[LOG] Avenue J(E-N-O-V-A) - The Recap Episode
WHO: Squall Leonhart, Shane Fitzgerald, Venetia Martens, Maria Tegawa
WHEN: June 19th, 2008
WHERE: Balamb Garden
WHAT: Squall meets with some of the others heavily involved to finally put everything together/
WATCH FOR: Shane and Venetia's Brilliant Plans
The large structure of Balamb Garden sits a fair distance out of town, towering over it. People are entering and leaving at all times. Most notable about Balamb, though, is the large ring floating above it.
As people enter, there's a large series of turnstiles, but a path specifically marked for visitors, which, if those arriving will head there, they can get visitors passes, and, in this case, a note directing them to where they are supposed to meet. In this case, a room off the library wing.
At the moment, Squall is heading for that wing. He's limping somewhat, and has a crutch, just at the moment.
He's also wearing his fancy SeeD Uniform, which he rarely does. Maybe it's because he's in an official capacity, mnaybe faculty insisted on it. Maybe his usual stuff is at the laundry. Still, he moves, fairly silently, to the room in the library wing, carrying a thumb drive.
Shane's had four days to rest and thanks to his divine blood, he's come a long way from being almost dead to somewhat healthy. Lethal and bashing damage are -far- easier to heal than aggravated damage. But even then, he's not entirely well. Like Squall, he's limping along but instead of a crutch, he's leaning on blackthorn shillelagh. It'll make a good club in case something happens.
Dressed casually in jeans and a t-shirt, the bandage around his right arm is gone now. Instead there's an clean scar that comes down in a straight line from the space between his index finger and his middle finger all the way down to his elbow.
"So this is where Mr. Leonhart's from?"
"Well if the directions are to believed, then yes." Maria speaks up as she crisply walks ahead, a folder tucked under her arm.
In said folder is something /familiar/ to Shane and he's probably noticed it missing by now. Unless Maria quickly made photocopies and replaced the journal back in the desk. She knows where it is now, though, so she can spy on her intern in the future if the need should arise.
Not that she'd spy or anything.
Better to be at the laundry than at the laundromat. *That* would be awkward! Either way, Venetia comes with Shane and Maria, hands hooked into the pockets of her jeans. She's not wearing her jacket--it's way too warm for that--so her shoulders are bare save for the straps of her tight-fitting shirt. She looks around at the Garden appreciatively; it's a nice building for what's essentially a military training ground for teenagers.
"Looks that way. It's a nice-looking place," she remarks to Shane. She frowns a bit at the scar on his arm; though she saw it all right when they first got together, she's still not quite used to it. With that and the scar Reno's itching to show everyone... Venetia turns her gaze over to Maria, then picks up her pace a bit. She's not sure how much help she'll be, since she told Maria everything she knows already, but... well, Squall apparently said he wanted to see her too, so.
As the group enter, there are students everywhere. Apparently there's a break in class. They also get treated to a blonde haired male with a tattoo on his face rushing past them. "Oh man, oh man, oh man there had better be some hot dogs left!" Visitors to Balamb, while not a hugely common occurance, are largely ignored.
Except for the masses of robed faculty, lurking all over the place. Their eyes are on the scion entourage. Even the one that is currently lecturing a student has is watching the group. Just a touch paranoid.
Still, there is, conveniently, a directory pointing the way to the library wing, and the room the group are heading for.
"Yeah. It's quite a place," Shane remarks as he trails behind Maria. His eyes go to the folder and he blinks. He hasn't been in the office in a while so hasn't noticed anything missing. That's -awfully- thick for a folder Boss~. But he says nothing of it for now.
He flashes a grin at Venetia when he catches her frown and then down to his scar. "..." There's a faint gesture with his good hand and suddenly, it's like the scar was never there to begin with. Just your imagination right Venetia? RIGHT?! Yeah...
It's about then that Zell bounds out and Shane is forced to stop. He snickers a bit, "I didn't know Injue was a SeeD..." Oh wait. Must be someone else. Shaking his head, he slides a bit closer to Venetia. "I take it we're not welcome..."
Maria doesn't seem to mind being STARED AT. It's something she's accustomed to, especially given her background. When presenting a case, the whole room has their eyes on you.
"It's very stylish." she says in an appriciative tone. "Even the uniforms have a nice feel to them." for a brief moment, she glances back at Shane, perhaps picturing him in one of them for no particular reason.
At surprise Zell, Maria stops and regards the young man with a plantive look on her face. Yes, with those tattoos, he's obviously a TROUBLEMAKER. "...ahem, well, this way everyone. Library is over here."
The guy with the face-tattoo geeking out about hot dogs doesn't get much mind paid to him either, at least not by Venetia. It's just some dude geeking about hot dogs, why should she? Though the tattoo was kinda cool. Either way, she gives Shane a high-browed look when suddenly that scare disappears. She KNOWS she saw it! And so she's certain that Shane did some kind of Scion juju to make it look like it's gone.
But yeah, there are a lot of paranoid people staring at them, aren't there? Venetia glances at Shane as he points them out, and then...gives a group of those faculty a BIG SMILE and a BIG, FRIENDLY WAVE. "What are you talking about, Shane? I'm *sure* they're just staring because they're too shy to say hello," she then says *just loud enough* to be easily overheard.
On to the library, now that Venetia's done her sugar-sweet rabble-rousing!
In the room off the Library, Squall is waiting, sitting at a computer terminal built into the table. His crutch is leaning against his chair. And he's waiting for the group to enter. "Miss Tegawa. Miss Martens. Miuster Fitzgerald." Squall is still not good with that '
Squall Leonhart kicks his enter key.
In the room off the Library, Squall is waiting, sitting at a computer terminal built into the table. His crutch is leaning against his chair. And he's waiting for the group to enter. "Miss Tegawa. Miss Martens. Miuster Fitzgerald." Squall is still not good with that 'informal' thing. Or those 'pleasantries' things. "Have a seat." He doesn't stand, but that's probably because it hurts to do so. But, for the moment, he waits for everyone to get settled.
"... Feel Miss Tegawa?" She means look right? Shane still hasn't -quite- gotten the hang of this whole fashion thing, so he'll just take Maria's word for it. "After yeh Miss Tegawa."
