falling to his knees again as he did so. He began running, stumbling and nearly falling several times as he adjusted to his frantically set pace. *** Ulysses’ head snapped forwards, his eyes, one made of glass, flying open with surprise. His heart was hammering against his chest, and his breath came in short, quick gasps. Around him, in a silent world of filthy seats and rapidly blinking lights flashing past, all was silent. The train car was empty, the gentle, constant clicking of the wheels his only audible companion. Muttering to himself, Ulysses looked at his watch: 2:23 a.m. He had been on the train for just over fifteen minutes. Looking out the window, Ulysses could see by the desolate squalor flashing past his eye that the train had already descended to the slums. He figured his stop, the Sector 4 slums, would come in another half hour or so. His head rested against the filthy window, and he fought to keep his eyes from closing again. Letting his breath emerge from his chest with a slow wheeze, he placed his thumb and middle finger on his temples, slowly rubbing them. He had a headache. Of course he had a headache. It was exactly the same kind he had had _that_ day, and for the next several weeks after that. His life, once again, had just seemed to be spontaneously destroyed. It reminded him of the toaster he had bought from Zellars. It was working fine one day, making nice, lightly browned toast. The next day, it was all he could do to keep the damn thing from burning his house down, and no matter how hard he tried to fix it, things just kept getting worse. He doubted he’d be getting any more orders for his more expensive, questionably legal weapons, as most of his clients looking for them would likely have been scared away when they discovered that he was a wanted man. Not for the first time, he again wondered if there was going to be more than the hundred-thousand gil reward offered for information leading to his arrest, wondered what exactly Gideon was looking to do. Standing as the train ground to a halt, Ulysses stepped up to the door of the train, and waited for the thick steel plate to slide open. He stepped out, failing to respond to the conductor’s, “Good eve to you, sir.”, and made for his home. It didn’t take him as long as it previously had to navigate through the desolate squalor of the slums, it seemed to be like riding a bicycle. After the sliding door had closed behind him, the steel reinforcement bars sliding shut, he made his way around in the dark, knowing the layout of his shop by heart, and flicked on the small desk lamp. Referencing through the database of orders and filled requests on his small PC, Ulysses slammed his hand down upon the desk on which it sat. He had known it would happen, but the sight of the unending lines of “Canceled” or “Withdrawn” still managed to make him tremble with anger. Shutting off his computer, he opened one of the larger drawers on his desk, and removed the old, though excellently kept M16A3. Checking it over, he mused over some of the generally small modifications he had made, checked the barrel, and the sight. Nodding, he loaded a clip into it, and then took four more in his other hand, closing the desk as he did so. The safety was still on, but that could easily be remedied. He wasn’t sure what was going to happen, but he didn’t plan on being taken unprepared when, or if, it did with Gideon, who had more resources and contacts then Ulysses could probably imagine vowing to make him suffer. The thick door to his back room, where he kept his larger tools and machines, slid open, and he opened the hatch on the floor down to his small home. He was tired, sore, and in serious need of sleep. He didn’t bother undressing, but placed his rifle on a desk beside his bed, accompanied by the four clips, and collapsed on his worn sofa, loosing consciousness before he realized he was falling asleep. & Anastasius Dumar. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com +-------------+ | HARPER HALL | Araby Fandom Weyr's Out-Of-Game and | FANDOM WEYR | General Pern Discussions, | DISCUSSIONS | Hosted by The MultiVersal Dreams. +-------------+ Subject: ToM: the post that RD finally got around to finishing Date: Tue, 27 Oct 98 02:23:49 (PST) From: "Red Dragon" Reply-To: "MIDGAR" To: "Multiple Recipients of Mailing List MIDGAR" (oog: Sigh... okay, after 2 months, I have finally written a post! yaaaaaaay. too bad it's not all that long... oh well.) Time: mid afternoon place: sector 1 plate No one gave a second thought as Ferna stalked down a crowded sector 1 steet. During the festival, even away from the masqurade, it wasn't uncommon to see people garbed in feathered capes or dark masks. -or, a dragons muzzle, tail, and wings. Many of the passerby would of been scared, or angry, if they knew what they saw was real. This didn't consern the half-breed. She could change her form now, thanks to Rasten. What Ferna wished was that she could change her confusion as easily. Stepping around a pile of litter carlessly left there by the fesival-going public, she reconcidered. Why should she care about what has or hasn't happened to her in the past? What mattered was *now*, or possibly the future. She had lived with Vixen and Rasten for the past two months, and she concidered them friends. The sudden realisation shocked her, but before Ferna could finish the next thought, she had bumped into another person. "Sorry" she mumbled, trying to continure on though the thick crowd. The man she had bumped into gave a short cawing chuckle. "Quite all right" he laughed. "Look for 'er forever, then spy on her, only to have her run in on us!" it took Ferna a few moments to realise tha last comment he was speaking to someone else, and another few for the meaning of it to sink in. Look for? *spy* on? "What is this-" She started, turing around. Ferna gasped. She hadn't expected a grinning, beaked face. "What's the matter?" he chuckled. "my 'costume' scare you? Yours isn't all that great either." he laughed again. "Shut up, Griff." said someone standing behind the creature who Ferna hadn't noticed before until now. He had adressed the 'costumed' man as Griff. The person who Ferna had been looking for for the past two months was standing in front of her. And she didn't care. **** Griff regarded Ferna as she looked at him. She almost looked.. confused. Griff glanced back at Vlad. "I still can't see why we can't just capture her now.." he murmured, too quietly for the dragon creature to hear. In response, Vladimir only looked back at him while talking a sip of his drink, silently reenforcing the fact that "it's my day off, I'm not doing any work". Griff frowned. he thought. Ferna was still looking at him, but now she looked more distrustful. "what was that you said about looking for me?" she asked, blue eyes narrowed. "that guy there.. he's a ...tar..a turk, right? I thought Shinra had lost intrest in me. ..Do they want me for experements or something?" Behind Griff, Vlad spoke up. "You had broken the law by releasing that animal. Whether you are placed in that department would be up to the science staff. However, since it is my vacation" his eyes darted to Griff. "-I won't arrest you at this time." "That's kinda dumb." said Ferna. "I mean, telling the person you're trying to catch you gonna arrest them later when it's more convienent?" "Exactaly." Said Griff. "I mean-" He turned around, only to find Vlad was gone. He must of gone for another drink, of just wandered into the crowd. The man was easy to lose sometimes. He sighed, returning to look at Ferna. "anyways," he continued, "I've heard we're not the only ones who were looking for someone. What's this about you looking for me?" "Well.. for a while I thought.. that.. you were my brother." Griff couldn't help it. She thought he was her *brother*? He burst out laughing. "You.. heh. thought that, eh?" He shook his head, trying to sober his amusment. Ferna looked surpirsed for a moment, then frowned, as if she had expected this. Griff contined anyways. "Well I'm not surprised." he laughed again, quietly. "I bet you thought Mr. Wulfbane was yer dad, too, right?" "Who?" "Nevermind. Look, I'll tell you more later. Right now, let's look for mister Vamps here.." -------=========================+++++=========================------- This note comes from: The MultiVersal Dreams BBS @ (209) 754-5851 ----======= WWIV 4.24a via the PPP Project Software =======---- --------=========+++=========-------- Subject: ToM: Ditching the Suits Date: Wed, 28 Oct 98 21:06:27 (PST) From: "Threep Meister" Reply-To: "MIDGAR" To: "Multiple Recipients of Mailing List MIDGAR" ----------------- Place: Festival Grounds ----------------- With the hand falling on his shoulder and the Turks somewhere behind him, still threats, Trev found himself becoming quite jumpy. He started when the pressure fell on his shoulder, and quickly composed himself when he saw it was simply a citizen of Midgar out enjoying the show. "'Scuse me." He said in a deep, accented voice. "You know where the guy's bathroom is?" He snorted and spat tobacco juice on the ground. 'Fairs.' Trev thought. 'Never know who you'll find.' "Uh...yeah, that cafe has some." He pointed to a small restaurant nearly obscured by passers by and vending stands. Grunting, The Hulk turned and ambled off towards his goal. Gulping, and hoping he'd not be caught again off guard, Trev headed back towards the church. The afternoon was getting on towards evening when he finally broke out of the crowd and into lesser traveled streets, still a sector away from his goal. He'd been stopped two more times by people wanting information about the fairgrounds: it seemed that if you wore the uniform, it meant you knew everything. Trev had to lt a few people down before they let him go on his way, muttering things about incompetent Shinra guards that made Trev giggle inwardly. He was humming aimlessly to himself when he reached the street corner that ran along the border to Sector One. He turned the corner. A dozen feet in front of him was a small group of Shinra guards, and one half naked man. "Uh oh." Trev managed to get out before the boxer-shorts clad man pointed at him. "THERE HE IS! HE'S THE ONE WHO TOOK MY UNIFORM! GET HIM!" "NOT a good day!" Trev managed to squeak before he turned on his heels and began to sprint. He managed to duck into a crevice that led through to One, leaving the group of guards behind him. The lead guard began to fit himself through the hole, and Trev took his cue and began to run again, heading for a large pile of debris stacked (neatly?) in the middle of the road. Heused a rusted girder as a balance to help him swing around the side of the pile. "Almost back. Gotta lose them before I can go." He still sported the Shinra assault rifle that was part of the uniform. He nuslung it and leaned out of his cover. Four of the five guards had gotten through the hole in the wall and two were advancing. Trev sprayed a burst in their direction, missing, but sending them sprawling on the ground for cover. "Never was a good shot." He fired again, pinning them back down, and taking off at an even faster rate. In the distance, he could hear the guards' enraged screams. "Get him!" "...too far off!" "We've lost him now, thanks to you!" "ME....?" Trev laughed and continued running towards the church. **OOG Would write more but gotta go...TO be continued*** ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com -------=========================+++++=========================------- This note comes from: The MultiVersal Dreams BBS @ (209) 754-5851 ----======= WWIV 4.24a via the PPP Project Software =======---- --------=========+++=========-------- Subject: ToM: Monster Skin (Rithemin-1) Date: Wed, 28 Oct 98 21:06:27 (PST) From: Benjamin Cutler Reply-To: "MIDGAR" To: "Multiple Recipients of Mailing List MIDGAR" [OOG: This is my first story for Rithemin, yo.] Time: 6 am, July 5th, 2000 [OOG: I'm gonna assume we have summer vacation? If not, this is a Saturday anyway...] Place: Rithemin's House Rithemin jumped out of bed very quickly. This was something she was always excited about. She was leaving on a hunting trip, something she always enjoyed doing. She packed up a bit of food, her crossbow, as well as two kinds of arrows. One was a standard arrow, she used for small to medium animals like rabbits and large birds. The other was a special arrow built for tearing flesh, and causing a lot of bleeding without actually doing much external damage. [OOG: By the way this is a REAL arrow. I've seen them on TV.] It looked much like a standard arrow until pressure was put on the tip. When that happened two small razor-sharp blades sprung from the sides almost instantly. These arrows could be shot through an apple and go all the way through. [OOG: These will be henceforth called "blade bolts".] Rithemin used them for large animals like the Midgarian Bear. [OOG: I'm making up some species here, ok?] After getting these and other camping supplies such as matches and a tent, [OOG: She doesn't use materia very often at all.] she went down into the garage, and got out the keys for her motorcycle. She opened the garage door and slowly rode away. She headed for the nearest elevator, and rode it down into the slums. Once there she headed for the nearest gate and left the city of Midgar. Time: 7:00 am After about a half hour of riding, Rithemin arrived at the mountains west of Midgar. She rode fairly far into the mountains, always making sure to go in roughly the same direction so she wouldn't get lost. She found a small clearing and parked her motorcycle near the edge of the clearing. After about an hour she had set up a workable campsite. Tent over there.... fire ring over there... et al. She changed into her hunting clothes and set out with her crossbow. She had a few hankerchiefs to tie onto trees so she could find her way back to the campsite easier. If she really got lost she was skilled at forest navigation so it was not like she'd die if she forgot to put a 'chief up. But she didn't want to make things any harder than they had to be. Time: 11:00 am Rithemin had been hunting for a couple hours without any luck. But it wasn't unusual. Sometimes she went a whole day without seeing anything significant. But then she saw something that made her mouth water. A Midgarian bear. A formidable beast that could easily kill her if she gave it a chance. She loaded three bolts into her crossbow. The first was a standard bolt, the other two were blade bolts. She shot one into the side of the bear, getting it to face her. The bear roared and started bounding towards her. The second bolt struck it in the left front leg, making the bear start limping. It was still getting near at a decent clip, and Rithemin shot it square in the head, right between the eyes. The arrow embedded itself in the bear's brain and the blades tore the brain, killing the bear quickly. "Yes!" Rithemin cheered. This would catch a fair price at the fur market. [OOG: K, I'm finished with my first Rithemin post, FINALLY. Sorry Q, I'll have to work on this more later.] == --- Benjamin Cutler http://surf.to/rproductions/ This message sent from school, yall. _________________________________________________________ DO YOU YAHOO!? Get your free a yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com -------=========================+++++=========================------- This note comes from: The MultiVersal Dreams BBS @ (209) 754-5851 ----======= WWIV 4.24a via the PPP Project Software =======---- --------=========+++=========-------- Subject: ToM: Fall (Part 3) A Sea of Foes Date: Thu, 05 Nov 98 03:25:55 (PST) From: Tim9475 a aol.com Reply-To: "MIDGAR" To: "Multiple Recipients of Mailing List MIDGAR" Time: 12:30 P.M., July 9, 2000 Place: SOLDIER Headquarters Tyr sighed as he glanced around the chamber, watching people in the office scurry around on daily tasks. When President Shinra had first promoted him to command of SOLDIER, he'd been flush with excitement, thinking of how great his fortune was to be the head of Shinra's most elite fighting force. Now it all felt hollow. Between Rufus' tyranny, the endless office work required to run an organization as large as SOLDIER, and the lack of a clear threat to Midgar's peace, Tyr was beginning to hate his job. When he'd first recieved the promotion, the city had been the site of a war between AVALANCHE and Shinra. Hundreds, thousands even, were dying in Midgar daily as the two sides fought each other. Then, Tyr's mission had been clear: AVALANCHE's predations on the people of Midgar had to be stopped. Now, two months later, Barret Wallace was dead and AVALANCHE disbanded. Tyr had been in an office almost the entire time since recovering from his injuries in the Sector 1 Theater Arson. Not only that, but Rufus Shinra, the new President, disliked Tyr. More than dislike... Rufus seemed to despise him. Signus knew that he had been far too vocal in protesting Shinra's actions during the Food Riots a few weeks before; although Tyr's words were aimed at Darryl Benedict, the man who had commanded SOLDIER in his absence, Tyr had since learned that SOLDIER's orders had come directly from the mouth of Rufus himself. And Rufus did not like his subordinates criticizing his policies. Tyr had thus far been able to avoid being shipped out of Midgar. It was not so much that he wanted to keep his position for himself anymore, but instead he wanted to try to prevent someone like Rufus from taking it over. Ever since the nearly successful release of Black 36, Tyr had sworn to do his best to act as a moderating voice with the Shinra Corporation. Since then, he learned the price of being a "hero." Initially, Tyr had been hailed on news broadcasts as one of the great heros of the war against AVALANCHE; some had gone so far as to favorably compare him to the great Sephiroth. While Tyr knew he was no Sephiroth, he had enjoyed basking in the public adoration. However, all that changed when he began opposing Rufus' hard line policies. The praise dried up and Shinra found new, less questioning heroes. People like Damien Vicks, the man who had killed Barret Wallace. Vicks had countless television shows made about him in the past two months; hell, he was now one of the best known SOLDIERs in all of the world. However, the man had a hidden dark side to him. None of the documentaries or news broadcasts showed the children gunned down by Vicks in cold blood... splattered like so much raw meat. It made Tyr sick thinking about it. Had Vicks not been one of Rufus' personal favorites, Tyr would have long since seen the man removed from his station in Midgar if not stripping him of his membership in SOLDIER altogether. Tyr had always felt himself a good judge of character, but he was completely wrong when he had initially assessed Vicks. Tyr laughed mirthlessly when he thought of his initial assessment of the man: "a SOLDIER who was competent but not too ambitious." Tyr suddenly realized that all activity in the office had stopped and everyone was staring at him. For a moment he wondered why they stared, until he realized with a start that he'd been laughing out loud... laughter was no longer a common sound in the halls of Shinra. Tyr shrugged to himself and silenced his laughter. Just as the people around him began to go back to work, the intercom sounded in the room. Tyr instantly recognized the voice echoing through the office. It was Raith Cantorek, the Head of Public Safety and the one man besides President Rufus with the authority to give Tyr orders. "Tyr Signus, please report to General Cantorek's office. Immediately. This has top priority." Again, Tyr found the room silent, everyone staring at him. "What do you think you're doing? There's important work to be done here," Tyr growled at the gawkers. The eyes of the others in the office quickly found someplace, any place other than Tyr, to rest upon. Still, no one moved. "Now!" Tyr roared. "No one is leaving tonight if you don't get all the backed-up reports filed immediately." The people suddenly went back to work as a second wind revived them. No one wanted to stay overtime in the office, especially with the festival in Midgar. Staring daggers at anyone who so much as glanced his way, Tyr stalked out of his office. ---------- As Tyr arrived on the floor of Shinra Headquarters where General Cantorek's office was located, Tyr was upraiding himself for snapping at the office workers like he had. It was not them he was upset with; his wrath was aimed at those who controlled Shinra. While not exactly a friend, Tyr had always felt an affinity, a sort of bond, with General Cantorek that he lacked with the other Shinra leaders. Maybe it was the fact that Tyr found himself able to respect the General, or maybe it was just that in a sea of enemies, Tyr's subconcious had been willing to search for someone, anyone who was not body and soul one of Rufus' people. Now, Tyr felt more alone than he ever had among Shinra. Cantorek's summoning him to his office meant only one thing; Rufus had finally consolidated his hold on the old warrior. Tyr knew exactly what was coming; Cantorek would "request" that Tyr inspect the troops in Junon. What would happen after that was quite clear to SOLDIER's commander. The recruits at Junon would feel a sudden "inspiration" at Tyr's visit and he'd find himself stuck in Junon, probably for the rest of his career, training cadets. Meanwhile, Rufus would be free to appoint someone loyal to him, maybe Benedict, maybe even Vicks, to be Tyr's replacement as Commander of SOLDIER. That would be the end of the opposition to Rufus' rule. The secretary simply nodded at Tyr as he walked toward the door to Cantorek's chambers; she was not about to step between the two most powerful members of the military. With a final sigh, half of regret, half of resignation, Tyr pushed open the door and entered Raith Cantorek's domain. -------=========================+++++=========================------- This note comes from: The MultiVersal Dreams BBS @ (209) 754-5851 ----======= WWIV 4.24a via the PPP Project Software =======---- --------=========+++=========-------- Subject: ToM: Preparing Date: Fri, 06 Nov 98 13:58:21 (PST) From: Dizzy XIII Reply-To: "MIDGAR" To: "Multiple Recipients of Mailing List MIDGAR" [OOG: So, RD have finally written her post, so I can write mine. The problem is, that I don't know what to write... I'll just think of something. Oh well, here goes...] * * * * * * * * * * * * * Time: July 9th 2000, early afternoon Place: Sector 1 Vladimir sipped the plastic cup of whiskey he just bought from a nearby stand. He had found an empty seat a few meters away. {Hmm, not bad. Not bad at all. Unusual to find some good whiskey at a place like this. So there are actually people who know how to make good whiskey without that watery taste. But it still can't compete with the drinks from the north. Not much can.