By: Mags

Morrigan, amidst a sea of nurses and hospital aides, pushed his way through the crowded halls of the Rachwell Institute for the Mentally Insane, a.k.a. the Asylum. He looked down at the card he was holding that had the information he needed on it. Once he had gotten up that morning, he had phoned in the Company, and said that he was taking the day off for personal reasons. Immediately afterwards, he phoned the Asylum and scheduled an appointment with head administrator concerning the matters of Cole’s breakout the previous day.

"Room 846B," thought Morrigan as he glanced down at the card he was holding. He looked to his right, over the tide of people that passed him, to check the door number.

"Room 837A," Morrigan read to himself. He still had a little ways to go before he reached his destination. A few minutes later of pushing through the crowd, and he checked the room number again.

"846A," he read. He walked down to the next door, and after confirming the number, opened it and walked inside.

The inside of the room was a bit fancier than Morrigan had expected. It was a long room with a large rectangular table sitting in the center, polished to a shine. It was surrounded by about fifteen chairs, the largest being the one on the far end, its back turned to the large windows that lined the far wall. Three lamps hung from the ceiling, all three in a single row. The carpet was a deep blue, which seemed to balance the room rather nicely. Several types of ferns and other medium-sized plants were gathered in the corners of the room, adding to the atmosphere of the room. As he was admiring the room, Professor Donovich entered the room from a door on the far side of the room.

"Ah, Dr. Morrigan. I have been expecting you. I understand you wanted to speak with me regarding yesterday’s breakout."

"Yes," replied Morrigan, finally tearing his attention away from the room, "If its not too much trouble. It should not take too long."
"No trouble at all, I assure you. Please, have a seat," said Donovich said, gesturing to one of the chairs that surrounded the large table. Morrigan complied graciously.

"Dr. Donovich, tell me," began Morrigan, as he took his seat across from Donovich’s, "exactly how did Victor Cole escape? As I understand, since you took command of this facility about 13 years ago, there have been only a small number of attempted breakouts, all of which were put down. What happened here?"

Donovich’s face fell significantly. He sighed, and rubbed is temples. He looked up at Morrigan with an exasperated look on his face.

"Victor Cole was a very…odd…patient."

"How so?" queried Morrigan, anxious to hear whatever details the professor might have on the matter.

"Well, for starters, he was not nearly as talkative as our other patients. Usually, people that are admitted into this facility are looking for attention. They just need someone to talk to, someone to listen to what they have to say. Victor, to say the least, was a very quiet individual. He was almost an antithesis to every other patient in this building."

"That still doesn’t tell me how the hell he could get out of a building with such a high level of security," explained Morrigan, beginning to get upset at Donovich’s skirting around the issue.

"If you truly want to know, then I will show you," answered Donovich.

He got up from his chair, and walked over to the door that he had entered the room from earlier. "Follow me," he instructed.

Morrigan followed him, still waiting for the answers he had been seeking. He followed Donovich into the room that Donovich had entered from earlier. The new room, much smaller than the last room, was lined with small television monitors on the far wall, with a large electronic panel resting right below it. Morrigan walked over to where Donovich was standing. Donovich pulled out one of the hard metal chairs, and took a seat in front of the monitors. Morrigan looked around for a chair for himself, but all he saw were small metal file cabinets and many folders stuffed with papers. Donovich, as if sensing Morrigan’s need, spun around in his chair to face him.

"Sorry," Donovich said "There’s only room for one chair at this terminal, and there’s no need for other chairs here because we only have one security guard stationed here at a time. I’m afraid you will have to stand."

Morrigan sighed inwardly, and propped himself up against the closest metal file cabinet. He arched his back uncomfortably to avoid one of the metal handles, and looked back towards Donovich.

"Sorry about this, but like I said…" began Donovich.

"It’s alright. I understand. Could we proceed, please?" Morrigan said irritably.

"Sorry. Yes you’re right." Donovich spun the chair again, to face the terminal. He hit a switch on the far side of the panel and all of the monitors went black. He hit another switch, and this time, a keyboard opened up in front of him. He began rapidly typing, and soon, the monitors lit up bright blue. Donovich turned to face Morrigan again.

"Its rather simple playing back the tapes, its just that you have to input a long series of passwords first, because once your into the system, you can do just about anything with it, so we take no chances."

"Of course," Morrigan replied plainly.

Donovich turned, once again, to face the monitors, and once again resumed his rapid typing. A few seconds later, all the monitors began playing the exact same images, which appeared to Morrigan to be black and white security footage of Cole’s psychiatric evaluation.

Donovich, without bothering to face Morrigan, began explaining what was on screen.

"I’m assuming that you have already guessed that this is just security footage of one of Cole’s sessions with his therapist. I’m playing this particular ‘episode’ because in it, Cole says something that struck me as a bit odd. I’ll turn up the volume on it so that you can hear it."

Donovich then reached out for a lever to his left and slowly raised it up, and as he did, the sound from the video became more and more audible. Donovich stopped increasing it about halfway up, the static in the speakers just barely audible.

