Chapter 2: Grinding Gears

The sound of moving gears and a clocks ticking echo through Headmaster Ozpin's office. While most would find the constant noise to be irritating after a short time, Ozpin found it relaxing, therapeutic even. If he was in a slog of paperwork and was feeling stressed he would just listen to the sound of a perfectly arranged set of gears moving. The gears in his floor and along the walls didn't do anything in particular, it was actually a design choice made by Ozpin himself. Whenever asked of these gears, he would use them as an example to what working together could do. Every gear had its purpose, no matter how small or how large. A small gear could be of utmost importance in moving a larger gear, and thus furthering the chain of effort to a greater goal. If humanity worked together like gears usually do, the Grimm threat would become more of a nuisance and less of a menace. If asked further on the subject of these gears, he would segue to another topic immediately to avoid revealing that these gears do nothing and were an aesthetic choice.

These gears made a series of clanks that Ozpin had memorized over the years of his headmastery, and these clanks were music to his hears. Unfortunately for Ozpin the serenade of clanks are interrupted by a knock at the door. He sighs in disappointment and takes a sip from his mug of coffee. "Come in." He answers.

The door opens to reveal Glynda with a set of folders in her hands. She walks up to Ozpin's desk, the sound of her heels echoing across the office. She places the folders onto Ozpin's desk, her expression that of agitation. "We have a problem." She states in a stern tone.

These folders bare the names of Team LIRL: Leon Grayson, Ivan Zhelezo, Rekka Tomi, and Lilith Nihasa. A first year team that had become a subject of controversy of late, most likely due to the property damage that unfolded yesterday in downtown Vale. Ozpin sips from his mug again while he examines the folders closely. "Would the problem be that you're weekend will mostly comprise of repairing the damage done by the Nevermore that somehow breached our defenses, or does it involve the team that defeated it?" He asks, a tinge of sarcasm in his voice.

Glynda narrows her eyes at the Headmaster. She begins in an aggravated tone. "The damage has already been repaired, you need not worry about that. What you should be worried about is the team that caused the damage in the first place." She grabs the folder labelled Rekka and begins skimming the file for the tenth time today. "Do you have any idea what kind of hoodlums these are? Some of them have standing warrants, one of them I am sure is psychotic, and none of them have any previous hunters training!" She puts the folder down. "We can not allow these kinds of miscreants to stay in this school."

Ozpin sips from his mug again. This was going to be a long one. There were three ways to get on Glynda's bad side. Destruction of public property, breaking the rules set in place at Beacon Academy, and students not meeting her academic standards. These students in question seem to have done all three. "Now Glynda, I understand these particular students are not the norm, but they most assuredly cannot be that bad." He states.

At this Glynda's eye twitches. "Is that a challenge?"

Ozpin prepares for a long explanation. "Go ahead." he sighs.

Glynda points at the folders on the desk. "These are the dossiers of each of the students in question. Let's begin with the leader then shall we?" she grabs Leon's file and begins to read it aloud. "Leon Grayson, Semblance: Temporary mental state upon which he gains enhanced reactions and enhanced sight. Weapon of choice: Justice, a dual barreled revolver." She turns to the next page. "He shows promise in his academic studies, particularly in Grimmology, but he doesn't show any signs of being an efficient leader. Time and time again, he fails to keep his team under control, thus causing situations like the Nevermore incident! He has had no training or education in any pre-academy hunting courses, nor has he taken any formal combat training of any kind. In fact, he spent most of his life being a vigilante out in the wastes of the Vacuan Outskirts in what I believe was a misguided youth attempting to make his romanticized vision of a spaghetti western hero a reality!"

Ozpin begins sifting through older paperwork, checking if he had made any mistakes. "Leon's lack of formal education is common for those who hail from Vacuo. Shade is the only academy in the kingdom with no primary combat schools to speak of." He states. "Not only that, but Leon has shown to be quite skilled in combat for someone his age." He finishes fact checking and stamps an unrelated paper. "Perhaps his endeavors in the field of vigilantism has helped him gain some experience." He puts the finished paperwork in one of his desks drawers. "On the topic of his leadership, it is quite common for team leaders to be ill prepared during their first year. Do remember Glynda that this is academy is to teach the skills a leader requires, as well as learning how to protect the people as best one can."

