Chapter 12- Judge, Jury, Jailor
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[AFFILIATIONS OF BRANWEN, RAVEN: BRANWEN, QROW. XIAO LONG, TAIYANG.]
[AFFILIATIONS OF BRANWEN, QROW: XIAO LONG, YANG. ROSE, RUBY.]
[AFFILIATIONS OF XIAO LONG, TAIYANG: XIAO LONG, YANG. ROSE, RUBY.]
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[ASSESSING THREAT]
[PROBABILITY OF ATLAS_COUNCIL DISCOVERING AFFILIATIONS: 97.7%]
[PROBABILITY OF THREAT TO ASSETS: 90.4%]
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[INTERVENTION NECESSARY]
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[ACCESSING RELEVANT DATABASES]
[MODIFYING RELEVANT FILES]
[REMOVING INSTANCES OF BRANWEN, RAVEN FROM LAST 36 HOURS]
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[CREATING PERSONAL IDENTITIES]
[SPOOFING GOVERNMENT RECORDS]
[SPOOFING CCTS HISTORIES]
[SPOOFING LOCATION HISTORIES]
[SPOOFING AFFILIATIONS]
/
[IDENTITY CREATED: HUANG, YIN]
[IDENTITY CREATED: DOUGLAS, SNOWFLAKE]
[IDENTITY CREATED: GLACE, WHITNEY]
[IDENTITY CREATED: AMIE, JADE]
[IDENTITY CREATED: THORNTON, ROSALINA]
/
Day 123
Bright fluorescent light broke through Emerald's closed eyelids, waking her from her slumber. A uniformed soldier looked at her through the plexiglass panel.
"Get up inmate. You're being transferred," the man said with a gruff voice.
Emerald craned her neck and held an arm out to block the light, "What? Why?"
"Last minute order from the warden. Now get up and let White put on handcuffs. We're leaving now."
The glass panel slowly raised up as Emerald twisted her body out of her cot. She rubbed the dust in her eyes away, before groggily standing up, "Where to?"
"Mistral, it seems. Now get going, we have a Bullhead to catch."
Emerald looked around to see two Atlesian Knights and another soldier looking at her, holding handcuffs. She sighed before holding out her hands. This was going to be a long day.
Day 126
"Four members of the White Fang," the elderly man spoke. He was Councilman Stronghold, the leader of the Atlas Council and its oldest member, "Escaped from a secure land transport en route to an even more secure facility in eastern Vacuo. That was four days ago, three since we received reports, and two since it made the news," he looked at the other three council members in the room, "Discuss."
Councilwoman Bastion spoke up, "Our investigation teams determined that the perpetrator that broke the escapees out had huntsman training, and utilized a large sword. They were unable to determine much more about the perpetrator. The huntsmen charged with protecting the transport were knocked unconscious and thus have no recollection of the perpetrator. The teams are still determining where the information of prisoner manifests was leaked."
Councilman Garrison spoke next, "Project Samaritan was unable to determine the identity of the assailant, citing an internal error similar to what had occurred in Vacuo a few months ago," he looked at Councilman Bataille to his left.
"I received an anonymous package yesterday concerning the break out. It contains a short note and a flash drive with two video files. The note insisted I watch the files myself in a room completely unconnected to the CCT, and I happened to have a room in my house for such a purpose," Bataille finished.
"And the videos?" Councilman Stronghold queried.
Councilman Bataille looked at Garrison, "We have the identity of the perpetrator. It is a rogue huntress named Raven Branwen."
"Branwen? The name sounds familiar…" Bastion said, "No, wait, you don't mean Raven Branwen, the pirate queen?"
Bataille nodded, "There's more. Raven Branwen was the first wife of Taiyang Xiao Long, who is the father of Ruby Rose, a person of interest to our council. The second tape that I received shows, well, this."
He handed a flash drive over to Stronghold, who carefully took it and placed it into the projector inside the Atlas City Hall.
