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I don't own anything. RWBY is not owned by me. It is owned by talented people. I'm a nobody. Please don't sue me.

Fifth Case:

First Link

After picking at her food for a little longer Weiss finally pushed the tray away and looked at her partner. She wasn't sure what to say or do. Fortunately Ruby as always was willing to fill the awkward silence.

"So... did you learn anything?

Weiss shook her head. "Not really. The numbers are the same as what corporate said; the mine's output is just down. All of the workers are bringing in less actual dust than before, and that means reduced production. This mine is one of the oldest, and I suppose it's most likely playing out."

Ruby looked confused. "Wait, it said everyone is bringing in less than before?"

Weiss nodded. "The amount of dust each miner acquires is recorded every day. We can actually track where every crystal of dust was found, which miner extracted it from the stone, which mine cart it was loaded into, who separated the crystal from the excess rock, and which crate the dust was sealed in for shipment back home. The SDC takes its work very seriously."

"And there's less being mined?"

"That's right," Weiss said. "The numbers at headquarters were down, and when I checked the original records here they show the same thing. The miners are actually hauling more cartloads of raw material than before, but the loads contain more waste rock by weight. You see that when the veins of a dust mine are starting to get depleted."

"The miners said they've been mining more than before," Ruby said.

Weiss shook her head. "Dust weighs less than rock, so I'm not surprised that they think they're bringing out more material than before, but they're still mining less actual dust."

"No, they said they've been bringing in more dust… a lot more dust," Ruby said shaking her head. "They know the difference between dust and rock, Weiss. Some of them have been mining for years."

"If there's something wrong with the paperwork we need to know about it," Weiss said. "Do you… do you think they'll talk to me?"

"The contract doesn't force them to?" Ruby asked before pausing at Weiss' flinch. "Sorry… that was mean of me."

"Let's just find them," Weiss said, standing up quickly and clearing away her tray. She ignored Ruby's apologetic expression, but didn't resist when she took her hand.

Ruby led them to one of the barracks, and after knocking opened the door. Weiss followed her into the room hesitantly, taking in the sights. She had visited mines before, but her father hadn't let her stray from the tours he put together, and he had always told her that it was too dangerous for her to visit the areas where the miners congregated.

The barracks were even worse than she had pictured from the reports. The room was quite small, with row after row of closely spaced metal bunks cramming dozens of faunus workers in like sardines. One wall was clear of beds, and it contained small lockers lined up like in a public school, although none of them had locks. Several were hanging open, and she saw only a handful of personal possessions in addition to spare coveralls filling the tiny container.

If everything had been new and clean it would've been a highly unpleasant room to live in. Instead it hadn't been maintained in decades, meaning that everything was scratched and dented, with every surfaced covered in a layer of the grime which was almost impossible to clean off after a day of hard work mining. It was a depressing room, and in that it perfectly fit its current inhabitants.

The faunus weren't the frightening murderers who killed her mother when she was a child. They weren't the angry protesters, or terrorist White Fang members. They were too exhausted and resigned to do more than toss her a brief glare when she entered the room before going back to murmuring among themselves, or more commonly, trying to nap.

"Here, this is Greene," Ruby said, gesturing to an older faunus with a dog's tail.

Greene sent her an unpleasant look before focusing on Ruby. "What's this?"

"Can you tell my partner what you told me?"

"Why, you think it'll make a difference?" he snorted. When Ruby sent him a pleading look he rolled his eyes and focused on Weiss. "The foreman's been working us harder than ever. Last couple of months we've had to bring in more than before every day. Used to be we worked our eight hours and called it a day. Yesterday it took me fourteen hours to satisfy him, and that's only 'cause we hit that rich new vein."

"That's against company policy," Weiss said frowning.

Greene snorted. "You think anyone cares what happens to us faunus? All the SDC wants is dust, and they don't care what they do to us to get it. Besides, it's not like we're likely to sign on for a second time, and with how shit things are for us out there there's always more faunus lining up to work your mines. They're probably cheering how much production's up."

Weiss studied him, looking for any sign of a lie. "Reports indicate production is down."

Greene's eyes widened. "That's impossible. We're all working harder than ever, and we've been finding lots of dust. We should be getting overtime and then some."

Weiss shook her head. "Are you sure the dust crystals are common in the rock you're bringing in?"

"Rock?" he asked. "Some of my carts have been half crystal. The new vein is rich."

Weiss and Ruby exchanged looks for a moment. "Thank you, Greene," Weiss said finally. "You've given us something to look into, and… I will look into how many hours you are working. I know you think we Schnee's are responsible for everything, but all we can do is appoint foremen and hope that they follow established procedures."

"Like you couldn't send inspectors," he snorted. "You certainly open portals often enough to get the dust home."

"It's not that simple," she said.

"Seems like it is to me," he said, rolling over in his bunk so that his back faced them. "You just call it complicated so you don't have to do anything about it."

