Final Fantasy VII: Lifestream - Book 1: Arrival

THIRTEEN

As I wove through the rest of the freight cars, Jessie's slim form just a few feet ahead of me, I thought again about my plans to leave once I'd gotten my money. Doubt gnawed at me like a rodent. I liked Jessie, but I didn't want to get tied to a cause, either. And I wasn't sure how to deal with the feelings she brought up in me. It was both nice and unsettling at the same time. An odd combination.

We stepped into one of the passenger cars a minute or two later. It was a bit crowded, but not so much that we couldn't get through. And I spotted the others scattered around the area. Barret was sitting with his arms outstretched about halfway down the right side. Biggs and Wedge were standing at the far end of the car along with a man in a crisp, dark red business suit and black tie.

After taking one look at Barret, the man in the suit shook his head, muttered to himself, and hurried to the next car. Jessie giggled, ignored Barret's irritated glare, and made her way to where her friends were. As I started to follow her, the overhead speaker came to life, its automated voice emotionless and sterile as it spoke:

Last train from Sector 8 Station
Last stop Sector 7, Train Graveyard
ETA 12:23am Midgar Standard Time

"See the headlines in the Shinra Times?" an older man asked me as I passed him, holding up the newspaper he was reading. "Seems those terrorists that just blew up Mako Reactor 1 are somewhere down in the slums. Nobody knows exactly where, though. But taking out a reactor! That must've taken some really careful planning. And a clever leader. I wonder what they'll do next?"

News of the reactor bombing was in print already? It must've been a special edition that had been run right after the attack. That had been only a few hours ago. I exchanged a concerned glance with Barret, who looked as worried as I felt. Looked like Shinra knew to search for us in the slums, and while the undercity was a huge place, they had plenty of ways of tracking down information.

The slums had their share of people who were heartless enough or desperate enough to sell out their neighbors, and some, like Vice, were actively working with Shinra as well. We were going to have to be more careful if we wanted to avoid being found out. I didn't want to think of what Shinra might do if we were.

"Cloud!" Jessie called, waving to me. "Over here!"

I went over to join her, glad for the distraction. "What's up?"

She pointed to the monitor on the wall next to her. "Care to take a look? It's a map of the Midgar Rail System. I bet you'll love watching it with me! And don't worry, I'll talk you through it. So what do you say? Up for a little date at the plate?"

"Sure," I nodded. "I don't know much about Midgar."

Jessie laughed. "Then I'll be your tour guide! I really love this stuff, you know. Bombs and monitors, flash and boom and bang. But I don't need to tell you that. You've seen it yourself."

I had. "Yeah. Lots of times."

"Sure have!" she agreed. "Anyway, let's get started."

We turned to look at the monitor together as she flipped it on. The screen hummed to life, and a bright green diagram of the city emerged, spinning slowly on a black background. It showed the circular shape of the plate along with the eight reactors lining the outer wall like spokes on a wheel. And in the middle of the city, towering above it all, was the Shinra building. Jessie's eyes hardened as she looked at it and started to narrate. I didn't blame her one bit.

"What we've got here is a wireframe model of the city of Midgar at a 1/10000 scale. The plate sits three hundred meters above the ground. Supporting it in the middle is the huge central pillar, and eight smaller ones hold it up as well. They're also called mechanized towers, one for every sector of the city."