Tales of Midgar Messages 1-30 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1 From: Date: Thu Jun 10, 1999 11:55pm Subject: Lars: Battle to the Top [OOG: PLEASE! If you're on the smcclure address, CHANGE to Onelist immediately! midgar_story a onelist.com!] [OOG: Here's a short post. More will come: mostly, about the Shinra Revolution continuation. OKAY. If you want to be a part of this raid, SPEAK UP! I'll E-mail you the details. The storm won't be as organized as it could be... a lot of it would be just a mob of people crashing up the building in their hatred for the President. So just be somewhere at the right time. Of course, the aftereffects of the revolution will be felt all round Midgar, and the world!] ~~~~~~ Tournament, First Round. Date: July 11th, 1999. Lars sat in the locker room, holding his rifle in his hands. The other team was an hour late. Rumour had it, they wouldn't be showing up. His shoulders slumped farther. The padded armour on his back felt hotter and sweatier than ever. Rude and Tseng sat on the bench patiently, waiting for any notification of the other team's appearance in the Strategic Section of the Tournament. Elena had her gun on her lap and sat back, arms crossed. So much for his revenge, Lars thought. Jairen was a no-show. So much for his attempt at showing people he was worth more than he appeared to be worth. "Don't worry about it," Elena said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "At least you'll be announced as a winner, and you'll be able to try again another time." Lars snapped. "Damn it, I don't know when a next time's going to be! It'll be a hard-won victory... yeah right! Winning by default! All my life, I wanted to prove to people that I can actually do something. That I won't simply trip over and fall over some stupid books and kill myself. I used to live as a burglar. I stole from people. It makes me sick to know that I did that... took advantage of..." "Well, look here, you're not the only one who wants to be noticed!" Elena bit back, just as fierce as Lars. "I wanted to die when I was rejected from the Turks... you took my spot, Lars! You! So I bought myself a gun. The 'peacemaker', so I could make peace with myself. But now look! I'm a Turk! I'm here! I'm wearing the suit and living the life and executing the missions... and succeeding! Winning! And you know what, you're winning with the rest of us!" Lars looked up. "You're winning. I'm..." "Those who think they've won have already won!" Lars sat there, black hair swept over his eyes. He pushed it back with a hand. Rude and Tseng, both silent until this point, stood up when the announcer said something. "Come on, you two. Lars, this isn't it. Just because you don't get your revenge today doesn't mean there's another chance," Tseng said. "We have influence over the most powerful man in the world. We can pull strings. Right now, we'll accept a first-round victory. Lars, suck it in, and we'll duke it out for the second round. It may not be Jairen. But it can still be a victory." Lars nodded slowly and shouldered his rifle. He led the team out to the arena, and accepted the default advancement to the second round. ~~ Tournament, Final Round, July 13th, 1999. Morning, Diamond saucer's Labyrinth Battling Arena. And the team leader finally fell after a well-placed shot from Lars hit him in the stomach, stunning him with the bullet's electrical shock and dropping him to the ground. The headphones in his ears went ballistic with cheers from his teammates. "Great shot, Lars!" Elena cried. "I saw that one! That was a beauty!" "Excellent, it was done no cleaner than that," Tseng added. "He was about to shoot me too, it seems. I had my back turned." The announcer made the bold declaration over the intercom. "And we have Lars of the Turks, leading his team to a team victory with the final shot!" And the crowd cheered. -- /-|rcana ----- ----- * ----- ----- Araby Weyr Fandom: http://members.tripod.com/~Araby/ Tales of Midgar- FF7: http://members.tripod.com/~ArcanaTxM/ Xenogears Interactive Fiction: http://members.tripod.com/~project_xat/ Xenogears - Guardian Angels: http://members.tripod.com/~Caraighan 2 From: cdleckie Date: Thu Jun 17, 1999 1:33pm Subject: testing testing is this the right address for the ff7:if? just send a reply to cdleckie a msn.com 3 From: cdleckie Date: Wed Jun 23, 1999 2:56pm Subject: Azrael's intro to get the story just enlarge this to it's own window. there should be an attach ment. begin 666 midoog Azrael intro.txt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ate: Wed Jun 23, 1999 3:19pm Subject: Azraels intro As Azrael stepped off the crowded train he eyed the man who had been tailing him. He was a tall, heavy set, bouncer type. Definitely a mercenary. Azrael had quite a few enemies, but none wealthy enough to hire an assassin. He walked straight ahead through the throng of people crowding the train platform. Azrael had played this game before, first he would try to lose his mysterious assailant, then if that failed he would lead him into a back alley, devoid of people and simply drain his life force. The black jewel on the clasp of his cloak began to glow with anticipation. Azrael ran through a rat maze of streets, alleys, and walkways, but the mystery man stayed with him the whole time. finally Azrael turned into a dark alley, as the man behind him turned into the alley he began to pull out a weapon from beneath his jacket. But before the man could remove his arm a dagger had sliced through his hand and into his torso, pinning his arm in place. But before Azrael could use Dracul the man had pulled the dagger from his arm and thrown it back with super human speed. It bit into Azrael’s left shoulder agonizingly, he gritted his teeth and let out a pained moan. Azrael quickly dropped behind a stack of crates nearby and used his restore materia. The wounded shoulder seemed to melt back together, however the pain was still there. Azrael unsheathed his broadsword and stepped out from behind the crates. The attacker had disappeared. “Hmm. Great, a shoulder wound, no lunch, and now I’m gonna’ be late.” He grumbled. In order to make up for the lost time Azrael ran through the streets towards the cafe where he was supposed to get more information on his next job. As he came within eyesight of the cafe he slowed to a brisk walk. As he opened the door he looked around the room for his contact. The man was seated in the middle of the room reading a day old paper. He was wearing a Grey, pinstriped suit and fedora hat, and black sunglasses. When the man saw him come in he slowly got up and walked away from the table. Azrael walked by the table and pocketed the data-pad the man had left for him. He sat at a table in the far back corner, in the shadows, and ordered a cup of coffee. Soon he would be back in the slums, where it was nice and DARK. Once safely back at his apartment in the sector 3 slums, Azrael activated the data-pad. The screen flashed green then turned black, displaying the message, -please enter password- Azrael entered the password the other contact had given him over the phone. -floor 72- The screen flashed green again and his mission briefing came up. He had to steal a vial of Jenova cells from the 72nd floor laboratory of the Shinra building. This was going to be easy money. All he had to do was pose as a rioter at the anti-Shinra upheaval, that was quite inevitable at this point, and when the rioters broke into the building he would sneak up to floor 72, steal the vial, and smash the security cameras. Now all he had to do was wait. ----------------------------------------------------------------- This is the opening bit of Azraels story for any of you who can't receive attachments to your e-mail. I got this idea to cut and paste the entire story from works to e-mail from arcana. great idea really. 5 From: Date: Fri Jul 2, 1999 0:53pm Subject: Fall-7: The Beginning of the Tumble The Beginning of the Tumble ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ July 13th, late morning. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cantorek looked over the crowds from his office. Underneath his uniform, he wore a bulletproof vest. Although a few questioned his actions, Cantorek simply glared; that shut them up quite quickly enough. He had rallied up enough support for his cause in a matter of days, and had already planned out the strike. This evening, when Rufus was in his office and the Turks were downstairs having dinner, he would open the door to the office, but then allow his selected squadron of five men to charge in after him and hold the President under their control. And he would have to surrender. At this time, Heidegger, who was already in Midgar, would be there to assume his place as a leader, and the new age of Midgar would begin. The first thing they would have to do is to put down or convert those still loyal to Rufus, and then set up democratic polls and a seat for government. Those plans were drafted too. The phone rang, and Cantorek reached for it, expecting it to by Tyr, confirming some last-minute plans. Instead, he heard the voice of his son. "Hey.... father..." "What do you want, Lars?" "I just thought... I won! No, we won! Today, we were listed up in the tournament, and we just won the final round! It's great! It feels good to be able to do something nice..." "That's good," Cantorek replied dryly. "Is there anything else you'd like to share?" "Well, umm..." "No? I'm expecting important calls. Okay? Bye." Cantorek hung up his phone. He had other things to worry about at the moment. The timing was critical. Right now, he had to observe the reaction of the people to Rufus' speech, which will evaluate the last three days of the Midgar Festival. ~~ Vicks waited. It was almost time. Rufus would be making his speech. He looked down at the remote device. They had already rigged all of the projectors. With a push of the button.... ~~ Rufus Shinra, in light of the recent disasters, decided to make this speech from his office instead of the dais in Shinra Circle. With the Shinra Tower's advanced defenses, nothing would be able to strike him. He stood on the balcony of floor seventy, feeling the biting, cool winds on his face. He could see halfway to Junon from this height. It gave him an exhilarating rush of power. He could barely see the people down below since the cloud cover was so thick. Nonetheless, he would have to look his best, as everyone in the world would be watching him. He wished he could have seen the people roooting him on, cheering for him, giving him winks and hollers and shouts of approval, but for now, he would have to live with the small sixty-inch projection television that showed him the view of Shinra Circle from in front of the Shinra Tower. There was still a lot of ruin and rubble from the recent robot attack, but yet, despite all of the disaster, the people didn't cease to come out in grand numbers. The people of Midgar, when asked to party, went all-out. "Dear citizens of Midgar," Rufus started. "In spite of the recent events, I admire the fortitude and the optimistic view of the people of Midgar! The power in this city is immense, and the people are great to be able to live through these events, despite the dramatic attacks. I'd like to thank you for making the Midgar Festival, the celebration of the city and ourselves, a colossal success! "From here, we have only to move forward. We can place the proud Shinra name on every city on the world, and be able to give them all the happiness and quality of life that they deserve! We give them the safety of the streets, the confidence of having a job, and the luxury of modern facilities. Spread the word, ladies and gentlemen of Midgar, to the other places in the world. Midgar is the place to be! "I hope you've all reserved your tickets for the final round of the Bloodsport in Diamond Saucer today. I certainly have my ticket, and I'm sure that if you don't, you'll still be able to catch the event on SST, Shinra Sports Television. So.... what the...." Rufus watched as his projection television went down and shut off suddenly. He spoke into the microphone, but couldn't hear anything being projected over the speakers. Replaced by his voice was a buzzy audio... a recording of something. "No. Shinra does not negotiate with terrorists. Despite his various other failings, Hojo has provided us with the weapon we need to destroy AVALANCHE. Black 36? It is an airborne chemical that dissolves human flesh. A one cubic foott package filled with the gas is enough to wipe out almost 10,000 people." He recognized that voice. That was HIS voice. Rufus tried to recall where this came from. Black 36... the gas that he tried to destroy AVALANCHE with. That was over two months ago. "The plan is simple. We simply seal the slums airtight, pump Black 36 down there, and eliminate the entire population. AVALANCHE's support in the slums will be gone. The chemical does not linger for long and will dissipate and turn into regular air after a day or two." Was this beng announced outside? Rufus ran to the balcony's edge, trying to listen. As far as he could tell, the message was roaring out of the building's external speakers. Rufus paled, ran back into his office, and grabbed his shotgun and PHS, and made a quick call. ~~ They didn't have an advanced task; Elleen was with Aeris in the circle, to see what was going to happen with the final day of the festival. They had all agreed to attempt to locate Hojo. Trev and Jessie were already trying to dig up their connections. The others were, in small groups, scattered throughout Shinra Circle, watching the final speech of the President. "It makes you wonder if President Shinra is the same president of two months ago, who refused to give my family a home, wanted to take you hostage, and killed hundreds of people in the slums." Aeris nodded. "He's turning into his father. Speeches, trying to buy people off with money. The man is ruthless. But ever since... ever since his death, he's been loosening up." "He's losing vigilance?" Aeris nodded. "I haven't ever asked Tyr or Elena about Rufus," she said. "Elena was fighting today in the tournament, and she won. She's always trying to improve, and I think winning the tournament will be very good for her. Skill controls force, and I hope Elena will learn skill." "You get along well with her?" "We're like sisters, sort of. I can't really see her as my mother, though. My dad is hoping to get a better job, because he's feeling very bad at mooching off of everyone else. We all help pay rent, but still." In a few days, the girl's life had been turned upside down, Aeris thought. And yet, she still remains casual and carefree as ever. Ellen went into her pocket and withdrew a cigarette. She put it in her mouth and whipped out her lighter, but Aeris' hand lashed out and stole the fig. She broke it into two and dropped it on the ground. "What was that for?" Elleen asked, annoyed. "That's all of Midgar's air freeze-dried and compacted into a paper tube," Aeris said. "Your lungs are probably already black from breathing this air. The planet hurts because of this black air. Can't you tell that you hurt too? That you're hurting your Spirit Energy when you hurt yourself?" "It's just a fad thing," Elleen said, flipping the lighter in her hand and lighting it in all sorts of fancy ways. "Your body hurts. Most people don't realise it until it's too late." "My body hurts anyway," Elleen replied, jamming her hands into her pockets. "No, that's wrong. My mind hurts. My mom's dead and we don't have our own home and I'm thinking of going out and getting a job just so I might be able to help dad pay rent some time. We could get our own place and live somewhere together, away from everyone else and everybody, and be on our own. I don't want to mooch anymore. It's wrong to leech off of