and the world's got me dizzy again

[guardian_moon]

Who: Red XIII guardian_moon, Rufus ShinRa mydarknation, Reno realflashy
When: DAY 46. While Scarlet, Rude and Elena are at the WRO with Reeve. Some time after Rufus gets some really bad news.
Location: Cosmo Canyon
Rating: PG
Summary: Following this call to Cid, this text message to Rufus, and this call to Rufus. Nanaki went on a personal search during the aftermath of the planet

Comments

[mydarknation]

While Rufus had been to Cosmo Canyon in the past, he had not been aware of the particular hall until now, and he looked it over with a general sense of approval. Not a large room, but a grand one, it seemed somehow very fitting of both its location and his present host.

Red XIII, on the other hand, he eyed with some skepticism, though he hid it behind a poker face of diplomacy. The two weren't enemies, but neither were they friends, and Rufus had long since learned to distrust anyone who would say nothing more specific than 'I have something for you.' Reno's presence by his side was more comforting than he might let on.

The request for them to sit earned a small and very brief frown. He was accustomed to sitting in chairs, not on mats on the floor. But he chose a mat to sit on nonetheless, motioning subtly for Reno to do the same, and found it comfortable enough.

"Quite the accomodations," Rufus commented lightly, glancing over the array of food items on the table before him. Then, with a bit more force to his tone, he added, "I assume we are now sufficiently in private for you to say whatever it was you had wished to say to me." The implication, of course, being that if Red XIII wanted the Turk out of the room it was going to take quite a bit more convincing.

[realflashy]

The pomp was hardly necessary, by the Turks own personal opinion. It wasn't nearly as overbearing or extravagant as the temples of Wutai, or of the personal penthouses, or even offices, of former ShinRa executives, but it was impressive enough in it's own understated way. However, it was a bit too.... earthy. Reno didn't hold great particular trust in the earth, surveying the great stone walls towering over them with an almost bored gaze.

Interesting color scheme they've got going on here...

Scoffing lightly, he didn't bother to keep the crooked half-smirk off his lips as he stood dutifully to the left and behind the President. Though he kept his silence for the time being - he'd interrupt when he deemed necessary - he took his time, instead, to do a series of routine checks. Focusing inwardly, he checked that all his personal weapons were in place: the weighted reassurance of the EMR hanging his right hip and the cool pressure on his left forearm of a custom blade. Sharp eyes flickered to Red XIII, the only sign that he had heard what he'd said, and the Turk shrugged. This wasn't his business, he had simply come on the President's own insistence. Oh, Rufus.

A quiet beep drew Reno's attention from searching the walls and door for any possible weakness or security threats to his own jacket pocket. With a quick hand motion to the President, declining the offer of a seat, the redheaded Turk retreated to the entrance and quickly withdrew his cellphone - a message from Elena.

....connected to the Planet... uncanny sense of the Lifestream’s behavior... reincarnated people... no memories of prior events... world-wide or individual memories...
He'd ask later.

Pocketing the cellphone once more, he took up standard position at the door. Well, his standard position, hands in the pockets of his pants, slouched in his usual fashion and ready and waiting on the balls of his feet, senses alert. This was sure to be boring, but at least he had an in on the private stuff, and hopefully they would be in and out of Cosmo Canyon quickly.

[guardian_moon]

"This room is among my favorite places," Nanaki admitted. He sat across from Rufus, carefully watching the small by-play between the president and his Turk.

For a moment, Nanaki simply studied the man of diamond and steel, observing those things not transmitted across a television, or through a telephone.

Rufus smelled of expensive coffee, unscented soap, and faintly of cigarettes, though that last so very barely that the ash-and-tar scent might have been secondhand. He also smelled, curiously enough, of rich loam and foliage, specifically Gongagan aloe and raw cacoa, and it was a combination Red recognized from days spent tramping through humming green jungles with Grandfather on nature studies, and later with AVALANCHE, during less leisurely times. Gongaga.

I know where you've been hiding, Rufus ShinRa.

