Final Fantasy VII: Reflections - Book 1: Descent

FOREWORD

I've heard that before you die, you can see your life flash before your eyes. I never used to believe in that sort of thing, though. My world was a simple one, full of gadgets, devices, monitors, and machines. And bombs, of course. I suppose it's ironic that those same things led me to the Sector 7 pillar and to... wherever it is I am now.

I'm floating, hovering in the dark. I don't know where. Or what. Life, death... or somewhere in between. The last thing I remember, I was high up in the tower, thirteen stories above the slums. Facing down the Shinra chopper, a raspberry in my hand—those were my special grenades. I gave those puppies quite a kick when I made 'em.

Bullets, chewing into my raised arm just as I threw the raspberry. A blast, fire everywhere. And then... Cloud was there. He came for me. Just like he promised he would. Everything's muddled after that, just a blur of color and sound. Maybe I'll remember when I wake up—if I wake up. Or maybe I'm already returning to the planet and I just don't know it yet. In any case, I can see images in my mind, a slideshow of memories floating across my thoughts one after another.

So it really is true...

I grew up in my father's mansion on the Sector 5 plate. It was one of the biggest in Midgar, and he was one of the city's most powerful men. A girl of privilege and plenty—that's what I used to be. There was nothing I wanted back then that I didn't have. Except a happy family. When I was little, things weren't so bad. My father spoiled me rotten, got me anything I wanted, though he never played with me. But he still had a small bit of warmth in him in those days, and I felt like he cared about me even if he didn't really know how to show it.

But that was before he rose up the ranks at Shinra. Before he became obsessed with power and war. The higher he went, the farther away from me and my mom he grew. We became a burden to him, and home was a place of tension and pain. I haven't called him Daddy since I was eight or nine. We drifted apart, further and further.

I loved to tinker even when I was a kid. I'd take apart my toys all the time to see how they worked, then I'd put them back together. I kept at it as I grew older, building my own computers and dissecting any electronic device I could get my hands on. I wanted to learn about it all, and it was as much a passion for me as my acting.

I did it a lot as a kid, school plays and whatnot. I loved it and kept at it with all my heart, and by the time I was in my early teens, I'd had roles in several plays at a smaller theater in Sector 8. Mom always came to see me perform, but my father never did. I wasn't surprised, though I wished he would've been there. Just once. Maybe that's part of why I quit. As far apart as we'd grown, I still wished and hoped that things might change. I thought that if I went to him, spent some time in his world, I could make that happen. Damn, what an idiot I was.

When I was sixteen, I left the stage to work for Shinra. I didn't know the truth about that terrible place yet, though. The dark underside below the friendly mask the company wore like a second skin. It was just a job, at least at first. I was a computer specialist, one of many whose task was to manage, maintain, and enhance Shinra's computers, information net, and other technological systems. Good work, good pay—I liked it, and it was fun. That part of being there I don't regret.

But then came my second job.

Weapons design had been another hobby and dream of mine. I guess it was an outgrowth of my tech talents, but I enjoyed creating new things. And I also cared a lot about my family and friends. With the war against Wutai still going on, I just wanted to find ways to keep everyone safe and protect my home. Didn't mean I couldn't have a little fun with it, though. The weirder and stranger the designs, the better.