In Aerith's cozy home it very quickly became unaccustomedly quiet when everyone dispersed to their rooms in order to finally rest after what was, perhaps, the hardest and most exhausting day of their lives. Only for some time from the guest room where Barret, Biggs, and Wedge had settled did quiet, muffled voices still carry: the three guys were discussing over and over what had happened on that terrible day.
For in the descended silence such heavy questions inevitably surfaced in the head the moment they remained alone with their thoughts. They went over absolutely everything—from the loss of their own homes to the realization that Shinra had now hung on them the label of monsters who had supposedly dropped the Plate onto the slums of the Seventh Sector.
Lying on the floor, Barret continued to frown at the ceiling. After a long pause he quietly uttered only one thing: he was sincerely glad that his tiny daughter Marlene had not suffered in any way and that they had all remained alive, and everything else could be returned and restored with time.
But this did not at all mean that he would let this bloody act of Shinra slide and would cowardly sit idle. Biggs, who had settled on the pushed-together chairs, and Wedge, stretched out on the bed, synchronously nodded their heads, making it clear that they too would under no circumstances back down. For now all of them had even more weighty reasons to continue their uncompromising struggle with the corporation.
In the neighboring room the girls were also still not sleeping and were conducting quiet, barely audible conversations, trying under no circumstances to wake the sweetly sleeping Marlene. And while Aerith, Tifa, and Jessie under conspiratorial whispers discussed simple and everyday things, Yuffie was already sleeping like a log—the moment her head touched the soft pillow, she instantly sank into a deep sleep. Unlike the guys, Tifa and Jessie were mainly reasoning about what they needed to do further.
They understood perfectly that they would not be able to stay too long in Aerith's hospitable home, and they needed either to look for an absolutely new place to live or with time return to the "Seventh Heaven" bar, which by a miracle had turned out to be the only surviving building after the catastrophic fall of the Plate. Aerith herself was absolutely not against her new friends living in her house for as long as would be required.
"Aerith… Thank you enormously for everything," Tifa said in a quiet, breaking whisper, turning her head toward Aerith lying on the neighboring bed.
"It's not difficult for me at all! Mom was even insanely glad that I brought all of you to us… And she herself personally said that you can stay here exactly as long as is convenient for all of you," Aerith answered with a soft smile, smoothly turning onto her side.
"That's, of course, simply wonderful… But we still can't sit forever on your mom's neck. 'Seventh Heaven' is still whole and unharmed, so we can quite live there… When all this dust settles a little," Jessie began speaking, slightly rising onto her elbows and lowering her voice to a whisper, looking at Aerith with gratitude.
In response to such words Aerith merely softly smiled and understandingly nodded her head. She was not at all going to force the friends to live in her house if they themselves did not want it. She already had more than enough of that joyful fact that the tragic, terrible fate that was supposed to inevitably befall her loved ones in the end never happened. And this realization alone brought her colossal consolation and relief—for now she knew for certain that even the most cruel fate could still be changed.
Continuing to smile warmly and listening to the muffled conversation of Tifa and Jessie, Aerith already wanted to propose a wonderful idea: the "Seventh Heaven" bar could after all be expanded a little and built onto so that in the future they could all live cozy in one place. But exactly at the moment when she was already preparing to share her thoughts, from the neighboring guest room where the guys had settled a strange, incomprehensible sound suddenly rang out. Hearing it, Aerith, Tifa, and Jessie simultaneously turned their heads toward the dividing wall, trying to listen carefully. And in the next moment from the guest room throughout the entire house rolled a deafening, rolling snore, which was immediately followed by the incoherent, sleepy muttering of Wedge.
Instantly recognizing who exactly was producing such epic sounds, Jessie with a smile covered her eyes with her hands and quietly, stifledly laughed, trying under no circumstances to wake the others. Tifa and Aerith also began quietly giggling, listening to the absolutely unintelligible mumbling of Wedge carrying from behind the wall. Still chuckling, the girls heard through the rolling snore the irritated grumbling of the awakened Biggs, which was followed by the distinct sound of resolute steps.
And in the next moment from the neighboring room rang out a ringing, dry slap, which was instantly followed by a stifled, offended groan of pain. From such an instantaneous denouement it became even harder for the girls to restrain the approaching laughter, and they had to strain with all their might to bury their faces in the pillows and cover their mouths with their hands so as not to start laughing throughout the entire house.
