"Shit, I've never felt death so close, not even when..." Barret muttered, his voice trailing off as if he'd slipped too far into mory. His jaw tightened, and he cut himself off abruptly, realizing he was about to reveal sothing far too personal, sothing that belonged buried in the past. "..."
Cloud straightened, brushing dust and gri from his clothes with an absent, almost irritated motion. His frown deepened as he replayed the fight in his head. "That thing… it wasn't like any enemy I've ever faced before. It wasn't just its programming. Its defenses were layered, designed for resilience. Shinra's getting frighteningly close to creating sothing that could be considered absolute defense… an unbreakable wall."
Barret let out a slow breath through his teeth, shoulders tense. "And that's bad news for us. Damn bad. But we don't have the luxury to worry about that right now. We've still got a job to finish."
His eyes flicked nervously toward the remains of the robot. Relief washed over him when he noticed the machine hadn't exploded in its final monts. Instead, it had co apart, its body broken into scattered pieces, wires and plating strewn across the floor like the carcass of so tal beast. "All that's left now is to plant the bomb and make sure this place goes down with the rest of Shinra's junk."
Cloud knelt by the wreckage, his gaze scanning over the scraps with the practiced eye of soone who knew the worth of every part.
He pushed aside twisted steel, cables, and fragnts of armor, searching for salvageable components. But frustration soon showed on his face. "Tch… figures. The valuable parts must've been in the central core. My last strike completely obliterated it." He gave the pile a sharp kick, then crouched again, examining a large plate of tal. "These defensive parts are still intact, but they're oversized and way too heavy to carry out of here. Useless."
Barret's patience snapped. "What the hell are you doing? Quit poking around and plant the damn bomb already!" he barked, his booming voice echoing harshly in the tallic chamber. He hurled the explosive package at the blond rcenary. Cloud caught it effortlessly, his expression unchanging as he looked back at him, eyes unreadable.
"What?" Barret demanded, unnerved by the silence.
Cloud tilted his head slightly, frown still etched on his face. "Why don't you do it?"
Barret stiffened, arms crossing over his chest as he glared. "I'm paying you, ain't I? So quit the lip and get it done!" His voice ca out rougher than intended, more defensive than commanding. Deep inside, though, he knew the truth—he couldn't bring himself to set the device. mories of fire, screams, and the unbearable weight of responsibility pressed against his chest. A trauma best left unnad. He swallowed it back with anger.
Cloud sighed, long and resigned, as if the exchange had been more tiring than the battle itself. He turned toward the console, his movents precise and calm. Kneeling, he affixed the bomb, tapped in the activation sequence, and set the tir.
A chanical voice rang through the chamber, cold and rciless.
[Bomb planted. Ti to explosion… 30 minutes.]
Cloud rose and cast one final look around the ruined chamber, his hand drifting toward the hilt of his sword out of habit. "All right. That's done. Now we head back. And let's hope this rusting tomb doesn't throw any more of Shinra's damn robots in our path." His voice carried the weight of exhaustion, but also a simring edge of readiness.
Barret gave a sharp nod, though the tension in his shoulders didn't ease. Together, they turned toward the exit, their footsteps echoing into the silence of the lifeless factory.
---
"This is it?" muttered a middle-aged man with carefully grood blond hair and a matching mustache. His voice was low, almost contemplative, as his eyes followed the pulsing red alarm light flashing across the console of one of his reactors. His tone carried the frustration of a man who had been caught off guard, yet didn't want to admit it. "It seems we underestimated the efforts of that group of rebels…"
"Chairman, we have so bad news!" wheezed a panicked voice. An obese, bald man waddled into the room, dressed in a mustard-yellow business suit that strained at the seams. His round face was slick with sweat, his voice high with fear. "We've just received word—one of our reactors is on the verge of exploding! Sabotage, outside intervention!"
"I know, Palr. I already saw the ssage," President Shinra replied with a deep frown, his eyes narrowing. "Avalanche… They're proving to be far more troubleso than I had originally imagined."
Palr wrung his hands nervously, but pressed on, his expression growing even more strained. "The bad news doesn't end there, my lord. Subject W has been sighted… and he was seen moving with Avalanche!"
"Subject W?" Shinra's voice sharpened, and he stroked his chin slowly as he turned his gaze away from the console. Surprise flashed briefly in his eyes, quickly replaced by calculation. "Interesting. It's been a long ti since he revealed himself to us. I was under the impression he had left Midgar altogether. For him to still be here… well, that changes things. Perhaps that also explains why our n have failed to bring the girl…"
"I see Palr has already updated you on our setbacks, President," ca a deep, commanding voice. A middle-aged man with jet-black hair entered, his large fra filling the doorway. He was dressed in a green military uniform, the dals across his chest gleaming faintly in the light.
"Oh, Heidegger," Shinra greeted, forcing a smile, his eyes narrowing with amusent. "I suppose you've co to explain the annihilation of your latest 'project.'"
Heidegger's face didn't so much as twitch. Instead, he straightened and responded with an edge of pride. "Yes, it was destroyed, but not without result. The data we collected, even in failure, was extraordinary. Before Subject W destroyed the core, we learned much. We are now closer than ever to perfecting a magical barrier system."
