(Untitled)
Who: Rufus, Cloud, whoever feels like joining
Status: Open
When: 1:00
Where: Starts at Shin-Ra, goes elsewhere.
What: Without his Turks, Rufus has been forced to hire Cloud Strife.
( He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still )
Status: Open
When: 1:00
Where: Starts at Shin-Ra, goes elsewhere.
What: Without his Turks, Rufus has been forced to hire Cloud Strife.
( He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still )
"I once told Barret Wallace that 'People are ignorant. They'll feel better as long as someone is punished'. And that is true. For now, that has to be Shin-Ra despite how much I would prefer it not to be. Soon, sooner than anyone likes, I think it will be the WRO because people will feel better as long as they see someone being punished as they probably feel they are being. The army will simply be an excuse they'll use, to point to. Reeve isn't exactly a saint himself."
Rufus fell quiet for a moment, introspective as he rarely was. There was a tiredness in his face, so different from what he showed the cameras or masses. It looked like he hadn't slept in a week. He reached into his jacket, drawing out an orange pill bottle like any doctor would have given a patient. Shaking out a single white tablet, he dry-swallowed it and put the bottle back.
"I can give you the PR speech, Strife: That I acknowledge that Shin-Ra owes the planet a lot. It goes without saying that my company and I are the ones who put the world in the sorry state it’s in. Therefore, it’s our responsibility to set things right. I could do that or tell you that right now, the Planet and I are going in the same direction. Pick whichever you like or believe. As for AVALANCHE, it's hardly a secret that I funded the original although they were terrorists and nothing more. I needed my father dead, and they seemed the logical choices to do so for me."
Restacking his papers, Rufus glanced at Cloud, waiting for the swordsman to go first through the door as the driver came round the car to open it. It was Rufus Shinra all over, unapologetic and cold. This is me and take me as I am or not at all - it doesn't matter to me. The tiredness in his face was gone, leaving only the barest traces to the sharp-eyed.
"Now, if you don't mind?"
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His eyes watched Rufus swallow the pill, wondering what it was for. It was not his business, but he was still curious. It made Rufus seem somehow frail and just as human as everyone else, despite the business-attitude.
His focus shifted to the door opening, and he shifted his sword expertly to get it back out the door without causing damage. He followed quickly after the blade and stood then stepped away from the vehicle, strapping the blade to his back. "Is this a well-known ShinRa base or a ShinRa secret one?"
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Stepping out of the car, Rufus straightened his suit, an automatic reaction on his part. The briefcase was held loosely in his left hand. He gave Cloud a mildly annoyed look as they headed up the walk to the cold steel doors. "How dramatic, Strife. Shin-Ra does not have 'secret' bases."
The room that greeted them as they first entered could have been mistaken for any Shin-Ra reception area, pretty secretary and all. She offered them both a smile as they walked past her, Rufus swiping a card to open the next set of doors. There was no pretty woman here, only a pair of butt-ugly guards with vicious, large guns. Rufus barely acknowledged them as he laid his hand on a pad, a greenish light moving over his skin before the next set of doors opened into an elevator.
"We merely have lesser known places of business, not 'secret bases'."
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He trailed to Rufus' left, a little behind the man. He had never been here, and he made certain to keep an eye out for the new surroundings. He raised an eyebrow at the sight of the guards, but they in no means intimidated him.
He stepped into the elevator when it opened to off-handedly make certain it was safe and being able to cover Rufus' back. He turned and looked at the President. "The public's meaning of 'secret' and ShinRa's are two completely different things I've found."
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Rufus waited patiently as the elevator descended. He turned slightly, enough to keep Cloud at his shoulder versus behind him. There were very few that Rufus allowed at that place and Cloud was not yet among those that he would. Paranoia was a way of life. When the doors slid open, Rufus stepped back to let Cloud go first. Far be it from him to stop the man from taking a bullet for him.
"I sometimes wonder if there is any possibility of you ever not instantly casting me on the dark side of matters and motivations, Strife. You know so little about me and yet, you act as if you know everything. I find that most annoying. Only stupid men do not think for themselves and I had hoped you were not that."
