After Alex voiced his plans for that night — namely to stop one of the Mako Reactors in the First Sector on the Plate — everyone present immediately stared at him. Alex had to put on the most surprised face possible, as if he had no idea that the members of the AVALANCHE group were planning to blow up that same Reactor. Pretending that all this was merely an astonishing coincidence, Alex suggested that everyone first eat properly and only then move on to discussing the details.
After these words he began arranging the plates with seafood on the bar counter so that everyone could try the delicacies that no one here had ever seen in their lives. The moment the dishes appeared on the table, everyone immediately switched their attention to the food, temporarily forgetting about the upcoming operation. True, none of them really understood from which side to approach such fare.
And only Dean had completely concrete plans: he pulled a chair closer and immediately began devouring the shrimp, washing them down with beer and completely ignoring those around him. After Dean the others also reached for the meal, choosing what seemed the most appetizing.
Seeing that no one knew how to properly peel shrimp and crabs, Alex took it upon himself to clearly demonstrate the process. Having cleaned the first shrimp, he held it out to Aerith, and she greedily bit into the treat, almost biting Alex's finger. Feeling the taste of the seafood, Aerith squeezed her eyes shut and pressed her little palms to her cheeks, savoring the incredible gastronomic explosion.
"Well, how is it? Are these things that look like gorgers really that tasty?" Jessie asked with interest, lightly poking her finger into the mountain of shrimp on the large plate.
"Not just tasty — it's insanely tasty!" Aerith replied with a wide smile and immediately slipped the next shrimp to Alex so he would peel it.
"And these things… how do you clean them?" Tifa inquired, examining the blue crab in her hands and turning to Alex, who had just finished with another shrimp for Aerith.
"You need to remove the upper shell, and there's also plenty of meat in the claws…" Alex began explaining, continuing to feed Aerith along the way.
"Heh! Easy as pie. If the meat is in the claws, then you just need to smash them!" Barret delivered with a smirk, laid the blue crab in front of himself, and without long deliberation slammed his machine gun down on it.
The moment Barret slammed the machine gun on the crab, pieces of shell and juicy meat scattered in all directions, covering from head to toe those who sat closest. The faces of Alex and Claudia were instantly covered in crab mush. Aerith, on the other hand, managed to hide behind Alex's back in time, managing to drag Tifa along with her so she wouldn't accidentally get hit. In that same instant a ringing silence hung in the bar. All gazes fixed on the smeared Alex and Claudia, whose faces expressed absolutely nothing except a strange serenity.
The culprit of the incident himself in the person of Barret only shook the remains of the shell off the machine gun and began imperturbably picking at the mess, wanting to try the delicacy. Aerith, hiding behind Alex, carefully peeked out and almost burst out laughing upon seeing him. Restraining her laughter, she began carefully wiping the remains of the crab from his face. Tifa, assessing her friend's condition, carefully took out a clean towel and held it out to Claudia. Snatching the towel from Tifa's hands, Claudia sighed irritably, muttering under her breath that she was clearly underpaid for such things.
"That's it, you're clean again," Aerith said with a smile, finishing wiping Alex.
"Yeah, thanks. And I think I'll stand farther away — who knows who else might get the idea that food needs to be smashed first and then eaten," Alex responded in a dry tone, stepping aside and casting an empty gaze at Barret.
"Sorry, kid! Who knew these critters were so fragile. Though the taste is gorgeous… Only the shell is hard to chew," Barret delivered with a smirk, sending a piece of the smashed crab into his mouth.
"Yeah, yeah…" Alex drawled, looking at Barret with a clear desire to smack him on the head, regardless of Marlene's presence.
"Alright, don't be angry… Let me make you a tasty cocktail? You yourself said that strong alcohol goes excellently with such food," Tifa intervened with a soft smile, noticing how Alex's hand slightly twitched under the bar counter.
