Chapter 40
Malevolent sparks lit up the chief counselors eyes.
"Mr. Schnee," she said, no longer maintaining that warm, confidential tone of voice she'd entered the room with, "I fail to see how interfering with your cameras is sufficient reason for you to lock up a free citizen inside your manor like this."
"Interfering with the house security system is a matter of national security," Mr. S replied, looking evenly up at her from where he sat at his desk.
"That," the counselor seethed, "is the worst of legal sophistry."
"There is precedent for it."
"Perhaps," she admitted, calming, "but I've never seen any precedent that would allow you to lock up foreign nationals on a whim, Schnee."
"Have you read the Gaius cases?" Mr. S asked.
"Those were from the second century," the chief counselor seethed, eye twitching.
"Hm," Mr. S looked up, resolving to check the dates of court cases from then on.
Really, though, Mr. S knew he didn't have the right. Despite all his mad scrambling through the court records, locking someone up inside your house without trial was apparently considered a crime.
And, apparently, it wasn't a crime that anyone was willing to overlook, even for just a week, as Mr. S woke up that morning to half the Atlas police, several delegations form Minstral, and various executives of subsidiary companies readying to knock his doors down and give him a talking to.
A new series of protests lit up outside his palace, led by a delegation from the Mistral embassy.
Schwarz, bless her heart, had thrown herself completely to his defense, despite her initial reluctance, and was now the sole bearer of his banner in that regard.
She was probably the only thing keeping him out of jail, actually.
And, really, she impressed Mr. S with how detailed a knowledge of the law she possessed. He'd seen her fencing with professional lawyers and winning, despite the fact that Mr. S was obviously guilty.
As Schwarz had explained it, there actually was some precedent for Mr. S's unprecedented actions.
Because - and, hear her out here - you see, technically, Thetis, by interfering with castle security, had proven herself to be an enemy of the Schnees. And Atlas law allowed people to defend their homes. Included in this causus belli for defense, was the right to detain a person who had entered your home uninvited or - and this is the crucial part - made themselves an enemy once they'd been invited in.
So therefore, technically, really, if you think about it, really hard, Mr. Schnee's extended detainment of Thetis was actually completely legal.
The various interested parties looked at this argument, rolled their eyes, and went: fine, but can you hand her over to the police and file charges like a normal person, now?
Mr. S said no.
Or, rather, he'd been prepared to say no before Schwarz harshly interrupted him and started her own, more reasonable, negotiations.
And after these negotiations, they'd agreed, after some serious haggling, that Mr. Schnee would turn Thetis over to the police… next week.
And so we return to Mr. S's and the chief counselor.
"Return Thetis," the counselor said sternly, interrupting Mr. S's various musings.
"I am returning her," Mr. S said, sticking loyally to the script Schwarz had outlined for such occasions.
"Now," the counselor deadpanned.
"Well, as I said before," Mr. S said, enjoying himself a bit too much, now, "Thetis represents an existential threat to the Schnee Manor, Atlas, and perhaps even the entire world. We will return her as soon as we are able; but in order to do so, we need to create some specialized equipment and procedures to ensure her handling is held off in a safe manner. This takes time."
Mr. S tried to look earnest and somber about the whole situation, though he found it hard not to be giddy, now that he was undoubtedly so close to discovering the true nature of his enemies.
"We'll help you in any way we can, and the Atlas police have offered more than fair terms for her release; stop stalling." The counselor was growing increasingly frustrated.
"Ah, but there is a precedent for this, isn't there?" Mr. S said. "As I recall, the house has complete control over the security situation of the Schnee Manor. And, in exercise of this right, we've decided that a week of preparation is necessary before we can allow Thetis into your custody. I'm sure you understand."
"Oh, I understand more than you think," the counselor said and with those words left off. Mr. S was left in a quiet room; Schwarz decompressed beside him, trying not to show how high strung she'd been, as she observed the interrogation in silence.
She was happy that they'd won that altercation, although she was confused as to why they'd put themselves in the position of needing to win it.
