Previously...
Well unfortunately for our new brother Sulbio, he had a rough start and id been forced to punish him by Mother's rules and gang customs. This also left all four of us having to cancel setting out for the next mission since i had needed rest from fighting, Yazoo wanted a breather so to speak, and Loz was also emotionally burned out from dealing with Sulbio's attitude that. As for Brother Sulbio himself, he learned a hard lesson and also needed rest as a result. With all of this at hand, i had no choice but to report to Mother about the fiasco and tell her we just couldn't work that day. Hoping for a better tomorrow, Mother had excused all of this and allowed us all to rest as needed.
Chapter 10: Shinra& Kadaj
After i finally woke up, i had hoped and been silently praying that today would not bring another bad start thanks to Young Brother Sulbio and that attitude of his. I silently sat on my bed and tuned into Mother, then said "I dont know what to do, Mother... He's just too thick... How can i convince our New Brother?" I saw Mother appear directly in front of me, and she smiled and giggled at me. I couldn't help but smile back to her, when she was happy i always was. Nothing was more reassuring than seeing Mother happy. She drew closer to me, then said "Go to that church, Kadaj." Then i quickly became bewildered and said "But why? How is that going to knock sense into Young Brother?" She smiled again and said "There's something i want you to do there. I will send you alone and keep your brothers here to avoid drawing too much attention." I nodded, then said "Umm, alright... Hopefully i can still fly as gracefully as i did before my age reversed and my form reverted..." Mother giggled and said "Dont be silly, my child. You know you can still fly well." I once again smiled back at Mother, and i then bolted my wing and fly gently towards her, and she took me into her arms. Mother rubbed the back of my head a bit, and said "You remember how difficult Cloud Strife always was, right?" I heard her but remained silent as she held me. Mother continued "I did manage to purify him enough during his transformation to secure his love and loyalty to me, however... He was so hardened, even i couldn't completely erase how difficult he always was..." She let me go, and i flew in place facing her and said "But you can do anything, Mother... If you couldn't completely fix him, then how can i ever do that?" Mother paused briefly and said "I can't completely reverse that many hardcore scars on my own, Young Kadaj... Cloud was so twisted and everything in between, even Sephiroth wouldn't be able to do it alone..." I gazed in silence at Mother feeling hopeful she would bear happier news. Mother smiled at me and said "All is not lost, though. All Young Sulbio needs is the right amount of love and kindness to fix the rest. And thats where youre the key, my child." Then i felt confused and said "me? But how?" Mother then said "You may have had immense hatred sewn into you over the years, Kadaj... But that hatred surfaced from a powerful desire to avenge your family who Cloud had initially massacred. He killed your entire family, and your precious heart never recovered... But you were only angry because you lost everything you loved most." Then i nodded and said still bewildered "Where are you going with this?" Mother then replied "You have big heart, Young Kadaj. Thats the key to completely fixing your New Brother--a big heart." I then said "Oh... Alright, so how about i head out for this mission at the church, Mother?" She smiled and said "Thats my girl. Go ahead and fly there, Kadaj. I'll give you a safe route so you can avoid too much trouble." Then i replied "Got it. Im moving out, Mother!" I quickly turned and raced for the entrance so i could fly to church and focus on the mission. I felt relieved to have a happy start for the day after dealing with Sulbio yesterday. It was very refreshing. Even though all was not yet perfect, having Cloud Strife out of the way felt like having a heavy load off my back that was difficult to carry. Things were finally looking up after all these years of searching and fighting in what seemed forever.
Meanwhile...