"Sounds great… I wouldn't refuse," Alex smiled, turning to Tifa and instantly lighting up with the idea of trying the local drinks.
"Make two!" Dean chimed in with his mouth full, raising two fingers the moment he heard about alcohol.
Smiling, Tifa took the alcohol from under the bar counter and began deftly mixing two cocktails. While she was busy with the drinks, Alex habitually took to wiping the counter dirtied by Barret — simply because he couldn't stand disorder. Looking at how confidently he was managing, those present involuntarily thought that the guy had settled in here way too quickly. Having wiped the surface to a shine, Alex put the rag away and took the cocktail prepared by Tifa.
Taking a sip, Alex nodded approvingly with a smile: despite the cheapness of the alcohol, the taste turned out very pleasant. Even Dean, used to elite booze, appreciated Tifa's skill. Taking another sip, Alex sent a piece of the suspicious tuna into his mouth and sighed with relief. It was only the second day of his stay in this world, but Alex was already beginning to get used to it — as if he had always lived here and had long known each of those present.
Gradually the atmosphere in the bar became completely relaxed and cheerful when everyone fully immersed themselves in the tasting. Not trusting Barret with cleaning the crabs, Tifa took this duty upon herself to feed Marlene, who rejoiced at such a treat more than anyone. Alex, on the other hand, leaned on the bar counter next to Claudia, completely ignoring her frowning gaze that constantly changed as if she was trying with all her strength to remember him.
Meeting her eyes once again, Alex smiled slightly and shifted his gaze to Aerith. She was already without any help deftly scraping the shells off the shrimp and stuffing her full cheeks like a hamster. Noticing Alex's gaze, Aerith instantly shoved another shrimp into her mouth and tried to put on the cutest face possible with stuffed cheeks. Laughing at how cute Aerith was, Alex reached for the bottle and poured himself another portion without even asking Tifa's permission.
"Can I ask what you both did before arriving in Midgar?… Simply by your appearance and gear you wouldn't say that you led a modest life," Jessie asked with interest, sitting down right opposite Alex and propping her cheeks with her palms.
"A little of everything. The spectrum of our work was rather broad," Alex replied with a smile, taking a thin cigar from his pocket.
"And how broad?" Wedge immediately chimed in, burning with curiosity to learn the details.
"Well… It's a long story. Maybe some other time I'll share a couple of interesting stories… Only whether you'll be able to sleep after them is already another question," Alex said in a cheerful tone, clamping the smoldering thin cigar between his teeth.
"And why won't we be able to sleep after your stories?" Tifa asked with interest, turning her head toward Alex after she finished cleaning a crab for Marlene.
"Because you might accidentally find out who lives under your bed. And, let's say, a turned-on light will become your best friend," Dean chuckled carefreely, scooping the bottle standing next to Alex toward himself.
Dean's answer caused complete bewilderment in everyone — especially because of his words that they might find out who or what lives under their beds. Dean calmly ignored these puzzled gazes, grabbed the bottle of alcohol with him, and returned to his place. The gazes of those present immediately turned to Alex, who was slowly smoking the thin cigar, loungingly leaning on the bar counter with the air of the establishment's owner.
Seeing the general confusion, Alex only smiled slightly and said nothing more. He perfectly understood that in this world there were no habitual monsters, ghosts, spirits, and other unclean things that loved to terrorize people in his previous world, and therefore saw not the slightest reason to talk about what he and Dean had done before arriving in Midgar. Seeing that neither Alex nor Dean intended to go into the details of their past work, those around sighed in disappointment.
Everyone showed frustration — with the exception of Claudia, who continued to intently and frowningly examine Alex standing right nearby. Meeting her gaze once again, Alex slightly tilted his head to the side. Looking at her tense face, he only sincerely hoped that she would stop trying to remember what had never been before her condition worsened again.
"Do you want to ask something?" Alex inquired, leaning a little harder on the bar counter next to Claudia.
