Woven Ties

Woven Ties


//

Cid found the location of the Shinra stragglers soon later. Yuffie, Nanaki and himself jumped aboard the Shera and took no time plotting a course for Edge. An hour or so later they found themselves on land, traveling through a particularly dead part of the growing town. There were no people in the back streets of Edge, but distant sounds of the town life floated about the air, reminding them they weren’t far from real civilization.

The Shinra – or ‘ex-Shinra’ – scientists were located in a large, bland building with tinted windows that rose from beneath the concrete and loomed ahead. It was shadowed by another building, but aside from the two the surrounding structures were smaller.

“Yep, definitely scientist pads,” Yuffie nodded, regarding the desolate location and the exterior.

They entered the building through the only large, thin door and stepped into a cooler-aired reception room. There were no chairs aside form the one the receptionist was obviously sitting on, and the only furniture was her large desk. The room was as bland and dark as the exterior, and the only spice of life was the lone plant pot sat on the corner to the right of the door.

The receptionist looked up from her blaring computer screen. Her large glasses made her eyes look wide, and her lack of surprise by the obviously rare guests left her with a bored expression as she studied the trio.

“Can I help you?” She asked.

“Yeah, who’s the head of the scientist team here?” Cid demanded.

The woman blinked. “I’m sorry, but do you have an appointment?”

“No,” Cid crossed his arms. “But I ain’t leavin’ ‘til I speak to someone.”

“Well, sir, you’re speaking to me,” the woman answered, “and I can’t let you through unless you have an appointment.”

Cid uncrossed his arms, about to get serious when Yuffie stepped forward.

“Do you know who this is?” She asked, faking disbelief and indicating a frowning Cid. “This is Cid Highwind. World’s best pilot and planet savior. I think it’s in your company’s best interest to address his demands, don’t you?” Yuffie folded her arms pompously and turned up her nose. Cid had to admit she could be one hell of an actress sometimes.

The receptionist blinked, her plucked eyebrows rose high. “Cid Highwind?” She looked him up and down. Obviously she’d heard of him. “One moment please.” She picked up the phone and got on to whoever was on the other end.

While she was speaking Cid inclined his head to Yuffie, folding his arms again. “What the hell was that?”

Yuffie smirked. “It worked, didn’t it?”

A few seconds later the receptionist placed the phone back down and informed them that someone would be coming to meet them. Satisfied, Cid, Yuffie and Nanaki waited patiently, and a few minutes later a hidden door to the left of the reception desk opened and out stepped a tall, thin man with dark, shortly cropped hair. Cid would have described him as a geek.

“Cid Highwind?” The man said. He was fairly young compared to all the other scientists they had encountered. On the lanky side, too. He held out a hand which Cid took instinctively. “My name is Dr. Tyme. I’m the head of this research laboratory. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Cid raised an eyebrow. Avalanche had indirectly put Shinra out of business, which had sent this man and his team out of work. He was surprised to hear Dr. Tyme was pleased to meet him. Perhaps now he could kill him. Hm.

“You formerly worked with Professor Hojo, right?” Cid asked.

“Yes. The team of scientists and researchers at this institution all worked with or alongside Professor Hojo.”

Cid narrowed an eye. “Are you still working with Hojo?”

Dr. Tyme frowned. “Hojo was killed by Avalanche. You yourselves confirmed his demise, correct?”

Cid jerked his head in answer. “Yeah…”

Yuffie stepped up. “Did you have anything to do with a ‘Chaos’ project?”

Cid glared at her for bringing the subject up. He didn’t exactly want to give this man information he might not know. Cid trusted no one, and trusted scientists even less.

Dr. Tyme shook his head, looking curiously confused. “No. What is that?”

But Yuffie sidestepped the question with another. “What area do you work in?”

The doctor studied her for a few seconds, and Cid seriously wondered if he would refuse to answer unless they explained what they were after. But Dr. Tyme’s suspicious expression lifted a little and he replied.

“I excel in Genetics.” And then the expression was back. “What exactly is your reason for coming here? Somehow I don’t think it’s to obtain information on me.”

Cid spoke before Yuffie could. “Do you know about Hojo’s work experimenting on humans?” He asks, his tone promising an explanation soon.

“Everyone knows about that,” Dr. Tyme answered.

Cid paused, deciding whether or not he should expose anything. But the man didn’t give off a threatening air. “Does the name Vincent Valentine sound familiar to you?”

Dr. Tyme’s eyes narrowed as he recalled the name. “He is a member of your team, yes? Avalanche?”

“Is that the only thing you know him from?” Yuffie asked as Nanaki remained quite beside her.

“Well, yes. Should I know him from something else?”

Yuffie shrugged. “I suppose not…”

“Why are you asking?” The doctor questioned, confused.

Yuffie glanced at Cid and Nananki before answering. “He’s been kidnapped…”

Professor Tyme tilted his head in vague sympathy but his expression clouded over as his advanced brain analyzed their questions and put together a possible conclusion. “You think my team could have kidnapped this Vincent? I may be a Genetic scientist like Hojo, but I was and never will be as twisted. Hojo’s warped sense of science is beyond even my understanding and moral.”

“You scientists will do anythin’ for results,” Cid accused.

Dr. Tyme shook his head, offended. “That is not true. This planet may have been cursed with a few bad cases, like Hojo, but not all of us are that rotten as to ignore our consciences. We have no reason to kidnap this Vincent Valentine and perform human experiments.” He paused. “Besides, Shinra no longer funds us. Such experiments would require vast amounts of resources and equipment – the likes of which we could not and would not afford.”

