animus_network | [⌖ 001] - Video (Backdated to the 27th)

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[⌖ 001] - Video (Backdated to the 27th)

What in Shiva's name…?

[When the video turns on, the figure is clearly frustrated and distrustful, if not looking very exhausted. Honey-colored eyes are dulled and strained, her skin a ghostly shade of pale, a single bandage pressing against the right side of her cheek. Fingers grasp at the top of the note she had been reading, lips pulling in a frown.]

This.

This can’t be right and it isn’t funny. I’m in no mood for jokes right now, so I demand an explanation for this.

[Lowering the note beside her on the bed, Elena gently rubbed at the side of her head, giving a slight wince. She had been under constant watch for the last 48 hours, being pumped full of Cure and Restore to mend internal and external injuries. But clearly she wasn’t entirely healed, which earned a frown.]

Also, what was with the paralysis? Did somebody drug me while I was sleeping to perform a relocation? This isn’t the room I was in last…

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Nevermind. I'll... explain later.

[Better not break her just yet.]

But you're not on Gaia anymore. You got pulled here by the people who run this place.

What? No!

[And only because its you, Reno, she's going to actually grab hold of your jacket on your arm. Because later is hardly an acceptable option - not after experiencing what it felt like to not know if there was going to be a later.]

Explain it to me now. If Rufus isn't here and I'm not on Gaia - I need you to tell me what's going on.

[Hold on he's a little not-used to Elena anymore.]

We're in a different... universe. Apparently, everyone who comes here is from a different universe. [Shrugging, he wonders if she'll believe him.] Because they can only 'save' one person per universe.

[Eyes narrow slightly. Yup. Reno is talking crazy talk. He has to be.]

That...that makes no sense. I don't... Lets say I believe that we're somehow in a different universe - how do you know we're not from the same Planet? There's only one, isn't there?

[Surely the smoke is rising from her ears from her brain's frantic attempt to grasp everything.]

Prove it to me. Prove that you're not 'my' Reno and this isn't some sort of sick, horrible joke.

[The only way to do that would be... to show her Sephiroth and his alternate self.]

...

[Sigh.]

Does it look like I'm fucking joking, Elena?

The last thing I remember from back home is the third day after Meteor fell. That was three months ago for me.

.......

[She might look stupid there, mouth agape, eyes widened, but she did ask for him to prove to her he wasn't 'her Reno' - whatever that meant. And, by golly, he did.]

....You mean....

[There is an involuntary tightening of her hand on his jacket, knuckles blanching to white, and then she's let him go, hand falling to her side limply. She half-steps/half-staggers back a few steps before righting herself, her right hand reaching across her middle to grasp at her upper left arm.]

I see. And you're sure it isn't amnesia?

If you still don't believe me, we can go meet the other me, Zack, and Sephiroth.

[He moves forward, ready to catch her if she's going to collapse.]

That reminds me... under no circumstances discuss anything regarding Nibelheim or the events after involving Sephiroth with him or Zack when you meet them. [Reno... usually doesn't sound that much like Tseng in normal circumstances.] That's an order.

No, no. I think I'll believe you - this is too cruel to be a joke.

[She was more than happy to sit down and try to work her mind around everything he told her...until a certain name popped up, earning a startled gasp.]

Sephiroth is here? Does he - [Well, that answered her question. Her head gives a short, quick nod.] Yes sir. How much does he know?

Oh...and I guess I should ask who else from the Planet is here.

[Right now, he just felt really tired all of a sudden. Was it like this for Rusty? Elena was reminding him so much of-...how he used to be.]

Nothing about Nibelheim at all. I want it to stay that way.

[Everyone else probably wants the same thing, who knew if - or when? - Sephiroth was going to fly off the handle?]

Cloud, Yuffie Kisaragi, and Vincent Valentine.

Understood. I won't say a word.

[Motioning for him to sit on the bed across from hers, she sat back, hands cupped loosely on her knees.]

Not a lot of support, huh?

[There's a short pause, her eyes looking from the floor to Reno, then back to the floor. Her shoulders felt heavy, a pressure centering on the middle of her chest. Turning her eyes back up to him, she gave a weak smile.]

So, what do we do now? How do we get out of here?

