A/N: Well... this took longer than anticipated to get out. Still trying to iron out the kinks in getting a decent schedule for writing that fits within my (larger) schedule of being a dad. Incidentally, still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I'm a dad. Kiddo's the cutest little thing I've ever seen, though, so that helps.
Doctor Vahlen looked up from her terminal at the sound of someone entering the lab.
Even though he'd only been onboard the Avenger for a few days, Doctor Polendina's appearance was unmistakable. His gentle demeanor, impressive beard, professional-yet-casual pink bowtie, maroon vest and neutral-colored shirt and slacks, and the little brown cap that tied the whole look together. Vahlen wasn't a fashionista like Operative Adel, but even she could appreciate the coordination in Pietro's presentation of himself as a kindly old grandfather.
Perhaps it was also intended to offset the intimidating appearance of his custom-designed robotic quadripod that compensated for his locomotive deficiency.
"Doctor Polendina," she greeted with a smile.
"And here I was hoping to witness the 'Vahlen Hold' that I've heard so much about," Pietro said with a chuckle, miming Vahlen raising a finger to signal that whoever wanted her attention would have to wait a moment. "Both Weiss and my dear Nichole mentioned it to me when we talked."
Vahlen answered with an embarrassed laugh. "I, uh…"
"... Used to be a little more robotic?" Polendina supplied, gesturing to his seat with a grin.
"It appears that the concept of 'Dad Jokes' transcends dimensions."
"What can I say?" Pietro asked, entering the lab to join Vahlen at her workstation. "My daughters love them."
His expression became a little more serious, and he added, "But you didn't ask to see me because of my taste for terrible jokes. How may I help you, Doctor?"
A man who knew when preliminary small talk had outstayed its welcome. Vahlen suspected she would enjoy working with Penny and Nichole's father.
"Your research was instrumental in allowing us to develop our Grimm extraction device that saved Winter Schnee's life, as well as those of all the Atlesian soldiers we rescued from Merlot's lab," Vahlen explained, pulling out a small stack of hand-written notes.
"It looks like you've done a fine job of keeping my work in mint condition," Polendina smiled.
"The only copy we made is backed up on Nichole's gremlin platform," Vahlen explained, "and I keep these on my person at all times."
She remembered when Lily, Penny, and Nichole returned with the documents and explained that Pietro had never copied them out of fear that the information would get into the wrong hands. While XCOM's operational security meant that it was almost certainly excessive, Vahlen felt that maintaining as few copies as possible of Polendina's work was an important symbolic gesture of appreciation for the Doctor's willingness to trust the organization with his work.
Vahlen, Tygan, and Shen had pored over Pietro's notes forwards, backwards, and sideways in their efforts to develop the extractor. While the documentation was very thorough in how to technically extract Grimm from a host, it was surprisingly threadbare on the nature of the Grimm. It meant that XCOM needed to rely purely on Polendina's empirical data to develop their prototype instead of using information on the Grimm to supplement Pietro's work with theoretical models.
XCOM's Chief Scientist pulled out a scroll and slid it towards her associate.
"During our assault on Merlot's lab, Nichole downloaded a trove of data from his system before we completely destroyed the compound."
"What… kind of data?" the man asked warily.
Here came the tough sell.
"Grimm data."
She saw Polendina's expression darken considerably as he pushed the scroll back towards Vahlen.
"That data is drenched in blood and unspeakable atrocities, Doctor," he said. "I want nothing to do with it."
Vahlen sighed. "Neither do I. However, we would be fools to think that the people we rescued from the lab were the only ones who were infested, and you and I both know that all the others who are wandering the four corners of Remnant weren't miraculously cured when the lab fell into the sea."
"You have an extractor," Polendina countered, "and you have proven that it works. What good could possibly come from-"
"What if someone else has this data?" Vahlen interrupted.
That gave Pietro pause.
Vahlen pressed further. "There seem to be a lot of similarities between Earth and Remnant, so let's try one more: are you familiar with the three-two-one rule of data storage?"
Polendina's sigh indicated that this was yet another thing that existed between worlds.
"At least three copies," he said. "In at least two different formats…"
"... With at least one off-site," Vahlen finished.
The two of them stood in silence for a moment while Pietro processed what Vahlen was trying to tell him. When the silence ran on longer than Vahlen liked, she tried another angle.
She spoke in a quiet voice, "In another time, under different circumstances, perhaps in another universe… I might have been the kind of person who would see this data as an opportunity to use it for less-than-ethical means. But I am grateful that I am in this time, with people like you. Under these circumstances, where we have a very clear goal that keeps us honest. In this universe, where I have been blessed to have my moral compass guided by the likes of Lily, Penny, and Weiss."
Vahlen glanced briefly around her lab as she spoke. In the past, her work gave her joy. The puzzles she solved in this room, the discoveries she made at the workstations alongside her colleagues… she used to view them as the pinnacle of her existence. She was here to solve problems, to take the impossible and make it possible.
But ever since she learned that Salem was a twisted version of herself whose origin was a slow corruption into madness by Ethereals who promised her power in the pursuit of science? There was a dark shadow that loomed over the tools of her trade now whenever Vahlen entered the lab. A nagging voice in the back of her mind, telling her that Salem almost certainly used the same equipment to commit unspeakable evils.
Some of the operatives commented on her presence in the lounge the previous evening, praising her for finding time to get out of her lab and unwind with the rest of the team. The truth, of course, was that she was hiding from her thoughts after they had become unbearably loud when she was the last one left in the lab for the night.
"I am acutely aware of how horrific Merlot's research is, as Winter Schnee can attest," Vahlen continued, forcing herself to return her attention to Pietro. "And there is nothing I'd like more than to be able to get rid of the madman's work forever. But I believe doing so and hoping that no other copies of his work survived would be foolish at best, and criminal at worst. So I am asking for your help in reviewing what Merlot uncovered in the hopes that we can try to extract some good out of it."
There was nothing left for Vahlen to do but wait and hope that Polendina saw things the same way.
The man sat in his chair and alternated between sighing and humming while he grappled with the moral and ethical ramifications of what XCOM's Chief Scientist was asking. Vahlen returned her attention to the data on her screen while she waited, though it wasn't long before Pietro spoke.
"We will need more people involved," He said. "With more eyes on this, we have more people to help keep us honest and make sure we don't stray from our very strict purpose in looking through Merlot's notes."
Vahlen nodded. "I already have several people in mind, actually. You are the first I've spoken to regarding this data, but I was planning to involve some of my other associates as well. I believe you've already met with Doctors Tygan and Shen?"
"I have," Polendina confirmed. "I suspect that Doctor Shen holds similar opinions on this data as I do."
Vahlen was already sending out several pings with her scroll to notify and assemble the science team.
"His code of ethics is one of many reasons why Bradford and I value and trust his input on matters like this," she said.
"I would like to have his daughter involved as well," Pietro said. "And mine."
That caused Vahlen to look up in surprise. Of all the people she expected Polendina to ask to be included, Lily Shen was not on that list.
Pietro picked up on her surprise and smiled. "From what little I've spoken with her, Lily has a brilliant mind and an honest heart. The two things that will be, in my opinion, the most critical in our success in this endeavor."
And Penny and Nichole were likely in a similar boat. That, and Nichole saw firsthand what Merlot was doing in his lab.
"Very well," Vahlen agreed, sending off another ping. She knew she only needed to send the request to Lily in order for the younger Shen to track down her friends and drag them along to the meeting.
Pietro smiled. "Excellent. Now, I suppose I should make myself at home here, as I suspect we'll be digging in and working for quite a while."
"Doctor Shen's tea kit is in the corner, if you'd like to put a kettle on," Vahlen said. "I believe he's grown fond of the Atlesian Edelweiss in recent weeks."
While Polendina busied himself with the tea and they waited for the rest of the team to assemble, Doctor Vahlen returned her attention to her workstation.
