Chapter 5: Accumulation
Ferrus slowly shuffled through the hallway, his half-open eyes glazing along the stainless white walls on either side. The AK-200 robots patrolling past paid him no mind, though a passing officer would occasionally greet him, at which point he would mumble something that sounded vaguely like "hey" or "yup". He held a steaming cup of black coffee which he would occasionally try to sip from, only to bring it back down when it nearly burned his lips and tongue.
The Atlas Military always set their coffee machines too damn hot.
By the time he got to where he was going - a room labeled "MAIN SECURITY" - he was the slightest bit more awake, and his coffee had cooled to the point where he could take small sips safely. The two AK-200s by the door stood still as they always did. Ferrus gave one of them a pat on the shoulder. It didn't react; of course it didn't. Even so, he liked doing it. It was somewhat of a morning routine for him. After that, he pulled his ID card out of his pocket and put it next to the scanner by the door.
"Officer Thorn. Authorization granted."
The doors, heavier and sturdier than most of the doors in the facility, slid open, revealing a medium-sized room with monitors scattered all around; on desks, tables, and across the walls. They all showed either camera views of various sections of the facility - hallways, lobbies, stairwells, what have you - or logistical information about the state of the building, like what doors were locked, how hot it was, the people who had clocked into the facility, etc. Various officers moved around the room, going about the monitors without much urgency.
"Morning, Officer Thorn," a young lady sitting by one of the monitors said. "I'd say good morning, but you don't look like you're having one."
"Morning, Officer Luster. Just haven't been able to get my morning coffee down yet; it'll be a good morning once that happens," Ferrus replied, taking a few more sips of coffee. "What's the report? Any incidents over the last twelve hours?"
"Not much. Biggest thing was that a soldier in the rehabilitation unit freaked out from PTSD-induced night terrors and had to be subdued. Here's an incident report," Officer Luster said, handing Ferrus a piece of paper. He skimmed over it. "He's fine now, and I hear they're scheduling extra therapy sessions for him."
"Well, it seems all that's taken care of, then," Ferrus said. Handing the paper back to Officer Luster, Ferrus made his way over to his workstation by the middle of the room and began reading through the rest of the incident reports on the screen. Besides that one incident, there hadn't been anything really notable. Someone got lost in one sector, a light broke down in another room, a door jammed somewhere where nobody really goes. That was good. A boring night was good.
As the head of security of Atlas Command's Medical Wing, Ferrus relished the boring days.
Sure, Ferrus had his fair share of... interesting days in the past. But most of those were during his tour of active duty, when he was a soldier fighting Grimm to protect the people of Atlas. Many years and ranks later, he had ended up in a more comfortable position managing security in what was effectively a giant military hospital. It didn't match the excitement and danger of active combat, and that was just fine for him.
Ferrus sipped his coffee. It had cooled down a bit more. He started taking larger sips.
"I hear the top brass are sending down someone for a surprise inspection," Officer Luster called out from her workstation. "Could be in the morning, could be in the afternoon, could be at midnight, I'm not sure."
"Well, that just means we gotta stay on top of things," Ferrus muttered, reading over the list of to-dos he had for the day. "Dot our Ts and cross our Is. Any outstanding issues we need to take care of before they arrive?"
"None that I know of, sir. Though you may want to - "
"Ah, hello? Hello? Is this the main security room?" a slightly-garbled voice said. Ferrus saw that it was coming from the handheld radio on his desk and picked it up.
"This is Officer Ferrus speaking from the security room," Ferrus said. "What's the issue?"
"This is Security Officer Billiam. I'm in the hallway, just by the ICU," the voice said. "There's someone here who doesn't look like they're military. A teenage girl. What's the protocol for non-military personnel again?"
"Well, this is a military hospital. We don't allow civilians, so if she's not military or medical staff, escort her out," Ferrus explained. "If she's family of someone here, she can set up an appointment to visit, but we don't let people just wander in."
"How did they get there in the first place?" Officer Luster asked. "Aren't the entrances accessible only to people with proper clearance?"
"I'm guessing she slipped in behind someone before the dore closed, or she convinced someone to let her in," Ferrus said, putting the radio on his desk. He sighed. "Pretty sure everyone gets told specifically not to do that in security training. Guess we gotta send out a memo - "
CLANG!