"The doctor interviewing him," began Donovich, "Is, or rather, was, Doctor Haskell. He was just hired recently, and Cole was his first real assignment."

Morrigan raised an eyebrow at the Professor’s comment.

"What do you mean ‘was’ Doctor Haskell?"

Donovich turned to face him, and frowned.

"I’ll tell you later," he said, and then wordlessly turned back to the video. Morrigan did not argue the matter, but turned his attention back to the video.

Donovich turned his head back to face Morrigan.

"This is the part where the conversation gets interesting. Listen to his response.

Donovan paused the machine, and spun the chair, facing Morrigan, who was taken aback at Cole’s response.

"Just what the hell did he mean by that?" Morrigan demanded.

"I was never quite able to figure that part out either. There’s only a bit more video, so lets brainstorm after you see it, okay?"

Morrigan figured that that would most likely be the best course of action, so he agreed. Donovich turned around again, and unpaused the video, starting it up again.

"Your friend Cole is a riddle wrapped in an enigma, Dr. Morrigan," Donovich said, turning to look at Morrigan’s reaction to the new piece of video.

"So it would appear," Morrigan said thoughtfully. "Tell me, professor, how much more video is there left?"

Donovich was silent for a second as he thought about it. Finally, he was finished, and gave Morrigan his estimated calculation.

"Oh, about another minute or two, I suppose. This was filmed right before he escaped, and during the escape process for some reason the recording unit that was taping this got damaged somehow, so the actual escape is just snow."

"Is there at least sound?"

"Yes, but all it picked up were some odd electrical sounds that almost sounded like…" Donovich paused, searching for the right words.

"Like what?" Morrigan asked, not sure of what to expect.

"Like animal sounds…" Donovich said.

"Animal sounds?" Morrigan questioned dubiously.

"Yeah. I don’t know what the hell could make those sounds, but that’s what it picked up. I suppose it could have been an amalgam of the sounds from the breakout and the electrical jamming, but… it just sounds so…so…odd."

"Do you think that I could get a copy of the tape? The whole tape, for my own use?" Morrigan asked hopefully. He figured that if he had some time, he would eventually be able to figure out the mystery to all of this.

"I suppose. I mean, as long as the video doesn’t give out any classified information it’s fine, so there shouldn’t be a problem. You’ll have to fill out a form, though."

"That’s fine. Where do I get the form?"

"Actually…" Donovich said, walking over to a large stack of folders, "I might have one in one of these folders." He picked up one of the folders and began leafing through it. Frustrated, he put the folder down, and picked up another one. This time, he found what he was looking for and pulled out a form. The form was pink, with a yellow sheet under it, and a black sheet underneath that.

"You just need to fill this out. For the space that asks the video title, just put ‘Cole breakout video’ and for the video number, you can fill in…"

Donovich hit the TAB key on the keyboard and one of the monitors went black. He began typing again, and a large amount of text began scrolling on the computer. Donovich leaned forwards to get a good look at the small text, and finally found what he was looking for.

"The video’s number is 889453-D. You got that?"

"Actually…" Morrigan said, patting his pockets "I need to borrow a pen. I don’t suppose you have one, do you?"

"Hmm… I think so. Give me a moment."

Donovich began searching through his pockets, and finally produced a black, metallic pen. "Here you are," he said, handing it to Morrigan.

"Thanks," Morrigan said, accepting the pen.

He began scribbling down the needed information onto the form, filling it out with haste.

"Could you please repeat the video number?" Morrigan asked.

"It’s 8894…" began Donovich.

"Okay."

"53-D. Got that?"

"889453-D?"

"Right"

Morrigan continued to fill out the rest of the form, and then handed the pen back to Donovich.

"Thanks. Here’s the form, too."

"Good, you’ll need to stick around for a minute while the computer processes your request and copies the tape. Is there anything else that you wanted?"

"Actually…" Morrigan thought out loud, "Could I get a look at the room Cole made his escape from?"

Donovich flushed when he heard Morrigan’s request.

"I don’t think that that is such a good idea, doctor."

"And just why is that?"

"Because the custodial engineers have not gotten around to cleaning the room up yet, and Cole left it rather… soiled."

"I don’t really care how messy it is, I would like to see it. Unless there is a better reason why I cannot see it, then please take me there now," Morrigan said, getting irate.

"I did not say that you could not see it, I merely advised against it. If you really want to see it, then follow me."

Donovich returned the security system to its normal state, then phoned the office to have them send in a patrol guard to monitor it in his absence. Once he finished, he proceeded out the door from where the entered and back out into the Blue room. As they exited the Blue room, they passed the patrol guard that Donovich had requested. Although Morrigan was surprised that he had gotten here so quickly, he did not give it much more thought than that, as he did not want to wind up distracted and loose Donovich in a large building like this. He followed Donovich through the tide of nurses and staff aides, hoping that he wouldn’t fall too far behind. He also hoped that no one picked his pocket, because he knew that he’d never find out until he and Donovich reached their destination. After several minutes, Donovich turned a corner, away from the crowd, and walked over to an elevator. As Morrigan approached, he looked over at him.