Pietro Polendina was somewhat surprised at how quickly Vahlen's "recruits" arrived in her laboratory. It seemed that when XCOM's Chief Scientist put out the call, people knew to answer. Punctually.
Or to borrow an Atlesian phrase: If Vahlen asked them to kiss a Beowolf, the immediate response was, "Which cheek?"
As discussed, Doctors Shen and Tygan were there. From their brief introductions when Pietro arrived, he remembered that the former was XCOM's Chief Engineer while the latter was their premier biologist, geneticist, and toxicologist. Shen's mastery over the mechanical was undoubtedly invaluable in developing the extractor prototype, but it was Tygan's background that Polendina suspected would play a bigger role in understanding Merlot's data.
Several other people were accompanying the two Doctors that Polendina didn't recognize. Perhaps adjutants who were asked to come to help organize data and take notes for Shen and Tygan?
Polendina also recognized MacAuley, who came with one of those Vipers that were allied with XCOM. He'd heard that the energetic engineer had been spending more time with those enigmatic creatures. Both Penny and Nichole had very kind things to say about them, which was reason enough for Pietro to trust that they were deserving of respect. They also mentioned that the Vipers were experienced with manipulation of Grimm essence, which meant that bringing one in for this task was yet another good decision on Vahlen's part.
And lastly, Pietro's favorite trio. He smiled as Penny, Nichole, and Lily entered the room. Penny and Lily were wide-eyed and eager to help, while the bubbly flight path of Nichole's gremlin platform indicated that she shared the enthusiasm of the first two.
Even if they lacked the years of experience that the rest of the members of this team had, Polendina actually suspected that that would be to their advantage. A lack of experience meant a lack of "I've seen this before" and preconceived notions or opinions. The outside, unseasoned perspective that those three could offer (and would offer) might help keep the rest of the team from getting tunnel-vision on an answer without considering different possibilities.
"Good afternoon, Father!" Penny cheerfully called out, making her way towards Pietro with Lily and Nichole in tow.
Pietro smiled back before pulling his child into a hug once she was close enough.
"I'm glad you three are available to help," he said. "This might be some of the most important work we've ever done."
"That's a pretty high bar to clear, Doc," MacAuley called from across the room.
"Given the brief message that Doctor Vahlen gave us, however, it may be accurate," Shen answered.
Pietro nodded in agreement. "It's not something that I am looking forward to investigating… but Doctor Vahlen has impressed upon me why this research must be done."
"I'm sure you've been onboard the Avenger long enough, Doc, to know why we do what we must."
Polendina smiled.
"Indeed I have. Now, I'll leave it to Doctor Vahlen to determine who is best-suited to analyze each segment of the data, but my conscience requires that I get something off of my chest first."
Pietro looked around at the assembled team. He knew that these people wouldn't betray his trust. He knew that XCOM wouldn't abuse the dangerous information that they currently possessed. And yet, it was still important to remind them that what they were dealing with was evil.
"We are here for one, singular purpose," he began, sweeping his gaze across all of the solemn faces looking back at him. "To safeguard against the possibility that any of Merlot's work falls into the wrong hands and gets replicated. That is all."
It went against every fiber of Pietro's being to consider using Merlot's work in any serious capacity. And yet… XCOM had found a way to convince him it was necessary. So it was up to him, then, to convince them to remain within the narrow focus of their objective.
"Any information that you think could be used to improve XCOM's technology, any research that might give you an edge over ADVENT?" His eyes narrowed. "Find another way."
"I was there in the lab when we busted out those civilians and soldiers, doc," MacAuley answered, his voice uncharacteristically sombre. "You've got no argument from me."
"Nor me, Father," Nichole added.
"After participating in the dissection of several corpses that Merlot had modified?" Polendina saw Tygan shudder. "I have to say that I am in complete agreement."
Pietro breathed a quiet sigh of relief. He had no doubt that XCOM would see things the same way he did, but it was still no small comfort to hear them say it.
"Very well, then," he said. "Let us begin."
Richard Tygan sat, waiting for the rest of the Grimm Research Team to file in to discuss their respective findings from Merlot's data. Several others had already arrived. MacAuley and Sserana were over in one corner of the room, practicing their communication. Doctor Vahlen was present, of course, with her face buried in her tablet full of notes.
Doctor Polendina was here as well, and he looked anxious. From what he had said to them earlier, the man was taking a big moral risk by opening up this Pandora's Box. What if nothing useful came of it?
As XCOM's toxicologist, Tygan had been assigned a rather large portion of the files to sift through and parse. After all, the scientist that they had looted this data from had apparently been developing a toxin that was somehow deadly to Remnant-born people while being completely harmless to Grimm. And then, even more maddeningly, it affected XCOM's Terran operatives somewhere between those two extremes.
However, though Merlot may have been insane and/or evil, Tygan could not deny that the man was professional with his bookkeeping. Whether he had planned to share his research with others, or if the meticulously-kept data was for his own benefit, nobody could say. Tygan, however, was perfectly happy to take advantage of the gift unwittingly given to him without spending too much time wondering why.
Mostly because the "what" was a far more fascinating subject to focus on.
And if everyone else's efforts were as fruitful as his…
A few more minutes passed, and Tygan spent the time reviewing his notes while the rest of the research team filed in.
"Right, that looks like everyone," MacAuley said from the other side of the room. "Doc? Wanna get things started?"
Polendina nodded and rose in the seat of his robo-walker.
"Very well. Doctor Tygan? I believe we should start with your efforts to research Merlot's notes regarding the toxin. The main goal of our efforts is to understand and neutralize his bioweapon, after all."
"Of course," Tygan answered, sending the data and slides from his scroll to the presentation monitor at the front of the room while he stood up from his seat. "My research is especially interesting, given that it ties into the Grimm directly."
That garnered a few curious expressions. Doctor Vahlen's, Tygan noted, was not one of them. It wouldn't have surprised him at all if she had already reached the same conclusion that he did and had chosen to wait for him to present it to the rest of the team.
Tygan reached the front of the room and pulled up the first slide to begin presenting his findings.
"I'll start with the most immediately important detail of Merlot's research: the toxin he has been developing - which is almost certainly the one that he deployed during our laboratory assault - is Grimm."
"Uhhh, Doc?" MacAuley asked. "We fought Grimm at the guy's lab, yes, but we're more interested in that mist stuff that he vented to try and kill us."
Tygan suppressed the urge to roll his eyes and repeated, "The toxin's base component is Grimm."
"But how?" Lily asked. "Don't Grimm just evaporate when…"
She trailed off, and Tygan could almost hear the cogs whirring in her head as she glanced over at Sserana and finished with a quieter, "Oh… right."
"You were in there when that maniac deployed the toxin, Sser," Mac mused, glancing at his partner. "Reapers use Grimm essence to power their shadow magic, right? Did this stuff smell the same?"
Sserana shook her head and hissed. It took Mac a moment to parse the sound before he started to translate.
"This is something that's been discussed with the Archon, sounds like," Mac said, looking to Sserana to make sure his interpretation was correct. "Some of the other Reapers picked up on it, but the connection wasn't really strong enough to be worth bringing up to Central. It was similar enough for them to recognize that something was up, but that was it."
"Well maybe that's why the Reapers were immune to the effects," Lily commented. "Like yeah, the Earth operatives were also not getting affected too badly, but the Reapers had no effects, right? Didn't Merlot say that his Grimm wouldn't be harmed by the toxin?"
Vahlen hummed in thought. "Perhaps there were two factors, then. Aura must have also played some sort of role, since the local operatives and civilians were affected the worst and our Terran operatives less so."
"Unfortunately, Merlot's research offers little to answer this question," Tygan said. "I don't know if he was aware of the existence of the Reapers, and he certainly didn't know about Terrans, so he didn't have any subjects to study that we know are resistant to his toxin."
