22

Author's Notes:

And. Here. We. Go.

Specialist Tall Cola

What a shitshow.

Thank Atlas that our buildings are made out of metal, or we would have all burned down by now.

The rioters are using whatever they have, not just guns, but improvised Dust grenades and Molotov cocktails. Our storage warehouses have been robbed, most of the rooms across Little Atlas have had their sensitive equipment wrecked, and worse of all, Alloy is letting it all happen.

General Ironwood seems to put a lot of trust in her, but her response was to drop and run the moment the news broke.

'Equipment can be replaced. Lives cannot. We do not want to escalate the situation.'

We could have suppressed the riot without casualties, if she didn't send almost everyone out to defend the border from the inevitable Grimm attack and 'secure a fallback position'.

It's so stupid, they wouldn't even know about the disaster in Atlas if we didn't keep the CCTS Relay running.

"Specialist, we have a breach on the North doors." An officer reports.

I spin to look at the screen showing the north entrance to the hospital, the camera feed of metal doors being crowbarred open and rioters flooding in.

"The fire suppression system?" Alloy suggests, and I dismiss it as another screw up. What was the General thinking, giving her command over me? I don't care if she wrote the Book, she has no training and- "Then drop the temperature and run an airflow."

Except, that is a good idea.

"Do it." I order.

I watch as cold water is sprayed down on the rioters in the south entrance of the hospital before the air conditioning gets turned down to minimum, blasting them with very, very cold air. Fast cold air, flowing out the door.

The wind chill factor of ice Dust cooled air makes it worse, the only safe place from the freezing wind is out the door.

Rioters leave the hospital.

"We have Grimm on the Sou-East-East border." And here they come.

Another display shows the teams and Menagerie defenders fighting off approaching Grimm, including her friends. Did she really order them to defend the border and set up a fallback point, or did she only do that to send her friends away from the fighting?

Her own Atlas Dammed Book talks about how favouritism has no place in the military, yet here she is-

"Specialist Cola," What does she want now? "Adam Taurus is coming."

I flick my eyes over to the debate between the Ghira Belladonna, our diplomat (who was completely ignored) Sienna Khan, Adam Taurus. Adam Taurus, who we are not allowed to go out and attack for some Atlas Forsaken reason. At least we are allowed to defend ourselves from him.

Urrh. She's right. The crowd is swaying more and more to his side, some have already run to get weapons and join the rioters attacking the hospital.

Adam himself is making a statement by starting to walk to us, the masses and debaters being forced to move with him. And with every word, more and more are less 'dragged' by the effect and 'charging'.

A hoard of pissed off Faunus are coming.

I look the Alloy, and we know what has to be done.

"Load up, we are pulling out." I order with a sigh.

Seems this was inevitable after her screwup.

"We will need to leave the wounded,"Alloy states calmly. "and some staff to help them, or be accused of taking hostages."

"Fuck."

"They shouldn't execute them, they're angry, but not that angry and there hasn't been any bloodshed here to aggravate them. Executing doctors and patients won't send a good message either."

"Doesn't feel right, leaving them." She nods in agreement, but we steel ourselves to do it anyway.

What a shitshow.

Ruby Rose

Okay, okay, the doctors were right. I shouldn't be fighting.

It's not bad, especially with Yang holding me back, but my ribs are really sore. It's not all bad though, I finally get to test My Baby with Whoosh rounds, and hoooo booy do they kick!

My baby CRACKs loudly and another Grimm (and the one behind it) explode and I grin. The recoil is probably why my ribs are so sore, actually. No way near as heavy as gravity Dust rounds, but every shot is faster than using combustion Dust.

I wonder if I could make a triple base pow-

No. No more Dust unless I can't help it. At least not until Weiss takes over.

CRACK

I pivot a bit and work her action, lining up another shot. Going to need to move after this shot, the sand isn't a very good firing position.

"Having fun sis?" Yang flips back and reloads, shotgun casings flying out and landing in the sand.

"Nope!" CRACK "I wanna try the new recoil on my moves."

I lift My Baby and run across the sand to a better position, giving me a decent firing arc for the next few Grimm.

"I'm sure you will get the chance to later." Blake rolls her eyes as she and Yang push ahead again into the Grimm mass.

"After your ribs are healed." Yang yells back before blasting in.

Ugh. I know that.

CRACK

Ouhf. I think my shoulder is getting numb. I'm not used to using only one mode of My Baby all the time.

Maybe I should look into some recoil dampening? Where would I put it though...

CRACK

I pop the last Grimm.

"That's the last of them." The Atlas guy yells for everyone else. "Everyone take five and get ready to move."

Well, the last Grimm here. I roll my shoulder and start putting rounds into my empty magazines.

Oh, I know. I'll convert her to semi auto. With how much more powerful Whoosh is, I don't need to squeeze every drop of power from the propellent.

Hmm...

Or, I could make Sweetheart even More Powerful...

Private Chalk Score

I take a swig of water while the little red girl gives a creepy giggle, staring her giant weapon.

Fucking Huntresses man.

High Leader Sienna Khan

"And when Atlas learns of what we have done? Do you think they will simply ignore it, content to leave us alone? You would start a war that would lead to the slaughter of our people!"

I never thought of myself as a moderate, but Adam is going too far.

"They are already here! Our people are already being slaughtered! We are already at war! Or did you not see the same images I did?" Adam counters, and I see it is working on the crowd.

Ghira is the one who shuts him up.

With a splash of water across his face.

"That is clean water." Most of the crowd goes silent. "Plentiful clean water, free from Dust, made here with technology given freely. Technology that cannot be taken back."

"The people in the mines can't drink this." He spits back.

I move to support Ghira. "So go get them out of them. Make a mockery of Atlas by enforcing their laws. Save the people trapped."

"And bring them back here? Where it is 'safe'? Where you are being subverted? Building things for the Humans? Working for them? How long until we are the ones with numbers and not names?" He spits and the tension flares again as we all remember the footage.