(The following will focus on Tifa Lockheart as the speaker) I had returned to Cloud's hometown expecting him to be around. Something seemed not right when i arrived, though. Just as i reached for the door to his home, someone grabbed my shoulder which stopped me. A voice behind me said "Youre looking for Cloud?" I turned and found myself facing Vincent Valentine, then said "Yes? And what are you doing here?" Vincent replied and said "You wont find him here." Then i replied and said "Did he leave to chase down Kadaj's gang?" Then someone else said "Yes, about that..." I found myself facing Rufus Shinra now. I felt very confused as time flowed by here. This was making less and less sense. I spoke next and said "Whats going on? Why are you two here in the first place?" Vincent turned to face Rufus, and Rufus said "Cloud's gone." I immediately shouted in surprise "What?!!" Vincent spoke next and said "JENOVA got him under her wing now. You can thank her pesky pawn Kadaj for that." I continued, speaking in panicked disbelief "But how?! Thats impossible!" Rufus replied and said "You can say its impossible all you want, Tifa. But its not going to change any of this." I groaned and said "So now what? And how could some heartless teenager like her ever get to someone like him?" Rufus spoke next and said "Thats what im here to explain. Kadaj has an ability that the other two remnants of Sephiroth dont have. However, unlike the previous larva, she possesses the power to tie her JENOVA cells to her target or victim. This allows her to pull the strings on another person, or as JENOVA said herself use them as 'a puppet'. More than likely JENOVA passed this ability down to Kadaj during her birth." I paused in disbelief and said "What?" Vincent spoke and said "Keep yourself together. Thats not the whole story." I sighed and reluctantly continued listening as Rufus continued "Furthermore, if Kadaj is in any body of water, all of it becomes infected with JENOVA cells. Anyone who steps into it is completely subjected to her will and manipulation. This can even allow her to control an entire croud of people so she can defend herself and the rest of JENOVA's remnants. Even worse is the infected water heals her and the other remnants completely. Unlike the previous larva, she has immense healing potential." I then said "So JENOVA really has pulled out the big guns this time... I knew she wouldn't play around. But how does this pertain to Cloud's whereabouts?" Rufus replied and said "Kadaj used these abilities to control Cloud while simultaneously playing "nice lady" and acting friendly towards him in order to earn enough of his so called trust for JENOVA to ultimately turn him into the Fourth Remnant. " I gazed in disbelief and said "Youre kidding! How could he be foolish enough to walk into such an obvious trap?!" Vincent spoke next and said "Thats not all of it, either. JENOVA has her remnants on a quest to find the JENOVA Stone Tablet. She is working with them with the goal of activating the Infinite Reunion. If they succeed, its all over and the planet is permanently stuck under the power JENOVA's legacy." I moaned feeling very discouraged by what i was hearing here. I had no idea how we could ever hope to defeat JENOVA and her remnants without Cloud's help. This was by far the greatest challenge we'd have to face this time. Rufus spoke next and said "Ive also discovered how powerful this new larva is. She is far beyond the previous one here. If all three of us challenged her and got lucky enough to catch her away from the other three, we may have a chance at victory. Either way, it will not be an easy victory. If we encounter all four of them together, we will need to be more careful and do things as precise as possible. Theres no room for error with all of them against us in one battle." I immediately shouted in response "Are you insane?! All four of them at once?!" Vincent replied and said "I don't like it either, but we must brace for the worst and be prepared for anything. I doubt JENOVA is going to play nice with all of this going on. She is not happy with all those losses and that isnt likely to change." I then replied and said "Why do you want to take down JENOVA and her remnants, Rufus?" Rufus seemed to smirk and then said "Do i really have to answer that? JENOVA wants to gain full control of the entire planet. She threatens us all." Then i shrugged and said "I wont deny that. But how long do we have to stop her from activating the Infinite Reunion?" Rufus replied and said "Hopefully enough time to at least grind her plans to halt for now, but the way to stop her completely is to destroy the JENOVA Stone Tablet. If we destroy that, they all die simultaneously." Then i nodded and said "It sounds so simple but i know she wouldn't make her treasure easy to destroy." Vincent replied and said "Unfortunately youre right. It cant be destroyed without Sephiroth's katana." I gazed again in disbelief "Thats impossible! He isn't even alive anymore...." Rufus shook his head and said "Sephiroth may be gone, but the current larva JENOVA gave birth to is capable of taking perfect form of him in feminine form. Likewise, she too will bear that same katana that Sephiroth had." I then said "oh no... So youre saying we have to kill her and take the katana to do this?" Vincent