"Glad to see you’re still in one piece, Dr. Morrigan. Your destination is on the floor below us in the psychiatric ward, so we need the elevator."

The chime heralded the arrival of the elevator, and sure enough the double-doors opened to reveal a cramped, narrow elevator. Donovich and Morrigan boarded the elevator quickly, and seconds later the doors closed. Donovich walked over to the control panel, and put in the desired destination. The elevator began to lower in response, and Donovich returned to his space standing beside Morrigan.

"We never did have a reason for voice-command. We need the money for other things, explained Donovich.

"Makes sense," replied Morrigan.

The elevator chimed again, the double-doors slid open, and Morrigan and Donovich quickly exited. Donovich once again took the lead, and led Morrigan down the labyrinth of corridors until they reached room 762-C. Donovich stopped in front of it and turned to face Morrigan, his face grim.

"This is your room, Dr. Morrigan."

"Why the grim face, professor?"

"See for yourself," replied Donovich, as he unlocked the door, and pushed away the yellow tape that blocked the inside of the doorway.

Morrigan gasped in awe as he took in the contents, or what was left of, the room. It looked as though the entire room had been ripped apart by a rampaging behemoth, not a frail-looking man like Cole. As he stepped under the yellow tape, he looked around the room, and saw several brown stains on the wall. As he got closer to them, an awful stench, a hundred times worse than the Nibel Dome, overtook him. It was the stench of rotting flesh. He looked down to see what looked to be the tattered and torn remains of what was once a doctor.

"Like I said before," began Donovich, "He ‘was’ Dr. Haskell."

"This is Haskell?"

"Yes."

"But he looks like he was mauled by an animal, not an escaped mental patient!"

"That’s what was so confusing about all of this. We couldn’t figure out what the hell he used to make wounds like that. The few parts of his body that aren’t torn up are covered with 1^st degree burns. Whatever Cole was using, it sure was nasty."

"You can say that again," said Morrigan, as he gazed at the decapitated head of Dr. Haskell, the face a myriad of horror and shock.

"Oh, if only Haskell could tell us what he had seen," said Morrigan, not really to himself, but not directed at Donovich either.

"That’s a big ‘if’," replied Donovich.

"Unfortunately," agreed Morrigan.

Suddenly, something came to Morrigan as he looked at the carnage that surrounded him. As he surveyed the scene, the one thing that seemed to be missing was the escape route.

"Say, Donovich, how did Cole get loose? I mean, I’m assuming that the main door was locked, and I don’t see any windows, so how the hell did he get out?"

"That’s because you’re not looking in the right place."

"What do you mean? Where else could he have gotten out from?"

Donovich remained silent, but his line of sight drifted upwards. Morrigan followed his gaze, and to his surprise, he saw a gaping hole in the side of the wall about ten feet off the ground. How he had missed it he’d never know, but how Cole managed to get up there, he’d also never know.

"At first, we thought that maybe he had been rescued, but the debris fell outside, not from the inside, meaning that the hole was made from the inside, ruling out outside assistance. We still have no clue as to how he managed to do that, or for that matter, get up there either."

"This certainly is a puzzling case, isn’t it? Tell me, do you have any idea where he might have gone?"
Donovich sighed.

"We have absolutely no idea where he is. No one has seen neither hide nor hair of him since he escaped. It’s as though he dropped off the face of the planet!"

Donovich’s words hit Morrigan like a punch in the face, and he thought back to only a few days ago when he had visited Malcolm’s Ancient City. He had checked up on Cole’s background because he thought that Cole had looked somewhat familiar. What he had found was more than a bit odd. His computer had told him that Cole very frequently went missing, and that for large amounts of time, there would be no trace of him whatsoever. Furthermore, whenever he reappeared, it would always be in or around the Canyon excavation site area. He still remembered how Cole had asked to be transferred there when he had first met him at the Ancient City. Morrigan knew what had to be done. It was time for a road trip. His destination: The Canyon Excavation Area. He had absolutely no idea what to expect, but he did know that he would never be able to rest until he found out the truth behind Cole.

"Victor Cole, what the hell are you?" thought Morrigan, as he looked up at the giant crater in the wall.

After about three minutes of just thinking, he finally rose to his feet and turned to face Donovich.

"I have pressing business elsewhere. Its about time that I got going."

"Very well," answered Donovich, still refusing to get any closer to the room than the doorway. "Do you at least want to take the copy of the video you requested? I’d imagine that it would be ready for you by now."

"Do you suppose that you could have it sent to me on my way out of the building?"

"It shouldn’t be a problem," answered Donovich.

Good, because I really am in a hurry."

"Alright then, you get on your way, and I’ll have someone hand it to you on your way out of the building, alright?"

"Sounds good. Thank you, professor," Morrigan said, shaking Donovich’s hand.

