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Blue Shinra
Prologue
Reeve had to help them somehow, after the horrible things he had done. Under the guise of Cait Sith, he spied on them for the Turks, stole the Keystone, and blackmailed them with Elmyra and Marlene's lives. Reeve was Shinra's Urban Development chair, a position with which he was rapidly becoming disillusioned with. Where did this discontent start? Oh yes… the collapse of the Sector 7 plate… what an atrocity… what a crime. But business nonetheless, and Reeve was not the type to question such things twice. But when he took that freelance job from the Turks, to spy on AVALANCHE using his Sith equipment, his eyes were opened even wider. That girl Aeris… carrying herself with so much confidence, and radiance. And Cloud… his zeal for defeating Sephiroth was certainly infectious. Barret… Tifa… Cid… Nanaki… all of them. They all had what he felt was missing from his own existance. There was something important to each and every one of them; they all had a purpose in their lives. Reeve wondered what it must feel like for life to have such meaning. But now, at this moment, all he felt was guilty. In the eyes of his companions, he was nothing more than a lying, conniving, sneaky Shinra employee who had only been allowed to stay with them because of the threats he had made. What was he to do? Right now Cloud and Aeris were in the Temple of the Ancients, which itself was the very Black Materia that Sephiroth lusted after. How could they remove it, before Sephiroth had the chance? Suddenly, a flash of inspiration crept into his head. He focused on Cait Sith… who bounded toward the Temple's exit and dialed Cloud's number on his PHS cellular phone. Reeve awoke with a start, looking around him. He was locked inside a tiny cell located in the Shinra Headquarters' science department; not spectacular accommodations by any means. The pair who had imprisoned him, Scarlett and Heidegger, had died the night before; having been burned to death when the experimental mecha they were operating, the Proud Clod, malfunctioned. Hojo was gone too, killed by Cloud not long after. Palmer had been hit by a truck in Rocket Town, and President Rufus was killed by a blast from Diamond WEAPON. Now Reeve was the last high-level Shinra employee left, and he was helpless, imprisoned, with no foreseeable way out. He thought about the dream he just had about the Temple of the Ancients. That moment was truly a turning point for him. It was then that he realized what he had been missing all this time, what he really wanted to do with his life. Reeve shook his head and lay back on the cot. Now, he thought, what can I do? I'm helpless here and a huge Meteor is headed this way. And there's no guarantee that that white Materia of Aeris' is going to work. Or even if we can stop Sephiroth. All he could do right now was bide his time and assist AVALANCHE any way he could via his alter ego, the toysaurus Cait Sith. Reeve had started to drift back to sleep when a knock came at the door of his cell. He got up and peered through the tiny window in the door. It was Domino, the Mayor of Midgar. What was he doing here? "Reeve, hold on a minute. I'll get you out of here," said the Mayor. Reeve heard the sounds of shuffling keycards, then an electronic beep. The door slid open. "Domino… am I ever glad to see you! What's the current situation?" "Oh, it's terrible! Absolutely terrible! Many of the people are in a panic and don't know what to do! The city is in chaos! And to top it all off, that huge rock is bound to land any day now!" Reeve leaned against the wall, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Calm down, Mr. Mayor. We just need a plan, that's all. What's the situation with the military?" "Keeping order as best as they can, sir." "Very good. Now here's what I'm thinking. The Upper Plates should be strong enough to withstand the Meteor's impact. We can move everyone on the Upper Plates down into the Slums to keep them safe." "Very well. I'll get started with the evacuation." "See that you do. I'll help you as well. Why don't you take Sectors 1 through 4, and I'll do Sectors 5 through 8 as well as this building." Domino nodded, and ran off. Reeve hurried back to his office and started calling every Shinra manager and military commander in his assigned Sectors. Then after tripping the fire alarms for the Shinra Building, he gathered up his most important papers and equipment into a satchel and proceeded to the stairwell. The evacuation effort was under way. Many hours later, deep within the bowels of the Planet, Cait Sith sat on a rocky ledge with Nanaki, Cid, and Barret, watching as Cloud and Tifa pulled themselves up from the Lifestream. Sephiroth had just been defeated and the group was relieved and exhausted. After boarding the Highwind, Cid set a course for Midgar. Once they got there, Cait looked out of the airship's main window in horror. The Meteor was hovering above Shinra's once-glorious city. Whirlwinds were tearing the buildings, the Reactors, and the Sister Ray to shreads. Meanwhile, in a small abandoned church in Sector 5, Reeve shed silent tears for his pride and joy… his Midgar. Ever since he first drafted those blueprints some twenty years ago, Midgar was like his child. He cared for it, nurtured it, watch it grow and mature. Now he was witnessing his death, and, understandably, it was quite unsettling. Just then, a voice called out above the loud sounds of Midgar's destruction. "You act like you really know what's going on up there." Reeve turned and saw Reno standing at