other people's generosity." "But Elleen..." "No! It's wrong! Just like it's wrong for Shinra to leech off of the Planet's energy!" She stomped her foot on the ground and turned away from Aeris. "Let's not talk about this anymore." "Elleen..." "I think Rufus us starting his speech," Elleen said, pointing up to the large screen that was plastered over the side of the Shinra Office Tower. ~~ Within minutes, Elleen and Aeris were as baffled and as shocked as the rest of the crowd as they stared at the sudden change of movie choice. Reeve, in the tape, stood up angrily. "What?!? There are over two million citizens down there. And that's the official number. There's at least another two million who don't appear on the records. You'd kill over four million people to eliminate a small group?" he protested. Ignoring Reeve, Raith Cantorek calmly asked, "We'd eliminate AVALANCHE's support in the slums, but the people above the plate would sympathize with them. The whole city would rise against us." "Ah, but that's the beauty of this. It seems that we have security footage of some members of AVALANCHE entering the labs tonight. I'll announce that AVALANCHE, working with "inside- conspirators" has created a deadly weapon that they plan to use if Shinra carries out Wege's execution. Shinra will say that it is trying to negotiate with AVALANCHE and will put off Wedge's execution till midnight tomorrow. The release of the chemical will coincide with the execution. AVALANCHE will be blamed and they'll be the most hated people on the planet. The dissidents below the plate will be put down as well," Rufus said. He turned to Reeve. "You're the Head of Urban Development. Think of this as cheap urban renewal." "You all disgust me. I quit," Reeve roared. "I'm afraid that I can't let you do that. It's a pity you made that decision. Tseng?" Rufus said, turning toward the leader of the Turks. Tseng's gun was out lightning fast. Two shots echoed in the room as Reeve spun around and dropped to the ground a bullet in his head and chest. He was obviously dead. "Any questions?" Rufus asked. And the screen went blank. [OOG: Now, people can post their reactions.... if you're a part of AVALANCHE, an innocent SOLDIER, or anyone, you should get involved! In the next post, I'll probably post Aeris' and Elleen's reactions, Cantorek's reactions, and the reactions of the audience.] -- /-|rcana ----- ----- * ----- ----- Araby Weyr Fandom: http://members.tripod.com/~Araby/ Tales of Midgar- FF7: http://members.tripod.com/~ArcanaTxM/ Xenogears Interactive Fiction: http://members.tripod.com/~project_xat/ Xenogears - Guardian Angels: http://members.tripod.com/~Caraighan 6 From: Anastasius Dumar Date: Sun Jul 4, 1999 10:53am Subject: Can you help, Kurushimi? (Kurushimi-3) {OOG: Well, I sent this to the DeM list the first time :0). Now... midgar_story... check. Good :0). Just a short little post to get me writing again.} Can you help, Kurushimi? July 13 Late Morning Church in the Slums "Dear citizens of Midgar! In spite of the recent events, I admire the fortitude and the optimistic view of the people of Midgar! The power in this city is immense, and the people are great to be able to live through these events, despite the dramatic attacks. I'd like to thank you for making the Midgar Festival, the celebration of the city and ourselves, a colossal success!” The radio; dented, faded and sporting several rolls of electrician’s tape on it’s exterior, trembled as the voice of President Rufus Shinra issued forth, announcing amidst the cheers of the people and the crackling static of the transmission his pride and hope for Midgar and it’s citizens. The radio, sitting placidly upon one of the sagging pews in the sector eight church, had been filling the small building with news reports, interviews and opinions of stock and trade analysts all morning, though most of them had likely been all but drowned out in the constant cacophony of violent pounding and furious scraping that accompanied them in one of the back rooms of the church. The flurry of sound ceased abruptly, however, when the President’s warped, fuzzy voice emerged from the open speaker, laying askew beside the radio, an umbilical cord of wire connecting it to the machine. "From here, we have only to move forward. We can place the proud Shinra name on every city on the world, and be able to give them all the happiness and quality of life that they deserve! We give them the safety of the streets, the confidence of having a job, and the luxury of modern facilities. Spread the word, ladies and gentlemen of Midgar, to the other places in the world. Midgar is the place to be!” Kurushimi emerged from the back room of the church, walking with his slow, placid stride into the service area, a wobbly-headed hammer in one hand, a fistful of bent nails in the other. The President’s voice drew him from his work -repairing the large hole in the back wall of the church with the rotten or damaged wood he had managed to salvage only earlier in the morning from a recent garbage dumping- like a moth to a flame. Rarely venturing from the church or the surrounding slums, Kurushimi could have counted the times he had heard the President’s voice on a single hand, and the proud, strong and excited voice that reached his ears now defied the reports of the brutal oppression of civilians and the ruthless elimination of opposition that been so often associated with this man during his still-short reign.. Hammer and nails still in his slender, long-fingered hands, Kurushimi lowered himself onto the splintery pew across the aisle from the radio, and rested his elbows upon his knees, listening intently to the President’s words. He could hear the cheers in the background, filled with a happiness that brought a typically quiet smile to his delicate, hawkish face. The people were happy, at least. He knew that even of those dwelling in the wretched slums of Midgar, he was one of only the few who had not taken the opportunity to venture to the upper plates and enjoy the festivities alongside their better-off fellows. Though he would not deny that it appeared to be little more than a quick distraction from the daily oppression many Midgarians faced daily, such diversions were few and far between for the people of Midgar, and Kurushimi found it difficult to argue against it, no matter what motives might have inspired it. “So.... what the.... No. Shinra does not negotiate with terrorists. Despite his various other failings, Hojo has provided us with the weapon we need to destroy AVALANCHE. Black 36? It is an airborne chemical that dissolves human flesh. A one cubic foot package filled with the gas is enough to wipe out almost 10,000 people." The wobbly hammer dropped limply from Kurushimi’s suddenly limp hand, followed by several dozen nails. A small, hard knot began to grow in the pit of his gut, and his mouth suddenly seemed to be dry. His now-empty hands gently began to tremble as the radio cast continued. "The plan is simple. We simply seal the slums airtight, pump Black 36 down there, and eliminate the entire population. AVALANCHE's support in the slums will be gone. The chemical does not linger for long and will dissipate and turn into regular air after a day or two." Black 36. The lethal gas that the terrorist group AVALANCHE had alledgedly been responsible for. The news had crushed Kurushimi, reduced him to tears, as his hope for champions had been destroyed. He had doubted the claims, of course, believing that he knew all enough from his quiet, hidden observations -even Mother had assured him that it seemed unlikely that the group would resort to such terrorist measures, but without any other to blame, it lingered constantly in his mind. Of course, he hadn’t had to wait long to have his fears put to rest, their returning to the church had proven that, as they lay their friend to rest, but the question of who had been responsible for the sickening tradgedy had never left his mind. To hear that someone had been responsible for the death of thousands had been terrible enough, but to hear such deaths planned in such a cold, callous way as the president did sent tremmors through Kurushimi’s thin, fragile body. “"What?!? There are over two million citizens down there. And that's the official number. There's at least another two million who don't appear on the records. You'd kill over four million people to eliminate a small group?” This voice, protesting the plan, was familiar to Kurushimi. Reeve, who had been head of Urban Development before his sudden disappearance, was as popular as an employee of Shinra could become in the slums, as he had put a great deal of effort into trying to aid those trapped beneath the great plates of Midgar. The cold knot in his gut had escalated into a feeling of nausea as the estimated casualties reached his ears. Four million people... instinct urged his hand towards the radio with the intention of turning it off and sparing his conscience the rest of the broadcast, but with the terrified paralysis of a doe staring into the headlights of an oncoming car, he sat rooted to the pew as the transmission continued. "We'd eliminate AVALANCHE's support in the slums, but the people above the plate would sympathize with them. The whole city would rise against us." Kurushimi failed to recognize the voice speaking, though he was partially relieved that Reeve had not been the only one to speak against the sickening plan. Hands continuing to tremble, inviting his entire body to follow, Kurushimi continued to listen. "Ah, but that's the beauty of this. It seems that we have security footage of some members of AVALANCHE entering the labs tonight. I'll announce that AVALANCHE, working with "inside-conspirators" has created a deadly weapon that they plan to use if Shinra carries out Wedge’s execution. Shinra will say that it is trying to negotiate with AVALANCHE and will put off Wedge's execution till midnight tomorrow. The release of the chemical will coincide with the execution. AVALANCHE will be blamed and they'll be the most hated people on the planet. The dissidents below the plate will be put down as well. You're the Head of Urban Development. Think of this as cheap urban renewal.” “You all disgust me. I quit!” "I'm afraid that I can't let you do that. It's a pity you made that decision. Tseng?" Two gunshots rang out, crackling over the radio, followed by a sickening thump before the transmission ended. By that time, however, Kurushimi had been forced on weak legs to the entrance of the church, where he dropped to his knees, and retched. He hadn’t eaten anything in several days, and could only kneel, mouth gaping open, as bile trickled from his mouth between dry, painful heaves. He gagged once, which sent him into a coughing fit that doubled him over. He had just finished spitting most of the bile from his mouth when a loud, sing-song voice reached his ears, accompanied by the rapid pounding of feet on the sterile dirt road. “Kurushimi! Kurushimi!” Spitting once again, Kurushimi turned his head to his left, where the sound was coming from. It was a small group of children from the slums, clothed in rags and covered with dirt and grime. At the head of the party was Hank, an eight-year old boy who occasionally visited the church with his friends when something difficult came their way, as Kurushimi seemed always willing to help. Still on his hands and knees, Kurushimi forced himself to stand as the small group of perhaps six children gathered around him. “Hey Hank. What’s the hurry?” It was only now that Kurushimi noticed the glistening eyes of one of the other boys in the group, all roughly the same age as Hank. “Adam’s mom an’ dad went up to the big festival today,” Hank answered, pointing to the teary kid, “and... and... the people... all the people who were listen’n to President Rufus’ speech got real mad, when it showed Mr. Reeve get shot, and the T.V. guy said they was rioting, and showed them fighting the guards. Adam don’t know what to do, ‘cause he’s afraid for him mom an’ dad, an’ they were there! Can you help, Kurushimi? Can you?” "If my answers frighten you, Vincent, then perhaps you should cease asking scary questions."-Jules, 'Pulp Fiction' ____________________________________________________________________ Get your own FREE, personal Netscape WebMail account today at http://webmail.netscape.com. 7 From: Fyre Byrd Date: Sun Jul 4, 1999 8:03pm Subject: Soul Crime - Teck's Introduction I am Teck Albah, proud soldier of the Shinra corps, good friend to my fellow soldiers, and a heavy gambler. But that doesn't make me a bad person, does it? ------ The sirens set off and the overhead lights immediately were turned on to full brightness in Bunk-34 and every other room along the hall. Teck sat up slowly and looked around him, wincing at the high pitched alarm. "Tay? What?" he mumbled, leaning over the edge of his bed, pushing the small button on the wall that opened the single small window in their bunk. Noon light spilled through, though it couldn't possibly light the room anymore. In the bunk below him, Teck could hear Taylor sit up, trying to get himself awake. "Emergency, Teck. We need to get dressed." He yawned and threw his feet over the edge of his bed. Teck looked down and blinked. "Everyone else is on duty? Damn, I must have been sleeping like a recruit." The soldier below chuckled and heaved himself out of bed, sleepily digging at his eyes. The alarm in the background reminded Teck of the emergency and jumped from the top bunk, quickly pulling his uniform out of the hamper. Taylor shimmied into his pants and muttered, "I wonder what's going on. It's not very often they have one of these. I mean, I wonder what sector." "Yeah," Teck said, pulling his helmet over his cleanly shaved head, "And where the guys are." ------ Soldiers marched down the hall, shoulder to shoulder, feet resonating eerily loud in the tight space. The commanders shouted orders and squads were sent out. Teck moved with the body, holding his rifle to his chest. The report had been about the festival. Something had gone wrong at the Shinra building and riots were breaking out. "Bit, Duck, Kev." Teck looked over at Taylor with unease. "Skin. You suppose they're alright?" Taylor continued to look straight ahead. Must be hard for him, Teck thought. He's known Bit and Duck since . . . hell, I don't know! I should've asked 'um where they were patrolling today. I should've. Curse on myself, I'm such a- Sighing, Taylor whispered, "They're all right, I know it. They have to be." ------ Mobs swarmed outside the Shinra building, screaming and yelling, shouting for justice and the truth. People tried to force their way in, but the Shinra guards on duty held them back. Teck looked down from his vantage point, shaking his head. "What the hell got them so stirred up?" Sergeant Jhenson looked at Teck and said, "I don't know, but they're going to tear our men up. Let's go, soldiers!" Ranks formed and Jhenson's squad marched toward the crowd. "SUBDUE! SUBDUE!" he shouted, throwing his arms around to direct the squad. Each SI pulled a melee shield off his back and forged into the crowd. Teck ran into the masses with Taylor at his heels, trying to calm the citizens. "Please, stop! What's the problem?" Residents ignored him and pushed forward shouting, "Give us truth! Tell us about Black 36!" Taylor grabbed Teck's arm and stopped him. "What about Black 36? I heard that it was AVALANCHE's fault." Teck shook his head and forced his way toward the front of the crowd. People began to beat on him, shoving him away from them. Getting beat from all over, Teck buckled to the ground and sat very still. Taylor appeared above Teck and grabbed his hand, pulling him up. Then he shoved Teck forward and out of the mob. "Tay," Teck gasped, straightening his helmet. "Thanks." The crowd was pressing forward, trying to get inside of the building. Teck pushed them back with his shield, hoping that some divine interference would soon reach them. The speakers above Teck began to hum and then the President's voice come on. "Citizens, rest at ease, the previous message was due to technical difficulties-" The mob shouted louder, drowning Rufus' words. Something moved behind Teck and he turned. Taylor had dragged Duck beside the line of soldiers and was kneeling with Duck's head in his lap. "Duck," he whispered. Duck was dead; his bones crushed and placed in odd directions, his helmet bent in on itself. Fresh blood trailed down the side of his face, his nose smashed and bloody. "If only I was quicker . . ." "No!" Teck crouched down beside them and tried to rip the helmet of Duck's head, but it was too warped to get off. "Oh Jesus, what happened? Where's everyone else?" Tay shrugged and cradled Duck in his arms. "Go find Bit . . . Skin and Kev, please." Taylor looked forlorn and watched the surging crowd. Slowly, he stood and hauled Duck into the Shinra building. Teck held his shield out in front of him and disappeared into the crowd again, all the while Rufus droned on above with his already forgotten explanations. ------ My friends. I found them all in about the same condition as Duck. Oh, it was bitter. At least I'm not alone. Taylor is still with me . . . Tay and I had been on the same patrol schedule since something like around the beginning, always us together. While the others worked the day, we worked the night. It seemed fair . . . at least I wasn't alone. And now, it's all over. Only about half a year ago, it all started and now . . . Well, now they're all gone. Damn, that brings back so many memories . . . 