"No. I have nothing to ask you… Just curious why your and his eyes are different — not like mine or the other SOLDIER," Claudia said in a cold tone, pointing her finger first at Alex and then at Dean.
"Ah, that… Hmm… I don't even know how to explain more precisely… I think the thing is that we're simply different," Alex replied thoughtfully, stroking his chin as if he was really weighing the answer.
"Different? Is there a difference what kind of SOLDIER Shinra stamps? As for me, they're all the same. Nothing more than living weapons in the hands of these bastards," Barret spoke, frowning and once again demonstrating dull dislike for the corporation.
"If we omit all the boring scientific crap about creating SOLDIER… Shinra's SOLDIER are a completely artificial product. And we're not. We were never connected with Shinra at all. I think such an answer will satisfy you for now," Alex thoughtfully summarized, giving them a sufficiently vague but comprehensive story.
And seeing such intent gazes after his words, Alex decided to arrange a small demonstration. In that same instant his rainbow eyes for a brief moment brightly sparkled, causing a surprised sigh from all those present. Seeing this radiance, everyone in the bar immediately shifted their gazes to Dean, who continued to eat and drink with the face of a man desperately dreaming that no one would touch him.
Not having the opportunity to ignore so many eyes staring at him, Dean sighed irritably and quickly blinked. And the moment he did this, his sclera for a second became absolutely black, after which he blinked once more — and everything returned to normal. Seeing such a cardinal difference between Alex and Dean, those around finally became convinced that these two were indeed completely different.
Aerith, on the other hand, showed the most enthusiasm: she grabbed Alex by the cheeks and pulled his face closer to herself, wanting to examine up close the eyes that had just sparkled so captivatingly. Claudia only slightly frowned, for a brief moment feeling as if a sharp needle had stabbed into her head.
Bringing her hand to her temple, she slightly shook her head, getting rid of the remnants of the attack. Fortunately for her, this time no strange images from others' memories that had periodically washed over her lately appeared before her eyes.
Carefully pushing Aerith away from himself, who had gotten too close and was too excited by the sparkle of his eyes, Alex decided to snack a little more before the remains of the treat disappeared from the bar counter completely. And already an hour later all the prepared food was completely devoured. Helping Tifa clear the trash and wash the dishes, Alex hadn't even managed to properly wipe his hands when Barret decided that it was time to discuss their plans that had so luckily coincided.
Seeing no reason to put the matter off, Alex nodded slightly and sat down opposite Barret. So that no one would accidentally overhear them, Tifa immediately went and locked the doors of the bar from the inside. And the moment the discussion began, Barret immediately launched into his habitual tirade about how Shinra was destroying the world, how hard life was for people in the Lower City, and how everything around was bad.
Listening to this endless speech, Alex and Dean maintained stone expressions with one single thought: when would Barret finally shut up so they could properly discuss the matter. After a couple of minutes Alex finally got fed up with listening to this. He unceremoniously interrupted Barret and moved to the main point. But the moment Alex voiced only the first part of his plan, Barret immediately cut off a hard "no."
"What once more? Repeat," Alex asked again in a dry tone, leaning closer to Barret.
"I said — no… We spent months planning, and I'm not going to leave something like this in the hands of some upstart. Even if you treated my little one to tasty food. Thanks for that," Barret declared gloomily, slamming his fist on the table and only for a brief moment softening at the memory of his daughter's happy smile.
"Are you stupid? Or are you just pretending to be stupid? Is there even one damn convolution in your stone head?! Do you even imagine what blowing up a damn reactor through which such a volume of energy passes will lead to? Do I need to explain it to you on my fingers?!" Alex began to get irritated, feeling an increasing desire to smash Barret over the head for his stupidity.
"I calculated everything! My bomb will take only the reactor out of commission, no one else will suffer," Jessie immediately intervened, making it clear that their calculation was impeccable.
