Emerald Crisis--Final Fantasy VII--Disc One, Mission 11

Edge: Seventh Heaven Bar\

            Daisy dropped Yuffie off at the bar before returning to the Lodge to rest.  Yuffie offered to let her stay but didn’t have the heart to argue when refused.  Instead, Yuffie shuffled inside as the sun climbed slowly over the buildings and glittered against the windows.  Marlene and Denzel were just waking as she entered and offered sleepy greetings that she didn’t remember returning.

            Yuffie slept deeply, forgetting for a time the aches and the bruises, both physical and emotional.  Her dreams were peaceful and faraway, memories dragged up in the wake of her battles.  She didn’t remember them clearly when she woke up, just lilies floating on the water and Wutai seen from a mountain top.  The sun was golden, and she had prayed to Leviathan before leaving home for good.

            Her phone work her when she saw that man again.  He was wearing a mask this time, but his eyes were dark like hers.  They were Wutai.

            “Hello?”

            “Yuffie Kisaragi.”

            Yuffie felt her face to make sure it was there and found it hurt to move her arms.  She groaned slowly as everything else began to hurt again, too.  “What?”

            “How are you?”

            “Sore and sleepy.”  She sat up, slowly, whining with each movement.  It wasn’t just pain anymore.  Her muscles felt dead.  She was sleeping so well and needed a bit more of it.  The world was blurry when she opened her eyes and a bit too bright.  She felt sick and had to take a few minutes to breathe through the nausea.  “Why are you calling?”

            “Ms. Daisy Gould returned without you.  I was just making sure you were well.”

            “Well enough,” Yuffie said.  She stretched her feet and toes and listened as they popped.  A breath, and it didn’t hurt so much to breathe anymore.  “We followed your lead to Shinra HQ and found some bad people up to bad things.”

            “Of course.”  Yuffie could hear the distraction in Shelke’s voice and imagined her in a dark room, lit only by the glow of her eyes and the holographic monitors that surrounded her on all sides.  “Did you find anything of value?”

            “Not really.  They’re looking for materia, it seems.”

            “We knew that already.”

            Yuffie pulled away from the phone long enough to blow a raspberry.  Then, she remembered the data she got from the hard drives and rose to dig through her clothes to find it.  She held up the thumb drive in the light.  “We got something for you, too.”

            “Good.  You should deliver it to me here.  I do not trust it going through the W.R.O.’s system.”

            Yuffie frowned and thought of Reed.  Then, she thought of Reeve, and her frown deepened. “Know what? Neither do I.  I’ll be there soon to see you in person.”

            “Good. I have something to tell you when you get here.”

Midgar Region: W.R.O.’s Hunter’s Lodge\

            Daisy was awake already when Yuffie called, and she arrived shortly after.  Yuffie hid out in her room and nursed her hurt.  When Daisy arrived, Yuffie offered a passing farewell to Tifa and the others before going outside.  She didn’t eat breakfast because it would just come back up during the car ride.

            Half an hour later they arrive at the Lodge.  The surface damage was mostly cleared.  Anti-air turrets broken in the assault had been repaired or patched.  Their remains stood, stunted, in the distance, their wiry insides tightly knotted or otherwise frayed, exposed like a fresh wound.

            Underneath the damage was still showing.  Walls were blackened from flame, cracked and fractured or otherwise collapsed entirely.  The workers there were tired and frightened.  They looked over their shoulders constantly, fearful of what might come.  The W.R.O.’s lingering suspicions helped nothing.

            Yuffie followed Daisy through the halls, holding her stomach and lamenting her decision to forego breakfast.  They got her some bread before going to Shelke’s office.  When the door opened, she greeted them without looking away from the glowing monitors in front of her.  Yuffie groans.

            “You’ve brought the data.”

            Another groan, and Yuffie handed off her thumb drive.

            Shelke turned it over in her hands and gave it a quick glance.  Then, she jammed it into a console on her left forearm and started sifting through the data.  Her eyes darted around from monitor to monitor.  “It’s encrypted.”

            “How long will it take you to break it,” Daisy asked.  She tried to follow along with Shelke’s work for a time but gave up after a few seconds.

