The Good Life: Road Trip with the Boys (ch. 98) (Patreon)

“How strange for us to be part of the same mission,” Sephiroth noted, a light smile tugging at his lips as he looked to the closest friends he had. The only friends he had. Angeal and Genesis both stood, waiting for the man that they would be escorting, but they also wore small smiles, appreciating the rarity. 

“Our mission must be an important one if the three of us are to make sure his head remains on his shoulders," Genesis said, pushing back his light red hair with a hand. “One would think a single First Class SOLDIER would be enough to protect a bumbling scientist.” 

“Zack speaks well of him. Most of the lower classes do,” Angeal defended their charge. 

“That's because he's not Hojo. Anyone would be better in comparison,” Genesis dismissed any praise out of hand. Sephiroth's smile tightened -- while Dr. Waterloo had taken over the medical examinations for the lower class SOLDIERS, First Class remained Hojo's responsibility. He had such an examination before this mission, and the aches still lingered despite his enhanced regeneration. Not true pain, but the phantom of it.

Jealousy wasn't something that Sephiroth found that he often felt, but he felt it most acutely when he overheard the SOLDIERs of Second and Third Class comparing which type of candy they got after a painless examination. 

Still, he could not utter such thoughts out loud. “The mission is of vital importance if we are being recalled from Wutai together," he interjected before the debate could spiral. “The Board of Directors wouldn't send us on a frivolous pursuit when we are needed elsewhere.” 

Genesis, however, always needed to have the last word. “I'd more suspect that they want us close at hand to protect their hides from Wutai assassins,” he voiced, crossing his arms. “They know they've lost the war, so they've resorted to terrorism and guerilla warfare.” 

Sephiroth couldn't quite dismiss that point. Wutai had steadily lost territory for years, but in the past year, their actions well behind the battle lines had increased. Targeting vital infrastructure, both military and civilian, high ranking assassinations, industrial sabotage… in truth, Wutai had managed to inflict more damage upon Shinra in the past year than they had in the entirety of the war before. 

‘Another one of my failures,’ Sephiroth quietly lamented. He obeyed every order to the letter, but there was a nagging feeling that he could have done more. Something to end this war faster. And now… as much as he was glad to see his most trusted friends once more, he truly wondered if this was the best use of his time. He could be ending the war for good, uniting the world under Shinra, and there would be peace. 

“It is not our place to question our mission, Genesis,” Angeal gently chided. “We will do as we are told. As our honor demands.” 

Genesis didn't disagree, but he still needed the last word, “‘The world is a comedy to those who feel, a tragedy to those who think.’” He quoted Loveless, as he was wont to do. Angeal smiled lightly, letting their friend soothe his pride before the three of them turned to the sound of an elevator bringing their charge to the elevator pad.

Sephiroth wasn't at all sure what to make of Dr. Waterloo. From the very first time he saw the man, he had noticed something… unexplainable about him. It was in the way he moved. 

There were many ways to identify a SOLDIER -- the most common was the Mako glow in their eyes, but another was in how they moved. Those with super human strength possessed a… fluid grace that unenhanced soldiers lacked. It was a subtle thing, but evident when one knew how to look for it. Dr. Waterloo had that grace, telling Sephiroth that he was physically enhanced. Yet, there was no Mako glow in his eyes. 

He greeted them all with an easy smile, and despite his reservations, Sephiroth suspected he knew why he was so well liked by the lower class SOLDIERs. “I'm sure you know all about me because of the briefing, and I know all of you because of your fame -- but it seems quite rude to not introduce myself. My name is Lawrence Waterloo. I enjoy spiced tea for breakfast, experimenting with Materia and Mako, and my ideal day is one where I discover something new and exciting.” 

As he uttered the greeting, he offered a hand and Sephiroth gently shook it as he struggled to find a response. He volunteered information and he felt obliged to reciprocate, but… what did he enjoy? What was his ideal day? What did he enjoy for breakfast? “I am Sephiroth. I… eat rations? And reading?” Mission reports, mostly. And briefings. 