A garbled metallic sound suddenly came from the radio. What was that? Ferrus listened for something to follow, but nothing came, so he picked up the radio.
"Hello? Hello? Security Officer Billiam, can you hear me? What was that?" Ferrus asked. No answer. He repeated himself again with increased intensity, but still received no response. "Officer Luster, do we have a camera on that hallway? Just outside ICU?"
"ICU... that should be on screen three," Officer Luster said, pointing to a screen in the corner of the room. Ferrus squinted over from where he was sitting, trying to make out what was on the screen. There were two figures in a hallway. One was a girl with a thick coat and a rusty pipe in her hand. The other was a man in a security uniform, splayed across the ground.
Oh. That wasn't good. Ferrus grabbed the radio.
"Security to the ICU! Someone just attacked a security officer," Ferrus said into the radio. He certainly wasn't expecting something like this in the morning. Maybe a disgruntled patient or family of a patient? "It's a girl holding a rusty pipe. Subdue her and make sure that officer is alright."
Ferrus over various cameras as several security guards, as well as a few AK-200s, made their way over to that hallway. He sighed, leaning back in his chair as he rested his eyes for a moment. Even if that officer on the ground was fine, this was going to end up being a lot of busywork. Arrest reports, injury reports, reviewing security tapes to figure out where protocol went wrong and how that girl got all the way to the ICU, re-evaluating security protocols... well, at least the incident itself would be over in a few moments. After all, he could probably count on the security team to arrest a single girl with nothing more than a rusty -
CLANG!
CLANG!
"Officer Gray is down!" A voice shouted from the radio. "The girl's already destroyed three AK-200s, I can't land a shot on - "
CLANG!
The voice cut out, and the radio went to static. Ferrus's eyes shot back up to the screen and he saw that girl again, this time with several more security officers lying on the floor around her. A pair of Atlesian Knights were slumped against the wall with their heads caved in, and a third was splayed out by her feet in a similar state.
"Officer Luster, lock down that section and send all security personnel and AK-200s in the area," Ferrus said. She nodded, and Ferrus turned back towards the screen. The girl was making her way down the hall, away from the ICU. Where was she going? He grabbed the radio and brought it up, swapping over to the broadcast channel. "Attention all personnel. An armed intruder is present in the facility, near the ICU. Intruder is a girl with a thick brown coat and holding a rusty pipe, and is considered dangerous. If you are unable to evacuate, close and lock all doors and windows and be prepared to defend yourself. This is not a..."
"... drill."
The voice blared out through the intercom in the corner of the hallway. The girl with the rusty pipe paid it no mind as she stepped over one of the fallen security guards. Was he dead? Just unconscious? It didn't matter. He was out of the way, as were the rest of the guards currently lying on the floor of the hallway, and that was enough.
"Security alert. Locking down sector 2."
An alarm blared as flashing red lights splashed over the sterile white walls and floor of the facility. The clear glass doorway at the end of the hall was suddenly covered up by a larger, thicker set of metal blast doors that extended down from the ceiling. The girl with the rusty pipe looked back, and a similar door had descended over the way she came, locking her within the hallway. She turned back ahead. The pipe pulled her forward, so she walked forward, until she was right up against the heavy metal blast doors.
The girl's eyes flared with light. The glow of magical energy traveled from her chest through her arm, into her pipe. As it started to shine, she pulled her arm back, letting it rest for a moment before swinging it forward.
KA-CRASH!
"There she is! Open fire!"
Before the warped slabs of metal that used to be the blast doors could hit the ground, bullets shot through from the other side, fired by a squad of security officers and AK-200s. Unfazed, the girl ducked low and allowed the shots to fly overhead. More energy surged from her chest into her pipe, and she leaped forward towards the firing line, raising her pipe overhead with both hands before swinging down right in the middle of the group of officers and AK-200s.
KA-CRACK!
The pipe struck the floor with the force of a lightning bolt, sending out a shockwave that ripped through humans and robots alike. The security officers and AK-200s slammed into nearby walls before falling motionless, their Aura and mechanical parts torn apart just from being near the blow. Not even the ground had gone unscathed, as the floor where the pipe had struck had cratered and cracked, the clean white surface broken through to reveal the concrete-and-metal structure beneath. The floor buckled as it started to give way, but the girl simply stood there, waiting. One of the officers who had managed to stay conscious drew a pistol from his waist and sat up, shakily pointing it towards the girl. She looked up at him, then back down to the floor.