"No problem, Dr. Morrigan. If you need anything else, you have my number," replied Donovich, shaking Morrigan’s hand and patting him on the back as he exited the door. Donovich watched as Morrigan walked down the hall, and looked on until Morrigan was out of sight. After looking around to make sure the coast was clear, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his cel phone. He flipped it open and pressed a button, which automatically dialed a number. After a few rings, someone picked up on the other end of the line.

"What is it?" the voice demanded.

"Dr. Malcolm, this is Donovich. The bug has been planted on Morrigan as per your requests."

"Excellent," replied the doctor. "Keep monitoring his position and let me know the minute he leaves the city."

"Sounds like a plan," Donovich said, "That’s all I wanted to tell you. Donovich out."

Malcolm grinned to himself, as his grand scheme formulated in his twisted mind. "I’m sure that those books that Morrigan brought in told him where to find some rare and ancient artifacts that he is going to try to use to show me up," Malcolm thought to himself. "Now I can follow him and steal his artifacts, and then I can steal his job!"

Morrigan wandered the corridors of the psychiatric ward for what seemed like an hour before he found someone willing enough to lead him to an elevator. After that, he was able to get himself to the first floor. As he was about to leave, he felt a tap on the shoulder and turned to see a young man in a security uniform standing before him.

"Are you Dr. Morrigan?" the young blonde man asked casually, obviously not an amateur.

"Why yes I am, is there something you need from me?"

"No sir, it’s just that I was assigned to give you this package before you left the building. I believe that it is a video cassette that you requested."

"Ah, I had almost forgotten about it. Yes, I did request this. Thank you."

"No problem, sir. That’s all," the young man said, turning away from Morrigan.

Morrigan stuffed the video into his pocket and walked outside. He hailed a hovercab, and instructed the driver to take him to the Needle. Meanwhile, he just sat back and relaxed the entire ride. Even though he had actually gotten some sleep last night, he still had some catching up to do and his sleep last night had been quite insubstantial. During the drive, he rested his eyes, but was awakened before he could actually fall asleep.

As he walked into the main lobby of the Rachwell HQ, the secretary at the desk stopped him.

"Dr. Morrigan?"

"Yes, Heather?" Morrigan asked, stopping to answer the middle-aged woman.

"There is someone here to see you. She is waiting in your office."

"Alright, I believe I know who it is, so it’s no problem. Thank you, though."

He turned away from the desk and took the elevator up to his floor. He had to use the manual controls though, because Michelle was out on her lunch break.

When he finally reached his room, he was quite exhausted. He figured that he could always get some sleep on the airship though. When he walked into the room, he saw the young girl that Heather had said was waiting for him. As he had guessed, it was Karen. He was hoping that she was also his new assistant. When she saw him walk into the room, her eyes lit up and she ran over to him and gave him a giant bear hug.

"Oh, thank you so much for this!" she cried. "I always wanted to get a job with the company, but I was never sure what I’d be good at!"

The force of the hug knocked the wind out of Morrigan, and the best he could do was pat her on the back.

"Your welcome. I’m assuming that this means you got the job then," he gasped.

She released him, then while he gasped for air, she dug into her pocket and pulled out her ID card, complete with her name, age, and photo. Morrigan congratulated her.

"Good for you. I didn’t think that the President would have any problems with you, especially since he’s been in an unusually rare mood these past few days."

"You were right. The whole thing went real smooth. I was in and out of there in about ten minutes!"

"Wow," said Morrigan, visibly impressed, "I don’t think that my interview with the President went that quickly."

"With all due respect, your jobs a bit more important than mine is," she said, laughing.

"Now now, none of that ‘with all due respect’ crap! You already have the job. Lighten up a little, around me anyway. Just make sure you get your work done, okay?"

"Yes, sir!" she said, standing at attention.

"You don’t have to call me sir, either. Just call me Rob, okay?"

"Okay…Rob," she said, smiling.

"That’s better. Now, first things first. We have a road trip to go on, so you need to go get ready, okay?"

"Road trip? Where’re we going?" she asked excitedly, her green eyes lighting up.

"The Canyon Excavation Site, on the opposite continent," said Morrigan.

"Cool, I have to go get changed anyway. They gave me a uniform to wear, so I have to go put that on. I’ll be ready in about an hour, okay?"

"Sounds good. I should be ready by then, too. I’ll meet you here in an hour then, all right?"

"All right…Rob!" she said again, grinning, as she hurried out the door.

Morrigan sighed, and grinned to himself. It was going to be nice having some company on this trip, and the extra set of hands might come in handy, as well. He walked over to his desk, and picked up his phone. He dialed the President’s number and waited for him to answer. To his surprise, when it was finally answered, it was not the President at all, rather his daughter, Minerva.

"Hello, who is this?" asked Minerva coolly.

"Minerva? This is Morrigan from Archaeology."

"Morrigan? Oh yes, I remember you! How are you?"

"Fine, thank you. Listen, is your father there? I have to tell him something."

"No, he’s not. However, if you leave your message at the tone, I’ll take a message."

"What tone?" Morrigan asked, confused.

"Beep," responded Minerva.

Morrigan understood, and decided to play along.