} He looked up, and saw something that caught his attention. A materia stand. It said "Chello's Materia Mixtures". He took down the whiskey in one breath and walked over to the stand. "So..." Vladimir says, "Why should I buy one of these materias, Chello?" he said with a grin. "Ho... How do you know my name?" she replied, a bit taken back. "Easy, it says so on the sign to your shop. But I knew it before I read it. You have been on TV. MMW." "Hey! Your a Turk! Don't get any closer, or else..." "Or else what?" came the reply quickly. "But relax, I won't do anything." "Why not? Am I not wanted or what?" she replied very surprised "That's one way to say it. Apparently, Rufus got in an awfully good mood. He dropped all rewards on all wanted people. But that doesn't put you in a safe place. I may still arrest you." "But you won't, right? You told me to relax, so that mean you won't capture me." "Right again. I've got other stuff to do, but not now, I'm off duty. And they don't pay me enough to capture you when I'm off, so... Let's not think more of that. So, would you care to answer my first question?" "Umm... Yeah... These materias are made from two combined ones, which gives them a little different abilities. Look for yourself and guess what they do." Vladimir starts looking at the materia pieces and picks some of them up to try to feel the magic contained. "It wouldn't be too hard making some of these just by casting the two spells involved. Anyway, how much do you take for the 'Acid' and the 'Blizzard'?" "1700 for the Acid and 1500 for the Blizzard." "Ok, sounds fair, I'll take both of them." As Vladimir turns around and walks a few steps, he sees Ferna and Griff searching for him. He walks up to them, gesturing to an empty table some ten meters away. The three walks over there and as soon as they sit down, Vladimir clicks open his shiny-black arm-guards and puts in the materia he just bought from Chello. Ferna is the first to break the silence. "I still don't know why you won't arrest me now." "Easy, I'm off duty." "But now, I won't be off guard anymore, which means you'll have a harder time finding me again." "Wrong. Now, when I've seen you in person, and sensed you, it'll be pretty easy. And I do know that you can change into a human if you want to." "How do you know that?" she asked confusedly. "A few people have seen you changing form, and there ain't many other dragons in this city. Sides, I'm the master of morphing." "You mean you can change form too?" "Yes." Griff cut in, "He can change into a..." Vladimir cut him off. "You'll see" he said with a grin, showing his white fangs. "I have the feeling I will." "Let's forget about work now, there are better stuff to talk about on a day like this. Anybody knows what's going on in the festival?" "Well, there's that speech Rufus is gonna make later this afternoon." Griff said. "I read it on a poster. And there were also a tournament, with lotsa different classes. It's supposed to begin a short time after the speech. I think I'm gonna watch it." "Then you'll see me win it. At least the magic class. I hope there will be some tough opponents, it was a long time since I had to use my materia to the fullest. Maybe you should join to, Griff. Or you, Ferna. I know you can win some good prizes. Both of you are at least tougher then most of the people in Midgar." "True." Ferna replied. "But I'm not very good at fighting. I'll think of it." "Do that. I'm gonna leave you two alone, I'll have to watch that speech, and IF something happen, I'd best be prepared. See ya!" With that, Vladimir left towards the ShinRa HQ. He went out of sight and morphed into a bat. It didn't take him long time to arrive, since the wind changed direction for some strange reason. He had installed a lock in his office-window, which allowed him to enter directly, without letting any lab-escapees in. And he didn't have to take the slow elevator. He searched through his office, hoping to find any materia, without success. {Then I'll just have to go over to the materia-vault and get some. Which floor was it now again? Oh, right...} * * * * * * * * * * * * * "Hello, I'd like some materia." Vladimir asked the man at the desk in front of the vault. "You can't just come here and..." He stopped when he saw the Turk. "Sorry, what do you want?" he continued in a more nice tone. [OOG: Vladimir has a free access to the materia-vault since he's the Turk's magician.] "First, I want to equip myself with the basic elementals, restore, fire, ice and earth. Second, I wonder if you got any materia that need to gain some experience. Oh, I could use a barrier for the tournament." "Ok, I'll get it, but we don't have any other materia. All of them is used up by the SOLDIERs who guard Rufus. And you know how much protection he demands..." The man got up from his seat and opened the walk-in safe containing all materia owned by ShinRa except those ones in use. After a few seconds, he came back to his desk. "You know what? I found an elemental materia which probably need to level up. Want it?" "Could come in handy." Vladimir replied with a grin. "It was a long time since I used this much materia at the same time." he continued as he put all materia in place. "Nice chatting with you, but I gotta go and watch the speech. Maybe I'll get the opportunity to use these goodies." * * * * * * * * * * * * * [OOG: I could've written more, but I didn't feel like it. Anyhow, you know what to do if you dislike something or, more preferably, what you really like :-) Hope I wrote te right prize for the materia...] == /Dizzy XIII _________________________________________________________ DO YOU YAHOO!? Get your free a yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com -------=========================+++++=========================------- This note comes from: The MultiVersal Dreams BBS @ (209) 754-5851 ----======= WWIV 4.24a via the PPP Project Software =======---- --------=========+++=========-------- Subject: ToM: Rufus Superstar Date: Sun, 08 Nov 98 01:17:32 (PST) From: kkwan a globalserve.net Reply-To: "MIDGAR" To: "Multiple Recipients of Mailing List MIDGAR" Prudence Proves Powerful ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Midgar, Sector Eight, Shinra Circle. July 9th, 2000. 6:00 P.M. ~~ The street was known as "Shinra Circle", as it was the avenue that went around the Shinra Tower in the shape it was named after. Midgar was made like a wagon wheel, with eight spokes radiating from the grand centre known as Shinra Headquarters, or the Shinra tower. Unfortunately, due to the structuring of the city, each plate was sectioned off from the other by a large iron wall at all points except for a few checkpoints which allowed vehicles and pedestrians to cross, usually for a fee. The exception, however, was at Shinra Circle. This street was the only road in Midgar in which one could drive through each sector of Midgar without being stopped by any checkpoint officers. It was the historical and cultural centre of Midgar; on the outside of the street, toward the rest of the world, ancient theatres, embassies, museums, and beautiful stone buildings were contructed to add to the richness of the city of Midgar. On the inside, the only structure that could be seen was the enormous Shinra Headquarters, the largest man-made edifice in the entire world. One who walked on the street adjacent to the Shinra HQ received the feeling that he was walking close to the centre of the universe. Even those who detested the urban setting that made the metal behemoth of Midgar famous found this street breathtaking. Shinra Circle, in the Sector Eight section, was where Rufus Shinra was giving his speech to commemorate the First Midgar Festival. In addition to this being a day of festive frolicking, all-night street parties, and an excuse of total unproductivity, it also celebrated the seventeenth anniversary of Midgar's Plate Construction. Many had asked why the President had decided to pick such an arbitrary number, but he simple shrugged and replied, "Are you complaining about the free days of party?" No one said a word about it after that. This day wes also a commemoration of the opening of Diamond Saucer, the large amusement part donated to the city by the prominent Davelos family. The Davelos were a proud part of Midgar heritage, having been the symbolic Heads of State for almost all of the city's life, even when it was a collection of eight separate cities decades ago. Now, in addition to the awe of the Shinra tower on the inside and the beauty of the stone buildings on the outside, there were also large structures that appeared to be made entirely of glass built over the Plate Divisions. The structures, eight in total, were circular in build and appeared to float in mid-air, but upon closer inspection, it was found that they stood on posts that were built on the walls. Each "Square", as named after its predecessor, Gold Saucer, was connected by a silver monorail. Diamond Saucer stretched almost seven stories in the air, but as awesome (and expensive) as it was, it still paled in comparision to the Shinra Headquarters, whose Mako Diffusion Vents alone stretched almost thirteen stories in the air to let off the green vapour that Mako liquid gave off as waste. Rufus Shinra was on a small dais in the middle of Shinra Circle, getting ready to give his speech. His Turks, Rufus' personal task force and premiere bodyguards, stood around him in close formation. One could easily recognize Tseng and Rude, the veterans, in addition to Elena, Lars, and Vladimir. As if the five most intimidating bodyguards in the world weren't enough for the President of Shinra Incorporated, a full regiment of elite SOLDIER forces were also stationed around the dais. In order to show the entire city of Midgar Rufus' Speech, huge, gigantic white screens were draped over the side of the Shinra Tower, starting with the fourtieth floor and reaching from there. There were four screens in all, each one designed to show two sectors the work of the President. Large screens required eually large projectors; the abominations that Shinra called projectors (they were bigger than an entire house) were stationed just in front of the reactors. Because it was eternally dark in Midgar, the projectors had little problem getting a relatively clear image on the white screens. Many people wondered how much money it must have cost Shinra to build these implements, but many didn't care, happy that the company finally decided to think about pleasing the people with something on the scale of a gigantic drive-in. As if the screens weren't enough, Shinra had smaller screens (this time, they were only about five or six metres high) dotted throughout large open areas where people might gather. Lastly, every television show on the network was cancelled in order to show the speech given by the President. Rufus wanted everyone in Midgar to watch this, whether they liked it or not, and he went to great lengths so that the entire city (and, inconsequentially, half of the countryside) to witness his speech. Ever since AVALANCHE had been terminated, Rufus had become a happier man. Although he still kept a tight curfew on the people, regulated the flow of income strictly, and let little of the tax dollars trickle down to the people below, occasional astronomical events like this one were quick to make people forget their problems and praise Rufus as the most successful governing ruler in history, even surpassing legendary kings such as King Cecil of the medival country of Baron. Rufus had been practising hours a day prior to the festival on this speech. He was determined to make it perfect. As Rufus Shinra stepped up to the podium, he couldn't help but feel both nervous and elated at the same time. The streets in front of him were packed full of people. It was a tremendous gathering. The President of Shinra was hardly aware that there were so many people in the city who adored him so. Banners and ribbons waved in the air; flashes of cameras winked on and off; the whistles, rattles, and air horns of the crowd could barely be heard above the noise level that the people were maintaining. "Ladies and gentlemen of Midgar," Rufus started. The entire crowd in front of him burst into loud cheers, as if he were a superstar hockey player walking onto the ice. "I hope you've been enjoying the Midgar Festival, courtesy of Shinra Incorporated, thus far!" The roars of the people was deafening. Rufus smiled widely, despite his vow that he would not crack too obvious of a grin. But he was the centre of attention of Midgar at this moment. The people of the city, all seven or eight million of them, were cheering. For him. He let the roars, cheers, whistles, and shouts of happiness and joy continue on for almost a half minute before he continued his next line. "I am glad to be able to do this for the people of Midgar. Today is a special day. We are celebrating the opening of Diamond Saucer, which you can see, sparkling in its radiant beauty, far above you! We are celebrating the seventeenth anniversary of the building of the Midgar Plates that have made this city unique from all the rest. We are celebrating the people who worked hard to make this city the way it is today. But most of all, we are celebrating each and everyone one of you, the people who live Midgar, breathe Midgar, and love Midgar!" More cheers, more roars. Rufus was now regretting the fact that he had not brought earplugs; he left them on the basis that he wanted to hear the people of Midgar in all their clarity. Little did he know that they would come out so eagerly, and in such full force. The thought excited him. "Thanks to Shinra Incorporated, we have managed to promote this event and make it the success that it is right now! People from all over came to visit the city. The festival is good for business, good for morale, and therefore, good for productivity. Look around you, my friends. Do you see an unhappy soul around you? I can certainly say that I don't! "With AVALANCHE gone, and Mako more efficient than ever, we could afford to give everyone a break. The economy is good; trade with Kalm, Junon, and Rocket Town is increasing. More people than ever before are moving above the poverty line, and are beginning to lead normal lives again. But there is no need to thank the city of Midgar, or Shinra Incorporated, for it was you, the people, who made it all happen!" Rufus ceased his speech for a moment, letting his eyes sweep over the crowd. Of course the people would act happy. At first, he had a vision about himself not following in his father's footsteps; not trying to rule the people with money. But as he thought about it, now, he was doing exactly what his father before him did. There was a difference, though. SOLDIER forces, MSF officers, and other light infantry troops were posted on every third street corner. Rufus smiled. If the people didn't really like him, they had to act it anyway, or else be taken down the street and beat into submission. "And, so, we celebrate now, the opening of... what the..." Screams and shouts interrupted his speech as the people began to run away from one end of Shinra Circle. Rufus' eyes looked toward his left, where Sector One lay. His eyes widened in sudden panic. [OOG: This is the entry of Jason, Niall, and the rest of the robot fighters!] [OOG: While we're waiting, if your character has nothing to do, you might want to post his or her reactions to the speech. I mean, no matter where you are in the city, you're going to hear it!] -- /-|rcana -------- * -------- * -------- * -------- = Araby Weyr: Offline Fandom Weyr = http://members.tripod.com/~Araby/ -------=========================+++++=========================------- This note comes from: The MultiVersal Dreams BBS @ (209) 754-5851 ----======= WWIV 4.24a via the PPP Project Software =======---- --------=========+++=========-------- Subject: Next up, Diamond Saucer... Date: Mon, 09 Nov 98 19:23:10 (PST) From: trevor alexander Reply-To: "MIDGAR" To: "Multiple Recipients of Mailing List MIDGAR" (OOG: This is my post before the tourny. Let me know when it starts. Thanks in advance.) Armada and Echo waded through the crowd. People were crowding around the two large screens. Echo had a dragon costume on. Armada was dressed as a warlock. "What the hell is this?" Armada asked himself. Echo didn't look happy. Rufus' picture flashed onto the screen. The sound system could be heard powering up. The people roared when Rufus came to the microphone. He spoke of the festival and how it marked the birth of Midgar as we know it. He spoke of the festival for the people of Midgar. They hung on his every word. Armada knew better. Rufus was covering something up. He was blowing hot air for some reason. Armada climbed up onto Echo's back and scanned the stage. The Turks were standing near Rufus. Protection, as usual, Armada thought. "Let's go towards the stage," Armada whispered to Echo. Echo began to make his way through the crowd once more. They were about a hundred yards away when the crowd let out a deafening ovation. Armada looked up. Rufus was finished his speech. He had missed his chance to strike. Suddenly a noise was heard from near Sector One. Armada spun around. Maybe he hadn't missed his chance for bloodshed after all. Armada was about to announce his return to Midgar. (OOG: OK, this is a vague post, but I really need the robots to attack. I plan on helping Rufus so Armada can get a "pass" for night adventures. I take it that the soldiers on every corner still have the curfew in place. I hope this doesn't ruin anybody's stories.) T-Bone -------=========================+++++=========================------- This note comes from: The MultiVersal Dreams BBS @ (209) 754-5851 ----======= WWIV 4.24a via the PPP Project Software =======---- --------=========+++=========-------- Subject: ToM: Honor Guard - Part 2: "Two Surprises on an Otherwise Boring Day" Date: Sat, 21 Nov 1998 12:24:15 -0500 From: Jason Brown To: Irwin Kwan {OOG: Sorry for not posting in while, university seems to take a lot of time away from actually “living” beyond school. Anyway, here it is, with a few vulgarities here and there. And now, here is the way overdue and long post!