"He was surprised that Beags hadn't died from it," Mac said.
The room fell quiet, which suited Tygan just fine.
This Grimm business was fascinating, to be sure. There must have been a reason behind why only those with Aura (or at least those capable of unlocking it) were affected, and knowing that could go a long way towards better understanding the nature of the Grimm.
"Do we know what he was targeting with the toxin?" Pietro finally asked. "Perhaps we can identify if it is something that is missing in Terran and Reaper subjects, like Aura."
"I had indeed considered that possibility," Tygan said. "Merlot's research in this area was more empirical than theoretical, but he does mention several biomarkers he used to identify the effectivity of the toxin. It is likely, however, that not even he was aware what, specifically, the toxin was attacking within the tissue of his subjects."
"Well, what if Aura is like those biomarkers?" Lily asked. "Terran operatives don't have it, and Reapers lose it when they get… uh… Reaperified? So maybe whatever it is that gives off those markers Merlot used is also responsible for the Aura of people on Remnant?"
"What about Penny?" Mac asked. "She doesn't have biomarkers, but she's got Aura, right? How does that work?"
"I have an idea!" Penny cheerfully interjected. "Maybe you can test the toxin on me and see if-"
"Penny."
The look from her father was enough to cause Penny to hunch her shoulders slightly and sit back down. "Right… live tests are probably a bad idea."
"Nobody tell Doc P about Jaune, then," Mac said with a snort.
Tygan wondered if he should be thankful that he didn't know what Mac was referring to.
"What about that Grimmified corpse that got picked up from Avitus?" Lily suggested. "It's still in the freezer, right? Maybe we could use that to get some answers."
It was Lily's turn to get a sharp look from her father. He didn't need to say anything for Lily (as well as the rest of the room) to recognize why he was disappointed.
"But she has a point," Vahlen interjected. "We do still have that subject, and it has the unique property of being part-Grimm, part-human. And since we know that Winter Schnee is still capable of tapping into her Aura and Semblance, then it is likely that whatever Merlot did to his subjects did not completely purge them of whatever biomarkers trigger a reaction from the Grimm toxin."
The lightbulb turned on in Tygan's head. "But at the same time, Winter Schnee is not tearing herself apart merely by existing. If the Grimm essence within her is indeed toxic to her Aura, there is something keeping those two aspects of her biology separate."
"And since our John Doe was modified in a similar manner," Vahlen finished, "we have a means of investigating further into this interaction."
"I will make this investigation my top priority, Doctor," Tygan said.
He could see the look of annoyance in Dr. Shen's eyes. While Tygan was certain that the man understood the importance of this research and appreciated that they had a suitable body that they could use to study this unique biology, his daughter's cavalier attitude when making the suggestion likely chafed against the Chief Engineer's strong sense of morality and ethics.
Given how desperate things got during the Long War, Tygan could only imagine the sort of decisions Shen had to go along with and the compromises he had to make. Hearing that casual language from his own daughter probably brought up some distasteful memories.
"Well, that concludes my findings from Merlot's reports," Tygan said, nodding to his audience and returning to his seat.
"I'd say that gives us a solid foundation to work off of," Pietro said. "I already made arrangements with one of your operatives to retrieve as much equipment from my laboratory in Atlas as possible without notice. It goes without saying, but you are welcome to make use of it as needed in your investigation."
"Thank you, Doctor."
While Tygan's presentation and discussion was now finished, there were still several other teams who were assigned a focus from Merlot's research.
"MacAuley?"
Mac nudged his Viper partner at Polendina's calling, and the two of them rose from their seats. Their findings flashed up on the front screen, but Tygan noticed that they didn't seem to be making their way towards the front. The room wasn't very large, so standing by the front to present their information wasn't strictly necessary. A formality that Tygan was used to when he would present his findings at a conference or to the Council, but XCOM seemed to be more relaxed than those kinds of settings.
"So, uh… apologies to Doc P, but this is probably going to be your least favorite bit," MacAuley started. As expected, his default volume was plenty loud enough to carry his voice across the room from where he stood with Sserana. "Shen found a section of the data that dealt with Merlot's… ah… delivery methods that he planned to use once his toxin was more refined."
Tygan glanced over at Pietro to gauge his reaction. Or rather, perhaps, the lack thereof. The man's face was impassive, not yet ready to pass judgment on XCOM's engineer simply for stating the subject matter of his research. After all, this was a research team tasked with understanding what Merlot was planning with the express purpose of learning how to counter it. Distribution mechanisms, while certainly an unsavory subject, were a critical aspect of that research.
"Continue," Polendina said.
The Irishman nodded. "Right. Well, the good news is that Merlot didn't get very far in finalizing his methods. Seems like he wanted to nail down the toxin first."
"Changes to the material could have the potential to affect the behavior of the delivery," Vahlen noted. "We saw this during the Long War with the alien capture modules."
"Those green mist generators?" Tygan asked. "I remember reading a report you submitted to the Council that the aliens appeared to attune the composition of their chemical to the altitude and relative humidity of the local climate wherever they deployed those units prior to an abduction attack."
"In order to maintain the ideal rate of dispersion, yes," Vahlen answered.
"Probably the same idea here," Mac said. "Maybe Merlot noticed different behavior between test subjects before and after he modified his toxin, and he didn't like the uncertainty from that. Either way, most of his plans were still fairly rough."
"That's the good news," Polendina noted.
Mac scratched his neck and gave a nervous chuckle. "Yeah. The bad news is that… well… he seemed to be planning for a lot of different ways to poison people. Mist units were just the one he had protecting his lab, and a lot of his methods revolved around using a mist sort of end-state. But he was planning hand-held explosives, air-dropped payloads, artillery shells… hell, he even has notes on bullets.
"And that's just the mist stuff," MacAuley continued. "Forced injection was another big one, since that was how he modified the soldiers given to him by Atlas. The soldiers were a slightly different case, though, since he had to care about their performance post-infection. His research outlines several steps he had to take in order to maintain the balance between growing the Grimm parasite and keeping the host body more-or-less healthy."
He glanced over at Tygan and added, "I'm guessing you'll be especially interested in those files."
Tygan nodded in agreement, and MacAuley continued.
"The really creepy shit, though? Unwitting ingestion."
The room's occupants tried to think of what exactly Mac meant by his statement. Lily guessed first.
"Water supply?"
"Water supply," Mac confirmed. "Also low-density dosages in ventilation systems. Unlike the misters we saw, the effects from these wouldn't be immediately obvious, so the delivery wouldn't be noticed. But over time, the toxic load being breathed in by the guys and gals going into work every day?"
"But what's the point?" Lily asked. "Why go through all of the trouble to develop and perfect this Grimm toxin just to kill people? There must be easier ways, right?"
"Unless killing them is only a side effect and not the main goal," Polendina mused.
"How can death be 'only a side effect'?" Lily countered. "It feels like if you're killing someone, then any other goal in mind doesn't really matter."
"That's only true if the human itself is the important thing," MacAuley said. "If there's something critical about those biomarkers that Tygan brought up, then perhaps those are the actual target? Merlot noted several times that accuracy of the delivery wasn't important because the toxin would 'know how to find its prey.' Which… eugh."
"That sounds more like a bacteria or a virus than a mere toxin," Shen observed.
"Agreed," Tygan said. "A toxin is a weapon. It, on its own, is not 'smart.' It has a specific set of instructions to perform a specific function. It does not know how to 'find its prey' unless Merlot's concoction is also composed of some sort of organism that is capable of performing that role."
"What if Merlot didn't need to develop that bit?" MacAuley asked. "Grimm are drawn to fear, right? And we saw Grimm essence coalesce around dead bodies. What if the tracking function is baked into the Grimm themselves?"
Tygan didn't have an answer for that.