8 From: Fyre Byrd Date: Sun Jul 4, 1999 9:03pm Subject: In the Wake of Destruction - Serah's Introduction Drip, drip, drip. Darkness hung in the air around her as she opened her eyes. Looking up, all she could see was the never-ending rise of buildings, then the bottom of the plate. The rest was obscured. She sat up and tried to ignore the pain in her head. I'm under the plate. Serah took a few breaths to steady herself. Drip, drip, drip, drip. The sounds of Midgar were fading into the background. Serah could hear people standing outside the alley and shouts and gunfire. Something was going on. She couldn't remember. How long had she been out? But it all vanished as she focused her mind on remembering. Drip, drip, splash. She ran her hands along wall behind her, the slimy decaying bricks forming a solid support for her to stand against. Gingerly placing her weight back upon her feet, she rested her shoulder against the wall. Serah took a few more deep breaths before focusing again. Drip, drip. She was hurt, pretty bad, but she didn't want to admit it to herself. She couldn't remember how it had happened. Her legs felt like they were on fire, her cheeks felt hot and sticky, and she couldn't disregard the burning trickle that slithered down her back. Lifting a hand, she ran it along the length of her back as best as she could. When she pulled her hand back, it was gummy. Blood. Drip. Closing her eyes, her fingers trailed down her legs, across her cheeks, her neck, shoulders. Blood. Silence. I have to get washed up, she thought. I have to find help. I have to remember what happened. She stepped carefully out of the alley, the dim light proving her fears true. People where crowding around televisions and radios, intently concentrating on something. The sound of a nearby TV reached her ears and Serah stopped to listen. "The President's confession has started a riot below the Shinra building. People are massing even as we speak. I can only pray for those innocents stuck in the middle. Back to you, Jillian." Serah froze and tried to think. A riot? Priorities. Clean up first. She moved down the barren streets, hearing other news about the President, but it was all about the same. Rufus screwed up. Serah smiled slightly to herself. People watched her go by, not daring enough to help the bloodstained woman or too enthralled with the current news to pay much mind to her state. The steps creaked and dared to spill her weight as she climbed up toward her broken apartment. She clutched the rail and dizziness blinded her for a moment. "Uh, blood loss. Not good." She turned the doorknob and slipped inside. The shower was warm, spilling down her bruised back and across her shoulders. Serah cringed at the hot water touched an open wound, burning the flesh. Blood circled down the drain and formed puddles at her feet. "I bet that some punk did this to me," Serah sighed to herself. "Or maybe what's-her-name . . ." She bit her lip. "Oh, I don't care what her name is. She's just sore because I got the job that she wanted." Serah reflected on her recent employment, drug runner. She didn't enjoy it too much, but it paid good money, cleaner than selling her own body, and even came with a risk of getting arrested. She ran a hand through her hair, finding it caked and stiff. "Serah, you've only been on the streets for two months and you've already screwed up royal," Serah whispered to herself. On the way home, she had heard almost the whole rebellion story. It was sad, Reeve died for a poor reason, and he was one of the good ones. There aren't too many good Shinra employees. And Shinra herself distributed Black 36. Serah mulled over that facet of the situation for awhile. No wonder everyone is mad. Would Midgar fall apart? Now that Rufus made a wrong move and announced the truth about Black 36, the city wouldn't sit still or would they? Did Rufus have another card up his sleeve? Serah chuckled and though, I hope so . . . if Midgar fell, I might never be able to get out. 9 From: Fyre Byrd Date: Sun Jul 4, 1999 9:10pm Subject: The Blues - Teck Well, now they're all gone. Damn, that brings back so many memories . . . ------- about Six Months ago . . . "I hear that they lock you up in your bunk until they need you to patrol!" The line of men snorted and turned away. "They wouldn't do that! I mean, it's inhumane!" Someone said, running his hand nervously through his hair. "You'd think so, Skin." Skin smiled tensely. "I wonder what Midgar's like. I've never been out of Junon." There was a wave of talk and then someone else said, "Well, it's dark cause of the plates, y'know, and there are gangs everywhere and graffiti and prostitutes on every corner-" Everyone laughed and one soldier leaned over and punched the man in the arm. "Like you'd know. You've never been out of Junon either!" "Prostitutes," the man sitting beside Teck chuckled. Teck looked up for the first time, watching the men around him. The truck was dark, but the ride wasn't going to be very much longer. He had just graduated to soldier, been shoved onto a boat like cargo and shipped to Midgar. The boat ride took what seemed like an eternity, but Teck thanked the heavens that they let him stand out on the deck. He knew that he would miss the sea and the open sky . . . When the boat stopped and the soldiers were told to get out and pile into the truck waiting at the shore to take them the rest of the way to Midgar. Teck suddenly felt sick, but he followed his orders. His friends stomped into the truck, talking, laughing, and pushing. Once Teck sat on the long bench, he stared down at his feet and didn't look up. No windows, no escape. His claustrophobia was acting up again. "Guys, I wonder what the commander will be like," Teck said. "Prolly like old Bird, by-the-rules, but a real softy!" "That might be only wishful-" The truck stopped with a bump and the door rolled up, filling the cabin with fresh air. Everyone hushed. Teck sighed in relief but didn't feel too much better. The driver, obviously one of Midgar's commanding officers, shouted, "Okay, we're here. Everybody OUT!" Everybody immediately jumped up and filed out of the truck. Teck looked around him when he stepped out. The sky was a dull grey, the clouds churning and rumbling. Pulling his duffel bag closer, he marched after the group, all the while taking in his new home. The sounds around him were unfamiliar, the scent in the air not like Junon at all. Junon smelled like the sea, salty and fresh, like the sun and . . . life. Midgar smelled like it had been struck into everlasting darkness, and the tang of the sea was replaced with the odor or people, garbage, Mako, and acidic rain. The group of soldiers stopped in the front square of what apparently were the Offices of Midgar. Teck held his breath and looked up at the enormous building. Reaching higher then he could see, the Offices must house more than just recruits and veterans. Maybe the Turks lived here. Or maybe SOLDIER! Teck blinked and looked around him, eagerly trying to spot a member of SOLDIER. He brushed a hand along his street clothes, a plain T-shirt and jeans, and suddenly felt inadequate. Teck couldn't wait until the uniforms were handed out. The officers in Junon wore the only blue and black armor, but he had heard that Midgar was using a new pure blue uniform. Actually, they had been using them for quite awhile. His attention refocused to the head of the group, where a commander stood, talking. "Okay, ladies, welcome to Midgar. Rooms will be assigned to you soon, shifts will be handed out, and food is served in mess." Standing perfectly still, Teck had his bag at his feet and his hands clasped behind his back. "I want all you newbies to file into that room and get your assignments, NOW!" A chorus replied with, "Yes, sir!" The group marched into the room as directed and stood at attention once more. The room was huge, and spotlessly white. Teck noticed that there were doors leading into other rooms, each with letters posted above them. Aware of the drill, lines immediately formed behind doors. Sighing, Teck took to the long line leading to the door A-F. Skin moved to stand behind him and said, "Wow, our assignments!" "I hope I get the guard the President," Teck smiled happily. Skin nudged him and whispered, "If you do, let's hope you do better than the Old President's guards did." "Oh, yeah, that's right, the New President." Being in camp, the soldiers didn't hear much of what happened in the outside world. He had totally forgotten about the New President . . . what was his name? Rufus? "I heard that there is going to be welcoming parade in Junon pretty soon. It's really too bad we get to miss it," Teck snickered before turning around and ignoring Skin. Skin shoved his way forward. "Teck, you moron, don't you realize that they'll prolly make you just another guard?" Teck snorted and pushed him back. Skin shrugged and said, "Well don't expect much, rookie. I'm just hoping that they let me have a day shift. I hear Midgar gets rough at night." Teck used the well-worn phrase, "You'd think so, Skin." Laughing, Skin stepped back and stood at ease. "Fine, be that way." Teck reached the front of the line, and Skin grabbed his arm to stop him before he opened the door. Rubbing his hand along Teck's bald head, he explained, "For luck. I might not see you again, Teck." Teck smiled and nodded. Without saying goodbye, he stepped inside the door, which automatically opened for him. To my future. -------- Teck stepped into the room and set his bag in the corner. Unlike the last room, this one was small, but still clean. Just like in Junon. Teck thought, if all of the rooms in the Offices are like this, I think I could get used to living in Midgar. "Name?" Teck looked up, noting the man that sat behind the table, and mumbled, "Albah, sir." "Sit, Mister Albah." Teck pulled the chair out and said, "Yes, sir." The man handed Teck some forms, a pen, and told him to get writing. Looking over the first form, Teck seemed to remember filling something like this out about a year ago. The man stood and left the table leaving Teck alone. Teck scribbled down the required information, name, age, weight, training, previous commander, et cetera. Once Teck reached the second form, someone coughed and Teck's head shot up. It was the same man. He was young, with sharp eyes. Teck immediately looked at his uniform. A Sergeant! "Sir!" Teck snapped, blinking. "I'm sorry, sir!" Teck fumbled out of his chair, saluting. "Albah, at ease." The Sergeant rumbled. Teck tried to sit back down in a dignified manner to refocus his attention on the forms. The Sergeant pulled out his own chair and placed a blue uniform on the table. "Albah, don't worry too much about the application. We have it all." Quickly scratching down the last bit of information needed, Teck glanced up and blushed. "Sir, Sergeant, sir," he said as he pushed the papers and pen across the table. The Sergeant took the forms and began reading it over, nodding. As he skimmed the paper, he pushed the uniform closer to Teck. Teck hesitantly took the uniform, watching the Sergeant intently. "Bird?" "Yes, sir, my leading commander." The Sergeant smiled slowly and stood. "Welcome to the Shinra Infantry, The Blues, Albah! Make us proud." He handed another piece of paper to Teck, one that had his assignment, room number and list of roommates on it. The man shook Teck's hand fiercely and introduced himself as Sergeant Jhenson. Teck beamed and said, "Thank you, sir." 10 From: cdleckie Date: Mon Jul 5, 1999 3:19pm Subject: The Vial- Azrael As he pushed his way to the front of the shouting mob, Azrael wondered who had played the recording of the president's plan for Black 36. Probably one of the presidents own board members, power hungry and impatient. Oh well, it made no difference to Azrael who it was, just so long as he had a distraction. There were far too many guards at the front entrance to try to get in that way. So Azrael made his around to a small side entrance. As he crouched in the shadow of a truck parked in the alley he counted the guards. Five of them. Azrael thought he could handle that many but decided not to risk it. After all his motto was, fight and die or run, and live to fight another day. Azrael circled to the side of the truck opposite the door and popped open the cab door. Out of his pack he pulled a small brick of plastic explosives and attached it to the bottom of the dash board. The explosion would bring more guards, but with any luck he would be inside by the time they arrived. He released the parking brake hopped out of the truck and shoved it in the direction of the door. It wasn't moving very fast but it was well within ten feet of the guards when the explosion lit up the dark corridor. Azrael drew his sword and ran to the door ready to finish off those not killed or knocked unconscious in the blast. However there was no need to use it, two of the guards were dead one was lying on the ground blood matting his hair, and the other two were unconcious. Azrael pulled the keys from the belt of the bleeding man and opened the door. Before he went through he pulled the keys from the lock and pocketed them. He might have to come back out this way. As he rushed up the stairs Azrael cracked a smile. The hard part was over now all he had to do was get to the 68th floor. