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Reintegration

Step 05: Psychology

Last night was not so bad. I stayed at the Seventh Heaven until late at night. The Turks were there late as well. Reno started telling jokes and I think I should have been offended, but I let it pass, Strife didn't seem to care too much, he just rolled his eyes. I remember some of Reno's stupid 'three soldiers walk into a bar' jokes...

"So these three soldiers walk into a bar and each of them gets two drinks, the second free. Everyone wonders about this and then the bartender points to a sign that says it's a special ladies' night so women get their first drink free. So this random guy says, 'but there are only three men there, no women.' So the bartender says, 'it's one drink for them and one for their mother.' Then the guy goes, 'where's the mother? And that would still be two extra drinks,' so the bartender goes, 'they're soldiers'!"

I remember there was a pause when Reno finished his joke and nobody laughed so he elaborated, "don't you get it? It's because they each have their mom with them, Jenova cells, get it? Okay one more, three soldiers walk into a bar and ask for drinks, but the bartender refuses saying 'you're already too drunk,' but the soldiers say they haven't had any drinks, then the bartender goes, 'you're drunk I can see it in your eyes!' Get it? Mako, they're drunk on mako!"

There was a multitude of stupid jokes after that, but I chose not to remember them. Reno says the most ridiculous things when he's drunk. Admittedly, it takes a lot of drinks for him to become drunk enough to start telling his 'three soldiers walk into a bar' jokes, but when he starts, he doesn't stop. I bet he won't remember any of that today, lucky him.

So far my tasks for today have consisted of training, training and more training. I've been at Shinra HQ; it is the only place I know. As I swing my sword and battle holographic monsters in the simulator, everything suddenly goes dark, the lights come on again and the simulator is empty, somebody interrupted my training.

Normally I would be annoyed, but I have been trying to control my temper. "Yo Seph!" Reno is not making that task easy. "Do you know what kind of mission Leader just gave me?" He doesn't allow me to reply, "he told me to tell you something, me, a messenger boy. But that's okay, it's still a lot better than Rude's job, he has to hand out flyers for some Shinra sponsored event. Man, can you believe the lack of interesting missions since Shinra turned goody-goody?"

I stop to give the situation some thought, while Reno chatters about, then I speak, my voice silencing his, "it's admirable."

With a "huh?" and a puzzled expression, Reno stops talking.

"What Rufus is trying to do, he is restoring Shinra to be once again seen as a force of good. The world still needs heroes and Shinra will have to provide them once the people's trust is reestablished in full. Things are a little shaky right now, but I think we're making progress." I pause to realize I am including myself as a part of Shinra, speaking of 'us' with more unity that I ever have before. This time 'we' includes all of Shinra, not just my elite best friends.

"Eh?" Reno is still confused.

"You have always worked as a spy, haven't you? Back then soldiers were the public heroes and Turks worked in the shadows. Maybe one day we will all be seen as heroes," when I had such a reputation I didn't care for it and now I want it back, not for the fame, but for the proof of redemption.

"Back then..." Reno tilts his head curiously, then wrinkles his nose in dislike. "You sound like an old man, and here I thought your hair was naturally silver, is it from age?"

I shake my head, "you need to learn to be more responsible." I have a feeling telling him this is a lost cause; he doesn't hold the burden of being the world's greatest villain. Then I recall that I am assigned to work with the Turks, as explained by Rufus, because there are no soldier units anymore. "Since you've been assigned to the task of messenger boy, please inform Tseng that I am on standby, awaiting orders." Reno merely blinks and I remind him, "I was assigned to work with the Turks remember, I report to Tseng."

"Oh! That's right, I almost forgot, there's this report you have to write," I thought I caught a hint of mischief in Reno's eyes, but I'm not sure why. "It's kind of a psycho exercise."

"I do hope you mean psychological."

"Yeah, yeah, that! All you have to do is type up a report of what happened in the bar last night, how you interacted with people and stuff, but it has to be in my perspective. Just write it as if you were me; it's part of the exercise, putting yourself in someone else's shoes and stuff."

I should be bothered that I am being reported on as an experiment, I was seen as an experiment for far too long and thinking of myself as such drove me to the extremes. But was fully expected to be reported on given the situation and I'm still surprised I can move around the city in relative freedom after all that happened. Perhaps I am being reported on more as a mental patient than an experiment this time around, yet I can't really blame them, I'll just have to prove I'm sane and I'm certainly not stupid. "Reno, you just want me to do your paperwork for you."

Reno looks like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Aw c'mon, you're not doing anything! Besides, I'm asking you to do this for your own good. I'm just trying to help; it really could be a good psycho exercise!"

I sigh and massage my temples, "alright, I'll do it, but please stop abbreviating the word psychological."

To be Continued

Disclaimer, I don't own Final Fantasy VII.