Shaking his head, Rufus waited until Cloud had stepped through before he did. The room itself was cold, nothing much in it but a few tubes with cloudy liquid and dark shapes within. A scientist stood at a table about twenty feet away, looking over papers on the table. Other than that, the room appeared empty.
Except for a glint of light passing over something high up in the rafters.
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He walked out of the elevator and frowned as he spied what could only be described as a lab-type setting. He should have expected something like this, but his muscles instantly tensed as the cold feeling crawling along his skin.
His eyes flicked up to the rafters and narrowed before he risked a glance back at Rufus. He was not in the mood to be double-crossed, not like he thought Rufus could sink that low.
He stayed silent as he waited posed for anything.
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Once Cloud had stepped aside, Rufus followed him out of the elevator. The only thing he paid attention to was the scientist at the table. That was difference between those trained in combat and those not. His Turks would have checked the rafters first as Cloud did. Rufus had no thought for it, his mind running along to things he still had to do. There was no attention paid either to Cloud's upset at the lab.
In the floor to ceiling tubes, various things swam. A clawed hand swiped out of the darkness of one, screeching on the glass before withdrawing. Rufus walked by it as if it weren't there. He and the scientist fell into a quiet discussion, the man pointing out to Rufus various things on the papers before him.
Up in the rafters, that flicker of light on metal came again, the barrel of a rifle lowering and sighting in.
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His eyes finally found the flicker of light, and he tensed. The way the barrel moved meant it was sighting, and he had the time to do better than most would. There was no room to call out; he wouldn't have anyway.
He tensed for only a moment before he launched clear from the floor, covering the distance of floor to ceiling quickly. His weapon left its posting on his back and swung, cutting the gun cleanly in half. At the same time, his left hand snapped out, punching through the darkness to seize hold of the throat of the gunman.
His sword rounded back as he twisted in the air, dragging the person from the rafters back to the floor. He landed solidly on his feet holding the would-be gunman in the air by the throat as he sword easily swung around and pressed into the gunman's throat.
"Drop the remainder of the gun or lose an arm," he said softly but his voice was full of intention. "Then explain yourself."
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Had Cloud been attacking Rufus, he probably could have had him pinned to the wall by the time the president had his own weapon drawn. Rufus was dangerous, yes, but he didn't have Cloud's splitsecond timing.
The barrel of Rufus' shotgun lowered to point at the floor as he eyed the man Cloud had pinned. Instead of any brand of fear, there was annoyance on his face as he turned to the scientist. "I thought I told you to fire him."
"I did, President Shinra! Yesterday!"
Rufus sighed, more to himself than anyone else. He hated incompetence. "And yet you didn't take his badge or ensure that his access was cut?"
"Well, I didn't..."
The man Cloud held onto remained still, hissing breath in and out even as the remains of his weapon dropped from his hands. With his gun cut apart, he seemed to be cowed for the time being. Despite Cloud's command, he remained silent. Whatever his reasons for shooting were, he wasn't saying.
"Have him taken back to Shin-Ra, Strife. The Turks can handle him from there," Rufus said, dismissing the matter and turning back to the plans laid out.
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He turned away from where Rufus was and regarded the man in his grip. He didn't see rope, and his position wouldn't allow him to simply up and leave Rufus here. It was more than obvious now how much Rufus needed a bodyguard.
"Sorry... nothing personal," he murmured as his sword twisted in his grip and he slammed the blunt hilt into the back of the gunman's skull, knocking consciousness away. He dropped the man in a heap and simply lay his sword on the man; no way a normal man could lift it.
Walking back to Rufus, he seemed to loom a little closer. He was on higher guard and hoped this business would be done soon. No wonder Rufus needed so many Turks around.
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It was a brand of loyalty he didn't expect from anyone but the Turks.
"I believe we're finished here," Rufus finally said, turning back to the elevator. "I'll have the limo drop you off where you wish, Strife, as well as payment made."
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He shrugged at Rufus' back as he also approached the elevator. "Back where we started is fine. That's where Fenrir is," he replied off-handedly.
As the elevator opened, he looked around to make certain it was clear before stepping in. "Feel free to hire me again," he added softly as he shifted the weight of the gunman.
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