"It's maddening that we know so little about the Grimm essence itself," Vahlen sighed. "This wundergas that is invisible, can consume biological material, coalesces into a variety of horrific and monstrous shapes, and can smell fear to locate its prey?"
Tygan couldn't help but agree. It seemed almost too convenient. Then again, if it was something unleashed by interstellar conquerors who had subjugated an untold number of worlds, and then perfected here on Remnant over the course of thousands of years... Perhaps it made some sense that technology that took millennia to develop all seemed like magic in the eyes of XCOM's scientists as they struggled to play catchup over a matter of months.
"What if Merlot wasn't aware that the main intent of the Grimm isn't to kill people, but to target something within them?" Lily mused. "If Salem was keeping him happy by letting him develop a deadly weapon, then she'd have herself a willing pawn to do her dirty work for… whatever it is that she wants to do with the Grimm."
"Merlot wasn't just about getting his murder on, though," MacAuley pointed out. "Don't forget that a pretty massive portion of his operation was about making Grimm-Human hybrids."
"Maybe that was his ultimate goal, then. He could use his deadly toxin to kill people who got in the way, and the rest would get hybridized with the Grimm."
Shen shook his head in disagreement with Nichole's suggestion. "That doesn't fit with Ruby's intel about Salem trying to use humanity as the 'perfect vessel' for the Ethereals. If hybridization worked, then surely she would have done that before now."
"Maybe use the Grimm's killing power to filter out the weaker subjects, then hybridize the rest?"
"Mac did say that Merlot's hybridization process required several middle steps to protect his subjects from dying," Lily noted. "What if Salem is using the Grimm to kill people who are too weak to survive contact while leaving behind stronger 'vessels' who don't need those extra steps?"
Tygan made a mental note to check for any mention of Winter in Merlot's research. Out of all the madman's subjects, she was likely the strongest that he was able to get his hands on.
"We still need to understand what purpose the Grimm serve, if not to murder humanity outright," Tygan said, trying to bring the conversation back around.
MacAuley shrugged. "I thought the obvious answer was that they're a force of conflict that drives humanity to adapt and improve itself so that it grows into that perfect vessel Salem is looking for."
That did explain a lot of things, but Tygan had a feeling there was more to the Grimm. Or perhaps the biologist in him wanted there to be more to it.
"So we know what Merlot's toxin is, and we know how he planned to unleash it," Lily summarized, "but we don't know why. Or, at least, we don't know why Salem wanted him to."
Polendina nodded in agreement. "I believe that's an accurate assessment. We should seek to understand the interaction between the Grimm essence and its human hosts, as well as refine XCOM's method of extraction."
"Doctor Vahlen and I have already begun work on the second point," Dr. Shen said. "We have no delusions about whether or not there are more infected victims in need of rescuing from Merlot's evil."
The smile on Pietro's face was the first Tygan had seen since the meeting started.
"Wonderful. I'd be happy to join you in that endeavor, if you'll have me. As you can probably guess, undoing Merlot's work is the avenue of research in all of this that I'm the most passionate about."
"Sser and I will look into the whole hunter/tracker thing that the Grimm has going on," MacAuley said. "Not sure if it'll go anywhere, but hey… maybe we'll learn how it can smell fear."
Lily piped up, "And if anyone needs us to prototype something? You've all probably seen our workshop down in the Skunkworks."
"Then I think we're adjourned for now," Polendina said. "Thank you everyone, and good luck in your efforts."
As Tygan got up to leave the room, he could have sworn he heard MacAuley quietly add, "We'll need it."
Lily wasn't entirely sure how to feel about accompanying her father to another meeting. Since this one was apparently with Bradford, though? It sounded important.
Why was she getting invited to these things? First the Grimm research thing yesterday, and now whatever Bradford had in mind? She was just a kid tinkering with gadgets down in the Skunkworks. XCOM had plenty of other engineers who had more valuable experience than her, so was this just people humoring Lily and making her feel important because her dad was the Chief Engineer?
Lily shoved that thought aside. Even if it was the case, no point in letting it affect her when she should be doing her best to help. That's what being an engineer (and a huntress) was all about, right?
They reached the outside of Bradford's office, and the elder Shen politely knocked on the door before opening it at the sound of Bradford's invitation. The two of them stepped inside, and Lily was surprised to see MacAuley waiting in the room alongside Bradford. Her mind started to race and think of a reason why the Irishman would be here. The obvious answer was that Mac served as Bradford's adjutant, so having him present for a meeting made sense. But what if there was more to it than that?
What if Lily had screwed something up down in Engineering, and Mac was here to report the facts to Bradford, with Lily invited so she could defend herself and her dad present to be in the loop? Or maybe there was something going on related to the Reapers? No. Sserana would be here if that was the case. What if-
"Hey, kiddo. Glad you could make it."
Alright, so Mac's usual friendly tone meant that Lily probably wasn't in trouble. So that was a relief.
With that out of the way, Lily took a moment to look around the room. It was her first time in Bradford's office, so this was her chance to see what the Boss Man's private quarters looked like. The answer, unfortunately, was "a lot less glamorous than she'd hoped."
The furniture was sparse. Sufficient to have guests seated for discussions, but not much beyond that. The lack of a couch stood out to Lily. The amenities were practically non-existent. There was a screen behind Bradford's desk, but Lily was fairly certain he only used that for work presentations. The colors were the same Atlas white-and-grey that was present throughout the rest of the ship.
If this neat, tidy, and boring room was where Bradford had taken Sienna Khan to discuss things, Lily had a lot less hope that her ship had set sail before the Avenger departed Kuo Kuana.
"You asked to see us?" Dr. Shen said, pulling Lily out of her distracted, disappointed daydream.
Lily could tell that her dad was slightly annoyed by this meeting request, yet polite enough to not let it show until Bradford and Mac had a chance to present whatever it was that they had in mind. Maybe he had the same worry that Lily did about them trying to include her in things that she didn't really need to be part of.
If Bradford was able to pick up the same cues from Dr. Shen's tone, he didn't show it.
"We did," the Central Officer said. "I've been working with MacAuley and several other operatives on a… contingency plan for the trial."
A contingency plan?
Dr. Shen remained silent. Lily was sure he had a guess or four as to what Bradford was talking about, but her dad preferred to let people say their piece without interruption.
Lily did not have the same patience as her father, especially since she still had no idea what this had to do with her.
"But we already have hard proof that Merlot was evil."
Mac chuckled. "And you think Cinder's just gonna let us present that during the trial?"
Wait.
"Cinder's going to be there?"
This trial was between XCOM and Atlas. What did Cinder have to do with it?
"If you were working with a guy and touting his tech as this amazing thing that's gonna help keep the world safe, and someone else found out about all of the creepy skeletons in that dude's closet…" MacAuley raised an eyebrow and finished, "Wouldn't you try to cover your own ass as much as possible?"
Lily hadn't considered that. And throughout the exchange, her father remained silent.
"So a contingency plan," Bradford continued. "In the event that Atlas won't allow us to present the footage for review, we need to make sure they see it anyway."
"Because without that footage, they'd only have our word that Merlot was crazy," MacAuley added.
"And the words of all the civilians and soldiers we rescued," Dr. Shen said, joining the conversation for the first time.
"But since we were the ones that rescued them, what if we were making them say that Merlot was bad?"
MacAuley grinned at Lily's observation.
"Told you your kid was smart," he said, looking at Dr. Shen. "But yes, that's the concern. Since we were the ones that blew the lab, and we were the only ones who extracted all the survivors, and since Cindy has been a very busy girl trying to paint us as terrorists…?"
The Chief Engineer remained unconvinced.
"By that logic, she'll argue that the footage is doctored and is therefore just as untrustworthy as any Atlesian witnesses that are asked to testify," Dr. Shen said.
"Gonna be pretty hard to claim that when we have Merlot on tape, directly facing Beags's bodycam, threatening to vivisect him and asking why he's fighting against the darkness." MacAuley shrugged and added, "A lot harder than claiming that we're threatening to kill the witnesses if they don't say what we want them to."
