RONIN - File 04: Naming of the Parts
TOWN OF BANSHU, SOUTHERN WUTAI WAKEISEIJAKU TEA HOUSE & CAFE DISC 03 - AUGUST 2015
Riwin fidgeted with his work cap as he neared the entrance of Wakeiseijaku. He had returned to Banshu, just as he said he would when last he visited, and the humidity of the Wutaian summer never failed to impress. The afternoon was overcast and humid, the shadows of rain clouds in the coastal distance. He paused for a moment to regard the quaint cafe with the rounded roof and well-tended garden yard. If it weren’t for the sign, Riwin thought, this place might just be some old lady’s house.
He approached the door and reached out to open it, but a couple of tentative door pulls and pushes told him that it was locked. He raised a hand to knock, but just before he did, the door opened.
Shizune stepped out and locked the door behind her. Riwin cracked a knowing smile as he saw Shizune raising two fingers to her face in order adjust her old square-framed glasses--glasses that Rei Kashiwabara never wore. She had a large brown duffel bag slung across her shoulder. She spun on her heel and walked past Riwin.
“We have work to do,” she said firmly as she continued walking down to the road, the sound of the impending storm echoing in the valley on the horizon.
“Well, it’s nice to see you, too, Shizune…” Riwin said with no uncertain sarcasm. “And where is it that we are headed?”
Shizune continued her brisk pace down the dirt path that connected Wakeiseijaku with the greater town of Banshu and the port. “To borrow your terminology,” she said evenly, “you’re serious about ‘getting the band back together’?”
“Come on, Shiz, when am I ever not serious?”
Shizune stopped in her tracks.
“Erm, don’t answer that,” Riwin said preemptively. Shizune resumed her march away from the cafe.
“In order to reconvene,” Shizune began, “we’ll need to find the others. I don’t know how you found me, but I doubt you’d tell me any time soon. In any event, I’ll need access to the InfoNet.”
“I had a feeling you were gonna say that,” Riwin said, beaming a magnanimous, million-gil smile. “So, my dear Shizune, I have already prepared a hardened access node a couple of ports up in Minami-kata. Aaa~aand, guess where the Anko Dancer’s next port of call is?”
“We are not going to Minami-kata.” Shizune said, flatly.
“You’re welcome!” Riwin spat.
“What? I’m not going anywhere in that reeking fishing trawler.”
“Come on--Shinra presence in Minami-kata is essentially nil.”
“I’ll need something that can access the old Turk backdoors--backdoors which I wrote personally. And that’s going to have to be a place with Vermillion-level security clearance. Minami-kata doesn’t have that. Plus,” Shizune said, giving a few solid tugs to the duffel bag she had slung over her shoulder, “I need a materials lab--preferably metallurgy--to find out more about this. I happen to know a place that has a metallurgy lab with an InfoNet node with classified clearance in the very same room.”
“Ah, gotcha,” Riwin said as if he knew where Shizune was talking about. Riwin was always the best con-artist in R0-414. Verbally, his ruse was flawless. Save for the several second silence which followed.
“You don’t know do you?” Shizune said.
“I was about to ask y--”
“Rocket Town,” Shizune said.
“Rocket Town…” Riwin tried to say quickly in unison with Shizune, half-heartedly feigning that he had figured it out.
A few more seconds passed in silence as the two former Turks navigated a small hillside path down to the the main road to the harbor.
“And, how do you propose we find our beloved party members?” Riwin asked.
“Like we used to in the old days.”
“Biometric data?” Riwin said, perplexed. “Um, I thought you said that the Zero Protocol digitally fried all our personal biometric data.”
“Totally. Completely. In every sense of the word,” Shizune said with finiteness. “The biometric data associated with our DNA no longer exists within the Shinra database or the InfoNet in any way.”
“What are you not letting me in on?”
Shizune remained quiet for a beat, walking in casual silence.
The corners of Riwin’s mouth curled up in a wry grin.
“You still have our data” Riwin said under his breath.
“That is highly likely,” Shizune said.
“You could search for hits matching our biometric data with the templates you saved and not alert the system, since we’re not in there to begin with,” Riwin said as a half-indictment.
“With such tasty intel, that is also theoretically possible,” Shizune confirmed nonchalantly.
Riwin scoffed in good humor.
“But, where have you been keeping it all this time?”
Shizune raised two fingers up to her face and propped up her signature square-framed eyeglasses.
“Somewhere close, where I could always keep an eye on it.”