Weiss grit her teeth for a moment before looking over at Ruby, who was looking at her with concern. After taking a deep breath she spoke, ignoring the worker completely. "If the miners are getting more dust than usual, then the problem must be further up the chain. Did you speak to the people responsible for extracting crystals from raw ore?"

"No, I'm not sure who they are," Ruby said.

"Come on, I know where they should be working," Weiss said, heading to the exit.

"Is there anything you can do?" Ruby asked after a while.

Weiss tensed up. "Do?"

"About what's happening here," Ruby said.

Weiss sighed, looking away. She'd had no idea things were so rough, but she suspected that, given the likely doctored records, that the foreman was responsible for the dust trafficking, and perhaps responsible for other things, too. Were the conditions in the Green Hill Mine normal, or an outlier? She was suddenly suspicious of her father's insistence that she stay away from the worker areas of the mines she had visited in the past, but that didn't necessarily mean there was a more general problem.

"I'm not the heir, anymore, although it isn't fully official," Weiss said eventually. "Because of my... condition I won't be able to have children, so my brother Whitely will inherit control of the SDC. My ability to actually do anything is very limited."

"So you're just going to ignore this?" Ruby asked, her voice disappointed.

Weiss stopped and looked at her girlfriend. "I'm going to find whoever is responsible for the dust trafficking. If that isn't the foreman, I'm going to talk to him as well. The extra hours he's been forcing them to do is being caused by the need to acquire more dust to make up for the loads getting smuggled away. But beyond the weight of my name I have no real power over company decisions."

Ruby had stopped, facing Weiss in the small, dimly lit hallway. "Are you okay with this, though?"

Weiss thought about that for a long moment. "That depends on what you mean. Do I wish things were different? Yes. These are people, and they're being treated poorly. Do I think the mine should be shut down? No. It has to be done. Like I said, in this case the ends justify the means."

"I can't accept that," Ruby said. "There has to be a way to do the right thing."

"I know, and that makes you naive, but a good person," Weiss said. "You are free to feel that way because demons aren't overrunning our planet. And they aren't because of this mine and others like it. Now let's finish this job and go home before being in Faerie kills us."

The ore processing room was busy, the sharp scent of raw dust filling the air along with the loud banging of hammers and other tools. Modern machinery didn't function in Faerie, so like the mining all of the work had to be done with manual labor. Chunks of stone sparkling with dust crystals were laid out on heavily reinforced metal tables while faunus stood around them using small picks or heavy hammers to extract the valuable material. Slowly bins full of crystals filled up, while workers transported broken gravel to be dumped elsewhere.

Ruby led the way to one worker who was putting away his tools, obviously having finished a long, tiring shift. His coveralls were heavy with sweat, and his hair was slick with it around his short horns. He eyed them warily as they approached, putting away his tools without saying a word.

"Hey!" Ruby said. "Do you, um, do you have a minute to talk? We wanted to ask a few questions."

"Alright," he said. "What is it?"

"Have you been getting as much dust as normal?" Ruby asked.

"More'n normal," he grunted. "We've gotta process all the ore they bring us everyday, and they've been bringin' up more loads than ever. I should've stopped an hour ago, but my shift doesn't end 'til I finish my queue."

"What about useful output?" Weiss asked. "Have you been extracting more or less dust than before?"

"Quite a bit more," he said, gesturing vaguely at the half full bin of crystals next to him. "This is the third today. Normally I don't fill the second, but they've been overworkin' us so much we've been puttin' out extra loads. Must make the bean counters in your offices happy, Ms. Schnee. Maybe you could see fit to share some of those profits with the workers?"

Weiss frowned. "I have no control over your remuneration. So you're certain that all of you are producing more dust than before?"

"I'm sure," he scowled. "I might not be some fancy businessman, but I've got damn eyes and can count. We've been well ahead of quota for months now, not that it matters to the foreman."

"So the foreman is aware of your increased production?" Weiss asked.

"Of course," he said. "He even assigned some security guards to help haul the extra dust away. Too much for the normal runners to transport, I guess. Now, can I go turn in my timesheet? I need at least a little sleep before I start work again."

"Sure," Ruby said. "Thank you!"

"Right," he grunted, walking away from them quickly.

"What do you think?" Ruby asked.

"I want to take a quick look at the paperwork they're filling out, but I think someone is doctoring the records, and not many people have the ability to do that," Weiss said. "I also want to find these security guards that have been hauling the extra dust away. Security are the only ones cleared to leave the perimeter."

She spent a few minutes examining the forms of the workers who were nearly done with their shifts. The handwriting looked familiar from her recent perusal of the other forms in the records room, although the amount of dust shown was far greater than any of the forms that she had studied earlier. When she was finished she led the way back to the foreman's office, not even bothering to knock before opening the door.

The foreman looked up sharply, mouth opening to object to her sudden entrance when Weiss abruptly cut him off. "We have a few more questions, Mr. Thistle. If you have a moment?"

