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Robert Tepper: No Easy Way Out
It’s odd that, just about the time that Cloud’s failed to get into SOLDIER and gets related to Shinra’s grunt infantry, so many of SOLDIER’s First Classes are deserting.
Of course, at Cloud’s level, nobody knows anything, and nobody’s saying anything. But Cloud’s managed to make friends with Zack, one of the remaining members of the First Class. And Zack - well, he knows everyone. His mentor was Angeal, now one of the deserters. He gets orders straight from Director Lazard, the head of SOLDIER. Heck - Zack is friends with Sephiroth. Sephiroth hero, the icon, the face of the freshly-ended war with Wutai.
But best of all, Zack talks to Cloud, and what Cloud hears is almost enough to make him quit. Everyone’s deserting; Shinra’s best are fighting against them, and nobody can figure out why. Even the headquarters, Shinra tower, is attack by Genesis’s troops. Rumors of spies are all over Midgar.
It’s the last one that catches Cloud more than he expected. After all, he’s a new guy in a big city. Came out of nowhere, tried to big a big shot. If he’d gotten into SOLDIER, who knew what information he could have passed on to his superiors? As it is, he’s still made buddies with someone who’s got access to highly classified information.
It’s only now that Cloud realizes how alone he is. After all, he’s from a small town, and he’s surrounded by the biggest city in the world (and its undefeated military). He’s got nobody to trust. Nobody trusts him - not even his fellow recruits. Envy and distrust have made him a target. Fine, he can deal with it and still put on a brave face.
But he can’t keep it up forever. The only thing that keeps him from packing up and going home is Zack. His optimism, his faith and determination are the only things that keeps Cloud going, through the failures, the hatred and the training.
Nothing here was going the way he hoped, but at least he’d still met a hero. One who won't take harassment about hanging with a lowly little no-name grunt. And for that, Cloud can hang on a bit longer.