OPENING (Ronin Theme): “YOUNG MEN DEAD” by THE BLACK ANGELS
SHINRA TOWER, 66TH FLOOR MIDGAR DISC 02 - MAY 2005
“This is where we congregate, so that I can keep an eye on all of you. Well, more than that, you should all be keeping an eye on each other.” Evan and Shizune entered a spacious, two-tiered office with staircases flanking both the eastern and western walls. There were plush black leather couches and sturdy, yet comfortable-looking wooden chairs positioned around small coffee tables. On the upper tier of this pseudo-office were more of these kinds of work-relaxation spaces along with fully-laden bookcases. The entire room was lined with authentic dark wood paneling. Shizune could even smell some of the semi-sweet, earthy tones from the repurposed wood, and wondered how new this office space was. Evan noticed Shizune silently scanning the room with her eyes. “You think this is too ostentatious, don’t you?” Evan asked. “It looks like a downtown Chubby Chocobo,” Shizune said flatly. Evan gave a singular emphatic laugh, genuinely amused. “Yes, it kind of does, doesn’t it?” Evan conceded. “Well, that being the case, you had better get used to living and working in a Chubby Chocobo.” “I miss the barracks.” “I forgot to mention,” Evan started, as she gestured to the walls around them, “all the wood paneling you see here sits atop Mako-tempered blast-proof walls.” “Touché,” Shizune said, impressed. Evan stopped and folded her arms across her chest. She was in the center of the office space atrium which was flanked on all sides by office doors at regular intervals on the second floor. Shizune came to a halt in front of the Turk unit commander, and Evan regarded her with a neutral expression. This woman, Evan Oris, as Shizune had come to know her, shared a functional kinship with the nature of this office--resting just behind her pleasant facade was the steel soul of something invincible; something not quite warrior, not quite devil, but something that embodied both of those qualities but was somehow neither. Shizune could tell that the other suits could sense that as well. Whoever Evan Oris was, she apparently commanded the loyalty of every person Shizune had seen her speak with since entering this place. “I’ll ask you again,” Evan said evenly, “and this time, try not to set off your bitch bomb.” Shizune winced as she recalled their first meeting. Her lower jaw throbbed with the memory of that pain. She nodded once. “What do you know about the Turks?” Evan asked. “Informally,” Shizune began, “the Turks is the name of a secret organization in Shinra dedicated to carrying out special operations of questionable natures, ranging from corporate espionage to kidnapping and assassinations. They are rumored to have unlimited access to resources and information. Some say they hunt rogue SOLDIERs, as if there could ever be such a thing.” “And formally?” “Shinra categorically denies the existence of such an organization.” “I wasn't asking ‘Shinra.’ I was asking you.” “I believe that it benefits the company to have just such a clandestine unit. The Military Police are bound by the public eye. The Special Forces can only legally be deployed during emergencies and wartime. SOLDIER is a force comprised of the heroes of justice.” “That was a very political way of dodging the question.” “As company comma-,” Shizune caught herself, “As former company commander of Shinra MP’s most decorated and despised unit, I am required to temper my answers with a concern for public perception and legal neutrality.” “According to your file,” Evan began, “which I have both memorized and found extremely amusing, it says that in your sophomore year at Midgar University, you once tailed a man in a suit all over the upper plate because you thought he was a Turk, only to find out that he was a Chocobo feed salesman.” Shizune’s eyes widened in shock. “How did you-” “‘Unlimited access to information,’ as it were.” “How is that even recorded anywhere?” Shizune asked. “Firstly,” Evan began, “it’s Midgar--you are always being watched. Secondly, young Shizune was about half-right...” Shizune’s expression was that of a human bluescreen. “Maybe I'll tell you about it someday. In any event, I know it sounds somewhat surreal to a boots-on-the-ground type like yourself, but for once, the rumors are actually true. We handle all of that soul-scuffing stuff on behalf of the company, so that they don’t have to. Suffice it to say, I am not going to go down the list, demonstrating or citing past kidnappings, assassinations, and rogue SOLDIER takedowns to you, but I think you get my point. Besides, given the current state of affairs, you’ll be seeing all of that soon enough.” Shizune nodded slowly. “Speak,” Evan said. “There is something on your mind.” “Why me?” Shizune asked. “There is an opening in my unit, and I have need of a capable operator.” “But, speaking of boots-on-the-ground, you already have Major Goodliffe…” “Val,” Evan corrected. “You’re not in the military anymore, don’t refer to him or anyone by rank anymore unless we are on op and that’s their cover.” Shizune nodded curtly. “Yes,” Evan continued, “in terms of line soldiers, he is the best assault combatant in recent memory from the paramilitary corps. Much better than you in terms of martial proficiency. In fact, so is Koucha…” Shizune’s face screwed up in disbelief at hearing this. “Riwin?” Shizune spat in disgust, “you’ve got to be kidding me! He’s just a sergeant, and a lackluster one at that. He’s single-handedly responsible for Alpha’s botched takedown of the AVALANCHE safehouse last year.” “Operation: Stolen Prophet,” Evan said knowingly. “Yes, he performed admirably. Had your company succeeded in raiding that safehouse, our informant would have had his cover blown. A cover that took 2 years to establish. Koucha was under orders from our end. Furthermore, he may just be a line sergeant in Alpha Company, but prior to that he was one of the elite in the Mobile Armor Division, from whence I plucked him for my unit. His cover is that fool that you know, the fool that everyone underestimates. Make no mistake Crimson Lady, Koucha could wipe the floor with your pretty little bobcut and you’d never land a hit.” Shizune’s face looked like a mess of angry confusion. “Relax,” Evan said with a smile that Shizune knew was fake but could have fooled her any other context. “It’s Koucha who brought you to my attention. And yes, getting back to the subject at hand, why you, anyway? Your combat skill is the lowest in R0-414, and lower than what I would normally have scouted for entry into our organization, and you have a very long way to go in terms of theatricality, subtlety, and infiltration. So, why am I even giving you this tour? What is it that you can do better than anyone else that could possibly make you a dangerous in ways that my other weapons cannot?” Shizune’s expression softened--she was clearly at a disadvantage with this woman. Evan evidently knew everything, and