Auribus Tenere Lupum: Alis Volat Propiis: One

“Not a lot of you are going to make it through this program. Since you are all here for various reasons and none of us want to see you wounded, maimed or killed, we have a screening process that takes place over several weeks. If you are not able to devote all of your time to these tests for the next two weeks, do not bother even applying. Turn around and walk back out the door you came in.”

The redhead turned toward the door, seeing many people shuffling from foot to foot as though they might leave. Two or three women shoved through the throng of people and exited, dropping their applications on the floor. He looked down at the packet of papers in his hand. It had taken him nearly an hour to fill out the application by itself, let alone waiting around to get ushered into the room in which he now stood. He cast a look around, keeping his ears open in case the announcer decided to start talking again. The boy figured she was simply waiting for everyone to sort themselves out and leave before she began again. He didn’t mind. Listening to her voice was giving him a headache. Something in the nasal quality and smoker’s rasp just made his skin itch.

The room looked like something out of a Sci-fi movie. Everything inside was chrome and some of it had been painted black, like the concrete flooring and the front of the stage the woman stood on. A single wooden podium stood in the center and the woman gripped the top sides like it was going to run off on her like the hopeful applicants that were steadily trickling out the door. The stage behind her was shallow, but there was room for her to move around if she would have let go of the podium long enough. He wondered if she was holding it down or if it was holding her up or if she was holding onto it to keep from strangling the people chattering away in the group of people before her. She was certainly staring hard enough at them.

He was impressed with the number of people who had turned out for the open call for Shinra employees. They hadn’t opened any positions up in quite some time, many thinking it had been to secure their position before allowing in any fresh blood although others had said there had been an accident and many of the employees had been killed off. Still others had said there were strange genetic experiments happening in the basements of the Shinra Corporation. He didn’t let it bother him, however. He had nothing to lose by being here and a substantial amount to gain. As it stood for him at the moment, he had only a small hole in the wall to live in, the clothes on his back, three changes of clothes in his bag he used only for work, and no real health care. Coming here he would have a job, food, clothes, money, health care and a place to live. All he had to do was stick his neck on the line and it wasn’t like he wasn’t doing that every day anyway.

“Now that it seems like we’ve gotten everyone who is going to leave, we will call you each into a room one at a time and hand in your applications and give you a brief physical to examine your physical ability to do the job. If you cannot pass a physical, leave.”

Many more people filed out.

“Shit,” he murmured to himself, “y’think they’d just ask people who knew they could pass t’just come in already. Fuck, get this show in the road already.”

“You. Kid. Come with me.” A hand locked around his arm and the younger slipped out of his grasp like an eel, dropping his pack and picking it back up in the motion as though it were natural.

“The hell are you?”

The tall, dark haired man flashed his badge. “Shinra. Come with me.”

He’d seen it many times before. “Hey, I ain’t workin’ an’ I ain’t losin’ m’place in line, fucker, so back off. Come see me when m’outside.”

“I’m not here to proposition you, I’m here to take you back for your physical.”

“Oh.” He picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder, following along behind. “How long’s this gonna take?”

“Probably not long. You’re a scrawny little runt. They’ll probably cast you out after about fifteen minutes. Then I’ll come see you outside.”

The redhead made a noise in the back of his throat. “M’not a runt.”

“What’s your name, runt?”

He growled a little deeper. “Reno.”

“Okay, runt, through here.” A door was opened and Reno was gestured inside. A man in a long white coat stood inside writing on a chart.

“M’not a runt,” he repeated, lifting the man’s wallet as he turned to walk away. Reno flipped it open and riffled through for his Shinra ID. He closed it, holding it out. “Hey, Ryun, y’lost your wallet.”

The dark haired man turned over his shoulder, storming back and snagged the folded leather out of his hand. “I’m sure I did.” He turned and left once again, leaving Reno to close the door behind him.

“Have you handed in your application?”

“No. The guy grabbed me ‘fore I could.”

“Name.”

“Reno.”

“Full name, please.”

“Reno Dakota Tsutsumi.”

“Age?”

“Fourteen.”

“Fourteen?” The doctor looked up over his glasses. “You realize there are no admissions to the program below sixteen.”

“Yea, an’ m’gonna be the first. Provided I pass the exam.”

“True. It’s not my place to weed you out because of your age. Get undressed and sit on the table and I’ll get some basic information.”

Reno stripped out of his clothes and put them in his bag before dropping onto the table. As the doctor turned around, he blinked. “You didn’t have to be completely naked. You could have left underwear on.”

“Don’t wear any, yo.”

“Then as long as you’re comfortable...” He took a seat and put the file on a clipboard, beginning the questioning. “Do you have any history of medical illness or mental disorders?”

“I dunno. Momma died when I was seven an’ poppa died when I was ten. Never really saw a doctor ever, so I dunno.”

“You’ve never gone to a doctor before.”

“Nope.”

“You know nothing of your family history?”

“Nope.”

“Then I’ll have to take a lot of blood and run you through a higher level of screening.”

“Okay.”

The doctor raised an eyebrow. “Okay? Just like that?”

“Look. Either I go out there an’ sell m’self or I stay here, run through a fuckton of tests an’ try an’ get m’self in a job an’ off the streets. Whaddya gonna have? What would you do if you was me, hm?” He has leaned forward throughout his speech and was staring intently at the man. “This’s m’only chance. M’fuckin’ takin’ it if it fuckin’ kills me.”

“Then we’ll begin.”