Blinking his single, lambent eye, Red nodded. His lips tugged back into a faint smile, though he carefully did not bare his teeth, as most humans found the sight unnerving, and Reno in particular may not look kindly upon a display of weaponry.

Nanaki had considered the mechanics of his next move, and in the end decided upon the least circuitous.

"We are. And, in fact, our party is one short." He admitted to himself that he was proud of what he had done, and that he was eager to see Rufus' reaction. He stood again, slow enough that it was clear he was not preparing an attack- slow enough that the president had time to wonder, again -and paced to a brown and blue tapestry, picked with gold around its edges. He caught with his teeth a small loop of cloth at one of its corner, and hooked the loop up by an unobtrusive peg on the wall above the opposite corner. Revealed was an unlit crawl space, about half a foot taller than Red, and long enough that the light at its far end was thickly framed by dark rock.

"Here!" Red commanded, and watched for the dark shape that flitted out of the lit room at the other end and through the shadowy tunnel.

Nanaki batted the creature's ears the moment it emerged at his end, when, as usual, it tried to slip around him. The Guardian had to then growl, low in his throat, thunder in the distance, when, distracted, the smaller quadruped did not immediately fall to order. It turned intelligent, dark eyes on him, impatient, excited. With a gentle nudge, he mad his instructions clear: sit, behind him, and wait.

A month, it had taken, of patience and care, but Dark Nation was once again sleek and healthy, eyes clear and bright, coat full and gleaming over corded muscles.

Assured that the smaller creature was not going anywhere- for now -Red returned to the mats to peer at the man in white.

He spoke quietly. "I would like to make you a deal, Rufus ShinRa."

...kitty? ....Kitty!!! <3

[mydarknation]

One short? Rufus silently questioned the meaning of the statement as he watched Red stand, tensing almost imperceptibly. The actions that followed struck him as almost frustratingly dramatic culminating in the grand unveiling of... what appeared to be an empty space. Whatever confusion that caused was only momentary, however, as a form emerged from the shadows.

For a long moment, Rufus did nothing more than stare, wide-eyed, as Red convinced the other animal to sit. To be perfectly honest, he had trouble believing his eyes. Of all the multitudes of possibilities inherent in the strange phenomenon of the dead coming back to life, this was one he had never thought of. Could it be real?

"Dark Nation?" he breathed hesitantly. The animal responded to the name, softly as it had been spoken, turning its gaze to him and shifting as if possibly to stand, but deciding against it. Rufus examined the animal from where he sat, trying to determine whether this was, in fact, the animal he thought it was; there was always the possibility that Red XIII was making some attempt to deceive him.

But he eyes trained on him were deep, loyal, and above all, familiar. There was no mistake here. A small, genuine smile found its place on Rufus' lips.

He wondered to himself how much of the animal's training remained intact. Depending on what he remembered, it would be easy enough to override Red's unspoken directions of sit, stay with a word or even a hand gesture if he was lucky. For now, he resisted the urge to try it. There would be time later.

The sound of Red's voice again snapped Rufus' thoughts back to the situation at hand, and he turned to look at his host, expression returning to a look of calculated nonchalance.

"What sort of a deal?" he asked lightly.

[realflashy]

Politicians. More like drama queens, the whole lot of them. Always trying to one up each other, always trying to hold something over the others heads. They lived in the world a different way and most considered themselves better for it. Even more hilarious still was when they called themselves Diplomats. As much as the Turk did enjoy talking circles around other people when the time called for it, there was something that could not be had through words that the firmness of metal in your hands gave. There was reliability and dependency on a job done right the first time. No second chances, no negotiations. Perhaps this was why he was a Turk, and not a business man.

Reno much would have preferred to just come straight out with it - get the business done, and leave - rather than beat around the bush. At the mention of another he couldn't help but straighten slightly in surprise, hands coming out of his pockets as he scanned the room a second time. He had been certain that there was no one else in the room, but as Red pulled the curtain back and the shadows behind it were slowly filled with movement, the redhead strode forward to stand at the President's side, a hand discretely on his EMR. The cat was smaller than Red, but Reno wasn't bothered with making connections with times long past and the animal before him now, and a focused look followed it's every movement. And the Turks were said to play dirty.