The stilted response did not diminish the easy grin and Sephiroth was assured that he hadn't made a fool of himself. 

“Angeal,” his friend introduced himself, clasping hands with the doctor. “I enjoy a quiet morning with tea, and my ideal day is seeing the lower classes make progress with their training.” 

“Genesis. I quite dislike tea, but any day that I read Loveless is a good one,” Genesis replied with a drawl in his voice, not shaking his hand. 

Their answers made his feel inadequate, but Sephiroth wasn't sure what other answers he could have given. From the moment of his birth, he had been under the care of Hojo. Every meal, he ate calorie rich nutrient bars designed for a SOLDIER diet. When he wasn't on a mission, he was preparing for one -- either by reading reports or training in the simulator. 

Dr. Waterloo accepted the answers readily, “Nice to meet you all. I'll be in your care for the next month or so,” he said, giving a pleasant smile before they headed into the helicopter. It was a rather large one designed for troops deployment, telling Sephiroth that they were expected to retrieve something from at least one of their destinations. What that something was, it hadn’t been included in the briefing. Nor did it particularly matter. Such things were not his concern, only that the object was retrieved and delivered to Shinra. 

The helicopter readied itself and Sephiroth watched the doctor settle into his seat, setting a briefcase by his feet and immediately undoing the top button of his dress shirt. He was curious, despite himself -- a year into his career at Shinra, he had been granted a prestigious position and a guard consisting of three First Class SOLDIERS. President Shinra clearly had high expectations. 

“Our first destination will be Cosmo Canyon,” he informed them over the whirling of the blades. Sephiroth felt a gentle bank as the helicopter took off. “There is someone that I want to talk to there -- Professor Geisel Bugenhagen. He has some pretty interesting theories about Mako. That, and it's going to be where we find our first treasure of this hunt.” 

The name was unfamiliar to him. Not to Angeal, however. “The planetologist?” 

“Treasure?” Genesis echoed, sounding far more interested in that. 

Dr. Waterloo opened his mouth to respond, only to be cut off by sudden movement. 

SOLDIERs perceived everything differently from unenhanced humans -- their senses were heightened to a razor's edge, and it was for that reason, the three of them were already responding when the helicopter shifted unnaturally without any warning. However, those senses would be worthless if they couldn't act upon the information, thus their reaction time was dramatically enhanced. Dr. Waterloo still thought he would be giving his explanation when Sephiroth grabbed hold of his dress shirt and lashed out with Masamune, severing the helicopter in half to give them an exit. 

Just as he did so, the side of the helicopter exploded inwards with fire and shrappenel. He recognized the make -- anti-SOLDIER weapons that Wutai had fielded for the past year, which dramatically slowed Shinra's advance to their final strongholds. They were the targets, Sephiroth realized in an instant, his friends shielding Dr. Waterloo as they erupted from the helicopter's other side. 

He smelled smoke, fire, and blood as the three of them fell down the side of Shinra tower, the burning wreckage of the helicopter drifting to the side and skating off the edge. As they fell, with Dr. Waterloo under one arm, his gaze darted to Genesis, the source of blood that he smelled. The shrapnel managed to embed itself into him -- one in his upper thigh, one near his hip, and a final piece sticking out near his shoulder. It was hardly the worst wounds that his friend had taken, but Wutai weapons were designed to fragment further with extraction. 

It was a cruel weapon. One designed especially to kill them, and to make it as painful as they could because of how their bodies regenerated. 

“They've grown bold,” Genesis noted as they fell a hundred feet down the side of the building. 

“They aren't done either,” Angeal added, their gazes honing in on an explosive bullet that was fired at them as they fell. Angeal darted forward, drawing his buster sword, and using it to block the bullet that struck with surprising force and the explosive impact of a grenade. “Genesis, Sephiroth!” 

No words were needed as Sephiroth tossed Dr. Waterloo to Angeal, who caught him. Meanwhile, at a curve of the building, both he and Genesis caught themselves on the side of it just long enough to use it as a launch pad, flinging themselves into two separate directions at the groups of would-be assassins. The trail of smoke from the rocket, which had been muffled by the sound of the helicopter blades revealed one group. Simply tracing where the bullet came from revealed the other. 