conversely, everything that Shizune thought she knew was quickly turning into flipped realities, as real as the wooden paneling of this office space. There was no hiding anything from this blonde devil. “You know about my hobby,” Shizune said evenly, barely suppressing her reluctance to acknowledge her secret. “That’s a bingo,” Evan said with the same feigned smile as before. “Very well, then. And so, today we shall have the naming of the parts. Follow me.” Shizune followed Evan to a door on the Eastern flank of the room. Beneath a hidden panel was a numerical keypad which Evan keyed so fast that it seemed she had only pressed one singular button in succession. The door slid to the side quickly, and Shizune followed Evan down the hallway that followed. They passed a large transparent window pane, the other end of which was an interrogation room. To Shizune’s shock, both Riwin and Valerick were inside the interrogation room, shirtless and sweating. They were apparently also yelling at each other, their chests heaving visibly, but there was no sound. “Um,” Shizune stammered aloud. Evan stopped and glanced to the left at the scene in the interrogation room. “Oh, that,” Evan said, dismissively. “They have been doing this thing lately.” “Excuse me?” Evan laughed suddenly. “I’m sorry, that did seem fruitfully ambiguous, didn’t it? What I mean is, they have been practicing sparring in small rooms like this for the last month or so. It’s something Koucha came up with, but I believe Val is dubious of that boy’s real intentions…” Evan flicked an unseen switch on the wall beside the window and suddenly a chorus of panting and grunts began to emit from speakers somewhere in the ceiling. In that instant, Valerick reversed positions with Riwin, putting the younger man in a vicious choke hold, which Riwin immediately broke with a lightning-fast elbow to the veteran’s ribs. “Asshole!” Valerick yelled. “That’s not today’s safe word, is it?” Riwin mocked. Evan smirked. “Observe--now that they have some distance between them, you can see their true physical combat qualities.” Just as Evan concluded her sentence, Valerick lunged at Riwin and began a series of blows so rapid that Shizune had a hard time actually seeing the punches and kicks. The barrage would have been enough to lay low any opponent, but just as unbelievably, Riwin was weaving through all the blows. He was fast. Too fast. It appeared to Shizune that wherever a blow should have landed, Riwin was simply not there. And it wasn’t a fanciful dodge, either--there was an economy of movement to the way that Riwin moved. He sidestepped just enough, removed only the body part that was within a given blow’s trajectory. Valerick, too, also had this same preternatural economy of movement that did nothing to lessen the lethality of his attacks, but instead maximized his speed and ability to deliver said attacks with a minimum of physical expenditure. It was the first time that Shizune had ever seen a Turk fight, and she would always look back on this moment in the years to come. “Psssh,” Evan said, somehow managing to sound disappointed. “They’re not even trying.” “What?” Shizune said in disbelief. “Fake sweat,” Evan said as she slammed another unseen button somewhere on the wall. “You guys are sad. Quit trying to impress the new blood,” Evan said flatly over the intercom. In an instant, both Riwin and Valerick froze in mid-form, turned to look at Shizune in unison, and shrugged playfully. “They can see us?” Shizune asked, incredulous. “I thought this was an interrogation room with a one-way mirror.” “It is,” Evan said, “but as a Turk, you will learn how to see through such things. Not literally, like some kind of goddamn mutant, but rather…. Well, you’ll see.” “I don't understand,” Shizune began, “how can they move like that? Have they been enhanced in some way?” “You mean like SOLDIERs?” Evan said with a slight hint of irritation. Shizune nodded. “Well, yes and no,” Evan replied. “We Turks are no normal operators. Our training regimen places us at the peak of human physicality so that we can, in the worst of cases, face down a SOLDIER-caliber enemy. However, unlike those peacock-helmed dullards, that same training regimen sharpens our minds into diamonds. That is our edge against those mako-blue eyed fools…” Shizune had now picked up on Evan’s tone regarding the elite combat units of Shinra and swallowed hard before asking a question. “Excuse me,” Shizune began, “but you went from discussing a combat rhetorical of ‘SOLDIER-caliber enemies’ to just plain old SOLDIERs.” Evan smirked. “The worst mission a Turk can get is the capture or elimination of a rogue SOLDIER.” “But, there has never been a rogue SOLDIER," Shizune said slowly, as if getting acquainted with a wholly alien word or idea. “Not publicly, my dear, no there hasn't. But on my watch we have not been without incident. Do not be afraid--each and every Turk under my command maintains a professional mastery over many things, not the least of which is the hunting down of a SOLDIER gone wrong. And while we have had rogue SOLDIERs in the past, we Turks have never failed to capture or kill them. Not once. Do you know why, little one?” Shizune found it odd that Evan addressed her as “little one” given that Shizune was evidently taller than Evan by a few noticeable inches. Evan didn't wait for an answer before continuing. “Unlike rogue SOLDIERs, who go feral and prowl as lone wolves, we Turks oppose threats as units--small, three- to five-person units comprised of expert agents. Each agent in a Turk unit is invariably an expert in everything. Ace Turks, like Riwin and Val, for example, have surpassed mere ‘expert-level proficiency’ in several aspects of our trade and have become savant-level masters of at least two or more of the core skills. That is the requirement for the rank of Ace Turk. And so you see, each Turk unit is a small war party of superhuman geniuses whose complementary skills and talents form a web of deadly synergy. No SOLDIER can stand against that. No one can.” Shizune looked again through the window at the two shirtless agents. One was a stalwart war veteran she had heard plenty about--someone she personally looked up to as a military ideal, but rarely met in person, who was spoken of more often than actually encountered. The other was a blundering sergeant in Alpha who Shizune always thought belonged in another company, someone who exuded just enough proficiency to get by in her beloved Alpha--more of a liability than an asset. Here they were, both fighting at levels of skill that Shizune didn’t know existed in un-Mako’d non-SOLDIERs. Fighting at such levels in jest. She stood there a moment longer, still trying to process it all. “You said that Ace Turks have mastered two or more, erm, ‘talents’,” Shizune said, now pointing at the two shirtless, sweaty agents in the interrogation room. “What are they masters of, exactly?” Evan looked at Valerick first, eyes narrowing slightly while she appraised