Final Fantasy VII : The Final Pledge

Chapter 3

Rufus Shinra had not caused us any major problems ever since the incident of Kadaj and his gang. We were all mad at him for keeping Jenova cells and eventually showing it off to Kadaj which caused all the mess. Even though he was helping the World Regenesis Organization before, I could never trust him. He once was helping Avalanche too, but still turned on us the moment he got the power. With all these, the past was in the past and we did not want any more wars. We promised not to cause him problems as long as he finds an alternative way to provide energy for Midgar. We did not trust him, but it was better than having another battle.

Barrett was at their tail. Everywhere Rufus sent his men, Barrett was there. No one complained, so he kept doing that. Of course, Rufus did not like the idea of being followed or ordered around. He was the son of that old fox after all. But he did not mind us overlooking the matters in his hands. We knew that he had no plans of renovating the old Shinra company, and that was good. It was too ruined to be fixed and the only thing it was good at, was to suck the mako energy from the planet. He left the company as it was and was looking for something else.

The huge building of Shinra in the centre of Midgar was not the only place which was left abandoned after all the battles. We all knew that Hojo, with the help of the late Shinra, had built secret labs in different places. Though, when Hojo died, the exact locations of the labs were gone with him. For the first few months after the battle, Rufus sent his Turks to find out anything related to Hojo. But the madman knew how to keep secrets and have them die with him. After a few months, running out of budget, Shinra dropped the project. 

But there is always a way to fix the problem, I thought. I planned to go to Hojo's main lab in the 65th floor of the abandoned building and see if I could get any kind of access to the information I was looking for. It seemed simple, except the building was not as abandoned as I expected it to be.

there were three entrances to the building and all of them were guarded by Shinra's forces. I had not heard about it and did not like what I was seeing. I took a photo of them and sent it to Barrett to see if he knew or had any idea of why the ruins were guarded. His immediate response showed that he knew nothing about it either. I did not care if they were guarding the place, but Rufus had a reason for whatever he was doing. Considering that there was nothing left there, it seemed pointless to protect it. Unless there was something there.

After going around the building without attracting too much attention, I found out that the easiest way to go in was from the back gates, where the distance between the forces was more and I could knock them down silently. After finding the best place, and hitting the poor lads unconscious, I entered.

It was not my first time in this building yet it had changed. It was obvious that no one was around and it turned out the electricity didn't work when I tried the elevator. Hojo's labs were on the top floors if anything had remained from them. The thought of climbing 65 floors made my muscles itch, but there was no other way. I could use Fenrir, but it would make too much of a noise. I had to hurry before the forces found out I was there. I needed to get access to a network for information or find out where the other labs were.

A hand on my shoulder jolted me and my immediate response was to withdraw my sword and attack. Hopefully, before hurting her, Kayra dodged my sword smoothly. "What are you doing here?" I hissed. She smiled and pointed down to her feet. She was standing on some kind of skateboard with two big wheels on each side and a long handle to hang on to. "Jump up," she invited me. I looked at her suspiciously and realised that she was carrying an old-fashioned bow on her back and its shafts were placed by her hip. A small bag was around her waist and she also had small daggers around her thighs. This girl had come for a fight, I thought.

I got on the board and put my feet next to hers while grabbing the handles in my hands right next to where she was holding them. It was camped, but a better idea than climbing 65 floors on foot.I could feel her back on my chest and could smell her sweet perfume. awkwardly, I tried to keep my distance without losing my balance. Using the small machines, we climbed the stairs. 

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