As Maria walks on, there's the soft clack of his cane as it taps lightly against the hard floor of the foyer. He flashes Venetia an innocent grin. Maybe he'll tell her the secret later. "Is that so?" He looks about with a grin of his own. "I can see why they're a bit shy." But he doesn't bother to expand upon that. They're at the Library soon enough.
"Mr. Leonhart!" He raises his hand in greeting. "It's good ta see yeh in one piece and walkin' about." He waits a moment first to let Maria and Venetia sit before he takes his own seat. "Yeh got the wing off yer sword I take it?"
"Hello Squall, a pleasure to meet you." Maria half-smiles then returns to siing up the area.
Seating herself, Maria finds no oreason to delay and flips the folder open
It is chock full of printed out maaterial she'e been keeping in regards to the cased.
Including Shan'e journal.
"Hey, Squall." Venetia gives the SeeD a warm smile before she takes a seat and crosses her legs, leaning on arm on the armrest and the other over her lap. Squall looks pretty damn beat up, but he's probably better off than if he'd tried to stand his ground and fight rather than run the hell away, if Tifa's anything to judge by. (Though granted, Venetia's not exactly sure *what* Tifa did aside from get stabbed.)
Either way, she smirks a bit at Shane, then settles back as Maria starts handing over the materials to Squall. Little does she know...!
Squall's own materials regarding the events are currently displayed on a large screen on the back wall of the room. Nothings zoomed in on, at the moment, but there are bits and pieces. Mission reports, scattered information here and there. Squall's own experiences, pictures of the torn wing. He's collected what he can. And it's nowhere near enough to fill the thick folder hwe was walking around with when he was interviewing people. "Thank you all for coming." He says, as Maria gets out the information she has. "I'll begin with what I know so far."
The screen brings up what information they have on the first known mission. "On the mission were myself, Mr. Fitzgerald, Miss Gwen Meynolt, and a Soldier 3rd Class named Injue." The reports come on screen. "We know how that went. What we have reason to believe, however, is that the monsters were far from home. The mission was on a plane called 'Shakuras'. TThe wolves and dragons that were protecting the notes were from the Nibel area. We also have reason to believe they were being controlled by an outside influence." Squall pauses. "And now, with the information I have and Miss Meynolt's theories, I have reason to believe that the oen controlling them was Eleven and Jenova."
Everything seems pretty normal until Shane spots the black leather bound journal in Maria's materials. A surprised expression crosses his face and he nearly lunges out of his seat to collect said item. Good dexterity will prevent him from knocking over the other notes but if people are quick enough, they might get the journal before he does. "Hey!" He shouts as he goes for the journal, "Miss Tegawa!" Isn't there something about privacy? ._.
Yeah. He's interrupting a presentation but that's his journal over there! People can forgive him for that right? He glowers a bit, no matter if he got the book or not as he turns his eyes to the projection screen. "So yeh think those wolves were injected with Jenova's cells as well? Would explain why they were after the papers."
Maria makes no attempt to snatch the journal back.
But she /does/ give Shane a sad gaze. "Now, there was important information in there that I only /wish/ had been shared earlier." Stinking Turks. And Zack.
Then, hooray, Powerpoint presentation. Or something like it.
Between all the people who keep coming in late and asking HAY GAIZ WUTZ GOIN' ON!?!?! and how information keeps having to be rehashed over and over, Venetia has to admit that she's pretty tired of hearing and saying all the same stuff over and over. All the same, she lets Squall say his thing, and when he's done, she nods. "Yeah, that makes sense to me," she says of Jenova and Eleven being in charge.
(A lot of information hasn't been shared. That's what we're doing here.)
He nods to Shane. "Yeah. As far as I can tell, Jenova has some control over things with it's cell in them. What I want to know is if it's Jenova in charge, or XI. We've got some information on it, but..."
At that point, the door to the library is opened, and that blonde with the face tattoo walks in, carrying the box. "Yo, Squall! Here's that report you wanted! Hell of a lot of it, though..."
(....I didn't ask for the whole box.)
"....Thanks, Zell."
"No prob!" Zell drops the box on the table, and heads out. "Yo, let us know if there's anything else, yeah?" The other SeeD heads out of the room with a wave. And while he does so, Squall pulls himself up. and limps over to the box, and starts going through the folders.
"Afterwards, we made a trip to the village of Nibelheim. All Shane and I could find out was that monster activity had gone way up lately." And that Squall can pass for a SOLDIER 1st Class. "Venetia, you were with Cloud, then. What did you find out?" Squall hadn't had the chance to hear everything yet.
With the journal firmly in his hand, Shane flips through it, looking a bit more closely this time in case someone decided to get funny and tear a page or a corner or something out of it. The sheets rustle cleanly beneath his fingers as he purposefully does not look at Maria. "Zack asked us ta keep it quiet."
There is a sigh of relief has he notices nothing out of place. He has no place to put the journal, so he just lets it sit on his lap, thumb lightly over the smooth leather. "Monster activity was up, but I suspect that had ta do with the leak we found at the Mako reactor." He pauses then, eyeing Zell as he enters but what -really- gets his attention is the box. "What the!" He gives Venetia a sharp look. Isn't that... "How did yeh get that box Mr. Leonhart?"
"Oh, hey." A reaction not just to the guy who was going for the hot dogs, but to the fact that he's carrying in the box that Agrias ended up toting up from the basement of the Shinra Mansion! Venetia smiles and wiggles her fingers in greeting back at him before he exeunts. Shane's surprise is what surprises Venetia, who just blinks at him and shrugs. "He asked Agrias for it, I bet." Though she looks to Squall for confirmation on that.
As for Maria? "Yeah, it's like Shane said. Because it was Shinra business and they didn't want it getting out, I guess," Venetia adds with a sigh and a bit of an eyeroll. Look where *that* ended up getting them. "We basically found out the same as you, Squall. But the innkeeper and her husband, and Mrs. Strife, they were talking about how they thought activity'd gone up ever since the Nibel Reactor had been built. So Shane's probably right about the mako leak." She folds her arms and frowns. "Of course, it might be because Jenova was there, too... But I don't know how we'd be able to tell for sure."