his physiology before answering. “Valerick Goodliffe: hand-to-hand assault combat, shock & awe tactics, and guerilla warfare. On top of that, he is our most effective interrogator and peerless when it comes to psychological manipulation. He has the uncanny ability to overpower a room with a commanding air instantly, and he has been known to turn this into a handcrafted cult of personality, rapidly engendering the respect and loyalty of those around him. You have likely been affected by at least some of this as one of his troopers in the Paramilitary Corps, no?” “I am not really sure if-” “Riwin Koucha, on the other hand,” Evan continued, “he's almost like an unintentional ‘yin’ to Valerick’s ‘yang’--in terms of defensive combat, escape artistry, sleight of hand, tactical vehicle skill, disguise and infiltration, he has no rivals or equals. Furthermore, that boy has always been exceedingly good at making anyone severely underestimate him. A curious talent that has proven to be surprisingly effective.” Evan turned to regard Shizune and saw that Shizune was simply blinking in a stupor. “Well, it looks like Riwin had you fooled, too. You thought he was the Alpha Company dunce, right? A martial liability? That guy there, he can dodge anything. Punch, kick, knife, bullet, it doesn't matter. And Valerick, he lands all his strikes and shots. Always. So, when we watch them spar like this, it's always fun to see how R0-414’s best striker and best defender always seem to end their bouts in a stalemate. How about that?” Evan concluded jovially. From inside the interrogation room, Riwin produced a white handkerchief from seemingly out of nowhere and began flailing it at Shizune like some kind of sad surrender flag, at which point Valerick tackled him to the floor and began an attempt at an arm-breaker. “Are you coming,” Evan said, “or would you like to keep staring at the men?” “Hai!” Shizune blurted out in Wutaian, suddenly snapping to attention and jogging by the window to close the gap between herself and Evan. As she passed the window, she visibly fumed at her sudden linguistic outburst, hoping against hope that Evan didn’t notice. As Evan began to walk down the hall to a secured steel door at the far end, she turned over her shoulder and began speaking in perfect Wutaian. “本当の任務だったら、今みたいなミスをすると死ぬぞ、確かに. あたし、こういう中東半端のことを許せない. 我々はタークスだ. 気を付けないとな、若者. いいか.” (“If you make a mistake like that in the field, you’re dead. I won’t forgive half-assed mistakes like that. We are Turks. You’d do well to remember that, young one. Got it?”) “Yes,” Shizune answered firmly in English. “It will not happen again.” The end of the hallway culminated in an uncharacteristically-neo-industrial set of double blast doors parted down the middle with the jagged crease of interlocking metal teeth. Upon this door was written “RESEARCH & LOGISTICS DIVISION.” Evan gestured to a biometric palmprint scanner on the wall beside the blast door. “Go ahead, this is your new workplace.” Shizune placed her right hand against the biometric reader and the blast doors immediately retreated sideways into the walls. The sight that greeted Shizune was eerily familiar. The room itself was a perfect cube, as wide as it was tall. The walls were that of unpainted, steel-reinforced concrete, and the ceiling was roughly 3 floors above them. Like the office atrium which served as the main Turk office space, this room appeared to have already been sectioned off into three tiers interconnected with stairs between each “floor,” and an open atrium in the center. At the center of the second tier, a cylindrical office encased in transparent glass jutted into the middle of the atrium, suspended above the ground and situated in the exact center of the atrium and the room. From where Shizune was standing, she could already see that the room contained a desk at the helm of a computer workstation and an array of 9 monitors. Lining the remainings spaces of the floating office were various weapons of modular design which Shizune alone recognized. She could see server clusters of a very particular design installed in the corners of the floating office, like ritual techno-pillars around an artificer’s altar. Shizune squinted her eyes to further scrutinize the equipment. Impossibly, those servers were the same type that Shizune had installed in her own apartment safehouse. “How did you get this equipment?” Shizune asked in disbelief. “We have ways,” Evan said as-a-matter-of-factly. “Those are Shinra Hyperion Clusters. Military grade.” “Indeed,” Evan said. “In fact, they are truly one of a kind. You see, some crazy cheesecake lady stole the only prototypes, then the specs somehow got tampered with and the company couldn’t make working models anymore. Weird, right? Complicated machines, these are. Unparalleled processing power, but very delicate. Shinra wrote off the whole project as a loss. Nope, you cannot get these anywhere. We had to steal these...” “You stole them from my place,” Shizune said. “We co-opted stolen company assets and had them relocated from your funhouse to this laboratory,” Evan explained. “I know you have been doing a lot of things in your free time that are professionally unscrupulous--frequent InfoNet hacks, unlicenced modification and amplification of weaponry, surveillance taps, etc.” “Are you trying to blackmail me?” “No, little one,” Evan said, “we don’t blackmail people of your threat level. We simply kill people like you. Usually. But this time, I simply ask that you continue doing all of those bad things--just this time, do them for us. We’ll even pay you to do it. You’ll have a research and development budget that is just as unscrupulously deep as your imagination. Whatever it is you need for your tinkerings, just file the paperwork and we can get it. Well, that is, everything except really rare items like Natural Materia or something insane like that.” “Seriously?” Shizune said, her eyebrow raised in a dubious arch. “Yes!” Evan said, emphatically. “You’ve always wanted to be a Turk, right? This is how you become a Turk.” “But, I can't do what Riwin and Valerick were doing…” “That will come in time. That's what the training regimen is for. Val and Riwin will see to it. Besides, I can assure you--R0-414 is already overly combat/ops-capable. What we need is a force multiplier. The world continues to march toward technological over-reliance, and we need to remain ahead of that bleeding edge. Seeing as how we have discovered the one who is always pushing said bleeding edge in secret,” Evan said as she gave Shizune a smack on the shoulder that made Shizune wince in surprise, “I figured we could address that need by giving you a job.” Shizune stared in silence for a beat, still bewildered, before donning a resolute expression. “What would you have me do?” “Make me a wire tap.” “That’s it?” “Make me the the most malevolent wire tap system in history. That’s your first assignment. We’ll call this first test of your skill Project: Arcos...”
