Exchange

The Games We Play​

Exchange​

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I made it in the nick of time. When I looked out the window at the scene far below me, I saw the battle winding down as more and more Hunters began to go on the offensive as the machine's numbers dwindled. Adam was still there in the thick of it, but a glance at my Party Menu showed that his MP was looking dangerously low and once others began taking over, he started using Wilt and Blush to keep himself upright instead of fight.

Further away, the man Blake had been fighting seemed to be escaping on a Bullhead I hadn't noticed until now. Blake was standing on a rooftop watching him go with weapon in hand, looking tense and ready. I put Weiss down, leaning her against the wall so I'd have my hands free. Fetching my scroll from my Inventory, I opened it and sent her a message.

'Dealt with my problem. Can see you. What happened?' I typed quickly, though she didn't react until the Bullhead had retreated far enough. After finally relaxing, she glanced up at my ship, glanced around, and quickly got out of sight.

'Third party interfered. Things got bad. Adam intervened.' She messaged back a moment later.

I nodded to myself having figured something along those lines. It didn't exactly tell me much about what had sent our whole plan straight to hell, but there'd be time to discuss the details later. For now, we had bigger concerns.

'I can see everything from my position,' I sent. 'Fight's dying down, but Adam's exhausted and surrounded. Good chance the Hunters will turn on him once they realize what he is.'

'Can you make a distraction?' Blake asked. 'If you buy us some time, I may be able to rescue him.'

'Too risky,' I said and meant it. There were too many unknowns; so many high level Hunters, each with unknown training, unknown semblances, unknown weapons, and world famous Huntsmen like Ozpin and Ironwood nearby on top of that…it was a horrible idea. There was a reason pretty much my entire plan up to this point had been to go around the enemy instead of through them.

Maybe it could have worked—for all their power, Huntsmen were people, too. They weren't infallible or all-knowing; today had been pretty solid proof of that. Not one but two different attempts on the White Whale had caught them off guard and though I didn't want to count my chickens before they hatched, one of them seemed to be going okay thus far.

More than that, no one was good at everything. That was pretty much the sole reason I'd gotten this far; I hit my opponents where they were weak and I was strong. I fought the Nevermore on the ground and Weiss in the dark, using my skills and abilities to get every advantage I could and exploit their weaknesses. Everyone had things they were good at and bad at and that held true of people as much as it did of monsters. Hunters were an elite but diverse group. Not every member was an espionage or intelligence expert and only a small fraction of even the local Hunter community would be attending an event like this in person. On top of all that, there was plenty of chaos all around us and I was getting pretty good at creating more on demand.

Given all that, I'd acknowledge that it was possible to succeed in such a way. Blake and I could have charged head first into a large group of higher level opponents that were already on guard with absolutely no information and we might have succeeded in saving and escaping with Adam. And after we saved him, we might be able to get back to the ship unnoticed, take off, and make good on our plan without getting caught. It was possible.

But it was also possible that I'd win the lottery—and honestly, that seemed more likely at the moment. Already I could see people keeping an eye on Adam, gesturing and whispering subtly to one another as they finished the cleanup. They had him in their grasps for all intents and purposes, and I could recognize something in their movements as the combat slowly died down. They were wary of the unknown, slowly fencing him further in. If we did something obvious, if Adam tried to just run away now…he wasn't getting out of there. I don't think he'd die, but he wasn't escaping that way. If it came down to it, I'd rather risk a rescue operation from whatever hole they threw him into than charge into that fray, because it probably had a better chance of working.

We couldn't fight them. Not all of them. Facing down the fullness of their power and overwhelming it had never been an option. The only thing we could do…was the same thing we'd been doing. Finding a battlefield where they couldn't exert that power.

'I have a plan,' I told her. 'Will use it if I have to. Need you to monitor what they're saying. Can you get close enough without getting caught?'

'Yes,' She said simply and I clipped my scroll to my waist, gathering Weiss up again as I got into position. Feeling a little guilty, I nabbed her fallen weapon as well as I walked passed it on my way into the hallway. If she was anything like I was with Crocea Mors, she would hate to lose it, but I also didn't want to risk her waking up at an inopportune time and stab me so I stowed it in my Inventory as moved through the ship towards the exit. Shifting Weiss so I could carry her over a shoulder, I checked my scroll as it beeped again.