the entrance of the church. Reeve shot the Turk a knowing look and called back, "What do you mean by that?" Reno walked toward Reeve and sat down next to him. "You know what I mean. What's Cait Sith seeing right now?" Reeve sighed heavily and turned away. Above them, he heard the slight rattle of the Sector 5 plate. "You don't want to know. I fear that this may be the end of us all-- wait a minute…" Far above him, in the Highwind's cockpit, Cait Sith's eyes watched in amazement as plumes of green light wafted across the surface of the Planet, toward the Meteor. In the church, Reeve stood up and looked behind him, toward the city's edge; Reno, startled by his behavior, did the same. What they saw caused their jaws to drop. A green light, growing brighter and brighter; encircling, and finally engulfing them… Reeve awoke the next morning, finding that he was upstairs in Elmyra's house, laying on Aeris' bed. He tried to connect to Cait Sith but found that he couldn't. What happened to the Highwind last night? he wondered. What happened… to Midgar? Reeve heard a low groan from the room next door. He got up and peeked into the room to see Reno, sleeping soundly on the guest bed. Elena lay next to him, and on the floor lay Rude, looking strangely cozy there. Reeve smiled at the sight, and walked downstairs. Hesitantly, he decided to go outside and see what had become of Midgar. He gasped in shock once he set foot outside the door. There was debris everywhere and the gates to the city were completely blown away. The Plates had held, but they all had gaping holes in them, through which bright sunlight streamed through. Medical crews and SOLDIERs alike were bustling to and fro through the crowded Slums, aiding the wounded and keeping order, respectively. Reeve stood there for a long, long time. He was brought back to reality by some loud sounds coming from inside. Reeve turned back into the house; Rude had awakened and was in the kitchen digging around for some coffee. Reno came downstairs not long after and plopped himself in a chair, still somewhat groggy from the night before. Reeve seated himself across from him. "So," he asked, somewhat hypothetically. "What do we do now?" Reno replied, "Hey man, you tell us. You're the leader." Reeve was taken aback by this new title, but then he thought it over. He was, after all, the last Executive left. I guess that would make me the leader… "Well," Reeve continued, "We have to take control of the situation. For one thing, we certainly can't stay here." Reno leaned back in his chair. "Right. This place is dangerous enough as it is. So where do we go?" "Our best solution right now appears to be to head out into the countryside, toward Kalm. And then, after that, we take stock of our resources, and start all over again." "What do you mean by 'start all over again'? You planning on rebuilding Shinra?" "Why not? It'll help stabilize the situation at any rate." Reno sighed. "You're probably right. I wonder if Elena's up yet? We probably want to head out as soon as possible." A few hours later, Reeve and the Turks had gathered a large group of Midgar's residents together in preparation for their trek toward Kalm. There were many who couldn't make the journey, for various reasons, and Mayor Domino agreed to stay behind to watch over them. As Reeve left Midgar for the surrounding countryside, he couldn't help but feel a sense of loss over the city's destruction; yet, at the same time, he was also excited for the possibilities the future would hold. With Reeve and the Turks leading the way, the group from Midgar made their way across the rocky terrain and the grassy meadows until they had reached Kalm. Upon their arrival that afternoon, Reeve made his way to the edge of town and gazed out over a slight rise, toward the ruins that they had just left. My beloved Midgar, Reeve pondered. How it pains me to see you in such a state… Memories flooded into his mind… of his first job at Shinra, as an architect. The company was much smaller back then, but that was soon to change, once Reeve drafted those initial sketches for industrialized Midgar. It was to be the perfect city, neatly organized into eight sectors. Midgar's success, and the success of his other pet project, the Gold Saucer amusement park, helped to raise him to one of the most powerful positions within the company; fifth most powerful, actually. And now, here he was, twenty years later… 39 years old and in the midst of a midlife crisis. Well, at least now he had a plan. The sun's rays were casting red light over what remained of Midgar's western Sectors when he saw, out of the corner of his eye, a blue streak, flashing across the sky at an incredible speed. Not long after the streak had disappeared over the mountains, Reeve's PHS rang. Not thinking anything of it, Reeve picked it up and said, "Hello." In response, he heard a low, mysterious voice saying: "Turn on your laptop." Before he could reply, there was a click, and then a dial tone. Baffled, Reeve shrugged, and looked out at the sky again. All he saw was the red light from the setting sun. Remembering the phone call, he pulled his laptop computer from his satchel and switched it on. To his surprise, a blank window appeared almost immediately on the screen. Some words started scrolling across it. They read: Welcome to the Electronic Field Agent System
Completed May 2001 | Revised January 2003 | Copyright 2001-2003, The Blue Shinra Project. Special thanks to BlueJay for starting off the roleplay in the first place! :P Next Chapter > |
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