"Oh, Father… Why me… Alright. Since you're so shortsighted and your level of development remained at the level of a caveman where you just need to hit harder — and everything will be fine… I'll explain to you idiots on my fingers why your plan is shit, and you are a bunch of idiots capable of turning an entire Sector on the Plate into a damn blazing hell," Alex said in a tired tone, pinching the bridge of his nose from an attack of approaching headache.
Before Barret managed to object anything, Alex raised his hand, nipping his next tirade in the bud. Turning to Jessie and Tifa — as the most reasonable of those present — he asked them to lay out AVALANCHE's plan for destroying the Mako Reactor. Seeing Alex's calm and confident gaze, the girls had no choice but to tell everything: both about blowing up the reactor itself and about penetrating through the service railway tunnels leading right to the object.
Alex listened to them without extra emotions, slowly smoking the thin cigar and rhythmically tapping his finger on the tabletop. He could not deny that their scheme had a right to life — but only if their opponent were not Shinra, which controlled every square meter of Midgar and itself decided what exact information to feed people.
As soon as the girls finished, Alex shared his decision: local destruction of the Mako Reactor with the help of a bomb that compresses matter, and the obligatory blocking of the main pipes so that the excess of Mako energy would go back into the ground and not burst onto the surface as a blazing geyser.
Alex laid everything out in such simple and accessible words that even little Marlene understood the essence of the idea. Listening to Alex, Barret could only silently puff from frustration — after all, even to him it became obvious how much more reasonable and safer Alex's variant was than their own explosion that threatened to blow up the entire complex and a mountain of corpses.
"Is your bomb definitely working? Or are you just hoping that it will work as needed?" Biggs inquired, pointing at the mysterious black cube laid out by Alex.
"This baby works one hundred percent. We've used this thing more than once for complete clearing of objects. And it's clearly better than that crap you decided to pull out of your own ass," Dean responded with a smirk, putting the black cube back into the pocket of his jacket.
"Let's say. And what do you propose next? Since your plan is so gorgeous… Shall we go to the Mako Reactor in a whole crowd?" Jessie drawled, leaning across the table closer to Alex.
"No. We'll split up. I, Dean, and our Hamster-Talisman will go right to the reactor and draw all attention to ourselves. And you meanwhile will descend on the cargo elevator to the lower sector of the complex and switch the toggle so that the Mako energy flows back," Alex unfolded the map, bringing up a hologram of Reactor No. 1 and trying to ignore Aerith's fingers that began kneading his cheeks for the fact that he had called her "Talisman."
"And how are you going to draw attention? There's plenty of security on every level, not to mention Shinra's bots. The moment the alarm goes off — they'll send a whole army after you," Claudia noted coldly, leaning against the wall nearby.
"We'll arrange a real concert for them. Your task is simply to redirect the Mako flow in the opposite direction, and that's it. Do your job well — I'll pay you," Alex replied with a smile, pushing Aerith's hands away from his face and turning to Claudia.
"How much do you pay? For penetrating to the reactor these two hired me for two thousand Gil. I won't take less," Claudia delivered in a calm tone, slightly narrowing her eyes and nodding her chin toward Tifa and Barret.
"How much?! Two thousand Gil?! For penetrating an object of such a level?!" Alex asked in surprise, sincerely amazed at the laughable price for such a risk.
Hearing Alex's question, Claudia nodded slightly, making it clear that such a price tag for the work suited her just fine. Alex, of course, remembered from the canon that exactly such a sum Claudia was supposed to receive, but hearing something like this with his own ears still turned out to be wild. Even Dean experienced a cultural shock from the thought that someone was ready to go to a deadly risk for such pitiful crumbs.
Barely restraining his emotions, Alex shifted his stunned gaze to Tifa and Barret. Tifa only smiled embarrassedly, making it clear that this was the maximum they had managed to scrape together. Sighing, Alex turned to Claudia and silently raised one finger. Seeing this gesture, she immediately decided that he was offering one thousand Gil on top of the sum that Barret and Tifa had promised.