'Thanking him, asking who he is. People suspicious of his power. Noting Faunus traits. Some people familiar? White Fang mentioned, accusations of involvement.' Blake said succinctly in a pair of messages, probably jolting down what stood out while listening carefully to the conversation. Other messages followed, with short pauses in between. 'Schnee robots used in the attack, confusion over who did what. Arguing over Adam's involvement. Saying there would have been casualties without him. Raising more questions. Accusing Adam, defending him. Wanting to know his intentions. Focus shifting to White Whale. Having trouble contacting the pilot. Schnee heiress missing, causing suspicions.'

'Is there any chance they'll let Adam go?' I typed back, scanning the messages. There was only so much she could write down while listening to what were probably dozens of confused, arguing people, but I trusted Blake to get everything important and I'd have to do my best to extrapolate the rest. I glanced over my shoulder where Levant followed silently and considered trying to boost the sound. I wasn't sure she could guide that many different voices that far, especially without giving something away, but…

I sighed. I knew the truth. Despite everything I'd done to Weiss, I hoped on one level that it was all for nothing. Maybe that was strange, to want to have made a mistake, but I didn't really believe in the whole sunk cost thing. If I could stop now and not need to go any further, if I was wrong, that would be…not good, considering what I'd done, but better then what would happen otherwise.

And yet, as much as I wanted it, I…

'Demands. The civilians are scared, panicking. Bigots making accusations, people trying to intervene causing more accusations. Adam waiting, saying nothing, getting ready. For us? Things getting bad, people trying to reach a compromise, talk of arrest pending investigation. Whatever you're doing, hurry.'

I already knew what would happen. That was probably the best result we could hope for—and yet, it was still a horrible result. Nothing was set in stone, but even assuming that they found nothing in Adam's background, which I rather doubted, Adam would probably take the fall for this, one way or another. Some of it could depend on who he got prosecuting him, on the judge and jury and biases towards Faunus, but just by being a member of the White Fang, he was probably doomed on that front even if the Schnee Dust Company didn't decide to take a hand in the proceedings. With the utter fiasco today, he'd be hung out to dry.

The worst part was, given the situation and the unknowns and everything that was going wrong, he'd probably take the heat for this even without a background if nothing was done. With the damage caused and the other party escaped, with what I'd done and would do…

But I'd known all that, too—and I wouldn't let it happen. I could make plenty of logical arguments, of how Adam's arrest under these circumstances could incite the White Fang, of the risk to innocent people when he struggled against what I'm sure he knew would lead towards imprisonment, and many other things. But in the end, something came before all that.

He was my friend.

I wasn't a fool. I knew that despite his reasons, despite his intentions and the logic within his beliefs, Adam had probably done his fair share of bad stuff. But he was my friend and I don't think that he was a bad person, truly.

Besides. I had just learned first had how easy it could be to do the wrong thing for what you felt were the right reasons. Could I have done what Adam did if I'd been in his shoes? I'd wondered and now I felt pretty sure the answer was yes. If it was for innocent people or for my friends…

I opened the door and stepped onto the edge, leaning out into the wind. Far below me, Adam was surrounded, a crowd of people like ants from this far away. I took a deep breath, partially to brace myself. I'd known this was coming, even before I'd first struck at Weiss. Again, I was faced with the question of if I could do it—and again, I knew the answer was yes.

I threw my head back and roared, then, the sound louder than any I'd ever made. Levant stepped up behind me, grabbing fistfuls of my cloak—and the sound got louder and louder still, rising into the roar of a beast that could have shaken the pillars of the Earth. Weiss woke with a start, blood beginning to trickle from her ears, but I'd already heaved her forward, leaning her out of the ship into the open air. She struggled at first and may have screamed, but if so it was a whisper drowned out by my voice and she froze in the face of that sound, in the face of the new nightmare she'd awoken into. She stood, powerless above over a thousand feet of empty space as the sound went on for a moment and finally died.

I felt her gripping my arm as tightly as she could, knuckles white and fingers shaking and wondered when I'd stop antagonizing this poor girl. Not yet, evidently.

As my air ran out, I sucked in another breath and looked down, my vision impossibly sharp through Lenore's eyes. I saw people looking up at the sound, saw expressions of shock and fear and, on a rare few people, simple, focused attention.