Sephiroth saw fear in the Wutai assassin's face as he arrived with the speed of a bullet, slamming through a window and, as he did, he beheaded the man who fired the explosive bullet. There were four others in the room -- two raised machine guns, but the other two were far more dangerous. One rushed at him with a vest of explosives hidden underneath his jacket- the smell gave it away. The other went to press a detonator.

His positioning was perfect, cutting the man with the explosive vest in half, severing the looping fuses around his chest. He then used the body to absorb the gunfire while he disarmed the man with the detonator. When the limb fell uselessly to the floor, he threw the bottom half of the corpse at one of the gunmen. With that moment of distraction, he slashed with Masamune, the long-bladed katana, killing the remaining three men. As well as cutting the curtain that was erected in the living room, revealing the bomb that belonged to the detonator. 

As well as the timer that was on it. 

0:01

Sephiroth reacted instantly, driving his blade forward -- in a fraction of a second, he identified the important components of the bomb, then severed them with a swing of his sword. 

0:00

The bomb failed to detonate, and he clenched his jaw. “How desperate of you,” he told the corpses, understanding this was merely a multi-stage assassination attempt on him and his friends. Information must have been leaked to the enemy. It had to come from a very high level as well. Something like this took time to set up. Even if three First Class SOLDIERs was simply too good an opportunity to pass up and they diverted whatever plan they did have for the sake of this assassination attempt, the Wutai warriors would still need to know about the mission and where they would depart. 

He turned away from the scene, though he was quick to send an informative text about the bomb and its location in a public housing building before launching himself to Genesis. He flew through the air, running along the edges of buildings and jumping off where needed. Within thirty seconds, he arrived at his destination to find that Angeal and Genesis were in a similar scene, also similarly handled. 

As he arrived, Genesis was smacking away Dr. Waterloo's hands as the man tried to inspect his wounds. “They'll heal on their own,” he insisted. 

“If you say so,” Dr. Waterloo relented, glancing up at him as he arrived. “Nice save,” he said, giving an enthusiastic thumbs up. 

‘How strange,’ Sephiroth thought to himself. Adrenaline had a unique smell that was completely absent in the doctor. When a person realized that they were in danger, adrenaline would surge in anticipation to escape or overpower that danger. The greater the fear or stress, the more adrenaline was released. 

Either Dr. Waterloo had such trust in them that he wasn't the slightest bit afraid, even when a missile struck the helicopter and they fell down a building… or he simply had no reason to be afraid at all. 

“But, if Genesis is alright… let's get this show on the road before Wutai can arrange another assassination attempt.” 

How strange indeed. 

…

The assassination attempt was by me, of course. A few Wutai assassins performing a deep strike into Midgar was the stuff of nightmares for those living there, believing that the war was a distant affair that they would never have to interact with directly. There was no risk, no danger, and I suspected that would play a large role in the negotiations to come. 

Which was something of a waste for me as Wutai made an excellent disruptive element, but I supposed I could make do with the eco-terrorists that were sure to come. 

But I got what I wanted out of the faux-assassination attempt. Planted a bit of evidence to remove a few problematic pieces from the board, convinced the President of my importance as it only took a nudge to spin the attack to be an attempt on my life rather than on the three SOLDIERs. And, most importantly of all, I had wounded Genesis. 

The wounds were festering, though he did everything in his power to hide them as we left Midgar via an armored car that was more of a tank. It had been a week since we set off to Cosmo Canyon, and his distress only increased with every passing day when the injuries didn't do as he said they would -- simply heal up on their own, leaving him as good as new. 

Hojo kept his notes pretty close to his chest, but there wasn't much that could be hidden from my Rooms these days. Reading his research papers was easy. Copying the data on his computers was simple. The one issue was that Hojo was a paranoid bastard and made sure all of his research was well hidden. I just needed to stir the pot a little bit for him to lead me right to the very illuminating sources of information.