Before Shinra could respond, a sharp, sultry voice cut through the air, dripping with disdain. "You're giving yourself far too much credit, Heidegger. It wasn't your toys that achieved anything worth noting. It was my little ones. Your war machines are nothing but a drain on Shinra's resources."
Scarlet revealed herself then, stepping into the room with calculated grace. She was a striking woman—long blond hair cascading in waves, erald-green eyes gleaming with intelligence and cruelty, and a figure accentuated by a tight-fitting red gala dress that shimred under the fluorescent lights. Every step she took carried confidence and danger.
"Shouldn't you be in your quarters, coming up with a new strategy to capture Subject W?" Heidegger sneered, lips curling into a mocking smile. "I've never understood your obsession with that SOLDIER."
Scarlet scoffed, brushing a strand of hair from her face with deliberate care. "Then you're even more foolish than I thought. Subject W isn't just another SOLDIER, Heidegger. He is the pinnacle of human design. Superior even to Sephiroth. He resists Mako corruption naturally, his body adapted flawlessly to the Jenova experints, and unlike other specins, he suffered no mutations, no degradation. He is the perfect biological weapon." Her voice grew sharper, more fervent as she continued. "Not only does he wield every weapon with deadly proficiency, but his genetic code is priceless. With him, we could create not just one, but hundreds of Sephiroths… if only we could secure won with the proper compatibility."
For once, the room fell silent. Even Heidegger, who had little love for Scarlet's arrogance, did not dismiss her words. He had seen the reports, after all. Palr fidgeted nervously, while Shinra's frown deepened.
Heidegger's mind replayed the files. He knew Subject W—better known as Cloud Strife—had shattered every entry requirent for SOLDIER. He had even surpassed Sephiroth's legendary record during the Mako infusion trial. Cloud's raw talent was unique, undeniable. He displayed natural mastery of Materia, an adaptability that allowed him to switch tactics and spellwork instantly. And that was before Nibelheim—before his near-death encounter with Sephiroth, his brutal injuries, and his subsequent imprisonnt under Hojo's care. Subject W had survived Hojo's experints, endured exposure to the Jenova Project, and erged without the twisted mutations that claid others. That alone made him an anomaly.
"None of his genetic material was preserved in the facility?" Shinra asked at last, his frown darkening. He had never been briefed on the finer details—only that Subject W represented a dangerous, valuable anomaly. But the way his subordinates were speaking, it was clear this man was vital to Shinra's future.
Scarlet's temper flared. She stomped a stiletto against the floor, her elegant mask cracking. "We have samples, but they're useless! Sothing in his genetic code resists analysis. Even Hojo, with all his brilliance, can't decipher it. It's as if his very DNA is… shielded."
"In other words," Shinra mused aloud, his eyebrow arching, "our only option is to capture him alive. To make use of him directly, as a pure source."
"Exactly!" Scarlet snapped, her voice rising as her erald eyes blazed. "That's why I've been searching for him relentlessly! But none of these incompetent fools will provide with any intelligence on his whereabouts!"
Shinra turned his gaze on the others. They shifted uneasily but responded in turn.
"He's not in my departnt," Palr stamred, shaking his head vigorously.
"My subordinates forward every scrap of intel to Shinra's mainfra," Heidegger added coolly, though his eyes flicked toward Scarlet. "Executives can access it freely. I haven't hidden a thing. In fact, I even drafted a proposal last month to coordinate with Scarlet to track him down."
Scarlet's eyes narrowed dangerously, her lips curling. "That's a lie. You never contacted . Not once."
"Check your inbox. Or your trash," Heidegger said with a shrug, feigning innocence.
Snarling, Scarlet stord to a nearby terminal, her fingers flying across the keys. Monts later, her face twisted with fury. "There's nothing here. No record at all. And the system logs everything we delete. Soone has tampered with our databases!"
President Shinra's eyes flicked from one subordinate to the next, his expression unreadable. They all knew what that ant.
Heidegger moved beside Scarlet, his brow furrowing as he checked for himself. To his shock, his supposed ssage was gone. "Impossible," he muttered, accessing his account. Yet, to his horror, he found his proposal sitting there intact, as though mocking him. "See? It's right here!"
Scarlet's fury boiled over. She stomped again, her voice rising. "This is ridiculous! Soone's toying with us!"
Shinra leaned back in his chair, a cold amusent playing across his face, though inside, irritation gnawed at him. If soone had breached Shinra's executive systems, then every one of them was vulnerable. And worse, misinformation could have been poisoning their plans for weeks—months, even.
"It's obvious," Scarlet hissed. "Soone has infiltrated Shinra's network. And the only way that's possible is if they understand it from the inside. Which ans…"
"We've got a rat," Heidegger growled, his fist tightening. "At the very least, soone in middle managent has been feeding false data. Our operations could already be compromised. Every plan we've made could be dood before it even begins."
The air thickened with silence. Then President Shinra's patience snapped. His fist slamd against the desk, rattling glasses and scattering papers. His eyes glowed with fury. "Find the traitor. Make them suffer. And scour every byte of our system for corruption. Any trace of misinformation must be corrected. I want results—and I want them imdiately!"
"Understood!" the executives barked, snapping to attention. Without another word, they hurriedly withdrew, leaving Shinra alone in his office, his scowl deepening as the echo of their retreating footsteps faded into the sterile silence.
-
NEW WORLD - FINAL FANTASY VII ( AFTER THIS - DRAGON BALLS ]
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