'What is your name?' '02744A' 'No child, your name, not your number.' '02744A'

"And who will enforce it? In your vision of your future, do you see our people oppressing eachother?" It's a question, but Ghira states with the calm certainty of fact. The fact that will never happen.

We have had our differences. Antagonising Atlas is not one of them. More than that, was the meeting I had two days ago with the Atlas Robot.

'Sulfuric Acid. Nitric Acid. Cotton. Soak to allow the chemical reaction to take place. Whoosh.' It's the most beautiful thing I have seen.

A future free of Dust entirely. Free of the very crime that is now revealed.

"If Atlas, or anyone, dares to try to force that on us," We are out of time. I take one last step closer to the hospital Atlas had built. "Then we will kick them out. Look at them, they are already running from us. They know that Menagerie is Ours."

The last bullhead lifts off and the doors to the hospital open.

People rush in.

General James Ironwood

"Analysis is inconclusive," The analyst states. "I'm sorry, we don't know who or how the journalist was tipped off. We will keep looking."

"Thank you." I sigh. "Any contact from Menagerie?"

"No sir. We managed to recover some footage, and while we can't be sure, it looks like their Relay Tower was shot down." I nod and look back at the feeds.

The last images from the Menagerie camp's security feeds showed a riot forming. Worse, the moment the news broken Alloy called me. She was destroying her research, which means she expected her lab to be lost.

'This is too coordinated. Adam was ready to leap up and stir up the masses the moment the news bro- One moment... We are under attack, they are aiming for the CCT-' That all but confirms the Tower's loss.

There's nothing I can do right now. Atlas has it's own riots.

'Name Not Number' is being chanted by masses of people, the crisis eerily similar to what limited information of the Great War there is.

And we all know how that ended. The world almost ended.

My attention is pulled to one of the news channels covering the crisis. "-After the total shutdown of the SDC and the arrest of Jacques Schnee, an investigation is underway into just how deep the atrocity goes. Many, however, are unsure the Atlas government is capable of handling such a task, having allowed it to-"

The worst part is waiting. Feeling helpless. The riots are already being suppressed, and the Grimm outbreaks dealt with. More than that, there is little we can do until after people have calmed down enough to listen.

I hit the button to answer the call. "Ozpin. If you are here to tell me 'I told you so'-"

"No James. I am here to talk about our next step. The trial cannot take place in Atlas, not with how severe the people are questioning your government." Your government. It's our government, do not act like you didn't have a hand or four in shaping it.

"Mistral? Vale is too close to Atlas at the moment, even with this. People will still question if things are transparent."

"I was thinking the Kingdom of Menagerie."

That...

I chuckle. "Alloy did say we need to accelerate our plans. Formally recognising Menagerie and having them host it will do that." However... "That will bring Her attention to Menagerie however."

Salem.

"With the most recent events, Menagerie will already be a part of Her plans." I sigh. Ozpin would know.

"Then we should have committees from each Kingdom present to try dispel any accusations of foul play. The Gele," I watch as Ozpin's lips quirk up at my use of Alloy's term for him. "will be at high risk, even without Her intervention."

"No contact from her yet?" Ozpin asks, a hidden emotion in his voice.

"No. We will need to call a vote without her and the others. There is no telling how long until contact is established again." Worry. That is what Ozpin was hiding. "She will be fine, Ozpin."

I don't know why I'm comforting him, not after what he has done, after the secrets he has kept.

No, I do know. 'You are a good person, James. That's the difference between Mettle and you. Mettle does what is correct, you do what is right.'

Ozpin seems a little surprised as well. "I'll inform Leo and the other Headmasters of our upcoming international event." He reaches to end the call before hesitating. "And James, stay safe."

The call ends.

It is an offer, if I ever want to take up being his friend again. Something that I want to refuse, that he has violated my trust too deeply... But...

It's a topic I am conflicted on. And not one to work on now.

One crisis at a time. There are council members to contact, and the shipment to Menagerie will need to be stopped. A much larger one will need to be sent with replacement equipment and CCTS parts so they can repair it and ready it to broadcast the trial to the rest of the world.

First however, I need more Atlesian Glue.

Alloy

I count the days.

7.

7 days I had a cool lab/house in a tropical city near the beach, running tests on my known science to make sure it both works in this universe and that I was remembering it right. It was fun, if a little stressful. Moving always does that to me, and I'm still coming to terms with being on Remnant.

But now? I'm out in the middle of a desert at the foot of a small mountain with a bunch of soldiers holding out in a large damaged shed that got patched up in the half standing ruins of an ill fated village. Tents cover holes, when they aren't set up, and

At least I don't have to worry about the heat bothering me, thank Pietro that I can turn that off that sense. Everyone else though...

"Ahhh. It's hot..." A soldier complains.

"Really? I couldn't tell." Someone else deadpans.

The shed is big enough to hold a few dozen people, it's almost a warehouse really. I suppose it was for storing grain or something from the harvests before taking it back to Kuo Kuana. Not comfortable, but spacious.

A lot of our equipment, including me, is in here.

It won't last long, we should be okay to move back in, though I'm expecting everything to be looted and/or trashed. The question is, will we be able to stay or will they drive us out again?

A doctor finishes checking up Ruby and she wanders over to me. "How's life as a mini CCT?"

Ha. I'm playing as equipment right now, helping coordinate data connections.

"Hungry," I half tease. "Running my communications constantly at full power is drinking my battery. I'll be fine though, comms will be the last thing that runs out. Oh, and I grew out my hair."

I point to the cluster of cables that come out of my back and snake out to the antenna array, terminals, and.. am I charging that guys scroll?

There is other communications equipment with us, but I am the most powerful, and importantly, I am going to remain running. No sense is wasting power running the same thing twice.

I'm even powerful enough to talk to Ghira, when he decides to call us and give an update. No way near powerful enough to cross the ocean, or even all of Menagerie.

That, and I can listen in to the various transmissions. It's a damm weird sensation, but not unpleasant. Maybe that's just my transhuman side talking though.

Ruby winces as she sits down. "How's your ribs?"

"Sore." Ruby rubs her ribs a little. "Whoosh punches hard. Feels weird too. Not bad, but..."