"Alright, just tell the President that I have decided to take a road trip. I am going to give a surprise visit to my boys over at the Canyon Excavation Site. I shouldn’t be gone more than about two to three days. Thank you sir, and tell your daughter I said ‘hello’." He grinned after adding the last part, trying to imagine the look Minerva must be sporting.

"Beep," was the only response, followed by the click of a hung-up phone.

Morrigan laughed to himself for a moment, but that was quickly forgotten as his desire for sleep began to overtake him once more. He hobbled over to his personal elevator and descended down into his bedroom for some much-needed sleep.

After he arrived at his room, he hastily made the necessary preparations for his trip. He packed about three sets of casual clothes and his business suit, his portable computer, and a few material items, and lastly Sephiroth’s journal for further reading. After he was done, he sent the luggage up to his office via his elevator, and then walked over to his bed. He plopped down on his bed, and he had just enough time to set his alarm clock to wake him approximately 40 minutes later, before his sleep overtook him.

Forty minutes later, although it felt like mere minutes to Morrigan, the blaring alarm went off, disturbing his cessation. Morrigan sat up with a start.

"Oh…" he cried, jolting upward, slamming his fist down on his alarm clock. He glanced over at the time. It told him that he had exactly two minutes before he had to get up. Just enough time to get himself changed. He got up, and hurriedly changed out of the wrinkled clothes he had fallen asleep in, and into some more comfortable clothes, more suitable for where he was heading. He threw on a long white shirt, buttoning it up and fixing the collar. He then added some gray slacks, much more loosely fitting than his black business pants. Finally, he added a pair of brown boots; more comfortable than the loafers he was required to wear. He took out a pair of sunglasses and stuck them into his shirt pocket, and went into the bathroom to comb his hair, which had gotten a bit messed up during his rest. When he was finally done, he looked down at his watch and realized that he was about five minutes late. He ran to the elevator, and rushed himself up to his office. He hoped that had not kept Karen waiting long. When he finally arrived, he forgot that he had left his luggage there earlier and tripped over them.

"Oh… ow!" he said, rubbing the side of his head.

"Oh my god, are you all right?" asked Karen, running over to him and helping him up.

"Yeah, I’m fine. I just took a small trip there," he said, still rubbing his head.

"Good, you should be fine then," she said, letting go of him, but being ready to catch him, just in case.

"Yes, I’m fine. But thank you, nonetheless," he said graciously.

He looked over at Karen, and was left speechless. Karen seemed to notice his staring.

"Do you like the uniform, sir?"

"Uh…yeah," he stuttered.

Karen was decked in the common assistant’s uniform, however she looked better in it than anyone else he had ever seen wearing it. It was a black one-piece suit that was buttoned down on one side. The belt she wore was black as well, barely visible among the rest of the suit, and complimented the outfit nicely. The uniform ended, as it did with all the women, as a skirt that ended about halfway down her calf. To complete the outfit she wore black leather boots that ended below her knee, and a black cap with a shiny plastic lid that contrasted her light blonde hair. He returned his attention to her face, and she began grinning again.

"I’m glad you like it, I wasn’t sure about it, because it’s such a far cry from what I usually wore as a cab driver."

"Well, you can stop worrying because it looks great on you," said Morrigan truthfully. He glanced down at his watch. They were late. It was 4:15 now, and the flight left at 4:35. They didn’t have much time.

"Uh oh," he said, looking at his watch, "We’re late. We had better hurry. Where are your bags?"

"They’re over there," said Karen, motioning to a small black bag in the far corner of the room, near the door.

"Okay, get that and follow me down to my room. The elevator I have there is faster than the one outside this room."

"Alright," she said, walking over and throwing the bag over her shoulder. She grabbed Morrigan’s suitcase too, with surprising ease, and followed Morrigan down to his room.

"I’ve never been in an executive’s room before," Karen said, her eyes darting around, taking in the scenery.

"Mines not much to look at, but I call it home," said Morrigan, hurrying for his private elevator in the side of the main room. He wasted no time in punching in the desired location, and after Karen had put the luggage down, turned to her.

"Hang on," he warned, "This is a bit faster than the main elevator."

She heeded his advice and grabbed on the guardrail, just as he hit the ground level button. A second later, they were rocketing through the tube system. They were down to ground level in less than a minute.

Morrigan walked out seemingly unfazed, but Karen stumbled out, with a very dizzy look on her face.

"Ooh," she moaned.

"Warned you," he said.

"…"

Morrigan stifled a laugh, then helped her out of the elevator. Since she was still a bit shaken up, he took his own luggage so she wouldn’t strain herself. He helped her to her feet, and propped her up on his shoulder for added support. A minute later, she seemed to be fine, so they continued on. Outside, they were, luckily, able to hail a cab quickly.

"To the airship port, and step on it!" Morrigan yelled to the driver, practically jumping into the cab, followed by Karen.

"I don’t rush for nobody, mister!" the cabby retorted sternly.

"For 500 gil… step on it!" Morrigan yelled again.

