Vagaries of Fate

New Energy Source

Chapter 3 

After the meeting, all four Firsts went to various tasks. No matter their upcoming assignments, they all had things to finish before they left. Genesis and Angeal both went to tie up any loose ends with their troops, and Sephiroth had to figure out who was going where. It was doubly worse for him since Lazard was out of town for a few days. He left to help the Turks with a mission, a fact that was strange, to begin with, but he had been silent about the details. The only reason the Firsts weren't more worried was because they already had full plates, as well as the fact that he said he needed to go as it was also a personal matter. They quit trying to find out more when he refused to speak about it. At least he was due to return the following day. If he didn't, their situation could get worse.

Clarissa had not been left out. She immediately headed to the Science Department with Shalua. The scientist already had a team picked out to start trying to develop new power sources to phase out mako, and she wanted Clarissa to meet them. When they reached the 67th floor, Clarissa had to give Shalua a few minutes to gather the team. While Clarissa waited, she was happy to see that the whole feel of the place was different. Several people were walking through the big lab she was waiting in, but none of them held anything questionable, and most wore smiles. The few that weren't didn't look anxious or grim, they just seemed as if they were concentrating. She was glad to see the last vestiges of the madman that had been the previous Head were all but gone, even the giant specimen tanks were gone.

She was drawn from her review of the changes when Shalua came back with three people in lab coats behind her. They all gave her nods and smiles as they approached. Shalua pointed to each in turn as she introduced them. "Clarissa, this is Edgar, Maria, and Kiros. They are the best suited from my team to develop several alternatives. Maria, in particular, has the best understanding of how we currently use mako. It will give you the best insight into how we can most efficiently change our current reactors. We already understand that the upfront costs for the transition will be hard to sell, so we want to not only find viable solutions, but solutions that are either the most cost-effective or ones that we can implement in phases. All that being said, please let me know if you need anything. I will not be part of the team, but I will make sure you have anything you need that I can get."

"Thank you. Having all that laid out already makes it easier to identify what will work and what won't. I will try not to bother you, but thank you for getting this set up!" Clarissa gave the new Head a thankful nod.

"You're welcome. If you have this, then I need to get back to work." Clarissa waved as the woman gave her a smile and walked back to a large table on the other side of the room.

Once she was gone, Clarissa turned to the three scientists. "Alright! I will not have much time for the next two or three weeks at least, so let's see what we can get started."

"Follow me, ma'am. We have some diagrams laid out and a couple of possibilities based on some of the things we were told you suggested. They are new concepts to us, so please don't hesitate to let us know if they don't look correct."

She followed Edgar with the other two to one of the rooms that branched off the central lab. It wasn't large, but the table that took up the far wall was already covered in papers and small models. When she got closer, she was glad to see a small windmill and what seemed to be model turbines. She picked one of them up and smiled at the detail. She turned to the others and held up the tiny turbine. "It looks like you already have a great start. I'm not sure that I will even be needed."

"Thank you, but we could use some input. Can you lay out exactly what you were talking about when you mentioned these to the directors?"

She nodded at the request and set the tiny machine down. She motioned them all over to the table. It wasn't long until the four of them got lost in a detailed conversation about the pros and cons of the many solutions, including fossil fuels and the possible pollutions each could cause as well as the cost for change. Most of their conversation was in broad strokes, but by the time Clarissa heard her stomach growl, she felt they had made good progress for only having worked together for an afternoon.