SHINRA SCIENCE DIVISION, MATERIALS LAB #32 ROCKET TOWN DISC 03 - SEPTEMBER 2015
Riwin and Shizune’s infiltration into Materials Lab #32 went precisely as planned. At 0300 Rocket Town Standard, the two former Turks evaded perimeter security and helped themselves into the lab with such ease that to the casual observer it would have appeared that the two of them had simply come home after a long day’s work. Per the work logs that Shizune had pulled up when they had gained access to the lab computer, she had approximately four and a half hours to hack the InfoNet and perform her metallurgical analysis of the blade she had brought with her. Riwin had the venerable honor of perimeter watch, something he absolutely loathed to do given his proclivity towards talking and joking, but being the consummate professional that he was, everything continued to go according to plan. “Perimeter is still clear,” Riwin subvocalized over his vox link. He was perched upon the laboratory’s rooftop corner, scanning the area with his naked eyes. “Intrusion has not been detected, situation is nominal. How is the office work?” Inside the lab itself, Shizune’s gloved fingers danced across the keyboard of the Shinra InfoNet terminal in the administrator’s office which overlooked the lab workspaces. The pale green font of the code on the screen reflected in her glasses and she grinned in satisfaction after a final keystroke. “It’s all still here,” Shizune said over the vox link to Riwin. Riwin responded immediately. “None of it’s mine.” “What?” Shizune asked. “The porn. It’s all Val’s.” “I’m talking about the security backdoors and protocols I installed,” Shizune said flatly. “And I’m talking about porn because you’re sooooo serious and it’s funny to see you blush when I say ‘PORN’,” Riwin said, over-enunciating the word with relish. “If by ‘blush’ you mean ‘puke,’ then by all means, watch away.” “Eww, girl--I had no idea you were into that extreme stuff.” Shizune flared her nostrils in disgust and irritation. “I do have a serious question, though,” Riwin said. “What is it?” “Why didn’t you take the Eye of Oblivion?” “Apparently, the Eye is just a head-fake. It is indeed a natural materia, which would fetch it a high price on any black market, but in its damaged state, it is only really capable of producing a peculiarly-shaped, but intense gravity field. Apparently, the blacksmith created the mythril dragon box statue thingy with an intricate lock which would only open when that gravity field was applied to it. Other than that, the Eye of Oblivion is useless. It is merely the key to unlock the actual treasure of the Nagase clan--the unfinished Akatsuki.” “Akatsuki? You mean that thing you put in the microwave? It looks like an old sword.” “Firstly,” Shizune said, still setting up her point trace re-routes on the system before actually initiating the biometric search, “I didn’t put it in a ‘microwave’--that thing is a chemical spectrometer specifically tuned for metallurgical analysis. The SSD uses it to analyze new materials for the rocket engine. I’m using it to to find out the actual properties of the Akatsuki.” “Akatsuki... ‘Red Moon’?, right?” “Correct.” “But it’s green,” Riwin countered. “And old.” “Yes, it’s green,” Shizune admitted without hiding her irritation. “That’s the corrosion taking over.” “Why would anyone make a katana from metal that would corrode like that? Didn’t you say your dad made that sword and that he’s a legendary blacksmith? Why would he do that?” “I don’t know if he’s my dad, so stop saying that. And to answer your question, there is no good reason for making any sword out of metal that is known to oxidize like that, so I have no clue. That’s why I’m conducting this analysis.” “But you said that only true members of the Nagase clan can activate the Eye, right?” “Yes…” “So that means that he’s your dad.” “Look, just drop it for now, ok?” “Alright, alright--fair enough, Shiz. But you cared enough to bring that thing here, to detour us to Rocket Town where it’s crawling with Shinra. That doesn’t seem tactically-sound to me. But I trust you. You must think this thing is important.” Shizune opened her mouth to reply, but no response came. She simply remained silent for a moment before answering sincerely. “Thank you, Riwin.” “Don’t mention it. Just get us out of here before the place wakes up. How are we looking?” “The analysis has about just under 2 hours remaining.” “Copy that. How about your biometric search?” “I just initiated it,” Shizune said. “There’s really no telling how long that will take, specifically, though personally, I don’t anticipate it will take longer than 3 hours at the most.” “That’s just as well,” Riwin said, “it’ll be daylight in about 3 hours, and we need to be long gone by then.” “Indeed. And hopefully by the time we leave here, we’ll know where we are headed.” “I can’t wait to see Val and the Boss again,” Riwin said wistfully. “Where do you think they went after we got kicked out?” “It’s anyone’s guess at this point,” Shizune said. “You were all far better than me at evading capture, so they could really be anywhere. Anywhere except Midgar, I would imagine.” “That was a boring answer,” Riwin said. “Let’s make it more interesting.” Shizune raised a knowing eyebrow. “You’re taking bets?” Shizune asked. “Always.” “In that case,” Shizune began, “I think Val