And when they already thought that the night comedy had finally ended, right behind Aerith rang out the mocking, childish chuckle of Yuffie and her quiet, extremely blurred muttering. Turning her head back, Aerith saw the sweetly sleeping Yuffie, who in her sleep was sincerely and tightly pressing little Marlene to herself like a big plush toy. Quietly chuckling at this cute picture, Aerith turned back and slightly shook her head, showing the friends that Yuffie was still serenely sleeping.
"Ugh, I already forgot how catastrophically loudly Wedge snores at night… I'm afraid if we in the end really live with our entire noisy group in one house, at night it will be way too fun here," Jessie said, quietly chuckling. She turned onto her side and comfortably propped her cheek with her palm.
"And that's you expressing it very mildly! Right now I sincerely hope that Alex will be able to rest at least a little normally… Two days in a row he's taking upon himself absolutely everything the hardest and most dangerous. It seems to me he got more exhausted than all of us," Tifa began speaking in a deeply concerned tone, with sympathy turning her head toward the guest room.
"Oh, believe me, you definitely shouldn't worry about that—he's not there at all," Aerith responded in a light tone, with a mysterious smile slightly twirling a little finger in the air.
"And where is he then? Did he decide to stay together with Claudia downstairs in the living room in case one of Shinra's hounds suddenly decides to show up at our place at night?" Jessie asked with lively interest, pointing a finger downward.
"Nope! He together with Dean and little Steve decided to settle on my little balcony with the flowers," Aerith explained with a soft smile, accurately pointing a little finger upward.
"Ugh… That's really reassuring. Or else it's already honestly starting to seem to me that he never rests in his life at all and is always busy with something," Tifa said with a sigh of relief, wearily covering her eyes with her palm.
"Believe me, it doesn't seem that way only to you," Jessie picked up with a kind smile, turning onto the other side and closing her eyelids.
"So tomorrow we need to simply tie him up and force him to rest by force!" Aerith added in the most mocking and conspiratorial tone, casting a mischievous glance over Tifa and Jessie.
"Simply an excellent plan! We'll take care of it first thing tomorrow morning," Jessie quietly laughed, supporting such an initiative with all her heart.
Tifa and Aerith fully agreed that they really needed to force Alex to put aside any affairs first thing in the morning so that he could finally fully rest. Having finally decided on the plans for the next morning, the girls began quickly falling asleep in order to finally regain strength after the exhausting events. At the same time Claudia was in the living room on the first floor.
She was collectedly sitting on a chair right opposite the entrance door, and next to her habitually rested the massive Buster Sword—in case someone from the uninvited guests still decided to show up in the middle of the night. She was not completely certain whether Shinra would send its people right now, but for her the most important thing was to take out insurance in advance in order to avoid any unnecessary problems and protect her friends.
Sitting on the chair with arms folded on her chest, Claudia slightly opened one eye and fleetingly looked at the ceiling. Thanks to her heightened senses she clearly heard absolutely everything that was happening in the house. Having made sure that everyone had finally fallen asleep and sunk into a deep sleep, Claudia shifted a calm gaze to the wall clock, after which she closed her eyelids again, continuing to listen sensitively to the slightest surrounding sounds carrying from the yard and the street.
"Six hours until dawn… This time should be more than enough for them all to properly rest," Claudia quietly said to herself, measuredly tapping a finger on her forearm.
Gradually another hour passed. In Aerith's house absolutely everyone was already soundly sleeping, and no one even thought of waking up in the nearest time. Even that very loud, rolling snore of Wedge, which in any ordinary circumstances could easily have raised the entire quarter to their feet, was completely ignored by the tired squad. Alex and Dean, meanwhile, continued to calmly sit on the small cozy balcony on the third floor. They were unhurriedly sipping cold beer, enjoying the night cool air and relaxing in the way that was most convenient for them.
Taking yet another sip from the can and habitually clamping a hearty piece of salted meat between his teeth, Dean returned with his head to the game on the portable console that he had not so long ago borrowed from Alex for indefinite use. Tonberry Steve, for his part, settled as comfortably as possible right on Dean's knees: squeezing a can of beer in his tiny paws, he carefully observed what was happening on the screen, even though he understood absolutely nothing in the flickering pixels.
The only thing that truly sincerely interested Steve was the aromatic snack of salted dried meat that had instantly become his most favorite food in all the worlds. Sitting next to him, Alex slowly extended a hand, took a can of beer from the small table standing between the chairs, and took a small sip, along the way carefully turning the page of a thick book. Continuing to unhurriedly read, Alex could only secretly regret that he had taken up with such a delay the last work that the famous Alan Wake had written.