Glynda places Leon's dossier back on the desk and pushes Rekka's forward. "Then what of Rekka Tomi? Bass Gauntlets, sound manipulation. Hails from Atlas. He has a criminal record that goes on multiple pages!" She argues. "Multiple counts of assaulting robotic authorities, an absurd amount of counts for disturbing the peace, and I hope this is a typo, One hundred and seventy three unpaid noise complaint tickets..." She begins pacing around the room. "He has too much pride. Do you have any idea how many fights he's gotten into based on the mere fact another student had made a snide remark about their teams name?" Glynda massages her temple. "Too many times."

Ozpin at the moment is skimming through Rekka's criminal record. "I don't know how we get away with the team naming conventions as much as we do." His eyes widen in surprise when he sees how much Rekka would have to pay if not for his specific situation. "I must admit though, Rekka has had made some bad choices, but that is why he is here. Rekka had made a deal to reform by going to a hunting school, and he chose this one. With time, effort, and a good education, he could become a new man." Ozpin closes Rekka's dossier and slides it back to Glynda.

Glynda pushes Ivan's forward in return. "Ivan Zhelezo. Semblance: temporary density increase. I would be impressed by his shield, had it been more useful hands, and in a more viable form. The thing is basically a slab of raw iron!" She argues. "He barely speaks, and when he speaks he refuses to say more than a sentence or two. His grades are sourly lacking in all areas other than mathematics and sparring."

Ozpin has decided to skim over Leon's dossier another time in case he missed anything. "A good point Glynda, he does have some social issues, and his grades are taking a hit in Grimmology and History especially." He admits. "But he has shown not only excellence, but brilliance in mathematics. I would wager that he had made the shield himself, and had only himself in mind when making it." He puts down Leon's dossier to look at Ivan's grades. C's in Grimmology and History. "He may need some work in his academics, but I'm sure that he'll get a grasp of the concept eventually." He pushes the dossier back towards Glynda. "And on the topic of his lack of social skills, I'm sure his team would be able to help get him out of his shell."

Glynda looks at the last folder with disdain. "Ozpin, I can see your reasoning on most of these, but I know for a fact that this one can't stay." She slides Lilith's folder forward. "Lilith's weapon is a shotgun with four barrels with a chainsaw attached. Her semblance is to imbue this shotgun with elemental properties. She is having issues in most of her classes, but it isn't that big of a problem." Glynda's expression changes from that of anger to that of worry. "Ozpin, I am unsure of this student's mental state. She seems to find joy in the harm of others, to the point where she will ignore orders if there is a fight to be had." She opens the folder and hands Ozpin a paper. "She used to live in a junkyard near the City of Vale. The place in question is linked to many missing persons cases, but there wasn't enough evidence to search the place."

Ozpin looks at the paper, the names of those who had disappeared near the junkyard in question. About a dozen people were last seen there before vanishing without a trace. "Glynda, if you're worried about the safety of the other students, I'll be sure to place Lilith on watch." He says seriously. "On the topic of her behavior, I'm sure she'll grow out of it in time." He slides paper back to Glynda. "At least I hope she will."

Glynda sighs and gathers up the dossiers. "Sir, I really do feel that these students aren't going to work out here." She states. "Maybe we should recommend them to Signal Academy. When they finish their term there, they could come back and be ready for these classes." She reasons.

Ozpin sips from coffee again. The room is silent again. He can clearly hear the noises of his gears turning. "Maybe you're right Glynda." He says disappointed. He suddenly hears something that he hasn't heard for a while. The noise of metal scraping against metal. He looks towards the noise and sees a group of gears not turning properly. The entire system is thrown off. He would have to get somebody in the office to fix those gears. Fix the gears... "That sounds like ti could work..." Ozpin says in wonder. "Glynda, what do you do when your machine isn't working correctly?"

Glynda is perplexed by the sudden question. "You... have me fix it with my sembla-"

"If you weren't in the mood to fix it." Ozpin interrupts.

"You would get a mechanic to fix it." Glynda answers.

Ozpin begins to ponder on this. "If these gears are grinding in the system... maybe we should get a mechanic."

Glynda thinks on this as well. "A mechanic...?" Her eyes widen in realization. "A tutor."