It's beyond the pale!

While Reeve didn’t actually live in his office, it had been quite some time since he’d left it to do anything that wasn’t entirely necessary, save going home. He had quite a number of projects on different stages of completion and while he had a veritable cloud of competent assistants, he wanted to keep an eye on things himself. It was not a matter of trust, but a matter of him being proud of his team, and wanting to ensure everyone was working in the best conditions. 

He still had taken this afternoon for non-office work, the kind that he would often delegate instead. It had taken much convincing for nobody to call for a bodyguard, but Reeve did not mean to leave the safer areas of Midgar and he didn’t particularly like the idea of being followed, telling everyone he was more than any common Shin-Ra worker. Especially when he wanted to do something nice for Leanna. 

Reeve had never had children and didn’t think he would, he was too occupied with his work and so he had no basis for comparison, but he was aware that to him Leanna was at the very least like a treasured niece to him, perhaps closer to a daughter in some regards. And that implied offering her a better life than just work. It was not that running some errands was much different, in truth, but it was the best idea he’d had until his eyes caught sight of a particular shop. 

Her eyes wandered over the visible aisles, over the dozens and dozens of book spines. They were in the fiction section, an ideal place for one to find a book to escape into. Though, she never had that desire, at least… not yet. To form an attachment to fictional characters and fictional worlds.. what good would that do her? However, the reply she would have given didn’t seem to suit what Reeve was trying to coax out of her. There was a reason they detoured into this store, wasn’t there?

"I suppose I could read… for a distraction. I’ve read all your architectural books in your study twice over, they have no more information to give me. What sort of books should I read, sir?”

She was indeed overanalizing the question, yet Reeve didn’t mind that much. It was to be expected, and it was helping him be even more certain on their current course of action. 

“Among other genres. Few good books, save the ones that define a genre, can be fully categorized by one.” He added. 

He took a wrong turn through the shelves, then backtracked, and after a second attempt he located the section with books meant for younger readers.

Moreover, when Leanna next spoke, Reeve offered her a small, rather proud smile. 

“You should read the books you like, and you will only discover which those are as you read. For that, we will be getting a few samples of some genres.”

Perhaps not murder mysteries, Leanna might be too young for that, yet it didn’t take long for Reeve to locate a book of fables and short stories from his childhood. 

“When I was a child, I could not stop reading this one. You might like it.” He said, and then passed it to Leanna as he kept browsing the aisles and chose a few more books, including some of the more idealist fantasy and science fiction.

After a few very complicated weeks, I am back!

That said, I’m not as active in Tumblr as I used to be, so for ease of management I’m going to archive all my blogs and remake them as sideblogs to a rp blog hub (which I’ll post when it’s mostly done).

None of my blogs are getting deleted, and no active thread is getting dumped. It’s all just being moved.

There was one particular spot near the windows that had an optimal view of looking over the city. Due to the construction of the building, there were often large pipes or other such  obstructions, but from here she could see some of the life going on outside. Cars, people, all going about their daily lives while those within the building worked hard to make sure everything out there was always running smoothly.

  Being what she was, she hardly needed to be seated at her computer in order to get work done. Nor did she need to be glued to the telephone. Paging her was as simple as a button press and she received the alert, no matter where she was in the building. Promptly leaving her viewing spot, she crossed the length of the department floor, passing by occupied desks and other workers, headed straight to the Director’s office.

  Upon arriving, she quietly opened the door and stepped inside, standing with attentiveness a short distance from his desk. “Yes, sir?”

As soon as she entered the office his eyes left the report they’d been glued to, this one dealing with the restoration of an old temple, and he gestured towards the one free chair.

“Please take a seat, Leanna.” He asked her, neatly setting the report over a stack of papers that had once been neatly ordered, but were now somewhat disheveled due to much searching and fact checking. That pile and its newest member, however, could wait, and so the Director’s attention was on the girl, his eyes polite and rather affable, yet nevertheless distant.

“Unlike many of your co-workers,” he began, sitting back on his chair “you must be aware by now that your training has been remarkably short.” And they both knew the reasons why. “Do you think you are doing well in current position?”