"Damn! What kind of shitty game is this! Why the hell does anyone create something so insanely difficult and absolutely incomprehensible? Where the fuck am I even supposed to go here?! I don't understand a damn thing!" Dean expressed with sincere irritation, taking a sip of beer and emotionally shaking the game console with his hand.
"No one forced you at gunpoint to play specifically this game. You could calmly choose and play dozens of other video games instead of sitting here and constantly complaining," Alex began speaking in a calm tone, not even raising his gaze from the page, carefully placing the thin cigar into the ashtray standing nearby.
"Oh, get lost! Better tell me in normal language where the fuck I need to go right now! You personally saved this damn world!" Dean said expressively, protestingly waving the portable console right in front of Alex's very face.
"Go to the Main Cathedral… It's at the very top. Kill Vicaria Amelia there… And now stop constantly distracting me, I'm actually reading," Alex answered restrainedly, calmly pushing the console farther from his face.
"Well finally! Thanks… And are you seriously going to just sit like this and read until morning?" Dean asked with a cunning smirk, with a sense of fulfilled duty returning to the game and glancing at his friend out of the corner of his eye.
"Yes, I'll just sit and read. This is the last book written by Alan Wake—'Return from the Reflection.' And by the way, even Wednesday already read it long ago! I only just now got a couple of free minutes," Alex answered, smoothly turning the page and continuing to carefully peer into the lines.
"Yeah… Nerd," Dean uttered, slightly grimacing, even shuddering from the mere thought of voluntarily sitting at night and reading an ordinary paper book.
"Idiot," Alex responded with a lazy yawn and, without even looking, playfully flung a juicy piece of dried meat at Dean.
Deftly catching the thrown piece of dried meat, Dean slightly smirked and immediately sent it into his mouth, not forgetting to throw a short thanks on the go. Hearing this, Alex merely shook his head and continued reading, along the way half-listening in the background to Dean's complaints about the too difficult game. Bringing the thin cigar to his lips, Alex decided to take a small break from reading in order to give his eyes a rest.
Closing the book, he raised his gaze to the Plate towering over the city and through a narrow slit in the metal flooring looked at the dark night sky. Reflecting on what was supposed to happen further, Alex was one hundred percent certain: far more captivating events awaited them ahead. He was already sincerely starting to get tired of the prolonged stay in gloomy Midgar, for on the other side of its high walls stretched the huge world of Gaia with far more beautiful and picturesque places.
Fortunately for himself Alex understood perfectly that the Fate of this world itself would very soon pull yet another unexpected trick in order to force them all to finally leave Midgar. Slightly rubbing his hands in anticipation, he realized: this would become the key, final event that would force the White Whisperers to be born already without his direct intervention. Already savoring the upcoming grand journey, Alex suddenly heard behind his back a quiet rustle and light steps.
Turning his head toward the doors, he listened to how someone was unhurriedly climbing the wooden steps. And already a moment later the door quietly opened, and on the threshold appeared the sleepy Aerith in her invariable pink dress, comfortably wrapped in a thin soft blanket. Hearing the creak of the door, Dean shifted his gaze to Aerith, who was sweetly yawning, carefully covering her mouth with her palm. Fleetingly casting a glance over her, Dean merely indifferently shrugged his shoulders and returned to his console, not forgetting beforehand to put on headphones—he was clearly not planning right now to get distracted from the difficult boss by night conversations.
"Hi…" Aerith began speaking in a completely sleepy tone, unhurriedly going around Alex's chair and carefully stepping over the placed pots with flowers.
"Hi to you too… Why aren't you sleeping?" Alex asked with a warm smile, raising his gaze to her.
"Yuffie tosses and turns terribly in her sleep… And hugs me way too tightly," Aerith complained quietly, approaching closer and slowly removing the closed book from Alex's knees.
"And that's why you decided to come sleep right here?" Alex inquired, slightly laughing, observing her unhurried movements with sincere interest.
"Mmm… Actually it's simply far more comfortable here," Aerith answered with a light, incredibly tender smile, comfortably climbing right onto his knees.
Having climbed onto Alex's knees, Aerith began settling more comfortably, dangling her legs over the armrests of the chair and cozy thrusting her palms under his coat. Observing how diligently Aerith was trying to settle comfortably on his knees, Alex did not even try to hide a warm smile and carefully covered them both with the soft blanket. Having finally settled, Aerith trustingly rested her head on his shoulder and buried her nose in his neck.