replied and said "Correct. Its the only way to stop them from activating the Infinite Reunion. Until that stone tablet is destroyed, the Reunion Theory will allow JENOVA's remnants to reincarnate over and over again, and possibly even JENOVA herself." I then said "That explains why her remnants keep coming back to life... Possibly even why Sephiroth also had two times around." Rufus replied and said "Right, that thing is what allows them to reincarnate like that. Unless its destroyed, they can start over all they like. Perpetual trouble for all of us." Then i said "No wonder theyve been defeated more than once and come back after several years of peace... So where do we start?" Vincent then said "No other choice but to find them and take them down. Im sure know-it-all Rufus is dying to tell us." I saw Rufus look at Vincent in slight frustration and he said "Hey, come on... It took me years to find all of that out! Do you have any idea how much work i did?" Vincent seemed indifferent and remained silent, and Rufus turned back to me and said "Ive been trying to track Kadaj as much as possible since she's the larva... However, the last time my troops had managed to get a tracking device on her secretly, she was aware of it and of course she destroyed it... Since then ive been trying to develop something that would serve the same purpose but be impossible to destroy as easily..." Vincent replied and said "And how do you plan to do that? You know how violent she is." Rufus nodded and said "I know, but Kadaj is scared of my company. Ive been trying to develop one that would attach to her JENOVA cells directly so she cant destroy it without killing herself. If i succeed, she'll be very horrified for a good while." I laughed and said "Sounds like a great idea. How much progress did you make?" Rufus paused briefly and said "Its been a slow business, but i think im close to finishing. The only thing that could be problematic is successfully pinning and sedating her so i can implant the device..." Then Vincent replied and said "And how close is that?" Rufus paused briefly and said "Well, i was hoping to finish it tonight, but i cant be certain that will happen..." I then replied "Youre not exactly inspiring a lot of confidence here, Rufus." Rufus replied and said "Hey, calm down. If you think its so easy why don't you try working the job i have?" Vincent put his hand on Rufus's shoulder and said "Slow down. We know everything isnt perfect with the current situation but if we dont at least try to work together, it will make everything worse." I could tell Rufus already didn't like me very much, but i knew i had to work with him to bring down JENOVA and her kids. He was the only one who was capable of gleaning enough information on them to help get rid of them. He was also the only one smart enough to stand any real chance against them, hence being in charge of Shinra experiments and everything related to it. He knew more about all of them than anyone else ever would. I didn't have a choice but to work with him on this, even if i didn't like it. With Cloud also on JENOVA's side, this was no time for arguing. I spoke next and said "Well, since Cloud isnt here anymore, we can use his home as a place to stay...." Rufus turned back to me, shaking his head and said "No, thats a bad idea. Kadaj will find us too easily and then we'll have all four of the remnants on our back at once. Unless you like that idea, then we're coming straight to my HQ." I sighed; Rufus was a bit difficult, but at least he wasn't a complete fool. I then said "Well, i guess it will have to do for now." Vincent nodded in agreement, and Rufus lead us out of the area.
Several hours later...
Rufus had successfully lead us safely to Shinra HQ, and once we were inside, he turned to face us and said "Come with me, you two. There's something you should see about my earlier research." He lead us to an elevator and pushed the button that seemed to symbolize the top level of the area. I wondered what Rufus wanted to show us. He seemed to know so much about JENOVA and her remnants it was kinda hard to believe. I could only imagine what else he knew that he hadn't told us yet. Once the elevator came to a standstill, we followed him out and he walked to what looked like a massive computer system. He turned back to us, and smiled then spoke "Watch the top screen, you two--im going to show you the intel i gleaned the last time i had a tracking device on Kadaj. You wont believe it." Vincent then said "Heh, this will be good. This guy thinks he knows everything..." I gently elbowed Vincent as a signal for him to stop, and he sighed but didn't respond. I watched the massive screen the appeared to be above a big keyboard that Rufus was using. It was large enough i could hardly believe it was a keyboard. After a few minutes went by, the display on the screen above had changed. We saw what looked like a map of the entire area, followed by red lines that seemed to draw a route of where someone or something had travelled. Rufus turned back to us, and began to speak "What you see up there is a map of the entire area--all of Shinra. The red lines indicate Kadaj's coordinates and the route she had taken during the previous tracking experiment i had attempted to do on her. As you can see, the path appears incomplete at the end