    For now, she could busy herself with other things. “At the moment, I don’t have any questions. Should I have any, I’ll bring them to you immediately.” Her eyes flicked downward slightly, then back up. “It’s nearing time for your lunch break. Will you be leaving the office or should I bring something from the cafeteria for you?”

Reeve nodded at her response, satisfied enough. Leanna had access to much of the data in ShinRa -except the banks of data only the higher tiers of workers had clearance for- and he guessed that probably took care of most of what another person would normally have to ask. It was still somewhat intriguing that she didn’t want to ask more about the slums, but for now he took it as her heeding his warning. 

Then, at her next question, the director took a look at the stack of papers in his office and then almost sighed. 

“I will be staying, Leanna, thank you. The staff already knows my order,” he told Leanna, before taking a folder from the stack and leaving it in front of her. “When you go, take this to the Reactor Maintenance Team. They will ask for a meeting with medium priority, but treat it as high priority.” He instructed. 

There was one particular spot near the windows that had an optimal view of looking over the city. Due to the construction of the building, there were often large pipes or other such  obstructions, but from here she could see some of the life going on outside. Cars, people, all going about their daily lives while those within the building worked hard to make sure everything out there was always running smoothly.

  Being what she was, she hardly needed to be seated at her computer in order to get work done. Nor did she need to be glued to the telephone. Paging her was as simple as a button press and she received the alert, no matter where she was in the building. Promptly leaving her viewing spot, she crossed the length of the department floor, passing by occupied desks and other workers, headed straight to the Director’s office.

  Upon arriving, she quietly opened the door and stepped inside, standing with attentiveness a short distance from his desk. “Yes, sir?”

As soon as she entered the office his eyes left the report they’d been glued to, this one dealing with the restoration of an old temple, and he gestured towards the one free chair.

“Please take a seat, Leanna.” He asked her, neatly setting the report over a stack of papers that had once been neatly ordered, but were now somewhat disheveled due to much searching and fact checking. That pile and its newest member, however, could wait, and so the Director’s attention was on the girl, his eyes polite and rather affable, yet nevertheless distant.

“Unlike many of your co-workers,” he began, sitting back on his chair “you must be aware by now that your training has been remarkably short.” And they both knew the reasons why. “Do you think you are doing well in current position?”

   But around the Director, she felt she could take a step aside and figure stuff out, after all, it had only been a few days since her re-activation. There was plenty that was still unresolved.

   “There are several documents talking about the start of some improvement construction that would occur within the under city. In an area called the ‘Slums’? It’s my first time hearing of it, and what data I am able to find seems limited and outdated. What is this place? I am lead to believe there is an entire other city beneath Midgar?”

It didn’t surprise Reeve in any way that there wasn’t much information about the undercity among those files available to Leanna. Reeve himself hadn’t visited it in a long time, and despite his power theoretically allowing him to improve the those areas as well, it was not easy to obtain the means, nor the permission. He still had at least one project regarding them running at all times, rotating the teams, because it hardly ever amounted to much. It was a shame: people beneath the plate needed it most, Reeve wasn’t unaware of it, and a flicker of sadness crossed his gaze at the thought.

There was one particular spot near the windows that had an optimal view of looking over the city. Due to the construction of the building, there were often large pipes or other such  obstructions, but from here she could see some of the life going on outside. Cars, people, all going about their daily lives while those within the building worked hard to make sure everything out there was always running smoothly.

  Being what she was, she hardly needed to be seated at her computer in order to get work done. Nor did she need to be glued to the telephone. Paging her was as simple as a button press and she received the alert, no matter where she was in the building. Promptly leaving her viewing spot, she crossed the length of the department floor, passing by occupied desks and other workers, headed straight to the Director’s office.

  Upon arriving, she quietly opened the door and stepped inside, standing with attentiveness a short distance from his desk. “Yes, sir?”

As soon as she entered the office his eyes left the report they’d been glued to, this one dealing with the restoration of an old temple, and he gestured towards the one free chair.

