AN: Hey. I noticed that in the last chapter, I put van Buren instead of van Genus and I already deleted the chapter for that so I can't make any changes. The van Buren is from my Rising of the Post-Apocalyptic Shield Hero series. Sorry for that mistake. Things have been crazy.
Chapter 8
Eric van Genus' Audio Journal #8: Journey to the Stars
Back on Earth, people have always wondered on what is out there among the stars. They sometimes wonder 'What is beyond our planet?'. Or perhaps, 'Is god really out there?'. To me, there is no such a thing as a god. I speak from experience here. What it is is that there is an empty void that your soul travels until it finds a new host in the great beyond. But I'm speaking out of term. What truly is out there is a treasure trove of different planets and solar systems that have their own unique beauty to them. Many planets maybe different but that is great about them. Some may have storms and high pressure while being close to the sun, the surface of that world is solid diamond. Some maybe lifeless rocks or hunks of floating ice. Others might have life that are beyond imagination. But it is hard to tell when your just sitting on your ass on the world you are standing on.
But sometimes, people wonder if there is life on other planets. I think the correct answer in this universe is: yes. The so-called 'God of Light' and 'God of Darkness' were proof of that. Yet I have my questions on them. Are they energy-based beings that have the power to do anything? Are they some remnant of some advanced technology of a past civilization like the Forerunners, Preservers and many more? Or are they beings that have ascended from their mortal vessels and became some new lifeform like the Ascendant Ori and Ascendant Ancients from Stargate? Hard to say. Unfortunately, I make sure that they never return to Remnant. I believe that the people of Remnant have been shackled to their pasts for far too long and the mistakes those two have made. The Grimm, Salem and Ozpin, and much more. It is time to break the humans and Faunus of this world from these chains and go beyond.
It is time for them to be free and prosper in a new perspective once The Culling is done. With the new resources, the people of this world can get past whatever age this is and move on to a new space age. Kinda similar to what I did in my 5th life when I helped some medieval people overthrow their religion. To help them see that they were being slaves to those in power, which the bishops and monks didn't like it when I did and introduced some new technology. I do remember a Star Wars quote: "Those that are in power are afraid to lose control of it." Which they did. I helped the people get from the medieval times to the space age in a matter of decades and I died peacefully on a lunar colony as a hero.
Now I'm gonna do the same here on this world.
End of recording.
*click, claps and rubs hands* Now where did I put my favorite chocolate bar? *drawer opens* Nope. *drawer close, another opens* Huh. I thought I put it there. *drawer close, another opens* I could've sworn I had it somewhere in my desk drawers. Unless. Oh please don't tell me that Gris stole my chocolate again. *drawer close* Dammit! I told him not to- Is that still recording? Hold on. *click* Hmm? *click, click, click* Fuck! The power button's not working! Guess I'm gonna have to-
Menagerie, Far Eastern Menagerium Mine, Three Days After the Deal...
After Howard made a successful deal with the Chieftain of Menagerie, the mining of the new Menagerium is running smoothly. In the eastern desert close to the coast, there is a mining complex with a few buildings close to a mining entrance that is twenty feet high and thirty feet wide in a mountain side. One building is the smelter or foundry building where the Menagerium gets smelted into ingots which makes them easier for transportation along with the administration office. Another, four story building, is the miner's lodge. Here, they can get a good night sleep, a place to eat or make their meals, and even has a small communications hub where miners can make contact with their families. Plus there is an experimental teleportation room for miners to go home, but still working on all the kinks. If there is any accidents, there is a medical wing stocked to the gills with all the necessary equipment and medical supplies.
For transportation, there is a garage that holds a few convoy trucks, some jeeps for survey and defense, and four VTOLs that do the same role as the jeeps but in the air. There are even a few drilling machines for larger excavations. The last building is the laboratory where the Menagerium is being experimented on. The whole facility and mine is run by Faunus and Faunus only in order to keep the Atlesian humans along with the Schnee Mining Company out along with the White Fang. No humans, no White Fang. The miners are wearing protective suits that have a thin layer of Menagerium that prevents anyone from turning into Menagerium by accident along with their oxygen tanks, cooling systems, and other equipment for protection. Inside the mine, it is built to code and completely safe for all miners and other workers...unlike the Dust mines.