went North, likely passing farther than Bone Village. Away from any settlements. He always had a thing for cold isolation. The Boss seems like she has a lot of business in the North. Shinra knows that, so I do not believe it benefits her to be anywhere near the Northern Continent. This is a stab in the dark, but I’m going to say she went to Mideel. What say you?” Riwin’s thinking groan broadcasted with a tinge of static over the vox link before he answered. “Val followed the love of his life to Gold Saucer.” “Of course he did,” Shizune said sarcastically. “And the Boss?” “She went to…. Cosmo Canyon.” “Come again?” Shizune said, aghast. “Yeah, Cosmo Canyon,” Riwin said again slowly, as if convincing himself as well. “She was always so critical of anyone who believed that ‘spirit of the planet’ mumbo-jumbo. So, perhaps she embedded herself in with the lifestream hippies.” Shizune stopped typing for a moment and considered the prospect. “Hmph. That's actually plausible,” Shizune said. “I guess we’ll see.” A few seconds of radio silence passed as Shizune and Riwin both became occupied with their separate duties. The click and hum of the lab spectrometer and the faint sound of keyboard clicks filled the empty lab. “Hey Shiz?” “Yes?” “So, the temple maidens…” “Shrine maidens,” Shizune corrected. “The shrine maidens, they just let you leave with the Akatsuki?” “They did,” Shizune said. “In fact, they insisted on it, saying it was my so-called birthright…”
NAGASE SHRINE, SOUTHERN WUTAI DISC 03 - JULY 2015
The pale light of the half moon was stifled by passing clouds, making the normally vibrant red of Nagase Shrine’s tile rooftops seem a sombre grey. All else, save for the “statue” in the center of the square courtyard, was black as pitch. Four torches set at the corners of the statue’s rectangular plinth burned through the night, casting a warm glow which underlit the statue and made the late blacksmith of the forgotten Banshu shogunate seem to preside over the border of night and dawn. An owl song echoed from somewhere in mountain treeline, the sound now mingling with that of the wind rushing through the surrounding forest. Shizune sprinted silently, stopping for cover at each of the stone lanterns which lined the main exit walkway out of the shrine. It had been years since she had needed to employ this shadow step technique, and she now cursed herself for not having kept up the practice. Tucked under her left arm was the curved lacquered box engraved with the family seal of the Nagase clan (長瀬)--the very same box which had been revealed as hidden within the statue of the mithril dragon of the shrine’s reliquary after Shizune had inadvertently activated trigger mechanism. Kiyoku Adachi, head priestess of the shrine, had been overwhelmed when Shizune had activated the natural materia they had all referred to as the “Eye of Oblivion.” This, in and of itself, Kiyoku had insisted, proved that Shizune was indeed of the Nagase bloodline, as the Eye could only be activated by true Nagase members. Kiyoku had subsequently insisted that Shizune stay so that they could continue briefing Shizune on her duties and legacy as the last surviving member of the Nagase clan. They were even planning on sending an envoy to the family of the deposed Shogun of Banshu in the morning to inform him of the news. Preparations were also underway for a feast the following evening. Shizune learned of her lineage in detail, and the supposed legacy of the clan. She learned of how the blacksmiths of the clan led innovation during the warring states period of Wutai’s bloody history, a particularly difficult feat considering the general lack of resources during that time. She learned of how Shizune’s supposed grandmother, the warlord Kotono Nagase, vehemently disapproved of her father’s chosen bride, the Banshu poet Yae Kashiwabara, citing the young poet’s failing health and lowly artist background. She had heard all of these things. Yet Shizune, not knowing how to process any of this, defaulted to her modus operandi and made silent preparations to disappear under the cover of night. Even more puzzling to Shizune was why she was even stealing the relic blade at all. Rei Kashiwabara, owner of a cafe. Shizune Mai, former Turk and Alpha Company MP in service to the Shinra Electric Power Company. Shizune Nagase, daughter to a blacksmith and a poet of Wutai. Her core identities--completely disparate from each other while also simultaneously real and functional--were in the warring process of invalidating each other. Perhaps there was a proper place for each of these roles in this chaotic state-machine that had become her life in the past five years, but whatever arrangement of these selves made the most sense was far beyond Shizune’s understanding on this night. Shizune reached the mountain staircase which led back down to the town of Aoyama, from where she would easily be able to steal a vehicle and make the drive back to Banshu where she was based. She tensed her muscles and made to continue her stealth-sprint, but something made her stop. She turned to look at the fire-lit statue of the blacksmith once more, as if to confirm something, yet, the only thing she was able to verify was her own unsettled soul. She leapt from her hiding place in the shadow of the last lantern and into the darkness of the forest stairway path.
