Chapter 18

-[Wynne]-

He had severely underestimated the benefits of his training. Quickly taking aim, he fired at them, the ice dust bullets hitting two of them in the gut, freezing them.

There were a total of seven of them, including the two who were now iced, and they were all firing at him.

As much as he would have liked to extend it, he realized that having a gun fight in a dust shop was just asking for trouble.

A large glyph appeared below their feet, causing them to look down in surprise. "Huh?!"

One of the more vocal ones exclaimed in shock.

Before the others could also express their shock, ice raced upwards, covering their feet and soon, the rest of their bodies.

He thought for a moment before making another glyph appear below them, teleporting them far out into the icy tundras of solitas.

'I didn't even get to use these much either way.' He thought, looking at the guns which he threw back into a storage glyph.

He turned his attention to the store attendant who was still unconscious, letting out a sigh.

"This is going to be a while." He muttered before walking to the door and flipping to the sign to close the shop.

Humming for a moment, he formed a glyph in front of him, two android combatants stepping out of it and into the shop.

"Guard and protect this store and that man." He gave a simple order.

It would be monotonous to spend hours each day creating the same androids so he made androids that would create more androids.

The Schnee manor was more of an estate than a single mansion. He turned one of the buildings into an android factory to reduce his workload.

"I really need to get a secretary." He muttered with a sigh as he teleported away as well but not before leaving behind a note to explain the new additions to security.

-[Robyn Hill]-

Down in what used to be the crater in Mantle, Robyn surveyed her surroundings, her eyes wide with mixed emotions.

No matter how many times she looked at it, she still couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Fiona asked from beside her.

"I still can't believe it." Robyn whispered.

What was once the poor and depressing slum of the city was no longer recognizable. Tall and beautiful buildings and structures filled their surroundings.

The architecture could be compared to that of Atlas, spanning the entire of what used to be the crater. The uneven land had been filled out and the magnificent structures in front of them were built.

She could vividly recall the doubts she had when Wynne Schnee made the deal with Fiona. Doubts that increased as a literal battalion of robots were shipped down from Schnee himself to do the work only to slowly reduce with each passing day as the construction took place.

With a large number of robots that worked 24/7 with no complaints or breaks, the work was done in record time.

Robyn and Fiona walked through the streets of the elegant city, taking it all in. Other than the robots who were putting the finishing touches, the happy huntresses were the only ones allowed to enter.

She was initially frustrated about how Fiona had agreed to move the people in the crater to buildings supposedly owned by Wynne without verifying it.

Her frustration died down after the first week when the people had moved into it. The struggle to find what to eat each day was gone as Wynne had also made arrangements for food until the construction was done.

That was undoubtedly costly and no matter how much she wracked her brain, she couldn't think about what he would gain from all of this.

The thought that he could simply be doing this out of the goodness of his heart wormed into her mind but she pushed it down.

It seemed too good to be true. Though she respected what he had done so far, she would remain on her guard.

-[Wynne]-

At the Schnee manor, the family of three, excluding Weiss, were at the dining table with Wynne seated at the head of the table while Willow and Winter sat opposite each other, a few seats down the table.

The food was already laid out and they had begun eating, albeit in silence.

"So, Winter…how long will you be back?" Willow asked as Wynne briefly glanced at his sister who looked up at the question.

He could tell that she was still surprised to see Willow out of her room and not drinking but she tried not to show it.

"For the time being, I'm on leave for a month but that can change should an emergency occur." Winter answered, a bit awkwardly.

"I see. Well, I hope you enjoy your time here. It's been too long since we had dinner together as a family." Willow said, a hint of sadness in her tone, knowing her one fault in a part of that. "I wish Weiss were here as well."

"As do I but unfortunately, she is busy with her academic studies." Winter said before turning her attention to Wynne who had displayed no interest in the conversation besides a brief glance.

There was another short silence before Winter decided to be the one to break it.

"Wynne…" she said, getting his attention. "How does it feel like to be the head of the SDC?"

Briefly analyzing the question, Wynne spoke. "Besides the constant calls from some unsavory people, it feels quite alright." He said, not necessarily giving her an answer.

"While we're on the subject, what is it like working for Ironwood? From what I hear, you go by Specialist Schnee while on duty." Wynne asked in a casual manner.

"General Ironwood is a respectable, fair and trustworthy man, it is an honor to work alongside him." Winter said, placing emphasis on his title.

"I'm sure James is quite respectable." Wynne muttered.

Before it could escalate further, Willow interrupted, seeing the obvious tension. "So Wynne, how is the reconstruction of the crater coming along?" She asked.

A small smirk played on Wynne's lips. "It's almost finished. We would have finished earlier but someone's been trying to hack into my android and it's slowing down the progress."

"They haven't been successful but it's been annoying. Plus Ironwood's been trying to pressure me to hand over my models to his scientists to study." He added, taking a sip of juice.

"That is only logical. If Atlas is able to mass produce them, it would be for the good of the people." Winter defended.

"Which people? The people of Atlas or the people of Mantle?" Wynne asked casually.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Winter challenged.

"Exactly what it sounds like. Take a good look at Mantle. The people in Atlas live like kings while those down there are barely paid attention to." Wynne pointed out.

"The Altas military protects them."

"If you ask me, they need protection from him." Wynne countered.

Winter's raging emotions were visible on her face while Wynne barely looked bothered as he took a bite from his food.

"Wake up, Winter. You're not a child who should simply believe anything they are told without asking questions." Wynne said, staring her straight in the eyes.

Winter didn't back down either, matching his stare.

Wynne sighed in what sounded like disappointment as he put down his cutlery.

"Thank you for organizing this dinner, mother. I apologize for how it turned out." Standing to his feet, he straightened his clothes. "If you'll excuse me…"

With that, he left the dining hall and made his way to his room.

On his way there, a storage glyph appeared in front of him as he reached into it, pulling out a vial of pale green powdered dust as he walked.