Howard is there inspecting the place while wearing a Menagerium helmet as a precaution. He is currently outside of the smelting building until he is visited by Ghira himself along with a four armed men escort.
"Ah." Howard smiles and shakes Ghira's hand. "Good to see you, Chief."
Ghira takes a look and notices that Howard is true to his word, "Good to see you too, Mr. Goldshield." They finished shaking hands. "It seems you have fulfill our agreement."
"Indeed. And your just in time, because I want you to meet someone."
Hank Steelden steps out of the administration building while wearing the hard hat.
Hank introduces Ghira to Hank, "This is my good friend, Hank Steelden."
Hank gives Ghira a handshake, "Good to meet you."
Ghira shakes Hank's hand, "Good to meet you as well. Aren't you the one in-charge of Steelden Metal and Steelden Railways? The one who replaced most of the rails in Mistral with the new metal."
"Correct." Hank stops shaking his hand. "I am also assisting with the research of Menagerium for the moment. Just doing some test just like my new metal."
Ghira smiles, "I also heard that you rejected the proposal from Atlas to assist with new alloys."
Hank gives a light chuckle as they go for a walk, "I hate to sound joyous, but it is the truth. Although I'm glad I did because of the disappearance of all the bright minds in the Atlas Kingdom. Just glad I won't be one of them."
"Glad someone turns down the opportunity to head to Atlas. Normally people would jump at the opportunity to that floating bird cage."
The three of them laugh as they head to the miner's lodge.
Hank says, "I had the exact same opinion on that city. Full of eggheads who probably have more hot air than brain cells, have more souless robots than people, and a bunch of bigots that remain the same no matter how advance they get technological wise."
"Well that's a bit harsh but true."
Howard opens the door, "Can we have a look at the lodge?"
"Sure." Ghira answers, "I'll see if it is up to standards."
Beacon Academy, Close to Six-O'clock at Night, Team RWBY's Dorm...
Ruby is packing things in her suitcase as she prepares for a day at the beach. After saving a little girl from a mechanical elephant at the Starhead Industrial Company exhibition (which this takes place around RWBY: The Session), she and her team received tickets to an island resort.
"I got my bathing suit. My Crescent Rose inflatable swim toy. Some sunscreen, my red jacket, and...what else am I missing?"
Weiss looks at the assortment of accessories, swimwear and other things needed to the beach while checking off her checklist on her scroll.
Yang inflates a beach ball to test and see if it is still good.
Blake is at her desk reading a letter she got from her parents. She seems to be reading it intensely as she reads over what it says.
Yang looks over, "Whatcha' got, Blake?"
Blake stops reading, "Uh, oh. Just a letter from my parents. There appears to be some new metal and my father agreed to sign for assistance from two people name Howard Goldshield and Hank Steelden."
Weiss stops and looks at Blake, "Hank Steelden and Howard Goldshield? I heard those names before."
Blake looks at Weiss, "You know them?"
"From what I've read. Hank Steelden is an honest metal and railway tycoon living here in Vale. He treats all his workers evenly, both humans and Faunus alike. Howard Goldshield owns a mine and banking industry that specialize in gold. He is considered a genius with economics and finances. Goldshield even has some of his gold processed by Steelden. From some of the stuff I've read, those two do get along as mutual business partners."
Yang asks as she deflates the ball, "So what's this new metal?"
Blake looks at the letter, "Not much detail, but it will be used in creating technology that rivals that of Atlas."
Ruby stops what she is doing and ask, "Really?"
"Wouldn't that make the White Fang powerful?" Weiss asks out of concern.
Blake says to Weiss, "Don't need to worry about that. The White Fang are excluded from the new technology." Yet she has a worried look on her face, "Just hope this doesn't create a divide between the Faunus."
There was a few moments of silence before Yang points out, "Things have been strange recently."
Weiss numbers the oddities of what's going on, "Some leader of the Grimm pops up on the news, Atlas is losing its prosperity while Mantle is rising, brightest minds are disappearing from the face of Remnant, and now some new metal that the Faunus controls. Yeah, somethings have been strange." Before Ruby says anything, Weiss says, "And yes I know, my family is losing its business. You don't have to mention that."