It wasn't like Mr. Schnee to keep her so out of the loop like this. But Schwarz managed it with little complaint.
The phone then rang, drawing their attention.
Mr. S picked up. "Hello," he answered, lifting the desk phone to his ear and leaning back in his chair.
"Please just let her go," Ironwood went straight to the point, sounding very tired, as one might when at the tail end of several, loud arguments.
"I'm afraid I can't do that," Mr. S replied.
"Jacques, this isn't like you," Ironwood said, trying to sound convincing. "Just look at the news, what are you hoping to gain from this?"
"I'll let her go, we just need to organize the security situation beforehand," Mr. S promised.
"Is this because she dressed up like a faunus at the Winter Solstice celebration?" Ironwood guessed. "Would it help if I got her to-"
"No, Ironwood, it wouldn't. I'll release her at my leisure, now if you could stop bothering me about this?" Mr. S asked, hoping for a good response.
The line hung up, and Mr. S was left with a dialing noise in his hand. Perhaps he ought to smooth things over with the man later. For now, though, Mr. S had to focus on his own plans, his very important plans, the ones which would surely fix everything in a timely manner.
…
It was at this point that Mr. S recognized that he had no such plan.
All he had was one hostage - well, suspect - that was drawing a lot of international criticism. No leads, no method of investigation, and not to mention, no idea who actually poisoned him. Thetis was just the accomplice who shut off the camera.
Of course, the thought came for him to tell Schwarz everything and have her deal with it.
But… well, she was a suspect.
Not a very big suspect, and really Mr. S didn't doubt at all that she was loyal, but he was still reluctant to bring the topic up with her, or anyone, really.
Because, if he told her there was a poison assassin, Schwarz would naturally ask: "but how do you know there's an assassin?"
And Mr. S still had not come up with a convincing enough explanation that didn't involve the truth.
So, for now, he was determined to figure things out by himself.
Ruby woke up early in the morning, worries disturbed her.
She walked the far side of the garden grounds for a second time. The early morning was heavy and the starlight was dim beneath it. The unmarked dirt paths forced her to walk slowly, an unusually dry feature in the usually snow capped landscape. And she had just walked out of the miniature forest, the trees barely twice her height, and onto transition zone between the canopy and the grass.
Here, it was mostly open plain, every so often a small oak or apple tree stood a post along the path, ready to greet her as she walked along. And it was just as Ruby passed just such a tree that Pyrrha jumped out.
"Your money or your life!" she shouted, unabashed to have her voice tearing loudly through the early morning peace.
Ruby's voice was quite a few octaves higher, and somehow louder as she shrieked at the appearance of the darkly figure.
"Hahahahahaha!" Pyrrha burst into laughter, hunching over and paying little attention to the crimson Scythe Ruby clutched against herself like a safety blanket, staring wide eyed at the maniacally laughing girl. "I scared you, didn't I!" Pyrrha accused. "I thought you patch kids never let your guard down!"
Ruby burst into tears, looking away from Pyrrha slightly as she hugged her clutched Crecent Rose with some passion.
"Oh, Ruby," Pyrrha straightened up with a more serious expression, looking more depressed now at the reaction. "I didn't mean to scare you that badly."
"No!" Ruby denied, sniffling and somehow unable to control the volume of her voice. "I don't care about the prank! But, look at everyone, Pyrrha! Jaune can't look at you anymore, Nora almost attacked you, Ren hasn't talked in weeks! And your mom's in jail! And you're just out here making jokes! I mean, I was always ok when you were sad, but… do you even care about us, anymore, Pyrrha!? Are we even still friends?"
Pyrrha took on an unduly somber look, and leant back against the tree, and she stayed there, looking down at the road until Weiss's sobs petered off into the darkness.
"I'm ashamed, Ruby," Pyrrha said at last.
"Wha-?'
"Because I killed Penny," Pyrrha explained, taking off from the tree and pacing across the dirt pathway.