} Date: July 9, 1998 Time: 8:20am Place: Sector 1, Stage Area Erik never knew that a Sector could look so much like being actually outside Midgar. The sight was unbelievable as the whole area was as large as a whole section of a town, with a massive stage situated at the front. He has never been to a concert before, coming from a small place like Rocket Town. He also has never seen so much green in the whole time he has lived in Midgar. Surely it wasn’t real grass, as there wasn’t even a flicker of real sunlight in Midgar, but artificial grass, with the same feel and structure of natural grass, just made from bio-plastics. “Now what, Boss?” a person behind Erik joked, getting a few laughs from the other eleven people behind him. “Nothing, Michael,” Erik simply replied, “just go through your orders once in your head and that’s our up-to-date briefing.” He didn’t want to waste anymore time than he had to on such a minor mission. Taking another look around him, a large banner was hung from the top of the stage, saying, “The Midgar Musical Concert 2000.” Surely, it was a great event for the city of Midgar, as festivities ranged from this concert to a costume party to exhibits, and finally, the opening of the highly-anticipated Diamond Saucer. For the people of Midgar, it was a time to go out and have fun, something that wouldn’t usually exist in Midgar. And for Shinra, it was a chance to consolidate their strength with the people, preserving their power over them. And for the unfortunate souls like Erik, some had to attend the Festival on-duty and on-the-job, not having the chance to enjoy what was happening around them. It was nice, though, that his squad got the Sector One assignment, since music can be heard as well as seen. Someone walked up from behind him and touched his hand, holding it with a gentle grip. “Isn’t this great, Erik?” a female asked him, leaning in closer to him as she asked him the question. The sound of her voice echoed through Erik’s mind, momentarily taking him away from his thoughts on their mission. “Yeah, but too bad we aren’t attending it as civilians,” Erik answered, truly wishing that he got this day off. “Yeah, Claire,” another teammate added from behind the couple, “Just being able to mingle with the crowd on such an occasion such as the Festival is one thing I didn’t want to miss.” That was Sanchez, the newest member to the team. Actually, the newest OFFICIAL member of the team, with the unexpected addition of Third-class Janus Lean. Erik watched as Janus stood near the rear of the part, spacing himself from the last person, looking almost separated from the SOLDIER group. His bright green MAKO eyes darted back and forth among the small crowd as dozens of excited voices rose all around them. The rookie was nervous, almost unaccustomed to being around people. ‘He does seem a little....different from the other,’ Erik thought to himself, feeling like he should make Janus feel more comfortable. Letting the other move ahead of him, he took the last position in the line before Janus, trying not to seem too pushy. Slowly getting closer to the young man, Erik noticed that Janus acknowledged his presence, but that was it. A cool silence was kept between them as they continued to walk around the corner of the stage area. Janus continued to search amongst the crowd like a raving animal searching for it’s prey. Deciding it was time to talk to the young recruit, Erik tried to speak with non-offensive voice. “Janus, is everything all right?” No response at first, but slowly Janus started to turn in Erik’s direction, his expression calming from the slightly enraged state he was in. “Sir, yes sir.” “I didn’t speak to you with rank, Janus,” Erik noted, trying to break the barrier between superior and subordinate. “I’m asking you to speak frankly.....” “It’s a personal matter, Erik,” Janus cut him off with the sharp comment, turning his head away from the First-class. “I don’t want to talk about it.” “Okay,” the First-class replied, feeling himself take a leap backwards in the communications department. “But remember, don’t let this get to you during the mission. And that’s an order, Third-class.” “Sir, yes sir!” Looking back in the forward direction, Erik couldn’t get over how shut out this Janus character was. ‘But a SOLDIER is a SOLDIER,’ he continued to think, looking down to his left arm guard. Pressing light blue switched, a panel slid to the right revealing a set of four digital digits. It read 0830. “All right people,” Erik called out to his crew, stopping in his tracks as the others turn their attention to him. “The gates have been opened for almost 5 minutes now, so get in your groups and head to you patrol position. I’ll contact each leader in about 5 minutes, is that clear?” “Sir, yes sir!” A unified roar echoed through the place, letting the presence of Shinra be head through out the crowd. Most of his team started to turn away before he stopped them with another comment. “And before you go,” he calmly added to his orders with a more relaxed voice, “don’t let your guard down, but still try to enjoy yourselves. After all, it’s the most exciting day for the city of Midgar!” Everyone smiled back at him as they seemed to relax a little more as they walked away from him. All that were left standing in front of him was Sanchez and Janus, the two young SOLDIER recruits in the team. It seemed odd to be assigned two rookies and not a second-in-command. Erik didn’t think it was a big deal, but the thought seemed to linger in his mind for a while as he took position near the far corner of stage. Sanchez had a grin on his face as he watched the stage begin to light up, with a pair of females walking into the center. “Not bad looking, if I may say so myself,” he commented, raising his visor to catch a clearer look. On the other hand, Janus didn’t seem to take notice of either the stage nor the people around as he looked out into the great beyond, almost like he could see through the plates and into the clouds. ‘They were both around the same age,’ Erik thought, looking down again at his left arm guard, “but Janus doesn’t seem to be like the average teenager.’ “Welcome to The Midgar Musical Concert 2000!!” Erik heard from the large speakers before the cheers of the crowd, looking up at the one above them, then looking on the stage to find one of the females had stepped up to the main microphone. She had extremely long brown hair that was around her knees, fairly thin, but well into her years of womanhood. He paused to tap on the button on his intercom, then quietly ordered for Calvin to report in. “We’re all ready over here, Erik,” Calvin replied in his energetic voice, then disconnected as the main singer started to speak into the mic once again. “I'm Korrine Fox, and this is my singing partner Natalie Gordon.” He waited for the crowd to cheer again before he ordered Michael to check in, which was quickly responded with a “Ready and waiting” answer. Before he could get Claire to report in, the cheering died down and the singer started to speak again. “Now, our first song is ‘Sweet surrender’.” Korrine said as the background music started with a slow beat. Her voice picked up with the music before Erik had time to determine what to make of the song.. “It doesn't mean much. It doesn't mean anything at all. The life I've left behind me, is a cold room.” The lyrics didn’t register in Erik’s mind as he tapped the intercom button on his right arm guard to check on Claire. “Claire, this is Alpha Leader, report in,” he ordered, letting go of the button as he waited for a reply. There was a slight pause as he scanned the festival area to look for any disturbances. Finding none, he started wonder why Claire took so long to respond. “Worried?” her familiar voice came over the intercom, with a little amusement in it. “I knew you would look for me if I didn’t respond immediately.” She was just trying to get him to talk more, so she could hear his voice. Erik always knew that Claire was this type of person, but never thought about the implications until now. “Yeah, I was worried,” Erik responded, truly feeling a little worried when she didn’t respond. He wanted to be with her too, but orders were orders, no matter how much his heart told him differently. “So, how do you like the concert so far?” “I love it! And this Korrine girl is a great singer,” Claire responded over the intercom, pausing a bit to hear the music. Erik paused as well to hear the song being sung to them. “Sweee-eeet surrender.....is all that I have, to give,” sang the young Korrine as her partner, Natalie, joined in the chorus. Their voices meshed together like a perfect symphony, making the music sound ever so sweet. “So is her partner, Natalie,” Claire added to their previous conversation, keeping the intercom occupied. Erik loved the sound of her voice, but he knew it was time to stop holding up the comm. “Yeah, they make a great team,” Erik tried to conclude, hopping that Claire could catch the implication in his voice. “Well, I guess we should get back to work, huh?” She seemed to catch it alright, but sounded a little unhappy about ending their conversation. “Yeah, but before we go, I have something to say to you,” Erik quickly blurted out before she could close the line. He knew he shouldn’t say this over the live as it was monitored, but he didn’t care about protocols right about now. A pause occurred as he waited for Claire to give a response, to make sure the line was still open. It was almost ten seconds before she said anything. “Well.....” she sounded a little more annoyed than before. “I love you, Claire.” “You shouldn’t say that over the line, it’s monitored,” she warned him with a hint of surprise. “I don’t care who hears what I say to you, Claire,” he bluntly responded, knowing he just broke half a dozen regulations in half a minute. “I love you too, Erik.” Erik could almost imagine the smile on her face as she said that to him. Time: 10:26am The security detail was as boring as Erik expected, pacing back and forth between the patrol quadrant, breaking up minor disturbances here and there. They were merely arguments over someone’s spot or a spilled drink. Normal members of the Shinra were patrolling around as well, helping Erik and his team maintain public peace. Another SOLDIER unit was somewhere in the crowd as well, but only under the orders of looking out for members of the AVALANCHE. Janus and Sanchez were directly behind him, keeping an eye out for trouble as well as constant glances to the stage. It seems that both of them seem to have grown a liking to the young singers on the stage, though Janus didn’t look as often as Sanchez did. A song that Erik couldn’t recognize filled the stage area as many people swayed to the sound of the music. Others seemed to go into a frenzied state and start a so-called “mosh pit”, but they didn’t cause any damage or injury to any one but themselves. The song’s lyrics started to fill Erik’s mind as it talked about a lost friend, making him think about some of the people he left behind when he joined SOLDIER a few years ago. The words began to make his heart feel empty again, wanting him to see his friends of the past, wondering if they’re all doing well. But these words were interrupted by a harsh voice piercing through the air. “Mister, can you PLEASE smoke that somewhere else?” a female voice echoed through his helmet, causing him to turn to the direction of the voice. She had her shoulder length hair separated into dozens of braided locks, wore some flower-shaped glasses, and a long, old-fashioned dress with weird colored flowers on them. “Who the fuck are you to tell me where the fuck I can smoke?!” the man she was speaking to replied, blowing a puff of his cigarette in her face, causing her to cough and yell. “You’re adding to the pollution in this already polluted city, man,” the female’s male companion added, wearing about the same type of clothing. He talked with a weird slur which sounded like he was some kind of hallucinogen. Erik looked at the smoking male a little more closely, finding certain details about him that seemed oddly familiar. Combed back blond hair, a blue jacket, and a pair of green colored pants. The situation seemed to escalate a little more, causing others around the disturbance to look in disgust. Erik decided it was time to move in as he motioned the two rookies behind him to follow him into the crowd. The female brushed the smoke away and raised a pointed finger at the culprit. “Yeah! So, don’t cramp our style at this funky outing of ours!” Her eyes were partially red, just like her male friend, and by their clothing, they seemed to be those so-called “hippies” Erik has heard about. “Go fuck your style!” the smoking man retorted, pointing a finger back at the pair. “I have just had a fucking shit week, so don’t tell me how I can ruin this fucking outing of yours!” “Could you please watch your language, I have a young child here,” another female pointed out, holding her child by the shoulders, keeping him back from the raging man. “Who the fuck cares about what your kid hears?!” the guilty man yelled, raising both of his hands into the air. “He’s bound to hear this at school anyway! Fuck! Why the hell is everyone on my fucking case?! Can’t a man just get some fucking relief?!” “By golly!” the mother said as she blocked the words from reaching her child’s ear as she covered them, then stormed away from the spot. Other people were starting to get annoyed with the smoking man, who was about to yell at each and everyone of them. ‘His hand is shaking,’ Erik noted to himself, watching as the man getting yelled at from all sides, with no where to go. The man looked more and more familiar as him and his team slowly shuffled through the crowd. A path seemed to open for them as the crowd noticed their presence. Even some of the people yelling at the smoking man stopped yelling to let them pass, watching them intently as the smoking man yelled at another couple, almost making the woman cry. He spun around to almost yell at the people behind him when he noticed Erik, Janus, and Sanchez watching him. When the man spun around, the familiarity struck Erik like a baseball bat. Minus his unshaven look, a few white hairs, a change in clothing, the man was the same one whom he met a few years back. “What seems to be the problem here?” Erik asked the crowd, looking around with his Mako eyes, watching as eyes quickly darting away before making contact with his. Everyone seemed to remain silent for a second before an elderly man spoke up. “That man over there was causing a disturbance by smoking,” the elderly man answered with a whine, raising his walking stick and pointing it at the man with the cigarette. “Take him away!” Erik then glanced over to the smoking man, who tried to keep his composure as his hand started to shake even more violently. Knowing the man from before, it would be a good idea to calm him before he went into a panicked rage. Raising his visor to show the hidden part of his face, he stared at the accused, trying to make him remember who he was. Instead, his hand started to shake more violently as his eyes darted from left to right, looking for a way out. The cigarette nearly fell out of his hand if it wasn’t for him bringing it up to inhale another breath of nicotine. “Is that so? Is the elderly man right, sir?” Erik falsely implied, looking straight into the eyes of the accused. The accused looked back at him with fright in his eyes, pausing for a moment as he stared back, then his expression faded to a calmer state as he seemed to recognize Erik. “No shit I’m smoking!” exclaimed the man, blowing out a puff of smoke into the air. “The last time I was here, there wasn’t any fucking no-smoking rule!” He stood with a arrogant posture, which was typical of Erik’s old friend. “Sir, why don’t you follow me,” Erik held out his hand, pointing in a direction away from the crowd. “You can smoke over there, away from these people.” He looked to where his finger pointed, and found that a path had cleared up for them. “I guess I will then, away from these fucking son-of-a-bitches!” exclaimed the man as he followed the direction of Erik’s hand. “Take the bastard away!” a person yelled from behind Erik as he just turned to follow his familiar companion. Turning his head back to the source of the voice, he stared deeply into the person’s eyes, almost making him cringe back in fright. “Don’t tell me how to do my job.” Erik switched his line of sight to Janus and Sanchez, who both looked a little perplexed. “Sanchez,” ordered Erik, “take Janus and continue on with the patrol. I’ll catch up with you shortly.” “But sir,” Sanchez tried to protest, raising one of his eyebrow a little, “should I take the man to.....” “That’s an order, Third-class,” Erik sharply cut him off, turning his back away from them and started to walk with the accused. He hated pulling rank on people, but this had to be done by only him. Hearing a muffled acknowledgement, then a quiet whisper, he picked up his pace to walk beside the smoking man. The SOLDIER then switched off his comm system so that no one could his conversation. “It’s nice to see you again, Cid,” Erik announced once they were out of view of the crowd, patting his old friend on the shoulder. A giant relief appeared on his friend’s face as he gave Erik the biggest hug he has ever received. “No shit it’s been a long fucking time!” loudly exclaimed Cid, holding Erik in the friendly hug for another second before releasing him. Cid took another puff of his cigarette before throwing it onto the ground and crushing it with his boot. “I thought I was going to be in deep shit when I saw the three of you walking toward me.” It made him feel a lot better about today as he watched his long-time friend and mentor standing in front of him. “You’re lucky it wasn’t anyone else,” Erik consoled Cid, quickly darting his eyes as he watched for his patrol group. The crowd barely even took notice of them as their eyes converged on the main stage with the two young superstars singing. They paused for a moment to listen to the music, then turned back to face each other. “Anyway,” Erik started, “why are you in Midgar?” “I.....,” Cid dragged on, like he was thinking of a reason in being here, “needed a break from staring at that fucking failure of a space rocket.” Cid didn’t seem very comfortable about talking about that topic, so Erik decided to change the topic. “So, how’s Shera doing?” Erik quickly said, then realizing that this wasn’t a hot topic to talk with Cid about. His face turned from a nervous look to one of almost pure rage. “You mean that bitch?” Cid retorted with a loud voice, getting a few looks here and there. “How the fuck should I know?” He paused for a moment to try to think of something else to say, but his facial expression seemed to calm as he produced a neutral face. “I guess she’s doing alright,” he calmly replied, blinking rapidly then as his eyes started to wander off to the hidden skies. “I thought you just left Rocket Town for.....” Erik asked. ‘He just said he only needed a break,’ he thought to himself, ‘but why Cid would seem do distant about Shera....unless....’ “When was the last time you saw her?” Cid paused again, then began with his furious answers again. “I fucking saw her yesterday, so what the fuck are you getting at?” Cid retorted with an angry look. He didn’t seem very honest with Erik as he noticed his hand beginning to twitch again. “You’re lying, Cid.” “And how the fuck can you see that?!” his old friend replied, nervously lifting his cigarette to his lips, taking a long drag. Erik quickly glanced down at his left hand, which twitched slightly, then back at Cid’s glaring face. “You’re hand is twitching again.” “Maybe I have some fucking disease or some other shit like that!” Cid retorted, raising his hands in the air, making a scene. “You don’t get diseases, Cid,” rebutted Erik, still talking to him in a friendly tone. “It’s not like you because your hand stopped trembling when you first recognized me.” This evoked an odd response to Cid as he stared angrily at Erik, then took a deep breathe and closed his eyes, like he just lost. “I haven’t been in Rocket Town for nearly two months, Erik. You should know that, right?” Cid calmly replied as he opened his eyes again. Erik gave him a blank look. “Remember, when I stole the Darkgod with whatever that bitch’s name was?” “Yeah, well, I was in the hospital when it happened,” Erik truthfully told, remembering the doctors working on the wound Sephiroth gave him. “So, let’s just say I didn’t hear about it.” Erik knew that there was a warrant out for Cid, but he would never arrest a friend, no matter how serious the crime was. That was the only rule Erik abided by outside of SOLDIER: Friends are more important than your job. “Then why would you come out of your hiding spot and head for Shinra?” “Well.....” Cid’s hand started to twitch again and sweat began to trickle down his face as his eyes darted back and forth again. Erik has never seen Cid this nervous before, even when late President Shinra came to check up on the Space Program. “You know about the kidnapping of Ariana Shinra?” he quietly whispered, trying to hide his voice from being heard. “You were involved in that?!” Erik exclaimed, then covering his mouth as the surprise got hold of him. This was something he would never expect Cid to do. “Kidnapping Ariana Shinra.....” “I won’t tell you how or what was involved....but....well....I....um.....” This time Cid paused for an extremely long time, like he didn't know how to say what he wanted. “I....kinda....well....killed her,” Cid mumbled even lower, but to the level that only Erik could hear. “Holy shit, Cid!” Erik swore for the first time since he got into SOLDIER. “Do you know what kinda of shit you can get into?” exclaimed Erik in a quiet voice, trying to hold down an even greater response in being surprised. “She’s the vice-president and Rufus’.....” “Don’t you think I fucking know that!” Cid interjected, “I didn’t mean too! Just that she was pissing the shit outta me. She even made fun of Shera....but that’s not the point! What the fuck am I suppose to do now?” Erik looked at him for a long period of time before he even began to reply to Cid. “I don’t know, Cid. I won’t turn you in, well, cuz.....” Erik paused think of a good reason, then decided on what to say. “She was a bitch anyway.” Both putting on a grin, Cid slapped him on the shoulder and they started to laugh out loud. Recovering from their laughter, Erik looked around to catch a glimpse of his patrol coming by. Feeling a little nervous, Erik reached under his SOLDIER armor and picked something out of his pouch. Grabbing Cid’s hand, he placed in it and said, “Go to my place, I’ll meet with you there later tonight.” Opening his hand, Cid lifted a key up and stared at it for a quick moment. “I don’t want to get you involved, Erik. This is serious,” Cid then replied seriously for the first time. “That doesn’t matter,” Erik answered back, checking his armor like it had paper stuck all over it. Finding a piece on the artificial grass, he whipped out a pen and started to write, then handed it to Cid. “Get a taxi and head to this address.” “Erik.....” “Go Cid. I’ll see you later.” “Thanks, Erik.” Cid didn’t seem to know what else to say. “I’ll see you later.” With that, his friend gave a friendly salute and walked off in the direction of the exit. Erik, on the other hand, took a deep breathe and started to walk through the crowd, heading for his patrol unit. In a few short moments, he met up with Janus and Sanchez, who looked the same as they did when he left them. “You got lost, sir?” humored Sanchez, grinning under his tinted visor. “Nah,” countered Erik with a smile, “Just took a break and actually listened to the music.” He knew that they could have no knowledge of his past relation with Cid, as it may get him into some deep trouble. Just letting Cid, go even if he didn’t know him, would get him in enough trouble as is. “But now, let’s get on with the patrol, my feet are starting to hurt from standing still.” Taking lead of the patrol again, Erik followed the same route he had been following for almost two hours. ‘Only two more hours,’ Erik quietly whined to himself, taking a deep breathe in order to keep himself from falling asleep on his feet. The only interesting occurrence today was the appearance of Cid Highwind. ‘Then off to guard duty for the President,” he continued in his head like he was talking to himself. ‘How much more boring can one’s day get?’ Time: 5:57pm The concert ended nearly six hours ago, getting only three hours to break before Erik, Claire, Janus, Calvin, and Michael they arrived at Sector Eight, where Shinra Circle was located. Erik didn’t do much during that break: take a shower, eat a wholesome meal, watched some news, and basically mundane, everyday things like every one else did. The only two things he did that some of the others didn’t do was spend time with Claire and make a call back to his place. Fortunately, Cid was there and he said that everything was all right. Erik worried about his friend Cid, but there wasn’t much he could do for him until after their guard dog duty for the president. It wasn’t that it was because he didn’t like the president personally, but the sole fact that to place a dozen of highly trained SOLDIER units just for show was a waste of effort and pride. Some of the people he trained with, and all who are now under his rank, were standing at the front of the dais, proudly displaying the power of Shinra’s SOLDIER units. Taking another quick look around the dais, he found that there were already hundreds of thousands of citizens gathered around the ever-so-popular Shinra Circle, either watching the main stage or having their eyes glued on the massive screen located on the side of Shinra Tower as well as the reactors. Or the hundreds of others screen located around the city. Others watched the dais itself, staring at the elaborate display ahead of them. Behind a metallic gray podium, President Rufus stood tall, looking over the crowd with a neutral look on his face. Around the president was his five personal bodyguards: the Turks. Tseng, Rude, Elena, Lars, and Vladimir. They stood in a semi-circle behind him, staring intensely at the crowd, looking for potential aggressors to their superior. Erik didn’t like the job the Turks had to do: kidnapping, blackmail, and murder, but just being able to move around was sure better than guard duty. “I guess Rufus doesn’t want anyone to miss his speech,” commented Claire from his right. With a deep purple suit of SOLDIER armor, she was also one of the few that were allowed customized armor color. Her pony-tailed hair jutted out from under her helmet, resting limply around the middle of her back. The only visible part of her natural self was her mouth, which was not covered by the SOLDIER helmet. Janus and Michael stood at Erik’s left while Calvin took the position on Claire’s right. “Yeah, I think even the people in Kalm can see this,” noted Calvin, trying to stifle his urge to grin. “I think he wanted to even wake the dead so that they would see his speech,” added Michael, who lost his self control and let himself grin. Normally, Erik would give him a harsh look, but his mind was immersed in another, more overwhelming though as he watched Claire’s lips move. He hasn’t seen her face for almost four hours, not even noticing that he missed her. But once he saw her after the concert, Erik knew that his heart longed just to see her. He loved to watch her lips, as it was the only thing he could truly see of her. Sometimes, he wouldn’t even hear what she was saying to him. It reminded him of the first time she kissed him, when Sephiroth gave him a vicious slash across his chest. Sephiroth. The re-appearance of the presumably-dead Sephiroth lingered in the minds of all who knew about his existence, even during a time like this. He hasn’t been seen in almost three months, and as time passed, it seemed to even slip the mind of President Rufus. “Erik?” Claire’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “Are you still with us here?” “Yeah.” A simple reply was all he decided to give, trying to lead her away from the thoughts in his head. There was just so many things to worry about at the moment: Cid, Sephiroth, Rufus. Rufus. Erik looked down to his right forearm and pressed a button, revealing a small digital display. 18:00, almost time for the president’s speech to start. Looking back up, he saw the screen across Midgar Tower flicker, then the face of President Rufus appeared, looking straight back at Erik like he was having a one-on-one conversation with this superior. ‘Just another twenty minute speech,’ Erik thought to himself, stretching his neck in preparation for the long speech, ‘then after another twenty minute wait, and it should be all over.” Moving every muscle in his body just a bit so he won’t get a cramp during the Rufus’ address to Midgar, Erik waited for the president to speak. “Ladies and gentlemen of Midgar,” Rufus started, placing his hands on the podium. When he leaned forward to continue with his address, the entire crowd erupted in a loud roar of cheers and hollers. It was like watching the concert with a thousand times more people. “I hope you've been enjoying the Midgar Festival, courtesy of Shinra Incorporated, thus far!” The cheers got louder as Erik nearly winced in pain from the intensity of the crowd. He has never seen the people of Midgar so enthusiastic about anything the company has done, even when Mako was introduced years back. Closing his eyes to drown out the crowd, he reopened them to find the president’s grinning face across the massive screen on Shinra Tower. Nearly half a minute passed before the crowds died down so that Rufus could hear himself speak. “I am glad to be able to do this for the people of Midgar. Today is a special day. We are celebrating the opening of Diamond Saucer, which you can see, sparkling in its radiant beauty, far above you! We are celebrating the seventeenth anniversary of the building of the Midgar Plates that have made this city unique from all the rest. We are celebrating the people who worked hard to make this city the way it is today. But most of all, we are celebrating each and everyone one of you, the people who live Midgar, breathe Midgar, and love Midgar!” The cheers rose even louder, making Erik close his eyes again to retain his sanity as the cheers echoed from one ear to the other. He listened for the crowd to cool down again before opening his eyes and listened to Rufus’ speech. “Thanks to Shinra Incorporated, we have managed to promote this event and make it the success that it is right now! People from all over came to visit the city. The festival is good for business, good for morale, and therefore, good for productivity. Look around you, my friends. Do you see an unhappy soul around you? I can certainly say that I don’t!” Rufus addressed the crowd, lifting one hand in the success he placed for the people. “With AVALANCHE gone, and Mako more efficient than ever, we could afford to give everyone a break. The economy is good; trade with Kalm, Junon, and Rocket Town is increasing. More people than ever before are moving above the poverty line, and are beginning to lead normal lives again. But there is no need to thank the city of Midgar, or Shinra Incorporated, for it was you, the people, who made it all happen!” The people were definitely happy with this comment as their cheers rose to the momentous occasion. ‘AVALANCHE was certainly gone at the moment,’ Erik thought, ‘but nothing ever goes away that easily.’ Erik watched the crowd as they looked enthusiastic, and whether this enthusiasm was in fact true or not was beyond the fact. As long as it looked good to others, it was good for Midgar, and more importantly, for Shinra. President Rufus leaned toward the microphone again and said, “And, so, we celebrate now, the opening of....what the.....” Erik heard him cut off as screams from the left side of the circle invoked an unconditional response to pull his sword out from it’s place on his back. Swiveling his head to the left, he felt his eyes stretch wide open as he watched the horror that approached them from Sector One. In SOLDIER training, he was taught never to fear anything, as Shinra prepared them for the worst, but nothing ever like this. Feeling beads of sweat roll of his cheek, Erik stood frozen with his mouth wide open, feeling his Coral Sword tremble between his hands and knees become shaky as screams and shouts from the crowd and all around him proved that there was more to fear in life than he knew ever existed. {OOG: I know this post was a little long and it didn’t really get into the robot attack, but I need to hammer out a few minor details first. And I should warn you, the next post might be longer than this one.} Subject: ToM: Honor Guard - Part 2 (Part 2 of 2 for this post) Date: Sun, 29 Nov 98 03:10:10 (PST) From: Jason Brown Reply-To: "MIDGAR" To: "Multiple Recipients of Mailing List MIDGAR" [Part 2 of 2 of this post] "Ladies and gentlemen of Midgar," Rufus started, placing his hands on the podium. When he leaned forward to continue with his address, the entire crowd erupted in a loud roar of cheers and hollers. It was like watching the concert with a thousand times more people. "I hope you've been enjoying the Midgar Festival, courtesy of Shinra Incorporated, thus far!" The cheers got louder as Erik nearly winced in pain from the intensity of the crowd. He has never seen the people of Midgar so enthusiastic about anything the company has done, even when Mako was introduced years back. Closing his eyes to drown out the crowd, he reopened them to find the president's grinning face across the massive screen on Shinra Tower. Nearly half a minute passed before the crowds died down so that Rufus could hear himself speak. "I am glad to be able to do this for the people of Midgar. Today is a special day. We are celebrating the opening of Diamond Saucer, which you can see, sparkling in its radiant beauty, far above you! We are celebrating the seventeenth anniversary of the building of the Midgar Plates that have made this city unique from all the rest. We are celebrating the people who worked hard to make this city the way it is today. But most of all, we are celebrating each and everyone one of you, the people who live Midgar, breathe Midgar, and love Midgar!" The cheers rose even louder, making Erik close his eyes again to retain his sanity as the cheers echoed from one ear to the other. He listened for the crowd to cool down again before opening his eyes and listened to Rufus' speech. "Thanks to Shinra Incorporated, we have managed to promote this event and make it the success that it is right now! People from all over came to visit the city. The festival is good for business, good for morale, and therefore, good for productivity. Look around you, my friends. Do you see an unhappy soul around you? I can certainly say that I don't!" Rufus addressed the crowd, lifting one hand in the success he placed for the people. "With AVALANCHE gone, and Mako more efficient than ever, we could afford to give everyone a break. The economy is good; trade with Kalm, Junon, and Rocket Town is increasing. More people than ever before are moving above the poverty line, and are beginning to lead normal lives again. But there is no need to thank the city of Midgar, or Shinra Incorporated, for it was you, the people, who made it all happen!" The people were definitely happy with this comment as their cheers rose to the momentous occasion. 'AVALANCHE was certainly gone at the moment,' Erik thought, 'but nothing ever goes away that easily.' Erik watched the crowd as they looked enthusiastic, and whether this enthusiasm was in fact true or not was beyond the fact. As long as it looked good to others, it was good for Midgar, and more importantly, for Shinra. President Rufus leaned toward the microphone again and said, "And, so, we celebrate now, the opening of....what the....." Erik heard him cut off as screams from the left side of the circle invoked an unconditional response to pull his sword out from it's place on his back. Swiveling his head to the left, he felt his eyes stretch wide open as he watched the horror that approached them from Sector One. In SOLDIER training, he was taught never to fear anything, as Shinra prepared them for the worst, but nothing ever like this. Feeling beads of sweat roll of his cheek, Erik stood frozen with his mouth wide open, feeling his Coral Sword tremble between his hands and knees become shaky as screams and shouts from the crowd and all around him proved that there was more to fear in life than he knew ever existed. {OOG: I know this post was a little long and it didn't really get into the robot attack, but I need to hammer out a few minor details first. And I should warn you, the next post might be longer than this one.} _________________________________________________________ DO YOU YAHOO!? Get your free a yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com -------=========================+++++=========================------- This note comes from: The MultiVersal Dreams BBS @ (209) 754-5851 ----======= WWIV 4.24a via the PPP Project Software =======---- --------=========+++=========-------- Subject: ToM: Honor Guard - Part 2 (Part 1 of 2 for this post) Date: Sun, 29 Nov 98 03:10:11 (PST) From: Jason Brown Reply-To: "MIDGAR" To: "Multiple Recipients of Mailing List MIDGAR" {OOG: Sorry for not posting in while, university seems to take a lot of time away from actually "living" beyond school. Anyway, here it is, with a few vulgarities here and there. And now, here is the way overdue and long post!} Date: July 9, 1998 Time: 8:20am Place: Sector 1, Stage Area Erik never knew that a Sector could look so much like being actually outside Midgar. The sight was unbelievable as the whole area was as large as a whole section of a town, with a massive stage situated at the front. He has never been to a concert before, coming from a small place like Rocket Town. He also has never seen so much green in the whole time he has lived in Midgar. Surely it wasn't real grass, as there wasn't even a flicker of real sunlight in Midgar, but artificial grass, with the same feel and structure of natural grass, just made from bio-plastics. "Now what, Boss?" a person behind Erik joked, getting a few laughs from the other eleven people behind him. "Nothing, Michael," Erik simply replied, "just go through your orders once in your head and that's our up-to-date briefing." He didn't want to waste anymore time than he had to on such a minor mission. Taking another look around him, a large banner was hung from the top of the stage, saying, "The Midgar Musical Concert 2000." Surely, it was a great event for the city of Midgar, as festivities ranged from this concert to a costume party to exhibits, and finally, the opening of the highly-anticipated Diamond Saucer. For the people of Midgar, it was a time to go out and have fun, something that wouldn't usually exist in Midgar. And for Shinra, it was a chance to consolidate their strength with the people, preserving their power over them. And for the unfortunate souls like Erik, some had to attend the Festival on-duty and on-the-job, not having the chance to enjoy what was happening around them. It was nice, though, that his squad got the Sector One assignment, since music can be heard as well as seen. Someone walked up from behind him and touched his hand, holding it with a gentle grip. "Isn't this great, Erik?" a female asked him, leaning in closer to him as she asked him the question. The sound of her voice echoed through Erik's mind, momentarily taking him away from his thoughts on their mission. "Yeah, but too bad we aren't attending it as civilians," Erik answered, truly wishing that he got this day off. "Yeah, Claire," another teammate added from behind the couple, "Just being able to mingle with the crowd on such an occasion such as the Festival is one thing I didn't want to miss." That was Sanchez, the newest member to the team. Actually, the newest OFFICIAL member of the team, with the unexpected addition of Third-class Janus Lean. Erik watched as Janus stood near the rear of the part, spacing himself from the last person, looking almost separated from the SOLDIER group. His bright green MAKO eyes darted back and forth among the small crowd as dozens of excited voices rose all around them. The rookie was nervous, almost unaccustomed to being around people. 