which is when we were detected and she destroyed the device. Pay close attention to where she would go and places should would always avoid--do you notice anything strange?" Vincent spoke next and said "That blue insignia... Thats where this place is, yes?" Rufus smiled and nodded. I felt a rather evil and sickening vibe from him. Rufus replied and said "Correct, my friend. Notice how she never even came close to my HQ. Thats all you need to know to see how scared of my company she is. She would fearlessly chase Cloud Strife, but stray far away from me at all costs. However, notice the black X on the other side of the map--thats the Mako Reactor. It was once my property, until Kadaj was seeking a new place for her gang to mark their territory and take over for themselves. They were successful in doing that, and since that place was a major experimentation site for my work and research, much of my company's work and overall production had been grind to a halt back then... Even now, we're still trying to bounce back from that loss. Its improved, but all is not perfect." Both me and Vincent were silent but continued listening. Rufus continued on "The reason i want to track Kadaj though is to help me locate and pin her so i can extract some of her energy and exploit her powers. However, JENOVA has done her job in preventing my success here, let alone any progress at all for me..." I spoke next and said "How does this apply to stopping JENOVA?" Rufus replied and said "If i can capture Kadaj i can extract her energy and possibly beat her at her own game. The same with the other three remnants." For some reason i felt like i had knot in my throat as i heard all of this. Rufus was worse than the rumors said he was. This guy is sick and callous beyond belief... I dont approve of what JENOVA wants either, but what he's talking about is just purely sick and cold. I would never do something like that! I thought to myself. But i again knew i had no choice but to work with this ill-minded freak. Rufus smiled and said "Well, that should explain enough of the plan for today, dont you think? Lets get some rest. I'll have my employees escort you to a room for the night." I could tell Vincent didn't approve of Rufus either. Somehow, i knew this ride would not be an easy one at all. I was stuck working with the most sick and depraved man on the planet. Both me and Vincent knew we had no choice despite neither of us approving of this freak who stood before us. I began to wonder if Rufus was even worse than JENOVA and her kids. I just couldn't answer that question now. I couldn't help feeling bad for Kadaj now that i knew about the thick darkness surrounding Shinra Company... I would be scared if they were after me too. Was that why Cloud fell under JENOVA's will?
To be continued...
Well unfortunately for our new brother Sulbio, he had a rough start and id been forced to punish him by Mother's rules and gang customs. This also left all four of us having to cancel setting out for the next mission since i had needed rest from fighting, Yazoo wanted a breather so to speak, and Loz was also emotionally burned out from dealing with Sulbio's attitude that. As for Brother Sulbio himself, he learned a hard lesson and also needed rest as a result. With all of this at hand, i had no choice but to report to Mother about the fiasco and tell her we just couldn't work that day. Hoping for a better tomorrow, Mother had excused all of this and allowed us all to rest as needed.
Chapter 10: Shinra& Kadaj
After i finally woke up, i had hoped and been silently praying that today would not bring another bad start thanks to Young Brother Sulbio and that attitude of his. I silently sat on my bed and tuned into Mother, then said "I dont know what to do, Mother... He's just too thick... How can i convince our New Brother?" I saw Mother appear directly in front of me, and she smiled and giggled at me. I couldn't help but smile back to her, when she was happy i always was. Nothing was more reassuring than seeing Mother happy. She drew closer to me, then said "Go to that church, Kadaj." Then i quickly became bewildered and said "But why? How is that going to knock sense into Young Brother?" She smiled again and said "There's something i want you to do there. I will send you alone and keep your brothers here to avoid drawing too much attention." I nodded, then said "Umm, alright... Hopefully i can still fly as gracefully as i did before my age reversed and my form reverted..." Mother giggled and said "Dont be silly, my child. You know you can still fly well." I once again smiled back at Mother, and i then bolted my wing and fly gently towards her, and she took me into her arms. Mother rubbed the back of my head a bit, and said "You remember how difficult Cloud Strife always was, right?" I heard her but remained silent as she held me. Mother continued "I did manage to purify him enough during his transformation to secure his love and loyalty to me, however... He was so hardened, even i couldn't completely erase how difficult he always was..." She let me go, and i flew in place facing her and said "But you can do anything, Mother... If you couldn't completely fix him, then how can i ever do that?" Mother paused briefly and said "I can't completely reverse that many hardcore scars on my own, Young