            “I already have,” Shelke said.  “Now, I am compiling data and distilling it to the most important parts.  I have to be careful, though.  A dip in my productivity might arouse suspicion.”

            Daisy looked at Yuffie, who shrugged and said, “She’s always like this.”  Then, she moved forward, stuffing the last of the bread into her mouth and leaning against the wall.  Her stomach still felt raw, but she could breathe again.  “So, you said you had some other information for me?”

            Shelke nodded absently.  Her eyes glowed like the monitors.  It wasn’t reflection.  They produced their own light.  “Yes.  The Emerald Lotus didn’t just target Edge.  Reports of attacks all over the world have come in.  They struck many W.R.O. facilities alongside more public areas, and it seems they were looking for something.  A pattern points to something more than materia.”

            “Of course.” Yuffie scratched the back of her head and glanced at Daisy.  “Whatever it is, must be old Shinra, huh?”

            “Seems likely,” Daisy said.  “And they must think that either we’ve found it or that we know where to find it.”

            “Right.”  Yuffie returned her attention to Shelke.  “It’s been half a decade and Shinra is still kicking our asses.”

            “Somethings are hard to kill,” she said, fingers flying across a holographic keyboard.  “They’ve started many fires to keep us distracted.  Reeve will be leaving soon to deal with it.”

            “Probably.  How long until you’re done compiling?”

            “I will message you.”

            Yuffie nodded and pushed off the wall.  “Then I am going to get breakfast and digest it before we have to go anywhere.”  She passed Daisy on the way out and gave a wave over her shoulder.  “Happy hunting,” she said, and Daisy followed her.

            Shelke didn’t even look back to see them leave, but she did say goodbye before the door slid shut.

-Disc One-

            Yuffie ate a light lunch and then went outside to rest.  Her body still ached from the battle the day before, and she didn’t feel comfortable wasting energy on her cure materia.  After the surprise attack made by Reed, she didn’t feel comfortable wasting her energy on anything.  The halls were narrow now and dark, and everyone was jumping at shadows.

            Daisy kept her company.  They set out on the deck, watching the sky.  It was clear, devoid of cloud or smoke, and they could smell the sea again.  From where they were, they could see canyons in the distance and the dusty red landscape of wastes.  On the opposite side, they could see Edge and the ruins of Midgar rising behind it.

            Midgar, the city where it all began and, for her, where it all ended.  She didn’t get the chance to fight Sephiroth in the planet’s core, but she was branded a hero anyway.  When she was young, she always felt cheated being stuck with Reeve and Vincent at the meteor’s impact.  It was probably why she was so quick to join the W.R.O.

            During the Deep Ground crisis, she was on the front lines, fighting right alongside Vincent.  At the beginning it felt to her like she was making up for her inactivity during the final battle.  After the fight with Nero, however, she had a different perspective.  It was so dangerous, so deadly, and she was lucky to have survived.  Looking back, she isn’t so sure how she would have handled Sephiroth.  The thought still shook her sometimes.

            The Emerald Lotus attacks were beginning to feel the same way.  Yuffie could see something wrong, and she could see no one was taking steps to fix it, but she didn’t feel right fixing it herself.  The end of the world was a fight she had avoided twice already, and she wasn’t qualified to be in the middle of it now.

            Reeve cleared his throat beside her and drew her attention.  He was wearing a white vest and pants, with the vest buttoned up to his neck.  His beard was neatly trimmed and his hair styled, but he had bags under his eyes.  “You look distracted,” he said, and he leaned forward.  Yuffie glanced at Daisy, who was keeping her distance, and then returned her attention to Reeve.  “Care to talk about it?”

            “Nothing to talk about.”  Yuffie sat up, stretched.  “Just thinking about old battles.”

            Reeve nodded.  “I do the same sometimes.”  He grinned.  “It seemed simpler back then, didn’t it?  Back when the evil was so obvious.”

            “Wasn’t obvious to some people,” Yuffie said, and she gave her own grin.  “Some of us worked for them.”

            Reeve laughed.  “Some of us did.”  He adjusted his cuffs and looked her head on.  “Yuffie, we found a curious thing the other night.  A group of Lotus soldiers had infiltrated an old Shinra lab beneath Midgar.  By the time we mobilized and ended up on scene they were already neutralized.  Would you happen to know anything about that?”

