Desha's Reno of the Turks Fan Fiction

Chapter 7: A New Acquaintance

Reno groaned as an alarm blared at an obnoxious volume that was far too close to his ear. He rolled over, groping blindly in the general direction of the sound, and eventually managed to locate the snooze button. One thing he’d learned in his short time on the Plate… alarm clocks sucked.

Ignoring the temptation to just lay there quietly for a few more minutes, he forced himself out of bed. Yesterday had been a total bust. He’d awoken mid-afternoon, feeling more or less like himself again… but Tseng had stubbornly refused to head back into the office for what remained of the workday. It had been a bit of a disappointment… but the senior Turk had quickly made up for it by taking him out to eat again at the buffet restaurant from the day before.

Today, though… today Reno finally got to see what being a Turk was really all about. He was still nervous, but excitement was definitely winning out, and in spite of the early hour, he was eager to get started.

He dressed quickly, fumbling awkwardly with his tie. He still didn’t like it… and though he’d managed a knot this time, it didn’t look quite right, nor would it sit neatly against his throat like Tseng’s did. He scowled at his reflection for a moment, annoyed, before finally turning and heading out into the little dining area off the kitchen. Tseng was already there, dressed and occasionally sipping a cup of tea as he ate piece of toast. The morning’s newspaper was open in front of him.

“Good morning,” he said, not looking up from it, and gestured to the plate that sat across from him, where more toast, along with a sliced orange and a bowl of oatmeal sat, waiting for the redhead.

“Mornin’…” Reno replied with a wide yawn. This whole getting up early thing was going to take some getting used to. But at least there was food. He quickly took a seat and dug in. “Any chance there’s coffee around here somewhere?”

This time, Tseng did look up. “I think there may be some instant in the pantry if you’re desperate. I’m afraid I don’t often drink it myself.”

He shrugged, and got up to search. “Long as it’s not decaf, it’ll do…”

“There will almost certainly be some waiting in our offices… though if Veld made it, I’m not sure it will be any better than the instant. His idea of coffee tends to have the consistency of mud. And the flavor of it, as well, in my opinion. We can stop somewhere on the way in, if you’d prefer something more palatable.”

Reno finally located the mostly full canister of instant coffee tucked into the back corner of the little pantry and grinned.

“Nah, I can make this work,” he replied, adding some to a mug and pouring out the remainder of the hot water left over in the kettle from Tseng’s tea. He carried it back over to the table and reached for the sugar bowl in the center, dumping a thoroughly unhealthy dose into the concoction and giving it a quick stir.

“Is that meant to be coffee, or merely vaguely coffee-flavored sugar water?” the senior Turk asked, peering over the newspaper at him.

“It’s whatever it takes to wake me the hell up. I am not a morning person.”

Tseng snickered quietly. “I’ve noticed.” He calmly folded the paper and set it aside. “Well, if I can’t temp you with Veld’s alleged coffee, I’ll leave the choice of where to start the day up to you. Would you rather tour the building or meet the rest of the team first?”

Reno paused before voicing his preference for the building tour, wondering which Tseng wanted to hear. If he chose the tour over the the other Turks… would that make him look like he wasn’t interested in the team itself? His silence must have gone on a little longer than he’d realized, because Tseng suddenly spoke again.

“There’s no wrong answer, Reno. The others won’t take offense if you’d rather explore a little beforehand, and neither will I.”

He relaxed slightly… and vaguely wondered if Tseng had some sort of psychic powers.

“I’d… uh… kinda like to take a look around, then…”

A slightly mischievous smile spread over Tseng’s face.

“In that case… I hope you’re prepared for a workout.”

---

The elevator doors opened, and Reno found himself standing in a wide, open foyer. Directly across from him was a door labeled ‘Stairs’, and to his left, the Shinra Building’s main doors and a large information desk. The space was already busy, packed with people, like himself, arriving for work. Two wide staircases flanked the space on either side, leading up to the second and third floors.

“This is the first floor concourse,” Tseng said, leading him out of the elevator and pausing in front of a directory sign place centrally on the first level. “It contains, obviously, the building’s main entrance and reception desk, and building security’s base of operations is through that door, over there.” He pointed out a small, nondescript door tucked back between the staircases that Reno hadn’t initially noticed. “Security has branch offices every ten floors, and stations on every other floor containing weapons and other equipment. For some Leviathan-forsaken reason, Security is under the command of the Soldier Division rather than the General Affairs Department. Technically speaking, they are supposed to defer to the Director of Soldier. In practice, we Turks have far more interaction with them than Soldier does, and they generally obey any order we give them.”

He stopped short as they approached the stairs, and turned back to look at the redhead. “That does not mean you have leave to order them around for your own amusement, however. Should a complaint to that effect be received, it will be dealt with swiftly and harshly.”