I nod. "It's the lack of Dust. When a Huntress or Huntsman fires a Dust based weapon, their Aura in it converts the intent of what you want a little bit. Want a more powerful shot? There is actually less recoil as more energy goes into the bullet."

"Bullshit." A soldier listening in calls.

"Swea- oh." Ruby cuts herself off and people crack up. Some frown though, Ruby is pretty young.

I press on. "Done the tests myself. Though, it's not always obvious," And I guess I'm doing a lesson now. "because that same Aura interaction sets off all of the Dust at once. Same in reverse, for when a Huntress or Huntsman needs the recoil to pull of some crazy stunt."

"Thought they used Gravity Dust for that shit?" Another soldier calls, half asking a question, the other half trying to get a rise out of Ruby.

"True, gravity Dust is used, but not always. Either in dedicated gravity Dust rounds, or as a partial mixture. A partial mixture that is also controlled by the user's Aura, giving them a lot more control." I look to Ruby and quote her. "Weapons are an extension of their users."

"How can your bullets be Dustless?" She demands aggressively.

Ruby falters under the aggression and disbelief. "Well, There's.."

I step in.

"I researched" Researched, as in looked up, though everyone here who doesn't know will think developed. "a couple of chemical compounds. Ruby here, took them and developed them into usable cartridges."

I smirk, tease, and throw Ruby under the bus. "She calls it 'Whoosh'."

"Hey!" Ruby cries and the soldier relax a bit more.

Grimm are kept at bay for a few minutes longer. My lesson isn't just for the knowledge, it's also a distraction. Teasing Ruby helps with the moral.

"You decided to call it that. 'Whoosh is a great name!'" I mimic her voice, not not exactly to hide that I can do that. "Now you have to live with the consequences."

"Whoosh kicks ass." She mutters.

"Your ass, it looks like." Yang flops down. "Can I get a charge?" I roll my eyes but grab a cable for her to plug her scroll in. "Thanks."

The scroll beeps and I suppress a smirk. "Hmm, Porn, porn, shopping habits, porn."

Yang's sudden unplugging of her scroll tells me I hit the nail on the head. The other guy charging his 'stealthy' does the same.

"Eww." Ruby scrunches up her face before leaning towards me eagerly. "What kind?"

"Ruby!" Yang sounds shocked.

"That would be rude." I let the smirk out. "And I didn't actually see anything. So you'll have to ask Yang."

The guy plugs his scroll back in. I turn to him. "Make up your mind man, are you in or out?"

"Private!" Specialist Cola snaps. "We are on emergency rationing of Dust, and certainly do not have enough for your personal devices. Or did you forget?"

"No Ma'am. I did not forget." He knows better than to lie, that will get him in worse trouble.

Actually forgetting is even worse. Soldiers suppress laughing in front of their superior officer, lest they incur her wrath.

"28 grain, Specialist." I turn him in on exactly how much he burned to charge his Scroll with a shit eating grin.

A bit of a dick move, but laughter is heard around the room as he flounders and gets assigned some weak punishment.

"You won't do that to me, right Alloy?" Yang almost begs.

"No, no, of course not." Aware that everyone can hear me. "One, you're not part of the military, and two, you don't have a dedicated scroll for mission use, so really yours should be at full charge. Just don't play any high battery games."

"And going through my files?" She almost plugs in.

"I'm not interested in whatever depraved fetishes you organics have." I joke.

Her scroll beeps as she plugs it in. "Yang! What smut is this?"

"No, I'm not falling for that again." She tries to remain calm, but I can see her hand twitching to the scroll.

Comms doesn't need to run at full power all the time, and having a single point of failure, that is me, is never a good idea. So I get unplugged (though still wirelessly connected) and get to help outside.

It got cold fast, and it is only getting colder. That, coupled with that facts that I don't need to sleep and I have night visions, means taking watch makes a lot of sense. Add that with seismic sensors cameras wirelessly and directly connected directly to me means that if something happens, I will react first. Not just react, but be able to interpret the data and tell if it's equipment failure or Grimm.

With how integrated I still am, I could be the only one watching yet still keep everyone safe. But, single point of failure.

I see Specialist Tall Cola trying to sneak up on me from behind. No, wait, she is just walking softly to not wake everyone asleep.

Tall, dark skin, cat ears, and a pair of tits that probably needs gravity Dust to keep up, she would blend in very well with the dark if not for her white Specialist uniform.

Honestly, I've been expecting her for a while now. Not 'now' but sometime after we were secure. A private word.

"You're not happy with me." I offer the topic. "I didn't want to say it in front of the others during the riot."

"No. If you didn't order most of our people out the moment the news broke, we could have held out." Hmm. "Without casualties."

"We haven't taken any." Yet, Grimm could attack. "Nor did the rioters. I consider that a win."

Specialist Cola's fists curl up and her her ears tilt backwards in restrained aggression. "We ran. That's not a victory."

I sigh. "Did you even read my book?"

"Of course." She says.

Every single person in the Atlas military has read it now, not just the officers and the subordinates who they leaked it to. It's been declassified after I gave it to Jacques as well.

I take a moment to work out how to put in words what I want to say.

"Yes, we could have held out if we stayed. Yes, valuable equipment wouldn't have been destroyed or looted. But how many would have been hurt? Not just for us, but for them? And how would that have affected the next riot? What kind of message would that have sent, Specialist?"

"That we won't take acts of aggression lying down."

"That Atlas is an occupying force." I snap. "That you have invaded and fortified the position, a military base right next to the only city Menagerie has. Tell me, Specialist, what feeling a constant threat just-over-there invokes?"

Fear.

Anger.

Grimm.

The Specialist remains silent.

I can feel myself getting worked up over this, and take a moment to calm before continuing. "You say you read my book, but you clearly didn't understand it. Tradition dictates you should stand your ground, but there was nothing to be gained by staying beyond some tech and everything to lose."

She fidgets on the spot, but I'm not done. "Despite it's nickname, 'Little Atlas' is not an embassy. It is not sovereign territory of the Kingdom of Atlas. It is not a military base. It is a few buildings that are allowed to exist because the people of Menagerie allow it, because it helps them."