Squall nods. "I spoke with Captain Oaks, and retrieved it. " He contineus to thumb through the information, trying to find a particular file. "You were both involved in several missions after that, would you mind filling me in?" Squall has a whole lot of information he's missing, and he wants to get it all together. "Anything you recall about the missions following those would be useful."
Somewhere on the MUSH, Agrias Oaks has disconnected.
"Retrieved it? Oh." Yeah. It would make sense for Squall to get the box from Agrias it seems. He leans back in his seat again, fidgeting slightly with the top of the cane in his hand. He glances over at Venetia with a slight frown. What else... what else... "Before that was the problem with Zack, Cloud and Sephiroth blacking out. Those started when we found out that Jenova had been taken from the reactor." He wishes he brought a pen so he could write in his journal.
"I had a private conversation with the General after the mission ta retrieve the boxes. Had a few questions about his clones. He appeared ta be aware of them, of the process that that made them. Couldn't tell yeh exactly what the entails though. I think Venetia was lookin' after Zack at the time." He looks over to the other Scion for confirmation before bulldozing onward.
"After that, Zack came ta stay over at me new place. He was in a really bad shape. Blackouts every few hours, fevers, nausea." That's what he wanted to talk to Venetia about. "Heh. He kicked me out then, ta go on the mission I went on with yeh Mr. Leonhart."
"Yeah. After Sephiroth and the others went into the reactor, they found out Jenova was missing, and we went into this nearby cave," Venetia says, nodding to Shane. "When we were there, Sephiroth, Zack and Cloud blanked out, and we got attacked by a crapton of mako monsters. Cloud got dropped into a pool of mako, too, before they snapped out of it and managed to help us out and get him out of there."
But yeah, Venetia had been taking care of Zack, who had been so obviously distressed about being back in that basement that one would have to have negative ratings in awareness to not have noticed. "Yeah, I went over to Seventh Heaven one time when I overheard him having a blank-out on the radio," Venetia adds, looking back to Squall. "He had another one when I got there, and that was something like ten, fifteen minutes long. He didn't react to getting soaked with cold water or getting hit with the flat of his own sword. He was *out*."
Squall nods, finally pulling out a folder. "So these blackouts started happening after Jenova went missing." Squall has his suspicions as to why it's missing, too. "And Eleven finally revealed herself not long after that."
The SeeD has had the luck of not encountering that particular Sephiroth clone yet. But he has some information on her. Enough to make Cloud hunt him down. He puts the file he's pulled out on the table.
JENOVA Project: Subject Number XI
Squall speaks up, summarizing the report. "Number Eleven. No name given. Location of Origin was Nibelheim. She was considered a full success due to total loss of self."
(...How is that a success?)
That thought had, the SeeD follows up. "According to the report, any subject that retained a sense of self was a failure, and not assigned a number. Usually, they were disposed of." He pulls out another two folders. "For example, subjects 'Z' and 'C'."
"Loss of self?" Shane barks a harsh laugh. "She's more in control o' her mental faculties than of those other bloody clones. It was like starin' into the middle of some Titan worshipin' cult the way those black garbed drones were kneelin' and prayin' around that disgustin' remains of a body." He makes a face at this, he image of Jenova's ripped torso seared into his mind.
"And she had the head. Sephiroth used whatever... psychic voodoo he had ta track her down. We found her alright, but she found us first. That's when they all turned on us. Lt. Colonel Rufus was knocked out while he was preparin' some major spell and the three of 'em just lost their minds. Nearly killed him before Miss Tegawa appeared ta save Reno's and me arse."
There's a long pause in the Irishman's narrative, ".. wait. Z an' C." He knew that they were that lab. But.. "Exactly what were they doin' ta Zack and Cloud?"
'Z' and 'C'... No need to even wonder who they might have been. Venetia hasn't had the chance to look through those files, so this part at least is good to hear. She wonders the same thing as Squall, before making a face at Shane's description of how the assembly of clones when he'd found him with the others. "Really? Ugh! Hardly surprising, though..."
But what were they doing, exactly? "What, you mean aside from infusing them with mako and Jenova cells? Though..." Venetia considers this. Didn't that already happen with Zack, since he'd been in SOLDIER? And Meliadoul's voice report, which she'd listened to via her earbud, said there was something about S Cells and all these 'clones' being derived from *his* cells. So what made the process different, anyway...? Maybe that's what those files would tell them.
"....According to the scientist in charge, those two were failures. Cloud's mind was nearly destroyed by the process, and he suffered an extreme case of what is referred to as 'Mako Poisoning'." He says, after a while. "And Zack's exposure to the SOLDIER process made it impossible for the Jenova cells to take over." Squall pauses. "Besides, if it was just the Jenova cells, why isn't all of SOLDIER at Eleven's beck and call? There's got to be more to it than that." There is a lot of information in that box. And Squall still hasn't had time to go through it all. He spent a lot of time recovering from being hit with a train.
"So, it would seem that Eleven can only control the original and the failures. That, or all the successes are dead." He thinks back. "Perhaps that's what those corpses with the letter were. More than just a macabre way to get a letter to General Sephiroth."
Some stills from the video of the incident come up on screen. "They were malnourished, and ill, in spite of having a fairly solid and untouched food supply. All they did was spread those materia around. And we don't know why. But that was the immediate precursor."
The expression on Shane's face darkens, his hand curling into a fist about his cane. "Failures... tossed out like.." He can't even bring himself to complete that sentence. "If it were true that Zack's exposure ta being part of SOLDIER made it impossible for the cells ta take over then why's he affected now?" Or was there something else they did to Zack. Unlike Venetia, Shane hasn't bothered listening to Meliadoul's voice recording. So you'll have to fill us in!
"Well, it certainly got -our- attention and then General's." He notes in regards to the letter. Looking up then at the screen, he mms. "Bait. They were meant as bait. Ta lure Sephiroth out." He slams his fist onto his leg. "Damn it. And we all fell fer it hook line and sinker didn't we?"
Venetia purses her lips as Squall clarifies. Poor Cloud...and poor Zack, who must remember the process so much more clearly for not having lost his mind... She turns her gaze up to the stills on the screen, lips curling in disgust as she shakes her head and uncrosses her legs, hands curling into fists.