Dr. Shen sighed.
This must have been hard for him. All her life, Lily remembered her dad emphasizing the importance of doing the right thing, of being on the good side of history, of using your skills to help those in need. He was used to being the good guy. Having to shift his perspective and constantly remind himself that he was being painted as the bad guy was probably stressing him out.
"So what is this contingency plan?" he asked.
"Using the CCT to make sure it happens," MacAuley answered.
It took her a few moments to figure out what Mac was implying, but once Lily caught his drift? The plan made sense.
From her talks with both Pietro and Penny, it sounded like Atlas not only thrived on technology, but relied on it. She remembered learning about the "Internet of Things" back on Earth before the war, and what the Polendinas had described fit that idea almost exactly.
She wasn't sure how Atlas protected their "everything is connected" system from hacking, but she hoped that the only reason XCOM had a chance at succeeding was because it had one of Atlas's top digital architects sitting onboard the Avenger and eager to help. Otherwise, couldn't someone like Cinder just as easily…?
Wait. She already did when she hacked the robots during the Battle of Vale. Well, hopefully Atlas spent the time in-between asking Dr. Polendina to upgrade their security software.
"So in order to prove that we were right to kill Merlot, we are planning to illegally break into Atlas's communication system, hijack it, and use it to transmit data in the event that the council at the trial decides that the data is inadmissible?" Shen asked.
Lily was a fan of the idea when MacAuley first proposed it. But when her father put it like that, it sure felt like getting a bucket of cold water dumped on her head.
"It'll only look bad if we get caught," MacAuley countered.
Dr. Shen shook his head. "The end result is still footage that we want displayed when we get told that we can't play it. Regardless of whether or not we're caught, they're going to blame us for it happening in the first place. And rightfully so."
He turned his attention to Bradford and said, "I'm surprised you're on board with this."
"It's a calculated risk, Ray," Bradford answered. "I've already considered the points you've brought up, but failing to get a win here is not an option. We have evidence that's as close to irrefutable as we're going to get, and we need to have that ace up our sleeve regardless of what sort of interference Cinder runs on the council."
Lily looked up at her father, but said nothing. He was at war with himself. She knew how much he trusted Bradford to do the right thing, and she knew how that trust had to be struggling with the fact that the Central Officer now stood before him with a plan to enact a digital crime in order to get his way. Was XCOM so desperate that this was the best path forward?
He glanced over at his daughter, face unreadable, before evidently coming to a final decision with a nod.
"... Alright."
Lily suppressed the urge to smile. While it was true that Shen looked to Bradford to do the right thing, she knew that Bradford also looked to Shen to keep him on a steady course. If her father didn't agree with the plan, Lily suspected that Bradford might have scrapped it altogether.
"So setting aside the fact that we will have to deal with the council demanding to know how we manage to force the footage on them, I assume you have the logistics laid out for how we are going to pull this off in the first place?"
Since they had Dr. Polendina on the ship, he could probably help them remotely hack into the system and-
"So we break into the CCT with a small team," MacAuley explained.
… Oh.
"You want to break into one of the most secure facilities in Atlas?" Dr. Shen asked, the disbelief evident in his voice.
Mac grinned. "It's not quite as secure as you think. Been working with Odei on the details, and there are a couple of ways in that, while the weak point we've identified isn't as easy as an unlocked door, it might as well be. Especially for us."
XCOM had Dr. Polendina, Penny and Nichole, Reapers and Vipers, Odei and her covert network, and a whole cast of engineers who specialized in technical work. Lily nodded in agreement with MacAuley's claim.
"So who's going?" she asked.
Mac glanced at Bradford, who took the cue to answer Lily's question.
"Mac and Sserana will be one half of the team. They've been doing a lot of communications legwork in the Downside already, so they're familiar with how Atlas's systems operate."
"And since Brad asked us to conduct our work with the directive to stay out of sight," Mac said with a grin, "I'd like to think we're pretty good at avoiding Atlas's Big Brother systems."
Lily smirked. "I bet Sserana's better at it."
Mac put a hand over his wounded heart. "Why you gotta do me dirty like that, kid?"
"Joining them will be Blake," Bradford continued, doing his best to ignore his adjutant's antics. "I've already tasked her with some recon work in the city to help Odei."
And to help Blake herself, Lily guessed. It was an open secret that Blake felt guilty about Beags. Nobody brought it up, and nobody tried to talk her out of it, but everyone knew. So maybe Bradford had put her on this operation to give Blake something to focus on. Something that could make Blake feel good about herself.
"So," Lily said, trying to summarize the plan to make sure she had it right, "enter the CCT, gain access to a control point within the tower, and use that to upload the bodycam footage to the trial."
Mac nodded. "But only upload it if necessary, and only at the right time."
"Which means the team needs to be really good at hiding while they wait."
"Exactly."
It sounded like MacAuley and Bradford had really thought this through. And it probably wouldn't be difficult to get Dr. Polendina to help, since he was becoming more trusting of XCOM in the days spent onboard the Avenger.
There was still one question nagging at the back of Lily's mind.
"So why did you need me here for this?" she asked.
Maybe MacAuley thought that having Lily present would help make the negotiations with Dr. Shen a little easier. But if that was the case, wouldn't he have given her a heads up before coming in?
"To assist with the mission, I assume," Dr. Shen said. "The team will need a technical coordinator working remotely from the Avenger."
Oh, that made sense.
But the exchanged glances between Bradford and MacAuley indicated otherwise.
Shen's expression started to grow stern.
"The team will need a technical coordinator working remotely from the Avenger," he repeated.
Wait…
They wanted her to join the team going to the CCT?
Lily was very proud of her effort to quickly squash any signs of excitement that may have considered running across her face once she realized the implication of MacAuley's lack of an answer to her father's question. On the inside, though? On the inside she was screaming. If only Pyrrha was here to see her now.
"Need I remind you that this is my daughter you are talking about," Dr. Shen said, interrupting Lily's thoughts. "The daughter that I am responsible for keeping safe, who I almost failed when we lost her during the Battle of Vale."
"That wasn't your fault, dad-"
"That does not help me sleep any better at night, Lily."
Lily bit her lip. Perhaps a change in tack would help. And since her dad certainly wasn't going to ask the question, then she might as well do it for him.
"Why do you want me, anyway?"
"Aside from your technical genius, you mean?" MacAuley asked.
Lily fidgeted under the weight of the compliment.
"You also work very closely with Nichole, who is going to be another important member of the op," MacAuley continued. "Brad and I have talked about it a few times now, and the more we see your little gremlin platforms in action, the more we realize how much of an advantage they offer. Both in combat and otherwise."
"Anybody could work with Nichole during the operation," Dr. Shen countered. "She doesn't have a difficult personality that makes cooperation hard."
Bradford spoke up. "While true, you and I both know that strong bonds of friendship have a tangible effect on performance in the field. We saw it countless times during the Long War, and I believe Dr. Vahlen wrote… three? Three papers on the matter." He looked at Lily and cracked a grin. "I'm guessing you didn't realize that the Power of Friendship quite literally helped us save the world."
"I'm friends with Ruby," Lily answered. "She tells me about the Power of Friendship at least once a day."
Despite her faux-snarky answer, Bradford was right. She knew that having friends was an important way to keep your chin up and not crack under the pressure of war, but the idea that using that same friendship to actually boost performance in combat was… well it made sense now that she thought about it. Sort of.
"But you have all these other engineers who can help," Lily persisted.
She wanted to make her dad feel like she was on his side while also giving MacAuley and Bradford the chance to fully state their case.
"Engineers who are very obviously XCOM and would be difficult to protect if they get caught," Bradford said.