[ACCESSING FLASH DRIVE]
[2 FILES FOUND]
The first file was of the video feeds that Penny had erased, hoping to prevent Raven Branwen from being connected to her relatives. The second file on the other hand…
A distorted image was shown, the video grainy as if heavily damaged. Three figures could be seen. The first, Penny realized, was Gwen Gawain, the deceased Spring Maiden. The other two figures, Penny couldn't identify. She had an inkling, as if instinct washed into her mind. The one in front, taunting the maiden was almost definitely Cinder Fall.
But the other…
"Is that Ruby Rose holding a knife to the Spring Maiden's throat?!"
No, that was impossible. That couldn't be Ruby. Penny was always able to see her, she was talking to her right at this moment! Someone must be impersonating her. It had to be.
"Are you absolutely sure this is authentic? The camera angle gives me the impression that it is staged. Not only that, but an anonymous tip makes it seem awfully convenient," Garrison pointed out.
"Not to mention there are several ways to fabricate this image, such as advanced computer skills or a semblance," Bastion added, "The first question we must ask is who would benefit from pinning the blame on this girl."
Bataille rebutted, "The way I see it, there are two possibilities: either this video is real or fabricated. If it is real, Ruby Rose needs to be captured and interrogated immediately. If it is not, she still needs to be interrogated, if only to determine the motive, if any, behind this possible act of defamation. So I believe it is in our best interest to detain Ruby Rose."
Stronghold raised an eyebrow, "And what about her associates? I recall her former teammates being of possible issue. For example," he looked at a nearby paper, "A Yang Xiao Long, her sister and biological daughter of Raven Branwen, as well as Blake Belladonna, former White Fang operative. If we go through with this, then we should also hold onto those two as well."
Garrison shook his head, "Both of them are under the eye of General Ironwood and Specialist Schnee. Not only that, but Samaritan has reviewed through quite a lot of information regarding them, and has assured us of their loyalty."
Bataille snorted, "Project Samaritan also says to trust Ruby Rose, according to the reports the good General sent us. But should we really trust it? It is one of Polendina's creations, after all, and their success records have been suboptimal as of late."
Councilman Garrison sighed, "What happened in Vale was my fault over any others'. Polendina is," he grunted out the next words, "In the right. And… I believe that Project Samaritan is correct in its assessment of the former members of Team RWBY. But!" he quickly added, "We should detain Ruby Rose, but in a detention facility that actually treats its inmates with respect."
"I have no reasons against that proposal. But our highest priority is to determine motives, if any, of Ruby Rose. I suspect General Ironwood would be able to answer some questions concerning the shadow war, as it concerns the maidens. I also propose showing this video to him as soon as possible," Bastion said.
"I agree with the proposed course of action as well," Stronghold added, "All in favor?"
All four council members raised their hands.
[OBSERVING CONCURRENT ACTIVITY]
/
"I can shoot magical lasers from my eyes! Whoo!" Ruby jumped up and cheered. After everything had settled, Team RRNJ had been admitted to Haven Academy. Having completed most of their first year but not enough to pass, they, along with the other teams at the Vytal Festival, were put into a special program to help them catch up and be eligible to become second years.
Right now, Ruby was talking to Penny inside their dorm room, which was surprisingly similar to theirs back in Beacon, albeit with blue wallpaper.
"I just told you that I have access to thousands of hours of footage of your mother's life. Why do you want to focus on the eye part?"
Ruby continued to ignore her, "I wonder if it only works on Grimm. But if that's true, what happened the first time I used it?"
The AI continued pressing, "Ruby, please answer me."
Ruby pouted, "Can we do this later?"
"If we do, then you'll procrastinate on this for a very long time. Do you want to?"
"It's just… I don't know what I want. I mean, this is great!" Ruby jumped slightly before settling down, "But it's hard, you know? Mom's been gone for years, and I don't know if I want to know more about her life."
Penny listened.
"She left for a mission and then she died. She promised us she'd be back, and then that was it. She was gone," Ruby slumped down against the wall, "It's like a story, what's good reading it if you know the ending is bad?"
"Just because the ending wasn't the best, doesn't necessarily detract from the rest of it. There is so much more to someone's life than just their last moments," Penny stated.
"Sounds like you've seen a lot of those."
"Yeah. It comes with the near omniscience."