My tone shifts to empathic. "You're pissed. I get that. You have spent the last month helping them, and the moment something beyond your control happens, they turn on you. That sucks, but they are not the enemy."

I point out into the wilderness, even though my eyes never leave hers. "The Grimm are. And the moment you forget that, you invite them in."

My arm drops and I stare her down. Well, physically stare up at her, but dare her to disagree.

She's stubborn, I'll give her that.

"Can't they tell the difference between the SDC and Atlas?" Specialist Cola mutters.

I sigh. "Do you know why you were picked for this posting?"

"Because I'm a Faunus." Her reply is quick, too quick. She's asked herself that question and that is the answer she has come to.

"It's because of your past. No they can't tell the difference between Atlas and the SDC, they weren't saved by one from the other. You were picked not because you're a Faunus, but because out of everyone who could have taken it, you would understand the most. You would know, intimately, why they are angry."

A class 3 mine got hit years ago, and a young, malnourished and Aura-less Small Cola was saved by the Atlas military. A couple of years later, she powers through her exams and is signing up to Atlas Academy on the Specialist path.

Right, time to hammer the point home.

"While we are here we represent Atlas. Atlas, not the SDC. I suggest your actions make clear the difference. Am I understood?"

Specialist Tall Cola straightens up. "Yes Ma'am."

"Good. Dismissed." She strides away.

Uhg. I wish Blake was here to talk to, but she had to go back to Kuo Kuana lest we get accused of 'holding the Chieftain's daughter hostage as leverage'. At least she called us to let us know she got back alright.

One of my seismic sensors goes off. I inform Specialist Cola and she comes out of her tent. It's been less than an hour since I dismissed her, which I feel kind of ruins the dramatic effect, but this is reality.

A reality where tension in the camp from 'running' attracts monsters. Because of course Specialist Cola isn't the only one who didn't like us packing up and leaving literally before the first rioter arrived.

"Numbers?" Well, at least she is on mission.

"Hard to say, seismics don't play nice with sand. Over 30 small underground, or 8 ish large ones. Mix and match to your pleasure. No clear image of the overgrounds yet, not until they hit the night vision line, but there is a few. I will keep you updated."

She takes a deep breathe and swears under her breath before starting the process of waking up our camp for combat. Good thing we have an early warning system, or the first we knew of them was when they came over the horizon.

At least we are prepared. I really don't want my choices to cost lives, especially after our previous victory.

But, that is why I ordered a camp made and supplies transported to it the moment the news broke. Not only to defend against the Grimm, not only to prevent any conflict with Menagerie, but also to defend them.

Tension in Kuo Kuana is very high right now, and that will draw Grimm. Grimm that we will fight. To show, through our actions, that even kicked out we still are trying to help.

Data storage... good. Let's be heroes.

I check my rifle. It's still going to be a long night.

Adam Taurus

Three days ago they ran.

Three days ago Kuo Kuana was ready to kill them, to take back the land they have stolen.

Three days of a small but steady trickle of their wounded being dropped off at the medical center.

Three days of video painting their cowardice as victory.

And three days of the people asking themselves why. Why are there so few Grimm attacking? They are fighting for us. Why did they run? They didn't, they went to defend us. Why fight at all? Because Atlas is not the SDC.

I growl as the humans come back, allowed to retake their base without a fight.

I pace as another Atlas convoy arrives, welcomed into our home.

I seethe as the Relay Tower is restored, my people cheering as the SDC is shut down completely for 'investigation'. 'Investigation' is just an excuse to cover up their crimes.

Arthur Watts

"Menagerie, you are certain of this?" Her voice is smooth, calm, dispassionate. Always in control.

"Ye-yes your grace. I was in the meeting with the Headmasters of Vale's and Vacuo's academies."

His is insufferable. Stuttering. We are not going to kill you when you are being useful you idiot, at least speak clearly.

"Hmm. Very well. That will be all." The seer goes dark. "Unusual. What do you know that I do not?" She speaks to herself.

A few minutes later and we are all seated.

"Hazel. Tyrian"

"Yes My Goddess?" I keep an eye on him. Between his Semblance, skills, and clear instability, it would only take the wrong word to set him off, and I cannot out-think death.

"You will go to Menagerie and offer our support to the Red Fang, to help correct this and any future injustices."

"Of course, Your Grace." The simpleton replies.

'Correct this injustice', he is going to be giving terrorists the means to create injustices. The mad Faunus giggles as he is given permission to cut loose.

"And Tyrian," He hesitates, expecting to be warned against excessive violence. She has other plans. "It would be unfortunate if the Schnee were to... escape justice."

Finally She turns to me.

"How goes your efforts on Atlas' new security measures?"

Tyrian laughs at my failures.

"They continue to elude me." I growl in frustration both at my failure and the sheer complexity of them. "Even with a copy of the encryption schema, I cannot- Have not yet found a way to crack any but the simplest implementation."

"A week." The simpleton comments, referring to my earlier boast on how long it would take to crack.

Tyrian's laughter only intensifies.

I stand and open my mouth to say something before She cuts me off. "I do hope you have not been overstating your capabilities, Doctor." As always, her voice is calm, soothing, but I hear the meaningless threat.

I also hear the insult to my intelligence.

I sit back down. An insult well earned.

"They encryption schema is... absurd. Fundamentally different from anything I, anyone, has ever seen. I suspect it is actually the result of a Semblance rather than design."

I hate how the theory sounds like an excuse for my capabilities. None of them understand just how complex and difficult the mathematics is. Tyrian and Hazel would die before they could even begin to understand the basis of n-dimensional math required.

"Then you will have an opportunity to find the source of this Semblance in Atlas. First however, you are to find and remind Cinder of her loyalties. I have let her roam free for too long."

Well, there is some satisfaction in that, at least. "Yes, your Grace."

"That will be all."

Alloy

Ah, my lab. I have only had you for a week before I lost you, but I am glad to be back.

Even if I have to start again.