It wasn't until he heard the almost whispered words from Rufus that he took a second glance, eyes widening slightly in surprise. Dark Nation? The President's panther cat thing? But it had died. Were animals coming back to life just as people were? What a pain in the ass...

He could feel the President's entire countenance change for a moment, and despite himself, he glanced down towards him. This would not do, this would not do at all. Playing a card like this... Rufus was known for not having weaknesses like this, but now... People were just out there to make his job harder.

"Bribery is hardly th'subject of idle chit-chat," he drawled coolly from his place, hands moving to his pockets as he smirked, a solid presence at Rufus' side, but the amusement was absent from his eyes, "Neither is it very polite."

[guardian_moon]

For a moment, Red sat in stunned consideration of the president's reaction. He'd expected faint gratitude, cool appreciation, as though Nanaki had returned to him a particularly expensive piece of equipment, or a priceless painting: pleasant surprise, but an emotionless affair, and Red had assuaged his cringing conscience by assuring himself that Dark Nation would be treated very well, if not affectionately, which hadn't been much consolation at all... except that the way Rufus ShinRa spoke the name, the way he smiled.... First, a flash of relief, even happiness-- and then abruptly he felt guilty for an entirely different reason.

Rufus closed off again, abruptly the cool diplomat once more, sweeping his brief lapse under the rug to hide it and only succeeding in putting a lump in the rug. But Red was grateful that the president was going through the motions, letting them follow the script.

Reno, who Red noted was up and annoyed-- and Red had counted on Rufus' recognition, not Reno's, so that wasn't unexpected --suddenly went and stuck his finger right into the heart of Red's discomfort. The Guardian's head drew back, his ears flattening and his eye widening. He glanced from Rufus to Reno to Dark Nation and back to Rufus. Called out, and now the guilt was worrying away at itself until it reached the shame below. He did not look at anyone.

"That... it was not my intention to...." Except that it was. A gift, for the President of ShinRa, a trifle I picked up during my travels. it's very fine, highest quality, well bred.... First, he had been willing to trade one of Gaia's creatures into a life he could not really know would be a good one, but then... I've found your dear friend, Mister President. He is healthy, can't you see? Cosmo Canyon is a good place, and I'm sure he would be perfectly happy to spend the rest of his life here, and never see you again. But, you know, I suppose you could always give me a reason he should go with you instead....

Bribery.

But I knew that when I came here today, didn't I? That one way or another, I would be bribing this man. Because my cause is more important than that. It is. It is. Besides, this was Rufus ShinRa. How many feelings had he spared, man, woman or child, when they stood in the way of his goal? Turnabout is-- I am not Rufus ShinRa!

Red shook himself, beads and bangles clinking, and shoved to his feet to pace, tail ticking an irritated red path behind him. He was not a politician, not by choice, not by schooling. His own rug for sweeping things under was a bulging mess and he knew it, but he'd resolved to go through with this today and live with the consequences because the ends justified the means.

... Justified them to who?

He felt ill. And when he turned to continue his pacing, there was Dark Nation, sitting obediently, but not happily, watching Rufus with the sort of intent that comes from more than obedience training, and Red, pulling up short, could not decide if it would be more cruel and underhanded to keep the creature sitting where he was, or to send him to sit by his master-- let him go sit by his friend. After a moment, he strode forward and knocked his forehead roughly against Dark Nation's shoulder. Do as you please, friend. Then Nanaki flopped down on his stomach, not facing the table, but rather a tapestry depicting three of his ancestors, standing proudly atop a windy bluff that overlooked the canyon. Red knew where that bluff was, had stood there himself, dreaming he had two of his kin beside him.

And he said, "I am sorry."

[mydarknation]

Rufus was immediately grateful when Reno stepped in as he did, already kicking himself for his immediate reaction giving away as much as it had. In most cases, Rufus would have responded exactly the way Red had expected, possibly surprised and potentially grateful, but completely emotionless. And most of the time that would be a completely genuine reaction as well as the convenient one. But that animal was one of very few things he held some actual affection for, and it had caught him completely by surprise. He wouldn't be stupid about whatever decision he made, no matter what, but he knew he had lost ground, and probably badly.

