Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ The Silent One ❯ Awakening ( Chapter 1 )

The Silent One

Chapter One: Awakening

"Mmm…" She moaned as her alarm clock went off at its usual time. In vain, she tried to open her eyes, but her eyelids felt as heavy as anvils. As she tried to sit up, her body collapsed back on to the bed, her muscles feeling weak and numb, as if she had no control over her own body.

Every morning was the same way. For as long as she could remember, she had always felt weak in the morning. As a child, her mother had frequently taken her to doctors and hospitals, but none of even the best in Midgar could figure out was wrong with her.

Lazily and slowly, she made her way to the window and opened it up. Laid out before her was the city of Midgar, in all its glory. Although it was seven in the morning, the sky was dark, and gray, and no birds chirped at her window. This was normal for Midgar, the sky was never blue, and the fog created by the Mako reactors always covered the sun. It was a typical morning in a city of darkness.

She showered and dressed quickly, yet still feeling drowsy and weak. After dressing in her usual blue skirt and white blouse, she stared at herself in the mirror, while combing her long dark navy blue hair. She glanced down at the surface of her bedroom chest. On it's wooden surface lay a Shin-ra Inc. Identification card that read:

Laura Romine

ID No.: 8765004

Access: Levels 1-63

Pinning up half of her hair so that it did not obscure her vision, she grasped the Shin-Ra Corporation Identification card and left her small apartment on the Upper Plate of Midgar.

Yes, she lived on the upper plate, but only because her parents had born and raised her on it as well. They were somewhat on the wealthy side, and if not for the fact that they were Upper Middle Class, she would have been living under the plate instead, in the slums.

Laura Romine was what most people in the slums considered, `a rich, snobby, snot-nosed, ignorant girl from the upper territory,' but she was no ignorant fool. She knew well enough of the way the people in the slums suffered. Laura saw it everyday. It was her job to see it everyday.

It was 7:45a.m now, and Laura had just boarded the train from the upper section of Sector 6, to the giant and only skyscraper in the whole city: The center of operations, Shinra H.Q.

She was glad and relieved that she had caught the train, because that was the last train that would be running for a while. Just a day earlier, Shinra Inc. had reported the terrorist group AVALANCHE of setting a bomb and causing the Sector 7 slums died, as did many others who lived on the upper portion of it.

Laura however knew very well who the `real' culprit was. She was a journalist for the Midgar Post, and it was her job to write lies. She despised her job. Everything that she wrote was not of her own will or opinion; it was all what Shin-ra Inc. wanted the people to believe. It disgusted her for how long she had been doing it. Since she was fifteen years old, during the Wutai War, she had been writing lies for the people of Midgar and the world.

Now, fifteen years since then, Laura stood from her seat on the last running train left in Midgar and made her way to the giant center skyscraper for what seemed to be the 10th billionth time in her life. She sighed heavily as she went through security, into the elevator, and up to the 61st floor, where the newspaper reporter's offices were located.

Laura sat down on her desk, already exhausted about thinking what the day would bring. Just then, her editor in chief, Rob, approached her desk, resembling a mad and rabid chocobo.

Laura managed to actually put on somewhat of a smile. "Good morning, Rob."

Rob waved a stack of papers in front of her. "You've got an interview today, Romine."

"With who?" She asked. Hoping he would not answer what she thought he would answer.

"Professor Hojo of the Science Department."

"Oh, joy…" She sighed, rubbing her eyes with one hand.

"Oh come on, Romine," he complained. "Can't you be happy about anything that goes on around here? Besides, this interview is about one of these new experiments he's working on. Something that might actually help the people in the slums."

Laura rolled her eyes. Another white lie.

"Rob," she began, taking her feet down from the desk. "I've been working here for fifteen years, interviewing and writing… Everything that I have ever written was forced to be changed. What is the point in interviewing, if that person's words never even gets on paper? It's a waste of time."

Rob crossed his arms and smirked. "You just don't want to talk to that Hojo guy."

Laura threw her arms up in the air. "Who the hell does!?" She asked, getting up and grabbing a tape recorder, a pen and a notepad from her desk. "But I don't have a choice do I?"

"Like hell you don't. Come on, I'll walk you to the elevator."

As they walked, Laura kept glancing behind her, feeling as though someone was watching them. She looked around, almost in paranoia. The last thing she needed was for one of those AVALANCHE members to ambush her and kill her for all the lies she wrote about them.

There is no need to worry, Silent One, a voice said.

Laura stopped, her eyes wide, and darting about the hallway. Rob stopped and looked at her, irritated.

"Did you hear that?" She asked.

Rob shook his head. "What are you talking about, Romine? Is this another one of those tricks that convinces me that you're ill and gives you two weeks of vacation?"

You will soon be free.

Laura quickly turned around, looking for the source of the voice. Just as she was beginning to think that maybe she was crazy, a flash of black and silver darted across the room, and then disappeared around the corner of the hallway.

"What's your problem, Romine?"

She quickly turned back, shaking her head. "Nothing, nothing. Just a little tired, that's all."

"Well, you're still not getting the day off," he informed her as he pressed the button on the elevator panel. The elevator doors then opened, revealing two Turks, who Laura recognized as Tseng and Rude.

"We will be escorting Ms. Romine from here," Tseng said. "Her card does not allow her above the 63rd floor."

"Ok." Rob waved. "See ya later, Laura."

"Bye," she said as the elevator closed in front of her.

AS it began to ascend, Tseng spoke. "Good to see you again, Laura."

