"But, damn man, that thing gives me the chills."
Scene 9
- Reactor #5 - President Shinra -
(Cloud, Barret, and Tifa land in an underground subway.)
Barret
"Good, so far everything's
going as planned."
(He walks down a bit.)
"Better not let your
guard down till we get to the Sector 5 reactor."
"Biggs, Wedge, and
Jessie got everything ready for us. So MOVE it."
"Well, the reactor's
just down this tunnel!"
(They walk down the tunnel, until they reach a grid of laser beams crossing the tunnel.)
Cloud
"Those light beams
are the Shinra's security sensors. We can't go any further."
(They see a ventilation duct in the wall.)
Barret
"That's one damn tiny
hole. You tellin' me to squeeze into that to get under the Plate? No way!"
"Yo, Cloud, what're
we gonna do?"
<CHOICE>
Look inside closely
Go down
Don't go down
***Cloud
Look inside closely
Tifa
"There seems to be
nothing that'll get us stuck in this duct."
Cloud
"Yeah. If we go down
this duct, we won't be able to come back up here."
Barret
"Don't be wastin'
time. Never know when the Shinra'll find us."
"Cloud, you jes' gotta
go."
<CHOICE>
Go down
Don't go down
(Same results as from the previous menu.)
***Cloud
Go down
Barret
"But, damn man, that
thing gives me the chills."
(They climb into the duct.)
***Cloud
Don't go down
Barret
"Whaddya mean we're
not goin' in? There ain't no other way of gettin' to the Sector 5 reactor
'cept through here."
<//>
(Cloud, Barret, and Tifa enter the ventilation ducts and work their way into the Reactor. Along the way they meet Wedge, Jessie and Biggs.)
Wedge
"Cloud, this way.
The reactor's up this ladder."
Jessie
"I'm sorry."
"The ID scan problem
on the train was all my fault."
"I made your ID card
special... So that's why it happened."
"I put my heart into
making it. But I failed."
(She shakes her head.)
Jessie
"Next time, I'll give
you something more decent."
"I'll be back at the
hideout in the research room workin' on it."
Biggs
"We're gonna pull
out now. We'll meet up at the hideout."
"Cloud, we're countin'
on you to blow the reactor!"
(He exits.)
(The three work their way deeper until they reach the core. The screen goes red and Cloud clutches his head and falls to his knees. The scene shifts as Cloud hallucinates. He sees the inside of a Mako Reactor. Gears are spinning. On the floor lies a long, thin sword. Tifa, as a younger girl, sometime between the well flashback and the present, kneels on the floor. A man lies before her, dead.)
Tifa
"Papa..."
"Sephiroth!?"
(She sits up.)
"Sephiroth did this to you, didn't he!?"
(She shakes her fists and looks skyward.)
"Sephiroth.... SOLDIER... Mako Reactors... Shinra... Everything!"
(She rises; then, vehemently)
"I hate them all!"
(She picks up the sword on the floor and runs into the reactor core.)
(Cloud comes out of his hallucination. The scene changes back to Reactor No. 5.)
Barret
"Damn man, get a hold
of yourself!"
(Tifa kneels by Cloud.)
Tifa
"You all right?"
(He rises.)
Cloud
"......Tifa."
Tifa
"Mmm?"
Cloud
"No... forget......
Come on, let's hurry!"
(Cloud plants a bomb in the reactor. They hurry out. They reach a mechanism with three buttons.)
Tifa
"Jessie said we all
have to the buttons at once."
(They do so. A door opens and they hurry through onto a walkway.)
Barret
"This way!"
(His way is blocked.)
"Shinra soldiers!?"
"SHIT! What the hell's
goin' on?"
Cloud
"...a trap..."
(We hear footsteps, then, Shinra theme music.)
Barret
"President Shinra?"
Tifa
"Why is the President
here?"
(The Shinra President walks onto the walkway, his expensive shoes echoing.)
President Shinra
"Hmm... So you all
must be that... ...what was it?"