SHINRA TOWER, 66TH FLOOR MIDGAR DISC 02 - MAY 2005
“...and that’s the main idea,” Evan concluded. “I want you to build an automated watchdog system which monitors multiple channels of comminique in real-time, which searches for flagged terms out a of a database which we control. An all-seeing-eye and an all-hearing-ear to everything. That’s Project: Arcos.” Shizune was nodding slowly whilst pondering the system requirements when a telltale digital chime at the door made both of the women look at the video panel beside the entrance. Riwin and Valerick appeared on the fish lens viewer. They were now dressed in their full Turk suits--Valerick had his arms folded in front of his chest behind Riwin, who was shoving an eye extremely close to the camera. The viewer took a fraction of a second to regain focus as Riwin’s giant eyeball filled the screen. After Shizune had unlocked the door and let the two Ace Turks in, Riwin let off a long, drawn-out whistle of surprise as he and Valerick walked into the Research & Logistics Lab. “I thought you said this place was going to be our new VR…” Valerick said, disappointed. “And I thought it was supposed to be the new bar!” Riwin exclaimed. “Well, it’s a toy factory now,” Evan said. “From now on, if either of you needs specialized equipment, put an official request in through this office, and Shizune will see to it.” “Anything?” Valerick asked. “Anything,” Evan replied. “Specialized weapons, ammo, armor, all that sort of thing. If you can imagine it, Shizune can make it, over-spec and post-haste.” “I can?” Shizune blurted out somewhat incredulously, immediately cursing herself for thinking aloud. “Of course,” Evan said. “You’re a Turk, now. Turks don’t simply meet expectations--we exceed them. That is our norm. I have to be going now, but please remember: if you have any questions, at any time, never hesitate to take a moment to think it through, then do what I would do. Good luck, little one.” With that, Evan Oris casually disappeared through the double blast door exit, and Shizune was now alone with Riwin and Valerick. She stared blankly in silence between the two senior Turks. “It’s a bit much, isn’t it?” Valerick said, head slightly bowed and eyes closed, apparently deep in thought. “Pardon?” Shizune said. “The first day tour,” Valerick added, his baritone filling the empty lab. “The Boss doesn’t really mean to intimidate, she is simply being upfront about our standards.” “I’m not intimidated,” Shizune said immediately. “I’m just…” “We were all like that on our first day,” Riwin said. “I mean, to be honest, I’ve seen worse.” “No kidding?” Shizune asked, feeling more comfortable speaking casually to Riwin since she still couldn’t shake the image of Riwin Koucha, the blunderhead from Alpha Company. “Yeah,” Riwin said with a smile, “no worries--you’ll be fine so long as you don’t fuck it up.” Shizune scowled. “Riwin screamed on his first day,” Valerick said. “You don’t have to tell everyone…” Riwin said. “Well,” Valerick said, “to be fair, I suppose it was because when it was your first day, you saw me and the Boss fighting. If I were you, I’d scream, too. Just not aloud.” “So,” Shizune said, “everyone ‘accidentally’ witnesses a Turk bout on their first day here?” “Yeah,” Riwin said, “it’s not on purpose, but it never fails to happen, which is an eerie Turk thing.” “And you saw the Boss fighting with Valerick?” “I did,” Riwin said, the memory of that time making him sound actually detached for a fraction of a second. “It wasn’t in deadly earnest or anything, but I will never forget it for as long as I live. In fact, I think that was the one time I ever saw her go hand-to-hand with anyone since, even if it was just practice. Val, you ever seen the Boss fight more than once?” Valerick, eyes still closed, answered after a moment of introspection. “I’ve seen her engage opponents in melee on only three occasions.” Shizune listened intently, but was also now surprised to see that Riwin, too, was waiting in rapt silence for Valerick to continue. Valerick looked at Riwin and Shizune in silence before creasing his eyes and raising an eyebrow inquisitively. “And…” Riwin said. “And what?” Valerick said. “Aren’t you gonna tell the story of the Boss’ fights?” Riwin asked, exasperated. Valerick closed his eyes again and frowned disapprovingly. “That’s classified.” Riwin and Shizune both groaned in unison. “Hmph,” Shizune said, “‘Classified’ even at the Turk level? Just how high does this organization go, I wonder.” “What are you talking about?” Riwin asked. “In my experience,” Shizune said, “there is no limit to how classified some information and organizations can be, but surely there is a ceiling. If we agents are all the parts of a gun, then who holds it? Who pulls the trigger?” “I thought you were a techie, not a philosopher,” Riwin said. “She does have the meat of it,” Valerick interjected. “But, Ms. Mai, you really still don’t get it, do you?” “Pardon?” “You asked the question, who is the leader of the Turks, correct?” Valerick asked. Shizune, now recognizing the alias of Major Valerick Goodliffe, repressed the urge to snap to attention and shout out a firm “yessir.” Instead, she simply nodded thoughtfully. “The leader of the Turks just left this room after giving you a tour.” Shizune dipped her head forward, her eyes widening and peering above her square-framed glasses as she regarded Valerick in disbelief. “Yeah,” Riwin said, “there’s a reason why we all call her ‘Boss.’” “In the world of the Turks,” Valerick said, “there exists no one higher.”
Evan strode purposefully toward her office. “I’m not to be disturbed for the next two hours,” she announced aloud to no one before walking into her office and locking the door behind her. Once she was done triple checking the lock on her door, she made her way to her desk. Taking a seat in the plush black leather office chair, she keyed a sequence on a security pad somewhere underneath the desk, causing a large screen monitor to rise out of the front of her desk. Evan proceeded to open one of the side drawers, producing a video game controller. In the next moment, the screen before her activated, and the words “Please Stand By” were displayed prominently over a pale sepia backdrop. Evan curled her legs up, bringing her knees to her chin and raising the controller up to her face in an uncharacteristically childish pose. “Finally…” Evan said under her breath. The next screen that booted, however, wasn’t the game Evan was so intent on playing. The face of a young man with clever, hawkish features appeared on the screen. The man wore angular, stylized sunglasses of a peculiar design that made them appear bisected down the center. An uneven side part of platinum blonde-white hair spilled over the left side of the man’s face, hiding part of his face, but providing an unobstructed view of the materia earring which was dangling conspicuously from his right ear.