Yang states, "It seems times are changing and it seems to be effecting both you and Blake."
Ruby asks, "Should we investigate?"
Everyone thinks about it for a few moments before answering.
Yang says, "After our vacation."
Both Blake and Weiss say, "Agree."
Atlas Kingdom, Mantle...
During a rainy night on the streets of Mantle, carrying a dark-purple colored umbrella, a bag with two belts on it and have a new set of rings, Arthur Watts walks along the sidewalk while communicating with Tyrian Callows through an ear piece. He takes in the view and noticed that Mantle is a bit cleaner than the last time he came. The majority of the buildings have been renovated, restored and noticed the lack of trash and graffiti in alleyways. The people are a bit more friendlier than before with many preaching about Daisy Taggart is 'saving' Mantle.
Arthur just casually walks while speaking to Tyrian, "For the last time, a singular hideout makes us susceptible to discovery."
He hacks the traffic post across the street to change it to allow pedestrians to cross as he walks across the street.
Tyrian sounds a bit on edge, "But what if we're seen? What if we're recognized? Plus those wanted posters are still around."
"We stay mobile."
There are sounds of multiple stabbings through the ear piece as if Tyrian is climbing something. "We're walking around a city with a thousand eyes."
Arthur changes another traffic signal and crosses the street without pause, causing cars to come screeching to a halt. He sighs, "Seems that cybersecurity hasn't changed much and the code hasn't been updated despite the changes."
He walks across another street, hacking another system to make a blockade of posts rise up from the road, which a car crashes into as it swerves to go around him.
A woman screams, "Oh no! Gosh!" She runs over to check the driver, "Are you okay?!"
Tyrian chuckles a bit, "That does sound useful. But a lot has changed in this city."
Somewhere else, back in Enlighten Valley, Coco Mint is looking at the holoscreen and notices Arthur Watts walking as she taps the screen. The screen shows Arthur Watts face.
"Got ya." she says with glee.
Then she uploads a picture of Tyrian alongside Arthur and sends it to someone. On the screen, it says: 'Subject Tracking. Using Subject's Ring and Scrolls. 100% Hacked.'
"Let's see who is the better hacker when it begins."
Arthur pauses and presses his thumb to one of his rings, which glows cyan. All nearby security cameras power down.
"Well it should be. I helped write the code, after all."
Muffled screaming is heard from inside a building, while the camera next to its door powers down. The door opens, and Tyrian steps out, shutting the door behind him with a happy sigh.
Tyrian chuckles, "Well, I suppose we all have our talents."
Tyrian walks away down an alley, while a pool of blood flows out from under the door. The blood slowly makes its way into the view of the hacked security camera.
The video of the pool of blood is viewed by someone's scroll that is being held by a middle-aged woman's hand with a watch with a Tetris-like band and made of silver along with smoky colored nails. Then the scroll switches over to two pictures of Tyrian and Arthur with a text that says, 'They're there.'
The woman, despite having a middle-aged look, speaks in a voice of a young woman, "So it begins." Then closes the scroll.
AN: Hey everyone! Hope you are enjoying yourselves despite what is going on. Now for some Q&A!
JUN4 JUN4 JU1C3: More about reincarnations later. Plus the whole chameleon shapeshifting face thing, that power is actually based on the villain Falseface from the series Batman Beyond.
R41D0N: Sangre San Viento/Fumeiyo is based on the villain Stain from My Hero Academia. Stain in that show was inspired by All Might to be a hero. But after seeing the fundamental decay, as in students there were becoming Heroes for the money and personal gain, he then dedicate himself to the revival of heroics and kill heroes that aren't in the same standards as All Might, who is considered to be a true hero. Sangre has the same views towards Huntsmen. Her nickname, Fumeiyo, is Japanese for 'Disgrace' which is what she sees all the Huntsmen that want money and fame. But we'll discuss philosophies when this story is over for a bit of overview.
K0K0N0K1 N40: Yes and a little bit of Starscream from Transformers. So he is Akechi Mitsuhide, who betrays his master Oda Nobunaga; and Starscream, who wants overall power.
N0D4M3: Nope. No Matrix of Leadership. Sorry dude.
I know this is a little shorter but I got a lot of stuff to do. Until next time! Stay safe and stay healthy!
