'No one is fit to be trusted with power- besides me.' [Complete]

[son-of-a-boss.livejournal.com]

Character(s): Rufus Shinra, Reno of the Turks
Content: Reno tracks down the Boss-man
Setting: Joutenheim
Time: Sometime during the day, after these posts but before this particular post.
Warnings: It's Reno. That's warning enough in itself. Language, possible discussion of unsavory illicit activities.




Rufus pulled sharply once on the edge of his pristine white coat, straightening any possible wrinkles from his suit before venturing a few steps closer into the area. He knew better than to move from this spot, knowing that the chances of being found while stationary were significantly higher. And for once, he might actually have to rely on additional methods to being found by his Turk.

Everyone was a blond.

It didn't unnerve Rufus exactly, but was enough of an oddity that it made him wary. He had been one of the few blonds to grace Midgar. This much uniformity was strange at best, scientifically manipulated at worst. And this Shinra has had enough of scientists playing at god to last him the rest of his very long life.

Not that he couldn't find other uses for them.

What Rufus really wanted to know, however, was what manner of world they had stumbled upon and who exactly the players in charge were. He would have recognized this place if it had been part of the ShinRa Empire. There existed no place of this nature back on Gaia, Rufus very much aware that ShinRa had conquered and dominated all available land in the known world. It just did not make sense.

Tseng, if he were here, would have at least formed some theory to be tested and investigated.

Tseng. Rufus would not be surprised if the man followed him here.

But right now, Rufus had Reno. And although many would not see Reno as an asset, Rufus did, and was very much aware of how much damage and collateral damage Reno could cause if pressed.

And so Rufus waited for his Turk to show up, glancing benignly at those passing him by.

Comments

[theansweris4.livejournal.com]

To the train system's credit it was at least decently fast, and - miracle of miracles - actually on time. However, even with that the fact remained that he'd had to cross the city on more-or-less a diagonal to get from where he was to where Rufus was - a fact he hadn't brought up earlier; if only do to not having quite as much of an idea as he would have liked as to the sheer size of the place (he hadn't been lying for once when he'd said he'd only just arrived).

But he did eventually arrive in the approximate vicinity of where Rufus had claimed to be. Looking for a blond among the blonds was going to admittedly be a bit tricky, but no one ever said he was limited to using nothing but hair color to pick out someone from a crowd. He'd long since learned how to pick out oddities that made one person stick out in a crowd, and he'd yet to see anything matching Rufus' style of dress on any of the far-too-many blonds that seemed to inhabit the place.

Not to mention that his shock of red hair would probably be glaringly obvious in this sea of blonds - and he wasn't exactly hiding his approach, instead merely walking nonchalantly over to where Rufus was. For now, conversation could wait - he half-expected Rufus to have something to bring up that he hadn't trusted to the journals, after all.

[son-of-a-boss.livejournal.com]

It was assuredly hard to miss Reno, unless one were really that blind. He rarely failed to stand out in a crowd, his hair color alone speaking louder than any flaxon could sound. And if his hair failed to snatch anyone's attention, his weapon and his rumpled suit were sure to do the job.

Not admitting to the relief he felt as he watched Reno saunter up to him, Rufus nodded in recognition of the other, the corner of his lip tugging up in amusement.

"Reno."

Gesturing with a slight tilt of his chin, Rufus started walking along, leisurely enough to allow Reno to fall in step if he chose to, trying to use his skill of leading while actually following, most useful for instances where he just did not know the layout of the land.

[theansweris4.livejournal.com]

Well, at least Rufus seemed to be his usual self, not that Reno was altogether worried about that. A little curious perhaps, but he hadn't exactly seen the natives of this place prove particularly hostile yet. Which didn't mean they were entirely off the radar, just that they were a sort of mild background noise at the moment.

"Sir."

Things might get a little interesting then, as Reno didn't actually know much more of the lay of the land then Rufus, given his rather recent arrival. But he could and would fake it to the best of his ability. Besides, he knew how to get to the train station at the very least and figured that that was a good enough place to head for at least for the moment. Sooner or later there'd be something of interest near one of the stops - and if it was one they could talk in relative privacy, so much the better.

[son-of-a-boss.livejournal.com]

Privacy is exactly what Rufus would have preferred, though he had no compunctions of working around that if need be. His Turks were discreet when the situation required it, and he suspected that this would be no different. The fact that Reno failed to enlighten him immediately as to their whereabouts or the political environment told Rufus that caution may be necessary.

