Final Fantasy VII: Reflections - Book 1: Descent

NINE

As I read through my father's messages, my grip on his phone grew so tight my knuckles whitened, and I had to fight the urge to throw the damn thing on the floor and shatter it. He had been behind it all. Him and Scarlet. Reactor 3, Corel, and so much more. They had both taken my work, my designs and my dreams, and used them to cause so much pain and death. But that wasn't the end of it.

When I came to one of the most recent messages he'd sent, I began to tremble as I read those hellish words. I shook my head, not wanting to believe what I was seeing. Tears spilled from my eyes even as flames of white-hot fury seared my blood. I gasped, trying to catch my breath as the horrible revelation slowly sank in and my other hand flew to my mouth. All I wanted to do was scream in denial at the words staring so coldly back at me on the screen:

Tseng,

I have new orders for you. Tomorrow's 8:00am train from Sector 5 to Sector 7 is a problem. There's been a major security breach, one I intend to seal permanently. Leaks of our recent covert ops have been confirmed, and I have reason to believe the one responsible will be on the train. She intends to pass along her information and verify that it's authentic, but I will not allow that to happen.

That train mustn't be allowed to reach Sector 7. Have your men set a series of explosives along the tracks near the Sector 5 station to create an unfortunate accident. The president has already approved the plan, so be sure to get it done. This will also free me from certain... liabilities... that have been bothering me for years. So make certain the explosion destroys the platform as well as the train itself. I've been waiting a long time to be free of those two, and now I finally will be.

Have your men plant the bombs tonight. Then, when you're finished, bring me the detonator. I intend to do this myself. Scarlet has assured me that I'll be able to activate it from here, and she's already set up an uplink to the station's security cameras. I'll know exactly when it starts moving. And then, the fireworks will start. Now you have your orders, so I expect you to follow them to the letter.

General Heidegger, Peace Preservation

"That son of a bitch!" I snarled, trying to breathe.

My hand left my mouth and clenched so tightly into a fist that my nails dug into my palm. The pain, along with the dull throbbing in my arm where I'd been shot, barely registered compared to the ache in my heart. Not even thinking about what I was doing, I lifted the phone up over my head, my eyes almost blinded by tears, and nearly hurled it to the floor, wanting nothing more than the smash the goddamn thing to pieces the same way my life had just been shattered.

Reeve grabbed my arm. "Jessica! Don't!"

"He killed her, Reeve!" I sobbed, falling into his shoulder. "My own father! And he tried to kill me, too!"

For while, I just lay against him and wept, all the grief from Mom's loss flooding back in an instant. My life had been turned upside down, and I didn't have any idea what to do next. Rage and sadness were all I knew in that moment, a vicious maelstrom within me that felt ready to explode at any second. All I could think of was how hurt and betrayed I felt and how much I hated my father, both for what he'd done to Mom and also for what he had tried to do to me.

Reeve let go and handed me a box of tissues. "I'm so sorry, Jessica. I'd suspected he was involved, but... not like this."

"Thanks," I blew my nose. "Deep down, I knew it was him, but..."

"I know. You didn't want to believe it."

I nodded. "Right. But it was him. He was behind it all."