A moment later the floor collapsed into the lower floor, and the girl with the rusty pipe fell with it.
The girl started running the moment her feet touched the ground as she quickly made her way towards the direction her pipe was pulling. The hallways on this floor were as white and sterile as the floor above, but without nearly as many guards and AK-200s roaming the halls; after all, most of them had been called up to the floor above. She quickly dealt with any security or robot who attacked her, deflecting any bullets with the body of her pipe before bashing them over the head. All the while, her pipe kept pulling her forward.
"Commencing full lockdown of floor G1."
Alarms blared. More thick steel doors crashed down from the ceiling. The girl with the rusty pipe smashed through each of them, reducing them to warped slabs of steel splayed across the hallways. Onward she went, smashing through security guards, Atlesian Knights, and security doors until the pipe stopped pulling her forward. Instead, it pulled her straight down once again. She raised her pipe, pumping magic energy into it until it started to glow. Then, she brought it down.
KA-CRACK!
The floor shattered and collapsed. The girl with the rusty pipe dropped down into the room below.
"I need medical personnel to get to those officers now!" Ferrus shouted over the radio. Alarms were blaring, and people were scampering all about the security room. "Does anyone have eyes on the intruder?! I just saw her on floor G1 a moment ago, how'd she get down there?! The stairwells are locked down!"
"She's breaking through the lockdown doors wherever she goes. She also destroyed the floor somehow, which was how she was able to get down to the lower levels," Officer Luster explained as she frantically typed at her workstation. "Most of the security personnel and automotons on the first floor are incapacitated, as are a number of those on floor G1. The intruder shows no signs of stopping."
"Dammit. If our security can't stop that intruder, we're gonna need to call in backup. Someone dial up Atlesian Command and get some people here!" Ferrus said as his eyes scanned over the screens. "I need eyes on that intruder! Does anyone have her?!"
"Over here!" one of the officers called from the corner of the room. Ferrus got up and quickly made his way over to the screen. It was connected to a camera overlooking one of the rooms in the hospice unit. The resident of the room was an old lady who was currently lying in bed. Her name was Fria, if he remembered correctly. He didn't know much about her, but he knew she was non-military personnel, and that someone higher up in Atlas Command had arranged for her to be here. She also had special security protocols unique to her; namely, no one was supposed to visit her room besides Winter Schnee of Atlas's Special Operations. It was a strange arrangement, but Ferrus didn't really care enough to question the higher-ups most of the time. His job was to enforce security protocol, and that's what he did.
Well, it seems he had failed to enforce protocol this time, since Fria just got a new visitor, dropped down from the ceiling along with a pile of rubble.
"Intruder is in the Hospice unit, room 8! Any available security personnel, head there now!" Ferrus shouted into his radio as he looked up at the screen. Though it was hard to tell from where the camera was positioned, Fria only seemed surprised for a moment as the girl with the rusty pipe picked herself out of the rubble. Then, the old lady's face became stern as she sat up in her bed. She said something, but whatever it was, the audio feed on the camera wasn't able to pick it up. The girl didn't respond. She simply took a stance and raised her pipe.
Then, Fria's eyes started glowing with a blue fire as she hovered off her bed and into the air.
"What the..." Ferrus muttered, watching as a strong wind started to blow through the room, picking up everything that wasn't weighed down. Everything around the old lady quickly frosted over, from her bed to the floor and walls surrounding it. The girl with the rusty pipe raised her arm, trying to shield herself from the chilling winds swirling around the room as they froze everything in place. She leaped towards Fria with her pipe ready to swing, but the old woman raised her arm, launching a bolt of blue energy that slammed into the girl's chest and sent her tumbling back to the ground. The girl landed on her feet, and her eyes suddenly flared white.
What was going on? Ferrus had no idea what he was watching. Was that some sort of Semblance? But why did they both have it? By now, Fria's chilling winds had expanded to fill the entire room, freezing everything over with a layer of solid ice. The girl's Aura was keeping her from falling to the same fate, but Ferrus could see that it was quickly faltering, shimmering and flickering as patches of frost started to cover her body. Her pipe started to glow as she forced herself through the freezing winds, and she leaped up with her pipe raised to strike...
