"This has what to do with whether Aerith is here or not?" Jessie was obviously stunned, she couldn't quite figure out the connection between the two.
"I don't know either, but it was indeed after she left that the customers left too." Tifa spread both hands, speaking helplessly.
Listening to their conversation, Aiden, who originally couldn't figure it out, suddenly had a flash of inspiration, he... seemed to understand.
"Jessie, are you guys taking action tonight?" As if to confirm that his guess was correct, Aiden asked Jessie.
Jessie looked at Barret and the others who were gathered around the arcade machine in the bar, then nodded, "Yeah, we're going to Reactor No. 5 tonight."
'As expected…'
Aiden's brows furrowed even tighter.
Looking at Aiden's increasingly deep expression in confusion, Jessie said again, "But we're still discussing tonight's plan, and haven't confirmed who's going yet, Aiden, are you coming with us?"
"I'm afraid someone doesn't want me to go." Aiden didn't respond directly, just muttered softly.
"Huh? What did you say?" Jessie didn't hear clearly and looked at him in confusion.
"Nothing." Aiden shook his head.
Jessie also furrowed her brows, and just as she was about to ask carefully, she heard Barret shout, "Jessie, come here quickly."
Jessie could only give up asking for now, ran over to the arcade machine, and entered the secret base underneath it with Barret and the others.
After the arcade machine returned to its original position, Tifa walked over to Aiden. Looking at the thoughtful Aiden, she asked, "Aiden, did you figure something out?"
"Probably figured it out. If my guess isn't wrong, someone doesn't want fate to deviate." Thinking of Aerith returning to Sector 5, Aiden could be certain all of this was orchestrated by Sephiroth and the Whispers, because in the original plot, when Avalanche was planning to destroy Reactor No. 5, Aerith wasn't here.
Although fate had already changed because of his appearance, although Aerith had appeared at Seventh Heaven early, and although Tifa and Aerith liked him now… Aiden understood, Sephiroth was still trying hard to correct the world line and return everything to the "starting point." At least... that's what he thought.
And hearing Aiden say someone didn't want fate to deviate, Tifa showed a puzzled expression. But just as she was about to ask what that meant, Aiden said, "Tonight I'll go with you to Reactor No. 5. Then you'll know."
"Alright." Tifa was extremely obedient to Aiden. Seeing him say this, she could only nod.
Aiden and Tifa sat by the bar for a while, and Barret and the others returned to the bar from the secret base.
Biggs and Wedge greeted Aiden and Tifa, then left immediately. Barret chatted with Jessie and Tifa for a bit, then left too, leaving only Jessie behind.
But at this moment, both Tifa and Jessie looked a bit depressed, as if they were affected by something Barret said before he left.
Seeing the two girls depressed, Aiden leaned toward them and asked, "What's wrong? Nervous? Or... why do you both look so down?"
"A bit nervous, since the operation is tonight." Jessie said gloomily, "But I'm not among the ones going."
"Oh?" Aiden asked, "Barret's not letting you go?"
"Mm, don't know why." Jessie said sadly, "Not only is he not letting me go, but also not letting you go. Really... Last time it was all thanks to you that we could destroy Reactor No. 1."
Hearing this, Aiden was also puzzled. During the first operation, Barret had enthusiastically invited him to join after hiring Cloud, and he contributed a lot that time. Logically, he shouldn't be excluded from this one.
Even more surprising was that Jessie was also excluded. He clearly remembered in the original story, Jessie was among the members. If it weren't for the Whispers attacking and injuring her, leading to Cloud, who was resting at home, replacing her, she would've gone.
'Wait a minute…'
Thinking of this, Aiden suddenly felt a shock in his heart, and quickly asked Jessie, "Who's going in this operation?"
Jessie didn't understand why Aiden suddenly asked so nervously, but still said, "Five people in total, Tifa, Biggs, Wedge, Cloud, and Barret himself."
"Cloud is going too?" Aiden turned to Tifa to confirm.
Tifa nodded, "Yes, Barret hired Cloud. After all, he's strong… Aiden, what's wrong? Is something off?"
Aiden frowned tightly and didn't answer Tifa's question. Instead, he was thinking, why would Barret suddenly invite Cloud on his own?
'Clearly Jessie is still fine and uninjured. Could it be…'
Seeing Aiden deep in thought, Tifa and Jessie looked at each other, not understanding his behavior. Tifa asked again, "Aiden, what's wrong? Is it related to that 'fate' you mentioned earlier?"
"Yeah..." Aiden nodded.
"Fate? What fate?" Jessie looked at Tifa in confusion, "What are you two talking about?"
"I'm not sure either. It's what Aiden said." Tifa also looked confused and pointed at Aiden.