I spoke again, Levant's power carrying my voice upon the winds.

"Schnee," I said. "I have your ship. I have your daughter. Let's talk."

All at once, I had the crowd's attention. For better or worse, there was no going back now, no way out except to push forward. I didn't like it, I knew it would come back to bite me in the ass someday, and yet despite that…I did it. Because I couldn't see another way, not while staying true to what I'd promised myself.

But God, I never saw myself holding a girl out of an airship in any of my dreams of being a hero. Never expected I'd be able to find it in myself to do something like this, much less as easily as I was doing now. And, I…soon, this would circulate, be seen by everyone. The world would see me like this—my parents would see me like this. The mere thought of what that meant filled me with shame.

Yet even knowing that, I still didn't back down. I looked down upon them all and held firm, my heartbeat steady, stable. With one hand on the doorframe and the other holding Weiss into the sky, I kept going, unafraid.

This was the right move. Horrible, but the right move. I wasn't aiming for a hostage situation—at least, not a traditional one—for something drawn out wouldn't be in my favor. I just needed to make an opening, give myself options, and keep this from turning into a battle I couldn't win. I'd considered my choices and in the end this was what they'd all boiled down to.

I could lie, of course, and try to misdirect them. Attempt to frame the situation as Adam trying to work against me like in the movies—my sworn enemy or whatever. I could have tried to convince people he wasn't involved at all. I could have attempted to get Adam out of this situation with words and avoided terror tactics.

I didn't do that, simply because I didn't think it would work. I'd have been extraordinarily surprised if they bought that and outright shocked if they honestly let him go even if they did. If nothing else, Adam was a very suspicious man at the scene of an even more suspicious crime. Even if I could somehow convince them all he was blameless and unconnected to the White Fang, they'd still want to bring him in for questioning, if nothing else—and questions were the last thing we wanted, because then something would come up.

None of which mattered because I really, really doubted I could sell the lie; the situation was too incriminating for suspicions to be allayed that easily, especially with a plan I'm sure half the crowd had probably seen in the moves. Starting from the assumption that your enemies were stupid—not human and flawed and fallible but stupid was a really foolish thing to build a plan off of. Within their area of expertise, while alerted to a situation, people could be very smart, very skilled, and very dangerous. I was looking down at a bunch of Hunters ready for a fight and I was kind of doubting I'd pull one over on them unless I could make the lie really convincing.

Making a distraction had more potential, but short of actually attacking them with the ship I couldn't think of anything that would distract them enough get Adam out of there. Good as he was, I couldn't see Adam escaping on his own while exhausted and any attempts on Blake's part would not only have to get passed a horde of Hunters, but get back out and then away with Adam weighing her down. If I could have gotten closer somehow, restored his MP…but that wasn't possible, so it didn't matter. It would be a handicapped Blake against who knows what. It was too risky.

I was pretty confident they'd see through anything but a really solid lie and while I liked to think I was good and I believed in my teammates, operating from the assumption that we were better than a large group of experienced experts we had no information on seemed foolhardy at best. That left me with negotiations—and threats.

I'd taken stock of what I'd had and in the end there were only two things that mattered here and now. I had Weiss and the White Whale and I couldn't give up the latter. That was okay, in theory—at first glance it seemed simple enough to trade one prisoner for another. The reality was more complicated, however, as one could see in the prisoner exchanges during the Revolution. There was the issue of relative value, the dangers of setting precedents, attempts to get as much as possible, lies and tricks, political showmanship, and much, much more.

Worse, there was the matter of power.

If I wanted to have any chance of this working, I needed to negotiate from a position of strength. I had to force my demands to be heard and obeyed—which was complicated somewhat by the fact that all I had was a good bluff. I could threaten Weiss or maybe threaten them with the White Whale, but I couldn't kill innocent people. Or, rather, I wouldn't, however easy the Gamer's Mind could make it. The fact of the matter was, if they pushed this hard enough, there was only so far I could go.

The only way this bluff was going to hold water was if I kept them from pushing. Right now, they held all the cards. If you had all the facts and looked at it from a simple, logical standpoint, they had the Hunters and the government of Atlas and the Schnee Dust Company and who knows what else on their side. In truth, what they could bring to bear far exceeded what I was willing and able to.