Not much change from the good old days, then.

Rufus decided to test the waters at the very least. After all, if Reno was here, the other Turks may be, too. "I assume you've had time to take a few tours?"

[theansweris4.livejournal.com]

More than 'may be' if Reno had anything to say about it. From what little he'd managed to pick up on the journals about this 'Organization' it didn't sound particularly good. Needless to say, he'd be sleeping with one eye open for a good long while, in this place.

"Not as much as I'd've liked, yo. Think I can manage though." After all, the journal had a map, so it wasn't like he was totally lost.

[son-of-a-boss.livejournal.com]

"And how do you like the scenery?" Rufus can see for himself that the environment was strange and wholly wasteful. Either the people they were dealing with were insanely rich, or their value of wealth consisted of some other matter. The concept was foreign to Rufus, but not one he couldn't wrap his mind around.

It also opened up possibilities.

Rufus hadn't had a chance to peruse his own unit yet, not aware that Reno was referring to the machine. "I'm not interested in wandering around aimlessly."

[theansweris4.livejournal.com]

"I'm guessin' someone has a lotta money t' burn, yo." After all, even ShinRa hadn't had this level of opulence in it's heyday, and even ShinRa had taken some getting used to at first. "People at home wouldn't believe it if I told 'em about it." Of course, first they had to get home, but that could be dealt with later.

"I ain't lost, yo. Got a map."

[son-of-a-boss.livejournal.com]

"I never would have noticed." Rufus' tone wasn't quite as sarcastic as his words were, though there was an underlying terseness to it. If given a choice, he would have rather stayed back on Gaia, where he knew what the stakes and rules to be changed were. Of course, he could always learn what could and could not be bent here soon enough.

Rufus smoothly flipped his bangs back. "From a reputable source?"

[theansweris4.livejournal.com]

Truth be told, Reno would've rather been back on Gaia as well. Admittedly, the (all-too-brief, in his opinion) break had been nice, but he'd rather the familiarity of Edge - he knew where all the bars were there.

That and all his useful contacts where there, something that couldn't be said for this place.

"Decent enough for now, yo." Untrustworthy the journals might be, but he'd expect the map at least to be correct. Wouldn't so to have people getting lost, after all.

[son-of-a-boss.livejournal.com]

Reno better not mention any briefness of breaks to Rufus.

"This 'decent enough' source wouldn't happen to be comparable to your so called below-the-plate thug, now would it?" Not that those types didn't have their uses. Rufus just wanted to know how much reliance should be placed on those maps.

They were passing a few shops to the right, decorations and glittering jewels winking at Rufus from the corner of his eyes. Stopping at one such plant, the back of a forefinger tested the surface. "Real, I see."

[theansweris4.livejournal.com]

Now why would he do a thing like that~? After all, he knows Rufus well enough to know that that wouldn't exactly be the smartest thing in the world. Therefore, it will be conveniently ignored, or at the very least, not brought up.

"Ain't got any idea, yo. But stands to reason the guys runnin' the place wouldn't want people gettin' too lost." Of course, he could be wrong all the same, but he didn't think he was this time at least.

"Strange, ain't it? All this an' not a real plant in sight." He was hardly a stranger to plantless cities - Midgar being a prime example - but he couldn't quite figure out the point of making fake trees out of precious stones.

[son-of-a-boss.livejournal.com]

It's good to know Reno's learned some things while working for Rufus.

"You really think so?" After all, what's not to say that the 'guys' running the place weren't trying to keep people out of certain areas by providing them with a set map? But Rufus, being newly indicted to the place himself, could not voice.

"Peculiar, at the very least. One would have to assume people here don't hold these objects to the same value as we do." Unless they were just that wealthy. Rufus wasn't sure he liked the idea of someone else being wealthier than he was. That was just...unacceptable.

[theansweris4.livejournal.com]

Hey, he's paid to keep his eyes and ears open, after all - and with his penchant for gossip he sees little to no reason to stop listening when he's off the clock.

"'swhat I'd do, yo." Give 'em a proper map of the city, make everything seem nice and normal to better hide the fact that everything wasn't all nice an' pretty on the inside.

"Could be a facade, yo. Show of non-existent wealth maybe?" Or just an attempt to make things look 'right' not that it had really succeeded as it had been planned to if that were the case. But whatever the situation, he'd figure it out eventually - it was his job to, among other things.

[son-of-a-boss.livejournal.com]

"I'm not surprised." Reno, after all, could have his clever moments when he chose to. And when he wasn't feeling particularly lazy off the job.