Claudia was already about to agree, but her eyes widened wide when she heard how much Alex was actually ready to pay her. The others completely fell into a stupor when the figure of one hundred thousand Gil for Claudia's work sounded. Wedge instantly began listing out loud how much of everything he could buy with such a pile of money.
Jessie and Biggs also enthusiastically started arguing how much first-class gear would fit into this sum. Lowering his hand, Alex looked at Claudia. Despite her entire cool and cold-blooded image of an ex-SOLDIER, she was in the deepest shock. However, quickly pulling herself together, Claudia hummed, folded her arms across her chest, and nodded restrainedly.
"Well, since the discussion is over… Grab spare undies, people, we're going to arrange our first terrorist attack," Alex summarized with a smirk, rising from the chair and extinguishing the thin cigar in the ashtray.
Hearing Alex's words about spare undies, everyone slightly laughed at this joke — including Claudia, who only quietly hummed and was the first to exit the Seventh Heaven bar. Leaving the establishment last, Alex waved goodbye to Tifa and Marlene until Aerith pulled him outside.
Finding themselves on the street, Jessie quickly designated the meeting place, after which she went for her gear. Alex and Dean returned to the boarding house only to grab weapons and the bag with plush masks. Taking everything necessary, they went out into the yard where Aerith was already waiting for them, slightly rocking on her heels with a shining smile.
Her wonderful mood was explained simply: she knew what a terrorist attack with the participation of AVALANCHE could turn into, and since Alex and Dean had taken the matter upon themselves, she was completely sure — casualties among the peaceful population would be avoided. Noticing in what enthusiasm Aerith was, Alex smiled, poked her on the nose with his finger, and handed her the boxes with shoes.
"Let's go, the others should already have gathered… I think your mom will be very surprised when she sees you on the news," Alex said with a smile, beginning to descend the steps with the covers of suits in his hands.
"She won't find out that it was me! We're going to change clothes after all!" Aerith objected with a wide smile, cheerfully jumping off the steps and landing right next to Alex.
"Believe me, she'll recognize you. She's your mom after all… Well then, Dean? Ready to earn your honorary eleventh life sentence?" Alex said with a smile, stroking Aerith on the nose and turning to Dean.
"You bet! Fortunately, Sammy isn't here. He would already habitually start grumbling that we shouldn't do this, and blah-blah-blah…" Dean responded with a smirk, slightly chuckling and funny parodying the instructive tone of his brother.
"Well, at least the electric chair wasn't shining for him. Unlike you," Alex summarized with a smirk, walking next to Dean.
Dean only hummed in response to Alex's comment, not forgetting to add that Sammy was shining no fewer life sentences for everything they had managed to pull off. Hearing such a conversation, Aerith slightly tugged at Alex's sleeve, wanting to find out exactly why Dean was threatened with such a severe punishment. Alex barely noticeably sighed and in two words outlined the reason: for the most part it was connected with their specific work, which in ordinary society was punished by law simply because of how all this looked from the outside.
Aerith nodded understandingly, even if she didn't fully understand the subtleties of Alex and Dean's craft, because in her conception hunting monsters and saving people always remained a good deed. Seeing her gaze, Alex smiled slightly and reminded that all this wasn't that important as long as they managed to save human lives. From these words Aerith smiled widely and nodded. Listening to their conversation, Dean decided not to pour oil on the fire and remained silent about the fact that saving people from monsters didn't always succeed, and sometimes everything ended far worse.
Reaching the outskirts of the settlement, they noticed Barret from afar, whom it was hard to confuse with anyone because of his massive dimensions, and Claudia leaning against the wall with her arms folded across her chest, who continued to play the cool ex-SOLDIER. When Alex, Aerith, and Dean approached closer, Barret nodded restrainedly and waved his machine gun, offering to follow him. Following him, they approached a closed technical passage near which Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge were already on duty. Seeing that everyone was assembled, Jessie looked around and quickly unlocked the door.