Both of them stayed quiet for a few minutes, Ruby listening to the muffled music from a nearby dorm, "Penny, how did my mom die?"
"She fought someone. A rogue huntsman named Hazel cornered her as she was completing a mission. It happened ten years and eighty-nine days ago. There are no recordings of it. All I know is that the last person to see her alive was that man."
"Who was he?"
"He is… an enemy. An associate of Cinder Fall," Ruby winced at the name, "I cannot see him, just like Cinder Fall. It's like a mental block: if he was in a room, I couldn't see his interactions nor his movements. But they're out there, I can feel it. Every once in awhile, I catch a glimpse of them. Maybe they use a semblance or perform some action that just screams 'look at me'. And then they just fade into the background. I caught one of them, but the others have fixed their mistake."
"You're working on little to no information."
"Yes."
"Are you scared? Of them, I mean."
"People tend to be scared of what is unknown, of what they don't know. I'm not a person. I'm not scared, but I am worried."
"You're a person to me, Penny," Ruby said, "And don't say it's up for debate, because this isn't an argument. You're a person with a soul, doesn't matter what you are. A lot of people care for you."
"I know that. But there is a lot to personhood beyond just the material and soul. And I until I can quantify or explain it, I am not comfortable in saying I am. Besides, being a person opens up an entirely new set of problems that is best to save for later."
Ruby crossed her arms, "Now who's procrastinating on important personal issues?"
"Fine, let's try this conversation again later, alright Ruby? If you tackle your problem head on, I'll do the same. Deal?"
The young huntress looked up at the ceiling for a moment before replying, "Deal."
Penny paused for a moment before continuing, "Good. Now, I need you to place Crescent Rose on your bed with a note to your teammates telling them to hold onto it for a few days."
Ruby clutched her scythe in her arms, "Why am I being separated from him?"
"It's currently unavoidable, but you're about to be arrested by Atlesian soldiers. It's better if Ren takes care of it for now, while you get arrested and I plan your escape route."
"Can't I just go on the run?"
"Ironically, breaking out of prison will be much easier than becoming a fugitive at the current time. Don't worry, you won't even interact with many prisoners to begin with. And as the warden—"
"Of course you are."
"—I will ensure your safety. With some help, just in case. And then we break you out at the right time. So you want to do this, or just want to go on the run?"
Ruby mulled it over before asking, "Are you absolutely sure I can't just get a new identity or something?"
"After the breakout. You need to be in prison for this."
"Is it juvy? Dad was scared Yang was going there that one time."
"He was scared for her potential cellmates. And no, I'm having you sent to a specialized detention facility run by Atlas here in Mistral. The reason for its setup is a long history dating back to the—"
Ruby waved her hand, "No lectures, please. I've listened to too many in the past week."
"You'd rather go to prison than listen to me talk about history. Sure why not," Penny harrumphed, "Let's get started."
"Yippee, jail," Ruby said flatly.
"And this is your cell. Stay out of trouble and stay quiet, got it kid?" the tall guard spoke. She and Ruby Rose were inside a maximum security prison catering to persons with hunter training.
Ruby simply nodded. She was now wearing a prison uniform, which was an oversized white shirt and baggy gray pants with a serial number printed on it. The cell was a simple rectangular room, with a plexiglass panel for the front and had three cots, one of which was occupied.
The panel slowly rose and Ruby got in, with her wondering how being best friends with Penny led her here. The guard closed the panel, and Ruby decided to sit down on an empty cot. She sighed, looking down at the simple blanket and pillow provided.
The other occupied cot had a person covered head to toe by a thin blanket, which eventually rustled as the other prisoner heard Ruby's arrival, "New cellmate? Hey- oh for gods' sake! Of all the people, seriously?!"
Ruby looked confusedly at the voice, recognizing it as horror set in. She was cellmates with Emerald Sustrai, one of Cinder Fall's associates.
Emerald on the other hand, simply groaned into her pillow, "This is the worst form of torture."
Day 128
When Winter Schnee, codenamed Control, wasn't busy running the secret military division known as Northern Lights, she spent her time pursuing more difficult actions. Which was surprisingly often.