'He does seem a little....different from the other,' Erik thought to himself, feeling like he should make Janus feel more comfortable. Letting the other move ahead of him, he took the last position in the line before Janus, trying not to seem too pushy. Slowly getting closer to the young man, Erik noticed that Janus acknowledged his presence, but that was it. A cool silence was kept between them as they continued to walk around the corner of the stage area. Janus continued to search amongst the crowd like a raving animal searching for it's prey. Deciding it was time to talk to the young recruit, Erik tried to speak with non-offensive voice. "Janus, is everything all right?" No response at first, but slowly Janus started to turn in Erik's direction, his expression calming from the slightly enraged state he was in. "Sir, yes sir." "I didn't speak to you with rank, Janus," Erik noted, trying to break the barrier between superior and subordinate. "I'm asking you to speak frankly....." "It's a personal matter, Erik," Janus cut him off with the sharp comment, turning his head away from the First-class. "I don't want to talk about it." "Okay," the First-class replied, feeling himself take a leap backwards in the communications department. "But remember, don't let this get to you during the mission. And that's an order, Third-class." "Sir, yes sir!" Looking back in the forward direction, Erik couldn't get over how shut out this Janus character was. 'But a SOLDIER is a SOLDIER,' he continued to think, looking down to his left arm guard. Pressing light blue switched, a panel slid to the right revealing a set of four digital digits. It read 0830. "All right people," Erik called out to his crew, stopping in his tracks as the others turn their attention to him. "The gates have been opened for almost 5 minutes now, so get in your groups and head to you patrol position. I'll contact each leader in about 5 minutes, is that clear?" "Sir, yes sir!" A unified roar echoed through the place, letting the presence of Shinra be head through out the crowd. Most of his team started to turn away before he stopped them with another comment. "And before you go," he calmly added to his orders with a more relaxed voice, "don't let your guard down, but still try to enjoy yourselves. After all, it's the most exciting day for the city of Midgar!" Everyone smiled back at him as they seemed to relax a little more as they walked away from him. All that were left standing in front of him was Sanchez and Janus, the two young SOLDIER recruits in the team. It seemed odd to be assigned two rookies and not a second-in-command. Erik didn't think it was a big deal, but the thought seemed to linger in his mind for a while as he took position near the far corner of stage. Sanchez had a grin on his face as he watched the stage begin to light up, with a pair of females walking into the center. "Not bad looking, if I may say so myself," he commented, raising his visor to catch a clearer look. On the other hand, Janus didn't seem to take notice of either the stage nor the people around as he looked out into the great beyond, almost like he could see through the plates and into the clouds. 'They were both around the same age,' Erik thought, looking down again at his left arm guard, "but Janus doesn't seem to be like the average teenager.' "Welcome to The Midgar Musical Concert 2000!!" Erik heard from the large speakers before the cheers of the crowd, looking up at the one above them, then looking on the stage to find one of the females had stepped up to the main microphone. She had extremely long brown hair that was around her knees, fairly thin, but well into her years of womanhood. He paused to tap on the button on his intercom, then quietly ordered for Calvin to report in. "We're all ready over here, Erik," Calvin replied in his energetic voice, then disconnected as the main singer started to speak into the mic once again. "I'm Korrine Fox, and this is my singing partner Natalie Gordon." He waited for the crowd to cheer again before he ordered Michael to check in, which was quickly responded with a "Ready and waiting" answer. Before he could get Claire to report in, the cheering died down and the singer started to speak again. "Now, our first song is 'Sweet surrender'." Korrine said as the background music started with a slow beat. Her voice picked up with the music before Erik had time to determine what to make of the song.. "It doesn't mean much. It doesn't mean anything at all. The life I've left behind me, is a cold room." The lyrics didn't register in Erik's mind as he tapped the intercom button on his right arm guard to check on Claire. "Claire, this is Alpha Leader, report in," he ordered, letting go of the button as he waited for a reply. There was a slight pause as he scanned the festival area to look for any disturbances. Finding none, he started wonder why Claire took so long to respond. "Worried?" her familiar voice came over the intercom, with a little amusement in it. "I knew you would look for me if I didn't respond immediately." She was just trying to get him to talk more, so she could hear his voice. Erik always knew that Claire was this type of person, but never thought about the implications until now. "Yeah, I was worried," Erik responded, truly feeling a little worried when she didn't respond. He wanted to be with her too, but orders were orders, no matter how much his heart told him differently. "So, how do you like the concert so far?" "I love it! And this Korrine girl is a great singer," Claire responded over the intercom, pausing a bit to hear the music. Erik paused as well to hear the song being sung to them. "Sweee-eeet surrender.....is all that I have, to give," sang the young Korrine as her partner, Natalie, joined in the chorus. Their voices meshed together like a perfect symphony, making the music sound ever so sweet. "So is her partner, Natalie," Claire added to their previous conversation, keeping the intercom occupied. Erik loved the sound of her voice, but he knew it was time to stop holding up the comm. "Yeah, they make a great team," Erik tried to conclude, hopping that Claire could catch the implication in his voice. "Well, I guess we should get back to work, huh?" She seemed to catch it alright, but sounded a little unhappy about ending their conversation. "Yeah, but before we go, I have something to say to you," Erik quickly blurted out before she could close the line. He knew he shouldn't say this over the live as it was monitored, but he didn't care about protocols right about now. A pause occurred as he waited for Claire to give a response, to make sure the line was still open. It was almost ten seconds before she said anything. "Well....." she sounded a little more annoyed than before. "I love you, Claire." "You shouldn't say that over the line, it's monitored," she warned him with a hint of surprise. "I don't care who hears what I say to you, Claire," he bluntly responded, knowing he just broke half a dozen regulations in half a minute. "I love you too, Erik." Erik could almost imagine the smile on her face as she said that to him. Time: 10:26am The security detail was as boring as Erik expected, pacing back and forth between the patrol quadrant, breaking up minor disturbances here and there. They were merely arguments over someone's spot or a spilled drink. Normal members of the Shinra were patrolling around as well, helping Erik and his team maintain public peace. Another SOLDIER unit was somewhere in the crowd as well, but only under the orders of looking out for members of the AVALANCHE. Janus and Sanchez were directly behind him, keeping an eye out for trouble as well as constant glances to the stage. It seems that both of them seem to have grown a liking to the young singers on the stage, though Janus didn't look as often as Sanchez did. A song that Erik couldn't recognize filled the stage area as many people swayed to the sound of the music. Others seemed to go into a frenzied state and start a so-called "mosh pit", but they didn't cause any damage or injury to any one but themselves. The song's lyrics started to fill Erik's mind as it talked about a lost friend, making him think about some of the people he left behind when he joined SOLDIER a few years ago. The words began to make his heart feel empty again, wanting him to see his friends of the past, wondering if they're all doing well. But these words were interrupted by a harsh voice piercing through the air. "Mister, can you PLEASE smoke that somewhere else?" a female voice echoed through his helmet, causing him to turn to the direction of the voice. She had her shoulder length hair separated into dozens of braided locks, wore some flower-shaped glasses, and a long, old-fashioned dress with weird colored flowers on them. "Who the fuck are you to tell me where the fuck I can smoke?!" the man she was speaking to replied, blowing a puff of his cigarette in her face, causing her to cough and yell. "You're adding to the pollution in this already polluted city, man," the female's male companion added, wearing about the same type of clothing. He talked with a weird slur which sounded like he was some kind of hallucinogen. Erik looked at the smoking male a little more closely, finding certain details about him that seemed oddly familiar. Combed back blond hair, a blue jacket, and a pair of green colored pants. The situation seemed to escalate a little more, causing others around the disturbance to look in disgust. Erik decided it was time to move in as he motioned the two rookies behind him to follow him into the crowd. The female brushed the smoke away and raised a pointed finger at the culprit. "Yeah! So, don't cramp our style at this funky outing of ours!" Her eyes were partially red, just like her male friend, and by their clothing, they seemed to be those so-called "hippies" Erik has heard about. "Go fuck your style!" the smoking man retorted, pointing a finger back at the pair. "I have just had a fucking shit week, so don't tell me how I can ruin this fucking outing of yours!" "Could you please watch your language, I have a young child here," another female pointed out, holding her child by the shoulders, keeping him back from the raging man. "Who the fuck cares about what your kid hears?!" the guilty man yelled, raising both of his hands into the air. "He's bound to hear this at school anyway! Fuck! Why the hell is everyone on my fucking case?! Can't a man just get some fucking relief?!" "By golly!" the mother said as she blocked the words from reaching her child's ear as she covered them, then stormed away from the spot. Other people were starting to get annoyed with the smoking man, who was about to yell at each and everyone of them. 'His hand is shaking,' Erik noted to himself, watching as the man getting yelled at from all sides, with no where to go. The man looked more and more familiar as him and his team slowly shuffled through the crowd. A path seemed to open for them as the crowd noticed their presence. Even some of the people yelling at the smoking man stopped yelling to let them pass, watching them intently as the smoking man yelled at another couple, almost making the woman cry. He spun around to almost yell at the people behind him when he noticed Erik, Janus, and Sanchez watching him. When the man spun around, the familiarity struck Erik like a baseball bat. Minus his unshaven look, a few white hairs, a change in clothing, the man was the same one whom he met a few years back. "What seems to be the problem here?" Erik asked the crowd, looking around with his Mako eyes, watching as eyes quickly darting away before making contact with his. Everyone seemed to remain silent for a second before an elderly man spoke up. "That man over there was causing a disturbance by smoking," the elderly man answered with a whine, raising his walking stick and pointing it at the man with the cigarette. "Take him away!" Erik then glanced over to the smoking man, who tried to keep his composure as his hand started to shake even more violently. Knowing the man from before, it would be a good idea to calm him before he went into a panicked rage. Raising his visor to show the hidden part of his face, he stared at the accused, trying to make him remember who he was. Instead, his hand started to shake more violently as his eyes darted from left to right, looking for a way out. The cigarette nearly fell out of his hand if it wasn't for him bringing it up to inhale another breath of nicotine. "Is that so? Is the elderly man right, sir?" Erik falsely implied, looking straight into the eyes of the accused. The accused looked back at him with fright in his eyes, pausing for a moment as he stared back, then his expression faded to a calmer state as he seemed to recognize Erik. "No shit I'm smoking!" exclaimed the man, blowing out a puff of smoke into the air. "The last time I was here, there wasn't any fucking no-smoking rule!" He stood with a arrogant posture, which was typical of Erik's old friend. "Sir, why don't you follow me," Erik held out his hand, pointing in a direction away from the crowd. "You can smoke over there, away from these people." He looked to where his finger pointed, and found that a path had cleared up for them. "I guess I will then, away from these fucking son-of-a-bitches!" exclaimed the man as he followed the direction of Erik's hand. "Take the bastard away!" a person yelled from behind Erik as he just turned to follow his familiar companion. Turning his head back to the source of the voice, he stared deeply into the person's eyes, almost making him cringe back in fright. "Don't tell me how to do my job." Erik switched his line of sight to Janus and Sanchez, who both looked a little perplexed. "Sanchez," ordered Erik, "take Janus and continue on with the patrol. I'll catch up with you shortly." "But sir," Sanchez tried to protest, raising one of his eyebrow a little, "should I take the man to....." "That's an order, Third-class," Erik sharply cut him off, turning his back away from them and started to walk with the accused. He hated pulling rank on people, but this had to be done by only him. Hearing a muffled acknowledgement, then a quiet whisper, he picked up his pace to walk beside the smoking man. The SOLDIER then switched off his comm system so that no one could his conversation. "It's nice to see you again, Cid," Erik announced once they were out of view of the crowd, patting his old friend on the shoulder. A giant relief appeared on his friend's face as he gave Erik the biggest hug he has ever received. "No shit it's been a long fucking time!" loudly exclaimed Cid, holding Erik in the friendly hug for another second before releasing him. Cid took another puff of his cigarette before throwing it onto the ground and crushing it with his boot. "I thought I was going to be in deep shit when I saw the three of you walking toward me." It made him feel a lot better about today as he watched his long-time friend and mentor standing in front of him. "You're lucky it wasn't anyone else," Erik consoled Cid, quickly darting his eyes as he watched for his patrol group. The crowd barely even took notice of them as their eyes converged on the main stage with the two young superstars singing. They paused for a moment to listen to the music, then turned back to face each other. "Anyway," Erik started, "why are you in Midgar?" "I.....," Cid dragged on, like he was thinking of a reason in being here, "needed a break from staring at that fucking failure of a space rocket." Cid didn't seem very comfortable about talking about that topic, so Erik decided to change the topic. "So, how's Shera doing?" Erik quickly said, then realizing that this wasn't a hot topic to talk with Cid about. His face turned from a nervous look to one of almost pure rage. "You mean that bitch?" Cid retorted with a loud voice, getting a few looks here and there. "How the fuck should I know?" He paused for a moment to try to think of something else to say, but his facial expression seemed to calm as he produced a neutral face. "I guess she's doing alright," he calmly replied, blinking rapidly then as his eyes started to wander off to the hidden skies. "I thought you just left Rocket Town for....." Erik asked. 'He just said he only needed a break,' he thought to himself, 'but why Cid would seem do distant about Shera....unless....' "When was the last time you saw her?" Cid paused again, then began with his furious answers again. "I fucking saw her yesterday, so what the fuck are you getting at?" Cid retorted with an angry look. He didn't seem very honest with Erik as he noticed his hand beginning to twitch again. "You're lying, Cid." "And how the fuck can you see that?!" his old friend replied, nervously lifting his cigarette to his lips, taking a long drag. Erik quickly glanced down at his left hand, which twitched slightly, then back at Cid's glaring face. "You're hand is twitching again." "Maybe I have some fucking disease or some other shit like that!" Cid retorted, raising his hands in the air, making a scene. "You don't get diseases, Cid," rebutted Erik, still talking to him in a friendly tone. "It's not like you because your hand stopped trembling when you first recognized me." This evoked an odd response to Cid as he stared angrily at Erik, then took a deep breathe and closed his eyes, like he just lost. "I haven't been in Rocket Town for nearly two months, Erik. You should know that, right?" Cid calmly replied as he opened his eyes again. Erik gave him a blank look. "Remember, when I stole the Darkgod with whatever that bitch's name was?" "Yeah, well, I was in the hospital when it happened," Erik truthfully told, remembering the doctors working on the wound Sephiroth gave him. "So, let's just say I didn't hear about it." Erik knew that there was a warrant out for Cid, but he would never arrest a friend, no matter how serious the crime was. That was the only rule Erik abided by outside of SOLDIER: Friends are more important than your job. "Then why would you come out of your hiding spot and head for Shinra?" "Well....." Cid's hand started to twitch again and sweat began to trickle down his face as his eyes darted back and forth again. Erik has never seen Cid this nervous before, even when late President Shinra came to check up on the Space Program. "You know about the kidnapping of Ariana Shinra?" he quietly whispered, trying to hide his voice from being heard. "You were involved in that?!" Erik exclaimed, then covering his mouth as the surprise got hold of him. This was something he would never expect Cid to do. "Kidnapping Ariana Shinra....." "I won't tell you how or what was involved....but....well....I....um....." This time Cid paused for an extremely long time, like he didn't know how to say what he wanted. "I....kinda....well....killed her," Cid mumbled even lower, but to the level that only Erik could hear. "Holy shit, Cid!" Erik swore for the first time since he got into SOLDIER. "Do you know what kinda of shit you can get into?" exclaimed Erik in a quiet voice, trying to hold down an even greater response in being surprised. "She's the vice-president and Rufus'....." "Don't you think I fucking know that!" Cid interjected, "I didn't mean too! Just that she was pissing the shit outta me. She even made fun of Shera....but that's not the point! What the fuck am I suppose to do now?" Erik looked at him for a long period of time before he even began to reply to Cid. "I don't know, Cid. I won't turn you in, well, cuz....." Erik paused think of a good reason, then decided on what to say. "She was a bitch anyway." Both putting on a grin, Cid slapped him on the shoulder and they started to laugh out loud. Recovering from their laughter, Erik looked around to catch a glimpse of his patrol coming by. Feeling a little nervous, Erik reached under his SOLDIER armor and picked something out of his pouch. Grabbing Cid's hand, he placed in it and said, "Go to my place, I'll meet with you there later tonight." Opening his hand, Cid lifted a key up and stared at it for a quick moment. "I don't want to get you involved, Erik. This is serious," Cid then replied seriously for the first time. "That doesn't matter," Erik answered back, checking his armor like it had paper stuck all over it. Finding a piece on the artificial grass, he whipped out a pen and started to write, then handed it to Cid. "Get a taxi and head to this address." "Erik....." "Go Cid. I'll see you later." "Thanks, Erik." Cid didn't seem to know what else to say. "I'll see you later." With that, his friend gave a friendly salute and walked off in the direction of the exit. Erik, on the other hand, took a deep breathe and started to walk through the crowd, heading for his patrol unit. In a few short moments, he met up with Janus and Sanchez, who looked the same as they did when he left them. "You got lost, sir?" humored Sanchez, grinning under his tinted visor. "Nah," countered Erik with a smile, "Just took a break and actually listened to the music." He knew that they could have no knowledge of his past relation with Cid, as it may get him into some deep trouble. Just letting Cid, go even if he didn't know him, would get him in enough trouble as is. "But now, let's get on with the patrol, my feet are starting to hurt from standing still." Taking lead of the patrol again, Erik followed the same route he had been following for almost two hours. 