"I'm knocking on wood real hard over here, kid," MacAuley added, "but if you get caught? It would be much easier for you to pass yourself off as unaffiliated while we work with Odei to extract you. Especially because nobody has seen you with XCOM before, with the exception of the Vytal Catastrophe where we were trying to help everyone."
"That's not a good reason to put my daughter in danger, Central," Dr. Shen said, his voice almost a growl.
Bradford's poker face didn't falter. "You know that's not true, Ray."
They had a plan to get past her father's protective streak, right? They must have known things would end up like this with Dr. Shen digging in his heels. Especially after he almost lost her during the Vytal Festival.
Lily sympathized with her dad. She really, really did. War was dangerous, and it was easy for him to think that she didn't appreciate that. That she didn't respect the gravity of that truth. But working with Pyrrha on almost a daily basis made it all but impossible for Lily to remain naively oblivious. If the stories she shared weren't enough to hammer the lesson into Lily's head, the moments of weakness and despair that the "Invincible Girl" displayed were more than enough to finish the job.
To see such an amazing, confident woman brought so low by the scars of war…
But how could she make her father understand that? How could she convey the other half of what Pyrrha taught her? The core of what it means to be both a huntress and an XCOM operative? If Lily had both the willpower and the skills to make a difference, then what was stopping her? Sure, she could stay hidden away in the Skunkworks and develop tools for the other operatives from the safety of the Avenger, but-
"Why don't we ask what Lily thinks?" MacAuley said, looking at the younger Shen. "We're only making this argument because we're pretty sure she's in, but the whole thing is pointless if she's not comfortable with joining the op."
Lily felt her knees grow weak as three sets of eyes turned to consider her. One pair was encouraging, the second was patient, and the third was unreadable.
This was it. This was the moment. It was almost like a first test of her resolve, really. If she couldn't muster up the courage to tell her dad that she wanted to go, how could she believe that she had the courage necessary to help complete the op?
"I want to go," Lily said. She was almost surprised by her own lack of hesitation or uncertainty. It was almost like her body knew that she couldn't afford that. Not here, not now.
"XCOM is saving Remnant," she said, stuffing down the urge to shrink from the look of disappointment on her father's face. "It's the home of many friends I've made over the last few months. If I can help XCOM succeed?"
Lily was almost surprised how easily the confidence came once she committed to it. Maybe it was Pyrrha's training coming in clutch, but Lily didn't have to fight her own voice, didn't have to wrangle with her own limbs trying to betray her nerves. She could feel the adrenaline pumping, but it was lifting her up rather than dragging her down.
"I want to do what I know I can do to make that happen," Lily finished, looking up at her father.
He looked frozen, lost for a moment while forces within his head grappled with each other. Lily didn't know what her father was thinking, especially because he didn't have an immediate answer following her declaration. There was definitely some sort of struggle happening between two parts of Dr. Shen, and while Lily wanted to call out and ask him to say something, she also knew that it was important for him to work this out himself.
She didn't dare look away. Turning to look at Bradford or MacAuley felt like it would communicate a lack of trust to her father, as though she was looking to them for support and not him. Her dad needed to know that she was with him, that she wasn't doing something foolish like rebelling, running away, or being defiant for defiance's sake. He needed to know that she believed the words she'd just said, and that she was asking him to trust her.
By keeping her eyes locked on his, Lily was essentially invoking the Kimchee Pact without saying a single word.
Dr. Shen's struggle lasted for what felt like an eternity. Lily, Mac, and Bradford all waited silently for the Chief Engineer to come to a decision.
Eventually, he spoke.
"Your…"
His voice faltered. He hesitated, then tried again.
"Your mother… would be proud of the woman you've become."
Lily's heart flipped in her chest. It was rare for her dad to mention her mom, especially when they were having an argument like this. Invoking her memory to try and convince Lily to see things his way was a low blow, so he was careful to never do something like that.
So if he was bringing her up now?
"And…"
Lily's breath caught in her throat. Her father's voice was barely above a whisper.
"... And so am I."
Without another word, Dr. Shen turned around and walked out of the room.
Ruby hesitated for a moment outside of the doors, her hand hovering a few inches above the access panel to allow herself entry. It had been a long time since she'd set foot in here.
What if it felt wrong after being away? After all she'd been through? Did she even deserve to walk the hallowed hall again? What right did she have to step foot through those doors and act like nothing had happened, and that things were business as usual? Sure, she had things to do that could only be done here, but is that all this place was? Just a means to an end when she needed it? After everything it had given her, all the people within who had supported her… how could she walk in without even asking for something as simple as permission first?
… Or perhaps it would be more like an old friend, welcoming her back after worrying about her so. Maybe it wouldn't judge her for her time away, and instead just be grateful to have one of its most ardent disciples back in the fold, safe and sound. Maybe it took on the traits and mannerisms of its patriarch, the old man that Ruby had grown to love after their trials through thick and thin on Earth. It was possible that some of his overwhelming kindness, his essence marked what was undeniably his territory. If he could welcome her back, with no strings attached, then surely so could his domain?
Ruby closed her eyes, pressed the button, and felt the door open before her.
The moment her senses were greeted with the familiar comfort of grease, machine oil, welding torches, humming lathes, and the clinking of hand tools was the moment she realized that her second theory was the correct one.
"I've missed you," Ruby Rose whispered as she took her first step into the Skunkworks.
She looked around the softly-lit room, savoring the moment of her return to one of the most comforting environments available to her at XCOM. A second reunion with Dr. Shen in his office was absolutely in order, but it could wait after she spent a little more time acclimating to her home away from home.
"Oh hey! Welcome back, Captain."
"Good to see you back in the saddle again, boss."
"Got some work to take care of?"
"Let me know if you see my 10mm socket anywhere!"
"If you need anything, give a holler, yeah?"
A smile spread across Ruby's face. Rather than make an event out of her first time back in Engineering and crowding the Captain to get in a question about how she'd been or if she was alright, her friends down here simply looked up and offered the same sort of warm welcome that any of the regulars could expect after being laid up in Medical for a week. Ruby was back, she'd come down here for a reason, and that was good enough for them.
She took a few minutes to meander around the hall, offering a wave and a friendly greeting to the familiar faces she crossed. Dr. Shen was nowhere to be seen, oddly enough. And Lily definitely wasn't down here, or Ruby would have been tackled to the ground the moment she arrived.
"Hello, Friend Ruby!"
… But even if Lily wasn't at her usual workstation, Penny was here to keep an eye on things.
"I am so glad to see you, Captain!"
"YOUR SAFE RETURN IS COMFORTING."
Ruby giggled and gave a thumbs up to Nichole and Gidjit as they hovered on either side of Penny.
"It's good to see all of you guys again," Ruby answered. "Hopefully things are going good down here?"
Penny nodded emphatically. "Oh yes! Lily is just full of ideas for new projects, design modifications, and tech improvements!"
"Too many for one person to handle, of course. But that's why Lily has us on her team!"
"AND THE NEW RECRUITS."
"New recruits?" Ruby asked, eyebrow raised.
Penny and Nichole exchanged glances (which was a little weird, given that one of them was installed in a floating drone with no face), and Penny giggled.
"Oh yes. Now that we have friends Reese and Ilia helping, our productivity has increased even further!"
"Though maaaaaaybe things are a little less productive when Ilia is here…"
"Less productive for Reese, perhaps."
"THEY REALLY LIKE EACH OTHER."
Ruby snorted.
"I kind of figured that one out, Gidjit," she said. "But thank you for clarifying."
"A LOT."
"Thank you, Gidjit," Ruby repeated, trying to stifle her laughter.
"LIKE RIGHT NOW."
Ruby raised an eyebrow while Penny glared at Gidjit.
"That wasn't very nice," she scolded. "We agreed to let them have a moment."
"Especially since Reese's productivity jumps by an average of 23 percent when she comes back from her Ilia breaks."
This… was a lot more information than Ruby was sure Ilia and Reese would have wanted shared.