"Pyrrha that wasn't your-"
"Yes it was. Everyone says it's not my fault, but no one will stand to be with me. Everyone says I was under an illusion but they all grow scared when I come around. Everyone says I'm not responsible, but they all think differently."
"It's not your fault."
"No! You're wrong," Pyrrha said. "Even if it wasn't my fault, I'm still responsible... for everything."
"What are you saying?" Ruby said, in a softer voice now, as she tried to wrap her mind around the girl's words.
"You wouldn't understand," Pyrrha shook her head with bitter feeling.
Ruby remained quiet, unsure of what to say.
"It doesn't matter, anyway," Pyrrha said. "Even if the entire world absolved me, even if I didn't consider myself responsible, I'd still be ashamed, Ruby, more ashamed than you can imagine. Here-" Pyrrha pointed at a spot just beneath her neck, "Penny touched me here when she died. I think she was trying to ask me something."
"Pyrrha, what are you saying?"
"I'm saying I know how I can forgive myself."
"How?" Ruby asked, a hopeful note coming to her voice.
Pyrrha seemed on the verge of answering but, going by the conflicted look that crossed her face, apparently thought better of it.
"Good night, Ruby," Pyrrha answered, and turned away.
Later that morning, Mr. S woke up to the screeches of the various affronted parties cataloged above.
After this, he dealt with the head counselor, Ironwood, and, as we'd left him, found himself with little to do after this except to look pointlessly over the security footage.
He did this in secret, on the small screen of his scroll, because he was still determined to keep the entire affair hidden from Schwarz.
Because, explaining to her how he know about the assassin would be some trouble yet, and he was confident he could handle-
BEEP BEEP BEEP
An alarm sounded nearly leaping Mr. S's hear out of his chest.
He barely needed to look at his scroll to see that Thetis had escaped, and that Pyrrha had helped her to do so, and that they were both headed for his direction.
Because, of course, if Thetis had been one of the people who tried to kill him, she'd obviously try to come back for another go. And, this time, why not bring her maiden daughter along to finish the job?
…
"Ahhh!" Mr. S screamed with effort, kicking open the doorway to the next room, where Schwarz lay back on a couch watching something on her tablet - which she'd perched on her chest - and drinking some boxed juice through a straw.
Schwarz turned her eyes to look at him, but Mr. S was already hovering over her, speaking with paranoid riddles.
"Schwarz, I don't want to alarm you, but there may be-"
"Oh, don't worry, Pinkamena's already handled it," Schwarz said, still keeping half an eye on her tablet, and somehow looking incredibly professional as she tried to milk the waning seconds of her ending break time.
"What?" Mr. S looked down at his scroll, flipping through several channels until he found the right one, with Thetis and Pyrrha sitting in a cell, and a stern looking Winter looking over them as Pinkamena saluted over to the woman.
"Oh," Mr. S conceded, sitting on a nearby couch. He shook his head. "Still, that's not the whole of the issue," he said, voice growing serious.
Schwarz sat up immediately at his tone, looking directly into his eyes with the natural stature of his most trusted confidant. She didn't speak, merely directing her attention onto him as she lay aside her items.
Mr. S took a breath. "I think there may be an assassin, or assassins, in this manor."
Schwarz, unlike in his worst fears, hardly batted an eye at the proposition.
"Do you know who they are?" she asked, a slight tilt coming to her head.
"I know they were in hall B12 last thursday."
"What time?" Schwarz asked, picking up her tablet and parsing through the security footage.
"Around about 11:58," Mr. S said,
"There's no footage of hall B12 at that time," Schwarz said.
"I know, that's the problem. I think someone may have poisoned the food that was on the automated dessert trolley passing through the area at the time."
Schwarz rewound the footage, looking at the area from several different angles, and confirmed to herself the existence of the dessert trolley. She nodded at the confirmation.
"It's unusual for so many cameras to go out simultaneously," Schwarz noted, talking more to guide her thought process than to communicate. "Besides, there would have been system warnings if this happened due to a malfunction."
And boy, Mr. S decided, was that an understatement.