'Only two more hours,' Erik quietly whined to himself, taking a deep breathe in order to keep himself from falling asleep on his feet. The only interesting occurrence today was the appearance of Cid Highwind. 'Then off to guard duty for the President," he continued in his head like he was talking to himself. 'How much more boring can one's day get?' Time: 5:57pm The concert ended nearly six hours ago, getting only three hours to break before Erik, Claire, Janus, Calvin, and Michael they arrived at Sector Eight, where Shinra Circle was located. Erik didn't do much during that break: take a shower, eat a wholesome meal, watched some news, and basically mundane, everyday things like every one else did. The only two things he did that some of the others didn't do was spend time with Claire and make a call back to his place. Fortunately, Cid was there and he said that everything was all right. Erik worried about his friend Cid, but there wasn't much he could do for him until after their guard dog duty for the president. It wasn't that it was because he didn't like the president personally, but the sole fact that to place a dozen of highly trained SOLDIER units just for show was a waste of effort and pride. Some of the people he trained with, and all who are now under his rank, were standing at the front of the dais, proudly displaying the power of Shinra's SOLDIER units. Taking another quick look around the dais, he found that there were already hundreds of thousands of citizens gathered around the ever-so-popular Shinra Circle, either watching the main stage or having their eyes glued on the massive screen located on the side of Shinra Tower as well as the reactors. Or the hundreds of others screen located around the city. Others watched the dais itself, staring at the elaborate display ahead of them. Behind a metallic gray podium, President Rufus stood tall, looking over the crowd with a neutral look on his face. Around the president was his five personal bodyguards: the Turks. Tseng, Rude, Elena, Lars, and Vladimir. They stood in a semi-circle behind him, staring intensely at the crowd, looking for potential aggressors to their superior. Erik didn't like the job the Turks had to do: kidnapping, blackmail, and murder, but just being able to move around was sure better than guard duty. "I guess Rufus doesn't want anyone to miss his speech," commented Claire from his right. With a deep purple suit of SOLDIER armor, she was also one of the few that were allowed customized armor color. Her pony-tailed hair jutted out from under her helmet, resting limply around the middle of her back. The only visible part of her natural self was her mouth, which was not covered by the SOLDIER helmet. Janus and Michael stood at Erik's left while Calvin took the position on Claire's right. "Yeah, I think even the people in Kalm can see this," noted Calvin, trying to stifle his urge to grin. "I think he wanted to even wake the dead so that they would see his speech," added Michael, who lost his self control and let himself grin. Normally, Erik would give him a harsh look, but his mind was immersed in another, more overwhelming though as he watched Claire's lips move. He hasn't seen her face for almost four hours, not even noticing that he missed her. But once he saw her after the concert, Erik knew that his heart longed just to see her. He loved to watch her lips, as it was the only thing he could truly see of her. Sometimes, he wouldn't even hear what she was saying to him. It reminded him of the first time she kissed him, when Sephiroth gave him a vicious slash across his chest. Sephiroth. The re-appearance of the presumably-dead Sephiroth lingered in the minds of all who knew about his existence, even during a time like this. He hasn't been seen in almost three months, and as time passed, it seemed to even slip the mind of President Rufus. "Erik?" Claire's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Are you still with us here?" "Yeah." A simple reply was all he decided to give, trying to lead her away from the thoughts in his head. There was just so many things to worry about at the moment: Cid, Sephiroth, Rufus. Rufus. Erik looked down to his right forearm and pressed a button, revealing a small digital display. 18:00, almost time for the president's speech to start. Looking back up, he saw the screen across Midgar Tower flicker, then the face of President Rufus appeared, looking straight back at Erik like he was having a one-on-one conversation with this superior. 'Just another twenty minute speech,' Erik thought to himself, stretching his neck in preparation for the long speech, 'then after another twenty minute wait, and it should be all over." Moving every muscle in his body just a bit so he won't get a cramp during the Rufus' address to Midgar, Erik waited for the president to speak. [End of Part 1 for this post] _________________________________________________________ DO YOU YAHOO!? Get your free a yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com -------=========================+++++=========================------- This note comes from: The MultiVersal Dreams BBS @ (209) 754-5851 ----======= WWIV 4.24a via the PPP Project Software =======---- --------=========+++=========-------- Subject: TOM: The poison that wasnt Date: Sun, 29 Nov 98 22:40:57 (PST) From: KKid1 a aol.com Reply-To: "MIDGAR" To: "Multiple Recipients of Mailing List MIDGAR" Month 2 Day 9, late evening Sector 3 Pharmacy "That'll be 100 gil" The clerk gave Argoulor the potent antidote over the counter, "You keep a snake or something?" He asked cheerfully, "No, It's... a gift for a friend," "A venom antidote? Isn't that a bit strange of a gift?" Argoulor thought, "It's a long story, but I think she'll get the message." "If you say so," the clerk responded, "Bye." Argoulor grinned and left before the clerk realized he didn't pay. "Now, I have the package, I just need to figure out how to deliver it." Argoulor slowly moved down the street trying to figure out an opportunity to get at Kytira's food. He knew that as first class, she was probably well off and most likely ate out often. "Okay, all I need to do is taint the food in the resteraunts." He stared down the road "Dammit, they're all resteraunts!" The antidote he bought was potent, and a single drop could neturalize a large amount of almost any known poison, "I could just taint all of SOLDIER's field rations, but that could take weeks for her to actually get a bite, and it would be so diluted, it might not have any more effect than a bitter taste." He continued down the road, ARG! This seemed like such a perfect plan!" Frustrated, Argoulor stalked down the street, "There has to be some way to get at her next meal..." A dull throbbing emerged in his temples, "All this thinking is getting to me," he muttered, and lent against a wall to rest, but the throbbing continued, "What the hell is this?" He spat as his vision began to blur and his mind drifted back to Zeng, "That damn shock of his must've screwed me up worse than I thought," His vision cleared and he found himself looking up at the sign of a resteraunt. He found himself looking over to his side and seeing an incredibly beautiful woman, "What the hell?" he said. As his eyes focused, he realized just who the woman he was looking at, "KYTRIA! WHAT AM I DOING WITH HER ON MY ARM?!" He suddenly returned to his body and stared about at his surroundings, all the pedestrians were staring at him. "What are YOU looking at?" He barked as he stormed off, "The Wutai Diner... I know that place. It's time for diner." The Wutai Diner Argoulor snuck in the back door and tapped the chef on the shoulder, "Excuse me sir, I need to talk to you." "What?" The chef was baffled "Just come outside for a minute," "Okay..." The last thing the chef saw before sunrise was the butt of Argoulors gun being smashed into his face. Seconds later, the chef returned, and in the busy kitchen, no one noticed that he now wore sunglasses, or that he had lost considerable weight. "Now!" The chef announced, "we begin!" He quickly slapped the meals together as he recieved the order, dripping a bit of antidote into each meal and waiting for some sign of Kytira. Finally, a waiter threw the doors open in a near rage. "Theres a serios bitch at table 10, she threatened to pull my guts out and string them over the sign outside." "Thats her," he mumbled, trying to restrain his delight, "Give me the order from table 10!" he cried, "I have something special in mind for that lovely couple." he grinned as he began to prepaire the meal "Adamantai ribs and Razorweed salad," he shouted out-loud "with a tiny touch of extra spices" He whispered as he emptied the bottle into the two meals. "Well, my friends" he said to the rest "I must use the little cooks room," and with that, he quickly abandoned the resteraunt/ -------=========================+++++=========================------- This note comes from: The MultiVersal Dreams BBS @ (209) 754-5851 ----======= WWIV 4.24a via the PPP Project Software =======---- --------=========+++=========-------- Subject: ToM: New Recruits Date: Tue, 01 Dec 98 13:27:37 (PST) From: "Quicksilver X" Reply-To: "MIDGAR" To: "Multiple Recipients of Mailing List MIDGAR" ---------- Date: July 9th, 2000 Time: 1:15 p.m. Place: Sector 1, Apartment Building "... So, um, what now?" Jairen shot a quick glance over at Tifa. She was looking at him, waiting for his response. He could see the indecision in her face. "We have to discuss it first," he answered, returning his attention to Matrim. "Could we have a few moments, alone?" "Oh, sure," Matrim replied, pushing himself away from the wall. "We'll be out in the hall." "I don't trust him," Adam said, glaring at Jairen again, as Natalie stood up off his lap. "You shouldn't either. I mean, this is your apartment. Who knows what he might steal..." "Yeah, well," Matrim said, walking to the door, "unlike you, I have a little more faith in him that you'd think. Let's go." "Matrim..." "We'll be out in the hall, Adam. All of us." Annoyance flowed in his words, punctuating their meaning. Adam slowly stood from the La-Z-Boy, not taking his eyes off of Jairen. Muttering something to himself, he walked out the door which Matrim held open. Natalie followed him, and Matrim exited last, pulling the door shut behind him. Tifa turned towards him. "What do you think?" "I think I'm gonna have to kick the crap outta that Adam guy, before he kicks it outta me." "Jairen?! I mean seriously! About them joining AVALANCHE?" Jairen grinned, and the dull orange in his eyes was replaced with the light yellow that was characteristic of his happiness. He was starting to enjoy annoying her. "Seriously?" "Seriously." "I think you know the answer as well as I do. In fact, you've already made your decision. You just aren't admitting it." "But I want your opinion on the matter," Tifa said. "I mean, why else do I keep you around?" "Ouch," Jairen said, feigning a wound to his kidney. "And the ref takes away two points for that low blow." Tifa giggled, her laugh floating through the air like a chiming bell. "Then that makes us even." Jairen grinned. "But honestly, I agree with you. You obviously trust them. I mean, why else would you tell them that AVALANCHE is regrouping and recruiting? Or how about telling them that our new base is in the church?" "I didn't tell them what church we're in." "But still, if you thought they were Shinra spies, you wouldn't have given them that little piece of information. All Shinra has to know is that our base is a church, and they'll order a search of all the churches in Midgar. How many is that? Ten? Twenty? It won't take them long to find us, that's for sure." "So I trust them. Is that wrong?" "No," Jairen shook his head, "it's good. If you trust them, maybe they'll trust you in return, if they don't trust you." "That sounds like some good advice," Tifa replied. "Maybe you should take a helping of it for yourself." "What do you mean?" "Adam. You should trust him more. Stop all that macho strutting, and let the guy prove himself to you. I mean, I gave you a chance, didn't I?" Jairen started remembering back, back to the time when they'd first met: 7th Heaven bar, two months ago... ::FLASH:: He'd just arrived in the city, worn from his journey. His panther, Mako, stood faithfully by his side. His father had been captured by Shinra. To get him back, he'd need some help. Specifically, the help of a little rebel group called AVALANCHE. He knew, through word of mouth, that they operated somewhere in the slums. He'd been asking around for a few hours, getting him nowhere. Finally, he found himself at the steps of a bar, somewhere in Sector 7. Leaving Mako outside, he walked up the stairs, pushing open the old-fashioned, saloon-style doors. A young woman stood behind the bar, polishing a glass. She looked up as he entered, her eyes squinting through the relative darkness of the bar. He stepped in, sitting at the table closest to the door. The woman called out to him, "What're ya drinkin'?" "Water," he said, his voice scratchy from the dust of the road. She frowned. "Paying customers only..." "I'll pay for it." She nodded, pouring him a tall glass of the clear liquid. She brought it to his table, setting the glass in front of him. He placed some gil on the table before reaching for the glass, bringing it to his lips and downing it all in three gulps. His thirst satisfied, he set the glass down and looked to the bar, only to find that the woman was not behind it, but rather still standing in front of him. "So," she said, reclaiming the glass from the table, "what brings you to the slums of Midgar?" "I'm looking for something," he replied. "A group called AVALANCHE." She flinched slightly, enough that he noticed it. "Why are you looking for them?" "I need their help with something. Heard they work somewhere around here..." The woman suddenly became a flurry of an attack, knocking him over in his chair. He hit the floor, hard, and tried to rise to defend himself. He was pushed back to the floor as the woman picked up another chair and placed it over his chest before sitting on it, pinning him. The bar between the legs of the chair pressed tightly against his throat. "Okay," the woman asked, her face growing red, "who do you work for? Shinra? So help me, I'll kill you..." ::FLASH:: "We didn't meet on the best of terms," Tifa said, pulling him closer, "but somewhere, between then and now, we worked it out." "True," Jairen smiled, kissing her quickly. "I guess I shouldn't be so mistrustful of Adam." Tifa smiled. "So we let them join, right?" "You're the boss. It's your call." Tifa rose from the couch, walking over to the door. She knocked on it three times, hoping that the hall's occupants would get the message. The door opened, and Matrim entered, followed by Natalie, and finally by Adam. The door was reclosed, and the three friends returned to their former positions. "So," Matrim asked, a slight nervousness running through his words, "what's the verdict?" "Well," Tifa said, "we've talked about it, and even though we don't know much about you, we've decided that, if you want to, you may join AVALANCHE." "But," Jairen added, standing beside Tifa, "remember that AVALANCHE is not about glory and glamour. It is about hard work, dedication to the cause, and the belief that ordinary people can make a difference in a world of tyranny." "So," Tifa said, nodding at Jairen's words, "the question comes to you: Will you join us?" ---------- OOG: Finally, I posted! It's been so long since I've posted a story. Standard excuses as most have: college is really time-consuming, along with extra-curricular activities (yes, I have a little bit of a life outside this IF. Not much, but a little bit) and studying (finals next week). This is the last storyline I could remember having Jairen in. So, if I'm still on track, and Matrim, Adam, and Natalie want to join AVALANCHE, I guess I just recruited them. Assuming they accept the invite... Anyways, after they receive an answer, I'd like to regroup AVALANCHE at the church. We should be ready for any major happenings or convenient plot twists that may happen (hint,hint, anyone who wants to be involved with the AVALANCHE storyline). QSX ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com -------=========================+++++=========================------- This note comes from: The MultiVersal Dreams BBS @ (209) 754-5851 ----======= WWIV 4.24a via the PPP Project Software =======---- --------=========+++=========-------- Subject: Reconsidering... Date: Thu, 03 Dec 98 17:23:13 (PST) From: trevor alexander Reply-To: "MIDGAR" To: "Multiple Recipients of Mailing List MIDGAR" Place: outside Diamond Saucer in front of stage "Robots?" Armada asked. He looked up at Rufus and the Turks. They stood looking at the robots who were approaching. Echo studied the robots. "We gotta either help them or get out of here," Armada said to Echo. The screams from the crowd were beginning to drown out his voice. Echo kneeled and Armada hopped on to the saddle. He took off in the direction of the robots. "Where are you going?" Armada asked. Echo warked and nodded in the direction of Sector 1. "Not bad, Echo," Armada replied. "If we can find out where they came from, we'll be sure to get a night pass." Echo weaved down the streets and corridors with ease. One of the robots noticed them. It targeted them through the crosshairs in its vision, making sure it would be a kill-shot. It fired off a laser blast. Echo turned a corner and the laser blew a hole in the intersection that they would have crossed. Armada looked behing him and saw the smoking hole. "Shit, we've been spotted and it doesn't look like like we're welcome." Echo put his head down low and he began to speed up. Armada looked up at the sky. The robot was watching their every move. A laser blast fired directly towards them. "Stop!" Armada yelled Echo slammed his claws down but couldn't get any grip on the cobblestone road. The laser hit directly in front of them. Echo jumped at the last second and flew through the fire. Armada flew off the saddle and flew through the wall of a building in front of them. Echo hit the wall as well and flew through. Everything went black. He rolled over. Armada opened his eyes. The wall had a large hole through it. The ground was smouldering outside where the laser blast had hit. Echo was sitting beside him, either unconscious or sleeping. He looked around. It appeared that they had landed in an appartment building. "Echo, wake up," he said. The bird flinched and opened his eyes. "Playing turtle, eh?" Echo shook his head to ruffle his feathers. "You're still the toughest bird I know," Armada added, getting up. He dusted himself off. The soot and dust fell off him and all over the floor. He turned around and saw two people standing in front of him. His eyes were adjusting to the darkness. Two people stood in front of him. He could tell it was a man and a woman. They remained standing in the darkness. "What should we do with these two, Jairen?" the woman asked. "I got an idea," the man, Jairen, replied. Armada took a step back and drew his sword. Echo ruffled his feathers. They prepared for a fight. "So, you want to fight?" the man said. "Jairen, that's not what I meant," the woman said. "We aren't Shinra," Armada said. "We were almost killed by the robots. Besides, it's me, Armada. Remember, Jairen?" "Yeah. So? That's your acquittal?" the man replied. "I'm entered in the tournament, so all I want to