"The service composition runs every few hours. The next one should pass here in the nearest hour. We need to manage to jump into it while it makes a technical stop in this Sector," Jessie explained, letting everyone ahead.
"Will they definitely deliver us right to the needed place? Or will we still have to take a stroll on foot?" Dean inquired, beginning to descend into the technical tunnel.
"The composition goes right to the warehouse next to the plant. From the warehouse there will remain only one street to walk — and we're there," Biggs replied, turning his head back and descending first.
Descending into the technical tunnels, Alex looked around, estimating where to move next. But before he managed to voice the question, Jessie took on the role of guide and led the team to that section where the composition was supposed to make a technical stop. Reaching the needed place, everyone began waiting for the arrival of the train, killing time however they could.
Alex sat down next to Aerith, and they listened to music together, sharing the headphones. Claudia stood nearby, once again propping her back against the wall and sincerely considering this normal. Dean lazily sprawled right on a pipe, putting the bag under his head. Barret and Jessie whispered about the changes in the plan, because now they had to make their way to the lowest level of the Mako Reactor to redirect the flow.
Biggs and Wedge simply chatted about all sorts of things. Time gradually passed, and soon dull sounds of a moving composition reached from the darkness of the tunnel. Hearing this hum, everyone immediately turned in the direction from which the light of the technical train's searchlight had already appeared.
"Get ready! We'll have only a couple of minutes to jump into the sixth car. It's the only one that will go empty," Jessie warned, peeking out from around the corner to assess the distance to the train.
"Jessie, are you sure the sixth car is empty? Last time you were also sure, and we had to ride in a pile of rotten garbage. We stank for another week after that so that people avoided us from a mile away!" Biggs doubted, reminding her of the past blunder.
"I already apologized back then! And this time I'm one hundred percent sure! I personally overheard the workers' conversation, and they clearly said that the sixth car would definitely be empty!" Jessie waved it off irritably, trying to hide her embarrassment for the past shame.
Wedge was already about to open his mouth to ask another question, but Jessie immediately threw such a malignant gaze at him, making it clear: he shouldn't even dare to mention the past blunder. Seeing this incinerating gaze, Wedge instantly bit his tongue and fearfully stepped back. Slightly narrowing her eyes, Jessie smoothly turned her head and immediately gave Alex a shining smile — as if a second ago nothing had happened.
Putting the headphones into his pocket, Alex noticed this lightning-fast change of mood and made the most reasonable move in this situation: he depicted complete deafness regarding the conversation about the ride among waste. Watching how Jessie was drying up over their new acquaintance, Biggs theatrically rolled his eyes and couldn't hold back a jab, noting that she should look less at handsome guys.
And the moment these words flew from his lips, he immediately received a crushing blow to the gut. Doubling over, Biggs snorted and held his stomach. Wheezing from the pain, he raised his gaze and met Jessie's cute smile, in front of whose nose a neatly clenched little fist was displayed. Coughing from such a direct threat, Biggs with difficulty rose to his feet with the help of Wedge.
Having observed the interaction of this trio, Alex quietly laughed. When the hum of the technical train became completely close, everyone prepared to reach the needed car as quickly as possible. And the moment the slowing composition rushed past them, the team rushed after Jessie, who quickly found the sixth car. Seeing the massive lock on the doors, Barret already prepared to shoot it with his machine gun.
But before he managed to start shooting the lock, Alex simply tore the lock off with his bare hand and calmly slid the door open. Opening the car, Alex wrapped his arm around Aerith's waist, easily jumped inside, and held out his hand, helping the others climb up. Seeing the outstretched palm of Alex in front of her, Claudia only hummed, jumped in herself, and proudly walked deeper into the car. Shrugging, Alex slid the door shut as soon as the entire company found themselves inside.