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Just as a note, fyre byrd informed me that the Shinra building only had 70 floors and that the labs were on the 68th and 69th floors. That's why the story got changed slightly. Also I could finish this story now but I need to know what's going on inside the Shinra building. Anyone with a soldier, turk, or other Shinra employed character please write something about the security inside the Shinra building. cdleckie 11 From: Date: Thu Jul 8, 1999 9:24pm Subject: New Survey Hello, There is a new survey for the midgar_story community. Who is(are) your favorite character(s) in FF7? (please select no more than three) ---- Possible answers are: o Cloud o Barret o Tifa o Aeris o Red XIII o Yuffie o Cait Sith o Vincent o Cid o Sephiroth o President Shinra (Alex) o Rufus o Heidigger o Palmer o Reeve o Scarlet o Tseng o Rude o Reno o Elena o Don Corneo o Wedge o Biggs o Jessie o That guy in the tube To vote, please visit the following web page: http://www.onelist.com/surveycenter/midgar_story Note: Please do not reply to this message. Survey votes are not collected via email. To vote, you must go to the ONElist website. Thanks! midgar_story Owner 12 From: Fyre Byrd Date: Mon Jul 12, 1999 0:39pm Subject: Soul Crime (cont) - Teck The cool air hit Teck's face and he dragged Bit into the building. He placed him next to the other corpses, turned to go out and save others when Taylor stopped him. "No, stay. We have all that really matters." Taylor's gaze lingered on his friends- Bit, Duck, Kevin and Skin. Teck sighed and said, "Tay, what's happening out there?" Taylor shrugged and looked around. "This place. I've only been in here . . . once or twice. And not even on patrol. I don't see any soldiers, looks like it's lose in here." He laughed halfheartedly into what became a low moan. Sliding to the floor, he whispered, "Oh, it's over. They're dead. Why should I bother. Everything - EVERYTHING - that matters to me always dies, always fades, always disappears. Well, except you," he looked up from staring at his hands. "Don't you dare die on me, Teck. It's happened one too many times to me." The vehemence in his voice was so pure and direct; Teck realized how serious he was. He rubbed his face and sat down on a step beside Taylor. "I'm not going anywhere. I'll be around, so don't stress." Taylor nodded. "The Shinra building," Teck sighed. They were camped at the foot of a huge staircase that trailed upward for two or three floors, covered in a soft blue runner carpet that wound its way toward the top of the stairs. A big sign that read Shinra was sitting in the middle of the huge entrance room. Pale light shifted from the bottom of the piece of glass, giving it an eerie glow. The Shinra building looked so up-to-date and well maintained, with spectacular lighting and grand proportions in just about everything. Taylor reached up and pulled his helmet off his head, letting it clatter to the floor. "Teck, the world outside this room is hell. And it's only a matter of time before we have to go back-" "I know it's no comfort, but it's all I can give. Cheer up, the world ain't so bad when you are a Shinra soldier. Bit wouldn't want you to be sad." Tay nodded slowly and picked up his helmet, clutching it in his thin hands. "I guess. Being a soldier, well, these days have been my best." He glanced over toward Bit's dead body and grimaced. "Poor Bit. We'll have to give them all a ceremony. A good one." Teck nodded and clapped his hand on Taylor's shoulder. "We'll have to tell Jhenson what happened to them." Taylor bent his head slightly and sniffed. Shouts from outside got louder, but Teck ignored them as he watched a tear streak down Taylor's cheek. Poor boy, Teck thought, poor, poor boy. 13 From: Date: Fri Jul 23, 1999 9:59pm Subject: Fall-8: Firefight Fall-8: Firefight ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ July 13th, 1999. Shinra Headquarters. [OOG: Swearing and violence.] ~~ The phone dropped from Cantorek's numb fingers as he saw the newscast on his projection screen. "Oh, shit..." he began. After the brief moment of paralysis, though, his instincts as a war veteran kicked in and his mind was thinking in milliseconds. He hung up the phone and called Tyr Signus. When he received no answer, he called the squad leaders he could remember offhand. There was John Albert, Richard Allar, and Shigeru Takayame. He ordered them not to fire on the civilians, and instead,to keep hidden, and to let them through. He called the technicians, the sympathizers of his cause, and demanded that the alarms be shut off, the security turrets be disarmed, and that the citizens of Midgar be allowed free passage to receive their justice. After he hung up, he lifted his semi automatic mako-propelled pistol, checked his ammunition, and thrust it into its holster. Rufus was upstairs. He would try to talk his way out of this one, but it would be impossible. Cantorek glanced at the security screens set up around his office. Already, the citzens had broken through the glass doors and were charging up the stairs. "Citizens of Midgar, please calm down," the speakers boomed, in a futile effort. "The previous announcement was due to technical difficulties and is being investigated..." The next voice was the president himself, which meant that he was still upstairs one floor. "Dear people of Midgar, the last announcement was due to a feedback chip installed by terrorists intent on destroying our..." Cantorek patted his pockets, relaxing when he sensed the extra clips. His phone rang. "Cantorek. Oh, Tyr, it's you! What, Heidegger's coming by helicopter! "Great. We need him now. Something happened. The tapes were released. I don't know who did it, but it certainly wasn't me. I don't know what happened. The thing I must do, though, is to make sure Rufus doesn't get out of this building. Bye." The general snapped his phone shut, shoved it into its holder, and then he kicked his office door open and ran across the carpeted sixty-ninth floor to the large set of double stairs. When he reached the top, he saw Rufus at his desk, holding his shotgun in hand, shouting frantically into his phone. Above the screams downstairs, he could just make out what the president was saying. "WHAT??? Vicks, you mean to tell me that General Cantorek and his group of soldiers planted that video and..." Cantorek tensed. He saw Rufus look up. The president grinned. "Vicks. Look who just showed up. Bye." Without a word, Rufus lifted his shotgun and aimed. Cantorek leaped to the side, whipping his gun out of its holster with surprising agility for an older man, firing off shots toward the president. Rufus ducked behind his desk as one shot was fired, shattering the handrail behind where Cantorek was standing just an instant before. Cantorek's shots missed, the President, causing circular dents in the bulletproof glass behind him. He rolled to the side and brought his gun up again, firing wildly. Rufus took aim again, and Cantorek was moving, jumping over the railing on the other side just as the shell hit the ground. The President started to run from his seat. "Dark Nation. Attack him!" he ordered. From behind the desk, the sleek black dog darted out and leaped, teeth bared. Cantorek rose, aimed quickly, and fired three times. Twice, the bullets hit the dog's chest, but the animal kept coming, weakened, but obviously still willing to fight. Rufus headed for the door that would open up to the open-air balcony outside. Dark Nation landed on Cantorek, knocking the man over, and was about to slash him with his deadly teeth, but the General managed to jam his pistol into the dog's gut and fire before anything could happen. With a loud squeal, the President's pet dropped, limp, bleeding over Raith profusely. Raith pushed the heavy animal off of him, fired another shot into the dog's head for good measure, then, panting and huffing, began to chase President Rufus out to the balcony. "Cantorek, your ploy is going to fail," Rufus shouted as she stood on the balcony. There was no place to go for him. "You're wrong, Rufus," Cantorek replied. "Your reign will end here, and for once, democracy will rule in Midgar. For the first time, we will have true peace." "Not while I still live." "That's the point." Cantorek raised his pistol. Rufus lifted his shotgun in reply. Anticipating a firefight, Cantorek got down on the ground, but as he moved, he felt pain tear open his shoulder as the buckshots implanted inside his soft flesh. His gun shouted a reprisal as it hit the President's gun out of his hands, completely by chance. He heard Rufus swear. Raith lifted his gun and adjusted his aim, intent on making the next shot count, but then Rufus leaped from the barrier... ...and onto the skis of a passing helicopter. Rufus made a face and waved. "Bye-bye, General Raith. It was good working with you, but now, you're going to be my enemy." Raith struggled to lift himself, to perhaps hit the President as the chopper flew away, but instead, the flying machine swung around, exposing its chaingun. In an instant, Cantorek was running. He caught only a split-second glance of Rufus' mocking face before he was back inside, and by the time the bullets thundered above, shattering the glass of what used to be Rufus' office, Cantorek was rolling down the stairs painfully after leaping an extraordinarily long distance. Only then, did the pain of bruises, cuts, and his injured shoulder fully manifest themselves. The floor was empty, so no one heard his dramatic shout of pain, but suddenly, the elevator doors flew open and uniformed soldiers were filing into the room. At the head of them all were three people dressed in black suits. As the General tried to focus his gaze and fight the coming dizziness, he could only recall a voice saying, "Father, father..." -- /-|rcana ----- ----- * ----- ----- Araby Weyr Fandom: http://members.tripod.com/~Araby/ Tales of Midgar- FF7: http://members.tripod.com/~ArcanaTxM/ Xenogears Interactive Fiction: http://members.tripod.com/~project_xat/ Xenogears - Guardian Angels: http://www.zenogias.com/Guardian 14 From: Fyre Byrd Date: Mon Jul 26, 1999 8:14pm Subject: Crew Bunk-34 - Teck [OOG: Er... cussing warning I suppose] Well, now they're all gone. Damn, that brings back so many memories . . . ------ About six months ago . . . The door opened before him, and Teck stepped inside his room. Looking around, he could see that at least three of his mates were already in, and had made themselves at home. Teck set his duffel bag by the door and ventured to look farther into his new lodgings. Someone stepped out of the bathroom and smiled brightly. "Baldy!" Teck spun around and glared at the new person. "Teck, call me Teck." The man smiled again and said, "Sure, sure, don't get your pantyhose in a tangle. I'm Phil, but everyone calls me Bit." "Bit?" Teck moved toward the door to retrieve his bag. "Why do they call you that?" Bit smiled and whispered, "Get me good and drunk if you really want to know, but otherwise I won't tell. So," Bit paused and took Teck's bag from him. "Teck. Welcome to Bunk-34." Bit tossed Teck's stuff onto one of the upper beds and put his arm around Teck's shoulder. "You'll like it here!" Teck nodded and looked at the top bunk. "Uh-huh. Where's mess? I'm starved." Taking his arm back, Bit looked at Teck in shock. "What? You don't even want to meet the gang?" "I have a whole year." "True, yes, you do. They might even be in mess. Sure, I'll escort you there." Bit bowed and offered his arm. Teck slapped it away and walked out the door. "You show a lady a little courtesy," Bit snorted. "And all you get in return is a cold shoulder. Women!" Teck ducked back in the room and chuckled, "Come on, jackass." ------ "That's Taylor." "Hey," Taylor nodded curtly. "And that," Bit pointed to another man sitting at the same table. "That's Duck. Guys, this is Teck!" Duck smiled and shook Teck's hand. "Welcome to Bunk-34, Cue ball!" Duck was short with long tightly curled black hair. Bit smirked and grabbed at Teck's assignment sheet. "Weeeeeell," he said slowly. "Our other new mates are . . . Kevin and Gerge. Um . . . I wonder where they could be?" Everyone sat down at a table and began to chatter while Teck moved the food around on his plate. He found that Bit, Taylor and Duck were all "veterans". They had been haunting the Offices for about a year, unable to get promoted or shipped away. They probably goof off half the time, Teck thought bitterly. Watching the three soldiers interacting, he felt slightly cast aside. Sure, they talked to him, just to call him Cue ball and rookie and give him irrelevant pointers. Now muttering about the missing new guys again, Teck realized how alone he was really going to be. A moment later, Teck surprised everyone by exclaiming, "What? Who were they again?" Teck swiped the paper back and looked it over. "Gerge! Hey, that's Skin. Would you believe it?" Taylor began to laugh and he rested his palms on the table. "Who's that? You know him?" Teck blinked and looked up. "Oh, yeah! Skin and I were in camp together." Someone came up behind Teck and tapped him on the shoulder. "Teck!" Turning, Teck saw that he was looking Skin in the face. "Skin! You and me!" They both laughed and Skin was introduced. Teck looked at his paper again. "Regular guard duty. What did we expect?" Skin only nodded and showed Teck his assignment. "Not even at the same place. Oh well, Skin, we'll work our way up. Maybe they'll even ask us to join SOLDIER." Bit's face broke into an incredulous grin. "Boys, boys. There's one thing you DON'T want, and that's to be asked to join SOLDIER. If they offer you membership, well, that can mean only one thing . . ." Bit stopped and Teck raised his eyebrow, "They'll make you a Beta!" "A what?" Duck grinned and took Teck's plate from him. "What'd you get this for?" Teck shrugged, and Skin asked again, "What's a Beta?" "You have a lot to learn, boys." ------- Teck yawned and pulled the rifle closer to him. Taylor squirmed and sighed, "Nightshift, what can you expect?" Teck shrugged, looking around himself. The door into Reactor 4 was huge, towering above Teck in an arch that seemed to brush the sky. Thunder cracked and the sour scent of Midgar rain filled the air. "Great," Taylor muttered, setting his rifle against the wall. "It's going to rain on our watch." Teck sniffed the air and sighed. "It doesn't really matter. Rain is alright, we can step inside." He sniffed again and recoiled. His 'new' uniform smelled like blood and battle. It set his hackles up, catching him by surprise every time he took a breath. Taylor shuffled around in his pockets and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. "I'll have my watch in style," he said, putting a cigarette between his lips. All was quiet, the rain filling the air with its sound, and the breathing of the two men. Teck rocked from foot to foot while Tay took another puff of his cigarette. The night grew unbearably still, and a pair of footsteps quietly slipped threw it, hanging in the air. Taylor stiffened, bit down on his cigarette and picked his rifle back up. "Who's there?" he asked timidly. The footsteps stopped, as if they could hide, and a face appeared in shadow. "Guards?" it said almost mockingly. "No, no more guards." The sound of sword sliding out of its scabbard rang out, and Teck gasped, trying to back up into the reactor. The figure stepped into sight, holding a huge blade before him. Long silvery hair trailed down his back, swirling around his knees. He spoke again, "It's only a matter of time. Only so long before I have it all, all my data. Guards," he laughed softly, looking at the ground. When his eyes looked back up, they were a cold jade, and the smile on his lips was cruel. "No, no more guards." Taylor shook his head suddenly and recited, "This reactor is off limits to the public. You will be asked to remove yourself from the area. If you refuse-" That was all that Taylor got out before the man stepped forward swiftly, taking Taylor by the throat. He dangled Tay a few feet off the ground, laughing. "No, no more guards. Only a matter of time." He pulled the lengthy sword from his side and made a move to stab him when Teck choked on his words. "No, wa-wait!" The stranger turned his head suddenly, glaring icily. "Mother waits." Teck pulled his rifle up suddenly, squeezing the trigger with a numb finger. The kick sent him to his back, but he could hear the man give a small, petty cry. But looking up, Teck saw that the man had disappeared. 