Because "Hall B12" was not a small side alley. It was one of the main arterys that ran through the system that was the Schnee manor. It was a sixteenth of a mile long and several dozen yards wide, with gleaming floors and high lights illuminating it, as it connected various other side passages. At any one time, during such a busy party, a hundred or more individuals could have been passing through the hallway at the time.
In all, it had taken the trolley about a minute to just cross the hallway. And that was a dark minute indeed for the cameras, during which anything might have happened.
"Why do you think someone tried to poison your food, specifically?" Schwarz spoke with decidedly calm tones, although a hard coolness fell over her voice at the thought.
"Call it a hunch," Mr. S decided, hoping she wouldn't press him further.
Schwarz didn't, and continued without further delay. "Follow me," she said at last, putting aside the tablet and standing up.
The hologram consisted of a multi colored extravaganza of translucent lines. Each line ran an indeterminate length across the whole of the thing, and intersected beautifully with the various, living dots that hung scattered throughout the search space.
Mr. S was in awe, seeing it. It was beautiful.
"What is it?" he asked, turning to Schwarz.
"It's a forty dimensional relation space," she answered.
Mr. S, despite the alien terminology, actually kind of knew what she was talking about.
"What is it tracking?" he asked.
"People's relationships in this castle," Schwarz answered, leaning down so that her face was close to the floating object. "These dots," she pointed a finger at a particularly bright example "represent instances of an individual. The lines are various types of relationships between them. A person's instance is automatically created when they enter their castle, and all the interactions they engage in are tracked by the cameras and updated automatically here." Schwarz pointed at two bright examples, which highlighted themselves at her gesture. "See," she gestured a hand, blowing up the picture, "these two instances are us,"
Mr. S looked at the two glowing dots, and could see several warbling lines of various colors humming between them like guitar strings. Other, dimmer, dormant lines could be seen going to other dots, and several active ones which connected to other, square-like objects in the map.
"Ok, and what does this do?"
"Well, you'll see if we go to Darkata the eleventh, 11:58 pm.
The map switched suddenly at her prompt, looking very different.
"Mr. Schnee, enter contact dates, desert trolley serial number G5G5FDS4."
And the map grew suddenly dark, limiting its prospect to only the brightly glowing dot that Mr. S guessed resprisented Mr. Schnee, as well as one square object that he guessed represented the dessert trolley that carried the poisoned food.
"Reserve secondary contacts."
And suddenly the lines exploded out again, flowering out into a sparser version of what it had looked like earlier.
"And these," Mr. S gestured to the numerous dots that suddenly appeared on the page, "I guess are the primary suspects."
"They're the people who were in a position to interact with the trolley during the time specified. There is some uncertainty due to the tampered cameras." Schwarz gestured to the map, highlighting the dotted lines, which likely represented such uncertainty. "So in essence, this represents everyone who was in the hallway at 11:58," Schwarz said.
Mr. S, looking at the newly expanded map, guessed that there were a thousand subjects who had passed through the hallway over the course of that minute, and nearly all of them were tethered with inconclusive lines. To ward off the depressing thoughts that came with the analysis, Mr. S decided to ask some more interesting questions.
"You know, this is actually quite ingenious," he said, talking as if he were completely unworried. And in a sense, that was true now. The simple task of going over the situation with such clarity had done much to help him calm himself. "What security system is this for?" Mr. S asked, not recognizing the innovation from the list of security systems the Schnee Manor had bought.
"Oh, we didn't buy this, It's custom made," Schwarz said.
"Oh, who made it?" Mr. S asked.
"I did," Schwarz answered.
"What?" Mr. S looked over at her.
"Oh, don't worry, I only worked on it during my free time," Schwarz said, almost laughing bashfully as she looked down at the thing with intense interest. "It was more of a hobby project, actually, and-"
"Oh, please don't apologize," Mr. S said, shell shock ringing his words. "Really, I should commend you. But, uh… why did you make it?"
"Well, in case you were ever assassinated," Schwarz said with a cool deadpan.
And Mr. S couldn't really argue with that.
