Final Fantasy VII: Reflections - Book 1: Descent

THIRTY-TWO

The motor sat in its housing, ready to go. I'd been in Sector 7 for a year now, and I enjoyed the life I'd built there and the friends I'd made. My only regret was that I couldn't share it with Kunsel. The pain wasn't quite so bad anymore, and I didn't gaze up at the underside of the plate as much as I used to, but I still missed him.

With a sigh, I pushed my thoughts aside and focused on the task at hand. Building the elevator for our secret hideout in the basement had become something of a long term project over the past seven months. I worked on it whenever I could, and the others all pitched in as often as possible, but with our jobs and everything else, there was only so much time that any of us could devote to it.

Barret was anxious to see it finished, and I knew exactly why. With a hidden base, we could move forward with our plans against Shinra in safety. He had something in mind, but he wouldn't say what it was. Just vague hints about striking back when the time was right, hitting Shinra where it would hurt them the most. The rest of us trusted him, though, and I was more than happy to help cause Shinra a little pain. Finishing our hideout would be a big step in that direction.

I was in the basement with Biggs and Wedge, and the circuit board with the motor for the elevator was on a temporary workbench in front of me. Once everything was working as it should, we'd move it out and bring in all the furniture, equipment, and other stuff we'd found for our hideout. For now, though, we were keeping it in the other room. It was a tight fit to get past it all to make our way in here, but I knew the place would look great once it was all done.

"Okay, looks good," I said, checking the connections on the motor. "Let's try this sucker out and see if it works."

Biggs blinked. "Shouldn't we put it on the lift?"

I shook my head. "No, not yet. I'm gonna turn it on and make sure it runs smoothly first. Then, once we know it works, we'll go ahead and install it inside the pinball table upstairs."

"You're the boss," he grinned.

I winked and held up my finger. "And don't you forget it!"

Wedge looked at him. "Might wanna stand back."

"What for?" Biggs asked.

"Oh, that's right, you weren't here the last couple times, were you?" Wedge said. "You remember how I mentioned we've been having some trouble getting the lift working?"

He nodded. "Yeah. What's the problem?"

Wedge explained. "It's the motor, you see. No matter how hard she tries, Jessie hasn't been able to get it going yet. It's really been giving her a lot of problems. This'll be her fourth try."

"Talk about a pain in the ass," I agreed, picking up my toolbox. "So you'd better brace yourself, Biggs. Just in case. I think I got it this time, but then again, I've thought that before."

"Wouldn't this thing just not turn on at all if it didn't work?" Biggs wondered, stepping back.

I joined him. "You'd think that, but no, not always. Sometimes it'll just sit there, yeah. But there were a couple times where it reacted a bit, um... forcefully. Blanket on standby, Wedge."

He already had it. "Ready!"

"Uh, that motor's not gonna blow up on us, is it?" Biggs swallowed, eying it nervously as Wedge backed up.

I laughed sheepishly. "Aren'tcha glad you came over?"

"Ecstatic," he quipped.

"Alright, guys," I said. "Here we go..."

Taking a deep breath, I reached for the switch and flicked it on. At first, everything seemed fine. But then, only a few seconds later, sparks flew as the motor's steady hum abruptly turned choppy. Wires popped and sizzled, and smoke filled the air. Then the whole thing caught fire, tongues of flame shooting up from it.