"Of- of course," he said. "Come in, Ms. Schnee."

"We've spoken to the workers, and they claim a very different story than your records show," Weiss said. "The documents filled out today show a vastly larger amount of actual dust being gathered for shipment, and none of them are aware of this being a greater amount than previous efforts."

The foreman frowned. "What exactly are you saying, Ms. Schnee?"

"I'm saying that over the past several months a new, larger vein of dust has been found," Weiss said. "Despite the increase in production this should cause, you have insisted that your employees work longer and longer hours, further increasing the amount of dust gathered. Despite this, your records, both here and at home show a decrease in dust production. At the same time, dust has been flooding the streets, being sold illegally. I am sure that you can understand what I'm implying, Mr. Thistle."

"How is that possible?" he asked. "Very few people have access to my records, and where would they take the dust? No one but security is even allowed outside."

"Who has access to the records room, Mr. Thistle?" Weiss asked.

"I have keys, and so does the chief of security," he said.

"Who is the chief of security?" Weiss asked.

"Slate Icterine," he said. "He should be in his office… he rarely leaves it."

"Thank you, Mr. Thistle," Weiss said, standing and heading to the door. "We'll return shortly… don't go anywhere."

"Of- of course."

When they were in the hallway Ruby looked over at her. "Why didn't you say anything about what he's making them do?"

"Our first priority is catching the ones responsible," Weiss said. "The foreman has information we need, and furthermore, he is most likely implicated in what is going on. It's more efficient to use his resources and when he is brought down simply ensure his replacement doesn't do the same things he did."

"Still..."

"Don't worry, we don't have long to finish this, so we won't long leave the situation unresolved."

"Okay," Ruby sighed.

The security chief's office wasn't far from the foreman's office, and Weiss simply opened the door and looked inside. The room was messy, with piled up forms half completed on the desk, which also had the feet of the security chief trampling them. He was reclined with his feet up, snoring heavily.

Weiss narrowed her eyes and stomped over to the desk, knocking on the metal loudly. "Mr. Icterine!"

"Huh… wha..." he mumbled, sitting up and staring at her blearily. "Who're you?"

"I am Weiss Schnee. Why were you sleeping on the job, Mr. Icterine?"

He grunted. "Don't see why not. Nothin' ever happens here… your contracts see to that. Workers won't cause trouble, the natives don't get restless… all I'm paid to do is fill out a few forms. Might as well nap when I can."

Weiss gritted her teeth. "How long have you worked for the SDC, Mr. Icterine?"

"Almost twenty years, ma'am," he said. "I'm a year out from finishing my third five here at Green Hill."

"If you intend to draw your pension, I would suggest you become more serious about your work," she snapped. "We have evidence of dust trafficking coming from this facility, and I arrive to investigate and find the chief so incompetent he is practically complicit!"

"Hey now, I'm not doing anything wrong," he grumbled. "Maybe I'm not the most on top of my job, but I'd find out if anyone was stealing dust. I mean, where would they go? The gate guards would notice."

"And if they were doing it?" Ruby asked.

"That's… that's unlikely," he said. "I make sure my best are the ones doing that. See, they're all the ones with the most experience."

He thrust a random stack of forms at Weiss, and she frowned down at them. "You have four security who are on their second tour. Is that unusual?"

"Well… a little," he admitted. "Most get pretty sick of being stuck here doin' nothin' all day. I've never had more than one or two come back, but after a few months off four all came back at once signing up for a second term. I wasn't about to turn 'em down, especially when they volunteered to do the outside shifts. Nothin's ever gone wrong, but who wants to stand around in bad weather all the time?"

Weiss and Ruby exchanged a look. "Who has access to the records room?"

"Just me and Mr. Thistle," he said, gesturing towards a keyring sitting on his desk. "I've got a copy of all the keys, and there's no reason for anyone else to need one there."

"Can you make keys?" Ruby asked.

"Well, sure, but I don't usually bother," he said with a shrug. "There's an old manual key grinder next door in the main security room. Don't think I've ever had to use it though."

"But anyone could?" Ruby asked.

"Sure," he said with another shrug. "They'd have to have the originals though, so they'd have to get my key ring away from me."

"The one sitting on your desk while you were asleep with the door unlocked," Weiss deadpanned.

"Er..." he said, frowning.

"Where are the four right now?" Weiss asked.

"Well… two are on watch topside, the other two..." he grabbed some forms and flipped through them. "Oh, here we go, they sometimes volunteer to help the miners, especially with how much they've been working lately. They should be hauling some dust to storage right now. Real go getters, those two."

Weiss didn't even pause to say anything, simply turning and hustling out of the room. Ruby jogged after her, calling over her shoulder as she did. "Thanks! Weiss, what are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that our four security were approached by the White Fang after their first tour of duty," Weiss said darkly. "I think the two 'volunteering' are actually stealing dust, and if we hurry we might be able to catch them in the act."