"There's something about S Cells--Sephiroth's cells--Mel made an audio post a little bit ago," Venetia remarks to Shane. "I didn't quite catch all of it since I was paying attention to stuff here, but since she'd been talking to Cloud...it might help. Apparently he started acting normal towards the end, too... Ugh, dammit! That *bitch*!"
If it's true that Eleven is the one using Jenova, then that hardly makes it any better, does it?
The SeeD scratches his chin. S-Cells, huh? "Anyway. After that incident, they've been making appearances all over the place. I know Miss Lockhart encountered Cloud, and came out significantly worse for it. And then Cloud came after me at the trainstation. And he seemed very intent on killing me. They took the information I'd had at the time, too."
(Which means I was on the right track.)
"I don't know if the others have made any more appearances yet, though."
Squall pauses. "Unfortunately, that doesn't put us any closer to knowing how to stop them. Miss Meynolt suggested that killing the source might free them, but I don't know how possible that is. I've sent the wing I retrieved from Cloud to the labs, to see if they've come up with anything. But have either of you heard about any encounters I've missed?"
Shane makes a mental note to check out the audio post a little later, but for now he merely shakes his head. "There was that news article of three o' em collapsin' in the hub. But that was before we found Eleven. As fer the others... I wouldn't know. I haven't heard any news to the contrary. Venetia?" He glances over to the woman in question briefly before turning his attention back to Squall.
"Miss Tegawa's got a few o' Sephiroth's feathers, but they might be from the night we fought 'em." He shrugs lightly. "Well. If Jenova's pullin' the strings, we just need ta get rid o' her right? So we find Eleven." He raises his hands and punches his right fist into the palm of his left hand. "And do her in."
"Nono's fighting Zack right now--or maybe she's done by now," Venetia says. "Someone said they found Sephiroth a little earlier, too, I'm pretty sure, though I wasn't clear on if they found him somewhere *else* or if he showed up where Nono and Zack are fighting." The conversations were pretty intwined at the time, and Venetia, not having Multitasking, couldn't quite follow enough with all of this going on too to tell for certain.
As for Eleven? *Now* the blonde Scion smiles, though it's not quite a nice expression. "That's right. We're not going to let her have her way. We're going to save all three of them, one way or another!" And though the matter of Cloud and Sephiroth is a little unclear...she has just the plan to do it for Zack. "Aerith and I will be handling Zack. Tifa said she'll take care of Cloud... and Cid was saying something about having an idea for Sephiroth. So maybe you should talk to those two, too, Squall."
(Why is she fighting him alone!? Hadn't there been enough evidence of what happens?)
Squall would quite possibly be swearing. But then again, he can't really do anything now. "...What plan?" Yes, he wants to know. "We can't afford to be keeping stuff like this under our hats. What if something goes wrong?"
(....not that I should be saying that...)
"Given Tifa's state, she sure as hell won't be going alone. I owe Cloud a big favor too," Shane grins then and it is not an entirely friendly expression. He's got a plan. A clever plan, really! And if it works, he'll owe Nia a -huge- favor. "But yeah. I'll be takin' care o' Cloud. Yeh tearin' his wings off like that might help a bit too.
He shakes his head then, "As fer the General... if we're gonna hit 'em all at once, I'm sure Miss Tegawa will want ta be there. He's..." The Irishman tries to find the right word. "a colleague." He arches an eyebrow at Squall. "Anyway. Venetia, yeh better take some back up when yeh go root out Zack with Aerith. Just in case yeh know?" These words are said very carefully and very seriously.
He quiets down when Squall asks what Venetia's plans are.
"Of course I will! What do you think I am, stupid?" Venetia's tone of affrontment is but a farce; she knows that there've been a lot of people going off to fight them on their own, and getting rolled for their efforts. If she knew that Squall had lured Cloud out on *purpose*, she might be kicking him for being a hypocrite. "Besides, that's *part* of the plan. Aerith and I just need to make sure everything's ready on our end first. Basically, I was thinking, we'll take a team of people out to fight Zack--wear him down, you know?"
Squall might wish he hadn't asked when he hears this next part, because Venetia tells it to him and Shane in dead seriousness. "Then, when he's weakened, I'm going to sing a song I've been composing just for him, and Aerith will give him some of his mom's home cooking, and hopefully that after everything will get him to snap out of it permanently."
Squall just STARES at Venetia. He's completely and totally stopped in his tracks.
(....You're both insane.)
He then turns to look at Shane. "...you have a plan to deal with Cloud?"
(It CAN'T be worse than that one.)
Insane? Maaaybe.
"Did I say yeh were?!" Shane replies perhaps a little hotly. Some things may still be a little sensitive for him. But when he hears just what the plan is, the scion can't help but start laughing. He leans back in his seat, chest rattling a bit from the laughter. "Just like that? Hah hah hah... That's brilliant Venetia!" He grins, "I hope it works. It'd be a pity if it didn't." He honestly DOES hope it works. If only because it would be a really good ending and it's better than thinking about the alternative.
But when it's his turn, Shane blinks and shrugs lightly. "Me? Nah. Nothin' so advanced. Just plan on gettin' a team and beaten down Cloud fer a while. Then send 'em on a little trip." He grins, "Miss Nia made this batch of fudge yeh see... and what kind of person doesn't like fudge right?"
Venetia, having seen firsthand what this fudge does, just starts laughing like she thinks it's brilliant. Squall may think them both all the more insane for it.
That's it. Squall is completely, and totally dumbfounded. This is the sort of plan Selphie comes up with, minus the rocket launchers.
It takes a long, long time for Squall to respond. And then, finally...
"...Whatever."
Grinning widely at Venetia, Shane continues to chortle as he pulls out his pocket watch and takes a place at the time. "It'll work. Trust us Mr. Leonhart." Clicking it shut, he tucks it back into his pocket before picking up his journal. He then rises to his feet, relying heavily on the cane to make this a painless operation. Once standing, he gives Squall a mock salute. "Well. We've taken up enough of yer time Mr. Leonhart. If yeh need anything else, just drop me a line." He waits for Venetia to decide if she's going to stay or go as well before heading over to the library door.