[Instead of sitting across from her, he sits next to her- probably because he hasn't had any contact with anyone but his other self and not-enemies for months now.

It's sort of an unconscious desire to make sure she's still there, that he's not dreaming one of those dreams where she was ripping his guts out for failing her.]

......I don't know.

[It is something of a comfort that he chose to sit beside her than across from her, even if this wasn't the Reno that she knew and had worked with for several years. The one who had taught her how to be a Turk, had mentored her through some of the tougher times of Gaia - who had reluctantly left her and Tseng behind.

A little sardonic smile pulled lightly at her mouth. She never once hated him for it, not even when she was sure death was imminent. But this Reno didn't know about it or what dangers lay ahead on his untold - perhaps lost - future. Turning her head to look at him, her smile warmed.]

I'm sure there is a way, we just haven't found it yet. And with me here, we can cover more ground, can't we?

[There's a moment of hesitation before she speaks again.]

Knowing that your last memory is from just after Meteorfall, I'm wondering if telling you what happened afterward would be breaking some sort of time paradox...

[Elena is getting a very scrutinizing look.]

You're taking this really well... but there won't be time paradoxes for me. 'Sides, I already know some of it. Not gonna happen for me, my planet's dead.

Nnnn?

[For a moment she looked confused, eyes blinking a few times before she shook her head, giving a slight chuckle.]

Ah...well, from where I come from, I've come to learn that you have to roll with whatever intel you get - no matter how unusual, unrealistic, or downright crazy it sounds. Does it make sense? No. Am I getting a slight headache from trying to wrap my mind around it? Yes. But we are Turks, aren't we? Being adaptable is a requirement.

How much do you know?

[This was definitely not the rookie Elena he knew. This one had a few years experience, and it was showing.

Sort of unsettling.]

Not as much as I'd like. I've got it written down in my report book, otherwise I'm not gonna bother giving you all the minute by minute details.

Anyway... I think you got enough to worry about right now.

[Oh, Reno. If only you knew. And, unfortunately, you're getting Elena at a pretty bad time in her universe to boot.

Blonde hair bobs as she nods her head.]

I'm sure I know a good deal of it myself. Maybe, over drinks, I'll fill you in on any key points you don't have in your notes.

[He's got a point and she knows it. There was a lot of information to go through, a reality that her world was gone to settle on. Staring down at the floor, she gave a little sigh.]

Yeah, you're right.

Hey Reno?

[Looking up at her, an expression she may have never seen before flashed across his face.]

Yeah?

[Eyes moved first, lifting off the floor and turning to catch the odd expression he gave her way. That....that was an unexpected look. And she'd seen him make all sort of faces before but that one certainly was a first. Elena gave a short laugh, a small smile pulling at her lips.]

Even though you're not "my" Reno....I'm really glad I got to see you again.

[He lowered his head a bit and smiled.]

Thanks...

[Just thoughts going around his head, that was all they were. Truth was her presence here had him torn on a lot of different levels. He was glad she was here, but she had been through too much already for her to go through this place too.]

I'm glad to see ya too, Elena.

[Her smile widens, the first smile since she arrived here, since Rufus was diagnosed with the Geostigma, and since them. It felt weird and good, awkward and relaxing. A part of her knew that it shouldn't be that easy to smile, but she couldn't help herself. Not when she knew that she had survived and that the first one to find her in this place had been him. She couldn't imagine how he had felt as he lifted that helicopter out of the crater, leaving them both behind.

Fingers clung loosely to one another in her lap, thumbs rubbing against one another. Moving minimally, her body leaned towards his, her shoulder and upper arm pressing against his, blonde hair brushing against the collar of her vest with the faint tilt of her head.]

How bad it is? This place?

[Leaning was good. He could lean, too; he hadn't forgotten. It felt good relying on another person like this.]

It's a nightmare.

[And no, he isn't joking.]

[Leaning meant a whole deal more than people gave it credit for. It could invoke the feeling of companionship, of safety and security, of trust. And it always served as a way to get that physical reminder that you weren't alone.]

Nothing we can't handle then, huh?

[There's a short noise, sounding much like a subdued chuckle]

...you'd think.

[She's frowning at the thought. So...out of the frying pan and into the fire.]

That bad, huh? Shit...

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[⌖ 001] - Video (Backdated to the 27th)

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