So Jessie looked at Aiden. Just as she was about to ask, she heard Aiden say, "Jessie, come with me tonight."
Jessie immediately threw all questions aside, and asked excitedly, "Where? Just the two of us?"
"Mm." Aiden nodded and continued, "As for where, I can't say for now, otherwise…"
Saying this, he glanced outside the bar. Though there was a door, he seemed to be able to sense some creature outside, ready to move.
Seeing Jessie overjoyed, Tifa felt a bit jealous. She really wanted to ask why it wasn't her, but thinking of tonight's operation and Aiden's earlier talk about fate, she held back her jealousy and said nothing.
———
Around 9 PM, Barret and the others set off. Not long after, Aiden also rode a motorcycle, taking Jessie toward the plate.
On the way, no matter what Jessie asked, Aiden didn't answer directly, only replying vaguely with things that left her baffled.
Although Jessie was confused, she didn't think much about it and quickly became immersed in the joy of being alone with Aiden.
For her now, things like destroying a mako reactor were no longer that important.
However, as Aiden drove onto the highway leading to the plate, Jessie started to understand his thinking a bit. Though she still didn't know why he didn't just go with Barret's team by train, seeing that Aiden didn't want to talk about it, she didn't ask. In her mind, he must have his reasons.
In fact, the reason Aiden didn't go with Barret's group openly, and also didn't say anything, was because he was worried Sephiroth and the Whispers would interfere to protect their so-called fate.
Even though he had already wooed Aerith and Tifa and changed some of the story, that probably wasn't considered significant to fate, since fate had some margin of error.
But for certain inevitable events, the Whispers wouldn't tolerate disruption or alteration. For example, the mako reactor destruction, although Reactor No. 1 was destroyed because of Aiden, since it aligned with what was supposed to happen, fate let it slide.
So when Aiden learned that Barret had actively invited Cloud to join the mission to Reactor No. 5, he knew the Whispers were trying to fix the world line.
And the reason he didn't say anything and instead took Jessie secretly, was because he remembered in the original story, the Whispers attacked to stop Jessie from going. She got injured and Cloud replaced her. The attack happened after the team list was finalized, so Aiden felt that as long as he didn't say it out loud, the Whispers wouldn't act.
Now it seemed Aiden's guess was right. As they rode along the highway to the plate, the Whispers didn't attack them, probably because all of them were already gathered around Reactor No. 5, watching Barret's team follow the original story.
'Fate, huh? Then let me, someone outside of fate, give you a little surprise.' Amid the endless traffic, Aiden laughed loudly. In Jessie's excited cheers, he increased the motorcycle's speed again.
Around 9 PM is when Shinra's day shift ends and the night shift begins. Aiden controlled his motorcycle, speeding through the busy traffic, constantly causing honks and shouts. After all, this counted as dangerous driving.
His behavior soon attracted the attention of Shinra soldiers patrolling the highway. Soon, several motorcycles appeared behind him.
"Ah, we meet again! Friend riding with a beautiful lady, are you here to race me by invitation?" At the front of those motorcycles was Roche, whom he had met the night before. Upon seeing Aiden, he shouted excitedly.
Unexpectedly to Jessie behind him, Aiden actually nodded, "Yeah, interested in a race?"
Even more unexpected was Roche. He had thought Aiden would refuse like last night… In fact, he already had his lines prepared, but Aiden's words left him speechless, the words dying in his throat.
"Looks like last night's failure made you lose confidence to race me, huh." Seeing Roche silent, Aiden mocked him.
"Who said that?!" Roche was furious and reached for his greatsword, only to grab nothing. Then he remembered Aiden broke it last night, so he changed the subject, "Say it, how do you want to race?"
"Since you have no weapon now, how about we just race in speed, see who gets there first." Aiden pointed to the distant Reactor No. 5.
"Alright." Although Roche was puzzled why the destination was so far, he didn't care, racing was all that mattered. He waved to dismiss the soldiers beside him and sped ahead.
Jessie didn't quite understand why Aiden agreed to race Roche and why the destination was Reactor No. 5.
But she tactfully didn't ask, perhaps Aiden had his reasons.
Indeed, Aiden had a reason. Before leaving, he had recalled the story again, remembering that this mission by Barret's group would be live-broadcast across all of Midgar by Shinra. A thought occurred, maybe he could use this to completely disrupt the story. After all, he knew clearly that if he brought Jessie to Reactor No. 5, the Whispers and Sephiroth would do anything to stop him. When those scenes were broadcasted live…
Thinking of that, a cold smile appeared on Aiden's face, 'Old Seph, let's see how you handle this.'
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
patreon.com/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through Patreon.
https://discord.gg/bYAfGyp98y