Venetia goes! With a cheerful little wave and grin at Squall, to boot.
WHEN: June 19th, 2008
WHERE: Balamb Garden
WHAT: Squall meets with some of the others heavily involved to finally put everything together/
WATCH FOR: Shane and Venetia's Brilliant Plans
The large structure of Balamb Garden sits a fair distance out of town, towering over it. People are entering and leaving at all times. Most notable about Balamb, though, is the large ring floating above it.
As people enter, there's a large series of turnstiles, but a path specifically marked for visitors, which, if those arriving will head there, they can get visitors passes, and, in this case, a note directing them to where they are supposed to meet. In this case, a room off the library wing.
At the moment, Squall is heading for that wing. He's limping somewhat, and has a crutch, just at the moment.
He's also wearing his fancy SeeD Uniform, which he rarely does. Maybe it's because he's in an official capacity, mnaybe faculty insisted on it. Maybe his usual stuff is at the laundry. Still, he moves, fairly silently, to the room in the library wing, carrying a thumb drive.
Shane's had four days to rest and thanks to his divine blood, he's come a long way from being almost dead to somewhat healthy. Lethal and bashing damage are -far- easier to heal than aggravated damage. But even then, he's not entirely well. Like Squall, he's limping along but instead of a crutch, he's leaning on blackthorn shillelagh. It'll make a good club in case something happens.
Dressed casually in jeans and a t-shirt, the bandage around his right arm is gone now. Instead there's an clean scar that comes down in a straight line from the space between his index finger and his middle finger all the way down to his elbow.
"So this is where Mr. Leonhart's from?"
"Well if the directions are to believed, then yes." Maria speaks up as she crisply walks ahead, a folder tucked under her arm.
In said folder is something /familiar/ to Shane and he's probably noticed it missing by now. Unless Maria quickly made photocopies and replaced the journal back in the desk. She knows where it is now, though, so she can spy on her intern in the future if the need should arise.
Not that she'd spy or anything.
Better to be at the laundry than at the laundromat. *That* would be awkward! Either way, Venetia comes with Shane and Maria, hands hooked into the pockets of her jeans. She's not wearing her jacket--it's way too warm for that--so her shoulders are bare save for the straps of her tight-fitting shirt. She looks around at the Garden appreciatively; it's a nice building for what's essentially a military training ground for teenagers.
"Looks that way. It's a nice-looking place," she remarks to Shane. She frowns a bit at the scar on his arm; though she saw it all right when they first got together, she's still not quite used to it. With that and the scar Reno's itching to show everyone... Venetia turns her gaze over to Maria, then picks up her pace a bit. She's not sure how much help she'll be, since she told Maria everything she knows already, but... well, Squall apparently said he wanted to see her too, so.
As the group enter, there are students everywhere. Apparently there's a break in class. They also get treated to a blonde haired male with a tattoo on his face rushing past them. "Oh man, oh man, oh man there had better be some hot dogs left!" Visitors to Balamb, while not a hugely common occurance, are largely ignored.
Except for the masses of robed faculty, lurking all over the place. Their eyes are on the scion entourage. Even the one that is currently lecturing a student has is watching the group. Just a touch paranoid.
Still, there is, conveniently, a directory pointing the way to the library wing, and the room the group are heading for.
"Yeah. It's quite a place," Shane remarks as he trails behind Maria. His eyes go to the folder and he blinks. He hasn't been in the office in a while so hasn't noticed anything missing. That's -awfully- thick for a folder Boss~. But he says nothing of it for now.
He flashes a grin at Venetia when he catches her frown and then down to his scar. "..." There's a faint gesture with his good hand and suddenly, it's like the scar was never there to begin with. Just your imagination right Venetia? RIGHT?! Yeah...
It's about then that Zell bounds out and Shane is forced to stop. He snickers a bit, "I didn't know Injue was a SeeD..." Oh wait. Must be someone else. Shaking his head, he slides a bit closer to Venetia. "I take it we're not welcome..."
Maria doesn't seem to mind being STARED AT. It's something she's accustomed to, especially given her background. When presenting a case, the whole room has their eyes on you.
"It's very stylish." she says in an appriciative tone. "Even the uniforms have a nice feel to them." for a brief moment, she glances back at Shane, perhaps picturing him in one of them for no particular reason.
At surprise Zell, Maria stops and regards the young man with a plantive look on her face. Yes, with those tattoos, he's obviously a TROUBLEMAKER. "...ahem, well, this way everyone. Library is over here."
The guy with the face-tattoo geeking out about hot dogs doesn't get much mind paid to him either, at least not by Venetia. It's just some dude geeking about hot dogs, why should she? Though the tattoo was kinda cool. Either way, she gives Shane a high-browed look when suddenly that scare disappears. She KNOWS she saw it! And so she's certain that Shane did some kind of Scion juju to make it look like it's gone.
But yeah, there are a lot of paranoid people staring at them, aren't there? Venetia glances at Shane as he points them out, and then...gives a group of those faculty a BIG SMILE and a BIG, FRIENDLY WAVE. "What are you talking about, Shane? I'm *sure* they're just staring because they're too shy to say hello," she then says *just loud enough* to be easily overheard.
On to the library, now that Venetia's done her sugar-sweet rabble-rousing!
In the room off the Library, Squall is waiting, sitting at a computer terminal built into the table. His crutch is leaning against his chair. And he's waiting for the group to enter. "Miss Tegawa. Miss Martens. Miuster Fitzgerald." Squall is still not good with that '
Squall Leonhart kicks his enter key.
In the room off the Library, Squall is waiting, sitting at a computer terminal built into the table. His crutch is leaning against his chair. And he's waiting for the group to enter. "Miss Tegawa. Miss Martens. Miuster Fitzgerald." Squall is still not good with that 'informal' thing. Or those 'pleasantries' things. "Have a seat." He doesn't stand, but that's probably because it hurts to do so. But, for the moment, he waits for everyone to get settled.
"... Feel Miss Tegawa?" She means look right? Shane still hasn't -quite- gotten the hang of this whole fashion thing, so he'll just take Maria's word for it. "After yeh Miss Tegawa."