"Anyway, where do we go from here?" he asked, trusting that Schwarz, who seemed to have all the answers so far.
"Well, to be honest, our search space is pretty big," Schwarz scratcged the back of her head. "And, I don't really think we'll be able to go to the police with this," Schwarz admitted.
"Why not?"
"Well, you remember how you told me this was all based on a hunch?"
"Oh," Mr. S corrected himself, having forgotten how crazy he objectively sounded, blinded to the fact by the great seriousness Schwarz showed to his concerns.
"Can't we just hold them in custody, or lock down the palace and question them one by one?"
"That's what I was planning, but we may run into some trouble if we try to do it now."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, the number of them sir. And many of them are contractors, not servants. Trying to detail all of them...
Mr. S recalled the recent excitement with Thetis. And then his eyes lit up, at the potential solution she may have provided.
"Well, we already have one collaborator in custody," Mr. S turned to Schwarz on the sly, "maybe we can convince her to tell us who the others are?"
"For the last time, we weren't heading for you," Thetis sighed with an exasperated look. "My idiot daughter broke me out in the vain hope that I might be able to repair her friend. And, as the security footage will show, we were heading to Dr. Polendina's lab."
Mr. S, at Schwarz's insistence, had carefully kept away from any talk of poison, not wanting them to catch on to his true intentions.
And, in service of this, he stayed mostly quiet during the interrogation, letting Schwarz do most of the talking.
"Why did you come to the Schnee manor?" Schwarz asked, for what had to be the twelfth time.
"Because my daughter asked for me," Thetis responded, with all the bored familiarity of a veteran suspect.
"Why did you ask your daughter to invite you here?"
"Because-" Thetis interrupted herself with a scrunched look of her brow, "because I didn't ask her to invite me. She invited me of her own volition." She looked with some respect at Schwarz, smiling at how she'd almost caused her to slip up.
Schwarz sighed. She was a tough nut to crack.
Pyrrha sat dejectedly in the next cell, looking down at the floor between her crossed fingers. Winter kept her company.
Schwarz knew she'd have to make a report of this, and dreaded to imagine the reaction that might ensue when the world found out that the Fall Maiden, too, was now under Schnee custody.
And Mr. S was feeling the pressure of the situation, too.
The Thetis debacle had been bad enough, and had restarted all the dying riots that rose up after the dust palace incident. Free Thetis was already trending. Add the Fall Maiden on top of it… Well, Ozpin and the Council were unlikely to be happy. Not to mention, the rest of the world would just see him imprisoning a teenage girl…
"How long until we have to report this?" Mr. S asked.
"I can push it off for twenty four hours, but that's if everyone agrees to remain silent."
At this point, Weiss came in, dragging behind her the mortified remnants of her own team, as well as that of Juniper.
"I am telling the entire world that you've got Pyrrha down here if you don't release her this instant!" Weiss said, not yelling, but rather speaking in that eternally sure tone of voice that seemed to preclude any bargaining.
"Uh… yeah," Ruby said behind her, trying to sound as supportive as she was confused.
"Uh… I also agree," Jaune said, standing in front of the group. "You can't just… like, arrest us without trial. That's illegal, I think."
"Yeah!" Nora said, hefting her hammer up in two hands like it was a trophy.
A sudden spike of adrenaline went through Mr. S.
Everything, the map, the assassin, the one thousand suspects, Thetis, ran through him like a driven spear. All of it seemed on the verge of collapsing just because of these uncooperative…
And, a bit of self awareness dawned in Mr. S.
Because, you see, he recognized this level of adrenaline, for it had become familiar to him. And he recognized it's effects, too.
Right about now, Mr. S realized, in a jittering panic, he would probably get into a back and forth with Weiss before, somehow, managing to end on a pithy phrase that said the worst thing possible in the situation.
Mr. S had grown up from that, now, however, and decided to skip the back and forth.
"Schwarz," he said, not looking away from the gathered crowd.
"Yes, sir?" Schwarz asked.
"Arrest them."