Kadaj... Cloud was so twisted and everything in between, even Sephiroth wouldn't be able to do it alone..." I gazed in silence at Mother feeling hopeful she would bear happier news. Mother smiled at me and said "All is not lost, though. All Young Sulbio needs is the right amount of love and kindness to fix the rest. And thats where youre the key, my child." Then i felt confused and said "me? But how?" Mother then said "You may have had immense hatred sewn into you over the years, Kadaj... But that hatred surfaced from a powerful desire to avenge your family who Cloud had initially massacred. He killed your entire family, and your precious heart never recovered... But you were only angry because you lost everything you loved most." Then i nodded and said still bewildered "Where are you going with this?" Mother then replied "You have big heart, Young Kadaj. Thats the key to completely fixing your New Brother--a big heart." I then said "Oh... Alright, so how about i head out for this mission at the church, Mother?" She smiled and said "Thats my girl. Go ahead and fly there, Kadaj. I'll give you a safe route so you can avoid too much trouble." Then i replied "Got it. Im moving out, Mother!" I quickly turned and raced for the entrance so i could fly to church and focus on the mission. I felt relieved to have a happy start for the day after dealing with Sulbio yesterday. It was very refreshing. Even though all was not yet perfect, having Cloud Strife out of the way felt like having a heavy load off my back that was difficult to carry. Things were finally looking up after all these years of searching and fighting in what seemed forever.
Meanwhile...
(The following will focus on Tifa Lockheart as the speaker) I had returned to Cloud's hometown expecting him to be around. Something seemed not right when i arrived, though. Just as i reached for the door to his home, someone grabbed my shoulder which stopped me. A voice behind me said "Youre looking for Cloud?" I turned and found myself facing Vincent Valentine, then said "Yes? And what are you doing here?" Vincent replied and said "You wont find him here." Then i replied and said "Did he leave to chase down Kadaj's gang?" Then someone else said "Yes, about that..." I found myself facing Rufus Shinra now. I felt very confused as time flowed by here. This was making less and less sense. I spoke next and said "Whats going on? Why are you two here in the first place?" Vincent turned to face Rufus, and Rufus said "Cloud's gone." I immediately shouted in surprise "What?!!" Vincent spoke next and said "JENOVA got him under her wing now. You can thank her pesky pawn Kadaj for that." I continued, speaking in panicked disbelief "But how?! Thats impossible!" Rufus replied and said "You can say its impossible all you want, Tifa. But its not going to change any of this." I groaned and said "So now what? And how could some heartless teenager like her ever get to someone like him?" Rufus spoke next and said "Thats what im here to explain. Kadaj has an ability that the other two remnants of Sephiroth dont have. However, unlike the previous larva, she possesses the power to tie her JENOVA cells to her target or victim. This allows her to pull the strings on another person, or as JENOVA said herself use them as 'a puppet'. More than likely JENOVA passed this ability down to Kadaj during her birth." I paused in disbelief and said "What?" Vincent spoke and said "Keep yourself together. Thats not the whole story." I sighed and reluctantly continued listening as Rufus continued "Furthermore, if Kadaj is in any body of water, all of it becomes infected with JENOVA cells. Anyone who steps into it is completely subjected to her will and manipulation. This can even allow her to control an entire croud of people so she can defend herself and the rest of JENOVA's remnants. Even worse is the infected water heals her and the other remnants completely. Unlike the previous larva, she has immense healing potential." I then said "So JENOVA really has pulled out the big guns this time... I knew she wouldn't play around. But how does this pertain to Cloud's whereabouts?" Rufus replied and said "Kadaj used these abilities to control Cloud while simultaneously playing "nice lady" and acting friendly towards him in order to earn enough of his so called trust for JENOVA to ultimately turn him into the Fourth Remnant. " I gazed in disbelief and said "Youre kidding! How could he be foolish enough to walk into such an obvious trap?!" Vincent spoke next and said "Thats not all of it, either. JENOVA has her remnants on a quest to find the JENOVA Stone Tablet. She is working with them with the goal of activating the Infinite Reunion. If they succeed, its all over and the planet is permanently stuck under the power JENOVA's legacy." I moaned feeling very discouraged by what i was hearing here. I had no idea how we could ever hope to defeat JENOVA and her remnants without Cloud's help. This was by far the greatest challenge we'd have to face this time. Rufus spoke next and said "Ive also discovered how powerful this new larva is. She is far beyond the previous one here. If all three of us challenged her and got lucky enough to catch her away from the other three, we may have a chance at victory. Either way, it will not be an easy victory. If we encounter all four