do is get some rest," Armada said. "Well, you've found the right people," the woman replied. (OOG: I thought I'd take your suggestions into account, QSX. Besides, it works a little better if they know each other. Jairen, it's your call as to when they go to the church. Whenever you can return...) -------=========================+++++=========================------- This note comes from: The MultiVersal Dreams BBS @ (209) 754-5851 ----======= WWIV 4.24a via the PPP Project Software =======---- --------=========+++=========-------- Subject: ToM: Stuck in a Cell Date: Mon, 07 Dec 98 23:47:49 (PST) From: "cap'n mike" Reply-To: "MIDGAR" To: "Multiple Recipients of Mailing List MIDGAR" July 9, 2000 9:00 Am Sector 1 Stadium, monster containment area It was fuzzy, like a bad dream. The last thing he knew, he was in the train graveyard, in the slums. Now, he couldn't tell where he was, it was all too dark. Slowly, Alexander's senses came back to him. First was taste. His mouth was sticky and dry, as if he had been breathing heavily for a long time. Licking the inside of his mouth, he let the saliva flow and moisten his parched throat. An unmistacable urge of hunger and thirst came over him. Soon, he could feel around him. Cold metal contasted by a warm breeze blowing through the area. Was Alexander dead? Was this what the afterlife felt like. He had never suspected the lifestream to be so warm and comforting, yet so cold a foreboding at the same time. Maybe his other sense would tell him the rest of the story. Hearing and sent hit Alexander like a ton of bricks. The musty oder of beasts of all varieties permiated the air around him. At first it made him cough and gag, but, like your own house, he quickly got used to the smell. The sound gave him more clues. It sounded like a myriad of monsters of all sorts. Everything from a roaring of anger and rage, to a low mournful lamenting could be heard echoing throughout wherever this place was. Every now and then, and electrical buzzing could also be heard in the backround. The sense that doesn't lie, the teller of your present, and the one to guide you through your days finally started coming back to Alexander. His sight was returning slowly, only fuzzy images could be made out. It looked, however, like there were bars in front of him, like some sort of cage. This enfuriated him. "An animal!" he roared. "I'm being treated like some sort of animal.!?!?" He had known that his appearance would make him seem like a monster to anyone. On the inside though he was gentle and calm. He was quite civilized in fact. ""I'm being caged up like some sort of animal!?!? I'm a person just like everyone else, I do not deserve to be locked up like this!" With blinding fury, Alexander rushed at the bars, prepared to rip them apart. Immediately as he grabbed them, electricity surged through his body, knocking him backwards. This only made him angrier, and with all his force he clawed at the bars. Sparks flew as his body withstood all the torture, but the rush of rage and adrenaline only made Alexander oblivious to what was going on around him. With his body quickly loosing the battle against the electrified cage, Alexander let go and slumped on the floor. His instinct to survive outweighed his resentment toward being locked up. He sat on the ground and scowled angrily at the bars. Whoever did this was going to pay. He didn't care if he tried to be a pacifist, because he learned that pacifism and reasoning doesn't work. If you try and reason with someone and they still have there heart set on eliminating you, they will. The trick is to get rid of them, before they get rid of you. Now that he could see better, Alexander took a look throughout what appeared to be a monster zoo. There were small cages and large cages housing everything from a little furry white rabbit, to a hulking red dragon, and him. Some of them were electrified, and others did a quite good job just the way they were, containing their apparently docile residents. Spanning from wall to wall, he realized the true size of this place. It was a gargantuan complex, maybe a few hundred meters across. Dim lights hung from the ceiling providing little light. Obviously this place was made to diminish the wills of its occupants, or to enfuriate them enough to make them go berserk. It was an odd zoo if it was one. There were price tags hanging from the cages and it looked like there were two people walking around looking at the cages. Occasionally one of them would stop and the other would explain something-Alexander could only guess this was the situation, because nothing could be heard over the awful din. Alexander kept his eye on these two figures. He couldn't make out what they looked like yet, because of the lighting, but this pair perked his interest. Taking his eyes off them for a minute, he noticed that someone had left food in this cage for him. Upon further inspection, it was made known that the food was specifically a loaf of stale bread, a hunk of raw meat, and a bucket of water (most undoubtedly unsanitary). Growling to himself he just mummbled, "First I'm caged like an animal, now I'm fed like an animal." It seemed like now was not the time to argue about the quality of his lovely cuisine, so he chowed down on the bread and slurped up the bucket of water. It tasted awful. Feeling the all too familiar fire rage up in his stomach again, Alexander burst forth with a ball of fire, cooking the meet to a lovely shade of charred black. He shrugged, at least it was cooked now. He hungrily feasted on his delicacy of meat. Charred on the outside and almost not cooked what so ever on the inside. You can't a hunk of meat like this just anywhere. The two people that had been looking around before quicklt had their interests purked by this sudden spurt of flames. As they approached, Alexander could finally make out what they looked like. One was a short, fat man. He was well dressed in a suit and tie, with a top hat and monicle. The other was tall and thin, wearing an outfit that made him look like a department store clerk. The fat man spoke, "Ooooooh! This one breathes fire. I like him, but he seems a bit too tame, sitting there chomping on his meal." The tall man, looking tired and worn out, like he had been showing this moron monsters for the past three hours quickly spoke up, obviously wanting to convince this man to buy something. "Oh no, sir, you're mistaken. This one was brought in early this morning. I have reports that he has a very bad temper. Ropped a man limb from limb as I recall. The reason he is so calm is because he was stunned, and then heavily drugged to make sure he wouldn't have another outburst again." The fat man adjusted his monicle and took a closer look, frowning. "I don't know, he just doesn'y seem like championship material." "Rest asured, sir, he is a disaster waiting to happen and..." At this point Alexander broke in. "So, you my friend are the one who was responsible for getting me in this cage?" Both men, jumped back, obviously startled by the fact that this monster could talk. "Why, yes. I was responsible for getting you hauled into this cage." Alexander gave a wide grin. Now that he changed his creed from pacifism to kill or be killed, his next few actions would be justified. In a blinding flash, he lashed out and reached through the cage, putting a large claw mark in the tall man's chest. In the next instant, Alexander was thrown back by the force of the elecricity. "I'll take him!" the fat man chimed in. "Good." said the now bleeding tall man. "He's 10,000 gil. Now, will you be a dear and go fetch the paramedics." -------=========================+++++=========================------- This note comes from: The MultiVersal Dreams BBS @ (209) 754-5851 ----======= WWIV 4.24a via the PPP Project Software =======---- --------=========+++=========-------- Subject: ToM: A dish to die for... or from..." Date: Sat, 12 Dec 98 00:58:28 (PST) From: Daly Reply-To: "MIDGAR" To: "Multiple Recipients of Mailing List MIDGAR" "A dish to die for... or from..." [OOG: Well, since my exams are done with, I should get the post done. The title sounds a bit like my cooking. ^_~ Anyway... ::whips out a flashing yield sign:: Very mild language warning.] *** Time: Late evening. Place: Sector 4 upper plate, The Wutai Diner "That stupid waiter pisses me off," Kytira muttered aloud, her voice blending in with the mellow background music as she set the half-full iced tea back onto the table. She glanced over at Zeng, who was shaking his head disapprovingly. "What?" Kytira asked, even though her question was unnecessary and it was quite obvious Zeng definitely had something to say about her little outburst. "I'm beginning to think that pretty much everything sets you off," he replied, his voice and face expression perfectly serious. Kytira frowned, "Well, I had good reasons," she replied stubbornly. "And they were...?" Casually leaning back in her seat and folding her arms defensively across her chest, Kytira listed off the waiter's crimes. "First of all, he pre-judged me on one action. How the hell was I supposed to know that he pulled the chair back too far? And just because I landed flat on my ass, he laughed at me and started to look down at me. Basically, I think of him as an overall bastard, a pompous and arrogant asshole who should be dragged out to the streets and shot." Kytira rambled on, her eyes narrowing to an icy gaze. "I'd do the honors but it'd be a waste of a bullet and my energy in pulling the trigger." Zeng's face remained perfectly serious as he thought Kytira's words over as she continued on, "Falling out of a chair is embarrassing enough, he didn't have to laugh." Seconds after her statement, Zeng was restraining himself from snickering. Kytira frowned, rolling her eyes back. "It wasn't that funny," she said, leaning her cheek against her fist. She sighed. "Besides, I just needed an easy target to let my stress out at." "What he did, it was an accident." "It hurt like hell," she replied callously. "Plus if would've been nice if he had at least helped me up instead just standing there and laughing like the idiot he is." "Don't you think giving him a death threat is a bit much?" Kytira scowled as she raised an eyebrow at him. "Who's side are you on anyway?? The waiter's??" Zeng stared at her strangely then glanced away, sighing, knowing he shouldn't even bother with trying to get her to see his perspective. "You get mad too easily." She shrugged, "Well, with all that's happened today, can you blame me?" Zeng nodded understandingly as Kytira took her eyes away from him to observe the restaurant for a moment, letting go of the napkin she was wringing in her hands. A remarkable fountain of Leviathan with water spouting from its mouth stood majestically nearby the entrance immediately caught her attention. 'I've seen that before...' she thought to herself. 'But where? Was it in Wutai?' Her thoughts falling on her homeland, it eventually led to her late family. She swallowed hard, trying to push aside the lump forming in her throat. Kytira's gaze then drifted to the table and a dish full of a familiar looking pile of green vegetable crossed into her line of vision. She glanced up to see the same waiter she had previously threatened, setting her order in front of her. "A razorweed salad for the lady," he said flatly, not at all forgetting Kytira's death threat. He lifted a larger dish off of the platter set on his other hand and placed that plate in front of Zeng and said in a kinder tone of voice, "And one order of Adamantai ribs, for you, sir." Kytira frowned and another discussion between herself and her conscience took place: 'Hmph, look at that. He's being nicer to Zeng.' 'Well,' Kytira heard herself think. 'Can you blame the guy? Zeng's not the one who threatened to yank the guy's guts out and use it like a garland for the sign.' The voice echoed softly in her mind as she shook her head upon hearing the words "Thank you." Realizing Zeng's voice had brought her back to reality, she blinked several times, raised her head in his direction and Zeng threw an accusing look to her. She lowered her head, slightly ashamed. Kytira knew she'd hate doing what she was about to do, but felt she had to do it anyway. In a small voice, before the waiter could leave, Kytira quickly apologized for threatening to "pull his guts out and string it over the sign outside." The waiter nodded carelessly then left. Needless to say, Kytira's apology did not have a response she had hoped for. 'He could've at least said something,' Kytira thought to herself, picking up the fork and glancing over at Zeng, who was already eating. Forking up a small piece of the razorweed salad and bringing it to her mouth, she thought, 'I apologized... it still doesn't make much of a difference.' Her lips formed a thin smile as she swallowed the small portion of food. 'I still want to smash the waiter's face in.' She glanced at over at Zeng again and a realization came to mind. "Zeng, you still didn't tell me why--" Kytira started then suddenly came to a halt and her eyes widened. A strange feeling was beginning to overwhelm her. The silver fork dropped from her hand and back onto the plate with a clink as a stinging sensation washed all over her body, feeling as though someone had spritzed a powerful acid on her that was quickly and painfully eating away at her flesh. She closed her eyes tightly, trying to shake it off. The feeling felt so familiar... painfully familiar. The thoughts faded from her mind as the agitation increased to the point of being extremely torturous and getting worse with each second. Kytira shook her head again, leaned forward to place both elbows on the table and grasped her head in agony, her hands squeezing bunches of her hair as she clenched her teeth tightly. Zeng stared at her strangely and alarmed. "Kytira? Are you okay?" No answer was yet given. The color drained out of her face as she exhaled slowly. Tilting her head up to gaze at him, she felt a sudden rush of dizziness take over. "Uh, yeah...," she lied feebly, coughing in between, forcing herself to smile while trying desperately to focus her eyes on his face. "I-I'm alright." Zeng wasn't convinced though. Kytira's face was too pale to be healthy or normal and she held a pained look, poorly disguised with a fake smile. "Are you sure?" He asked. "You don't--" He cut himself short as her eyes widened. Kytira leaned forward, crossing her left arm over her stomach and bringing her right fist to her chest as her pain become quite evident. Her throat was sore and it seemed to be closing up on her and it held a funny taste at the back. She felt like her stomach was being sucked inside out and her chest held an inferno deep inside, growing with each second as it inched its way to its explosion as it tightened, forcing the breath out of her lungs. A sharp pain suddenly pricked her side and she gasped, bringing her hands to tightly grasp the edge of the table, her nails clawing violently at the tablecloth. Closing her eyes, Kytira bowed her head forward, shaking it, denying the pain encompassing her. Seconds passed and the fire within still remained. Despite her hopes of it going away, she knew that pretending it wasn't there wouldn't help, so she instead resolved to keeping her mind on something else other than the obvious and desperately tried to cocoon the pain away from all of her thoughts. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She instead whimpered softly in between her coughs. Zeng leaned from across the table to question her. "Kytira, are you choking???" he asked in a more firm, alarmed and demanding tone of voice. She didn't answer. She opened her eyes, tears flowing from the grey as her eyebrows arched up in a sad manner. Finally, she shook her head rapidly in response and blinked, not being able to hear another question he asked, only able watch his lips move rapidly to form words. "What????" She could hear herself ask the question, but not feel her body open its mouth to create the sound. For one, she was too busy coughing. And two, her mind was forced to concentrate on the pain convulsing throughout her entire body. "Kytira, what's wrong?" Zeng asked again, getting out his chair. He moved around the table to kneel down beside her. However, all Kytira could hear was dead silence and her own voice. Her coughing became more continuous and violent. Zeng's mouth was moving rapidly, shouting at her, knowing that there was something extremely wrong with her. The tears, the glazed and opaque look in her eyes, her face and her arms crossed protectively and painfully across her body had given it away. Anyone who had even one eye in his or her head could see that something was torturing her, still, no one in the restaurant with the exception of Zeng had noticed. She shook her head slowly. Zeng's mouth was spilling out words too fast for her eyes to keep up with. "What?" Zeng glanced over at the people in the restaurant, who hadn't even taken notice of what was going on. They were still mindlessly chattering away, not realizing one woman was in a pain unknown. He turned back to Kytira, pushing his anger towards the others in the restaurant and asked her several times to respond in anyway and say what's wrong. 'What the hell is he saying???!' Kytira thought. At this point, there was no doubt in Kytira's own mind that something had happened to her. She ignored the fact that her face was a mess, and tear-streaked as she slowly got out of her chair and took a clumsy placed step, her right palm placed against her head, fighting off the dizziness flooding her. 'Ughh...I have to get out of here...' Even though Zeng tried to force her to sit back down, she managed to gather enough of her remaining strength to push him out of the way. After one more step, a sharp pain stabbed her. It felt as though someone was trying to drive a wooden stake through her chest. She would've fallen to her knees if she hadn't reflexively grabbed onto the table for support. Another sharp pain speared her, choosing a different target area. She instinctively clutched her stomach and expressed her pain, though not in words. Her bloodcurdling scream pierced the harmony and the chatter that drifted in the restaurant. A few of the chefs' heads poked out from the kitchen to see who the source was as did everyone in the restaurant turned from his or her own dinner to stare at Kytira with ridiculously stupid expressions, completely unaware of the situation. "Is there a doctor in here???" Zeng shouted to the surrounding people before tending to Kytira as she slowly got up, using Zeng to her aid. "Kytira??? What's wrong??" 'What's going on?' she thought, the volume of her voice in her mind rising along with her hysteria, but her face unable to express her current emotion. She could only keep her mouth open as she screamed once more. Pain struck her again, only this time, more than she could bear. She shut her eyes tightly to stop the tears from escaping her eyes, but failed to hold them at bay. Several tears rapidly streamed down her face as the screaming remained. She then opened her eyes, struggling to breathe. Her entire body was trembling as her breaths came out torn, ragged and small. Slowly, she turned her head towards Zeng while furiously trying to blink back the tears to see his face. She couldn't though. To her, Zeng's face was a blurry mass and it felt like she was looking through a thick fog like substance, making everything move in slow motion. Knowing there was a chance she'd soon collapse, Zeng slid his arms behind her back and helped her lie down. Her head resting on his arm, he asked again, "Kytira, can you at least hear me?? Come on, say something!! What's wrong???" She didn't answer, her cries just got louder. Zeng smacked her swiftly across the face several times, trying to snap her out of whatever was wrong with her. A failure though. She was still shaking like mad, screaming and crying non-stop. Kytira's head lolled back as her gaze shifted all around the room. The lights trailed slowly as she lifted her gaze to the ceiling. 'Tails' seemed to trail behind everything as she turned to look away from them. Kytira's screaming died down because she had very little strength to surface into a sound, but her tears still managed to stream continuously down her face. Her bottom lip quivered inhumanly as her hand formed into a tight fist. 