... only for her Aura to shatter as her body froze over in an instant, turning everything from her head to her toes to even her pipe into a frozen statue. The girl's form hung in the air for the moment, as if frozen in space as well, before plummeting to the ground. The moment the frozen body of the girl hit the ground, it shattered into pieces, with both the girl and the pipe becoming nothing more than frozen chunks scattered into the wind -
Frost covered the screen, and it went black. CONNECTION LOST.
"What the hell was that?" Ferrus muttered. He assumed that the camera had frozen over, or maybe whatever Fria had done knocked out the power in that area, but that still left him with more questions than answers. He was more confused than he had ever been in his life, but at least there was one positive. Whoever that intruder was, she wasn't a problem anymore. Unfortunately, that still left a lot of work for him to do. He heard the door to the security room open and turned to see a young woman with white hair enter the room. Ferrus recognized her. It was Special Operative Winter Schnee, the one who would often visit Fria.
"I was in the area when I heard the distress call. I was told that there was an intruder, but not much more than that," Winter said, looking towards Ferrus. "Officer Thorn, report."
"The intruder is a girl wielding some sort of metal pipe. As far as I'm aware, we don't have identification on who she is," Ferrus explained. "She broke through security personnel and lockdown measures until she got to room 8 of the Hospice unit."
"Fria's room," Winter muttered. Her eyes widened.
"Correct. Fria did... something that I'm not sure how to describe. She essentially froze the entire room, including the intruder, who was shattered to pieces. The camera cut out after that, but I don't believe the intruder is alive anymore."
"I see," Winter said, pausing for a moment. She turned and made her way towards the exit. "Everything you saw happen in that room is to be treated as confidential information. I'll be investigating the area of the incident, so release the lockdown for that area."
"Yes, ma'am," Ferrus said as Winter left the room. He sighed.
This was going to be a long day.
As Winter stepped out of the stairwell into the Hospice unit, the first thing she noticed was that it was nearly pitch-black, with the only thing preventing her from not being able to see at all being dim red emergency lights placed every few meters along the ceiling. Had the power gone out? It seemed that Fria unleashed the powers of the Winter Maiden, judging by what she had heard from Officer Ferrus. Perhaps said powers had knocked out the electricity down here. Or maybe the security lockdown had automatically turned off the lights; Winter wasn't familiar with the details on the security protocols used in this facility. Either way, what was important was checking on Fria's condition. If she was fine, then Winter would need to arrange a new place for her to stay, since this location was clearly compromised. And if she wasn't fine...
Well, it was Winter's role to inherit the powers of the Winter Maiden when the time was right. She just hoped Fria hadn't already passed.
As Winter walked down the hallway, her thoughts shifted to the intruder. A girl with a metal pipe. Maybe one of Salem's allies came to claim the power of the Winter Maiden from the Atlas Military? But how did they find her in the first place? Any records of Fria, medical or otherwise, only had her as an old, somewhat senile woman with surprisingly little medical issues for her age. There was no account of her abilities or status as the Winter Maiden. Only those Ironwood had complete faith in were trusted with that knowledge, and only on a need-to-know basis. While an information leak wasn't impossible, it was highly unlikely. That meant this girl likely got her information from somewhere else. Unfortunately, if Officer Thorn's account was accurate, that girl was dead, which meant an interrogation wasn't possible.
"Specialist Schnee, this is Officer Thorn. Do you read me?" Winter heard from the radio strapped to her waist as she reached Fria's room. "Are you there?"
"Speaking. What is it?" Winter asked as she grabbed the radio and brought it up. "Is this related to the incident?"
"Yes, ma'am. The cameras in that sector are starting to come back, and that includes the one in Hospice room eight," Ferrus said. "The lights are still out in that area, so we can't actually see anything, but motion sensors are picking up movement in that room. Thought you might want to know."
"Understood. Thank you for the update, Officer Thorn," Winter said as she put the radio back at her waist. Movement was good. It meant Fria was probably fine - or at least, she hadn't passed away. Still, utilizing her power in her current state would likely put her that much closer to death. She opened the door to Fria's room, but when she tried to look inside, it was completely pitch-black, and unlike in the hallway, there were no emergency lights.
Well, Officer Thorn had said the lights were still out. This was expected.
"Fria?" Winter called out into the darkness. There was no answer, even as she called again. She brought her radio back up. "Officer Thorn, what's the estimated time until power is fully restored to - "
CLANG!