Everything has been looted or destroyed, some of it by my own hand. The instant I realised how bad things would get, I wrecked anything sensitive, any new and unreleased technology, wiped all the local drives (thought I have backups in my head).

The tech is destined for the people of Menagerie, but it needs to be released right for maximum effectiveness.

Not that I can stay, the CCTS Relay is almost back online, and we are having a meeting.

It's not an ISOBOX, even if it seems almost exactly the same. The difference is that it doesn't seal, using actual doors, and most importantly, has a CCTS connection inside.

Oh, and projectors and other technology that could be hacked to record.

Still, as a remote communications room, it's 'absurdly secure'.

"Can we get onto the important stuff now, please?" I ask, tired of the 'congratulations of managing the crisis'.

"You're whining." Yang lies to everyone in here.

"I am not. I'm just eager to get this all over with and get back to fixing my lab." It's the truth, if not all of it.

Gods dammed Ozma looks impressed with how I handled it, and James is happy nobody died. A few close calls, but we had on site medical supplies and a few well trained medics. Not that they were useless. Drip feeding the wounded back to constantly remind Kuo Kuana why they were barely suffering a Grimm problem was just a tad clever.

"Very well." Stop smirking Ozpin. "With Atlas, and by proxy Vale's, creditability suspect, we have voted to have the trial in a neutral Kingdom."

Mistral... No, Vacuo would be the- "Here?" Ghira asks surprised.

That... Hmm. "If you would allow it. It would be a major international event, but the people of Menagerie deserve-"

"Ozpin." Qrow warns him off the bullshit and buttering up.

Ghira and Kali know about Salem and the war now.

"Ah, apologies. Old habits."

"Has Salem taken that much of an interest here?" I ask. He wouldn't put that much attention here without it.

"She will now." He confirms.

I turn to Ghira and Kali, Blake is seated besides them too. "I'm sorry. I knew our actions here would put a target on Menagerie, but I didn't think it would become this big this soon."

"You didn't put those people in the mines." He growls.

The worst of the Grimm attacks are over, for now, but there is definitely an increased presence eating away at Kuo Kuana and the few tiny settlements around. A lot of said settlements have had their own attacks with the news, but Ghira and Sienna have sent the bad news bearers with combat teams to stay a couple of days.

A few places have decided to abandon their lives out there and move into Kuo Kuana. With water becoming increasingly plentiful, and the need for a lot more farmers to work the glasshouses, they were already considering moving here. The city surviving a major Grimm attack, and the bad news threatening one on them, was just the last push they needed.

"But you did help pull them out." Kali soothes.

At least she soothes with one hand, on her husband's arm. Her other hand is curled into a fist.

"Speaking of which," Weiss speaks up. "We have decided to expose everything. Not all at once, but the investigation will be very, very successful."

No more dealing with the SDC privately.

"Weiss, are you sure?" Blake sounds half shocked, and I am with her. "That w-"

"That would mean the end of the SDC, yes. If we are caught concealing anything, faith in Atlas will plummet even more, and... to be honest, I don't think I can stomach even a vastly reduced SDC. My Grandfather started the SDC, and earned the respect of the Schnee name, by his own efforts. I will find another way." An almost cruel smirk twitches up on her face. "Though, burying my Father is a good first step."

Across the screens, and across the people in this room, there is an almost hive-mind effect of anticipation for the coming vindication. For most people.

Not me though. "The loss of the SDC will hurt our long term plans, and any replacement Dust company won't be under our control."

That puts a dampener on things. We won't have the resources of, no exaggeration, The Most Powerful Company on Remnant to draw on for our fight against Salem. The good will from tearing them down, while still a boon, isn't the same kind of advantage as the industrial capabilities and infrastructure to fight back.

But, those very same capabilities were built on slave labour. Nameless slave labour. Even if we managed to subtly take it over and clean it, nobody here would be comfortable with it.

The SDC is stained, just like Dust.

A minute passes before James gets us back on track. "I have complied a list of other, more moral, companies that can take over the safe mines. Breaking the SDC monopoly will be a boost to every Kingdom's economy, and it will serve as a valuable example of what happens when a company gets big enough to believe they are above the law."

"For a couple of generation." I mutter.

Monopoly is only a minor exaggeration, Jacques was ruthless in marketing, corporate sabotage and 'labour acquisition and innovative working environments'. How long till those companies consolidate, either through mergers or buying eachother out or doing their own under-the-table sabotage. I've seen enough news of Disney buying up companies and Earth's media quality drop to know it can't last.

"How long do we have to prepare for the trial?" Ghira asks.

"And how long can we delay the trial?" I ask. "If the world's attention is going to be on Menagerie, on the horrors of Dust mining, I can think of no better time to introduce Whoosh and any other Dustless tech."

Weiss laughs softly. "Menagerie's entry into the Dust market, entirely without Dust."

"He would hate that," Winter half grins. "Not just being kicked out, not just the SDC that he has put so much work into falling into ruins, but that the very industry he once dominated laid to waste. If he ever gets out, he will be worthless."

"We are going to take everything from him." Blake all but growls.

"Are we still the good guys?" Jaune asks. "Because, that doesn't sound very 'good guy like'."

There's laugher and I think about stupid Remnant and it's flip flopping mood. A minute ago we were deep in serious discussions on the fate of the world, and now they are all laughing.

Not that it's bad, but it still feels off.

I look across the screens, worried. Penny and Pietro haven't joined in this meeting. I hope she is okay. I'll call her after this, just to make sure.

"Back on task." I interrupt the latest joke. "How did this happen? Was it the leak?"

James sighs. "Someone beat your encryption."

Shit. "Are you sure? Encryption only protects the 'pipes', not the 'stations'."

He nods. "We have file records of someone copying files off the servers, encrypted files. An officer's credentials were used, but we have in a very strong, in person alibi, that he wasn't using a terminal at the time, and he vows that he did not give away his password. I believe him."

Fuck. "They still would have needed to crack the encryption of the file..." James nods. "Should we upgrade to the nested lattice fractal schema?"

"I still have people trying to implement that, and lattice encryption is already straining our systems at n-140." James admits.