The sharp twinge of embarrassment she sensed in her head coming from behind her all but confirmed her suspicion.
"I can feel you guys sweating back there," Ruby said, not even bothering to turn around. "And on behalf of my friends here, I apologize for the rude interruption."
Her supernatural hearing picked up Nichole quietly whispering to Penny, "I don't think I've ever seen Ilia that pink before…"
"... Hi, Ruby," Ilia squeaked.
Ruby finally turned around and smiled. Ilia's color was more-or-less back to its usual tone, and it was honestly hard to tell if that was Reese's usual messy hair or if it was especially messy on this occasion.
"So you guys are helping out down here?" Ruby asked.
"Reese is," Ilia answered as she readjusted her collar sheepishly. "I'm, uh… trying to learn a little bit, I guess. Never was very good with mechanical things, but I thought it couldn't hurt to start."
And Ruby was certain that Reese spending her time down here had nothing at all to do with that. No, sir.
"Well, I'm sure Lily is glad to have you aboard," Ruby said.
"Indeed!" Penny agreed. She turned to Ilia and smiled. "You are very good at assisting with hardware tests, friend Ilia!"
Reese nodded in agreement as she patted Ilia's shoulder, causing the young Faunus to turn pink once more.
"Yeah! And since the rest of us are usually busy with our own projects, it's great to have someone who can go between and help us all out."
A high-pitched squeal, followed by the sound of rapid footsteps, followed by Ruby's world turning sideways announced the arrival of the last member of the R&D team.
"Ruuuuuuubyyyyyyyyyyyy!" Lily cried gleefully, holding onto her friend for a few more seconds before finally putting her back down on solid ground.
"Hi, Lily," Ruby half-wheezed. "Glad to see you're still keeping things lively down here in Engineering. Do you know if your dad's around?"
It occurred to Ruby that a lot of other people would be offended if the first thing their friend asked after saying hi was if somebody else was available to talk to. Fortunately, Lily was not those people.
The younger Shen shook her head. "I haven't seen him. We both had a meeting with Bradford, and he took it a little hard because…"
Lily's train of thought trailed off and her eyes went wide as she remembered something.
"Ruby…" she whispered, and Ruby couldn't tell if her tone was full of excitement or fear. "I'm going on an operation!"
Well, that clarified why Shen took the meeting hard, at least. Not that Ruby's own concerns were going to stop her from sharing in her friend's excitement.
"That's amazing!" she said, pulling Lily in for another hug. "Where are you going? Who are you going with? What's going on?"
"CCTS, Blake and Mac, and we're doing some covert data insertion stuff," Lily answered with a puff of her chest.
Now Ruby could really understand why Shen was so concerned. But if anyone could keep Lily safe, it was definitely Blake. Regardless of what Ruby may have thought about the operation, Bradford had apparently deemed it necessary. More than that, he had determined that Lily, above all the other capable engineers and data jockeys, was the right fit for the op. He didn't make decisions like that lightly, especially with the daughter of one of his closest friends.
"Have you told Pyrrha yet? I'm sure she'd be ecstatic to hear that all your training is finally paying off."
Lily half-dragged Ruby over to her workstation. "Not yet. I only got back a little bit ago, and I wanted to tell Pyrrha in person instead of over our scrolls. But c'mon! Lemme show you what we've been up to down here, and then you can tell me what you've got planned!"
"Good idea. Someone's gonna have to help your team hold down the fort while you're out doing super secret stuff," Ruby said with a grin.
The rest of the Lily Shen Pit Crew had already returned to their work while they waited for Lily and Ruby to finish their brief reunion. The first thing that drew Ruby's attention was Gidjit working on the large armaments in the back.
"Is that…?"
"Gidjit's Point Defense system," Lily answered with a nod. "It's been his main focus for as long as we've been down here. I'm sure you saw him working on it the last time you were in the Skunkworks. Probably looks a little more developed by now."
That was an understatement. Before Ruby had gone on her involuntary adventure, Gidjit had managed to fabricate several turrets along with several hard points for them around the Avenger's perimeter. They were fairly rudimentary, however. Prototypes that were only somewhat functional, and only when Gidjit was "plugged in" to operate them. The turrets currently sitting behind Lily's lab still looked like scrap thrown together, but in a way that Ruby's technical eye could see was much more refined than their Version 1 predecessors.
"Nicho and his team helps with the installation whenever Gidjit has another one that is ready to be interfaced with the system," Nichole explained while she flitted to and fro across Gidjit's latest creation.
Ruby had already heard about Lily's "gremlin" drones since she returned, but it looked like she'd made a custom one for Nichole's use down in the Skunkworks that was equipped with a small suite of engineering tools that allowed her to assist with the team's projects down here. Maybe it also doubled as a trial run for combat drones that could carry multiple armaments?
"SYSTEM IS NOW SEVENTY PERCENT OPERATIONAL," Gidjit added.
That was music to Ruby's ears, given how many nasty varieties of flying Grimm existed on Remnant. One of the first projects that Dr. Shen had implemented in his spare time while the Avenger was grounded on Patch was a series of magnetic lock-in points along the Avenger's flight deck that would allow XCOM's MECs to stick to the deck and act as defensive emplacements against any incoming targets. Nobody really liked the idea of making the MECs pull turret duty, but it was the best short-term solution that anyone could come up with using the limited supplies that they had.
Not to mention the fact that the system became really useful during the fight against the Gigas.
"REQUESTING DEMONSTRATION."
Ilia grinned, picked up a colored frisbee sitting on a nearby table and flung it through the air. The pair of turrets in Gidjit's workspace immediately whirred to life, and Ruby watched as they tracked the airborne target as it sailed across their field of view. Even when it bounced off of the back wall and suddenly changed direction, the turrets had no trouble following their target.
"We don't use live ammunition in here to test accuracy," Lily said with a laugh. "For uh… obvious reasons."
"Instead, I get to play laser tag with them!" Nichole said brightly, zipping around in her Gremlin frame to demonstrate. "I am equipped with an energy detection system that allows me to track when I am 'hit' by the turrets!"
"Clever…"
"Operators can also sync with the turrets using a scroll if we need to prioritize targets," Ilia added, holding up her handheld device.
"OR YOU CAN BE GIDJIT AND SKIP THE SCROLL."
Ruby laughed, but her eyes were glued to Nichole's form that was still zooming over their heads.
"So tell me about your gremlins," Ruby said. "I heard they were pretty critical in the success of the attack on Merlot's lab."
"Oh. Heh heh. They, uh… they were mostly just glorified signal relays for that…" Lily said.
"Yeah, but they worked great!" Reese piped up from the workbench.
"Only because you helped me with the hover tech."
"You don't need to sell yourself short like that."
"Friend Reese is correct," Penny said. "It is true that her experience with gravity dust was very helpful in making the design work, but you worked on the initial design, the testing, the modifications, the assembly, the-"
"Alright, alright," Lily laughed. "I get it."
She turned back to Ruby and smiled apologetically. "Anyway, due to the nature of how things, ah… turned out during Gatecrasher, I've been working on replacing my stock with the Second Gen models now that we've gotten field data from the lab assault."
Ruby picked up one of the nearly-finished units sitting on the workbench and turned it over in her hands. It reminded her a bit of the alien Drone units that XCOM had to fight during the Long War, as well as the couple that they'd hacked and re-purposed for XCOM's use.
"Are they autonomous?"
The drone flickered to life and Ruby almost jumped as it rose out of her hands.
"Not yet," Reese said, scroll in hand and a grin on her face. "Penny and Nichole are working on that, though. They can recognize gestures from their 'handler' and carry out functions based on those commands in conjunction with a target designator. Or the handler can use a command program on their scroll. Check this out!"
Reese tapped something on her scroll, and the flying drone moved until it was hovering just behind Ilia, waiting for instructions from its new 'handler.'
