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The day he had awaited his whole life had finally come. Finally, after years of studying, he had been accepted to Shina-Ra's institute of government. He had worked so hard to stand out in his hometown of Kalm that he had received a message a few days back that he was to receive a full course of studies and a job at Shina-Ra after graduation. It was exactly what he had always wanted as part of such a poor family, to go to Midgar, make enough money to support his whole family, and become someone important to boot. He had but to get there.

There in lied the difficulty. He was a wimp compared to most traveling fighters, who were capable of defending themselves from the monsters. He lacked sufficient funds to get safe passage to Midgar with a bodyguard. He hoped he could just hitch a ride with a strong traveler. He went to the pub in Kalm. He stared around the pub, which was bustling, as it was a Friday night. He tried to avoid looking at anyone for to long, the drunks would kill you if you looked at them funny. He sat at the bar next to a rotund little man wearing a red hat. "Can I get something non-alcoholic?" Zaber asked the bartender.
"Nope" Said the bartender.
"Fine, give me something to eat then."
"The meat's tenderized with beer too."
"Hahaha! You must've never come in here before!" Exclaimed the rotund little man. "The names Biggs. Bartender, just make him something with that fruit you use for mixed drinks."
"But that's not beer?" murmured the bartender.
"So? Your even drunk tonight I see."
"Never mind, I think I'll just go." Zaber got up to leave.
"Wait, I need someone sober to talk to. Just sit down and stay a while." Zaber slowly returned to his seat. "So, what brings a guy like you into a bar? You having troubles with your family or something? A girlfriend perhaps?"
"No, I just... I'm looking for a way to get to Midgar."
"Hahaha! You're lucky day! I'm leaving for there tonight. Got to get there by 9:00 PM tomorrow or the boss will have my head. You can come with me!"
"Let me rephrase that. I'm looking for a safe way to get to Midgar."
"Oh, it's me and two other guys, and we're all armed. You'll just have to be ready to go really quickly. We have to leave in three hours to get there by tomorrow night. Can you be ready by then?" Biggs almost seemed like he wanted him to come.
"OK. I'll meet you in the center of town in three hours." Zaber got up and left the bar before Biggs could talk him into staying for an extended chat. He headed home and began to pack his things.

Two hours later he had packed his things and said his goodbyes. His mother and father and his little brother had all parted with him as he walked to the center of town. Biggs and two others were already there. "Hey, you're early!" Said Biggs.
"Yeah, it's a good thing too? Biggs was drunk, so he didn't say we were leaving in two hours instead of three."
"Ah, calm down Wedge. He's here now anyway. Let's go. By the way, this is Wedge, and Jessie." Said Biggs.
"I'm Zaber. Thanks for the whole assist with getting me to Midgar and all."
They arrived at Midgar around 8:00 PM. They entered the city through a whole in the subway walls, and walked along tracks to a station, much to Zaber's dismay.
"We're here. Now get out of here, we don't want you getting in the way of our business." Jessie wasn't that happy with having to bring Zaber with them.
"Biggs! Wedge! Jessie! Where the hell we're you?!?! And who the hell is that!?!?" A large black man with his right hand in his pocket was screaming at the three.
"Sorry boss! He's just some guy who wanted to get from Kalm to Midgar so we traveled in a group."
"I don?t give a damn! Why did you guys have to go all the way to Kalm to get a drink anyway? Just get rid of him! We've gotta be there in an hour!"
"Thanks a lot you guys. I owe you one. I'll probably see you again." Zaber didn't want to cause them anymore trouble.
"In a town this big, I doubt it. Come by the bar 7th Heaven sometime."
"OK, hey, can you tell me how to get to the Shina-Ra building?"
"What the @#$%^&* hell do you want to do with Shina-Ra!?" The black man had pulled his hand out of his pocket and pointed at him. But it wasn?t a hand. It was a gun. A big gun.
"Whoa...Whoa...Whoa...calm down big guy!" Zaber tried to talk his way out of the gun to his head.
"Give it a rest Barret. Everyone's not as passionate about brining down Shina-Ra as you are."
"Oh, you're one to talk Mr. X-Solider!" The man with the blonde spiky hair who had been silent up until then had probably just saved Zaber. As Barret began to scream at the man, Zaber quickly fled towards the center if town. He figured he could just find out at that huge building in the center of town.

Zaber checked in at Shina-Ra?s front desk. "OK. I?ll just assign someone to show you where to go and where your house will be." The receptionist clearly was upset at being disturbed during her show. The woman who arrived around 8:15 had blonde hair, and carried a gun for some reason. It made Zaber nervous.
"I'm Elena. Come with me." Elena took him across town via a train to sector 9. His house was about a thousand feet from the perimeter fence of the reactor.
"Is there any reason I'm so close to that thing?"
"It's government property. It's here or you fend for yourself in the slums."
"I pick here."
"OK then." She hands him a key and directs him to his room in the complex. "We?ll be seeing you tomorrow at work. Report to the 54th floor. Goodbye." Just then her phone rang. "Hello?what! A promotion! ?A Turk?about time! I?ll be right there." She hopped on a moving train that was passing by, heading to Shina-Ra. Zaber got into his room, a small concrete room with one window facing the reactor. It had the basic amenities, but it wasn't a Shina-Ra luxury suite or anything. Zaber unpacked and was settled in by 8:50. He turned on the TV and lay in his bed, thinking about the change he would soon be going through. He turned the TV off and put on his jacket. Maybe he should go see about this "7th Heaven". As long as the black guy wasn't there, anything would be fine. He was outside at 9:10, and was leaving the building. He walked toward the train station, which was closer to the reactor than his house. It was then he first heard the explosions. It started as a faint rumble, he figured it was just one of the occasional earthquakes he'd read about. But by the time he saw the fire, it was too late. He was right up against the reactor. He tried to run, but it was pointless. The flames engulfed him as the entire sector shuddered from the implosion. The last thing Zaber remembered was a green glow coming after the flame. Little did he know that the green glow was mako, and that it would influence the rest of his life...