As Maria walks on, there's the soft clack of his cane as it taps lightly against the hard floor of the foyer. He flashes Venetia an innocent grin. Maybe he'll tell her the secret later. "Is that so?" He looks about with a grin of his own. "I can see why they're a bit shy." But he doesn't bother to expand upon that. They're at the Library soon enough.
"Mr. Leonhart!" He raises his hand in greeting. "It's good ta see yeh in one piece and walkin' about." He waits a moment first to let Maria and Venetia sit before he takes his own seat. "Yeh got the wing off yer sword I take it?"
"Hello Squall, a pleasure to meet you." Maria half-smiles then returns to siing up the area.
Seating herself, Maria finds no oreason to delay and flips the folder open
It is chock full of printed out maaterial she'e been keeping in regards to the cased.
Including Shan'e journal.
"Hey, Squall." Venetia gives the SeeD a warm smile before she takes a seat and crosses her legs, leaning on arm on the armrest and the other over her lap. Squall looks pretty damn beat up, but he's probably better off than if he'd tried to stand his ground and fight rather than run the hell away, if Tifa's anything to judge by. (Though granted, Venetia's not exactly sure *what* Tifa did aside from get stabbed.)
Either way, she smirks a bit at Shane, then settles back as Maria starts handing over the materials to Squall. Little does she know...!
Squall's own materials regarding the events are currently displayed on a large screen on the back wall of the room. Nothings zoomed in on, at the moment, but there are bits and pieces. Mission reports, scattered information here and there. Squall's own experiences, pictures of the torn wing. He's collected what he can. And it's nowhere near enough to fill the thick folder hwe was walking around with when he was interviewing people. "Thank you all for coming." He says, as Maria gets out the information she has. "I'll begin with what I know so far."
The screen brings up what information they have on the first known mission. "On the mission were myself, Mr. Fitzgerald, Miss Gwen Meynolt, and a Soldier 3rd Class named Injue." The reports come on screen. "We know how that went. What we have reason to believe, however, is that the monsters were far from home. The mission was on a plane called 'Shakuras'. TThe wolves and dragons that were protecting the notes were from the Nibel area. We also have reason to believe they were being controlled by an outside influence." Squall pauses. "And now, with the information I have and Miss Meynolt's theories, I have reason to believe that the oen controlling them was Eleven and Jenova."
Everything seems pretty normal until Shane spots the black leather bound journal in Maria's materials. A surprised expression crosses his face and he nearly lunges out of his seat to collect said item. Good dexterity will prevent him from knocking over the other notes but if people are quick enough, they might get the journal before he does. "Hey!" He shouts as he goes for the journal, "Miss Tegawa!" Isn't there something about privacy? ._.
Yeah. He's interrupting a presentation but that's his journal over there! People can forgive him for that right? He glowers a bit, no matter if he got the book or not as he turns his eyes to the projection screen. "So yeh think those wolves were injected with Jenova's cells as well? Would explain why they were after the papers."
Maria makes no attempt to snatch the journal back.
But she /does/ give Shane a sad gaze. "Now, there was important information in there that I only /wish/ had been shared earlier." Stinking Turks. And Zack.
Then, hooray, Powerpoint presentation. Or something like it.
Between all the people who keep coming in late and asking HAY GAIZ WUTZ GOIN' ON!?!?! and how information keeps having to be rehashed over and over, Venetia has to admit that she's pretty tired of hearing and saying all the same stuff over and over. All the same, she lets Squall say his thing, and when he's done, she nods. "Yeah, that makes sense to me," she says of Jenova and Eleven being in charge.
(A lot of information hasn't been shared. That's what we're doing here.)
He nods to Shane. "Yeah. As far as I can tell, Jenova has some control over things with it's cell in them. What I want to know is if it's Jenova in charge, or XI. We've got some information on it, but..."
At that point, the door to the library is opened, and that blonde with the face tattoo walks in, carrying the box. "Yo, Squall! Here's that report you wanted! Hell of a lot of it, though..."
(....I didn't ask for the whole box.)
"....Thanks, Zell."
"No prob!" Zell drops the box on the table, and heads out. "Yo, let us know if there's anything else, yeah?" The other SeeD heads out of the room with a wave. And while he does so, Squall pulls himself up. and limps over to the box, and starts going through the folders.
"Afterwards, we made a trip to the village of Nibelheim. All Shane and I could find out was that monster activity had gone way up lately." And that Squall can pass for a SOLDIER 1st Class. "Venetia, you were with Cloud, then. What did you find out?" Squall hadn't had the chance to hear everything yet.
With the journal firmly in his hand, Shane flips through it, looking a bit more closely this time in case someone decided to get funny and tear a page or a corner or something out of it. The sheets rustle cleanly beneath his fingers as he purposefully does not look at Maria. "Zack asked us ta keep it quiet."
There is a sigh of relief has he notices nothing out of place. He has no place to put the journal, so he just lets it sit on his lap, thumb lightly over the smooth leather. "Monster activity was up, but I suspect that had ta do with the leak we found at the Mako reactor." He pauses then, eyeing Zell as he enters but what -really- gets his attention is the box. "What the!" He gives Venetia a sharp look. Isn't that... "How did yeh get that box Mr. Leonhart?"
"Oh, hey." A reaction not just to the guy who was going for the hot dogs, but to the fact that he's carrying in the box that Agrias ended up toting up from the basement of the Shinra Mansion! Venetia smiles and wiggles her fingers in greeting back at him before he exeunts. Shane's surprise is what surprises Venetia, who just blinks at him and shrugs. "He asked Agrias for it, I bet." Though she looks to Squall for confirmation on that.
As for Maria? "Yeah, it's like Shane said. Because it was Shinra business and they didn't want it getting out, I guess," Venetia adds with a sigh and a bit of an eyeroll. Look where *that* ended up getting them. "We basically found out the same as you, Squall. But the innkeeper and her husband, and Mrs. Strife, they were talking about how they thought activity'd gone up ever since the Nibel Reactor had been built. So Shane's probably right about the mako leak." She folds her arms and frowns. "Of course, it might be because Jenova was there, too... But I don't know how we'd be able to tell for sure."