He hadn't expected Reno's comments to cause quite the discomfort they did in their host. Negotiations--bribery only being a somewhat underhanded form thereof--were a game in which any good politician was well-versed, whether or not it was regularly practised. Rufus had made a mistake, but he knew full well that he had and Reno had helped to cover for it. Red XIII, on the other hand, seemed to have come in not fully understanding the rules. Watching him back away as he did came close to inspiring a smile of a different sort.

At Red's signal that he could go, Dark Nation trotted across the room and nuzzled against Rufus' shoulder lightly (depositing black hairs in the weave of his master's white jacket--Rufus was going to have to get used to that again, wasn't he?) before sitting again at Rufus' side. Rufus brushed a hand along the animal's back, feeling rather pleased, though he was careful to control any display of emotion this time around.

"Thank you, then," he remarked almost cautiously, though his tone was relatively neutral. Despite the obvious victory in Red having handed him Dark Nation, he wasn't at all certain what the Guardian's next move would be.

Sorry for the delay, really busy the last couple of days! D:

[realflashy]

At the first stutter, the Turk knew he'd earned himself a victory. Blackmail was normal, blackmail was nearly procedure, was there really a need for apology?

There was an ounce of surprise in the way a thin red eyebrow rose, skeptical at best, as if it were all a joke. He almost laughed at himself then. No, this type didn't joke like that. It was borderline pathetic how easily both of them, Red and Rufus, had let themselves slip and be caught off guard. He supposed a sensitive subject was a sensitive subject, but control was vitally important at all times.

"Heartwarmin', I'm sure," he supplied, voice anything but hostile as he shrugged easily, turning pointedly and directing his next words to Rufus, "But time is of the essence, and all that good stuff."

The feral grin that unfurled slowly across his face was the tiniest slip of control that he allowed himself. He'd let Rude and Tseng keep their stoicism.

Teeth bared, it was his own, purposeful, display of weaponry - his verbal arsenal. The Turks were much more than just extra bodies to be thrown in front of the President, more than just hired hands. A large part of their job description was hugely ambiguous, and of course included mastery of combat skills; however, a large part of it was rapid thinking, recognizing signs of contempt, learning how to twist arms with words when they could get away with it. And as much as Reno enjoyed the hit and run aspect of everything physical the Turks offered, this was just as fun.

Chuckling lightly and shaking his head, he only glanced down as Dark Nation joined them on their side of the room, and took a step back, assuming his stance once more. He'd made his own mark and cleared his own space, now he could stand comfortably.

hah! got it! *whew*

[guardian_moon]

These people, Red thought as Reno spoke, they are so different from me. Perhaps, and he pulled his gaze from the tapestry, transferring it instead to his guests, where it became scornful, it is some flaw inherent in the species, that they should consistently behave so. A theory that held water like a sieve, but it was moments like this, when Red was faced with its origins, that he found he could believe it anyway. Reno had snapped him out of his resolve, Reno had snapped him back into it.

The grin he returned to the red-head was not feral. It did not need to be, when it bared incisors the length of a man's finger. But he let it fade as his annoyance shifted inward. Standing, he padded first to drop the brown and blue tapestry back over the hole in the wall, then returned to the table, and sat once more across from Rufus.

You are a fool, Nanaki, he thought to himself, meeting Rufus' stare with his single yellow eye and holding it. Rufus ShinRa plays this game in his sleep, while you must struggle for every minor victory, and you toss away an advantage immediately after learning that it is greater than you knew.

Yet Dark Nation's black shape loomed at Rufus' shoulder, a shadow in Red's periphery, and a reminder that the right thing and the correct thing were not always one in the same.

A fool, perhaps, but what is wisdom worth, if it leads you to desert the beliefs you hold most dear?

He would do this his own way, then.