            “Nope.  I was with Daisy all night last night.”

            Reeve glanced at Daisy, who stared resolutely out at the sea.  “Were you?  And what were you doing, exactly?”

            “Checking some leads on materia trade and keeping away from the Emerald Lotus, like you asked.”

            Reeve hummed and smoothed his suit.  “Fine.  If you want to be that way.”  He stands straight, towering over her like he does so many people. He really was tall.  Sometimes, when he spoke with her casually, she forgot about that.  When he looked at her like a disappointed parent, however, she could see it clearly.  “I know you won’t listen, but I am warning you as a friend.  Stay out of it, Yuffie.”

            “Stay out of what, sir?  We were just doing our jobs.”

            He frowned.  “Of course.”  He went to the door and left her there, alone with Daisy, who hazarded a glance back at Yuffie only after he left.

            “He knows.”

            “Of course he knows,” Yuffie said.  “We weren’t discreet.”

            “Should we be worried?”

            “Nah.  We go way back.”

            Daisy sighed.  “I don’t think that will protect you much longer.”

            “Maybe, but it will protect me for now.”  Yuffie’s phone chimed, and she pulled up a message from Shelke.  Then, she stood from her seat.  “That was fast. Come on, Shelke has gotten it ready.  Let’s go and see where we’re off to next.”

            Daisy sighed and nodded her agreement, and she followed Yuffie back inside.

-Disc One-

            Shelke doesn’t turn to greet them as they enter her room.  The door slid shut behind them, trapping them in darkness and the blue glow of the holographic monitors, which were suspended in the shadows.  Information flashes across each monitor in a blur, and Daisy has a hard time believing any of it is memorized.

            Yuffie moved forward and leaned on Shelke’s chair.  “A little birdy told us you had some information.”

            “Is the door closed?”

            Yuffie glanced back.  “Of course.  Do you see the light in here?”

            Shelke took the time to look around.  She returned to her work, fingers dancing across her keyboard with robotic precision.  “I hadn’t noticed.”  Code drifted across screens, looking to Yuffie like alien script. “I was able to access the files,” Shelke said.  “It was old and damaged.  Much of it is fragmented as a result.”

            “Of course it is.” Yuffie sighed toward Daisy, who gave a shrug.  “We can never get a break, huh?”

            “Was it all for nothing,” Daisy asked.  She had leaned against the door frame and watched from a distance.  Shelke frightened her, and Yuffie’s relationship with Shelke confused her.

            “No,” Shelke said absently.  She held out the thumb drive Yuffie had given her earlier, and Yuffie scooped it up.  “What was left on the drive gave me enough information to search in, and I find a direction.”

            “Oh?’  Yuffie glanced at the screens again but saw nothing.  There were personal notes kept in the corner, clipped phrases that meant nothing to the casual observer.  “And what direction is that?”

            “Project D,” Shelke said.  “Multiple files alluded to this Project D.”

            “Let me guess, a secret Shinra project?”

            Shelke nodded.  “It was run by Shinra’s Science Division many years ago.  Information is sparse, but drawing from other sources, I was able to ascertain the goal of the project: the creation of specialized, military grade, hyper powerful materia.”

            Yuffie frowned.  “Makes sense.  And that’s what Lotus is after?”

            “That I do not know.”

            “Right, right.”  Yuffie paced a small circle around the room, which was cluttered with cables and hardware.   She was careful to avoid them as she marched over around and scratched her head.  She stopped behind the holographic monitors and stared through them at the glowing faces of Shelke and Daisy.  Only Daisy seemed to look back.  “Well, that’s good, I guess, but we already knew they were after materia.”

            “There is more,” Shelke said.  She glanced at Yuffie with empty, glowing eyes.  “I cross-referenced the information on these files with information from the W.R.O. databases.”

            “And?”

            “And what I found was highly classified.  Even I didn’t have clearance.”

            “So you hacked it?”

            “So I hacked it,” Shelke said, allowing a ghost of a smile.  “The information was well-guarded, but it led me to an index showing the location of an isolated database that should have what we want.”

            “Isolate database?”