Sweetly smiling, she hugged Alex more tightly around the waist and literally a couple of moments later began falling asleep. Lowering his gaze downward, Alex noticed that Aerith had already sunk into a sweet sleep, and began slowly, lullingly stroking her on the back. A moment later he heard her quiet, measured breathing and tenderly kissed Aerith on the crown. Continuing to measuredly stroke her on the back, Alex with his other hand reached for the left book in order to continue reading.
Gradually time inexorably moved forward, and over the city the very first rays of the rising sun began to break through. Noticing the bright rays that had fallen right onto the pages of the book, Alex for a moment froze and stopped stroking Aerith. Squinting from the light, he carefully reached into the pocket of his jacket, trying not to wake the sleeping Aerith, and took out antique pocket watches.
Seeing that the hands were already showing practically five in the morning, Alex slowly nodded to himself and put the watches back. Setting the book aside, he slightly rubbed his face and closed his eyes, tightly embracing Aerith with both arms around the waist. He thought that simply sitting for a couple of hours in absolute silence would be wonderful before starting to do something again or going somewhere.
Especially since he already had clear plans formed for this day—besides the upcoming investigation of the mysterious underground laboratory, the tunnel to which Dean had completely by chance discovered. Paying absolutely no attention to the running of time, Alex continued to sit with closed eyes until he felt a tender, warm touch to his neck. Opening his eyes, Alex lowered his gaze and saw that Aerith had already woken up but was still continuing to sit on his knees with closed eyes, pressing her lips to his neck with warming breath.
"I see you decided to have fun first thing in the morning?" Alex asked, slightly laughing, and playfully tickled Aerith's side with his fingers.
"He-he… Well, maybe just the tiniest bit! Simply sleeping like this next to you is very pleasant and warm. And I sincerely wanted to thank you," Aerith responded with a light, lively chuckle, raising her head and tenderly taking Alex by the cheeks with her palms.
"Well, if your gratitude is expressed in a careful attempt to bite me on the neck… Then this is a very original and strange way," Alex said, laughing, and slightly stretched, looking Aerith right in the eyes with love.
"But I knew for certain that you would like it! And… good morning," Aerith said with a bright, warming smile, tremblingly leaning toward Alex in order to kiss him.
"Yeah, with a very 'good' morning! Get yourselves a separate room and don't arrange all this right under my nose!" the dry and incredibly irritated voice of Dean suddenly rang out right next to them.
Simultaneously turning their heads to the side, they saw Dean, who was looking at them with the most open and unconcealed irritation. Tilting his head to the side, Alex noticed that on the screen of the portable console a bright message about the death of the character was burning. Perfectly understanding what exactly such violent irritation of Dean was connected with, Alex merely slightly snorted and turned away. Aerith, for her part, childishly stuck her tongue out at Dean and also turned away, intending to demonstratively ignore him.
Exaggeratedly waving a hand, Dean put the boring console into his pocket and rose from the chair, stretching his numb back. Having sat the entire night at a difficult game, he did not feel physical fatigue at all—only fierce annoyance from the fact that this virtual world had almost driven him to a full nervous breakdown. Stopping stretching, Dean turned his head, intending to finish the remnants of the beer, and again cast a glance at Alex and Aerith.
Again seeing how they were sitting on the chair in an embrace, Dean merely slightly snorted and shook his head. He had already observed such pictures so many times in the Bunker that the very fact that Alex was again hugging yet another beautiful girl did not surprise him at all. Noticing that Dean had finally turned away, Aerith cunningly narrowed her eyes and quickly kissed Alex on the lips. And right after that she instantly turned her head toward Dean and, having made sure that he was definitely not looking, again leaned toward Alex and continued to tenderly kiss him.
"For the sake of all that is holy, let me first calmly drink coffee so that I don't have an irresistible desire to throw you down from here!" Dean responded irritatedly, finally tired of listening to the romantic sounds of kisses right behind his back.
"And you just don't listen! And in general don't interfere. Well, and if something doesn't suit you—you can always go downstairs," Aerith answered with a quiet, lively laugh, comfortably pressing her cheek to Alex's cheek.
"And just like that all the traces of the sweet, harmless flower girl suddenly evaporated, and she finally showed her true nature of a little witch… Heh," Dean said with a sincere smirk and amusement in his eyes, looking at Aerith with interest.
"I'm always sweet! But far from for you, Dean. And by the way, I never hid that I'm a little witch," Aerith parried with a mocking smile, cunningly narrowing her eyes and pressing even more strongly to Alex's cheek.