Squall nods. "I spoke with Captain Oaks, and retrieved it. " He contineus to thumb through the information, trying to find a particular file. "You were both involved in several missions after that, would you mind filling me in?" Squall has a whole lot of information he's missing, and he wants to get it all together. "Anything you recall about the missions following those would be useful."
Somewhere on the MUSH, Agrias Oaks has disconnected.
"Retrieved it? Oh." Yeah. It would make sense for Squall to get the box from Agrias it seems. He leans back in his seat again, fidgeting slightly with the top of the cane in his hand. He glances over at Venetia with a slight frown. What else... what else... "Before that was the problem with Zack, Cloud and Sephiroth blacking out. Those started when we found out that Jenova had been taken from the reactor." He wishes he brought a pen so he could write in his journal.
"I had a private conversation with the General after the mission ta retrieve the boxes. Had a few questions about his clones. He appeared ta be aware of them, of the process that that made them. Couldn't tell yeh exactly what the entails though. I think Venetia was lookin' after Zack at the time." He looks over to the other Scion for confirmation before bulldozing onward.
"After that, Zack came ta stay over at me new place. He was in a really bad shape. Blackouts every few hours, fevers, nausea." That's what he wanted to talk to Venetia about. "Heh. He kicked me out then, ta go on the mission I went on with yeh Mr. Leonhart."
"Yeah. After Sephiroth and the others went into the reactor, they found out Jenova was missing, and we went into this nearby cave," Venetia says, nodding to Shane. "When we were there, Sephiroth, Zack and Cloud blanked out, and we got attacked by a crapton of mako monsters. Cloud got dropped into a pool of mako, too, before they snapped out of it and managed to help us out and get him out of there."
But yeah, Venetia had been taking care of Zack, who had been so obviously distressed about being back in that basement that one would have to have negative ratings in awareness to not have noticed. "Yeah, I went over to Seventh Heaven one time when I overheard him having a blank-out on the radio," Venetia adds, looking back to Squall. "He had another one when I got there, and that was something like ten, fifteen minutes long. He didn't react to getting soaked with cold water or getting hit with the flat of his own sword. He was *out*."
Squall nods, finally pulling out a folder. "So these blackouts started happening after Jenova went missing." Squall has his suspicions as to why it's missing, too. "And Eleven finally revealed herself not long after that."
The SeeD has had the luck of not encountering that particular Sephiroth clone yet. But he has some information on her. Enough to make Cloud hunt him down. He puts the file he's pulled out on the table.
JENOVA Project: Subject Number XI
Squall speaks up, summarizing the report. "Number Eleven. No name given. Location of Origin was Nibelheim. She was considered a full success due to total loss of self."
(...How is that a success?)
That thought had, the SeeD follows up. "According to the report, any subject that retained a sense of self was a failure, and not assigned a number. Usually, they were disposed of." He pulls out another two folders. "For example, subjects 'Z' and 'C'."
"Loss of self?" Shane barks a harsh laugh. "She's more in control o' her mental faculties than of those other bloody clones. It was like starin' into the middle of some Titan worshipin' cult the way those black garbed drones were kneelin' and prayin' around that disgustin' remains of a body." He makes a face at this, he image of Jenova's ripped torso seared into his mind.
"And she had the head. Sephiroth used whatever... psychic voodoo he had ta track her down. We found her alright, but she found us first. That's when they all turned on us. Lt. Colonel Rufus was knocked out while he was preparin' some major spell and the three of 'em just lost their minds. Nearly killed him before Miss Tegawa appeared ta save Reno's and me arse."
There's a long pause in the Irishman's narrative, ".. wait. Z an' C." He knew that they were that lab. But.. "Exactly what were they doin' ta Zack and Cloud?"
'Z' and 'C'... No need to even wonder who they might have been. Venetia hasn't had the chance to look through those files, so this part at least is good to hear. She wonders the same thing as Squall, before making a face at Shane's description of how the assembly of clones when he'd found him with the others. "Really? Ugh! Hardly surprising, though..."
But what were they doing, exactly? "What, you mean aside from infusing them with mako and Jenova cells? Though..." Venetia considers this. Didn't that already happen with Zack, since he'd been in SOLDIER? And Meliadoul's voice report, which she'd listened to via her earbud, said there was something about S Cells and all these 'clones' being derived from *his* cells. So what made the process different, anyway...? Maybe that's what those files would tell them.
"....According to the scientist in charge, those two were failures. Cloud's mind was nearly destroyed by the process, and he suffered an extreme case of what is referred to as 'Mako Poisoning'." He says, after a while. "And Zack's exposure to the SOLDIER process made it impossible for the Jenova cells to take over." Squall pauses. "Besides, if it was just the Jenova cells, why isn't all of SOLDIER at Eleven's beck and call? There's got to be more to it than that." There is a lot of information in that box. And Squall still hasn't had time to go through it all. He spent a lot of time recovering from being hit with a train.
"So, it would seem that Eleven can only control the original and the failures. That, or all the successes are dead." He thinks back. "Perhaps that's what those corpses with the letter were. More than just a macabre way to get a letter to General Sephiroth."
Some stills from the video of the incident come up on screen. "They were malnourished, and ill, in spite of having a fairly solid and untouched food supply. All they did was spread those materia around. And we don't know why. But that was the immediate precursor."
The expression on Shane's face darkens, his hand curling into a fist about his cane. "Failures... tossed out like.." He can't even bring himself to complete that sentence. "If it were true that Zack's exposure ta being part of SOLDIER made it impossible for the cells ta take over then why's he affected now?" Or was there something else they did to Zack. Unlike Venetia, Shane hasn't bothered listening to Meliadoul's voice recording. So you'll have to fill us in!
"Well, it certainly got -our- attention and then General's." He notes in regards to the letter. Looking up then at the screen, he mms. "Bait. They were meant as bait. Ta lure Sephiroth out." He slams his fist onto his leg. "Damn it. And we all fell fer it hook line and sinker didn't we?"
Venetia purses her lips as Squall clarifies. Poor Cloud...and poor Zack, who must remember the process so much more clearly for not having lost his mind... She turns her gaze up to the stills on the screen, lips curling in disgust as she shakes her head and uncrosses her legs, hands curling into fists.