Ilia obliged, making a gesture that Ruby was pretty sure meant, "Scout over there."
The drone immediately lowered itself to the ground and zipped forward towards the direction Ilia had instructed. Ruby peered over her shoulder and saw a video feed displaying on Ilia's scroll that was coming from the Gremlin. With a quick button tap, the unit received Ilia's recall order and was hovering over her shoulder a few seconds later.
These could definitely be useful once some operators became skilled with issuing commands to the drones. And a quick glance over the workbench revealed that Lily's team had been hard at work making Gremlins in a variety of sizes. Stealth drones, combat drones, perhaps even heavy ordnance drones were all possibilities here.
Ruby suppressed a chuckle at the idea of Nichole getting something like her old SHIV hardware back.
"Oh!" Lily exclaimed, "I want to make sure Penny gets a chance to show you what she's working on."
Penny laughed and tried to wave off her friend's enthusiasm. "Oh, no. It's nothing as amazing as the Gremlin platform. I don't know if my project will live up to the expectations you just set, Lily."
"Nonsense!"
"Well, alright…" Penny turned to Ruby and smiled. "You are aware of all the research and development that has gone into defensive applications of Hard Light Dust, correct?"
Ruby nodded. "Ryder and Gizmo got a lot of mileage out of that tech during the fight with the Gigas. And I know we were working on downscaling it for bio operative use."
"Yes! Gatecrasher was our first big test of the tech. We have not been able to downscale the hardware enough for any operative to carry into combat, but our EXO suits are able to support the weight, and the operators wearing those rigs were critical in the initial push into the lab."
Ruby had heard about that, too, though she still hadn't seen an EXO suit yet. What she'd been told reminded Ruby of XCOM's Titan armor, but with some of the protective aspects stripped out in favor of raw carrying power.
"So the new Hard Light tech was Penny's work?" Ruby asked.
Penny nodded. "Partly! We had a team working together in order to speed up development. Oobleck, Nicho, Senchin… even Operative Scarlatina's assistance was requested, due to her experience with Hard Light Dust. I was tasked with the circuitry, and Lily was generous enough to help with the assignment in her free time."
Between her own Gremlins, helping MacAuley with administrative duties, physical and combat training with Pyrrha, and eating and sleeping, Ruby wasn't sure how much free time Lily was allowing herself to have. Ruby thought back to one of her darkest hours, when she drove herself to full exhaustion in XCOM's engineering lab after Vance's death. Sure, Lily wasn't pushed by a traumatic event, but the end result could still be the same.
Now wasn't the time to nag about that and bring down the mood, though. Ruby filed the thought in the back of her head and made a point to try and bring it up with her friend later.
"So what's next for the tech?"
Sure, there would always be opportunities to fine-tune and streamline the hardware they'd already designed. Ruby was well aware of how XCOM's style of R&D was to squeeze out every last bit of efficiency from what they had to work with. But besides that, if the Hard Light barriers were as effective as Lily made them out to be during Gatecrasher? Then Ruby definitely wasn't the first one to ask, "Now what?"
Lily glanced at Penny. "You wanna tell her what you're working on?"
"Barrier Superposition!" Penny said cheerfully.
"Mac's trying to make the name 'Phalanx Shields' stick," Lily added, rolling her eyes. "I like how sciency Barrier Superposition is, though."
It didn't take a genius to figure out what Penny and Lily were describing. Even so, Ilia and Reese were already stomping out in a pair of framework suits that Ruby guessed were lent to the team for Penny's research.
"EXO suits?" Ruby asked.
"With a few bits and bobs missing, but more or less," Lily answered.
The two operatives held their forearms up in a defensive gesture, and a hiss echoed as Hard Light shields grew from the emitters.
"They really do look like a pair of soldiers in a phalanx-"
"Shush, Ruby."
At first, the two shields projected by Ilia and Reese were separate and only covering each soldier. However, the two of them started to sidestep towards each other, and once the shields were close enough…
"Whoa."
It was like watching water droplets merging on a classroom window during a rainy day. The projected fields were tugged towards one another until they finally touched, growing into a single, much larger field than before. Large enough to comfortably fit several operatives between them.
Ruby had to admit that the idea of combining multiple barrier sources into a single wall sounded pretty attractive.
"And if you're using several barriers to strengthen the field, then what about-"
"Having a dedicated battery EXO?" Lily guessed, grinning when Ruby nodded. "Mac's working on trying to make that happen. The longer we can maintain a continuous shield wall, the more time our guys'll have to get into a better position."
Ruby nodded in agreement.
She wanted to ask about all the other advancements that XCOM had been working on. What the Reapers were up to, and what kind of progress they were making with the Grimm parasite stuff. Those questions would have to wait for later, though, because Reese figured out that Ruby had come down to Engineering for a reason.
"So you're getting back in the saddle, huh?" she asked while extracting herself from the EXO suit. "I know we're not the only ones that missed having you down here."
Lily's eyes went wide when she realized that she hadn't asked Ruby about her projects sooner.
"Right! Yeah! What're you working on? Anything we can help with? I've got some downtime for a bit while-"
"Lily…" Ilia said with a laugh. The younger Shen took the hint and closed her mouth so her friend could speak.
"Just one thing, really," Ruby said. "I… well, Crescent Rose was…"
She faltered for a moment, as though saying the words out loud would make the destruction of her beloved weapon more real than it already was.
"I need to make a new one," she finished.
Ruby felt a pang of emotion from her friends, and she was relieved that they were able to figure out what had happened without needing it spelled out for them. Either way, the atmosphere became a little more sombre. Even Gidjit was kind enough to stop his noisy work in the background.
"Are… you going to make the same one?" Lily asked.
"And lose out on the opportunity to innovate using everything I've learned from XCOM?" Ruby answered with a wistful smile. "Hardly."
"But it'll still be a sniper-scythe combo, right?"
"Of course."
Ruby watched as Lily fished out her scroll and pulled up something from her files.
"Then I might be able to help."
She laid her scroll down on the workbench's holo projector, and an exploded view of the old Crescent Rose sprang to life. Ruby's eyes went wide.
"My father gave me all of his old models and files on your weapon," Lily explained. "And Weiss's, Blake's… he explained how Bradford had his team analyze all of the huntsmen weapons from you guys when you first arrived, and he gave me those files back before the Disconnect."
Ruby stepped towards the workbench, staring at the detailed deconstruction of her old rifle as memories washed over her like the tide. Memories of when she first built Crescent Rose, of all the times she had to repair and modify it, and of her experiences in XCOM's old Engineering Bay with Dr. Shen.
Ruby basked in the warm embrace of those memories as the projection slowly rotated before her. For a split second, she was afraid that the projection would cause her to relive Crescent Rose's destruction. To focus purely on her loss. But as she gazed upon the details of her rifle and she fell deeper and deeper into the histories behind every detail, Ruby realized why Salem had been so intent on trying to use fear and hatred to crush Ruby's connection to her weapon and to the people she'd lost.
Because even with the weapon gone, it wasn't really gone.
"I've… been looking at them recently," Lily continued. "Working with Pyrrha got me thinking about huntsmen weapons and… well obviously I'm not ready for one myself, but… it reminded me that I had these. And then when you said you were coming down here to make a new one, I thought…"
She hesitated, looking nervous as she realized that the holo projection could have upset her friend.
"I… hope I didn't make a mistake with-"
"You didn't," Ruby said, pulling Lily into yet another hug. "And I would love your input on any design changes for two-dot-oh."
She looked up at the others, and added, "That goes for all of you."
Because it wasn't just about the weapon, Ruby realized.
It was about the people - and the memories of those people - behind it.
A/N: The next chapter will be coming out sooner than this one, since several bits of it were already written a while back. I don't think I'll be able to keep to my old one-month release schedule for it, though, but it shouldn't take... three and a half months? Three and a half months to get out.