Remnant Dust computers are fundamentally neural network based, making them good for lateral and complex 'thinking' but raw mathematical calculations are not a strong point. For something like the n-dimensional encryption, which needs a lot of math done every operation, we are having to run the schema at a lot lower level.

It, funnily enough, makes the schema even more secure, if only because every computer out there is based on the same fundamental Dust neural network hardware. Once we get some silicon computers up, and refined to a decent level, our relative encryption strength will be effecively untouchable.

At least it should.

Someone has managed to crack them already.

"Watts?" I ask aloud.

Watts, and therefore Salem.

He's good, but I don't think he's that good. If he was, he wouldn't have needed Jacques Councilman authentication in the OT to bring down Mantle's heating.

James clearly is thinking the same. "I don't believe so. I have teams reviewing the implementation. and cross checking each other's work."

I might have giving an outline of the lattice based, quantum resistant, encryption, but I didn't write the thing. I didn't know Remnant's computer systems back then, something I am only getting a feel of recently because of how intuitive they are and the fact I can literally insert myself into them.

But the lattice based is hard math. A lot of hard math. And I did not spend years in a Terran university study that level of mathematics.

"So, what does this mean?" Qrow asks.

I can feel myself frowning as I look at the screen. Hey, my emotions are synced up with my body, when did that happen? Nevermind.

James will be feeling trapped, he doesn't like things out of his control, and this is not just out his control, but possibly never able to be controlled. "If my teams find nothing wrong with the software..."

"We may be dealing with a Semblance." I cut to the chase and simplify.

I'm feeling a bit trapped as well, to be honest. With the need to coordinate across the world, the idea that our privacy being so threatened severely limits our options.

And I'm disappointed.

I really hoped that quantum resistant would convert to Semblance resistance. Or, if that didn't, that the fact that it is fundamentally different, fundamentally a mathematical problem, would make it Semblance resistant. After all...

The human mind is not designed to understand numbers.

Fall Maiden Cinder Fall

"No."

Her voice is calm, deadly, and I am reminded again why Lady Tarot has remained neutral over the course of 60 years of Atlas' underworld rising and falling.

Anyone who tries to attack her, even plans to attack her, dies.

But I need to know why. "No?"

There is no shiver in my voice, I could kill her. After all, I am not a crime family.

I am a Maiden.

"No." She does not yield.

"Why? If this is a matter of-"

"It's not about the money, and the only reason you are not dead, Maiden or not, is because you did not know." A shiver runs up my spine.

"Yes, I know you are the latest Fall Maiden, as well as your exotic means of becoming so." Another shiver. Fire pools into my hand under the table, doing nothing to dull the cold. "Nor are you the first to try attack me. As you can see, I am not dead."

I put fire out.

"Or did you think that I, I, of all people would be unaware of your former master."

Cold. The room must be cold. Very cold.

Former. She knows. Not just about Her, but about my true loyalties. Loyalties I have kept hidden even from Salem.

Lady Tarot sighs and taps her pipe on the ash tray. She didn't have a pipe the last time I saw her, it might be a sign of stress. "Show her the video."

Her aide nods and leaves for the back room, coming out with a scroll a moment later. It's painted red, indicating this one is not for me to take.

A small stand is put up and the video plays. The angle is from the corner of the room, and the two people's faces are blurred. Behind a desk with an impressive looking computer station a woman leans back on her chair with her hands behind her head.

"Hey ####" A burst of static cover's the names. "got something for you."

"A pack of #########? I've been getting curious if they are as good as people say." Even the food name is obscured. Information is power, Lady Tarot understands that.

More than that, I come to understand how she has kept power for so long. More than just protecting her people, she has them comfortable. Truly comfortable. Genuine loyalty.

Salem spent some time teaching me how to invoke such feelings, and I have done my best to shape Emerald as such. For Lady Tarot to have such a far reaching information network, secure and loyal to such a degree...

I have been underestimating her.

A glance up tells me that she knows that I have realise it. Showing me this video is more than just an explanation, it's a threat.

I keep watching.

"Better, a client managed to pull a complete file from Atlas, using that new-"

"Seriously?" The hacker all but leaps up from her chair and swipes the scroll from the man, plugging it in. "Now shoo, time for me to shine."

"Have fun." He chuckles and walks out.

"Already am!" She calls, fingers flickering over the keyboard.

The video skips, and I can tell that hours have passed by the garbage that has accumulated. The hacker hasn't slept either, at a guess.

"Fine. You win." She mutters at the screen. "You're good, Atlas. Very good. A little too good."

A button is hit, and she leans back into her chair while a pair of joysticks, no, metal rods, pop out of the arm rests.

"But I am the best." Aura glows. A Semblance. A computer system Semblance of some kind.

This knowledge is going to co-

The hacker starts screaming, thrashing in her chair, but unable to let go.

I don't need the delivery guy running into the room to realise this isn't normal. Bursts of static are heard to censor the hacker's name as he calls for her, tries to help her.

Her screams don't stop.

In the end, all he can do is hold her down so she doesn't cause more damage.

Blood begins pouring out of her mouth, ears, nose, and eyes, visible even though the blurry image. Her screams distort, not because of the recording, but because her throat is tearing itself apart as she tries to scream.

Screens fall of the desk as she kicks, and blood joins that too. She has broken her feet.

Mercury swears beside me. Emerald goes pale.

I don't breathe. Salem has tortured me like this, once. She pushed me to this level so I knew what pain was like before healing me.

The hacker's hands are the only thing of her that are still, gripping the rods.

Salem might be worse, but only because she can cause pain directly. This is suffering.

The hacker's Aura breaks.

That is why Lady Tarot sent the file through a third party. If she saw me, she would kill me. That is why the file was only partially decrypted. The hacker broke before the file did.

The video ends.

Silence hangs.

Lady Tarot speaks.

Calm.

Deadly.

"I am not turning away your business," She begins.

Not calm. Only now do I realise just how much rage is restrained. I am only still alive because she has spent so long in the business, understands that some times things happen.

"But we will not have anything to do with your Outsider."