“Kezu Deprieve,” Evan said, “I was just about to call you.” “With a controller in hand? Indeed...” Evan placed the controller on the desk nonchalantly as if the remark hadn’t been made. “How is the new addition?” “Just fine, thank you,” Evan said, “She appears to be no less daunted than Riwin or Valerick were on their first days here.” “Can she make Arcos a reality?” “Well, I suppose we shall see.” “She has three days to make it operational.” “Three days?” Evan repeated. “Are you insane? I’m no engineer, but even I know that’s not humanly possible.” “I already told you,” Kezu continued, “We shouldn’t have let her into the organization to begin with. She has too much of a reputation and may not even be physically capable of completing the training.” “Kezu, three days is not enough. You do remember what Arcos is supposed to do, right?” “Indeed. I’m the one who set the design specifications.” “Then you know that-” “Giovanni said three days.” Evan clenched her teeth, exhaling evenly in simmering silence. “So. You’re actually hearing me now.” Evan closed her eyes. “Please tell Giovanni that it will be done in three days’ time.” “It better be. Otherwise she’s out. Are we clear on that?” “Yes, sir.”
SHINRA SCIENCE DIVISION, MATERIALS LAB #32 ROCKET TOWN DISC 03 - SEPTEMBER 2015
“Mit-235…” Shizune had spent the last hour rapidly poring over the data of the Akatsuki materials analysis. During that hour, Riwin maintained radio silence and the only thing that accompanied Shizune was the incessant drone of the InfoNet terminal as it neared the completion of the biometric search Shizune had tasked it with. Complete radio silence--that is, until Shizune reached the core elements analysis of the Akatsuki report. “Come again?” Riwin responded. “It’s a rare, but naturally-occurring isotope of Mithril,” Shizune said. “That’s what you woke me up for?” “You were sleeping?” “No…wait, did you say Mithril?” “Yes,” Shizune said, her eyebrows still beetling with concern as she continued to stare at the analysis. “But, Mithril is extremely corrosion resistant,” Riwin said. “You’re thinking of Mit-238. That stuff is way more common and used for armor plating and penetrator rounds. This stuff--Mit-235--it’s really rare,” Shizune explained. “Really?” Riwin said in disbelief. “The stuff that rots quickly and turns green--that’s the rare, neat stuff?” “It’s not a terrestrial element,” Shizune said. “It’s probably from a meteorite. Plus, Mithril tends to only oxidize this way if it’s carrying a strong Mako charge…” A soft, triple-bell-tone from the InfoNet terminal sounded. “Riwin, the biometric search concluded,” Shizune said, completely failing to hide her excitement. She pocketed the printed out materials analysis and with a solid kick to the table slid the wheeled office chair she was sitting in over to the terminal. Now staring at the read out, Shizune said, “Geez, that’s a long trail…” “What?” Riwin said over the comlink. “Where are they? Where are we headed?” Shizune’s eyes darted to and fro and her slender index finger ran frantically over the mousewheel as she scrolled down the endless list of GPS data points. She had them grouped according to person, separated into different files and windows. The first of these windows was for the data matching Valerick Goodliffe. The page scrolling terminated in a blinking cursor at the bottom of 3-years’ worth of GPS points all centered around a single location that Shizune knew by heart. “OK,” Shizune said, “it turns out we were both wrong--Valerick is in Fort Condor.” Riwin made a noise over the comlink that sounded like a suppressed hoot. “Well, shit,” Riwin said. “It’s not like we should be surprised, I guess. I mean, Ft. Condor was his last assignment before Zero Protocol shipped everything to hell.” “True enough.” “And you’re sure the trail ends there?” “Not only does the trail end there with a tracepoint as recent as yesterday,” Shizune said, “apparently his biometric signature has been popcorning all around that area for the last 3 years or so.” “No doubt about it, then,” Riwin said, his smile evident even over the vox. “OK, ok--how about the Boss?” Shizune was about to answer when all the lights in the lab went on simultaneously and warning sirens and alarms went off all throughout the base.
つづく To be continued in File 05: The Devil’s Toys
ENDING (R0-414 Theme): “GUITAR NOIR” by the AQUA VELVETS
NAGASE SHRINE, SOUTHERN WUTAI DISC 03 - JULY 2015
The pale light of the half moon was stifled by passing clouds, making the normally vibrant red of Nagase Shrine’s tile rooftops seem a sombre grey. As Shizune disappeared into the shadows of the forest staircase down the mountain, Akatsuki relic box tucked under her left arm, Kiyoku Adachi stood alone in the darkness of her room on the second floor of the maiden’s quarters, watching Shizune’s exodus from her window. Impressed with Shizune’s shadow-stepping technique, a soft smile played across Kiyoku’s serene patrician face. She raised a hand to her mouth, the overly-long sleeve of her chamber gown draping over her hand and making her curved hand look like a paw. “She has left with the Akatsuki,” Kiyoku whispered with a hint of amusement. Kiyoku stood in silence a moment longer, nodding affirmatively, seemingly to nothing. “No,” she said softly, “It is her. And that is her birthright.” A wind rustled through the trees and made Kiyoku’s fuurin wind chime sing ghostly tones. “Understood,” she whispered. “We will observe from a distance.”