"Now we can enjoy a leisurely ride to the First Sector. We have about half an hour," Biggs said, sitting down on an empty wooden box and leaning his back against the wall of the car.
"Does the train go in a circle?" Claudia inquired, again propping the wall farther from the others.
"This is a technical train after all, it delivers cargo from one warehouse to another between the Sectors," Wedge replied with a smile, putting his things next to Biggs.
"Half an hour will be just enough to change clothes. Aerith, you're first. You can change over there," Alex said, handing the outfit into Aerith's hands and pointing his finger at the high boxes at the end of the car.
"Maybe I'd better do this in another place…" Aerith muttered in an embarrassed tone, feeling a little awkward because of the conditions in which she would have to change.
"Don't worry! Claudia and I will watch over you so that no one gets the idea to peek," Jessie intervened with a smile, standing behind Aerith and encouragingly placing her hands on her shoulders.
Hearing Jessie's words, Aerith turned to her, and the latter nodded with a smile. Securing her support, Aerith shifted her gaze to Claudia — she also nodded restrainedly, confirming that she would watch. Sighing heavily, Aerith resigned herself to the necessity of changing in such field conditions.
But before she went behind the boxes, Alex took off his blue coat and held it out to her so she could use it as an improvised screen. Looking at the coat, Aerith broke into a smile, instantly snatched it from Alex's hands, and ran to the end of the car. Jessie and Claudia followed her, standing on guard — even if none of the guys even thought of peeking.
While the girls were busy, Alex and Dean without extra embarrassment began putting on the suits. Dean immediately took the opportunity to thoroughly grumble about how much he hated such clothes. Ignoring Dean's muttering, Alex quickly changed, adjusted the tie, and carelessly slicked his hair back, from which several strands fell onto his forehead.
"Damn, in such an outfit you're a typical Shinra guy! If you walk into their headquarters — they'll guaranteed take you for the head of some department," Biggs drawled in surprise, amazed at how cardinally Alex's appearance had changed.
"That's what I was going for. The more solid and richer you look, the fewer extra questions they ask you," Alex replied with a smile, lighting a thin cigar.
"Yeah, only you forgot to add that for full immersion you also need to walk with a face as if you stepped in shit and can't wipe it off," Dean irritably inserted, fruitlessly trying to properly tie the tie.
"Well, that too," Alex summarized with a smirk, slightly shrugging.
Hearing Dean's comment about what expression one needs to walk with in such clothes, Barret, Wedge, and Biggs hummed together — they considered that he had hit the bullseye. Soon Aerith also changed. She came out from behind the boxes in a strict black suit, holding her pink dress, red jacket, and habitual boots in her hands. Clad in such an outfit, Aerith felt terribly uncomfortable — as if the clothes constrained her every movement.
Noticing the expression on her face, Alex smiled slightly and encouraged her, reminding that this was only for one time. Aerith could only sigh heavily and nod, handing him her things. Carefully folding Aerith's clothes and putting them into the bag, Alex turned to her and began carefully tying her tie, which she still hadn't managed to figure out herself.
Adjusting the knot, Alex slightly shook his head from side to side and nodded approvingly. To which Aerith slightly pouted her lips, showing that she still didn't like this. Alex perfectly understood this and also thought that there simply wouldn't be enough time to redo Aerith's recognizable hairstyle. However, there was no particular need for that — after all, during the operation itself they would in any case have to put on the plush animal masks.
To be continued...
(So, we're moving on to the first Mako Reactor, and what I've planned. Although, I've already shared the concert, and since Alex has taken control of all of Midgar's systems, I'll have to do it in a big way, so everyone can see. Yeah. But all that will be in the next chapter. In the meantime, I'm going to go get something to eat. Peace, love, and boom-boom, hehehe.)
Early access to chapters on my patreon: p*treon.com/GreedHunter