Cloud had arrived in Midgar. He was ecstatic. His next move was to find where he could enlist to be in SOLDIER. Cloud left the bus terminal and headed to the main streets of Midgar. He noticed that there was no sun overhead. Cloud knew it was morning, but the black sky seemed to swallow it whole. The vivid neon lights of the corner stores seemed to be Midgar’s only source of day. The crowded streets were dark and brooding. The roads were dirty complemented by noise from the traffic jam, which in turn hurt Cloud’s ears. He lived in a village where the only loud sound was the gurgling of the water tower. This was an all-new experience that Cloud knew he would have to adapt to if wanted to make it in the city. On the corner of the street, he noticed a man passing out flyers on how to join the Midgar Military. Cloud figured he would know something about SOLDIER.

“Hey, Youngblood,” the man said as Cloud approached, “Join the fight against Wutai, and get recognition, money, and chicks!”

“Where can I go to be in SOLDIER?” Cloud asked.

“SOLDIER?” the man said surprised, “That’s Nowheres Vill, man! The real fame is in the military.”

“I want to know where I can go to be in SOLDIER,” Cloud restated.

The man gave him a peculiar look, “Well, ain’t you a persistent cactuer! If you must know, first you take the train over there,” he said pointing across the street to a train terminal, “And ride that bad boy to Sector 4. It’ll drop you right in front of the enlistment building. There you can sign up to be in that SOLDIER thing. If you change yer mind, you can also enlist in the military.”

Cloud took the mans advise and got on the train to Sector 4. He arrived at the enlistment office in a half an hour. Inside, he received his papers to join SOLDIER. Cloud filled out the appropriate information and handed it back to the applications officer.

“Okay,” the officer said, “In a week you’ll find out if you made the cut.”

“A week!” Cloud said shocked, “I wasn’t expecting to wait. I don’t have anywhere to stay. What am I supposed to do?”

“Hey, don’t bitch to me,” the officer said coldly, “You shoudda thunk about that before you came here from…” he looks to Cloud’s papers, “…Nibelheim? Damn! Yer a long way from home, boy. Yer screwed.”

Cloud’s disappointment besieged his emotions as tears clogged his sore eyes.

“I’m sorry to intrude, but I heard you’re problem and wondered if I could help,” a voice said very pleasant and kindheartedly.

He turned to find a woman wearing a long sky blue dress with shimmering black hair. She smiled at Cloud. He thought she looked beautiful. The young lady had the same wholesome nature Cloud saw in Tifa. Just that moment he missed his friend.

“Oh, Rinoa, you ain’t gonna take in another stray are ya?” the officer said.

The woman, Rinoa, didn’t respond to the man, but, instead, knelt to Cloud and said, “I know you don’t know me, but I’d love for you to stay with me until you’ve gotten your clearance.”

“But you don’t even know me.” Cloud responded.

“I know, but you remind me so much of my little brother back in my hometown of Kalm. So handsome and noble looking. Besides, you’re a country boy. No more than fourteen years old I’m guessing. Someone that young and inexperienced won’t survive a week in Midgar alone.”

She was persuasive. Cloud agreed to stay with her.

“Great,” she cheered, “Hey, since I work for Shinra, maybe I can pull some strings to make this SOLDIER thing process faster,” she looks to the officer, “Have this boy’s paperwork forwarded to my address.”

The officer smiles, “Rinoa, yer too generous for yer own good.”

After everything was said and done, Riona lead Cloud to her car.

“Hop in,” she said automatically opening the door with a device on her car keys.

Cloud had never seen such a sleek and fantastic car before. Inside, the vehicle had a leather interior with all sorts of blinking gadgets and a small computer on the dashboard. He’d never seen so much technology in a car before. Back in Nibelheim the entire town only had a busted pickup truck, and even that didn’t work properly.

Rinoa revved the engine of the car and sped off to their destination.

She turned on the radio to listen to music.

“Hey, Cloud, look out the window,” Rinoa said.

Cloud looked out to see a towering structure a hundred feet above the city. It seemed unsettling to have such an enormous building in the middle of the Midgar as if the whole world revolved around it.

“That’s Shinra Headquarters, and where you’ll be staying with me for the week.” Rinoa explained.

“Wow, you live there?” Cloud asked amazed.

“All Shinra executives live there.” Rinoa said, “Honestly, I never leave the building normally, but today there was some business I had to deal with in the admissions office. It’s a good thing too, or otherwise I wouldn’t have met you. I guess luck brought us together.”

Cloud looked out the window again, “Rinoa, I’ve noticed Midgar has eight giant Mako Reactors surrounding the city. Do they really need that much energy?”

Rinoa smiled, “Of course, Midgar is the largest city on the Planet. A lot of people live here, and they all need energy to power everything from an electric toothbrush to their houses.”