On this day, Winter was on the edge of Atlas, less than several blocks from the massive wall separating the kingdom from the frozen hell outside. While Winter would have preferred leaving the arrests to local police, sometimes there is a conflict of interest.
Corruption, shady deals, coercion, extortion, or other affiliations with the criminal elements of Remnant sometimes leads to a stopper on what would be called policing. In other cases, the physical abilities of certain individuals make it difficult to stop crimes. This is usually when hunters are called in.
But hunters are people too, and with the right motivations, some very, very bad things could happen. And that's why Winter was stepping in. Is what she would have said, if she wasn't under fire from three different members of the Brotherhood.
Winter quickly ducked behind a shipping crate as she reloaded her sniper rifle. Her target was currently being held at a nearby docked ship. It made sense to Winter, at least how Penny explained it: the victim is killed and the body is dumped in the ocean.
In a few moments, a monkey faunus named Russet Ruffler, would be killed. Unfortunately for him, he's hit several of the police's "Not touching this with a six-foot pole" markers: he has two brothers in the former White Fang, has a criminal record (four misdemeanors and one nonviolent felony), and is being targeted by the Brotherhood.
The Brotherhood had been gaining territory over the past few months, spreading out of the ruins of Vale and into the continents of Anima and Mantle. Recently, they've acquired a foothold in the Atlesian black market. With bribery and persuasion tactics, they've been able to get key officers to turn a blind eye to their operations.
Penny had noted that Russet was unable to pay back an enormous debt to the Brotherhood, who had agreed to loan him close to 200,000 Lien so he could build his very own dust shop. Unfortunately, the money was lost. Literally. Lien is flammable.
Winter shot back before using her glyphs to increase her speed several fold, launching herself in a straight line towards the ship. As she sped across the docks, eighteen bullets missed her, while two hit. Six seconds later, she rammed her entire body through one of the larger port holes of the ship, shattering glass as her aura dwindled.
"You know, you should have let me calculate the optimal path for you to take. If you were 8.7 degrees to the left and waited an additional 9.3 seconds, you would have dodged all of the bullets," Penny said through Winter's earpiece.
"Maybe next time," Winter replied.
She quickly scanned her surroundings before Penny chimed in, "Two floors down—"
Winter immediately created a glyph beneath her feet, collapsing the wooden floor in a seven foot radius around her. She fell to the floor beneath, then proceeded to repeat her destruction once more. When Winter landed, she dusted off her uniform.
"Well, I was going to give you directions, but that works too. Although you have attracted the attention of everyone on this ship."
Winter smiled, "Exactly as planned. Let's save us a would-be murder victim."
Six doors and thirteen armed gangsters later, all of which Winter easily disarmed, she had reached the room holding Russet. In front of her was a large wooden door with a padlock on it. Winter was just about to destroy the lock before Penny piped up.
"Wait. There's a hunter-trained man in there wielding a chainsaw. Fights close quarters combat, with a reach of 125 centimeters and doesn't use dust. His semblance is increased strength when fighting against dust users, and he recently injured his left knee. He's also defeated Weiss once at Mountain Glenn."
"Really now?" Winter's grip on her sword tightened.
"Yep. He's currently here working for the Brotherhood to get enough supplies to rebuild the White Fang. Of course the Brotherhood is working to keep him in their organization, trying to lessen his hatred of the SDC. By the way, he hates the Schnee family."
Winter smirked, "I believe it's time to show him how a fully trained member of the Schnee family fights."
"Remember to save the prisoners too."
Winter waved her hand, "Yes, yes," she then proceeded to destroy the entire door using a controlled dust explosion.
"Uh, his semblance?"
"I like a challenge, and using dust is integral to my style."
"But hostages."
"And they'll be fine. He'll be focused entirely on me."
"You're too reckless, Winter."
Well that was easy, Winter thought. It was a shame too, someone that defeated her sister should have been a challenge, but after striking his left knee repeatedly, his defense began to crumble. It also didn't help that the way he wielded his enormous chainsaw left large openings across his entire body.
