Vagaries of Fate

New Board

Chapter 2 

She didn't let his words faze her. She shook her head before responding. "That would be a stretch, so there is no point in me denying I had motives beyond that. I will state that I did not disregard the health of the company, though. Shinra Electric Power Company is the acting equivalent of the world government as well as being the largest employer in the world. Had the company failed, it could have thrown the world into chaos as well as leaving many people destitute. If my goal is to save the world, destroying this company would be counterproductive."

His eyes had widened further as she spoke. He almost wore a smile when he answered. "I suppose I can see why you were able to make changes. You are certainly persuasive."

Any response she might have had was interrupted by Genesis' sharp voice. "While I will agree that Soldier Williamson has a silver tongue, I did not think that was the reason this meeting was requested. I believe we are all here now."

Clarissa turned and saw that all three of the Firsts had entered. Palmer had also shown up at some point and was trying to make himself invisible in one corner of the room. Reeve was the one to speak up. "We are almost all here, but we are still waiting for the Director of the Science Department."

At his words, a female voice spoke up from behind Sephiroth. "I'm here as well." Sephiroth stepped aside to show Shalua. Clarissa couldn't contain her grin at the sight of the other woman. She didn't hesitate to head over. She stopped short of hugging the woman, but she did grasp her hand and grin at her before speaking. "Congratulations! I'm so glad you decided to take the position!"

The woman shook her head at Clarissa's enthusiasm. "Thank you, but I understand congratulations are in order for you as well. I'm glad to hear we will be working together also."

Reeve interrupted again. "I hate to break this up, but if we are all here, why don't we get started."

Clarissa turned to him with a nod and moved to take a seat next to Genesis with the other Firsts. Rufus looked between her and the fiery red-head and raised a brow. Clarissa ignored it. If he didn't know yet that they were a couple, now was not the time to bring it up. She doubted that was the case anyway. She didn't know if it was part of some game for him, but it wasn't worth worrying about currently.

Once everyone was seated, Reeve stood. "I know you were all told that Rufus requested this meeting, and that is the case, but we have other things to discuss as well. For now, President Rufus has asked to observe and get to know the few of you that he has not had a chance to work with yet." He paused, and several people nodded.

Since his statement didn't really require any verbal acknowledgment, he moved on. "We are all aware that we are currently working on reconstructing the company from the inside out, but that is our easiest issue to tackle. I received an update today that our team that was working on excavating the entrance to Deepground has run into further issues. From what they can tell, the whole tunnel has been collapsed. This is not just a further delay, we also must pause in further excavation to start reinforcing the tunnel as they dig it out. Since the entrance was in the lobby of the building, then further excavation without proper measures would likely cause damage to the building as well."

"We have been looking through the data left by Hojo and Hollander for any further information on possible entrances, but the Turks have found that there are many missing pieces of information. Given that we know Hojo was working on cleaning up Hollander's mess before he... left as well, it would seem as if Hollander took much of it with him. Given that we know Hollander has allied with Avalanche, we must make sure we are reinforced against any attacks. We also need to be prepared for stronger Ravens, or whatever else they might throw at us."