15 From: Fyre Byrd Date: Mon Jul 26, 1999 8:16pm Subject: Soul Crime (cont) - Teck [OOG: Cussing again] Silence. Teck tipped his head back and eyed the ceiling. The night had seemed to move so slowly, the minutes passing like hours, the time slipping by quietly. Beside him, Taylor sighed and held his fists in his lap. "They didn't deserve that." Teck only nodded, watching the distant ceiling meticulously. Taylor had been mumbling things like that for . . . Teck shook his head and looked at the ceiling closely. It seemed to be flat and white, still, but the more his gaze rested on it, the more that changed. He blinked and his hearing reached the crowd outside. The shouts had been growing louder for the past four minutes . . . no, was that an hour? Time was so misleading. "The people . . ." he mumbled, still watching the ceiling. He heard Taylor turn his head and look outside. Tay was quiet for a moment, and his hands moved to his mouth. "Oh shit!" He jumped to his feet and pulled on Teck's arm. Teck allowed himself to be jerked up, looking outside. The mob pushed harder at the guards, and the last group tumbled to the ground, quickly vanishing under the feet of the crowd. They moved toward the doors, a few pushing them open, others just bursting through the glass panes of the doors and the walls. Glass rained down, covering the carpet in deadly sparkles as the mob poured inside. The two moved to take cover behind the bend in the stairs, but the riot massed over them, faster than Teck thought possible. Drowning in a sea of people, the two soldiers lost each other. Blows from fists and other, harder objects struck from both sides. Teck cried out as something hit his forehead. He blinked and felt the blood welling up from the abrasion. The red fluid spilled over his brow and ended up in his eye. He moaned and shoved at the people around him, his vision in his left eye getting hazy. More pounding from behind him, and he tried to move forward. Something tripped his foot, and he stumbled into someone in front of him. Shouts about the soldiers being amidst the mob grew louder and the beatings got viscous. Teck stumbled to the ground just as a fist smashed into his nose. The carpet was covered in silvery glass that bit into his cheek as he rested it upon on the floor. Something else kicked him savagely in the back. Teck heard the snap and arched his back, smashing into more feet. Dizziness and nausea overwhelmed him and his tried to stand. Flecks of glass buried deeper into his face; another kick, another punch. Teck could feel the blood now, as all turned numb and faded into black. He mumbled something of a goodbye, even though Taylor wasn't in earshot. And then darkness consumed him. 16 From: Date: Wed Jul 28, 1999 9:44pm Subject: Evangeline Evangeline looked up. A small raindrop fell on her pale face. She quietly walked up the steps and into her diminutive slums apartment. She quickly took her tarot cards from under her cloak and started her layout. The Tower, Judgement, Ten of Swords, Four of Swords and Death. She was sure of what these cards meant, death. A powerful man will return, causing death by means of... she laid down one more card. Ace of SWORDS. Evangeline hastly moved around gathering important herps and spices. "I bet he's all ready killed or seriously wounded someone." She said aloud to nobody. Suddenly she stopped. On her table she had a photograph of a young man. Her true love. She had vowed she'd never love again. Evangeline had lost her love, Yves when he fought in SOLDIER. She also said she'd never forgive the Shrina. Yet, that was where she was now heading to. **************** 17 From: cdleckie Date: Fri Jul 30, 1999 8:17pm Subject: Azrael: The Vial-part 2 As Azrael rushed up the the stairs he could faintly hear the president over the enormous speakers outside. Probably trying to bullshit his way out of what the citizens just heard. He was somewhere around the 55th floor of the Shinra building, he had been running for about 40 minutes and was starting to get fatigued. Hopefully it wouldn't effect his performance in the labs. When he reached the 68th floor he opened the door to the hallway very cautiously. He didn't see anyone in the hallway but he was sure to stay alert as he jogged along looking for door 68-L13. (68th floor, lab 13. hope this is ok) He went down the hallway twice to make sure he hadn't missed it then got back on the staircase. he went up another flight and when he peeked out the door he Cantorek, one of the high ranking Shinra generals, running up the stairs to the presidents office. Azrael stepped out of the stair well and saw the door right in front of him. He walked over and tried the door, huh? some careless scientist had left it open. He opened the door and walked through. The vial was supposed to be in a refrigeratot somewhere. Azrael scanned the room and spotted two refrigerator on the far wall. Out of nowhere shots rang out on the floor above. Whatever was going on Azrael had to do this quick. He yanked open the first refrigerator and scanned the various containers inside. Not there. Not bothering to close the first one he pulled on the handle of the second refrigerator. It was locked! " Great! another waste of time." Azrael reached into his pack and pulled out a set of lock picks. He had been meaning to get a pair of electronic ones but just hadn't gotten around to it. Oh well these would do, just take more time. As he fiddled with the lock he heard huge booms and the sound of breaking plexiglass. Then a thud in the hallway. "Crap!" Just then the lock popped open. Azrael looked inside the refrigerator and saw the sample he was looking for, labeled JX-8. He grabbed it put it into the carrying case he had been given and shoved it back into his pack. He looked around for the security camera's and realized there weren't any. kinda made sense seeing as how alot of the stuff they did in these labs was illegal. As he rushed into the hallway he saw three squads of guards and a few higher ups standing over Cantorek. Azrael didn't stop to wonder he hopped into the open elevator door and pushed the button for the 1st floor. He was home free. At this point he could probably walk through the front door and no one would notice. Now he had to get the vial to Luc. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Hey arcana, sorry if I screwed up anything with Cantorek's character. Also I need to know if that npc's ok'd or not. I'll him in my next post. And fyrebyrd... e-mail me. bye >-cdleckie > > > 18 From: Zach A Date: Fri Jul 30, 1999 5:57pm Subject: Shinra En Timet Time: July 13, morning Place: Mac's Burger and Broadcast Bar -------------- "Nothing." Trev Westscott squinted at the subdued glow of the computer screen in front of him. With AVALANCHE's thinly stretched resources, actually purchasing a computer system was out of the question. Luckily, there were several businesses that offered MidNet service--providing you patronized them. Jessie looked around in annoyance. The dimly lit cafe lived up to it's name. Aside from several computer terminals, tables, and a high bar, there were numerous television sets hung in ceiling corners or on the edges of tables, and every one was set to a different channel. The result was a jarring mix of voices, music, and machinery noises assaulting them from every possible direction save straight down, not that it helped much. "I wish we could find someplace less...noisy." "Succintly put, Jessie, but here we are. We'll go someplace else next time." He sipped his drink. "I used to know people all over MidNet, back when we had the terminal under Seventh Heaven. Now, well, I'm out of touch." "Have you ever tried puting yourself in Hojo's shoes? What you do if you were Hojo?" She pulled her hair back and put it into a ponytail. Her red bandanna secured it a moment later. "Yes, but I've never been much good at it. Besides, we don't know enough about Hojo directly to make a good assumption." He tapped keys, eyes scrolling along with the page. "I guess so." She seemed thoughtful. "Anyhow, it's unlikely our MidNet friends have heard about his whereabouts, much less even Hojo himself." "It's worth a try." Trev said, a touch defensively. It had been his idea originally to try computers first. "Besides...my connections are all explosives-related. I bet Barret had some contacts that could help us." "But...Barret can't help us with that anymore." Jessie replied, chin in her palms. "I know." Trev closed down the terminal and stood. "But Tifa might." "Dirty Mako-sucking Shinra! I allas' knew they was a-lying to us!" The deep throated accented-tinged shout made both AVALANCHE operatives freeze. The source was a large man sitting at the bar, waving his arms about in anger. Trev furrowed his brow and walked over to the television set the man was watching, followed closely by Jessie and a number of the bar's customers, all wanting to see what the commotion was about. On the screen of the television was a somewhat faded out-looking image of a large meeting room. Trev immediately recognized Rufus, President of Shinra, and staff. Tseng, too, he recognized. The others he couldn't place. Rufus was talking. "....the slums airtight, pump Black 36 down there, and eliminate the entire population. AVALANCHE's support in the slums will be gone. The chemical does not linger for long and will dissipate and turn into regular air after a day or two." Trev's eyes widened. President Rufus allowed this to be broadcast? No, no, someone else...but in any case, a full Shinra exposure of the Black 36 ordeal! Incredibly good for morale. The recording continued. A blue-suited man with black hair, in the tape, stood up angrily. "What?!? There are overtwo million citizens down there. And that's the official number. There's at least another two million who don't appear on the records. You'd kill over four million people to eliminate a small group?" he protested. Seeming to ignore him, another man calmly asked, "We'd eliminate AVALANCHE's support in the slums, but the people above the plate would sympathize with them. The whole city would rise against us." Rufus continued."Ah, but that's the beauty of this. It seems that we have security footage of some members of AVALANCHE entering the labs tonight. I'll announce that AVALANCHE, working with "inside- conspirators" has created a deadly weapon that they plan to use if Shinra carries out Wedge's execution. Shinra will say that it is trying to negotiate with AVALANCHE and will put off Wedge's execution till midnight tomorrow. The release of the chemical will coincide with the execution. AVALANCHE will be blamed and they'll be the most hated people on the planet. The dissidents below the plate will be put down as well," Rufus said. He turned to the blue-suited man. "You're the Head of Urban Development. Think of this as cheap urban renewal." So that was Reeve, Head of Urban Development, then. Trev nodded grimly. With the playing of that last speech by Rufus, AVALANCHE had been cleared of guilt for the Black 36 disaster. "You all disgust me. I quit," Reeve roared, standing. Trev grinned. There, all Shinra weren't as bad as they seemed...well, the rare exception to the rule. "I'm afraid that I can't let you do that. It's a pity you made that decision. Tseng?" Rufus said, turning toward the leader of the Turks. Tseng's gun was out lightning fast. Two shots echoed in the room as Reeve spun around and dropped to the ground a bullet in his head and chest. He was obviously dead. Trev's eyes widened, and he rocked back on his heels. Rare, indeed. "Any questions?" Rufus asked. And the screen went blank. In the bar, a moment of silence hung over the group. For the few seconds it lasted, Trev could almost tangibly feel anger and fear building. Then it broke. The bar's patrons roared their disgust as one, shouting comments to each other about betrayal and deceit. How could Shinra do this to them, after they'd placed their trust in them? How could they plan on killing innocent people? How could they kill their own?! Trev turned and put his arm around Jessie's shoulders and led her towards the glass door. "Time to go." "Finally." She whispered barely loud enough to hear. "Finally, Shinra's going to get what's been coming to them since day one." She stopped and looked back in the window of the place, at the group of shouting people inside. "Those people..." Trev mused, as they continued to walk with more of a bounce in their step than they'd had in many a day, "Those people." He smiled, a genuine smile. "Now I know why we're AVALANCHE. Six pebbles starting rolling downhill a few months back. Along the way we picked up a couple more, and lost a few as well. But we kept rolling. And now..." Indignant argumentative voices could be heard emanating from every store with a television set. Doubtless, right then, across Midgar, hundreds of thousands of people were rethinking their ideals and wondering just how hard it must have been for so few to fight so many in these past months. And they wonder if they have the courage to do the same thing. "NOW we're an AVALANCHE." 19 From: Date: Sun Aug 1, 1999 1:12pm Subject: Evangeline opened up the door to the nearest bar just as two people walked out saying something about how evil President Rufus was. "So true." She said under her breath. She went and sat down at the bar and ordered a drink. "What's going on? Why is everyone so angry?" Evangeline asked the guy next to her. "It's the damn president." He said his voice slurred from drinking. "He's going around all like 'I've got to kill landslide or what ever the hell they are so I'll dump acid on the damn slums. He's just going around killing people. Damn bastard." Evangeline could tell he was really drunk. But dumping acid on the slums. What was Mudslide? Suddenly she remembered it must be AVALANCHE. She once read somebody in that group's tarot cards. The main card said that the group will get what they want but it will take time and hard work. It was a strong man asking about his daughter,(what was her name, it began with a Mar-). She had bright future but she might have some struggles growing up. It was right after I lost Yves so I said if they needed any help I'd be willing. She wrapped fingers around the dimond on her neck. The thought of Yves made her remember when she got this. Yves had been away traveling for three monthes the day he was supposed to return she worked so hard. She spent the day cooking, cleaning, gardening everything there was to be done. When he finally came she was so excite. Then over a huge dinner he gave her the necklace. He found it in a small shop at Cosmo Canyon. It was a pure, clear dimond with white materia inside. All of it was on a beautiful silver chain. He said it was so he would always be with her. No, Evangeline thought, I can't do this. I'll get myself all worked up again. Sudddenly she knew she had to find where AVALANCHE 20 From: Zach A Date: Tue Aug 3, 1999 10:52am Subject: The Hunt: 1 Time: July 13, late morning/early afternoon Place: Midgar streets/Sector 1 Church ---------------- Trev and Jessie took their time making their way back to the Church. Despite the fact that Shinra seemed to be reeling, it didn't mean Shinra was out of commission. Though small riots were breaking out at different intersections and Rufus, who continually appeared on public screens over buildings with new explanations for the transmission (including blaming AVALANCHE or a similar 'terrorist' group, which was typical), seemed very shaken-up, Shinra troops still held the city. Shinra still wouldn't hesitate to arrest or kill AVALANCHE members they spotted. Trev and Jessie stuck to the alleyways and sidestreets as much as they could. 'I remember the good old days when Shinra didn't have a tab on me.' Trev thought. 