"Yeah, good to see you too," she replied, glancing at Rude, "but what's up with this? You never needed two of you to escort me upstairs."

Tseng just stared at the door, his face unreadable. "It's for your protection. Our sources indicate that the AVALANCHE members are still alive."

Laura shot him a glare. "Yeah, after you squashed them, and everyone else in Sector 7!"

"I'm sorry Laura," he said, looking down at the floor. "We had orders."

"I had friends who lived there, Tseng."

"So did I," he replied, "but I had a job to do."

We all do, don't we? She asked herself. It seemed to her how pathetic it was that almost everyone listened to nothing of their will. Everyone had orders. She had orders to write lies, Tseng and the Turks had orders to kill; no one had their own will when they lived under the Shin-Ra Corporation. Laura then began to wonder about AVALANCHE, what they were doing to stop Shinra…were they free to their will, or were they under orders of a higher power as well? It was then that she remembered the voice that she heard earlier. `You will soon be free.' Is that what it meant?

Then, the elevator dinged and the doors opened. They were up on what seemed to be the 67th floor; four levels higher than where she was supposed to be. Tseng and Rude led her swiftly across the floor, all the way to a lab, which held glass cases of many specimens and experiments. One that she had noted with particular interest was one of a four-legged beast. It had bright red fur and an orange mane. On it's back limb was tattooed with the Roman numeral, XIII. Before she could stare at it any longer, the blue-suited Turks led her into another room. In the middle of the room was a metal gurney, and by the gurney stood Professor Hojo of the Shinra Science Department.

"Good morning Ms. Romine," he greeted, his hands clasped behind his back.

"Umm…hello." She shifted onto her right foot, feeling uneasy. Something about the way Hojo was staring at her frightened her a bit. He was staring at her as if she was one of his specimens, and he could hardly restrain himself from poking her skin with needles.

Laura's feeling of uneasiness increased when she noticed Tseng and Rude step behind her, blocking the door. Somehow she knew that this was not going to be any normal interview.

"I'm sorry my dear, but I am afraid that there will be no interview today."

Laura backed up a bit. "Why am I not surprised?"

"We've been searching for you for a while, Ms. Romine. For fifteen years in fact." Hojo fixed the glasses on his face so that they were straight. "It's funny how you've been right under our noses this whole time."

"What are you talking about?" She asked.

Hojo looked past her and nodded at the Turks. Within a moment's notice, Tseng and Rude seized her by the arms and began to drag her to the metal table.

"Hey! What the hell! Tseng let me go! What are you doing!?"

Tseng shoved her, forcing her to sit on the gurney. "I'm sorry Laura. I've got orders."

"To hell with your orders!" She yelled. "Tseng!"

He shook his head. "Laura, I really am sorry, but you know I'm a Turk."

"Tseng…" She had never felt so betrayed in her life. She had known Tseng for how many years now?

Laura whimpered slightly and looked at the floor. She did not even want to imagine the plans Hojo had in store for her. She was no fool, she knew about the experiments he conducted under the President's nose.

"What do you want with me?" She found the courage to ask.

Hojo approached her with a syringe. He took her arm and dabbed it with some alcohol. "We're just going to run a few tests. If the tests prove my theories correct, then you are indeed one of the Silent Ones."

Laura' forehead wrinkled at what he said. The mysterious voice on the 61st floor also referred to her as a `Silent One'. What did that mean?

Suddenly, the needle pricked her skin violently, causing her to yelp. She gulped as the liquid that was drawn from her arm was shown.

"What the hell!?" Rude gasped the first words he had said in front of her the whole day, the sunglasses nearly falling off of his face.

Hojo smiled. "Just as I thought. We have our Silent One."

He held the container of what was supposed to be her blood in front of them for all of them to see, but instead of seeing a vibrant red, they only stared at an inky black.

"Shall I inform the President?" Tseng asked.

"Not yet," Hojo replied. "We need to be absolutely sure." He clasped his hands together. "This is wonderful! Now we have the `Ancient' AND the Silent One!"

Laura looked down at the floor. Her whole life doctors could never figure out why she had black-colored blood. Her father had it as well, but he passed away several years ago. Now she knew why, somewhat. She just needed to know what the hell a Silent One was.

"It's amazing how've you managed to keep yourself hidden this whole time," Hojo continued. "Now all we have to do is find the Black Consciousness within you."

"Excuse me," Laura responded, "but can someone please tell me what the hell is going on?"

Hojo answered, "You mean you don't know?" He began to chuckle insanely. "All this time living and breathing and you did not know what you were capable of? Heh, heh, heh. Well, I'll tell you then. Ms. Romine, you are the last of the forgotten Silent Ones. They were a small race that existed thousands of years ago, along with the Ancients. We need you and the Ancient we found to lead the `Promised Land.'"

"Promised Land?" Laura questioned. For some reason, the name sounded vaguely familiar.

"Yes, although the existence of the Promised Land is highly unlikely," Hojo added.

"So what are you going to do with me?" She asked.

"Well, it is evident that the Black Consciousness within you has not been activated yet. We need to do so as soon as possible."

Before Laura could protest, the two Turks seized her by the arms again and forced her to lie on the table. Then, Hojo placed a headset attached to a red screen on her. With a click on the button on the side of the headset, the red screen lit up and began to show Laura strange hieroglyphics and formulas. For an hour straight, with no rest, she stared at the screen, taking in the symbols.

"Umm…hey, can I take a rest now? My back is starting to hurt."

Hojo tapped away at his computer, studying Laura's brainwaves. "Hmm…no. Activation is only at 30%. We need at least 2