fandomhigh | Unconventional Tactics, Tuesday, Period 2

"Yo, rookies!" Reno leaned back against his desk today, arms crossed over his chest as he surveyed the students heading into the classroom. No Danger Shop again, but knowing Reno, he was probably saving all of the good stuff for later in the semester.

Or else too lazy to muck about with programming this early in the morning. One of those.

"Today, we're gonna cover one of them things that all of the reserves groups have probably drilled into you good by now if you're a member, but we're gonna expand on it a bit, yo." He smirked faintly. "I know they got their little phone number exchange goin' on, and I'm gonna even agree, it's a damn good idea." Which had nothing to do with the fact that he was one of the founding members of the original group. Really.

"But, really, it's just scratchin' the surface. How many telepaths do we got on this island? And I'm willin' to bet that when all Hell's breakin' loose, they ain't afraid to put that ability to use to keep themselves alive. The island's also got the radio station, which has been used on more'n one occasion to get the word out to folks in town that whatever's hit us, it's bigger than the harpies-and-piranhas crap that most of us are still tryin' to get used to. If you don't got a radio yet? Get one. If you don't got a cell phone yet? Get one. If you need help gettin' your paws on either? Talk to me, yo. Communication is a big damn deal in my old line of work. I'm good with that kinda thing."

Hell, if anybody were to keep a careful eye on the Turks out on the field, they'd probably notice that they reached for their phone systems about as often as they reached for their weapons.

"But communication around here don't just start and stop with whoever's on the island when the shit hits the fan," Reno continued. "I got a postcard from Paris marked nearly a hundred years ago because of the things that go down, here. Romeo sendin' me the postcard was the easy part. I'm thinkin' the post office just held onto the damn thing for a century, yo. But you try sendin' messages back in time. Or to alternate realities. Or to other broken worlds when you don't know what'll happen if you let that next rip swallow you up, too... You followin' me, here?"

Sometimes, Reno found himself wondering if students took his class so that they could nap while he lectured. And then he convinced himself that there were worse times for them to nap, so hey, if they needed the sleep, then good on him for being the one whose dulcet friggin' tones lulled them to it. Or something.

"In the past, the most reliable way we had to get messages to people off-island during a crisis just to send a messenger. And I don't like it. Too damn risky, even if we got some faint idea where or when they're gonna end up. This last big throw-down, they managed to get one phone call in to the people who were stuck in different realities, yo. I don't pretend to know how they managed to rig that up. I was too busy tradin' whatever crap was in my pockets for food and water to shove at people. But one call, in that case, was enough. Next time it might not be."

Reno's optimistic attitude, ladies and gentlemen.

"It's another discussion class today, ladies and chumps. I know we got enough bright little minds in this room to be able to toss together suggestions on how to get in touch with people when they go missing in the future, or, if you're lucky, to get in touch with the island if you're one of the unlucky schmucks that's gone missing. Get creative. Throw out whatever idea first comes to mind, magic, tech, what-the-shit-ever. And if there's somethin' you have to offer to help keep people in touch even when we're all on the island, bring it to the table, yo. Never know when your suggestion'll be the one that lets a person in mortal danger call for help."

[Open!]

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"That could've meant anything from 'you're a dumbfuck, but still my Rookie' to 'I'd rather you not die 'cause you've got idiotic schemes'," Ino insisted. "It didn't say forgiveness much at all."

In her head. Shush.

"And I frequently go runnin' around sneakin' birthday presents to people I wanna throttle," Reno mused, shaking his head a little.

There was a smirk in there, somewhere.

"Could've been some sort of trick," she defended, realizing that she sounded a bit silly even to herself.

A beat.

"What 'bout Nibelheim?"

Aw, shit. And here Reno was hoping she'd managed to forget about that part.

"What about it? The map'll work there, too," he replied. It took a lot of effort to keep that from coming out as a grumble.

"Not the map," Ino said, frowning at him. "The background story."

Sigh. Big sigh. Right, right, background on Nibelheim.

"Small town. S'got a reactor. Couple members of AVALANCHE grew up there, though they wouldn't be AVALANCHE just yet, yoto. There ain't no Turks from Nibelheim, at least. That'll make your job a bit easier, yo."

But only a little.

"Ain't much to say about it, really. Sleepy little place with dick-all to do but try an' throw rocks into the watertower or go poke around the mountains and not get killed by monsters. The map'll do you the most good there, trust me."

"What 'bout a visit?" Ino asked, twirling a bit of hair around one finger. "I could do that, couldn't I?"

Reno was trying not to squint, now. And mostly failing at it.

"His, or mine? You're gonna get two real different Nibelheims, takin' the effect Meteorfall has had on the whole damn world into consideration," he noted.

Yes. Meteorfall. ShinRa had, after all, rebuilt Nibelheim accurately to the very last nail. To the very last potted plant sitting on the very last windowsill. But what happened after ShinRa?

Ino chewed on her lip. "Seein' yours is probably--smarter? Less likely to get me spotted by them in Zack's world, but...?"

"But..." And then Reno sighed. "I ain't actually been to Nibelheim in the past few years," he noted. "Hard to say what shape it's in now, yo. Might not do you any good at all."

Or, alternatively, the ShinRa employees that had been used to populate the town might have just up and decided to make it home now, and live in it as if everything was perfectly normal. It should have been simple enough to do, since that was what their orders had been in the first place.

"Might not, but might," Ino said, glancing at him. "Would you mind takin' me?"

Because the alternative was Ino haring off on her own to find it and that could only end in tears or death.

Her death.

Ino was getting stronger but all the way to Nibelheim on her own? Uh...

The corner of Reno's mouth twitched a little at that.

... Hey, at least she asked. And he wasn't keen on letting her explore the basement of the mansion there all on her lonesome, if she even managed to get far enough past the monsters to get to that point.

"I wouldn't mind, yo."

Not too much. It seemed to be like the lesser of many evils, at this point.

Okay.

She offered him a bit of a smile--a little surprised that he'd said yes, really. "Zack an' I're going to Midgar this weekend." They were fleeing Parents Weekend, yes. Shut up. "But after that...?"

Really, at this point, knowing that she was willing to hare off on her own to do things whenever the whimsy hit her, this seemed to be the safest course of action. Somehow.

"After that," he agreed. "I gotta see how this weekend goes too, yo. Usually I get at least Rude for these things, zoto."

And no, he wasn't missing Rude for anything.

That was cute, yes. Not that Ino would say anything.

"I'll bug you 'bout it next week in class then," she said, with a lift of her shoulders. "And we'll figure it out then?"

"Sounds like we got a plan, zoto," Reno agreed. "If nothin' else, I can point at shit an' tell you what's different between then and now while I give you the grand tour. Shouldn't take more than ten friggin' minutes anyhow."

And then he could drag her off into the mountains and unleash her on a few Bombs or something as a convenient distraction.

Unconventional Tactics, Tuesday, Period 2

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