'Then I could still walk in the open, not back in these alleys feeling like a...fugitive.' Ironic choice of words, he noted to himself. "Do you really think Tifa's going to know who Barret was in contact with?" Jessie asked. "I don't know. Probably. I hope so. I mean, Barret probably met with them somewhere in the slums around Seventh Heaven, so Tifa probably knows something." He responded. Sounds of fighting reached their ears from teh next street over; Trev patted his side to make sure he'd strapped on his pistols before leavnig the Church earlier. There'd been a period when Trev had walked around armed to the teeth--pistols, grenades, spare clips, knife. Grenades weighed about a pound each, though, so he opted them out these days. It occured to him that it had been weeks since he'd assembled and set off an explosive device-nearly too long. Idle hands. "Shinra's got their hands full now," Jessie remarked, looking down a narrow passage between buildings. Sighting the source of the fighting, she waved Trev over to the passage. The space between the buildings was small, so the view was slim, but they could clearly see citizens, looking angry and rather dangerous, yelling and throwing whatever they could get their hands on at unseen Shinra soldiers, who were no doubt beating them back with nightsticks or riotguns, in which case the rioters didn't stand a chance. Doubtless there were already casualties, and the number would probably do nothing but rise more and more before the day's end. "That's not the way to go about things." Trev said, disdain in his voice. "For either Shinra or the public." "Yeah, but that's what they're doing." Jessie responded, resigned. Trev shook his head and continued to walk down the alleyway, hands in his trenchcoat pockets. "Trev! Wait up!" Jessie took a last look at the rioters and stood, running after Trev's receding figure. She slowed beside him. "I'm beat already, and it's just noon." "Nice day, though." Trev looked up at the gray-black plate above them. "Ha, ha." ------------------- Tifa was sitting across from Wedge on a rearranged church pew studying an architechtural blueprint of an old-model Mako Reactor when Trev and Jessie arrived. She brushed her long, brown hair back out of her eyes and stood, spreading her arms in welcome. "Any luck?" She asked. "Huh-uh." Jessie said, shaking her head. "Actually, I was kind of hoping you could help us." Trev said. "Me?" Tifa looked incredulous. "I don't have any contacts, and I haven't the slightest idea where Hojo is, so why me?" "Because you were around Seventh Heaven, hence, Barret, the most. Did you ever, at all, even once, get a glimpse or catch a name that we could use?" Trev asked, fingers crossed behind his back. "No...wait, once he had a guy over. Dressed nice." She furrowed her brow in thought, chin in her hands as she sat back down in the pew. "I don't really remember his name, but I think it was Gephardt or Neckhart or something like that. And he ordered a Sector Seven Tsunami." Trev whistled. At 75 gil a pop, the Tsunamis lived up to your name. One sip and they blasted you across Midgar. Usually no one ever had the money in the slums to buy a drink of that kind. "That's plenty, thanks!" Said Jessie, grinning at Trev. "What? You don't even have his name!" She protested. "You told us that he's well dressed, so he's got good taste, at least what his name sounds like, so we can narrow it down, and he's got to be well-off or rich counting the clothing and his drink, so we can probably assume he lives on the plate and most likely works for Shinra, or worked for Shinra." Trev supplied. "You got all that?" "That's not much. That's just the obvious." He shrugged back. "Uh-huh." She stood again. "How to you plan on going about finding him, then?" "Midgar phone directories; cancel out anything in the slums, cancel out anyone with names that don't resemble Gephardt or Neckhart in pronunciation, then scope out the remaining people ourselves." Trev finished with a flourish of his right index finger. "Trev..." Jessie started, "This means back to Mac's Burger and Broadcast Bar, doesn't it?" "No, we'll go somewhere else, like I promised." He grinned. "Oh, good." "What was all that commotion earlier? We could hear yelling all the way out here in the church." Wedge asked. Tifa glanced at him and nodded, a puzzled look on her face. "Well..." Trev began. "Someone just hit Shinra big--overlapped Rufus' speech for today with a tape of him making the Black 36 plan with his cohorts, and killing Reeve! The Head of Urban Development, you know, him." Jessie explained. "What?! Are you SERIOUS? This is GREAT!" Wedge yelled, jumping up and down. "The sounds you heard were riots breaking out." Trev finished, cracking his knuckles slowly. Tifa, perhaps, realized the seriousness of THAT bit of news, and her grin faded. "So more people are probably going to die today. That's not 'great'." "I hate to sound callous, because as much as I agree with you, we've--I've--done some killing of innocent people myself." Trev said. "Remember Mako Reactor Five." "I do remember." Tifa said. "But..." "But nothing. I'm a murderer. Anyone who was there that day or had a hand is one, too." Trev countered, looking angry. He looked at the ground a moment. "Sorry." "It's ok." Tifa turned back to the map and began discussing it with Wedge once again. Trev turned and walked out of the church's front entrance, heading to another cafe he knew had computer terminals, up on the plate. Jessie turned to Tifa and Wedge after Trev's figure disappeared. "I'm worried about him. He's stuck on the Reactor Five issue. He always has been." "He'll be all right." "I don't know. I mean, I know Trev well enough to know that he can fight, he can fight Shinra without a moment's hesitation, but that...I think he feels like he owes them something." "Owes who?" Wedge asked. "The people...in the blast." "Oh." He looked back down at the map. "I just hope he doesn't do something stupid." "I don't think he will...I think...he's waiting. For something." Jessie said. "I'm going to catch up to him. We'll be back later. 21 From: Fyre Byrd Date: Tue Aug 24, 1999 7:04pm Subject: Between Waking and Sleeping - Serah [OOG: this takes place that night, I guess. I waited to keep with the timeline, but since no one posted anything I'll do mine. Oh, cussin' warning.] Serah watched the people in the streets, still milling around, still screaming their outrages to each other. Looking at the timepiece, she noticed that it was getting late in the evening, almost time to hit the sack. But the citizens below still held her gaze. They were acting like they could change the whole city, like they had the power to remove Rufus from office. Serah smirked and turned away from the outside world. Rufus had disappeared from his office. Rumors were flying left and right, about his death, about his leaving town, about this and that. The arrest for a man named Cantorek was headlined in the evening Shinra Times and was a main story on SNN. But Serah didn't watch, or read, about it. It really didn't matter. The city wouldn't change. The President was still alive, despite the rumors best efforts and the Shinra employees that had any connection to the uprising had been put down like strays which even lessened their chance of loosening the harness of Shinra. Midgar was a little disheartened, a little stirred, and rebellion still hung on all their minds. If only something else could push a little more, if Rufus would slip again. And where the hell was AVALANCHE? They seemed to have quieted down. People whispered about what had happened at the Shinra building and blamed, or even thanked, AVALANCE for it. What did Serah know? Nothing. Standing around in a bar, waiting for a no-show jackass that ordered a huge shipment of dope, wasn't exactly a way to find answers, or a way out of Midgar. But she did hear the drunk gossip. She turned to find the lights were dimmed in her apartment, the small lamp in the corner trying to brighten the whole room. It was a single room apartment, just enough space for her to turn around in, with the bed shoved all the way against the wall and a tiny refrigerator being used as a nightstand, the walls a pale grey-brown from the city smog. It didn't matter what the place looked like, as long as it didn't suck up her gil and she could get a decent night's sleep. Well, at least semi-decent. Serah pulled back the dingy blanket and slipped into bed. Maybe it would straighten out tomorrow. Maybe she would find her way out. This yearning to leave had been getting stronger every passing day. The city was so huge that she wasn't even sure of where the exit was. The computers that told those answers where malfunctioning or inaccessible. Just something to stand in her way further. She found her way to the Sector 1 exit, but the doors where locked, and the whole town was 'protected' by a wall. It all seemed pointless to her, but what did she know? Maybe the President was really protecting them from the outside world. Serah snorted and rolled over, her mind was working a mile a minute and she couldn't sleep. She knew that she'd get out someday, or die trying. And until then, she'd live in Midgar, but not be one with the city herself. She considered herself a . . . prolonged tourist. Living in a filthy apartment in Sector 2. Employed in one of the city's most important jobs. Well, at least important in the slums. Being a drug runner paid good money, and the demands for it grew steadily everyday. So did the risks, though. The 'night' air chilled and the perpetual darkness dimmed even more as the city hushed and finally rested. Citizens still cried in the night, but it was muffled, sounding more like the commonplace muggings. Serah pulled her thin sheet closer and watched the ceiling. Thinking of tomorrow was fruitless, thinking of yesterday was painful, but maybe now . . . Blinking her dark eyes, she focused on now, on reality. The present. But all that would surface in her mind was . . . long ago and the fact that she couldn't remember. Couldn't remember her family, her hometown, or even Hojo. Quickly, Serah lifted her hand brushed away the tears that clung to her eyelashes. "Nothing about the matters," she whispered vainly to herself. She sat up and yelled "Nothing fucking matters! NOTHING!" She swallowed and tried to remember the last time she had yelled. It wouldn't come to her. Lying down again, she moved into the present. Her dreams were all that mattered in the present. They lead her, they gave her purpose to wake up. And that voice . . . that haunting voice that guided all her thoughts and being into . . . what was it? She half-heartedly laughed, mostly at herself, before rolling onto her side. Finally closing her eyes, Serah drifted off. She felt like her mind was being led, explored by icy fingers, gently searching her memories. She had been having this feeling of insecurity in her dreams recently, and there was always something else there, something nagging. Her dreams always gave her the inspiration of leave Midgar, to do better things then be a whore, or a factory worker, to keep moving and remain aloof. The darkness grew in her eyes and a voice spoke to her, though it wasn't the first time. Finally closing her eyes, Serah drifted off. She felt like her mind was being led, explored by icy fingers, gently searching her memories. She had been having this feeling of insecurity in her dreams recently, and there was always something else there, something nagging. Her dreams always gave her the inspiration of leave Midgar, to do better things then be a whore, or a factory worker, to keep moving and remain aloof. The darkness grew in her eyes and a voice spoke to her, though it wasn't the first time. /Found a new home? . . . Yeah, it's a dump. But it's all I could find. Doesn't matter, you know- /Yes. When can you leave Midgar? Only a matter of time. The world outside must be beautiful, from what you have told me. I want to see the North, and the great plains of snow. I just have to find a way out . . . /I can wait, but you must hurry. I don't want to have to guide you myself. You couldn't do that. I am my own person, and I control myself. /Heh heh. . . . /I need you to find a person named Cloud . . . bring him with you. It's only a matter of time before we all can be as one in the North. Cloud? I'll try. /Good girl. Just find Cloud and come North. Yes. I will do that. /Wake up! Serah slowly opened her eyes and looked at the window. It was still dark outside, but then, it was always dark. The clock read four forty-eight, almost time for work. 22 From: Zach A Date: Fri Aug 27, 1999 6:03pm Subject: The Search-2 [OOC: Ok, it's short, but I wanted something to do! yes, let's get some new blood in here! Them medieval methods of doctorin' somebody up work reaaaal good! =) ] Time: July 13, afternoon Place: Midgar streets ---------------- Trev Westscott paused on the curb of a street, dingy concrete blending into the soles of his tattered combat boots. Hands in the deep pockets of his trenchcoat, he stared down into the gutter. Swirls of murky water intermixed with oil ran in rivulets along the ground, until they disappeared between the grates of a drainage ditch. His reflection, distorted, stared back up at him. Scowling, he planted his boot firmly in the muddy pool, splashing the water across the pavement. He trudged across the street and continued down the sidewalk on the opposite side. "Trev!" Halting, Trev tossed a glance over his shoulder and continued walking. Jessie caught up with him, placed a hand on his shoulder. "Where ya heading?" "Mac's Burgers and Broadcast Bar. I thought you weren't coming, so I made for it. We'll stop off and ask about a different place now, though," he shrugged. "Didn't mean to be trouble about it." "No trouble." They walked in silence for a block past a row of residential apartments and tumbledown buildings. At the end of the block was a shop: small, dirty, but offering goods. Trev stepped inside for a moment, reappeared a scant minute later in the doorway. "There's a cafe down this way, offers computer services." "Alright." Once again, silence descended. Trev walked slumped. The sounds of the riots were dying down in this area of town. The Shinra didn't have quite as high a presence in the slums as they had on the plate nearer to the actual Shinra headquarters in the center of the city. The cafe, called simply 'Bradford's', sat on a corner. Despite it's surroundings, it actually managed to look nice. Outside painted, shuttered windows hung planters, empty, but adding to the atmosphere. The interior was freshly painted and chairs, tables, and most importantly, a pair of computer stations, all looked like they were in good condition and the smell of freshly baked goods and coffee was overwhelmingly tempting. Trev stepped up to the counter, where a rather large woman in a dress and an apron looked up expectantly. "Do you charge for computer useage?" He said, matter-of-factly. "Not if you buy something. Otherwise, 10 gil up front for a half-hour, 15 for a full hour." That was the clincher. "In that case, could I get a coffee (black), and one of those whitchamacallits? Hmm. And a half-dozen of these donuts, here." he pointed. "Coffee and a cinnamon roll. I'll call back for the donuts, one moment." She tapped the cash register. "Twelve and a half gil." She turned to the back room and it's propped-open door. "William! I need you to restock the donut shelf!" "Coming!" He received his confections and drink and met up with an already-seated Jessie who was booting up a computer. "Donut?" "No, thanks." Trev bit into the cinnamon roll as the screen displayed opening scrolls of data. It took the machine enough time to finish loading MidNet to allow Trev to finish munching and pull his chair up next to Jessie's. "Try a name search, first?" he suggested. "Yeah, it's all we've got to go on, hard evidence." She tapped keys, displaying three or four possible names that Tifa had listed back in the Church, names she thought were connected to a man Barret Wallace might have used for information, and began the search. The computer ran through a registered citizens list of Midgar, and began sorting dissimilar names from ones that matched Jessie's list. Trev stared intently at a blank prompt entitled RESULTS: The search continued. Jessie scratched her chin with her left index finger and muttered, "I hope this guy wasn't giving Barret an alias." "It's...possible, I guess, but I'm hoping not. There wasn't much Shinra activity in Sector Seven then, so he wouldn't have much reason to disguise his name. No one but us knew we were AVALANCHE then, either." "So we hope." "So we do. We've been hoping for a damn long time now." Trev said, nodding. The computer beeped it's report. RESULTS: 718 "Seven hundred and eighteen people?!" Trev said, incredulous. "Midgar's big," Jessie replied dryly. "Now we get to sort them by profession, which means taking each and every one of them, doing background checks and finding out whether they're possibly our guy." Trev sighed heavily. "I'm going back for more coffee." -------------- 23 From: Date: Mon Sep 6, 1999 5:07am Subject: Born From Flames: The Birth of a New Hero.