“… Guessin’ there’s a Turk that pulled somethin’ like that once and ended up pissin’ off the wrong person?” Reno queried.

“An excellent guess,” Tseng acknowledged. “The warning is now mandatory for all new recruits.”

“Tch… There’s always someone who ruins it for everyone else…”

They continued up the stairs – and Reno could swear the senior Turk was trying hard not to laugh at his proclamation – to the second level. There, Reno spotted another bank of elevators, and several impressive displays of Shinra technology. The walls were lined with comfortable looking benches and potted plants.

“Level two is largely just a lounge area for employees on the lower levels,” Tseng continued. “And perhaps something of a miniature museum.” He gestured to one of the displays, where a large piece of construction equipment sat alongside an informational plaque and a model of the unfinished Sector Six Plate. “They change the items out about once a year. Occasionally more often, if a department has something particularly noteworthy to showcase. Last spring, it was all about the Lower Midgar Train Project.”

“… They really gonna get all the different sectors connected up one of these days?” Reno asked, curious. The train project had long been rumored. So long, in fact, that most people in the slums believed it was never actually going to happen. Only Wall Market currently had the distinction of housing a working train station.

“Mmm… From my understanding, construction will resume on the central pillar track this summer, with individual sector stations following at regular intervals. I believe the latest projection for completion is three years… though Urban Development does tend to alter their project timelines at an annoyingly frequent pace.”

“Why’s that?”

“Construction is somewhat beholden unto the weather… not to mention the department’s budget. Maintenance and emergency repairs often get prioritized over new construction projects.”

“In other words… they gotta keep the people up top happy before they worry about the slum rats.”

“Essentially,” Tseng said with a nod. “I expect that seems rather unfair from your point of view.”

The redhead shrugged. “No real surprise.” He glanced over at the staircase leading upwards, and noticed a small sign at the foot reading ‘Shop’. “We got a store in here, too?”

“Indeed. It sells small items that are occasionally needed but a hassle to have to run out and procure elsewhere, as well as gift items for the general public,” his tour guide replied, ushering him upstairs. “Employees are permitted to open an account that will deduct their purchases directly from their paycheck… It’s very convenient. And also an excellent way to lose track of how much you’re spending.”

Reno smirked. “That your way of tellin’ me you’re not gonna let me have one?”

“Actually, no,” Tseng chuckled. “As I said, it’s very convenient, and there’s no reason you shouldn’t be allowed to take advantage of it. Though I am going to have them place a fifty gil per month limit on yours.”

“Thought I didn’t get any say in what my money gets spent on ’til I’m eighteen,” Reno replied, raising a questioning eyebrow.

“I believe I told you I was going to be teaching you to manage your funds. You can hardly learn that if I don’t allow you access to enough to have something to manage.”

As they reached the top of the stairs, Reno glanced back at the Turk lieutenant, quizzically.

“Seriously?”

Tseng shook his head, laughing. “I’m your mentor, not your warden, Reno. I’m here to ensure that you obtain the skills you’ll need to survive as a Turk. And part of that is learning how to live here on the Plate. Now… get your ID out. We may as well save ourselves a trip back later and set that account up now, while we’re here.”

---

The tour had continued on, floor after floor. Conference rooms and a huge presentation hall on the fourth floor… Advertising and public relations on the fifth, followed by Building Administration, Customer Service, and an entire floor of small dormitory rooms for staff working overnight who needed a rest.

They’d stopped briefly on the ninth floor to see the rest of the medical suite… and Dr. Ward, who’d nodded approvingly at the redhead’s recovery from the round of vaccinations he’d been coerced into the previous day.

And up, and up. The fourteenth floor, they’d sailed by, with the only explanation being that it was currently unused and thus locked down. By the time they reached 32, Reno’s legs were beginning to ache, and they weren’t even halfway done.

“Whoa…” the redhead murmured, trying to take in the sight currently in front of him. They’d just come up from a large gym – apparently one of two in the building, the second one being farther upstairs and being geared more toward weight training than the lower one which had contained a walking track and basketball and squash courts. Now they found themselves standing next to a massive swimming pool. Farther on, Reno spotted locker rooms, a sauna, and even a hot tub. “We’re really allowed to use all this whenever the hell we want?”

“Of course. In fact, you’ll be here quite frequently. It’s part of our standard workout routine.”

He looked up in concern. “Uh… What if I can’t… ya know… swim?” To be fair… he really didn’t know if he could or not. He’d never had the opportunity to try. Sure, there were murky ponds scattered around Sector Two and other parts of the slums… but nothing you’d want to take a swim in. Not intentionally, at any rate.