"You’re the boss!" the cabby said, slamming onto the brakes, lurching the cab forward with incredible speed. A minute later, they were several miles away from the station. Morrigan just sat back and relaxed, but Karen could not sit still.

"This is the first time I’ve ever ridden in the back of a cab," she said, visibly excited.

"Well, don’t worry about it. You’ll get used to it. Look at it this way, at least you can pay attention to the scenery, now."

"YEAH!" she cried happily.

"That’s the spirit," he said, sitting back into his seat cushion.

About three minutes later, they arrived at the airship port. Morrigan and Karen wasted no time in grabbing their bags, and getting to the airship terminal that they had been assigned.

"Terminal 57-C for the Canyon Dome area," said Morrigan to Karen as they raced down the halls of the station with only a minute or two left. "It should be just past this shop," said Morrigan, racing past a small coffee shop. Finally, they reached the 57 terminals.

"57-A," read Morrigan, as he ran past it. "57-B, just a bit farther," he called back to Karen, who was a bit behind, but having no trouble keeping up, despite being weighed down with her and Morrigan’s luggage. Finally, they reached terminal 57-C. Morrigan took out his papers that he always carried with him, that he needed to travel. They included his ID Card, his certificate of birth, and an airship flight schedule. Actually, he just always carried his schedule with him because he traveled a lot, but it had come in handy so far. He readied the papers, and handed them to the desk clerk.

"Alright, sir. You just made it," the clerk said, taking his papers and looking over them.

"Are you the only one traveling, Mr. …Morrigan?" the clerk asked, looking at him over the papers.

"No, my assistant is going with me, too," he gasped, out of breath, motioning over to where Karen was standing.

"Do you have a license for her?" asked the black woman.

"Umm… no actually," he said, patting his pockets.

"That’s all right, sir. I forgot to give it to you before in your office," said Karen, walking up to him and holding out a small card.

"Oh, good," said Morrigan. He took the card and passed it along to the clerk. She scanned it, then handed it back to Morrigan, who stuffed it into his wallet.

"Alright, then. You two are both cleared. You’d better hurry, though. It takes off any minute now."

Without another word, Morrigan nodded and grabbed his papers back. He shoved them into his pocket and ran up to the airship’s boarding dock, and into the airship, followed by Karen. They handed their bags to the stewardess at the entrance, who took them and left, and then walked into the seating room, where another stewardess took them to their seats, and told them to buckle up because they would be taking off now. They complied, and the stewardess walked to the front of the room and showed everyone how to use the safety features on the ship, in case of an emergency. After another minute of the demonstration, the stewardess exited the room. About three minutes later, the engines started up and the airship lifted off. Morrigan was, as usual, his nervous self, however, Karen looked positively ecstatic.

"I’ve never been on a real airship before," said Karen with obvious enthusiasm, looking out of the window as the airship lifted off.

"First time for everything," Morrigan said, sinking himself deep into his seat, hoping to get over the nausea without getting sick in front of Karen. After another minute of flying, however, the feeling slowly passed. Morrigan let out an audible sigh and sank deeper into his seat. Karen turned her attention from the ocean scenery to Morrigan, with a worried look on her face.

"Is everything all right, sir?" she asked.

"Everything is fine, and again, you don’t have to call me ‘sir’," he replied.

"Are you sure?"

He turned to face her, and forced a weak smile.

"I’m sure," he said.

"All right, just let me know if you need anything, though. It is my job," she said, turning her attention back to the ocean outside the airship.

"Sure thing," Morrigan replied, barely audible. After a few more minutes, he shut his eyes and fell into a light sleep.

About two hours later, he was shaken awake by Karen, who informed him that they were about to land in about ten minutes.

Morrigan sat upright, and gritted his teeth and gave a quick stretch. He winced in pain when he realized that he must have fallen asleep in an odd position, because his neck was sore. He rubbed it slowly for about a minute, before finally giving up. He turned to Karen, who was still looking out the window.

"Did you enjoy the trip?" he asked.

Without even turning from the window, she replied with an enthusiastic "Oh yeah!"

"Good," he replied.

He turned his attention to the overhead lights, one of which was flashing ‘Please Fasten Seatbelts’, and another which was flashing ‘Please Do Not Smoke’. He looked down to make sure that he was still fastened in, which he was, and then sat back in his chair, propping his head up against the headrest.

About five minutes later, the plane had landed, and the stewardess returned and informed everyone that it was now safe to unfasten their belts, and to exit the plane from the front door. After that, she walked into the adjacent seating room to inform the other passengers.

It took about seven minutes for Morrigan and Karen to get off the plane. It took them another ten minutes to retrieve their luggage, and another three minutes to hail a hovercab. After putting their luggage into the trunk, Morrigan turned to the driver.

"Take us to the Canyon Excavation Site," he told the driver.

"It’s going to about a half-hour drive from here to the Canyon," the young driver informed him.

"Really? It takes that long to get from the Costa Airport to the Canyon Site?" Morrigan queried.

"Yeah, to the Canyon itself it’s only about fifteen minutes, but to the actual Excavation Site, it takes longer," she said.