of them together, we will need to be more careful and do things as precise as possible. Theres no room for error with all of them against us in one battle." I immediately shouted in response "Are you insane?! All four of them at once?!" Vincent replied and said "I don't like it either, but we must brace for the worst and be prepared for anything. I doubt JENOVA is going to play nice with all of this going on. She is not happy with all those losses and that isnt likely to change." I then replied and said "Why do you want to take down JENOVA and her remnants, Rufus?" Rufus seemed to smirk and then said "Do i really have to answer that? JENOVA wants to gain full control of the entire planet. She threatens us all." Then i shrugged and said "I wont deny that. But how long do we have to stop her from activating the Infinite Reunion?" Rufus replied and said "Hopefully enough time to at least grind her plans to halt for now, but the way to stop her completely is to destroy the JENOVA Stone Tablet. If we destroy that, they all die simultaneously." Then i nodded and said "It sounds so simple but i know she wouldn't make her treasure easy to destroy." Vincent replied and said "Unfortunately youre right. It cant be destroyed without Sephiroth's katana." I gazed again in disbelief "Thats impossible! He isn't even alive anymore...." Rufus shook his head and said "Sephiroth may be gone, but the current larva JENOVA gave birth to is capable of taking perfect form of him in feminine form. Likewise, she too will bear that same katana that Sephiroth had." I then said "oh no... So youre saying we have to kill her and take the katana to do this?" Vincent replied and said "Correct. Its the only way to stop them from activating the Infinite Reunion. Until that stone tablet is destroyed, the Reunion Theory will allow JENOVA's remnants to reincarnate over and over again, and possibly even JENOVA herself." I then said "That explains why her remnants keep coming back to life... Possibly even why Sephiroth also had two times around." Rufus replied and said "Right, that thing is what allows them to reincarnate like that. Unless its destroyed, they can start over all they like. Perpetual trouble for all of us." Then i said "No wonder theyve been defeated more than once and come back after several years of peace... So where do we start?" Vincent then said "No other choice but to find them and take them down. Im sure know-it-all Rufus is dying to tell us." I saw Rufus look at Vincent in slight frustration and he said "Hey, come on... It took me years to find all of that out! Do you have any idea how much work i did?" Vincent seemed indifferent and remained silent, and Rufus turned back to me and said "Ive been trying to track Kadaj as much as possible since she's the larva... However, the last time my troops had managed to get a tracking device on her secretly, she was aware of it and of course she destroyed it... Since then ive been trying to develop something that would serve the same purpose but be impossible to destroy as easily..." Vincent replied and said "And how do you plan to do that? You know how violent she is." Rufus nodded and said "I know, but Kadaj is scared of my company. Ive been trying to develop one that would attach to her JENOVA cells directly so she cant destroy it without killing herself. If i succeed, she'll be very horrified for a good while." I laughed and said "Sounds like a great idea. How much progress did you make?" Rufus paused briefly and said "Its been a slow business, but i think im close to finishing. The only thing that could be problematic is successfully pinning and sedating her so i can implant the device..." Then Vincent replied and said "And how close is that?" Rufus paused briefly and said "Well, i was hoping to finish it tonight, but i cant be certain that will happen..." I then replied "Youre not exactly inspiring a lot of confidence here, Rufus." Rufus replied and said "Hey, calm down. If you think its so easy why don't you try working the job i have?" Vincent put his hand on Rufus's shoulder and said "Slow down. We know everything isnt perfect with the current situation but if we dont at least try to work together, it will make everything worse." I could tell Rufus already didn't like me very much, but i knew i had to work with him to bring down JENOVA and her kids. He was the only one who was capable of gleaning enough information on them to help get rid of them. He was also the only one smart enough to stand any real chance against them, hence being in charge of Shinra experiments and everything related to it. He knew more about all of them than anyone else ever would. I didn't have a choice but to work with him on this, even if i didn't like it. With Cloud also on JENOVA's side, this was no time for arguing. I spoke next and said "Well, since Cloud isnt here anymore, we can use his home as a place to stay...." Rufus turned back to me, shaking his head and said "No, thats a bad idea. Kadaj will find us too easily and then we'll have all four of the remnants on our back at once. Unless you like that idea, then we're coming straight to my HQ." I sighed; Rufus was a bit difficult, but at least he wasn't a complete fool. I then said "Well, i guess it will have to do for now." Vincent nodded in agreement, and Rufus lead us out of the area.