“That’s what training is for. No one comes into this line of work knowing everything.”

“There you are,” a voice suddenly interrupted. “I’ve been searching half the building looking for you this morning.”

Tseng’s attention quickly shifted away from his new rookie, and refocused on the young man now walking towards the pair. Reno watched him as he approached. The guy couldn’t have been much older than he was… but he had the bearing of someone who expected you to grovel at his feet. He was sharply dressed in gray trousers and a black shirt, with a white vest on top. A white tie was knotted neatly at his throat. He brushed back a few strands of blonde hair from his face and looked down his nose at the redhead.

“Don’t tell me this is the new Turk you’ve been so excited about…” he said, sneering slightly. “Where did you even find it?”

Reno scowled darkly at the young man. He could already tell he wasn’t going to like the son of a bitch.

“Something I can do for you, sir?” Tseng replied, ignoring the question.

“Yes. I wish to attend a performance in Kalm tomorrow. As such, I require an escort. And don’t try pawning me off on one of your subordinates again. You will accompany me, personally.”

“You could have simply sent that request to Veld, sir.”

The snobbish young man snorted in contempt. “After that fiasco two days ago, I refuse to deal with him until I receive an apology.” He turned back to the rookie, and looked him over. “So… Does it have a name?”

The redhead opened his mouth to tell the bastard to shove it up his ass, but Tseng very quickly interceded.

“This is Reno,” he replied.

“Hmm…” He began a slow circuit around the rookie, as though studying him from every angle, at last coming to a halt in front of him. A smirk crossed his face, and he took a step forward. Reno instinctively took one back… and belatedly noticed that he was now mere inches from the edge of the pool. He realized what the other teenager intended a moment too late.

“Rufus, don’t!” Tseng shouted, apparently having come to the same conclusion, but by then, the blonde boy’s hand had shot out, roughly shoving the redhead backwards. Accepting the inevitable, Reno didn’t waste his time trying to regain his balance. Instead, he glared and seized hold of the other boy’s arm, dragging him along with him. ‘Rufus’ gave a yelp of surprise, as they both toppled into the water.

It was deeper than he would have expected. Over his head, in fact, he found, as he tried ineffectively to stand up and succeeded only in scraping the bottom with the toe of his shoe. He flailed for a moment, trying to get back to the surface, only to slip to the depths with half a breath of air. A firm grip latched onto the back of his collar, hauling him upwards and he groped blindly for the edge of the pool for a moment, blinking the rivulets of water, now running down his face, out of his eyes. He sputtered and coughed, recovering from his unexpected swim. Rufus was already pulling himself out.

“Are you alright?” the senior Turk asked, crouching down in front of the half-drowned redhead.

“… Yeah.”

“Him? What about me?” the other boy whined. “Just look at me!” He flung his arms downwards, sending a spray of water across the concrete deck.

“You can swim. He cannot,” Tseng replied, and the note of anger in his voice was unmistakeable. “I would appreciate it, sir, if you would refrain from drowning my new recruit before he’s even been introduced to the other Turks.”

The very obvious displeasure seemed to cow the young man slightly, and his haughty expression dropped. He glanced down at the redhead, and seemed only then to realized that he was clinging tightly to the grate that ran along the perimeter of the pool.

“Go and dry off. I’ll be speaking to your father about this,” the senior Turk continued, and Reno was a little surprised to see Rufus quickly scamper off towards the locker rooms without a further word. Tseng sighed in exasperation and shook his head, and then offered a hand to the rookie. Reno gladly took it and let himself be pulled from the pool, and back onto dry land.

“I apologize for that. Rufus can be…”

“A total dick?” the redhead supplied, glaring angrily in the direction the blonde boy had gone.

“I suppose that would be an accurate description at times, yes,” he replied, laughing softly.

“Just wait ’til I get my hands on that asshole… Who the hell is he, anyway?”

“Rufus Shinra,” Tseng said, “President Shinra’s son. And, as such, I’m afraid retribution is out of the question. He’s in line to be named vice president of the company within a year.”

“That little shit’s gonna be runnin’ things around here one day?!” Reno exclaimed, incredulously. “You gotta be shittin’ me…”

“I admit… this was probably not the best first impression he could have made. I hope you won’t judge him too harshly. He’s really not as cruel as he occasionally comes across as being. I’m fairly certain he simply thought it would be funny… until he discovered that he put you in real danger.”

“Tch… if that’s his idea of a joke, kid needs a serious attitude adjustment.”

Tseng chuckled, and placed a hand on the rookie’s shoulder, guiding him away from the pool.

“Dealing with Rufus can be… complicated. Come on. We’ll find you some dry clothes.”

~end chapter 7~