"You are most welcome, Rufus ShinRa. Happiness has become far too rare, these days, for anyone to stand in its way." I do not forget, nor mistake, what I saw, President. "Especially those of us at the top of the world." His eye narrowed just a fraction. "Especially when recovery is our shared goal." And he let that sit for a moment, before turning once again to regard Reno.

Time to bluff. But only a little. "Ah, I see. I will walk you out, if you must be going," he offered pleasantly. "Perhaps we will find another time for you to hear my offer, then, though I fear, with both our schedules fast filling up, it shall not be as easy to arrange as this. But please," and he went so far as to stand again, "do not let me delay you from your other business."

[mydarknation]

Rufus listened quietly, offering a small nod at the words, though his expression remained stoic. Red XIII had seen what he had seen, and Rufus knew it. That didn't mean he was going to give him anything else to work with. He also saw through the bluff in the words that followed.

"Clearly," he commented pointedly when Red had finished speaking, "you have something you want from me." Something, it would seem that the Guardian wanted rather badly if he was attempting to make some sort of back up offer. It did seem that their host was not entirely ignorant of the way this game worked, even if he seemed to back away from it rather easily. Of course, now Rufus was a step ahead of him, and highly unlikely to be surprised a second time no matter what offer Red presented him.

"Tell me what it is, and then we can talk about what you might have to offer in return."

[realflashy]

An inherent flaw in the species indeed. But when the only ones of a species you interacted with were ones that killed their own kind without a qualm, without a second thought, perhaps it wasn't the most fair representation. An extreme representation, perhaps, but most certainly not one to base everyone. That wasn't fair. Then again, nothing was fair. And though ShinRa was a dying breed, on the edge of extinction, they knew how to hold the upper hand. Or at least they had.

Reno was too far in to let it all slip away now, despite all odds. If they had to sit in the shadows until then, so be it. It was better than sitting in the open and being blinded by the sun.

Meeting the Guardians gaze squarely, he let his expression slip back into carefully guarded blankness. Rufus had to deal with this now, he needed to - after all, that was what this was all really about. They'd come out of their way to the Canyon, there was no way Rufus would just accept that as that and leave. Reno wouldn't admit to his curiosity, but he had no doubt that Rufus was still interested in why Red had called him out.

[guardian_moon]

Nanaki met Reno's stare, and offered the Turk a slow nod before turning his attention back to Rufus.

"When I have said my piece we shall discuss how we might both benefit from any arrangement made." He turned to pace again, not with frustration but with thought, though his resemblance to a caged lion was uncanny.

"I do ask," he continued at length, "that you afford me the simple courtesy of your respect, as I have given you mine: I would not have asked you here if I was not certain of my own ability to meet your skills. Our aims differ fundamentally," he shot a look at Dark Nation, "but I am not here to be trod upon."

The thickly layered rugs made no noise beneath his paws as he continued pacing, and he let the stony silence of the hall linger as he contemplated once again where to begin. High upon the wall, the light of the sun splashed between the stone markers of the coyote and the griffin. It was still early.

"I am," he began softly, "the very last of my kind." He paced two more laps before speaking again, gravelly voice low enough that Dark Nation turned his ears as thought Red had growled. "It is not a particularly optimistic distinction, as you might guess, and I shall bear it for..." his tail flicked, flame rustling quietly, and his steps slowed. His gaze was far away, moving briefly over an internal scene, his head down as measured steps took him to the end of his circuit, and he came to a stop without turning to continue. "A long time."

Then he shook himself and snorted a soft, black laugh. He resumed pacing. "Ah, but you do not care about that, and I am boring you, and wasting your time.

"The point is that, as the dead return, and both the lost and the left once again meet upon this plane... hmph." He stopped once more and faced Rufus fully, expression sardonic. "I don't presume to say there are many you miss, President ShinRa," he drawled, and resumed pacing, leaving the statement to interpretation. "But for me, you see... this is an opportunity. One that I recognize, and cannot ignore. This anomaly," he continued, and his voice gathered strength as his tail swayed behind him and his step quickened, "it could save the Guardians."