Several hours later...
Rufus had successfully lead us safely to Shinra HQ, and once we were inside, he turned to face us and said "Come with me, you two. There's something you should see about my earlier research." He lead us to an elevator and pushed the button that seemed to symbolize the top level of the area. I wondered what Rufus wanted to show us. He seemed to know so much about JENOVA and her remnants it was kinda hard to believe. I could only imagine what else he knew that he hadn't told us yet. Once the elevator came to a standstill, we followed him out and he walked to what looked like a massive computer system. He turned back to us, and smiled then spoke "Watch the top screen, you two--im going to show you the intel i gleaned the last time i had a tracking device on Kadaj. You wont believe it." Vincent then said "Heh, this will be good. This guy thinks he knows everything..." I gently elbowed Vincent as a signal for him to stop, and he sighed but didn't respond. I watched the massive screen the appeared to be above a big keyboard that Rufus was using. It was large enough i could hardly believe it was a keyboard. After a few minutes went by, the display on the screen above had changed. We saw what looked like a map of the entire area, followed by red lines that seemed to draw a route of where someone or something had travelled. Rufus turned back to us, and began to speak "What you see up there is a map of the entire area--all of Shinra. The red lines indicate Kadaj's coordinates and the route she had taken during the previous tracking experiment i had attempted to do on her. As you can see, the path appears incomplete at the end which is when we were detected and she destroyed the device. Pay close attention to where she would go and places should would always avoid--do you notice anything strange?" Vincent spoke next and said "That blue insignia... Thats where this place is, yes?" Rufus smiled and nodded. I felt a rather evil and sickening vibe from him. Rufus replied and said "Correct, my friend. Notice how she never even came close to my HQ. Thats all you need to know to see how scared of my company she is. She would fearlessly chase Cloud Strife, but stray far away from me at all costs. However, notice the black X on the other side of the map--thats the Mako Reactor. It was once my property, until Kadaj was seeking a new place for her gang to mark their territory and take over for themselves. They were successful in doing that, and since that place was a major experimentation site for my work and research, much of my company's work and overall production had been grind to a halt back then... Even now, we're still trying to bounce back from that loss. Its improved, but all is not perfect." Both me and Vincent were silent but continued listening. Rufus continued on "The reason i want to track Kadaj though is to help me locate and pin her so i can extract some of her energy and exploit her powers. However, JENOVA has done her job in preventing my success here, let alone any progress at all for me..." I spoke next and said "How does this apply to stopping JENOVA?" Rufus replied and said "If i can capture Kadaj i can extract her energy and possibly beat her at her own game. The same with the other three remnants." For some reason i felt like i had knot in my throat as i heard all of this. Rufus was worse than the rumors said he was. This guy is sick and callous beyond belief... I dont approve of what JENOVA wants either, but what he's talking about is just purely sick and cold. I would never do something like that! I thought to myself. But i again knew i had no choice but to work with this ill-minded freak. Rufus smiled and said "Well, that should explain enough of the plan for today, dont you think? Lets get some rest. I'll have my employees escort you to a room for the night." I could tell Vincent didn't approve of Rufus either. Somehow, i knew this ride would not be an easy one at all. I was stuck working with the most sick and depraved man on the planet. Both me and Vincent knew we had no choice despite neither of us approving of this freak who stood before us. I began to wonder if Rufus was even worse than JENOVA and her kids. I just couldn't answer that question now. I couldn't help feeling bad for Kadaj now that i knew about the thick darkness surrounding Shinra Company... I would be scared if they were after me too. Was that why Cloud fell under JENOVA's will?
To be continued...