But they didn't have all the facts. They didn't know how far I was willing to go. And, in theory, I thought I could keep them from trying to test it.

A good lie was all about circumstance. In the end, it was about painting a picture that held up and in the right lighting, you could make anything seem believable. I couldn't convince them that Adam was uninvolved or unsuspicious because he was obviously involved and extremely suspicious, deserving of at least identification and some investigation. That lie wouldn't hold up any better than telling them the sky was green; it would fall apart at a glance.

So I began to paint an image that wouldn't. I started with what I wanted and figured out how to achieve them, taking into account likely responses as I would in any plan. The goal was simple; free Adam. The method was to trade Weiss for him. There were several issues with this.

The first was timing. I couldn't allow this to become prolonged transaction because time was definitely on their side—which was the same reason they would want to buy as much time as possible, once they realized what I was doing. I needed to instead put them on a time limit, forcing them to act quickly and, more importantly, the way I wanted them to. How could I achieve such a thing? Threats. I had two things to threaten with; the ship and Weiss life.

I chose Weiss' life for two reasons, each cold as a glacier. The first was simply to save the best for last. That is, it gave me room to escalate if I needed, an ace in the hole. The second was to deal with the first—and possibly largest—issue with this trade.

By its very nature, if I attempt to trade Weiss for Adam, I must consider them to be of equal value. This puts us on even footing as a result, wherein I wanted something they had as much as they wanted what I had.

I couldn't let them believe that. I needed to have control of the situation, and I began by leaning Weiss out the door as if I didn't care if she lived or died.

And the worst part? That was just the beginning.

"James," I heard President Schnee whisper far below me, the sound distorted somewhat by Levant's power. "Who is that?"

"Don't talk to him," I interrupted, Levant angling my voice to appear right behind them, as if I were whispering into their ears. I saw a few twitches from faces and hands, so I assumed it was as creepy as I imagined. "Talk to me. And yes, I can hear you."

Schnee and Ironwood looked at one another silently for a moment before the latter nodded very slightly and moved back a step, eyes alert. Off to the side, Professor Ozpin—the man who's school I'd dreamed of going to since I was a child and I had no idea if that'd even be possible now—looked calmly up at me, sipping slowly from a cup he held idly in one hand. He didn't even look off put by the situation.

Schnee took a look, slow breath and exhaled, lifting his eyes to my ship. Credit where it was due, his expression never faltered and he didn't break a sweat. If I hadn't known any better, I'd have thought him unaffected.

But I did know better. I could see the emotions beneath the surface with Observe, the anger, fear, consideration. I couldn't read his mind, I didn't know him, but I had an advantage because of that and I'd play it as well as I could.

"Very well then," He spoke evenly. "I suppose you have some way of proving your claim?"

He was buying time, I saw. I was pretty sure he believed what I said, but he must have already had a plan. If I wanted to make this work, I was going to have to outthink him.

Thank God my power was bullshit.

I used Observe on General Ironwood and thought, first of all, that I really didn't want to fight him. Scanning his profile quickly, though, I found what I needed. Another, more focused Observe told me everything.

"I know about the AM-320 implant you have, General Ironwood," I said casually. "Rude as it may be, I must insist on having your full attention. Tell Marci you'll call back later."

I saw the two of them pause at me words, the General suddenly looking hesitant, before his status shifted.

"Thank you," I said politely before reaching around the edge of the doorway to withdraw Myrtenaster from my Inventory. "As for your question, I'd say this situation rather proves I have the ship and if you can see it, I'm holding your daughter's weapon. I'd throw it down to you, but…so many things brake if dropped from a height like this, you see."

Schnee glanced at Ironwood again, who squinted up at me before nodding minutely.

"It seems we're at an impasse," Schnee said. "Have you found anything yet, James?"

General Ironwood took out his scroll and opening it. I don't think he'd even touched it before now, but it lit up with a picture of Adam's face as he was now and compared it to several other pictures—images from security cameras, maybe, or phones or who knows what else.

"I make a point of knowing who my enemies are," He said.

"Oh?" I asked. "Then who am I?"

He paused for a moment at that, which I used to check him and Ironwood again, monitoring their emotions and making sure Ironwood didn't try any more calls. I needed to handle this right.

"This Faunus is in our records," He said, apparently deciding to ignore my question. "I take he's your subordinate?"