“Is it true that Mako Energy is actually the Planets’ Life Stream?” Cloud asked.

“Well, I wouldn’t go as far as saying it’s the Planets’ life,” Rinoa began to say, “But Mako Energy is derived from streams under the ground. People might call it the Life Stream because of its green glow.”

Cloud looks to Rinoa, “Will the stream ever dry up?”

“Let’s hope not,” Rinoa replied, “Imagine a world without Mako. No lights, no electricity, no hot water, no power for cars and airplanes.”

Suddenly the computer on the dashboard turned on with a clean-cut gentleman reporting the news. Cloud was startled by the abrupt event.

“Don’t worry,” Riona said, “I’ve got it programmed to give me any important news flashes. It must be really important…listen.”

The man reporting said, “There has been an explosion in the Sector 2 Financial District where a car spontaneously exploded in front of the First National Bank of Shinra. By some miracle, people walked away with only minor injuries. The terrorist group known as AVALACHE is believed to be behind this incident.”

“I knew it!” Rinoa interrupted, “Those monsters have been terrorizing the city since they first appeared three months ago.”

“Who’re the AVALANCHE?” Cloud asked.

“They’re this cult that believe Mako is sacrilegious. They go around the city spreading propaganda of how evil and corrupt Shinra is for using Mako Energy,” Rinoa said bitterly, “I’m not too worried about it. Shinra has ways of dealing with these terrorist.”

The car sped up the highway making its way to the Shinra Headquarters. It entered a dim orange-lit tunnel, which led to the Shinra parking lot. Without warning, red lights started flashing inside the car.

Rinoa said, “Don’t let the red light spook you, Cloud. That blinking just means we’re passing a checkpoint. Whenever that happens, it means we’re entering a high security area. A central databank back in Shina Headquarters is checking my Identification Card to make sure I’m allowed within this area.”

After Rinoa cleared the checkpoint she parked the car in her designated spot. She led Cloud to an elevator. The door slid open with a ding sound.

“The Shira Building has sixty-two underground levels and seventy aboveground levels. Those seventy aboveground levels make up the Shinra Headquarters itself. Levels thirty to forty in the headquarters are where the apartments are.” Rinoa explained.

“Why are you telling me all this?” Cloud asked.

She laughed, “Come on, I’m giving you a tour on something little people know about. When you’re in SOLDIER you can impress them with the knowledge I gave you.”

Clouds nods his head, “I guess your right.”

As the elevator rose steadily to the forty-third floor, Rinoa educated Cloud more about Midgar and its history. He was glad Rinoa had come to his rescue offering him a place to stay.

The elevator door opened. They walked down the white narrow corridor to her apartment.

“Here we are,” Rinoa said sliding her ID card through a slot next to the door.

Cloud stepped in the apartment first. He thought the home was rather immense for Rinoa who lived by herself. In the corner was a huge television set with a sofa and love seat facing it. The kitchen had a double door refrigerator that Cloud figured had enough food to feed a small army.

“Wow, you live in this big place by yourself?” Cloud remarked observing the apartment.

“I don’t really live here by myself.” She abruptly shouted, “Here, Angelo!”

A brown and white puppy came running from out of a room yelping to Rinoa.

She started to scratch behind its ears as the puppy wildly licked her face.

“I found him a week ago,” she said giggling as the dog tickled her with its tongue, “Isn’t he just the cutest?”

“Yeah,” Cloud said kneeling down to pet Angelo. The puppy turned its attention to Cloud as it started to run upon him. The dog knocked him down and licked his face.

Rinoa began to laugh, “I think Angelo likes you.”

Still laughing lightly, Rinoa said, “This’ll be your home for the week. Hey, while I’m at work you can take care of him.”

“No problem,” Cloud said happily.

“If you feel too cramp in the apartment during your stay, there is a recreation center on the sixty-forth floor. Or if readings your thing, there’s a library on the sixty-second floor. Try not to go to any other floors. I don’t want you getting lost or in trouble while I’m not here.”

“No problem,” Cloud replied.

She smiled, “Great then. You’ll be sleeping in the guest room,” she said leading him to the room, “just unpack you’re stuff and relax.”

Cloud set his backpack on the floor and threw himself on the bed. He hadn’t slept in a comfortable bed since he was last in Nibelheim.

Before leaving the room, Rinoa said, “When you’re hungry, there’s some food in the fridge. Sleep tight little Cloud. You’ve had a long day.”

As she turned off the lights, Cloud slowly closed his eyes. He was proud of himself for making it to Midgar on his own. Though he did begin to miss his mother and Tifa back home, he managed to convince himself it was well worth it to become a SOLDIER. And when he did finally achieve his dream, he would’ve finally proven his strength to everybody. He would return to them a hero. But then a dreary thought crossed his mind…What would he do if SOLDIER refused to accept him.