"Now why would someone risk themselves like that? Showing non-existent wealth with obviously price-heavy artifacts?" Rufus remarked dryly. "There are easier and less risky ways of displaying augmented wealth."

Rufus pulled his hand back from the plant, ready to continue on their way. He was done looking at the scenery, doubtful that much would change from one bush arrangement to the next, if they could even be called that.

[theansweris4.livejournal.com]

"Hell if I know," Reno answered with a shrug. "Ain't got as much as I'd like on the guys running the place - they've a real shadow-organization thing goin' on."

And with all the people being alternately scared or worried about them, getting good information wasn't as easy as he'd like.

"'Slike they ain't got an idea 'f how to make the city look 'real' or somthin'. People're too similar, ain't got no plant life - place is fuckin; surreal, yo."

[son-of-a-boss.livejournal.com]

"How...interesting." And wholly ironic, but Rufus doesn't deign to say so.

"Perhaps that's the point. It seems the place is disconcerting you." A Turk, no less. Rufus wasn't sure whether he should be disapproving of that or not. "Or who knows. Maybe the commander of this area has a... 'thing' for blonds."

[theansweris4.livejournal.com]

Well of course it was disconcerting him, he didn't have anything near the information he'd like - and only vague ideas of the strength of the the people in question. Not a good situation, that. But he'd do his job all the same - it wasn't like he hadn't run into situations with unknown variables before.

"I jus' don't like it, yo. Somethin' ain't right."

And well, in theory the guy in control could have a 'thing' for blonds, but that still left a question in Reno's mind. "Then how come people like me got in?"

[son-of-a-boss.livejournal.com]

"I was referring more to the creation of this place. Although, that is a good question. I take it there are others like us from Gaia."

Apparently, no one's told Rufus that this place seemed to be a Nexus of some sort.

[theansweris4.livejournal.com]

"There's a few. You, me, Sephiroth, Cloud Strife, Zack Fair, Cid Highwind. Think that's it, yo. Everyone else're people from... elsewhere I guess. Didn't bother askin'."

Well, if Reno knew he'd let Rufus know. But he's not quite figured it out himself. Needless to say, the acquisition of further information was most definitely on his list of things to do.

That and Rufus would probably insist on him finding things out.

[son-of-a-boss.livejournal.com]

"That's quite a few." Considering that they were being transported here, a place not of their world. "Maybe you should start to bother and ask."

Rufus would very much insist that he found out. After all, knowledge was leverage, at least to Rufus' mind. And they would definitely need leverage.

"Do you have a base?"

[theansweris4.livejournal.com]

"I'll keep it in mind, yo." It's just he wasn't exactly going to do it right now. He was after all, the only person who know something about the city at the moment and even than he was going mostly off of a map and not memory. Needless to say, this would be fixed as soon as he could possibly arrange.

"Not yet. Wasn't kidding when I said I'd just got here, yo. Got a bit sidetracking 'fore I could scope th' place out much."

And well, given that he hadn't seen Zack in years one could presumably forgive him for that.

[son-of-a-boss.livejournal.com]

Sidetracked? "Were there that many bars where you arrived at?" Rufus asked, eyebrow raised as if to ask whether Reno was that easily distracted. And while Rufus knew that Reno was a conscientious worker while on duty, it was those 'other times' that made him slightly amused.

[theansweris4.livejournal.com]

Well, okay, he did admittedly have a not-entirely-stellar track record when it came to bars in whatever shape or size they presented themselves but that wasn't always to blame when he got delayed or sidetracked.

"Nah. Weren't any, 'sfar as I could tell. I just ran into an old friend."

And given that said friend had been dead when he'd last checked, theoretically one could forgive Reno for stopping in to talk with him. Of course when the other person was Rufus Shinra. Well, he could still hope at least. Even if it might not help.

[son-of-a-boss.livejournal.com]

Rufus tilted his head, the tips of his fingers rubbing together on one hand as he thought. Sometimes, he wondered whether Reno was referring to his old life, or if the context was completely work based.

"I wasn't aware below-plate dwellers had been transported to this place."

[theansweris4.livejournal.com]

"Not that kind'f old friend. Not that I'd mind seein' some of 'em here, though."

And for purely business-type reason he might add. Little hard to be the guy on top of all the rumors if all his usual sources of information were elsewhere. And the message-board and journals were useful but not exactly the best place for things like the truth.

"Found a guy who shoulda been dead, yo."