"Oh, that’s all right. About how much does it cost to get there?" Morrigan asked again.

"To the Excavation Site, it’s about 150 gil. To the outskirts of the Canyon, it’s about 75 gil, but it’s about a day’s hike to the Excavation Site."

"Well, then I guess it’s not worth it then. Alright, take us to the Excavation Site."

"Fine with me. Hop in," she said, starting up the engine.

Morrigan and Karen climbed in, and as soon as they were buckled in, the driver took off.

"How long have you been a driver?" Karen asked.

"About three years, since I got my license to drive," replied the young driver. "Why?"

"Because I used to be a driver, too, so I was just wondering," replied Karen.

"Really? You used to be a driver? You look a bit built for a driver," commented the driver.

"Heh, thanks. I used to drive a hovercab over on the other continent," said Karen. "I’m Karen," said Karen, extending her hand.

"I’m Aeris," said the girl, reaching her hand across her side to shake Karen’s.

"Aeris?" Morrigan questioned.

"Yeah, but not like from the legends though. My folks just thought that it’d be cute to name me after her. They named my older brother Cid, and he gets more crap about it than I do."

"Heh heh," chuckled Morrigan, "The price of having a famous name, I suppose."

"Yeah," agreed Aeris, "So what about you two? Either of you have the same problem?"

"No, but I’m related to someone famous," said Karen.

"Really? Who might that be?"

"Robert here is the Executive President of the Rachwell Archaeological Dept." began Karen. "I ran into him the other day and asked him to get me a copy of my family tree. I was pretty surprised when he agreed, but I was even more shocked when I received them and found that I am related to two of the heroes from the old legends."

"Really?" replied Aeris, "Wow, now that’s something I have yet to see anywhere else. I guess there must be some truth to those stories, after all."

"I guess," answered Morrigan, thinking of what he had read in Sephiroth’s journal. He knew that Karen would be heartbroken if she found out that her ancestors had betrayed Sephiroth, and worked against him.
"Then again," he thought to himself, "She doesn’t have to find out, does she." He supposed that for now, it would be better if he kept that little tidbit of information to himself.

"You’re being awfully quiet over there," commented Aeris. "Everything all right?"

Morrigan was snapped out of his thoughts by Aeris’ question, losing his train of thought in the process.

"What?" asked Morrigan.

"I said you’re being awfully quiet over there. I asked if everything was all right," repeated Aeris.

"Oh, everything is fine. Airship rides just take a lot out of me," answered Morrigan.

"Yeah, I’m the same way. The ride is fine, but the takeoff and landing are just awful for me," answered Aeris. "It’s usually best to take is easy for a while after an airship ride, so I’ll leave you be."
"It would be much appreciated, thank you," answered Morrigan truthfully.

He sat in stoic silence for the remained of the ride.

It was nearly nightfall by the time they arrived at the Excavation Site, with only about an hour of daylight left. The nocturnal animals that inhabited the area had already come out of hiding, and the mournful calls of the penguin-like creatures echoed throughout the Canyon walls.

Morrigan got out of the cab and took a moment to stretch. The pain in his neck had lessened, much to his surprise, and he took a moment to rub the area, just in case. After he was done, he said goodbye to the driver, and paid her her fee. After Karen and her had said their good-byes and Karen had unloaded their luggage, Aeris took off, leaving Morrigan and Karen in front of the mammoth wooden structure known as the Canyon Excavation Site. Large wooden structures covered a large portion of the canyon wall, with large holes in the wall’s sides, where the men had either chiseled or blasted through the walls. The ground area was littered with tents, all set up around a large bonfire in the center of the canyon grounds. Morrigan and Karen walked up the large stairway to the Excavation Center, when a large man in a sweat-drenched tank top and a yellow construction hat stopped them.

"Ya can’t go in. Authorized personnel only," he said, blocking the entrance.

Morrigan reached into his pocket and pulled out his ID card, and shoved it into the man’s face so he could get a good look at it. He held it there for about a minute then took it back, and returned it to his pocket.

"Sorry, sir. We didn’t know that you were going to be coming," said the man, stepping aside to make a path for Morrigan and Karen.

"It’s all right, I’m just glad to see that in my absence things have not gone to hell," said Morrigan, looking around. It seemed that no matter how long he was away, no matter how things changed back in the city, things always stayed the same here. It was so… peaceful.

Morrigan’s peace was shattered by a large explosion, which rocked the entire structure, causing dust and loose rocks to fall to the ground.

"What the hell was that?" Morrigan yelled, still reeling from the blast.

"That was a dynamite blast sir," answered the worker.

"What the hell are you doing using dynamite at an excavation site?" screamed Morrigan.

"After you get yourself settled, come to the second level of the inner cavern and I’ll show you," replied the worker, walking about one hundred feet away. He stopped and turned back to Morrigan.

