Wedge: Cloud never came...
Biggs: Cloud... Think he was killed?
Barret: No way!!
Jessie: Cloud...
There is a thumping. Everyone looks up for a moment.
Biggs: Say, do you think Cloud's... going to stay on and fight for AVALANCHE!?
Barret: How the hell would I know!? Do I look like a mind reader?
He thumps a box
Hmph!! If y'all weren't such screw-ups...
Wedge: Hey, Barret! What about our money?
He hits the box again
Uh, nothin'... sorry.
Ahh...
There is another thumping, they all look up again. Three more thumps, and the door opens. Cloud swings in, shocking Barret. Everyone stands up.
Biggs and Wedge: Cloud!!
Jessie: Cloud...
Cloud (dusts himself off): Looks like I'm a little late.
Barret: You damn right, you're late!! Come waltzin' in here makin' a big scene!
Cloud: It's no big scene. Just what I always do.
Barret: (*^%! Havin' everyone worried like that. You don't give a damn 'bout no one but yourself!
Cloud: Hmm... You were worried about me?
Barret (angrily): Wha!? That's comin' outta your share, hot shot!
Barret: Wake up! We're movin' out! Follow me! (he leaves)
Wedge (moves to leave): Hey, Cloud!! You were great back there! (leaves)
Biggs: Heh heh... Cloud! We'll do even better next time. (leaves)
Jessie: Careful, I'll shut this. (shuts the door)
Jessie: Oh, Cloud!! Your face is pitch-black...
She cleans it.
Jessie: There you go!
Jessie (about to leave) Say, thanks for helping me back there at the reactor! (leaves)
A passenger carriage
Last train out of Sector 8 Station.
Last stop is Sector 7, Train Graveyard.
Expected time of arrival is 12:23AM, Midgar Standard Time...
Barret runs in, and scares two people off. He sits in their seat. Jessie, Biggs and Wedge follow in
(Man): This is why I hate the last train. Hoo-boy...
The man shakes his head and leaves. Jessie, Biggs and Wedge get comfy.
* Try to leave
(Man): Please!! Don't bother the other passengers.
* Lying person
Huh? This is my house, so make yourselves at home.
* Sitting person
You see the headlines in the Shinra Times? The terrorists that bombed the No. 1 Reactor are based somewhere in the slums. ...Blowing up a Reactor... they sure put some thought into this one. They must have a real calculating leader. I wonder what they'll do next?
* Barret: Stop actin' like a damn kid. Siddown and shu'up!
* Biggs: This train hasn't switched to security mode yet. I'm sure that will change by tomorrow.
* Biggs: ...YAWN... that sure took its toll on me. I'm gonna sleep till we get to the station.
* Wedge: Someday AVALANCHE's gonna be famous... and me, too!
* Wedge: Cloud!! Don't ya think I got a bright future ahead of me?
* What do you have in mind?
Wedge: All my life, I felt like nothin' but a sidekick. But, after joinin' AVALANCHE and tryin' to save the Planet, I feel like I can do lots of things.
* Don't hold your breath
Wedge: Oh man, that's pretty harsh. Cloud. You really think I won't?
* Wedge: Someday AVALANCHE's gonna be famous... and me, too!
* Jessie: Hey, Cloud. You want to look at this with me? It's a map of the Midgar Rail System. Let's look at it together. I'll explain it to you. I like this kind of stuff. Bombs and monitors... you know, flashy stuff.
Cut to a monitor.
Jessie: Okay, it's about to start.
The monitor shows a wireframe model.
Jessie: This is a complete model of the city of Midgar.
It's about 1/10000 scale.
The top plate is about 50 meters above ground.
A main pillar supports the plate in the center, and there are other support pillars built in each section.
Psst... whisper... whisper...
(The No. 1 Reactor we blew up was in the northern section.)
Then there's No. 2, No. 3 all the way up to the No. 8 Reactor.
The 8 Reactors provide Midgar with electricity.
Each town used to have a name, but no one in Midgar remembers them.
Instead of names, we refer to them by numbered sectors.
That's how things turned out.
Phew, look what's next! Look!
A route is marked on the model.
Jessie: This is the route this train is on.
The route spirals around the main pillar.
We should be coming around the center, right now.
Each checkpoint has an ID sensor device.
It checks the identities and backgrounds of each passenger on the train and is linked up to the central data bank at Shinra headquarters.
Whisper... whisper...
(We definitely look suspicious, so we're using fake IDs.)
Back to the train. A red alarm flashes, and Cloud looks around.
Jessie: Speak of the devil...
That light means that we're in the ID Security Check area.
...whisper...whisper...
(When the lights go off, you never know what kind of creeps'll come out)
...We're almost back now. What a relief.
The alarm stops.
* Biggs: ...snore... heebeebeeheebee...snore... (Don't act so damn big, Barret... snooze...)
* Wedge: I'm seein' stars. This sucks. I hate the dark.
* Jessie: I know! Next time, I'll make one just for you.
* Thanks anyway
Jessie: Oh yeah, you might regret it. I'm the type who takes things personal.
* Looking forward to it
Jessie: Okay, then I'll put a little extra effort in and make it go with a BANG
* Jessie: We're almost there. After talking with you, I'm ready to try! I think you've lit my fuse!
* Barret: Look... you (Cloud turns to the window) can see the surface now. This city don't have no day or night. If that plate weren't there... we could see the sky.
Cloud leans on a chair to get a good look.
Cloud: A floating city... Pretty unsettling scenery.
Barret: Huh? Never expected ta hear that outta someone like you. ...You jus' full of surprises.
Barret walks about, angrily.
Barret: The upper world... a city on a plate... It's 'cuz of that &^#$# 'pizza' that people underneath are sufferin'!
Barret: And the city below is full of polluted air.
Barret: On top'a that, the Reactor keeps drainin' up all the energy.
Cloud: Then why doesn't everyone move onto the Plate?
Barret: Dunno. Probably 'cuz they ain't got no money. Or, maybe... 'Cuz they love their land, no matter how polluted it gets.
Cloud: I know... no one lives in the slums because they want to. It's like this train. It can't run anywhere except where its rails take it.
To emphasise the point, and close the scene, a movie of the train spiralling down the pillar.