“Please take a seat, Leanna.” He asked her, neatly setting the report over a stack of papers that had once been neatly ordered, but were now somewhat disheveled due to much searching and fact checking. That pile and its newest member, however, could wait, and so the Director’s attention was on the girl, his eyes polite and rather affable, yet nevertheless distant.

“Unlike many of your co-workers,” he began, sitting back on his chair “you must be aware by now that your training has been remarkably short.” And they both knew the reasons why. “Do you think you are doing well in current position?”

   “The current project we’re working on in establishing a new playground within Sector 4 is something I appear to have great interest in. Those working on it have even listened to a few of my suggestions and production is well on its way to completion. I am eager to see it finished.” Her answer was precise, to the point, and would have been only that and yet her expression said she contemplated saying more. A rare thing, but something she only did in the presence of Reeve.

   “Is that strange?” That brief moment happened again, the instances were she  appeared more human than before. The uncertainty, the gaze that trailed away, her developed habit of one finger tapping against the other. “There will be several new additions we haven’t used in construction before and by my calculations the children of the area will enjoy them greatly.This project does not benefit me in any way and yet I find that the thought makes me –” She couldn’t find the precise word for what she felt.

It was always interesting to see how new additions to any of the many small teams working in the Urban Development branch could offer new ideas and insights, unconstrained by experience. Those ideas had to be considered carefully, of course, but they were always worth hearing. 

“Suggestions such as?” He asked her, leaving it clear in his voice that he was not censorious, just curious, and giving himself some time to ponder her following words. Those, and her reactions. He could have sworn what he’d just seen was uncertainty. Could he really say it wasn’t? Reeve couldn’t help it, he offered her a small smile. 

“I would not say it is strange to find a sense of accomplishment on the act of designing something, especially if said work will improve the lives of others.” He told her. “ This department is in charge of not only ensuring Midgar is habitable, but making it a better place to live within the means we have.”

There was one particular spot near the windows that had an optimal view of looking over the city. Due to the construction of the building, there were often large pipes or other such  obstructions, but from here she could see some of the life going on outside. Cars, people, all going about their daily lives while those within the building worked hard to make sure everything out there was always running smoothly.

  Being what she was, she hardly needed to be seated at her computer in order to get work done. Nor did she need to be glued to the telephone. Paging her was as simple as a button press and she received the alert, no matter where she was in the building. Promptly leaving her viewing spot, she crossed the length of the department floor, passing by occupied desks and other workers, headed straight to the Director’s office.

  Upon arriving, she quietly opened the door and stepped inside, standing with attentiveness a short distance from his desk. “Yes, sir?”

As soon as she entered the office his eyes left the report they’d been glued to, this one dealing with the restoration of an old temple, and he gestured towards the one free chair.

“Please take a seat, Leanna.” He asked her, neatly setting the report over a stack of papers that had once been neatly ordered, but were now somewhat disheveled due to much searching and fact checking. That pile and its newest member, however, could wait, and so the Director’s attention was on the girl, his eyes polite and rather affable, yet nevertheless distant.

“Unlike many of your co-workers,” he began, sitting back on his chair “you must be aware by now that your training has been remarkably short.” And they both knew the reasons why. “Do you think you are doing well in current position?”

   Her training had taken all of about three hours. It was pretty simple when one could just download the information and be ready to use it at a moments notice. She required no time to memorize or learn the ropes. Tell her once and she understood.

   “From my own analysis, yes. I believe I’m performing to expectation. All of my given tasks have been completed in an efficient manner.” She replied, her tone even, expression void of showing any concern -  as it always had been since the day of her activation. “Has there been something to suggest otherwise? Have I misperformed?”

Had Reeve not known what he did about Leanna, her demeanor may have unnerved him. As things were, he could just wait and see how her environment impacted her: she had the ability to learn, he didn’t doubt she would use it. For good, he hoped. There had been too many weapons born at ShinRa. 

“You have not misperformed, rest assured.” He replied. He didn’t know if there was or could be any worry amidst her thoughts, but Reeve preferred not to have his employees worry needlessly and she was no less. “Your abilities have even surpassed some of my calculations. No, my question was meant in a different sense.” He went on. “Are there any tasks you have found either interesting or challenging, and if so, what were your thoughts on them?”