“That's Cosmo Canyon, hm?” I mused, looking out at the Grand Canyon on steroids. Just as I had anticipated, the area was dense with Mako -- it revealed itself in the air with my Room, as the Canyon was a convergence point. Shinra had long since mapped the underground flow of Mako, and they tapped the biggest reservoirs of it with reactors. What flowed through the canyon was a major artery, but not worth the expense of exploiting. 

“What exactly are we looking for here?” Genesis questioned, crossing his arms over his chest, hiding the wound that still lingered at his shoulder. 

“Hm. I already found it,” I replied, hopping out of the vehicle. I had left my stuffy suit behind, replacing my attire with a vastly more comfortable Hawaiian-inspired shirt, cargo shorts, flip-flops, with the lab coat tossed over as it was apparently ‘mandatory attire.’ One downside for working with an evil megacorporation, I suppose. 

“Already?” Sephiroth seemed faintly surprised. And oh, boy -- Hojo's files on his masterpiece were illuminating. I knew Sephiroth was the ‘bad guy’, which made me want to recruit him for the sake of it, but I didn't expect it to be so easy. All I needed to do was give a little twist to Hojo's plan for my own ends. I felt bad for it, but I planned to make it up to Hojo eventually. After this little road trip, actually. 

“Hm. It's… that way,” I said, walking in a direction, and the three guards followed along. As one would expect, having localized omniscience made finding things within that range pretty easy. And while my research had taken my focus the past year, I hadn’t slacked on my training in adjusting to this new body of mine and discovering my new limits. 

Luckily, one of the things that I was looking for was in the same general place as the man that I wanted to speak to. The path to actually get to him was a winding path through several carved red mountains, and it was pretty inconvenient not to just teleport myself everywhere. The result was that long before we reached the town, runners had spotted us and warned them. I had to pretend ignorance, but such a thing couldn’t escape my guards.

The reaction was understandable, honestly. Shinra wouldn’t send SOLDIERs if there wasn’t trouble. 

At the base of a tall slope within the canyon, the town came into view, and beyond it, I saw the observatory. It was a rough-looking place, if I was being completely honest. Whereas Midgar was an urban hellscape, the poverty of the town could be felt in the ramshackled buildings made of old and salvaged wood from various mines that were long abandoned by Shinra.

The guards let us by without complaint, though they were visibly nervous. An attitude that was shared by the scant few hundred people who lived in the area. I paid it no mind, and my guards seemed quite used to the treatment. Our destination must have been obvious, as when we arrived at the observatory, the man I wanted to meet was there to greet us. 

Professor Geisel Bugenhagen. The man stood on an orb, blind as a bat, and looked like he was there to witness the dawn of time. Still, he greeted us with a bow of his head, “Such esteemed guests. I am honored that you would take such lengths to meet with me,” he said, and there wasn’t an ounce of doubt in his mind that we were, in fact, here to meet him. 

“Nice ta’ meetcha,” I greeted the man casually. “My name is Dr. Waterloo, a researcher of Mako and the Lifestream. I wanted to pick your brain on some theories,” I said, tossing on a smile that he couldn’t see, but seemed to sense as his own lips twitched. 

“There are few topics that I enjoy more! Please, right this way,” he said, making a gesture for us to follow. When the doors opened, I was struck by the scent of coffee, chalk, parchment, and ink. The welcome room of the Observatory had been completely co-opted into becoming a makeshift library with piles of books tacked up until they almost reached the ceiling, shelves overstuffed with them, and various blackboards with equations that would have made my head spin a few years ago. 

And from there… he gave exposition. 

Honestly, I kinda regretted my metaknowledge as he began to talk about the Lifestream and humanity's relationship with it. It all sounded absolutely fascinating, and the old man had a cadence that made you want to listen to him. He was a good teacher.

The issue was that I already knew everything that he had to say. The Lifestream was the Planet, and when a reactor sucked up Mako to power a light bulb, it was being powered by the soul of the dead. When a body died, it returned to the dirt, but the soul returned to the Lifestream. It was a rather unexpected downside of finding a world that I was able to recognize -- metaknowledge offered an advantage, but it was also major spoilers. 