"Yeah, yeah, how could I forget about that… Fine, stop making out here already! I urgently need normal coffee and a hearty breakfast," Dean answered, rolling his eyes, and with one squeeze of his fingers crumpled the empty beer can.
"Then we should quickly run up to the Plate for breakfast for our entire huge company. I don't think it would be right to force Elmyra to cook from the very morning for such a crowd," Alex proposed in a thoughtful tone, measuredly tapping a finger on Aerith's thigh.
"Well then why are we still sitting here? Quickly grab your wallet, and let's go!" Dean said excitedly, stretching; he put on his habitual jacket and with a habitual motion carefully seated Tonberry Steve on his shoulder.
Slightly stretching, Alex waited until Aerith carefully climbed down from his knees so that they could finally head downward. Listening to the habitual sounds in the house, he clearly heard that all the others were still soundly sleeping—with the exception of Elmyra and Claudia, who were on the first floor. Having waited until she carefully and accurately folded the blanket with which they had covered themselves that night, Alex, Dean, and Aerith began quietly descending the stairs, trying under no circumstances to wake anyone.
Alex was one hundred percent certain: the friends exhausted by yesterday's day would definitely sleep long enough not to wake up in the nearest hour. Passing by her room, Aerith noiselessly slipped inside and carefully took her favorite red jacket from the hanger. Having made sure that her movements in no way disturbed the sleeping girls, Aerith just as slowly and quietly closed the door behind herself.
Having descended to the first floor, Alex saw Elmyra calmly sitting at the table with a mug of hot tea in her hands. Behind her a radio was quietly muttering, where the announcer once again in a stirring tone was reading the official news about yesterday's terrible tragedy in the Seventh Sector.
Meeting the gaze of Claudia, who was still sitting on guard, Alex slightly nodded to her and quietly inquired whether she had managed to rest enough. In response Claudia merely slightly tilted her head, making it clear that this short rest was quite enough for her to be in full combat form. Aerith, for her part, impulsively jumped up to Elmyra and tightly embraced her from behind, almost overturning the mug with the steaming drink.
"Oh, don't spill my tea! And where are you all going so early, young lady?" Elmyra said with a soft, warming smile, carefully embracing Aerith in response.
"We want to quickly go up to the Plate in order to buy a good breakfast for everyone! So that you don't have to cook from the very morning today for our huge company," Aerith explained with a joyful smile, explaining where exactly they intended to go at such an early morning.
"To the Plate?.. Hmm, I think this is not the best idea—to go there at such an anxious time…" Elmyra expressed doubt, shaking her head, and cast a worried glance at Alex and Dean standing nearby near the mountain of bags.
"Then let's go to the Wall Market. At this time the local street restaurants and shops should already be fully working," Alex said in a thoughtful tone, carelessly taking a substantial pack of gil out of his bag.
"That will be far better. And please, be extremely careful. None of us needs Shinra's hounds sniffing something out nearby," Elmyra said, approvingly nodding her head, and again reached for her mug of tea.
"We'll be very quick, you don't even have to worry!" Aerith responded cheerfully, once more tightly embracing Elmyra before the very exit.
"I'll go together with you," Claudia said calmly and firmly, rising from the chair, with a habitual single motion picking up the heavy Buster Sword with one hand and deftly putting it behind her back.
Looking at Claudia, Alex with a calm motion put the pack of gil into the inner pocket and slightly nodded his head. He had absolutely nothing against her company. Dean himself at this early hour was concerned exclusively with hot coffee and a hearty breakfast, and not with how many people exactly would go together with them. Having checked whether he had taken everything most necessary, Alex briefly patted himself on the pockets and satisfiedly nodded.
Having exited the cozy house together with Dean, Aerith, and Claudia, Alex habitually lit a thin cigar and first went forward along the path. Feeling a light attack of morning laziness, he thought that it would be best to return to the Seventh Sector already after lunch—when absolutely everyone in the house finally woke up, regained strength, and would be really ready to do something.
Having walked through the lush flower garden and crossed the wooden bridge, Alex approached his powerful motorcycle "Fenrir." Opening the weapons compartment, he pulled out from there the faithful pistol "Jackal" and with a habitual motion put it into the holster behind his back. Closing the weapons compartment, Alex hurried to catch up with Aerith, Dean, and Claudia who had gone a little ahead.
Having come out onto the narrow streets of the slums of the Fifth Sector, they unhurriedly passed by the children's home, from the open windows of which sleepy children's voices were already carrying. Passing between the leaning houses, the four from time to time heard the excited, anxious voices of the local residents who were still one after another discussing yesterday's terrible incident.