“I only have your word on that,” Cid grumbled.

Nanaki spoke up for the first time. “Are there any other scientists that worked for Shinra? Anywhere they could go specifically to perform such experiments?”

Dr. Tyme stared at Nanaki, both surprised and astounded by the large feline’s ability to speak. But a man in his profession was never surprised for long. He recovered, but continued to watch Nanaki with polite interest.

“I’m curious why you think this Vincent is worth experimenting on,” the doctor pondered aloud, “and what makes you think this is why he has been kidnapped…”

The trio of Avalanche members glanced at each other, sharing an unvoiced decision whether or not to give this man an answer. Cid was the one to break the silence.

“Vincent was a victim of Hojo’s madness,” he said, barely containing the bitterness in his tone. “He was one of the human experiments that bastard tortured.”

Dr. Tyme’s expression softened slightly. “I’m sorry to hear that. He must have suffered greatly. But I can’t help you…I don’t know that there is anybody who delves in human experimentation. Hojo was the main biogenetic. No other company could afford such a thing. Or indeed are capable.”

That was that.

//

Three days later there was still no leads. No clues. No nothing. Friends and WRO had scoured almost every main town on the planet. It had spread Reeve’s forces thin, but he deemed it an important search and he promised he would lend Avalanche any help they required at any time to find Vincent. They had questioned countless citizens if they had seen black-clad people, or any suspicious people. A few people had seen something odd, but it had turned out to be something completely irrelevant to their search.

Cid had finally returned to Rocket Town. His home welcomed him back with its warmth and familiarity, but it seemed so empty and lonely, despite Shera’s sympathetic presence and ever comforting words. He felt forlorn and distraught, feeling like he had failed Vincent and himself.

He returned to his room and closed the door, casting a look at the empty looking space. The nightstand caught his eye, where his model of the Highwind sat. He picked it up, recalling the night when Vincent had presented it to him. He ran his rough hands over the smooth detail, remembering their time in the real ship when they had saved the world. Back then they felt scared to be facing the end of the world – to be the only force that stood between doom and survival. It seemed so small and far away. Cid would gladly repeat those events again if only he could get back Vincent. It was thrilling to fight along side him, to witness his deceptively huge strength and skill in battle. Cid had enjoyed those times despite the fear. How he wished to see him fight again.

//

Shera’s boyfriend, Bertus, arrived the following day. According to her, Bertus could provide some man-to-man consolation. Cid wished he would fuck off.

He was sat at the table when the man came around. Shera greeted him with a kiss and then returned to her tea making, inviting him to take a seat. Bertus pulled up a chair beside Cid, who neither looked at him nor returned his greeting. The pilot wanted nothing more than to get out there and continue looking, but his energy had all but dwindled away in the past few days, sucked dry by the constant lack of news. He felt that suffocating feeling tighten his throat every hour, feeling some metaphorical clock ticking away somewhere. His one assurance throughout this week of hell was that Vincent was a strong, immortal being. He would survive until they found him…right?

Bertus was speaking, but Cid had filtered out his voice as he lost himself in his thoughts. Shera bustled about in the background, disappearing out of the door to fetch something. Bertus announced he would finish off the tea when the kettle whistled, and Cid vaguely felt his presence leave the table. A minute later the man returned, placing Cid’s drink down in front of him while he cradled his own. He pushed Shera’s to the center of the table, for wherever she would sit.

“The WRO are a capable team,” Bertus said into the silence. “I’m sure they’ll find something…”

He was, of course, referring to the search for Vincent. Cid didn’t appreciate his comment. For some reason his presence irritated him. He didn’t want company, especially from someone he barely knew.

Shera returned and sat beside Cid opposite Bertus, accepting her tea from his hands. She cast a glance at Cid. “I saw that model on your nightstand, Captain. It’s beautiful. Where did you find it?”

“Vince found it,” Cid answered, taking a gulp of his drink, wishing he were elsewhere. Why was he sat drinking tea? The pilot made a face. “This tastes funny…not cheering me up, Shera…”

The woman and her boyfriend exchanged glances.

The remainder of the day dragged on mercilessly. Cid was attached to his phone like he never had been. He was hoping Reeve would phone with some leading news. Hell, he even hoped someone would call his PHS and demand a ransom for Vincent’s release. He hoped someone would. But he knew that just wasn’t going to happen. There was nothing for him to do. He had nothing to follow up. Two days ago he and Yuffie had finally gotten around to visiting the third and final client he had found in his paperwork, but they were as harmless as the rest of the leads. He had to face the horrible fact: He was useless, now. He had nothing to contribute to the search, no advice or suggestions, no action or plan. For a man like him this was painful torture.

That night he felt sick. Perhaps his worry and fear had finally manifested into a physical feeling. His stomach cramped and clenched, and he had soon broken out into a cold sweat. A throbbing pain wracked his brain, making it difficult to stand upright. He rolled onto the bed and panted heavily, wondering what the hell was wrong with him. He’d never felt like this before.

An hour later Shera had taken him to the local medical center. She was worried, and she had a good reason to be. Aside from the illness he had suffered in Junon, Cid had never been sick. He was much too healthy to fall ill. Shera was concerned for, she suspected Vincent’s disappearance was the unintentional cause. She thought perhaps Cid had made himself ill by worrying. It was possible.

However soon after, it was clear Cid was seriously ill. Rocket Town medical was so worried for his wellbeing they admitted their facilities were just not helping. He was airlifted to Junon.

The following day he was comatose.

//