Barret
"AVALANCHE! And don't
ya forget it! And you're President Shinra, huh?"
(Cloud steps forward.)
Cloud
"Long time no see,
President."
President Shinra
"...Long time no see?
Oh... you."
"You're the one who
quit SOLDIER and joined AVALANCHE. I knew you were exposed to Mako, from
the glow in your eyes..."
"Tell me, traitor...
what was your name?"
Cloud
"Cloud."
President Shinra
"Forgive me for asking,
but I can't be expected to remember each person's name."
"Unless you become
another Sephiroth."
"Yes, Sephiroth...
He was brilliant. Perhaps too brilliant..."
(Cloud steps back.)
Cloud
"Sephiroth.....?"
(Barret runs forward.)
Barret
"Don't give a damn
'bout none of that! This place'e goin' up with a big BANG soon! Serves
y'all right!"
President Shinra
"And such a waste
of good fireworks, just to get rid of vermin like you..."
Barret
"VERMIN? That's all
you can say... VERMIN!"
"Y'all Shinra're the
VERMIN, killing the planet! And that you King VERMIN! So shu'up jackass!"
President Shinra
"...You are beginning
to bore me."
"I'm a very busy man,
so if you'll excuse me... I have a dinner I must attend."
(Barret runs right up to him.)
Barret
"Dinner!? Don't gimme
that! I ain't even started wit' you yet!"
President Shinra
"But, I've made arrangements
for a playmate for you all."
(President Shinra snaps his fingers...)
Tifa
"!? What's that noise?"
(Barret runs back.)
Barret
"The hell is this!?"
(A huge robot buzzes in and looks menacing.)
President Shinra
"Meet 'Airbuster,'
a techno-soldier,. Our Weapon Development Department created him."
"I'm sure the data
he'll extract from your dead bodies will be of great use to us in future
experiments."
Cloud
"...Techno-soldier?"
(A helicopter hovers up to the walkway.)
President Shinra
"Now then, if you'll
excuse me."
(Cloud runs forward, too late to intercept him. President Shinra boards the helicopter and flies away... leaving Cloud and the others alone with Airbuster. You can guess what comes next.)
Cloud
"Wait, President!"
(Barret turns toward Airbuster.)
Barret
Yo, Cloud! We've gotta
do somethin' about him!"
(Airbuster buzzes toward Barret and Tifa.)
Tifa
"Help, Cloud!"
(Cloud runs in behind it.)
Tifa
"THIS is from SOLDIER?"
Cloud
"No way! It's just
a machine."
(Airbuster spins.)
Barret
"I don't care what
it is! I'm gonna bust him up!"
(Boss battle with Airbuster)
(Airbuster explodes, taking half the walkway with it. Cloud is left hanging from a piece of broken metal. It's a long way down.)
Barret
"It's gonna blow!
Let's go, Tifa!"
Tifa
"Barret! Can't you
do something?"
Barret
"Not a damn thing."
Tifa
"Cloud! Please don't
die! You can't die! There's still so much I want to tell you!"
Cloud
"I know, Tifa......"
Barret
"Hey, you gonna be
awright?"
<CHOICE>
(Be strong)
(I don't know if I
can hold on...)
***Cloud
(Be strong)
Cloud
".........."
"You worry about yourselves!
I'm all right, but take care of Tifa!"
Barret
"...Alright. Sorry
'bout all this."
Cloud
"Stop talkin' like
this is the end!"
***Cloud
(I don't know if I
can hold on....)
Cloud
"Shit! Can't hold
on much longer. Barret..... Hurry!"
Barret
"Don't go cryin' like
a woman. There ain't nothin' I can do for ya. Ya gotta do it yourself."
Cloud
"Barret..."
<//>
Barret
"Alright, then, later."
(FMV sequence: the bomb explodes, knocking Cloud from the walkway. Tifa
tries to grab him, but he is too far away. Cloud plummets from the upper
plate down to the slums below.)
phoenixgenesis@game-developer.com
Continue to Part 1 Scene 10