"There is a bed area set up over there for you," yelled the worker, pointing to a small area in the side of the wall that Morrigan had stayed in once before. It had, at one time, actually been an inn, and had been restored by the workers for Morrigan and any other important people that might show up. It was a rather small room, with only three beds and a dusty old sofa, but it was more than adequate for someone as tired as Morrigan. He motioned for Karen to follow him, as he walked towards the small encampment set up for them. When they finally reached the beds, Karen dumped their luggage on the sofa and they quickly hurried off to meet the worker at the designated point.

When they arrived there, Morrigan wasted no time in seeking out the worker who he was to meet. After a short search, he finally found the worker in a large cavernous area with a large metal door at the far end that was riddled with burn marks that appeared to be from dynamite.

"Is this what you’re trying to blast through?" Morrigan said from behind the guard without even stopping to make his presence known first.

"Yes, it is, sir," said the worker without showing any signs of having been startled.

"Would you like to at least tell me what we are looking at, then," Morrigan continued without skipping a beat.

"I would if I could sir, but I can’t tell you anything besides belaboring the obvious," said the worker, turning to look at Morrigan, who seemed so small in comparison.

"You’re telling me that you’re trying to get through a wall without even knowing what’s on the other side?" demanded Morrigan. "For all you know, it could be the habitat of some vile creature that they locked away, and you might be setting it free," cried Morrigan, who was at this point, all business.

"Are you telling us that we should stop the blasting?" queried the worker.

"Without the proper preparations, I’d say that that would be a marvelous idea. I will not have any screw-ups while I am command of this facility!" yelled Morrigan.

The worker walked over to a large black man who was prepared to blast the door again. Once the worker was done talking to him, making several gestures in Morrigan’s direction while talking to him, the two workers dismantled the explosives that had been set up. Once they were done, the black worker repacked the fuses and explosives, and the worker Morrigan had talked to earlier walked back over to where Morrigan was standing.

"We’ll radio for assistance from armored troops tomorrow at dawn, sir. In the meantime, we’re quitting for the night due to the lack of light. Goodnight, sir," the worker said, giving Morrigan a slap on the back as he exited the cavern.

After the workers had vacated the area, Morrigan told Karen to go back to the room and set their beds up, while he took a look around.

Once Karen had left, Morrigan began exploring the large room he was in. He walked up to the large door at the far end of the cavern, and pressed his ear against it. Other than being a bit warm from all the heat from the explosives, he felt nothing else. He guessed that if there was anything there, that he wouldn’t be able to hear it anyway. He gave the door a few knocks, causing a few clangs to echo lightly through the room. He figured that the door must be very thick to have caused such a noise. Whatever was kept behind the door, Morrigan figured was either very important of very dangerous. He was bout to give up on the matter and retire for the night when he spotted very light footprints in the gravel floor. He knew that they couldn’t be from any of the workers, because the standard issue for all excavators were heavy boots that left much bigger imprints than the ones he saw. He checked his own shoe, and found that they were remarkably similar to the prints that his shoes left, except the prints that he saw were smaller and more narrow than his print. It was difficult to follow, due to the prints left by the workers, but he was able to follow them all the way up to the metal door, where they seemingly disappeared. He retraced them a bit and found that he had missed a point where they trailed off to the right, where they stopped at a point near the wall. He guessed that whomever had made these prints, and he had a pretty good idea who, knew that there was a way to open the door with some sort of secret switch. He followed the prints to where they were closest to the wall, and began searching for some sort of switch with which to open door. After about fifteen minutes of fruitless searching, he decided to wait until the light was better to resume the search. As he was leaving, he hit his head on a stalactite, which immediately popped off, to reveal a hidden control panel. Morrigan took out a flashlight, which he was kicking himself for not remembering he had earlier, and examined the circuit board. After studying it for a few minutes, he concluded that he had to push the green button on the left to open the door. He decided to test that theory, and a second later, he heard the doors pull apart to reveal a hidden cave. He bravely walked into the cave, and after sliding down many ropes, finally got to the bottom of the cave. He explored the main part of the cave for a minute before he finally found the exit, and, without thinking, walked directly into the next part of the cave. As he swung his flashlight around, large snakes and other beasts quickly ran to their hiding places. He made his way to the next part of the cave, which seemed to be a large network of caves, and he spent about an hour exploring them, until he found the one that let him continue onward. Finally, he reached the exit of the cave, at the base of the large canyon walls. He knew that he must have crossed the entire canyon from the underground. He walked up the stone steps, and out into the night. The air was cool, and a very slow breeze met with his skin as he walked out of the cave. He looked around, and suddenly, a large beast high on a mountaintop caught his attention. He was about to run, when he saw that it did not move. He shone his flashlight in its direction, but again, it did not move. Feeling braver, he climbed up the cliff wall, a feat in itself, and up to where the beast was perched. To his surprise, it was nothing more than a statue, with what looked like arrows sticking out of it. He supposed that it was some old ornamental statue created to celebrate some sort of victory in battle, but he couldn’t be for sure. His train of thought was broken by a very loud growl from behind him. He spun around to see the outline of a large quadruped with one glowing green eye. He had less than a moment to take all that in before the creature pounced, leaving him stuck between razor teeth, and a fatal drop.