Altering his course, he came once again to the table, but did not sit. "I have already invested much personal effort into finding and tracing any signs that one of my kin has returned. Only one sighting of a 'large, intelligent, cat-like creature,' as your race describes mine, has panned out..." he sat again, and the swaying of his tail slowed as his ears dipped. His gaze drifted to Dark Nation. The creature's eyes were on Red, and blinked when the Guardian met the stare. "I'm afraid it was not your friend I was hoping to find." He sighed, and added without malice, "I am glad some good has come of my work though.

"The fact remains, however, that my search has been unsuccessful, and I cannot take any more time away from my duties. And..." his stare returned to Reno, "my people do not possess the information-gathering skill that yours do." No one heard more than a Turk.

"And so this is what I ask of you, Rufus ShinRa: that you and your people seek out sign of my kind, and forward anything and everything relevant found directly to me."

(( ooc: it's official-- this muse is really, really, really chatty -.-;; ))

[mydarknation]

Rufus listened to the speech silently, affording the Guardian the respect he had asked for. Let it not be said that Rufus ShinRa was discourteous, in this situation, if not in any number of those previous. Not with the eyes of the world on him, judging his character. But neither let it be said that he gave anything easily. He would listen, and then they would negotiate, this time on fairer terms. His hand brushed idly over the fur of Dark Nation's neck as the other spoke, and the animal leaned just slightly into the touch.

"It is not an unreasonable request," he commented simply once Red had gotten around to making his point. The reasoning was certainly sound, as had just been quite sufficiently explained. Rufus, of course, had no particular stake in whether a race on the edge of extinction died out or not, but it was something to consider nonetheless if for no other reason that it might at some point give him something to claim to the press. Plus the Guardian had already made it clear that he had something else up his sleeve to offer in exchange.

"I will consider it," he remarked lightly, his expression giving away nothing. "And now I believe it's my turn to ask how such a proposal would benefit me."

[[OOC: And we love him for it.]]

[realflashy]

Many people skim over the words when they read - either because they're in a hurry, not that interested, or just watching out for keywords or phrases of interest. After years of listening to political run-around and either boring himself to death or zoning out completely and being caught off guard and misinformed (where much of the accusations that he was irresponsible came from when he was younger), Reno had just started to skim verbal conversations. It had gotten easier and easier every time, and he had it down to an art: carefully masked expression, leaning forward on his toes with the appearance of total alertness and engagement in the topic at hand. He was really only half listening, though, looking forward but not really seeing what was ahead of him, scoping out the rest of the room with the every handy peripheral vision.

Over the years people had tried to convince him it was just an awful habit of selective hearing and blamed him of only snapping to attention when something that interested him came up. They could suck it.

Either way, it wasn't until Red said information that sharp eyes focused on the Guardian, only to find himself being watched. Information-gathering skills, he mused silently, chuckling quietly to himself, If that's what you want to call it, more power to you. ... He really had to stop this sudden taking to the melodramatic.

Waiting until Rufus had spoken, the Turk took a step forward, hand raised casually in a quick request of permission to speak. Waiting for that permission, however, he did not.

"D'you have any idea why some of the people who're comin' back have no memories of past events - be it world-wide or individual memories - when others do?" he began, an eyebrow quirked in interest. As much as this was really Elena's question, the more he thought about it the more he wondered. "What if they've forgotten? You know, since we're on the topic and all."

By Leo Tolstoy. Guest appearance by Sudden and Dramatic Subject Change Right at the End There

[guardian_moon]

Red chose to let Rufus' question linger, instead turning his attention to the Turk with his hand in the air as though begging a question of a teacher. It was an amusing parallel.

"Mm," was all he said for a moment. This was not information he could hold hostage, tempting as that was, since all Reno had to do was poke his head out the door and ask the next Cosmoan to happen by for the answer, or at least a passable variation thereof-- and quite frankly, Red did not want any Turks "asking around" his people.

"The short answer, Reno, is that I have too many ideas. The difficulty lies in separating fact from speculation. The abridged answer... is one of very educated guess-work and broad strokes.