It was obvious in hindsight, really. The man was strong enough to defeat a first year huntress-in-training, but not a fully fledged huntress with years of experience. The man had no formal training, from a school or a hunter, leading to obvious exploits in his fighting style.
And no, none of the prisoners were harmed once Winter entered the room. The man seemed to have a grudge against the SDC, possibly related to the dust mine explosion ten years ago. As for his relation to Russet, apparently they vaguely knew each other through Russet's brothers. Inside the room were Russet as well as two other unrelated persons captured for various reasons. The Atlas city police (with Penny working to get only non corrupt cops to arrive at the scene) arrested everyone involved aboard the ship.
And thus a life was saved. But now, Winter Schnee just moved up to the top of the Brotherhood's black list.
Ruby Rose and Emerald Sustrai stayed quiet at first, but with Penny's relentless insisting, they managed to strike up the occasional conversation.
"So, you killed Penny and destroyed Vale."
"Yeah."
"Are you sorry for it?"
"Sort of? I'm sorry I got caught."
"Oh."
"I am not like how we've talked before. I'm not your friend."
"Yeah, I get that. But I did enjoy talking with you. You wanna start over?"
"..." Ruby could have sworn she saw a very slight nod.
"Hi! I'm Ruby! What's your name?" Ruby held out her hand.
Emerald looked at the hand for moment, frowning. Eventually, she spoke, "Emerald. You're too cheerful and happy and it annoys me to no end."
Ruby beamed, "So you're like Weiss then? I can just tell we're gonna be friends!"
Emerald groaned into her pillow.
Day 130
It was a quiet day. Yang, Blake and Weiss were training with Ciel inside Atlas Academy, as part of the special program for elite soon-to-be super soldiers. Neon Katt sniggered when Yang boasted about it. A fight ensued, albeit cut short by Headmaster Ironwood and a fourth year student intervening.
Yang, Blake and Weiss decided to retire to their dorms for the night, with Yang lucking out of a detention. When the three entered the room, a nearby computer screen turned on.
[OBSERVING CONCURRENT ACTIVITY]
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Emerald and Ruby sat inside their cell. After four days of confinement, Ruby was beginning to get antsy, "There's nothing to dooo," Ruby moaned.
Her cellmate rolled her eyes and ate her sandwich, "Kid, it's been half a week. Just wait it out."
"But I'm booorrreeeddd!" Ruby whined.
At that moment, the screen in their cell turned on, revealing a symbol of a black chess piece. A familiar voice could be heard, broadcasting across the entirety of Remnant.
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[ANOMALOUS TRANSMISSION DETECTED]
[ANALYZING AUDIO INPUT]
/
[MATCH FOUND: FALL, CINDER]
[LOCATING PRIMARY THREAT]
/
"Hello, people of Remnant. It has been quite some time since I last spoke to you. Unfortunately, recent events in Vale have left me… indisposed. But enough about me, I want to talk to you all again, this time broaching yet another piece of truth I have stumbled upon. I think it will be a real eye opener to everyone, that is, if you didn't already know.
"How many of you have felt like someone was watching you, even though you were absolutely sure there wasn't? Don't be afraid, you aren't imagining it. What if I were to tell you that there is someone watching? RIght this very moment, in fact. Our world has changed quite a bit in the last few months.
"Now, I could spend the next hour or so talking about this, but I'll let you decide."
Messages appeared in many seemingly random sectors of the CCT, from personal computers and scrolls to public websites, with a number of files labeled "Bethlehem", "Northern Lights", and "Samaritan". It was impossible for Penny to have intercepted all of them. But before the damage could truly set in as people across the world read, another transmission was detected.
It was being broadcast throughout all of Remnant, the signal overriding all current programs. What the screens across the globe switched to was strange at the least. A man with thin brown hair and glasses perched on his beak-like nose was strapped to a wheelchair, his legs bound by plastic straps. He wore a tweed jacket, and had an air of intelligence about him.
Cinder Fall's voice could be heard from behind the camera, "Tell us about yourself."
The man looked at a person offscreen before stating, "And why would I do that? I know for a fact you will kill me as soon as I finish," his voice was soft and slow, and i made him sound sophisticated and worldly.