At the very least, it seemed to be quite informative for the three members of SOLDIER. I could sense their interest and their unease with the idea that they were powering even their most basic technology with the souls of the dead, but I knew that none of them had it in them to rebel. At least, not at this stage. 

Sephiroth was a toy soldier who had never known anything outside of his strict upbringing. He couldn't even imagine a life outside of Shinra. It was a box that he wouldn't ever break out of on his own. 

Angeal? He viewed himself as proud and honorable, but it was… a samurai's type of honor. It was very… ‘Yes, my lord. I'll butcher these defenseless peasants for you -- however many as you want. My honor demands it.’ Morality didn't really factor into things for him. He sold his soul to Shinra, and so long as they pointed the way, he'd chop and butcher and slaughter for the sake of their profit margins. 

Genesis was the closest to breaking the chains that bound him. And it was why I chose him for this part of my plans. 

“The… degradation of the planet… you say that this is because of the Mako reactors,” Angeal said, and there was a guarded steel in his voice. He was conditioned to defend Shinra's honor. 

“The balance has been thrown off,” Geisel stated, not hiding his opinion. “The Lifestream, for the entirety of our history, has ebbed and flowed. Sometimes we pulled upon it more strongly than others, other times, in times of disaster, we returned more than we took. But for the first time in our history… we have harvested the Lifestream. I believe you three would understand what that means more keenly than others.” 

“For what reason?” Sephiroth questioned as I walked the observation room, pretending to listen with half an ear. All the while I paid attention to what more interested me -- it was no accident that the old man built the observation post. I knew nearby there were those talking dog things, one of which had been a companion in the game. They had a connection with the Planet, which was interesting, but less so than that ritual thing that they did to ‘appease’ it. 

Something that I was reading about in the old man's notes as he replied. 

“Are you not the ones that are called to answer unexplained monster migrations? Do you not defend settlers who have been forced to leave their homes as the soil suddenly refused to grow anything?” He questioned and I had to swallow a smile at the very loud silence the question left in its wake. He was trying to get them to think. And that wouldn't do at all. 

There would be a time and a place for them to break free of their molds, but it wasn't here and not now. 

I found what I was looking for -- the Huge Materia. 

From what I’d heard, the game treated them like rewards to be handed out for completing special missions, but after living in the world for a year… reality and gameplay wasn't a full one to one match. Huge Materia occurred in very specific circumstances -- highly dense Mako packing against itself to create what amounts to a kidney stone in the Lifestream. So, you could find them artificially in Mako reactors, or you could find the natural stuff in places like this. 

A natural one was worth millions of gil. Or more. They were kinda hard to put a price tag on account that Shinra snatched them up, at gun point if needed. So, it was no surprise that it was so well hidden. Not hidden enough, however. 

‘Yoink,’ I thought with a pleased smile, putting the Huge Materia somewhere where it could be ‘stumbled upon.’ And, just as Huge Materia formed… you also found the good stuff. 

Such as Summon Materia. 

Bahamut. 

I allowed my smile to grow a fraction as I looked to Genesis, feeling his indecision about what he’d just heard. He might have been close to some kind of revelation when I started to manipulate the air around him, denying him air and partially robbing him of what was already in his lungs. The effects were immediate when he suddenly swayed dangerously, something that wasn't missed by either of his two friends. 

“Genesis?” Sephiroth questioned, grabbing him as he swayed, only for his legs to fall out from underneath him. “Genesis!” He cried out, lowering him to the ground. As he did so, I ensured that the coat lapel that he was careful to never let fall slid to the side, exposing the wound that he had kept hidden. 

Sephiroth and Angeal were utterly baffled when they saw the gray, stone-like flesh that crawled over their friend, which they further exposed by tearing the shirt. They had no idea what they were looking at. Simply because they were never informed that their enhancements came with an expiration date… and to say nothing of the creative liberties Hojo took with enhancing them. And it was that which gave me all the leverage I could possibly need to get all of them right under my thumb where they belonged. 

I really had to fight the laughter that threatened to bubble up from my chest. 

They really made it too easy.