            “High level security.  Anything connected to the network can be accessed by anyone with enough time and skill.  To keep something truly private, you keep it isolated from the network, which is what any adequately run organization will do.  Even then, references to it are kept for practical use, but clearance must be given before the files can ever be accessed.  All of the details about Project D are hidden in the W.R.O.’s primary databases, beneath HQ.”

            Yuffie rubbed her chin.  “So, we already knew about all of this.”

            “It appears so,” Shelke said.  “It has never been secret that Shinra has facilities beneath Midgar.”

            “But they never made it public knowledge, either.”  Yuffie eyes went wide.  “There might be more facilities we don’t know about.  Which means if we access the database, then we can figure out Lotus’ next move.”

            Shelke nodded.

            Yuffie whooped and reached through the monitors to hug Shelke, who allowed it limply.  “Thank you, thank you so much you little brat!”   Then, she ruffled Shelke’s hair on the way to the door.  Daisy stood from the wall and waited.

            “Be careful, Yuffie Kisaragi.  This information isn’t meant to be seen by people of your clearance.  It will be dangerous, and it may lead to trouble.”

            Yuffie grinned.  “Then we’ll just have to keep from getting caught.”

-Disc One-

            Daisy remained silent as she followed Yuffie outside to the car.  They stopped beside it and stared back at the base.  The asphalt was still covered in soot from where the battle took place.  The air defense towers were shattered stalks of exposed circuitry and carnage.  Maintenance workers were taking a break in the hot sun.

            “A lot has happened,” Yuffie said, and then she met Daisy’s gaze.  “You’re worried.”

            Daisy looked at her and nodded.

            “About stealing from the W.R.O.?”

            Another nod.

            “You don’t have to come.”

            “I do.”

            Yuffie laughed and shook her head.  “Nah, Daze, you don’t.  Not there, not this,” she said.  “We’re partners and all, and I’m always happy to have you watch my back, but this is full-blown treason at this point.  Nothing dubious about it.  We’re stealing from our bosses.”

            “I know.”  Daisy chewed her cheek and kicked at the asphalt.  When she had been assigned to Yuffie, she was excited to see what type of person a hero of the Jenova War would be and, at first, was a little disappointed.  Yuffie was loud, impulsive, and disorganized.  She hardly seemed like someone who had saved the world.

            After everything that happened, Daisy had changed her mind.  It seemed like everyone else was the problem and Yuffie was the only solution.  The Emerald Lotus was a crisis on par with Deep Ground, and yet no one was organized.  There were no heroes taking to the streets, just two lone women being hobbled at every turn.

            The thought frightened Daisy.  More than that, it made her feel weak.  She liked working for the Hunters, and she liked working alongside Yuffie and Oliver.  It was a good life, hard work, but safe by comparison to what was recently started.  Yes, there was combat involved, but it wasn’t war, and what the Lotus brought with them was, and if they were to get caught it would be a front on both sides.

            “Seriously, Daisy,” Yuffie said now, all of the humor leaving her face.  In all their years working together, Daisy never saw Yuffie so sober.  She looked almost like an adult as she took Daisy’s hands and gave them a squeeze.  “I’ll be fine on my own.”

            “No,” Daisy said.

            “Sure, I will.  I mean, come on, I’m the great ninja Yuffie.”

            “That’s not what I mean,” Daisy said, and she was shaking.  “I’m scared, Yuffie.  This is big and it’s scary, and that’s why I know I can’t stay.  Something is going on out there.  A storm or something, and everyone here just has their heads buried in the sand.”  She squeezed Yuffie’s hands back.  “And that’s why I know this is where I should be.  I just don’t like it.”

            Yuffie laughed.  “Me neither,” she said, and she sighed.  Sobriety left her, and she smiled like an adolescent again.  “Well, then, I guess this will make us partners in crime.”

            Daisy laughed nervously.  “I guess, but we’re only doing this because it’s right.  Because it has to be done.”

            “Exactly,” Yuffie said.  “Betraying them to save them.”

            “How many people thought that way before they died, you think?”

            “Doesn’t matter, Daze, ‘cause we won’t die.  Now, come on.”  Yuffie grinned and pulled Daisy toward the car.  “I think it’s about time we went and broke some rules.”