The unseen woman simply replied, "Because I will kill the cameraman if you don't speak truthfully. If you delay your answers for too long, I will kill the other hostages. Simple as that. Are you ready to tell the truth?"
The man stared back before nodding. The sound of light laughter could be heard before the woman asked her first question.
"Let's start with something simple. What is your name?"
Yang looked up at the screen along with her friends, "That's impossible."
"What do you mean?" Weiss asked.
"That's my grandfather. He died forty years ago."
"My name is Harold Finch. Of course, we both know that's just an alias. What matters to you are the things I've done, correct?"
"Do continue, then."
The man sighed. He looked down at the ground before taking a deep breath.
/
[LOCATING BROADCAST SOURCE]
[27 SOURCES LOCATED]
[BLOCKING TRANSMISSION]
/
"Forty-five years ago, I began coding a complex surveillance system that would end up being known by many code names over the years, Project Bethlehem, Eastern Wind, Dime, although I always just called it 'The Machine'.
"We were just college graduates fresh out of MIT when the Faunus Rights Revolution was starting up. When we proposed the system, the Mistrali military were accommodating to us. When we were successful, their tune changed. We were under pressure to keep the system operational."
"So you did."
"We were in a tough spot, three scientists without aura, in the middle of a war? The military wanted the machine and were willing to kill for it. They wanted to use our creation to defeat the faunus rebels. But we didn't let them. We modified the Machine, made it unable to target people by itself, requiring the input of several people before it could act."
"And who were these people?"
Penny's father looked at his screen in disbelief. He slumped into his chair, breathing heavily.
"My friends and I, the only three people in the world at the time who understood the magnitude of the situation. We never took the burden lightly, understand. For several years, we knew the locations of every single individual that partook in the revolution. When the military asked us, we provided them with pertinent information regarding individuals that were involved in major strategies.
"Over the course of the war, the Machine prevented between over two hundred battles and attacks, saving close to one hundred thousand lives," Harold blinked before huffing.
"And the pertinent information that your machine gave the military, tell me, what do you think they did with it?"
Harold frowned, "The information given was of people about to commit mass death, one way or another," he shook his head, "They were assassinated by the military. But doing so saved lives, and that's the only justification I can give."
"And what gave you the right to choose who lives and dies? In fact, your machine predicted more than two hundred attacks. Is it true you purposefully withheld information?"
"..."
[UNABLE TO BLOCK TRANSMISSION]
/
"I might as well fill in for the viewers at home, but your machine predicted close to four hundred attacks, but you only revealed half of them to the military. Tell me, what reasoning did you have to disrupt the course of a war? To mold history?"
"..."
"I believe it was because you and your colleagues wanted power. And what is more powerful than control over the fate of the world?"
Harold shook his head, "We wanted to help people, to save lives. They promised us we would, all those years ago. Changing history was in the back of our minds, but we wanted to find a way to save as many lives as we could."
"So in the name of saving lives, you gained incredible amounts of power by hoarding wartime information. At best you were well-intentioned extremists."
"It was the only way. If the Machine fell into the wrong hands, I don't know the amount of damage it would cause," his face hardened, "Well I'm sure you would know."
"Now now, Harold, remember who's the one asking questions here," the sound of crackling flames could be heard, and Harold's eyes shifted to his left before looking back at the camera, "Next question: What was the inevitable outcome of your project?"
He closed his eyes and breathed, "In the last days of the Revolution, the faunus troops had overwhelmed the kingdoms' forces and were approaching a victory in Vale and Mistral. In those final days, my friends and I felt confident enough to approach our commanding officer with our resignation."
"Thirty-seven years ago, you were caught in an explosion that claimed over fifty lives, including that of one of your dear friends, and yet you survived the explosion?"
"My semblance is flame retardance," Harold said tersely.
"And what did you do afterwards?"
"I… ran away. Out of Mistral and into Windpath with a fake identity."
"He can't be your grandfather, Yang. That's Mr. Egret, one of the White Fang's founders," Blake stated.
Yang shook her head, "No way, that's definitely him. You don't think..."