The scroll is not paused, but muted as the hacker's friend calls for help, and panics as he stands over her limp and broken body.

I run.

"The more we learn about this thing, the more I want to stay away from it." Mercury is the first to speak when we arrive back in the safehouse.

Emerald takes a moment to breathe before she is supporting him. "Cinder, are you sure?" She swallows. "If Lady Tarot knows about the Outsider, and is doing nothing, then mayb-"

I look at her.

Out... She knows about the Alicorn.

"I..." I don't know.

Salem is the only other person who could make someone scream like that.

But even she needs to be in the same room.

'Nemesis...' Her voice laughs in my head.

"We don't have a choice. She is already coming for us. All of us."

Oh. The world is ending. Emerald and Mercury were agreeing on something.

Alloy

I very carefully make sure this doesn't look like a classroom to avoid triggering my PTSD. Even in the teachers position, even with the room laid out and the projector going, even with the large cake I have, flickers of anxiety and panic still tickle up my spine. At least there is a lot of lab equipment here, lab classes weren't as bad as.

People file in for the first lesson. I don't mind teaching, not that I feel I'm any good at it, but I'm more used to a one on one kind of situation.

Not almost 30 people.

At least Ruby is here, she was the first here with me, and that has helped take the edge off. The large chocolate cake has been taking her attention though.

The last student rushes in and sits down, making Ruby and I the only non-Faunus in the room. Time to begin.

I move to speak, and the class- the collection of people I am going to educate, comes to attention.

Good thing I have a little speech prepared.

"I don't like Dust." Ruby's eyes snap up to me from the cake.

"Even before the atrocity, I didn't like Dust. When I first learned of it, I was it as cool, if part of everyday life. But, as time went on, and I learned more and more about it, that feeling of 'cool' wore off. I asked questions. Where does it come from? It's mined from the ground. How do you make it? Combine these two to make this one. But what about the basic types? You can't."

I shake my head. "That was when I realised that Dust, for as useful and 'cool' as it is, it will one day run out. But it was the last thing that really convinced me to look elsewhere. Dust loses it's power out of Remnant's atmosphere. That means for people like me, and especially my sister... We will never reach space."

I sigh. "Then, a few days go, one of the answers to my questions changed. Where does it come from?" Yeah, my students are angry now. "And when we heard, my sister held up her hands," I hold up my hands. "And whispered in horror: 'It's in me.'" I drop my hands. "She hasn't left her room since, has barely done the bare necessities to function, knowing that every grain of Dust that she uses is soaked in the blood of innocent people."

Breathe, hope that they sympathise with her, then continue. "I did something different. I rushed here as soon as I could. I had already been releasing my findings and helping the people of Menagerie. Finding's like: Water boils at a lower temperature when it's in a lower pressure."

Got you.

I pull out the demonstration kit. "Sulfuric acid. Nitric acid. Cotton." Now to give it a minute. "Some of you may have noticed the massively increased number of glasshouses that have been put up since water became so cheap. Some of them might have noticed that there are far too many for just food."

Thank you Blake, for convincing your parents to do that without telling them why.

I pull out the Whoosh. "Findings like:" Ignite. "A Dustless gun propellent."

Oh yeah, they are hooked.

"Oh shit." Someone in the back realises, and I glance at Ruby, teasing her to say something.

She keeps her mouth shut.

"Until the SDC cleaned out, or shut down, every moment I am active means that there is someone, somewhere, suffering. I intend to make that count. I dream of a world without Dust! I dream of a world where no horrors going on in the mines, but there are no mines! I dream an end to end the entire Dust industry!"

This, Adam. This is how you run a revolution. Not with guns and violence, but with words and cooperation.

"Welcome to Chemistry! Let's change the world!"

Someone starts clapping. I try not to roll my eyes, especially when some else joins them. Then another. It wasn't that good of a speech, but it is an emotionally charged topic.

After it ends, I begin.

"So, what's up with the cake? Many of you are already familiar with the well known chemical reactions. Wood turns to ash in fire. Iron rusts. Baking soda reacts with cream of tartar to create" I gesture at the cake. "air bubbles in a cake, making it rise. Sulfuric Acid, Nitric Acid and cotton make Whoosh, and that Whoosh then reacts to create heat and different gasses. Even right now, chemical reactions are taking place in your body, like breathing."

"Dust, as fundamental as it is to our way of life, even out here, only makes a tiny fraction of 'stuff happening'. After all, if it made up the majority, that would mean the world is made out of Dust, and the first person to drop a spark would have blown up the world."

I joke, and some laugh.

"But, we are still here." I sound disappointed and get some more laughs.

Right, time to actually get on track. Periodic table (corrected, Remnant might have a decent list of elements, but they didn't sort them into a table like I would like.)

Time to explain electron shells and covalent bonds. Then some practical stuff.

Blegh.

I flop down on my bed, tired after teaching. I only have two classes, Chemistry and Electromagnetism, but it still wears me out. How real teachers manage to survive is a mystery I will not be looking into. I just hope I'm helping, I'm not as good a teacher as I would like.

Ruby, of course, attended both classes. Even dumping attention on her as the developer of the Whoosh based cartridges didn't help take the pressure off me much.

Days pass spent teaching during the day, working during the evening, and doing science during the night. The problem with being a robot is that your body doesn't tell you when you need to sleep. Sure, it doesn't need to sleep, so I can go without it, but the mind does need rest and I have not been managing my time well enough to go entirely without it, it seems.

A nap should fix the problem, at least a little. I close my eyes only to have someone is knocking on my door. A check of the cameras shows-

Shoot!

I rush out and open it. "I'm so sorry! I've been busy and, come in, and-"

"Busy enough to not put any clothes on." Kali half teases.

Misaligned skybox textures, I'm naked.

"Uh, be right back?" I run with her laughing behind me to throw some clothes on.

And maybe have a little panic attack. Why is she here early, I only just... Oh. I fell asleep instantly and didn't set an alarm, sleeping far more than the 20 minutes I set for myself.

At least I'm a freaking robot, or the answering the door nude would be super awkward. Well, hyper awkward, it's already super awkward.