® [OOG: Well here it is, the first FF7 Fanfic I have ever written! Please C&C anything that seems wrong or out of place, and help this newby fanfic writer hone his craft ^_^ -TKO] It was a massive explosion that brought Shinra's forces to a stand-still. The unexpected had happened: The Sector One reactor had been blown up by a small group of renegade's that called themselves AVALANCHE. With the hundreds of lives lost in the explosion, no one could have ever guessed that one could have survived a blast like that... .... One man did .... ****** _______________________________________ |TKO Productions® | |In association with The Tales of Midgar| |Presents: | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Born From Flames: The Birth of a New Hero. By: TKO ****** An old hermit was walking amongst his yard, taking in it's surroundings. He had been trying to grow foliage in his "Garden for almost half his life, but the city's natural climate and pollution proved to be derivative towards plant-life. He sighed as he looked at the withered stalks of green and brown that littered his "lawn". Wrinkled and aged, the plants almost served as a mirror to the old man's appearance, except for the old man's eyes. Although most of the man's body was decrepit from age, his eyes shone fiery red; full of life and energy. He spent his time in his house, one that was built away from the city-areas and the slums. His house was almost hidden away in a little area of land, not to far from a old train yard that had long since been unoperational. A small little shack with a little yard, the old man had built this place in order to get away from the slums. He had long since decided to live out his days as a hermit, in order to get away from all of the pain and suffering that daily life presented there. The Hermit was able to grow vegetables inside of his house with the aid of a small spring of water that was located in his yard. Very small in width, it seemed like a shallow pond. That was not the case, for once when the hermit was younger he tried to jump into the pond, and found that there was no bottom, at least that he could reach. From then on the hermit honored the water, and never set foot in it again. By doing this, the water seemed to gain an almost magical property about it. The water was always cool, unpolluted, inviting to the touch, and refreshing to the taste. The hermit drank this water everyday of his life while he lived at his shack, and it probably lengthened his life. The hermit would never expect his water to lengthen an outsiders life as well. A ball of fire exploded in the distance, startling the old hermit at once. He watched as the explosion lit up the sky brighter than it ever was, and was forced to turn his eyes away from the spectacle. He then heard what seemed to be the crackling of fire, and to his surprise that was just what his gaze was greeted to: A small ball of fire whisked over the hermit's head and landed straight into the pond. The touchdown sent water flying high into the air, drenching the old man and his house. He ran quickly towards the now steaming pond where the bright beacon burnt out. The old man stared at the scene inquisitively; all of the commotion proved to be very confusing to him. As the old man bent over his pond, a single hand thrust itself out from under the pool's icy grip. The shock of this sudden movement forced the Hermit off his feet. He stared in horror as the hand pulled itself to shore, slowly bringing up the rest it's the body. It was the body of a man who was burnt all over. His clothes served little purpose as they were ragged and torn from the fire the had encased the man's body prior to him landing in the pool. Around the man's neck was a sheath that held a single sword; the man's only possession. His body was ravaged by sores and scars that were apparently left from the fire the surrounded him. On his chest was a half burnt cloth tag that would serve as his only identification: Shin. ***** The old hermit looked after Shin for a couple of months, until he healed. Normally a person with such severe burns would die almost instantly after receiving them, but luckily for Shin he landed in the hermit's pool. Just like the Hermit, Shin drank from the pool every day, and soon he regained his health. Days past, and even though Shin's body had healed, his mind had not; Shin could not remember who he was, or anything else. He wasn't even sure of his name, but since the Hermit always called him Shin, he figured that was his name. Shin soon realized that he could not stay with the Hermit for very long, and so he decided to venture to the world outside of the Hermit's grove. : Old man, I don't know how to repay you for all that you have done for me. You nursed me to health, you mended my clothes, and you let me stay in your home. Is there anyway? : *chuckles* Shin, I am in need of nothing. My existence is filled with happiness and honor ever since I escaped the horror's of the slums. You, on the other hand, have a quest to look too. Yours is a life uncertain. Your spirit is like a caged animal here, one that is so ready to dissolve his captivity that it may rush into something you may not be ready for. The only way you can repay me is to go carefully into your future, and don't be so ready to fly at a moment's notice. : But Old man... There must be something I can do to repay you... : Find your past, Shin, and in finding your past you will find your destiny. Take care. : Thank you old man! Shin bowed to the hermit, then gave him a quick hug and he was off. He ran across the train-graveyard with a tear in his eye. : I may not know who I really am... I may not know my past... But somehow I will repay the hermit for his kindness... ... I swear ... [OOG So what do you think? Shin is about to venture of into the world of the Tales of Midgar! Will he find his past? Who will he meet first? Anyone wish to RP with an amnesiac? We will soon see what lies ahead in the next post ^_^!] 24 From: Zach A Date: Sat Sep 18, 1999 10:48pm Subject: The Search-2 Time: July 13, early evening Place: Bradford's Cafe ---------------- "Any luck yet?" Trev asked as he took a seat opposite Jessie. His pockets felt extremely light. In fact, they were empty. In order to keep the owners of the store placated about their extra-long computer useage time, he was forced to buy more and more goods. If he ever had another cinnamon roll again, it would be too soon. As it was, he did want this last mug of coffee. Midgar's streets were growing more empty than they had been even at the height of this relatively quiet day. "Starting to get late." "No luck. Oh, thanks." She took the proferred cup of coffee. "Nope, not a thing still, and we've been at it three hours." "How many left?" Trev asked. Jessie tapped a few keys. UNUSED RESULTS: 432 Trev sighed. "Four hundred and thirty two left. We've probably still got about four hours then." "Yep." "Here, lemme take a shot at it." Trev switched places with Jessie, rubbed his eyes, and began to type. ------------- "Where could they be at this hour?" Tifa wondered, pacing back and forth along the wooden floor of the Sector 1 church. "Maybe they've got something?" Wedge wondered, leaning back in his pew. "I hope so," Tifa replied, "but it'd still be safer for them to get back at night. There'll be more riots now that the lights are down for the evening." "SOLDIERs prefer cover--they're out more this time of the day than any other." Cloud added, looking over his shoulder at Tifa, "They're trained to use the darkness well. It's their ally, their cover. After the uproar today, any SOLDIER units that are not actively patrolling will be out looking for people to...intimidate." They all read Cloud's meaning from his voice: the Shinra military out tonight was not out on patrol-they meant to kill and destroy until Midgar's citizens gave up their quest to attack Shinra and resubmitted, albeit reluctantly, to Shinra domination. "That's it, then. We can't leave them out there if what you're saying is true," Tifa said. "It is." "Then we go after them." "What? You just heard Cloud, Tifa, they're out in force tonight!" Wedge said, spreading his hands. "We go after them," Tifa repeated, pulling on her gloves. "I'm going with you," Cloud said, hefting his Buster Sword with one hand. The tip hung to the ground, too heavy to be wielded by a one-handed man--Cloud. Tifa was about to object, tell him-order him-to stay when she noticed the determined look in his eyes. 'He's tired of being in the back of the action. He's right. It's time.' She thought. "Alright." "Me too." Tifa and Cloud turned to find a woozy Jairen Quicksilver standing, pulling himself together. "...Are you sure?" Tifa asked. "I'm sure. I want to find Hojo. Trev and Jessie are out there looking--I should be helping them." Tifa nodded. "Alright, let's go. Wedge, we'll be back soon." -------------- Trev pulled the collar of his trenchcoat up to shield his face from the damp slums air and glanced over his shoulder at the darkened cafe, Jessie just exiting. "Get it?" He asked. She held up a three page printout. "Yes. All two hundred and thirty name we have yet to go through, and the seven that have checked out as possibly our man so far." Trev sighed. "I guess we'll be back here tomorrow. We're going to need some more money. You won't believe how many gil a cup of coffee costs these days." A cat hissed in an alley at them and scurried off, knocking a trash can lid over as it went. Jessie felt her pants pocket. "Ah, left the PHS at the church. I should've given Tifa a call earlier and told her what was up." "Not a problem--we're heading back now, aren't we?" "You know very well what I mean. Just in case they were wondering." "Yes." "Well, let's hurry. I want to get at least some sleep tonight." -------------- 25 From: Arcana Date: Sat Sep 25, 1999 5:29pm Subject: Lars - Attempt to Defend Lars - Attempt to Defend ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ July 13, 1999. Shinra Circle Alleyway. ~~ "WHAT are they planning? We've got to get up there," Lars shouted. "My dad's still in his office, he's going to be killed if I don't do anything!" Elena grabbed his arm with one hand. "No, don't go, you'll be trampled to death if you do! The people will destroy anything that even resembles Shinra in their tumult..." "We'll take the service-elevator, the one you need the keycard to get into," Lars replied. "I'll charge through the front doors if I have to. I'll face the people if I have to. Let go of me, Elena, let GO!!!" Elena gripped him tighter. "No, you're staying here!! Rude, help me get him to stay PUT!!!" Rude adjusted his glasses. His gaze was leaning toward Tseng, his boss. "Yes, sir, right away, sir," the Turk was saying. He put his cell phone away. "We're to report to Helicopter Bay four immediately," said Tseng. "We have to evacuate the President out to Junon." Elena's eyes bugged out of her sockets. "WHAT? We're not going to actually join him, are we??" "It is my job. It is your job to follow my orders, Elena!" Tseng shouted. "Tseng, but Tseng!" she cried. "Look at what's happening! Look what they've done! You were there, weren't you disgusted at what they did??" "It's not my business to question the President's actions. He knows what needs to be done to preserve the society." "No!! He only knows what he has to do to preserve himself!" Tseng looked at Lars. "Come, Lars. Come with me. We'll head over and rescue the President, where you'll gain the prestige you deserve." "But my father..." Tseng let out a deep sigh, but his gaze darkened. "Should I dispose of you all like I did to Reeve? As much as I would like to keep you alive and fighting by my side, it seems that you all resist." His hand went to his belt, where his beretta was holstered. "Will you come with me, or will you not?" Lars glared at Tseng, then turned around, put up his shotgun, and started to stride purposefully to the street. He fully expected to feel a bullet in his back as he walked to the headquarters, head high, back straight. He felt nothing. After the noise of a rowdy crowd reached his ears, he risked a look behind him. He saw no one following him. Apparently, the mob was too busy trying to cause damage to the general surroundings to really give him much notice. Even though Lars was a Turk, the silence of the Turks lately and Rufus' recent use of politics rather than intimidation didn't give him much for the crowd to recognize. Or, he thought as he carried his shotgun through the crowd, no one wanted to tangle with a trained man carrying a weapon designed for decimating human flesh at close quarters. Lars reached the glass doors, which were shattered and lying on the ground in pieces. Inside the lobby, braver citizens threw rocks, pieces of glass, and merchandise at soldiers and at windows. Lars went into his pocket, withdrew his high-access keycard, then pushed his way over to the service elevator, which, being made of heavy- quality glass, was rather undamaged compared to the rest of the ground level. He swiped his keycard in the slot (it required three tries for it to read) and managed to climb into the elevator and shut the doors without anyone else trying to push their way inside. He immediately hit the button to the top floor, where his father's office was located. The trip up was fast, and, as usual, his stomach dropped to his knees as the elevator accelerated to the top of the building. He was still trying to hold his lunch in as the doors hissed open. Lars lifted his shotgun and stepped outside onto the heavily carpeted floor, not hearing his own footsteps as he advanced forward. The floor was eerily silent. Nothing moved. There seemed to have been absolutely no damage; apparently, the common populace had not managed to find a way up this far into the building. Lars advanced slowly, and he had to manually open up the sliding doors because the power to the doors was shut off. On the floor, at the base of the stairs, he saw it, and he gasped in fear. Father! Father... father... father... Father!!! "FATHER!!!!" ~~ "He's going to be all right," said the paramedic to Lars. Lars, wiping at his eyes casually, wondering if any tears had spilled yet, nodded. He looked up at Elena and Rude. "I can't believe you two came to follow me." Elena just nodded, while Rude maintained his stoic composure, as always. But as he breathed, Lars could hear the sniffles. Lars sat back, shotgun balanced on his knees, staring toward the paramedics who were now gathering up his father's limp, but breathing form. Downstairs, the soldiers, at the sound of Rufus' departure from the city, were now starting to control the crowd as peacefully as possible, but