'What's happening to me...???' Her mind was thinking slower than normal, thoughts ran by her at a turtle-like speed. Zeng stared at her, confused, consternated and angry that no one in the restaurant, except for him, was doing anything to better Kytira's situation. He turned to them and shouted, "Someone call a hospital, NOW!!!" He turned back to Kytira, noticing that she was struggling even harder to breathe and her eyes were now half-open. Zeng could also feel her body beginning to go limp. Finally, Kytira felt her head go more in a haze, as the last of her energy, strength and thoughts were sucked from her at a high speed. Everything was shutting down on her. Ultimately, her vision completely blurred up and darkened. She finally gave in, letting the darkness surround her. *** [OOG: Hmmm, interesting... Both my chars are catching up on their Zzz's. ^_~ ::shrugs:: Ah well.] Da(i)ly Tra(i)n -_-;;;; -- ICQ: #18219424 AIM: DalyW7 Yahoo! Pager: Da_Ly To kiss a fool is bad. To let a fool kiss you is even worse. -------=========================+++++=========================------- This note comes from: The MultiVersal Dreams BBS @ (209) 754-5851 ----======= WWIV 4.24a via the PPP Project Software =======---- --------=========+++=========-------- Subject: Shadows of the Past-Part 1 Date: Sat, 12 Dec 98 15:34:43 (PST) From: Zep314 a aol.com Reply-To: "MIDGAR" To: "Multiple Recipients of Mailing List MIDGAR" [OOG:hmmmm, mybe this wouln't look so screwed up this time} "If you must hate something, then hate your destiny ...which is just like mine."=09=09 =09Midgar. Black and dire streets filled with malice, heresy, rapist, murderers, and putrid screams and cries; all saying in unison =93Where is = our savior? Are we to roam in vile realm of damnation till, like lemmings, we die?=94 =09Woe. Woe to all those virtues sheep who lie in the vipers pit, awaitin= g their cold pitiful death. Woe to those in Midgar. Most stay in the accur= sed city, claiming that there lies sanctuary with the protection of the Shinr= a. Shinra. They who cause the suffering of millions just to satisfy their lustful hunger for wealth and power. Some try to escape, to move from the barren city of desolation. Fewer attempt to fight the Shinra, sacrificing life and limb for a higher, nobler cause. Most call their tactics inauspicious, saying the damage they do is far more horrible then that of = the Shinra. Perhaps they are right. Or perhaps the means do justifies the en= ds. You cannot destroy evil without becoming evil yourself. Either way, withi= n this everlasting battle between those of authority and those who wish chan= ge, a select group of people have seen the true evil. The evil that is not powerful in government or wealth, but in its ability to bring raw, destruc= tive chaos onto the world. To bring harm where one thinks he is safe. To brin= g damnation, where one thinks he is in the sight of God. To bring utter annihilation, to those who don=92t even know of it=92s existence. For the= enemy in front of you is not the one that destroys you... =09It is the one lurking in the shadows that will bring about your end. = -------=========================+++++=========================------- This note comes from: The MultiVersal Dreams BBS @ (209) 754-5851 ----======= WWIV 4.24a via the PPP Project Software =======---- --------=========+++=========-------- Subject: ToM: Ramzi's Story Date: Tue, 15 Dec 98 21:46:25 (PST) From: Chapman Reply-To: "MIDGAR" To: "Multiple Recipients of Mailing List MIDGAR" Day: July 9th was it? Time: Late Evening Place; Ramzi's Funeral Home. Ramzi walked over to the bookshelf in his room. It was a dark-brown wood, and held books of diffrent sizes and colors. The rest of his room, dark borwn wooden flooring, with a lighter brown colored walls, seem to make the bookshelf fit right in. The room gave off a old stlyish appreace, square shaped, with a lantern, a fireplace, a painting above the fireplace of Ramzi in his younger days, the bookshelf of course, a window from the second story, and, last, his bed. Ramzi signed as he looked over the books. < So long ago... > He thought silently. The fireplace cracked, forcing Ramzi to his senses. As he inhaled a breath, his chest burned, as it always did. Cursed Machine. < Turi's task is simple...to me anyway. A love is worth a lifetime of torment. Or have I forgotten that feeling you get when your in love? > Ramzi thought, frowning in concern. He turned toward his bed, and pulled a cardboard box out from underneath it. He opened it to see mulitple photes and letters. The one he was looking for was just on top. Where he had set it last he looked at it. Ramzi grabbed the photo and studied it, as he had countless times before. The picture was that of a young woman. Tall, with fair white skin. Her red, long hair surrounded a face of sheer beauty. High cheek bones, pouty lips, soft green eyes. Her figure was slender, with a fairly large bust. The woman in the picture was sitting at a fountain. The fountain was three angels, with water coming from a hose behind the three. The angels were short, and had their swords extended toward the sky. The fountain was surrounded by a lush, green garden. With flowers of every color among the green. The woman held in her hand, a blue rose, and was smiling at the camera. Ramzi smilied tenderly. He remembered, this girl, perfectly clear... *FLASH* " George! How did I look? " Almilia said, getting up form the fountain. She tugged at her white dress as she went. Ramzi stood up from behind the camera and smiled. " Just fine. You looked loveier than you usual do. " He said. Almilia smiled warmly. " Thanks. " When Amlilia offered a hug, Ramzi accepted it hastliy. She was one fo the most beatiful things he had ever seen. Hugging her was rapture. " I wonder how Jonathon will think of it.... " She said curiously. Ramzi's heart sank. Such was the burden of love. " Yes........Indeed. Uh..... I'm sure that he'll like- No no, He'll love it. " Ramzi said uncomfortably. < I'm a mere servant, and she is the noblemans daughter to be married to some rich goof in Nibiliem [OOG: Please pardon the spelling ] > " George? What's wrong? " She asked. Ramzi snapped back to the real world. he looked over into Amlilia's beatiful face, a bit embarassed. " Sorry.. I..., " He stopped, then smilied, " Just so envious of Good ole Jon. He doesn't deserve something as rich as you. " He said, smiling. Amlilia returned the grin. " Oh, And you do? " She replied coyly. Ouch. That stung. Ramzi was a sensative person, although he refused to show it. He simpliy smiled at her and nodded. " I believe mistress, that it is time for your danceing lessons now, Hm? " Ramzi said, changing the subject. Amlilia's mouth dropped open in suprise. " Ms. Bandy will kill me. Oh George, thank you for the picture. Could you send it to my betrothered? " She asked, turning to leave the garden. When Ramzi nodded, Amlilia smilied, then left. *FLASH* Ramzi signed. Such is love. " What am I to do...... " he thought out loud " Do I have the right to deny Turi a chance of that happiness? Then again, Who knows that this Korrine Fox can take bad news well. Then again, the murder of so many people is not exactly good news...But, none-the-less. I must talk with her after Turi does. " He said. Ramzi was nowing sitting on the bed. He got up, and headed down stairs, intent on speaking his plan to Turi. -------------------------------- [OOG: Alrighty. Let's kick this pig! :) Okie..Sarah, you might want to post on Vixens condition, Jenny, I suppose Korrine could become invlovled in the scen, or if you have sometihng else in mind, I would like to hear it. Comments, the like, and constructive critism welcomed. ] -------=========================+++++=========================------- This note comes from: The MultiVersal Dreams BBS @ (209) 754-5851 ----======= WWIV 4.24a via the PPP Project Software =======---- --------=========+++=========-------- Subject: ToM: Propaganda Gets You Killed, But Only If You Screw Up Date: Fri, 18 Dec 98 22:51:24 (PST) From: kkwan a globalserve.net Reply-To: "MIDGAR" To: "Multiple Recipients of Mailing List MIDGAR" Propaganda Gets You Killed, But Only If You Screw Up ~~ July 9th, 2000. Approximately 6:00 P.M. Elleen, Aeris, Stacey, and Anita could hear the entire speech from their cafe on Market Street. They were a good half-mile away from the Shinra headquarters, but the utter immensity of the white screen draped over the building made the speech impossible to miss. When Aeris saw Rufus' face appear on the screen, she gave a huff of distate and turned back to her soda, drinking it in such a way as if doing so would make the rest of the world disappear. Anita rolled her eyes and mimicked the beginning of Rufus' speech before he started. "Ladies and gentlemen of Midgar," she said sarcastically in a nasal voice. She then sighed and sipped at her tea again. Although she was not an active hater of Shinra (as Aeris was), she did not feel any guilt at mocking the leader. As she finished her acting, she swept a hand through her hair with such good imitation that Elleen burst out laughing. "Ladies and gentlemen of Midgar," Rufus started. He then stopped to sweep a hand through his orange hair, exactly as Anita had done. "I hope you've been enjoying the Midgar Festival, courtesy of Shinra Incorporated, thus far!" Stacey shrugged. "Hasn't most of the festival been made possible just by people walking out of work and partying? I mean, if Midgar wasn't so work-conscious, we could have a Midgar Festival every day, couldn't we?" Elleen nodded as she sipped her coffee. She kept her eyes on the screen. She often heard Tyr complain about Rufus, and about how he's been stuck with nothing but paperwork ever since the man decided to lower the pay of the soldiers and removed the bounties off of the heads of AVALANCHE. She certainly didn't mind, though. Aeris was not sought out by hunters anymore. Correction. Aeris was not being sought actively by hunters anymore. She stole a glance at the flower girl, whose dynamic hair fell back around her head as she lifted her gaze. There was something special about Aeris, Elleen felt. But many people felt that about her. Elleen was an Ancient too. Did people feel something special about her as well? Rufus' speech started to become droning background noise. "I am glad to be able to do this for the people of Midgar. Today is a special day. We are celebrating the opening of Diamond Saucer, which you can see, sparkling in its radiant beauty, far above you! We are celebrating the seventeenth anniversary of the building of the Midgar Plates that have made this city unique from all the rest. We are celebrating the people who worked hard to make this city the way it is today. But most of all, we are celebrating each and everyone one of you, the people who live Midgar, breathe Midgar, and love Midgar!" Anita opened her mouth and pointed her finger at it in a demeaning gesture. Aeris was frowning at the propaganda of his speech. The girls and the woman at the table listened idly, letting most of the speech drip off of them nonchalantly. At this point, with Anita's sarcastic behaviour, Stacey's sensitivity, Aeris' upbringing, and Elleen's experience, no one gave a second thought to mocking the company and its President, a liar, a cheater, and an all- round deceptive man. "With AVALANCHE gone, and Mako more efficient than ever, we could afford to give everyone a break. The economy is good; trade with Kalm, Junon, and Rocket Town is increasing. More people than ever before are moving above the poverty line, and are beginning to lead normal lives again. But there is no need to thank the city of Midgar, or Shinra Incorporated, for it was you, the people, who made it all happen!" Rufus ceased his speech for a moment. "And, so, we celebrate now, the opening of... what the..." Screams and shouts interrupted his speech as the people began to run away from one end of Shinra Circle. Rufus' eyes looked toward his left, where Sector One lay. Elleen looked on the screen, and saw what Rufus' eyes saw. Luckily, she was quite a few city blocks away, and certainly not in the range of the possible danger. "What in the hell is that?" she asked, shaking Aeris' shoulder. [OOG: I'll answer this when Rooks gets his post done :) ] -- /-|rcana -------- * -------- * -------- * -------- = Araby Weyr: Offline Fandom Weyr = http://members.tripod.com/~Araby/ -------=========================+++++=========================------- This note comes from: The MultiVersal Dreams BBS @ (209) 754-5851 ----======= WWIV 4.24a via the PPP Project Software =======---- --------=========+++=========-------- Subject: ToM: A Stroll Through the Park Date: Fri, 18 Dec 98 22:51:30 (PST) From: kkwan a globalserve.net Reply-To: "MIDGAR" To: "Multiple Recipients of Mailing List MIDGAR" A Stroll Through the Park ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Sector 4 Slums, July 9th, 2000. Nearing evening. ~~ Seth trekked through the slums of Sector 4 on the way back to his apartment. It was apparent that AVALANCHE did not have any need for his services at the moment. He flipped the thousand gil coin he had received as payment in his hand as he walked. There was something about AVALANCHE that fascinated him. Seth rarely had the chance to blow things up; doing so without reason made him a rather flakey arms dealer. But as long as he had a reason- which mainly meant that he was hired to- he made explosions at any time he wanted. He had an Explosion materia in his nine-mil pistol. The materia he had received as payment from a Shinra scientist who defected from the company and wanted to buy weapons to get his revenge. Seth received a demonstration of the green orb which had swirls of fire inside, and he was convinced. The scientist walked out with a grenade launcher and a decent supply of grenades. Of course, he never heard from him again, but three days after, a long documentary about disloyalty in Shinra's ranks, and threats to those who commited treason, was played on television. Seth laughed at this news. He always laughed at the most insane things. But it was funny. He heard a scuffle ahead of him. Seth kept his eyes open and kept on walking either with the confidence of a man who knew how to fight or the stupidity of one who did not know am ambush was coming. The two large R.V.'s that faced each other seemed to be very logical hiding spots. As Seth approached them, he rolled forward, tumblng twice before stopping. He looked behind him, drew his pistol, and fired at one of the men who stepped out of the R.V.'s, only to meet empty space. He clutched his stomach as the bullet sank into his gut, and dropped instantly. He began to moan and tremble. Seth positioned his 9mm on the other man, with both arms extended, hands around the handle. He did not glance at the man that had fallen. The man who was still standing was wearing a navy blue blazer, sunglasses, and leather gloves. The fact that his companion was writhing on the ground in pain seemed to be totally lost on him. He had a gun in his hands the same way Seth had his own. It was also a 9mm. People who were in the Syndicate were often issued 9mm pistols if they happened to lack their own firearm. Seth was no exception. And neither was this other man. "The Syndicate wants you," the remaining man said smoothly. He took a step toward Seth. "I left when they insulted my ability, Harold," Seth replied coldly. "I don't need to take shit from anyone in your crime ring. I'll work for myself, pay myself, and do what I want to." "The Boss wants you to give up the location of the key. Or else, he'll get you. You know too much about us. It's either you join us, or we get you." Seth made mo movement. His face was still, and his muscles did not twitch. The key, that was what they were after. "If you kill me, you won't ever find it. If you capture me, you'll never find it. I know the information. Sorry, Harold. I can't talk, but yet, you can't kill me." "Then I have no choice, I have to..." The man did not finish his sentence. The gun dropped out of his hands and clattered on the ground. His knees buckled and he dropped, blood pouring out of his forehead. Seth went up to the other man whom he had wounded in the gut. The man had gone into shock and was shouting furiously. The blood was pouring out at a generous rate, but the man would not die for at least another ten minutes. "It's a pity," Seth said, drawing his sword. He traced the point down the injured man's chest, tracing the letter 'T' across his torso. They wanted the key. That means they knew about him. They couldn't kill him. If they could, he would be dead by now. Still. He had to be careful. They were watching. Seth grinned. He'll give them a good show, then. -- /-|rcana -------- * -------- * -------- * -------- = Araby Weyr: Offline Fandom Weyr = http://members.tripod.com/~Araby/ -------=========================+++++=========================------- This note comes from: The MultiVersal Dreams BBS @ (209) 754-5851 ----======= WWIV 4.24a via the PPP Project Software =======---- --------=========+++=========-------- Subject: Re: ToM: Propaganda Gets You Killed, But Only If You Screw Up (con.) Date: Sat, 19 Dec 98 17:10:41 (PST) From: Brian Kuhn Reply-To: "MIDGAR" To: "Multiple Recipients of Mailing List MIDGAR" July 9th, 2000. Approximately 6:00 P.M. Nick and Felisha walked towards a crowd of people forming. They moved to the front row and took a seat in front of the stage. "Do we really need to listen to this entire thing?" Felisha asked. "Yes, he is the leader of all of this city you know," Nick answered, "Anyways he is my boss." Both of them silenced as Rufus began talking. > "Ladies and gentlemen of Midgar," Rufus started. > He then stopped to sweep a hand through his orange > hair. "He is really a freak over his hair," Felisha laughed to herself, "He seems like the type that would be surfing at Costa Del Sol." Nick Smiled. > "I hope you've been enjoying the Midgar > Festival,courtesy of Shinra Incorporated, thus far!" "He gives speachs just like his father used to," Nick said. "How cute," Felisha said. They both laughed silently. > "I am glad to be able to do this for the people > of Midgar. Today is a special day. We are > celebrating the opening of Diamond Saucer, which you > can see, sparkling in its radiant beauty, far above > you! We are celebrating the seventeenth anniversary > of the building of the Midgar Plates that have made > this city unique from all the rest. We are > celebrating the people who worked hard to make this > city the way it is today. But most of all, we are > celebrating each and everyone one of you, the people > who live Midgar, breathe Midgar, and love Midgar!" "Yes notice how he doesn't mention the work of SOLDIER," Nick said, "He cut all of our pay after AVALANCHE dissapeared." > "With AVALANCHE gone, and Mako more efficient than ever, we > could afford to give everyone a break. The economy is good; trade > with Kalm, Junon, and Rocket Town is increasing. More > people than ever before are moving above the poverty > line, and are beginning to lead normal lives again. > But there is no need to thank the city of Midgar, or > Shinra Incorporated, for it was you, the people, who > made it all happen!" Rufs Puassed in his speach "Do I sense some ressentment?" Felisha asked. "He's too young to lead all of us, he thinks he can just scare the people of midgar," Nick said, "He isn't half the man his father was." "Well the only one I can think of that wouldn't be half the man the he was is palmer," Felisha sad with a low chuckel. "That wasn't very nice," Nick said. > "And, so, we celebrate now, the opening of... what the..." Screams filled the area. People running everywhere, except in one dirrection. Nick stood clutching his staff. "What is going on!" Felisha yelled over the noise. "What the hell is that," Nick yelled. He did what his first instinct told him and he jumped up onto the stage to gaurd Rufus. There were already a few brave soldiers around him, the other ones ran off with the mob. Nick prepared himself for what was coming... Brian _________________________________________________________ DO YOU YAHOO!? Get your free a yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com -------=========================+++++=========================------- This note comes from: The MultiVersal Dreams BBS @ (209) 754-5851 ----======= WWIV 4.24a via the PPP Project Software =======---- --------=========+++=========--------