"The nature of this upheaval appears to be chaotic, inherently illogical and disordered. Who is returned, when they died, how much they remember... it all seems to lack rhyme or reason. I will say this: from my observations, those who lived more in tune with the planet seem most likely to retain their living memories, often up to and including their own deaths. That theory, however, is full of exceptions, and depends a great deal upon the definition of 'in tune with the planet.'" With a careful paw, Red reached over the table and maneuvered the specially designed decanter, a very squat device of fired clay glazed blue like the heart of a flame, over to the low bowl before his place, and tilted out a bit of the clear liquid for himself. He took several slow laps.

"More intriguing," he continued a moment later, nudging the decanter back to the center of the table with his nose, with a slight nod for his guests to help themselves should they please, "are the very, very few who recall events which took place while they were dead. None of these individuals are able to say why or how that is. Several of them are here, working (irregularly, unfortunately, but they do have new lives to build) with a smattering of the world's elite, from neurologists and psychiatrists to seers and mystics and countless occupations and callings in between, to see what information can be retrieved, but...." He would not speak of those doubts to the ShinRa. Instead, he tilted his head to peer into the swaying flame of his tail, single eye narrowing as his voice turned more thoughtful.

"It is possible that each and every one of the Returned subconsciously possess such complete knowledge. There have been cases where individuals with limited memory suddenly, weeks after their reappearance, recall the entirety of their lives with... what can be called frightening clarity. Far beyond what they could have learned from others. Perhaps, given time, others, too, will recall... more.

"Or," he continued, voice darkening as his thoughts began to flow in ten different directions at once, none of them good, "perhaps the 'distribution' of memory is not so chaotic a process. Perhaps it is all very deliberate. The planet has already proven to possess a certain species of sentience, has it not? So the question becomes, 'is the planet doing this? Or is it something, someone, else?"

A moment of disturbed contemplation of a familiar subject, then Nanaki sighed.

"The men who might have been able to tell us, however, have not returned to life. Professors Bugenhagen and Gast, two of the original four founders of Cosmo Manufacturing Works... later known as ShinRa Electric Company. I have Bugenhagen's personal writings here, as well as many of Gast's. I believe they contain the answers to your question, Reno, and to many more. Or at the very least, they will tell us where to start looking for those answers. But... to say there is much to sort through is an appalling understatement."

Finally, his gaze returned to Rufus. Bugenhagen's Library, Red felt, may not appeal to Rufus so much as other things Red had to offer. Should that be the case, it would work better as a deal-closer. For now, the trick to make the other person name a price, but that would lead to endless back and forth, Red saw. Rufus was aware of the library. If he was interested, he'd bite. If not, he'd push for something else. Opening bid: 100,000 gil.

"To your benefit, Rufus ShinRa... I offer you my public support."

(( ooc: annnnnnnd CUT! >.< ))

I'm sorry this took me forever and a day.

[mydarknation]

Rufus listened with polite attention to the somewhat long-winded answer to the question Reno had asked. He noted the speech held some valuable bits of information for his purposes as well, marking access to Bugenhagen's and Gast's writings among possible benefits to making a friend of the Guardian. Of course, as Red had said, there was sure to be quite a lot of information in those writing that failed to be of interest in the current situation, but it certainly had the potential to give some clue as to the reasons people were suddenly coming back to life. Of course, Red XIII seemed to have a vested interest in not finding a way to cease that phenomenon just yet. This would be a discussion for later.

"Public support," Rufus repeated, seeming to consider the proposal. He decided that he had little idea of what such a vague statement meant when put in specifics. He was certain that the Guardian was in a position of some import, and that it would be to his benefit to have a voice on his side in Cosmo Canyon, but again details eluded him. "I don't doubt that it would be a benefit, but I hope you'll forgive me for being unfamiliar with your particular realm of influence." He paused briefly, watching to measure whether Red had understood the unspoken question--What are you really offering? "Feel free to elaborate."

He knew such a comment would easily invite another rambling spiel, but then he was beginning to suspect the Guardian simply enjoyed talking. Thankfully much of what he said was useful in one way or another.

[[OOC: No short Red post for j00~~~~ Hahahaha.]]