What kind of robot wears underwear with cute- Nope. Don't think about it or I might have a meltdown.

Maybe I could just stay here, hope she goes away?

No. I am not turning down Kali Belladonna because I am sleepy. This is her first 'weekly visit' since the riot, and it took her some reassurances that she trusted me or whatever with the still tense population. I do live in 'Little Atlas' after all.

I exit my room, with clothing and enter the kitchen.

"Out here." Kali calls from the deck.

Of course she has made herself at home here, that's the kind of person she is. The first time was really just a formality.

And she has made tea. Well, at least I don't have to make it. "I guessed you wouldn't be in the mood for a lesson."

"Please don't use any 'teaching' terms around me right now." I wince and sit down.

"I thought your classes were going well." She sips.

"They are..." I hang, considering what I can tell her, and how to word it so eavesdroppers won't gain much from it. "I just have bad experiences with schools."

It's why I don't take more classes. There is a limited number of people who want to learn, sure, but that number is far above what I could teach. I could do double or triple the number of students if I did multiple classes per day.

But I can't do that. School is hell. Before and after every class pair, I have to stop and take an hour to prepare myself and unwind.

What kind of weak PTSD is this bullshit? How weak am I, that a classroom is my battlefield?

"I didn't realise it was so stressful for you." Kali murmurs supportively. "Thank you for doing it."

"It's no probl-" No. "It's worth the cost."

I grab my cup and drink slowly, letting the 'flavour' of hot water flow. Water is, in it's pure state, already tasteless. So, much of the experience drinking it is in temperature and feeling, both senses I do have access to. On top of that, without the actual taste of hot water (ew), it's an interesting and pleasant sensation.

"How goes your life?" I ask, immediately realising that is phrased weird.

"I have my own stresses, but I know how to manage them. I have not, for example, opened the door while almost completely naked." Shut up. "But I understand that isn't a rare thing for you."

Oh infinite-money-exploit, she's talking about my streaking episode during the Vytal Festival.

"I had a very good reason for that, as you know!"

Kali smirks and sips before springing the trap. "I know. So, what is your 'very good reason' for 5 minutes ago."

"Uhg. I can't win with you, can I?" I huff.

Her smirk never fades. "Well, you realised that faster than Ghira." Now her smirk fades. "I just hope you learn to pace yourself just as fast."

"There isn't t-" I cut myself off and sigh. "You're right. I should slow down. I thought if I mixed and matched work effectively enough, I wouldn't need sleep."

"Perhaps you don't, but you do need to stop and what you want to do, not only what you need to do."

"I am doing what I want to do. Even the teaching. We have air distillation now, and the steel plant is almost running. A bit of carbon and water electrolysis, once the wave and wind generators get running, and we will have ammonia and hydrocarbon production. A few more steps and-"

She cuts me off. "But would you be doing it this quickly?"

It takes my tired mind a moment to understand her question.

"No." I sigh. "I'm rushing. I would take my time and see if I can squeeze out efficiencies or try new designs." My gaze drops to the steaming cup of hot water in my hand. "I wouldn't even have anyone else helping the design part unless I was stuck."

I remember when I used to play Factorio, a 2D factory making game that I fell in love with. Spending hours just building things, not concerned with the wider community's megabases or hyper optimal designs. I would spend ages making a tileable blueprint and then place everything 'by hand', only to see I messed up and tear it all down again.

It made the work meaningful. The game had little flying construction robots, but I would always take ages to really get to them set up and automated because I liked the almost relaxing process.

Here though, the game's enemies are real. If building gets destroyed, people will die. Every improvement isn't just a technology unlocked or a new optimised layout, it's people's lives made better.

I'm not a great Factorio player, I know that. I didn't care, I was playing to have fun. I'm not a super fan of RWBY, I watched to have fun and somewhere along the way fell in love with the terrible show.

Here... those things are costing me. Here, I have to be better. Here, it's not just characters on a screen who might play a death animation, it's people who scream as they bleed to death in my arms.

Suppressed flickers of memories of Vale come back to haunt me.

A mother thanks me as she dies.

The crate explodes and the boy screams and thrashes for an agonising second as the electricity Dust burns away his nerves before he goes limp.

A man slowly tries to pull his guts back into his body, before he looks to me to save him, only to stop and stare at me with a glassy expression.

I can't heal people anymore, not like I used to. I have to stop that before it happens.

I have to make the world safe.

But...

I can't do that if I burn out.

'Just one more. Including yourself. Don't forget that One.'

Because if I don't, people die. The world ends. The book is over. The credits roll and a sad song plays.

"You're right." I sigh. "I think I need to cancel tomorrow's lesson."

"And?"

"And do something completely different. Something unrelated to everything." I think... I think I want to study Aura.

Not just the long term advantages that I postponed. After all, I do want to get my body to be completely Dustless eventually and that means working out what my Semblance can work on, what things can and can't support a soul.

But I want to study it because it's magic. As much as people here don't think of it as magic, it is, and probably always will be, magic. Special.

Plant's have Aura, right? All living things do.

"I think I might take up some gardening."

Close enough.

Author's Notes:

The hacker scene was suppose to be later on, after fractal encryption was set up, and it was suppose to be in person. Lady Tarot was suppose to have an entire subplot in the half outlined 'Atlas Arc', where it is revealed that she has a mind reading Semblance and has been using that not just to protect herself, but also to her faction and to ensure they are truly loyal.

Of which Alloy would eventually encounter her, realise that she had a mind reading Semblance based on her reaction to 'literally an alien', and then break into her mind after remembering a quote from Doctor Who.

'A door once opened can be walked through both ways.'

(The actual quote is: 'A door once opened may be stepped through in either direction.', Doctor Who Season 2 episode 4, The Girl in the Fireplace)

Once in, Alloy would then break her mind. Cinder, maybe having learned that Lady Tarot was actually the mind reader, but watching from a security system, would become increasingly freaked out/resolved to fight Alloy.

All of this is being dropped for time because of my upcoming Deadline, but closing the stitch like this is fairly neat.