Merely shaking his head at these endless gossips, Alex lazily yawned, deciding not to pay any attention to them at all. Having come out onto the wide main street, they again found a large crowd of onlookers intently watching yet another news report on the huge street screen. Once again standing behind the crowd, Alex leaned from behind against Aerith's back and comfortably rested his chin on the top of her head. Looking at the screen, Alex did not even try to hide an ironic smile.
"Heh… They didn't even try to shoot at least some new material and are again playing yesterday's recording," Alex said with a quiet chuckle, embracing Aerith from behind.
"They don't need to shoot anything new. Such cheap propaganda is always more than enough for the crowd so that they mindlessly believe everything," Claudia began speaking restrainedly, folding her arms on her chest, and slightly turned her head toward Alex standing nearby.
"Yes-yes, they over there in their Shinra don't even try to strain their brains a little… They should sincerely be ashamed of such slapdash work! And now can we finally go further? My breakfast won't buy itself!" Dean began speaking in a rather insistent tone, holding his hands deep in his pockets and looking with annoyance at the big screen.
Listening to Dean's grumbling about what he thought of Shinra's propaganda, Alex merely slightly laughed and finally stopped looking at the street screen. In a week of living in Midgar he had already perfectly managed to understand that on the official news they would show nothing useful at all to which one should really pay attention.
Not wishing to spoil his mood further with stupid morning news, Dean first began confidently going around the crowd of onlookers in order to leave the Fifth Sector as soon as possible. Placing his hands on Aerith's shoulders, Alex softly pushed her forward in order to leave this place as soon as possible and buy a hearty breakfast for their entire company. Claudia cast a last frowning glance at the screen and silently followed after the departing Alex, Dean, and Aerith.
Having passed through the narrow hole in the destroyed wall leading into the Sixth Sector, the four of them began unhurriedly walking toward the noisy Wall Market. Having spent very little time on the road, they were already standing at the main entrance to the market, which even at such an early time of day was rather lively. Among the colorful crowd Alex could not help noticing the confused residents of the destroyed Seventh Sector.
People were still with fear coming to themselves after yesterday's tragedy, frantically trying to understand what to do further when they had in one moment lost practically all their property and the roof over their heads. Seeing these unfortunates, Aerith expressed the most sincere concern for their further fate.
But somewhere in the depths of her soul she understood perfectly: the majority of these people were inevitably supposed to perish during the fall of the Plate if they had not remained alive thanks to a miracle. Sadly sighing, Aerith squeezed Alex's hand more tightly while they silently walked toward a cozy local restaurant. Having entered inside, they made a large order of food for their entire large group and occupied a free table in the corner.
"So, while we're waiting for our food… What plans do we even have for today's day?" Dean asked with lively interest, taking a small sip of hot coffee and slightly grimacing from its lousy taste.
"We'll check your yesterday's find and see where exactly this tunnel leads… Well, and further it'll be seen what to occupy ourselves with," Alex answered in a thoughtful tone, along the way making some neat notes in his notebook.
"Honestly speaking, I don't think we'll be able to find at least something really worthwhile in such a place," Claudia said, slightly leaning on the table and carefully observing the other visitors of the establishment.
"Still better to check just in case. None of us needs some creature to suddenly jump out from underground. Who the hell knows what Shinra was hiding or is still hiding there," Alex said with a light smile, finishing compiling a detailed list of things that they would need to buy additionally.
"And if there really is something underground? What will we do then? Simply… well, it's completely obvious that they're clearly hiding something there," Aerith asked, slightly tilting her head to the side; she propped her cheeks with her palms and rested her elbows on the wooden tabletop.
"We'll burn everything there to hell—and then sleep absolutely calmly further. If, of course, some idiots didn't decide to stick their noses into the Seventh Sector at night and intentionally or accidentally already didn't crawl into this passage," Alex answered, leaning back against the back of the chair, and calmly put the notebook into the inner pocket of his coat.
"So that's settled then! First a hearty breakfast, and then everything else," Dean summarized with a satisfied smirk, impatiently tapping a finger on the empty coffee mug.
To be continued...
(I think in the next chapter we'll be able to move on to exploring the underground lab. Because, if I recall correctly, there's some huge monstrosity down there that Hojo created. Even the first time I saw the thing, I couldn't shake the feeling that it reminded me strongly of something else. But that's a topic for later. Right now, my head hurts too much to explain anything. I'm going to get something to eat and rest. Peace, love and beaver rays to you.)
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