I'd figured there was no real chance of them believing that Adam and I were unrelated, but it was good to have it confirmed. I just smiled at the words, unsure how many of them could see me but not willing to risk giving away the lie.

"Something like that."

"Then I assume you wish to trade?"

I made myself chuckle.

"Hm," I hummed amusedly, removing my hand from the doorframe again to put a finger to my lips and smiled wide. "Sure, why not? That seems interesting. But…"

I saw anticipation growing on Schnee's screen, saw him waiting for something. I looked at the crowd around him for a moment and chuckled again.

"Are you waiting for someone to activate the failsafe?" I asked. "I'm afraid you'll be waiting a rather long time. I dealt with your security already—this ship is mine."

I saw disbelief, stubbornness, and flexed the fingers of my free hand.

"It was embarrassing, how easy it was," I said. "It seems some things never change. But while I was busy, so much happened. I put work before pleasure, of course, but you…"

I directed that last part at Adam, sound of my voice shifting in his direction as I clicked my tongue.

"Something came up," He answered and I gestured dismissively.

"It doesn't really matter, I suppose," I said. "Did you have fun?"

He waggled a hand.

"That's too bad," I said empathically. "Well, it seems things will get a bit interesting now, so be patient, okay? Let's see…I missed all the fun, so I suppose I'll just have to make my own. You mentioned a trade, Schnee; my subordinate for your daughter. Hm…well, that's one option. Good help is so hard to find, after all, wouldn't you agree? And I do dislike the idea of leaving one of my men behind. But…"

I hummed to myself again for a moment, looking around. The skies were still clear, but who knows how long they'd stay that way. I had to move quickly but I couldn't rush, which was both tricky and aggravating.

"I already have what I came for," I mused aloud. "And I shouldn't waste too much time here. Ah, perhaps I should just leave and take you with me, Ms. Schnee? We could continue this conversation at a later date. Would you like fly with me?"

If I hadn't been holding her over empty air, I'm pretty sure she would have kicked me in the balls. I'm pretty sure I deserved it.

But I kept up my act and chuckled again at the look on her face.

"No? I suppose it's just as well. I'm afraid my associates don't like your family much; you probably wouldn't make it back in one piece. Then…what do you think?" I asked Adam. "I suppose you should help decide, considering. Would you like me to save you?"

"As opposed to leaving me here?" He wondered confusedly after a long pause.

"Well, that's one option," I nodded. "But since I've taken full control of the ship, I could just open fire."

I snapped my fingers and had Crocea Mors flip several switches in the cockpit, activating lights on the underbelly of the White Whale, weapons arming. I saw the shift in Schnee and Ironwood immediately, parts of it even making it to their faces.

"Oh," I drew the word out. "You didn't believe me? Well, I suppose you do now. Yes. This ship is mine. And there you are Mr. Schnee, right in the line of fire. It'd be rather ironic if you were to die to this ship, wouldn't it? I'd be lying if I said there wasn't any appeal to the thought. I can't say it was part of the plan, but now that I see the chance…my. Don't move now, Ironwood—if the pilot is as nervous as I am, he might shoot if you make any sudden movements."

And at once, my casually spoken words brought silence, stillness—except from Adam. He looked around quietly, pondering, thinking my words over. For just a moment, I saw him tempted. The President of the Schnee Dust Company, the General of Atlas, several dozen Hunters, and more. I could understand what he was thinking.

But Adam wasn't stupid. He was as cold and sharp as the blade he wielded. He knew I wouldn't be willing to fire, I was sure, but he must have also known what would have followed if I could have. On the ashes and destruction, the next Faunus War would have started the moment I pulled the trigger. Innocent people would have died and children—like Adam had once been—would have been swept away in the war.

I saw him consider it and then exhale.

"I do not fear death," He said dispassionately, looking relaxed and apathetic as he played along. "The decision is yours."

I laughed and shook my head again.

"Yes," I said. "Good help is really…so hard to find. Very well, Schnee; your daughter for my subordinate. I will trade with you now."

In another situation, there may have been debate, argument, semantics—but I was pretty sure I'd played my part well enough. They looked tense, but they were still, two hundred people and no one said a word until Schnee nodded.

"Where and when?" He asked.

"Here and now," I said.

Now's where things get tricky.

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