"Wow, pretty swanky office you got here, Snowflake," Ruby whistled as she stepped foot into Weiss' new office. It had been several weeks since Jacques Schnee had passed away suddenly from a long struggle with a condition known as 'Dust Lung', the effects of which were primarily caused by the continued inhalation of raw dust particles before they had a chance to be refined and purified in the smelting process. Winter had surrendered her right to be an heiress when she joined the Atlas Military, Whitley was too young and even though Jacques had threatened to revoke Weiss standing as the Schnee heiress, he never went through so the company fell to her. After the paperwork had been signed, the lawyers paid and everything was settled, Weiss had begun the process of moving into Jacques old office at the very top of the SDC corporate HQ. "Ooof, it smells like old man, beer and cigars in here," Ruby said with a scrunched face.
"Yes, unfortunately, there are some things that need to be changed around here," Weiss said simply, throwing random knick-knacks from Jacques bookshelf into the trash. "but rest assured, I will completely redesign this office with a more feminine touch." Weiss was wearing a sky blue pants suit, but she had taken the jacket off and casually slung over it the high backed leather chair behind the desk. Ruby bit her lip when she realized she could see through the white button-up shirt and see Weiss' bra.
'Focus, Ruby!' she reminded herself mentally.
"And not that I don't enjoy your company, Ruby, but I thought you were competing in The Hunter/Huntress Games today?" Weiss said, scowling at a photo of Jacques posing with a bikini-clad model named 'Ms. Fire Dust' before throwing it in the trash.
"Eh," Ruby shrugged, reaching into her backpack and tossing a handful of gold medals on the desk. "The only one who came close to matching me in the Sniping and Accuracy events was May Zedong and she's good, but she's not me-levels of good. I got bored and left halfway through. Maybe next year someone might be able to challenge me."
"So humble," Weiss smirked, deciding to keep a globe of Remnant for her revised vision of the office. "Well, if it won't bore your video game addled mind, you can stay here at the office and we can have lunch together. But I have an important meeting coming in soon, so I'll need you on your best behavior."
"No problem! Business Ruby is ready to do a business!" Ruby said with a thumbs up. "I'll just plop right down on this comfy couch and you won't even know I'm here!"
"I highly doubt that, but I appreciate the enthusiasm," Weiss mused to her smiling wife. A few more adjustments to clear off the desk and she would be ready to begin the meeting. This would be her first big face-to-face with some of the movers and shakers of Atlas, some of them being clients of the SDC for decades. Weiss had big plans to reform this company and today was going to send a message loud and clear on what kind of future she envisioned for her grandfather's company.
"Mrs. Rose-Schnee? Your two o'clock appointment is here." buzzed Weiss' secretary over the intercom.
"Excellent. Let him in." Weiss replied while holding the reply button down firmly. The dual wooden doors of the office spread open and in waddled S.G. Hankerton, CEO of Hankerton Tech, one of Atlas' largest tech firms. He was a large gentleman, rotund in nature with several chins all covered in a wiry patch of facial hair. His suit seemed ill-fitting and the buttons looked they were ready to burst at any moment. A worn black cowboy hat sat on his pink and sweaty head, with his thinning black hair pulled back into a tiny ponytail nub.
"Mr. Hankerton, a pleasure to meet you!" Weiss said with surprising warmth. "I'm Weiss Rose-Schnee! Please, have a seat," she said, gesturing towards a wooden chair that Hankerton struggled to squeeze in voluminous girth into. Ruby carefully eyed the legs of the chair, half expecting them to snap and crack under such stress.
"I'm very sorry to hear about your father, sweetheart," Hankerton said, dabbing the copious amounts of sweat from his forehead with a monogrammed handkerchief. "Dust lung is a helluva way to go."
"Yes, unfortunately, these things happen," Weiss said simply. "Jacques shall be missed, but we have no time to dwell on the past. Let's get down to business, shall we? I believe you have a business proposal for me?"
Ruby had to stifle a giggle seeing Weiss in full control like this. Since Jacques had passed, Weiss had barely batted an eye, as did Winter. Whitley was a mess, breaking down several times during the funeral, but both sisters sat stone-faced, their ice blue eyes never wavering and crying. Hankerton blinked slightly at Weiss' bluntness, before proceeding.
"Ain't much for small talk, is you little lady?" Hankerton wheezed, the mere motion of leaning forward in his chair somehow winding him. "That's fine, I can respect that. Here, lemme show ya something." he grinned. Opening his suitcase, he pulled a small manila envelope and shook its contents on Weiss' desk. A small metal device, no bigger than an over the counter cold pill spilled out. "My team of eggheads and science-y types has been working on this since before you was born. It's a microsatellite with built-in GPS, ya see. You install it right under the eppy-dermis, that means skin in case ya didn't know, cupcake, right at the base of the neck. It uses satellites to keep track of the equipment in case they get fancy notions of runnin' off or something." He sat back smugly in his chair and folded his fingers together over his mountainous torso. Weiss stared at him for a moment, her face devoid of any emotion or expression and then she spoke.
