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                               FINAL FANTASY VII
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                                  Plot Guide

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This guide was originally assembled in 1999 by Maximillian Zhang and Dick 
Richardson for private reference for the unofficial Fourth Disc Project "Deus 
Ex Jenova", released online in 2000.

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BACKSTORY
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The World of Final Fantasy VII is dominated by a ruthless company, Shinra. The 
head of the company finances a project that takes place years before the start 
of the game. The Project's goal is to find out about the "Lifestream" -- the 
idea that declares life is financed by an intangible energy source (Makou) -- 
and how to harness it to further increase the company's profits.

See, the life energy is what runs the lights, appliances, and machines of this 
world. And what's more, once Makou is solidified (either by artificial refining 
processes or naturally) it becomes "Materia" -- objects that have the intrinsic 
power of life energy within them. It is this materia which allows the casting 
of spells and magic-like effects.

Cloud Strife is a mercenary who is recruited by a rag-tag band who opposes 
Shinra's activities (it is lamely called, 'Avalanche'). Tifa, a childhood friend 
is among its ranks. His initial assignment, to bomb the Makou Reactor, goes 
badly and he (somehow) winds up meeting a young woman with a mystery past & who 
is also wanted by the Company for "experimental purposes" -- Aeris {Aerith, 
Japanese spelling}. For some strange reason, they both share this strange 
feeling of knowing each other.

United by a common goal, the gang discovers that Cloud himself is not who he 
claims to be. As it turns out, Cloud and Sephiroth has had a bad encounter 
years before. Sephiroth, the greatest of Shinra's operatives, was wreaking 
vengeance on the company he so loyally served before. Now the question is why.

Sephiroth claims that he was a descendant of the "Ancients" -- a cryptic 
reference to the Cetra; a race of humanoids who had fantastic control over the 
Lifestream (and accordingly, over the life energy). Shinra, he declared, had 
betrayed his ancestors and he was thus denied his rightful inheiretance. In his 
anger, Sephiroth makes everyone his enemy and vowed to claim the all of the 
Makou for himself.

Banded against a common enemy, the gang delves deeper into the mystery and 
discovers Aeris is also a descendant of the Ancients. Her lineage makes her an 
alluring target of the company and its expansion plans. But what is most 
alarming, is Aeris' innate abilities to control the Makou (largely due to her 
genetic lineage).

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THE REAL STORY
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The truth is Sephiroth is the Project's head scientist's son (say that three 
times fast) and was intentionally experimented on by his mad-scientist dad to 
prove a "Reunification Theory" with the Lifestream/Makou. This basically meant 
that Sephiroth was exposed to raw Makou since he was born, making him 
physically stronger than average humans and many times more powerful in casting 
spells.

It also subjected him to what is referred to as "Makou poisoning" -- since the 
Lifestream is basically what fuels living things, this stuff is cluttered with 
memories of those who had been living before (kinda like a soul, but without 
the theological bullstuff). Sephiroth's delicate mental state was shattered 
when he discovered the old lab he was raised in, which apparently was in 
Nibelheim (see below).

Cloud, in his younger days, was part of a security detail (headed by Sephiroth) 
to inspect a malfunctioning Makou Reactor in his home of -- Nibelheim. He had 
announced to his friends and family (loudly I might add) that he'd join Shinra's 
elite security detail (lamely called 'Soldier') and come back home a big shot. 
This was the story presented in the instruction book and in the early part of 
the game.

IN REALITY, Cloud flunked out of the program, given a regular uniform, and 
lumped with the rest of the company's shock troops (aka: Cannon Fodder). What 
his story is though was a fabrication brought on by his own exposure to the 
Makou.

See, one of his best friends, Zack had graduated the Soldier Program and though 
they were in seperate units, they remained on good terms. When Sephiroth was 
sent to investigate the Nibelheim Reactor, Zack got Cloud assigned to the band 
as well. Unfortunately for Cloud, Tifa served as a trail guide for the group. 
Ashamed of his failiure, Cloud doesn't acknowledge her at all the whole time of 
his stay (In case you're wondering, the trooper faceshields mask his face so 
Tifa can't see its Cloud).

When Sephiroth goes mad and burns the town, Zack (not Cloud) confronts him at 
the reactor core. Cloud makes it to the reactor in time to see Tifa laying 
critically wounded to the side and Zack begging for someone to stop Sephiroth 
before he can escape. Cloud takes his friend's sword and fights Sephiroth on a 
narrow catwalk, narrowly beating the bad guy by throwing him off into the 
reactor pit.

Tifa was rescued by her martial arts trainer and spirited out to safety before 
the Company's clean-up crew came along. Left for dead, Cloud and Zack are found 
by the Project's Head Scientist and dumped into giant test tubes. For the next 
five years, the two guys are subjected to the same experiments Sephiroth 
underwent, although using more refined techniques. It was this hook-up that 
allowed Cloud insight into Zack's head -- and thus came the background that 
Cloud was a soldier-elite for Shinra.

As for Cloud's affections for Aeris -- as it turns out, Zack was at one time, 
Aeris' boyfriend. The two had not kept in touch with one another since Zack 
departed for the Soldier program.

The two manage to escape one day, but are hunted down by Shinra pursuit squads. 
Strangely enough Zack, being the stronger of the two, was killed while Cloud 
who was still suffering from Makou poisoning, was seen by troop commander as, 
"Good as gone anyway," and was spared. Cloud, recovers and shortly after, was 
discovered by Tifa in city slums. From there, the game begins.

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SOURCE INFORMATION
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Various Final Fantasy VII message boards lost through the past eight years 
(1997 to 2005 - Has it been that long?). The core game itself lends much of its 
material for the fan-fic. However, most people do not visit the Shinra Mansion 
in disc three, which makes it difficult to understand the story. Visiting the 
Shinra Mansion in disc three does wonders for the story.

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WACKY LINKAGE
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http://finalfantasy7.fictionworld.com - Deus Ex Jenova Fanfic Home (old)
http://www.icybrian.com - Icybrian's Fan Crap
http://www.fanfiction.net - Fanfiction for the masses
http://anime.muck.com/~sakura/ - Gentlemen, we have searched this base and all
we've found is porno, porno, porno! (Lemon fic archive)

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THANKS &amp; COMMENDATIONS
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Various Final Fantasy VII fan-fiction sites -- still the best source of 
information beyond the game.

The authors would like to personally thank Brian Work at www.icybrian.com for 
his excellent fan-fic site as well the larger, more impersonal www.fanfiction.net 
for letting creative juices (as well as the girls' juices) flow from Notepad.exe 
into every Final Fantasy VII perverts' brain.

We liked to thank Stephen Ng who now works at what we consider a dream job at 
IGN. Even if Rupert Murdoch owns your ass, it really beats drafting construction 
plans for an office park on AutoCAD.

The authors would like to thank the hard-earning California taxpayers who through 
their taxes, subsidize the University of California campuses. Without those 
computer labs, our papers and our fan-fic would not have reached so many.

Max Zhang - Grey228@hotmail.com
R. Richardson - 1-2-F-U-! (Email withheld)

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