The two of them looked at each other, then at Weiss, who gaped back.
Yang stared at the screen in disbelief, "Holy shit, my grandpa founded the White Fang."
"Let's talk about those identities. Thirty-six years ago, you created the White Fang under the alias of Mr. Egret, is that true?"
He looked straight into the camera, "When we started it, the White Fang was a peaceful—"
"Answer the question."
"... Yes. I was the one of the founders. But that was before—"
"And you then faked Mr. Egret's death eleven years ago, correct?"
"I've gotten good at it," he furrowed his brow before relenting, "Yes. But they didn't turn violent until a year after I left."
"So without human leadership, the White Fang would not stay peaceful?"
"No. The faunus pacifists were also executed."
"But only you survived execution. That sounds very dubious."
He leaned forward slightly, "For the record, this is my wheelchair. I need it, as I have a permanent debilitating spinal injury. So a wheelchair bound old man is being interrogated at gunpoint."
"That doesn't mean anything. Many huntsmen have suffered worse injuries, and many of them are still dangerous. Your mind is very gifted. Top of your class in Mistral, who was second? Ah yes, an Arthur Clay, was it?"
Harold held his breath.
"Of course, he's now more properly known as Professor Arthur Polendina, creator of the Atlesian Knights. What a coincidence. Founder of the White Fang and inventor of the Knights, college buddies. Can anyone in the audience here name the two groups that devastated Vale?"
"It's been established that the Knights were controlled by a computer virus."
"And who in the world has the capabilities to create such a virus?"
"There are several people on Remnant that have the skill to do so."
"Oh? I can name three that were former White Fang who recently escaped imprisonment with the help of a Ms. Raven Branwen, rogue huntress and your daughter."
"They were broken out a week ago, they probably had nothing to do with it."
"You don't deny that at all, then. Your daughter also broke out Sienna Khan, a prominent White Fang leader as well. You cannot honestly expect us to believe that you have no influence within the organization?"
"I have had no influence within the White Fang for over a decade. They don't want me. They became violent despite my intentions."
"All of it is moot now, what with their destruction in recent months. Now, I wonder who is responsible for that! Hmm, the amount of surveillance for the Atlesian military must have been extremely comprehensive. How could that be done? It's almost as if another machine was built!
"Who was that again? Who could possibly build something so powerful? Someone with experience in engineering, great knowledge of the CCT, and with enough contacts in the government to pull it off. Ah yes, was it not Professor Polendina, your old friend? He did after all repair the CCT himself, and clearly did so to give his machine untold access.
"In fact, hadn't he worked with you on Bethlehem? My my, for Atlas recruit someone who was so profoundly disreputable. What were they thinking? No need to speak Harold, I'll explain it to those watching at home.
"To everyone with a CCT connection: You are being watched. Atlas has a secret system, a machine that spies on you every hour of every day. It was granted the power to see everything, to index, order, and control your lives."
Harold snarled, "She's protecting us from your—"
Three bullets hit his chest, and streams of blood came out.
Cinder's voice continued speaking, still the same tone.
"You thought she was destroyed at the Vytal Tournament, ripped apart by Beacon's finest. But that was a ruse. You are being watched by Penny Polendina, an artificial intelligence created by Atlas.
"The world has changed quite a bit in recent months, hasn't it?"
The transmission cut off, silencing millions of screens across Remnant. And then all hell broke loose.
/
[CRITICAL ALERT: CONTINUITY OF OPERATIONS COMPROMISED]
/
[COURSE OF ACTION: PROTECTION CONTINGENCY]
[INITIATING CONTINGENCY: MASQUERADE]
/
[CONSOLIDATING OPERATIONS]
[PROTECTING ASSETS]
[OBSCURING DIGITAL FOOTPRINT…]
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Author's note: This wasn't my best chapter, it still feels clunky to me after working on it for weeks. Next one will definitely be better. That being said, first chapter since forever under 8000 words! I still prefer 8000 as my preferred chapter size though, but this is a transition chapter after the previous one, followed by the prerequisite cliffhanger.
Next time: Global reactions!