"There's something about S Cells--Sephiroth's cells--Mel made an audio post a little bit ago," Venetia remarks to Shane. "I didn't quite catch all of it since I was paying attention to stuff here, but since she'd been talking to Cloud...it might help. Apparently he started acting normal towards the end, too... Ugh, dammit! That *bitch*!"
If it's true that Eleven is the one using Jenova, then that hardly makes it any better, does it?
The SeeD scratches his chin. S-Cells, huh? "Anyway. After that incident, they've been making appearances all over the place. I know Miss Lockhart encountered Cloud, and came out significantly worse for it. And then Cloud came after me at the trainstation. And he seemed very intent on killing me. They took the information I'd had at the time, too."
(Which means I was on the right track.)
"I don't know if the others have made any more appearances yet, though."
Squall pauses. "Unfortunately, that doesn't put us any closer to knowing how to stop them. Miss Meynolt suggested that killing the source might free them, but I don't know how possible that is. I've sent the wing I retrieved from Cloud to the labs, to see if they've come up with anything. But have either of you heard about any encounters I've missed?"
Shane makes a mental note to check out the audio post a little later, but for now he merely shakes his head. "There was that news article of three o' em collapsin' in the hub. But that was before we found Eleven. As fer the others... I wouldn't know. I haven't heard any news to the contrary. Venetia?" He glances over to the woman in question briefly before turning his attention back to Squall.
"Miss Tegawa's got a few o' Sephiroth's feathers, but they might be from the night we fought 'em." He shrugs lightly. "Well. If Jenova's pullin' the strings, we just need ta get rid o' her right? So we find Eleven." He raises his hands and punches his right fist into the palm of his left hand. "And do her in."
"Nono's fighting Zack right now--or maybe she's done by now," Venetia says. "Someone said they found Sephiroth a little earlier, too, I'm pretty sure, though I wasn't clear on if they found him somewhere *else* or if he showed up where Nono and Zack are fighting." The conversations were pretty intwined at the time, and Venetia, not having Multitasking, couldn't quite follow enough with all of this going on too to tell for certain.
As for Eleven? *Now* the blonde Scion smiles, though it's not quite a nice expression. "That's right. We're not going to let her have her way. We're going to save all three of them, one way or another!" And though the matter of Cloud and Sephiroth is a little unclear...she has just the plan to do it for Zack. "Aerith and I will be handling Zack. Tifa said she'll take care of Cloud... and Cid was saying something about having an idea for Sephiroth. So maybe you should talk to those two, too, Squall."
(Why is she fighting him alone!? Hadn't there been enough evidence of what happens?)
Squall would quite possibly be swearing. But then again, he can't really do anything now. "...What plan?" Yes, he wants to know. "We can't afford to be keeping stuff like this under our hats. What if something goes wrong?"
(....not that I should be saying that...)
"Given Tifa's state, she sure as hell won't be going alone. I owe Cloud a big favor too," Shane grins then and it is not an entirely friendly expression. He's got a plan. A clever plan, really! And if it works, he'll owe Nia a -huge- favor. "But yeah. I'll be takin' care o' Cloud. Yeh tearin' his wings off like that might help a bit too.
He shakes his head then, "As fer the General... if we're gonna hit 'em all at once, I'm sure Miss Tegawa will want ta be there. He's..." The Irishman tries to find the right word. "a colleague." He arches an eyebrow at Squall. "Anyway. Venetia, yeh better take some back up when yeh go root out Zack with Aerith. Just in case yeh know?" These words are said very carefully and very seriously.
He quiets down when Squall asks what Venetia's plans are.
"Of course I will! What do you think I am, stupid?" Venetia's tone of affrontment is but a farce; she knows that there've been a lot of people going off to fight them on their own, and getting rolled for their efforts. If she knew that Squall had lured Cloud out on *purpose*, she might be kicking him for being a hypocrite. "Besides, that's *part* of the plan. Aerith and I just need to make sure everything's ready on our end first. Basically, I was thinking, we'll take a team of people out to fight Zack--wear him down, you know?"
Squall might wish he hadn't asked when he hears this next part, because Venetia tells it to him and Shane in dead seriousness. "Then, when he's weakened, I'm going to sing a song I've been composing just for him, and Aerith will give him some of his mom's home cooking, and hopefully that after everything will get him to snap out of it permanently."
Squall just STARES at Venetia. He's completely and totally stopped in his tracks.
(....You're both insane.)
He then turns to look at Shane. "...you have a plan to deal with Cloud?"
(It CAN'T be worse than that one.)
Insane? Maaaybe.
"Did I say yeh were?!" Shane replies perhaps a little hotly. Some things may still be a little sensitive for him. But when he hears just what the plan is, the scion can't help but start laughing. He leans back in his seat, chest rattling a bit from the laughter. "Just like that? Hah hah hah... That's brilliant Venetia!" He grins, "I hope it works. It'd be a pity if it didn't." He honestly DOES hope it works. If only because it would be a really good ending and it's better than thinking about the alternative.
But when it's his turn, Shane blinks and shrugs lightly. "Me? Nah. Nothin' so advanced. Just plan on gettin' a team and beaten down Cloud fer a while. Then send 'em on a little trip." He grins, "Miss Nia made this batch of fudge yeh see... and what kind of person doesn't like fudge right?"
Venetia, having seen firsthand what this fudge does, just starts laughing like she thinks it's brilliant. Squall may think them both all the more insane for it.
That's it. Squall is completely, and totally dumbfounded. This is the sort of plan Selphie comes up with, minus the rocket launchers.
It takes a long, long time for Squall to respond. And then, finally...
"...Whatever."
Grinning widely at Venetia, Shane continues to chortle as he pulls out his pocket watch and takes a place at the time. "It'll work. Trust us Mr. Leonhart." Clicking it shut, he tucks it back into his pocket before picking up his journal. He then rises to his feet, relying heavily on the cane to make this a painless operation. Once standing, he gives Squall a mock salute. "Well. We've taken up enough of yer time Mr. Leonhart. If yeh need anything else, just drop me a line." He waits for Venetia to decide if she's going to stay or go as well before heading over to the library door.
Venetia goes! With a cheerful little wave and grin at Squall, to boot.