A metallic sound. Something metal hitting... something. It was coming from the room. Whatever it was, it definitely wasn't Fria's voice. Winter lowered her radio and placed a hand over the hilt of her sword as she cautiously stepped towards the pitch-black room.
CLANG!
There was that sound again. What was it? It sounded like it was coming from the far side of the room. Winter drew her blade and stepped into the darkness.
CRASH!
The room suddenly flooded with light, forcing Winter to shield her eyes for a moment as they adjusted. When she looked up again, she saw a large hole blown through the wall on the far end of the room, with sunlight pouring in from outside. Standing in the light was a girl with a thick coat, holding a rusty metal pipe. The same description that Officer Thorn had given. She was looking at Winter with cold, unflinching eyes.
Wasn't she supposed to be dead?
"Stop right there!" Winter shouted, raising her blade as a large white glyph formed behind her. A flock of tiny white Nevermores flew from the glyph, shooting straight towards the girl. The girl simply watched them approach before raising her pipe and swinging it around at surprising speeds, batting them out of the air.
Then, she turned and jumped out of the hole in the side of the wall.
"Wait!" Winter called out, running over to the hole in the wall. This facility was built on the underside of Atlas, which meant that below was just... open air. A few thousand meters of nothing, all the way down until the city of Mantle below. Winter looked over the edge to see the girl with the rusty pipe falling through the air, already far below where she was standing. She frowned. What was the girl doing? It wasn't like Winter could go out and catch up to her. While she could summon a Manticore to help her fly downwards, it wasn't like she could catch up to a body falling at terminal velocity. She waited for something to happen - maybe the girl would catch a ride in a rogue airship or suddenly show off a flight-related semblance - but she continued falling towards Mantle, falling until she was too small to see.
Winter sighed. What was going on? Who was that girl? What did she want? Whatever it was, it likely had to do with Fria. The fact that the girl had broken into her room was no coincidence. Had she been after the powers of the Winter Maiden? And speaking of, where was Fria? Suddenly, the lights came back on, illuminating the rest of the room and allowing Winter to see without needing to rely on the sunlight from outside. She turned to survey the room... and froze.
Lying in the corner face down was Fria, the back of her head soaked with blood..
"Fria!" Winter shouted, rushing over to the old lady and checking her pulse. Too late. She was already gone. Winter swore under her breath as she pulled out her scroll and dialed Ironwood's number. As she waited for the other end to pick up, she looked down at Fria's body. Her lips curled into a frown.
The dial tone ended.
"Sir, there was an intruder at the medical facility. A girl. We don't have an ID on her, as far as I'm aware," Winter said, turning away from Fria's corpse. "Fria was attacked. She's dead."
The other end of the line was silent for a moment. Then, Ironwood spoke.
"What about the Maiden powers?"
"I don't have them. I didn't see that girl use them, but if I'm correct... I believe that girl might have taken them."
"And where is that girl right now?"
"She jumped out of the side of the building and fell down to Mantle. I was unable to follow."
"I see," Ironwood said. There was another pause. "Report to my office. We have a lot to discuss."
"Yes, sir."
Ironwood hung up, and Winter put away her scroll. She took one last look at Fria's body before moving to leave the room.
The girl with the rusty pipe touched down in an empty lot in the middle of Mantle, smashing into the ground at over a hundred miles per hour. Her Aura shattered upon impact as she crumpled instantly, slamming down with enough force to crack the asphalt beneath her. There she lay in an unceremonious heap, motionless, if only for a few moments. Her pipe lay beside her, just as still.
Then, the girl reached out and grabbed the pipe before pushing herself onto her feet.
Up.
The pipe pulled up. The girl looked skyward. At Atlas. At the giant floating island over her head. The great mass of rock and steel she had just fallen from. She raised her pipe, and it pulled up towards the center of the great city, at its core. At her next destination.
Time to head back up.
Clink. Clink. Clink. The pipe dragged along the sidewalk, bouncing along the cracks in the cement as the girl made her way towards the nearest airfield.
A/N: And that's chapter 5! I was playing the new Pokemon over the weekend, so this took a bit longer than usual.
Thanks to everyone who left a review! While I get the BRS comparison Zekken182 mentioned, I can assure you all that this isn't a BRS crossover (or any sort of crossover). I do like BRS, though.
Anyways, thanks for reading! If you've got anything you want to say, please leave a review, and have a nice day!