"You had mentioned putting it under the skin of the 'equipment', yes? I'm curious how that's done, as our equipment is made from metal and circuitry." she said, her eyes never breaking contact with his. Hankerton gave a deep, hearty guffaw and slapped his leg with vigorous gusto.
"You kids today with your jokes and your pranks and what-not, " he huffed, wiping a tear from his eyes. "Your Daddy wasn't much to crack jokes, but I think you and I are gonna get along just fine, darlin'"
"I'm serious," Weiss said coldly. "What do you mean by 'equipment'?"
Hankerton froze, his face somehow becoming pinker and sweatier. His cologne was so overpowering that Ruby almost missed the smell of booze and cigar smoke from moments earlier.
"You know…" Hankerton said, suddenly losing his good ol' boy bravado. "them furry critters you got working down in the mines."
"You mean the Faunus? You want to implant GPS trackers on the Faunus slaves?" Weiss snapped, her voice so cold Ruby was sure it gave her frostbite. Hankerton blinked a few times, stammering on his words like his tongue had suddenly swollen two sizes too big for his mouth.
"I…I mean…if you put it like that, sure it does sound bad, but your Daddy knew how to do business, sweetheart and-"
"I'm going to stop you right there." Weiss interrupted, with a held up hand. "My name is Weiss Rose-Schnee. You may call me Mrs. Rose-Schnee, Ma'am or even Weiss. However, you may not call me 'darlin", or 'cupcake', or 'sweetheart' or anything else gross and demeaning. Secondly, as of this morning, I freed all of the Faunus workers and the SDC will not only be covering their medical bills, we are also granting them sums of money to help them become reintroduced into society and get quality education and cover their living expenses till they get back on their feet."
Ruby watched as the color drained from Hankerton's face, his pencil eraser pink melting marshmallow for a head now the color of the bedsheets on her and Weiss' bed.
"I…you…you can't do that!" he said.
"Watch me," Weiss smirked.
"How…how will you mine the dust?!"
"Thankfully, we have an exclusive contract with the Atlesian military and they have a surplus of older AK-130s that will be reprogrammed to mine. A robot can survive in the harsh conditions of a dust mine with no need to worry about Dust Lung or any other ailments." Weiss said with smug satisfaction. "You are dismissed." Hankerton slowly lumbered to his feet, his face now red enough to stop traffic.
"If you already did something crazy like that, why in Remnant did you invite me here in the first place?!" he yelled, his sausage-like finger now pointing inches from Weiss' face. Weiss never flinched, nor lost her cool, but merely stood up in her chair and leaned forward to talk, but never raised her voice. It was low and powerful, like thunder rumbling off in the distance.
"Because I wanted to send a message to everyone else who did business with Jacques. The days of the SDC using slave labor are over. No more. I will return this company to the glory my grandfather had it set as, so that when people see the snowflake emblem, they know it represents something worthwhile. Now go, before I call security. I would escort you myself but I had a very expensive manicure done and I'd hate to ruin their hard work on such a flabby, sweaty mess."
"Never!" Hankerton screamed. "I have half a mind to teach you some manners, young lady! Why in my day, if a woman got as uppity as you, she'd be picking her teeth up off the floor!"
Ruby went to reach for Crescent Rose, but Weiss merely waved her off.
"I regret that it had to come this, but you leave me with no choice," Weiss said. Buzzing her intercom, she spoke to her secretary, "Janice, could you be a dear and send in security? Thank you."
"If you think some pencil neck pip-squeak with a dime-store badge is gonna tell S.G. Hankerton what to do, then by golly, you are stupider than you look, you ignorant bit-" Hankerton was saying, till a massive hand fell down on his shoulder. Slowly, the bellowing buffoon turned around to see the stone face of Yatsuhashi Daichi. Yatsu had been recently hired as SDC's head of security, a position he relished. His choice of attire, designed by Coco Adel of course, was an ink-black suit, with a pure white shirt and a thin black tie. Mirrored aviators hid his eyes and a simple white chord twirled from his ear to under his shirt. It didn't actually do anything, but Ruby thought it looked cool and Yatsu humored her by wearing it.
"It would be unfortunate if you were to continue," Yatsu said quietly. "If you leave now, there is no need for this to turn worse. Continue to make a scene and I will not be held responsible for my actions." And to drive this point home, he gave Hankerton's shoulder a firm squeeze that drove the bulbous businessman to one knee.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow! Okay, okay! FINE! You will regret this, I promise! Without my business, you will be bankrupt in a week! A month, tops!" he fumed. Yatsu was kind enough to help him to his feet but still kept his hand on his shoulder as he lead him out of the office.
"So, that went well…" Ruby said with a chuckle.
"About as good as expected. Are you still hungry?"
"Uh, duh!" Ruby said, giving Weiss a smooch on the cheek. "But watching you totally own that guy gave me a funny feeling. You know…the sexy kind." she giggled blushing. Weiss said nothing, but merely locked her office door and pulled the curtains shut, just in case anyone owned a telescope or a high powered camera.
"Janice, could you please hold my calls and cancel all appointments for the rest of the day. I am strictly do not disturb until further notice. I, uh, have some business to take care of…"