in the state of chaos the city was in, the task was going to be nearly impossible. "Father..." Lars murmured. He shook his head. "They said he was shot by a shotgun. The man's shoulder was ketchuped, and some of the doctors wonder if he'll be able to use his arm again." He looked up at his two companions. "Why did you two decide to come with me?" Rude was the first one to speak, and that surprised Lars immensely. "I wanted to stay by my companions... the people that I know. I lost one already, on this job. I'm going to hang around those I know." "Same here," Elena whispered. "I can't just abandon you... when you need support." Lars nodded, slowly. "I still don't believe you'd do that for old pathetic me... me... worthless me..." "We did," Elena said, stepping toward him and giving him a gentle hug. "You're not pathetic... don't say that..." Lars felt himself tearing up, and before he knew it, he was crying all over Elena's shoulder. -- /-|rcana ----- ----- * ----- ----- Pern - Araby Weyr: http://members.tripod.com/~Araby/ FF7 - Tales of Midgar: http://members.tripod.com/~ArcanaTxM/ Xenogears - DeM: http://members.tripod.com/~project_xat/ Xenogears - Guardian Angels: http://guardian.zenogias.com/ 26 From: Arcana Date: Sat Sep 25, 1999 5:45pm Subject: Midgar's Day (Tyr) Midgar's Day ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ July 13, "Day for Midgar" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "WHAT?" "It's true, Commander Tyr," reported Buckingham. "General Cantorek was wounded, and President Shinra escaped. We've managed to shut out the Shinra tower from the public. I think almost fifty died in the riots." "I'm going to be there immediately. We're going to need government in there before it's too late." "Yes, sir. I've cleared out Chopper Pad four for you, so you should be able to land there safely. The military has managed to control most of the city and we've instigated temporary martial law while Rufus was away." "Understood," Tyr replied. "Good work, Commodore Buckingham. "I'm going to be taking a helicopter immediately. I'll talk to you on the way there." "Yes sir. Buckingham out." ~~ It was Midgar's day, Tyr thought as he packed his bags and called Heidegger up for a quick summons. Finally, General, we've toppled Shinra, and revealed their plans. It's the day of Freedom, and we'll be able to do all we can to ensure this democracy lasts... ~~ Evening. A group of dirty and tired soldiers stood at alert as the chopper touched down on the roof of the high tower. Tyr descended slowly, with Hediegger right behind him. The large man suddenly looked solemn and serious, much unlike the reputation of the former Head of Public Safety. He still had his ridiculous beard, and was awfully large for his size, but his face was hardened. Tyr addressed the soldiers in his loud voice. "At ease, gentlemen," he stated. "This is General Heidegger. He will be our temporary President until we can reinstate the democratic procedure that was first thought up by Montgomery Davelos. You will treat him with respect. General, we will swear you in on public television immediately so that you may release martial law as soon as possible." "Right," Heidegger replied. "Well, let's get to it." The cameras and the technicians were set up quickly to broadcast the message over all channels of Midgar. On public television was Commodore Buckingham, who, according to his record, was clean of any public scandals. Heidegger, apart from having a past reputation for being somewhat slow, was also clean of any scandalous behaviour. As far as Tyr was concerned, a clean background was the most important criteria right now. Even he was involved in too many coverups to be portrayed on public television. He had to ensure that the people trusted their leaders once again. "Mister Heidegger, do you swear that you will do your best in office, do what is right, uphold what is proper, and act in all honourable ways?" "I do." "Mister Heidegger, do you concede that, by terms of a democratic government, that your seat is not permanent, that it does not allow you to acquire infinite power, and that you must abide to all laws and charters as is stated in the Constitution of Midgar?" "I do." "Mister Heidegger, to you swear that your word is your honour, and that your honour is your life, so that you make no promises to the people of Midgar that you will not keep?" "I do." "Then I formally declare Mister Heidegger as the first President of Free Midgar, until organizations can be instituted for a true democratic procedure." Tyr let out a deep breath. He would have to start hitting the paperwork now, dig up the constitution, and find out the procedures that were lost so long ago that upheld democracy. "My first declaration is to disband the curfew," Heidegger was saying, now that he had the camera. But before Tyr did anything else, he would have to visit General Cantorek in the hospital. -- /-|rcana ----- ----- * ----- ----- Pern - Araby Weyr: http://members.tripod.com/~Araby/ FF7 - Tales of Midgar: http://members.tripod.com/~ArcanaTxM/ Xenogears - DeM: http://members.tripod.com/~project_xat/ Xenogears - Guardian Angels: http://guardian.zenogias.com/ 27 From: cdleckie Date: Tue Sep 28, 1999 10:14pm Subject: Re: Azrael: the vial-part 3 (i think) [I haven't posted in a while so forgive me any small errors I may make >in this post.] > > Azrael couldn't imagine why any scientist as powerful as this >"Luc" he was supposed to meet would be in the crappiest part of the >slums possible. Oh well not his problem. maybe it was for "privacy", >or just cause he was short on money. It didn't matter to Azrael, just >so long as he got paid. > He had been walking down the garbage covered streets of the sector >1 slums for a few minutes, checking out the area. He didn't like >walking into a place he didn't know. > He had found the warehouse a while ago, and he was now ready to >go inside. there was a back entrance that he could get out through if >things turned ugly, and by the lack of sentries Azrael guessed that >there weren't many men inside. Well time to roll the dice. > He walked up to the rolling door at the front of the warehouse and >pulled it up. Dust poured out of the building like a mist. The place >obviously hadn't been used in quite a while but, by one large set of >footprints in the dirt on the floor he could tell someone had been >here. > The main room was empty except for some broken wooden crates and >cardboard boxes. The foot prints led to the center of the room where >some plywood had been collected then disappeared. > Azrael walked over to the sheets of wood and lifted them up. At >once he had a gun shoved to his chest. > "Who are you?" the gloom concealed the face even to Azrael's eyes >but the voice was deep enough for Azrael to know the man was big. > "I'm the courier. you want your package or not?" no reason to be >intimidated though. > "You. You're late, Luc doesn't like to be kept waiting." > "Then take me to him." > "Humph. Come on." > As he walked down the steps Azrael tried to figure out a back >up plan in case this went bad but there was no other way out that he >knew of. > The man in front of him opened a door. The hinges were rusty and >needed greasing. Light flooded the stairwell. Azrael saw that his >assumptions about his guide were right. He was squat, broad >shouldered, and had the look of a bouncer, not a mercenary. > The room beyond the door was cramped with equipment, computer's, >and monitors. There was barely space enough between to see the door on >the other side. The man told him to go on through the door, and down >the hall till he came to a T then he should take the left side and the >first door on the right. > Azrael followed the instructions and came to a large rolling door. > He knocked on the door but there was no answer. He pulled the >door up just a little and peeked under. He saw tubes and wires but no >sign of anyone in the room. > He pulled the door all the way up and looked into the room. There >was no sign of anyone. The only thing that moved in the room was >flashing lights and computer read outs printing. > "Can I help you?" the voice behind him was a dry rustle. > "Yes. I'm the courier. I have your package." Azrael remained >outwardly calm, although his heart was racing. > "AAA, yes. My culture. May I have it?" > Azrael handed him the brown box and the man ripped it open with >surprising speed. > As he held up the vial he began murmuring to himself. > "yes... soon mother... revenge is nearly here." > "umm excuse me. I believe you owe me the rest of my fee, 2500 gil I if I'm not mistaken." > "Yes, yes the money. Well we'll get to that in a moment. would you >like to watch? of course you would." > The man walked over to a large computer standing in the middle of >the room. It seemed this was the heart of the mechanical clutter of >the room. He inserted the vial into a small arm extending from the >tower. It retracted and the man began typing hurriedly. He once again >began mumbling. > "splice... recombine... yes... yes" > "Sir. My money if you will. I'll just take it and be on my way." > "Oh but you must see the rebirth. It will be a glorious affair, we >will all be blessed for our devout faith." > A huge bang from behind Azrael made him jump and in a flash his >sword was out. > "Just the growth tank coming on. some of the equipment's a bit out >of date." > Azrael lowered his sword as he saw a large tank begin to bubble >and froth. > "Sir. I would like to get my pay and get out of here. I have other >things to do today." Azrael actually had absolutely nothing lined up >for months to come, but he didn't mind lying. > "NO!" The man turned and his eyes had a crazed and expectant look >to them. "You will stay and watch the rebirth." > "Alright. I'll stay." better to give the man what he wanted >instead of getting killed. > > >[I'm not real sure what I'm gonna do after I finish this story line. >If anyone wants a partner, helper, or otherwise has a story line just >waiting to be filled TELL ME! thanks.] >~Oh' > > > > 28 From: Arcana Date: Wed Oct 27, 1999 9:47pm Subject: Apologies. Apologies to anyone who subscribed to this list thinking there was going to be a lot of fanfiction or a lot of conversation. Sorry, this list is extremely quiet at the moment. If you care to start up a conversation, please feel free to do so on midoog a onelist.com. -- /-|rcana ----- ----- * ----- ----- Pern - Araby Weyr: http://members.tripod.com/~Araby/ FF7 - Tales of Midgar: http://members.tripod.com/~ArcanaTxM/ Xenogears - DeM: http://members.tripod.com/~project_xat/ Xenogears - Guardian Angels: http://guardian.zenogias.com/ 29 From: cdleckie Date: Tue Nov 23, 1999 11:08pm Subject: Fw: Azrael: the vial part 4 >sorry about not letting you check the story Ben, I just didn't want to wait any longer. and sorry about the odd caps the PC won't let me type certain letters unless they're in caps. oh, forget it, I used spell check. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------ Light suddenly flooded the dark room he had been kept in since his capture. It hadn't affected Azrael, he liked the dark, but the sudden brightness blinded him. "Come on. Luc wants to see you." the voice from the door was gruff. Azrael stood and shuffled slowly to the door. His hands had been tied together with plain rope which he could have broken easily but, he figured since he didn't know the way out he should observe for a while. As Azrael walked through the door the large man shoved him. Azrael whirled around and glared at the man, his eyes glowing a fierce red. "Don't touch me." Azrael said it coolly, without emotion. The man took a step back but didn't show any sign of fear. Azrael was led down twisting corridors and through rooms filled with computers. that's what all the rooms Azrael had seen were used for, computers. Apparently Luc was still saying he didn't have enough too. It must take incredible amounts of computing power to make a clone. Finally Azrael was led into the room where he had first been taken prisoner. The huge tank on the far wall now had something growing in it, and from the cot in the corner of the room it looked like Luc had been sleeping there. Azrael's weapons also lay on a table near the door and Luc was examining them. "Very interesting tools you have here. Quite the handy man by the looks of it." "Thank you." Azrael was in no mood to beat around the bush. Even so, it would never do to let himself get killed for saying the wrong thing to a crazy old man. Luc walked to the terminal next to the tank and pushed a few buttons. "I'd like to thank you on behalf of my beautiful creation, for without you we wouldn't have ever been able to recreate a single cell of Jenova." "You and your Jenova are going to kill a lot of innocent people you know." Azrael glared at Luc. "What purpose is this whole plan going to serve?" "To cull the herds of humanity, to reward the truly devout for their unwavering service to the mother of all, and I intend to be one of those faithful." "You're creating a mindless beast do you really think you can control it through simple faith? You're a lot crazier than I first thought." "I'm crazy? Who's to say what crazy is? the insane are strong, the strong survive, those who survive determine what defines sanity." "Anyone who can kill thousands and still believe they'll get rewards of it is insane no matter who makes the standard. Your a heartless psychopath with a seeming wish to die." "Heartless? For killing? You yourself have killed have you not? How can you be so hypocritical?" "I kill to pay the bills, and I don't enjoy it. You kill for the pleasure of it." "I tire of your incessant defiance. Seth, take him back to his cell and shoot him." "Yes sir." The large guard had the sound of an Ogre. Azrael snapped. "I'm very hungry you know." His eyes glowed a blood red and he snapped the rope binding his wrists. He leaped for the table and snatched his sword and his materia. As he spun around he caught the guard on the chin with a punch. Luc stood in the center of the room looking terrified. Azrael picked a grenade up off the table and reached for the pin. "No! you can't she's only half grown. If you release her now she'll be uncontrollable." Luc pleaded. "I guess that could be a problem for you huh?" Azrael threw the grenade across the room and dashed forward. He grabbed Luc and hauled him towards the door. The grenade went off just as Azrael closed the sliding door. "Now show me the way out of here." "Down that tunnel." Luc pointed to the left and said. "please hurry, the whole complex is going to come down on our heads." ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -So Jenova is now loose in Midgar and free to enter anyone's story line. She's only half grown so she shouldn't cause too many Godzilla type problems but she should terrorize the populous rather well. so now maybe some of you other people will write? 30 From: Fyre Byrd Date: Fri Dec 24, 1999 5:33pm Subject: Imagining the Things That Could Be.. - Serah [OOG]: Merry Christmas, everyone.. let's have some fun =) The streets were dark, as usual. Serah slipped though the buildings, into alleys, making her way out of Sector 2. Debris in the streets stopped the flow of vehicles. Only pedestrians could travel now. And the government was too cheap to send anyone to clean it up… so you were stuck walking every where. There was always the threat of monsters, the monster that the government was too thrifty to get rid of. Serah needed to get out, quickly. Something inside of her, eating its way out, pushed at her mind. 'Out of Midgar… out of this filthy city.. with its problems and stories.. - She callously stumbled over a chuck of concrete, landing on her knees with a smack. Bowing her head, she prayed to whatever might be listening. Please, spare me this life. Just let me out of this hell.