Transcript 1: Damage Control

Conversation flew thick and fast among the students in the dining hall, a day after the shaking was felt but still fresher in their minds than the food on their plates. Many dismissed it as a natural phenomenon, an earthquake, but a significant fraction believed it was man-made, mainly as a result of comment made by a certain fourth year student who had sworn he heard Professor Ozpin and creaking wheels of a cart just a few minutes before the rumbling had taken place. The headmaster and Professor Goodwitch denied all accusations, with Ozpin stating he had been with her the entire time, and the shaking hadn't been their fault.

Which wasn't strictly false, thought Ozpin, but definitely intended to throw the students off the scent. They themselves hadn't caused the shaking, it was the vault which had rejected Amber, which wouldn't have happened if she was a full Maiden. Which meant that it was her assailant's fault, indirectly. More deception, more half-truths, he pondered. How many times had he played this game over the past thousands of years? One more mark on an unbelievably tormented and blemished soul. He just wanted it to end.

"I still reckon it was an earthquake. It wouldn't have been felt through the whole of Vale if it was an explosion, or there would be a crater somewhere."

"But we haven't had an earthquake like that here since the Great War!"

"Professor Ozpin and Goodwitch would be dead if they had anything to do with it, it was so big it would have killed them where they stood."

"Charr heard Ozpin right outside his door! And it mysteriously couldn't open, or so he says! Professor Goodwitch could have done that, she has telekinesis you know."

"Of course I know, idiot! Our superiors wouldn't lie to us like that, or they would lose their jobs."

"Would they now?"

On and on it went. Jasper quickly grew tired of the bickering and distanced himself from the rabble. He doubted the professors would have anything to do with this, and he couldn't see any reason why they would. The only thing out of the ordinary in recent times was that interrupted conversation about… what was her name again? Ambrosia or Amber or something…. but that was a personal matter, a situation where the balance between detailed truth and discretion was much easier to understand.

But then again, an earthquake like that was very much out of the ordinary. Perhaps it was an underground dust explosion, hoarded in some secure location. Goodness knows how many dust stores had been raided over the last few months, and with an underground crime network nobody would notice any missing persons for some weeks if they were buried under rubble.

Jasper shook his head. It didn't really matter anyway, nobody had been severely injured, and short of a few broken windows and some fallen stock in the supermarkets, nothing of significance had even occurred to suggest something had happened. He picked up his plate and slowly returned to Team JNGL's dorm room. Dr Oobleck's dust mining assignment was more real and important to worry about right now than speculation over a dust explosion, earthquake or some conspiracy involving the professors. He picked up his pen.

Ozpin picked up his scroll and held it against the ID scanner outside the CCT tower. He had barely been able to hold on until working hours were over, waiting for all those seeking trans-continental communication to leave the building. His objective must remain a secret.

The doors to reception opened silently, and he passed the vacant virtual reception desk and made his way to the computer terminals. Bypassing security protocols using his headmaster credentials, he typed in the number for Atlas Academy's head office.

"Professor," greeted a familiar voice.

"James," sighed Ozpin. I'm glad you're there."

"Always ready to help, especially with something like this. How's Amber?"

His grey hair and glasses shook gently as Ozpin dropped his head. "The situation is dire, James. She's deteriorating fast, and is unconscious most of the time now. She can't eat, we are having to feed her using a tube and intravenous fluids. It's getting hard to keep her stable."

The general sighed. "It's a very delicate situation having two Maidens out of action, and a third missing. I'm having a hard enough time keeping an eye on Fria, lest she also takes a turn for the worse. But I have a replacement in mind. I haven't told her yet, but I know she will do a good job. She's loyal, fierce in combat and has served by me for a couple of years now."

"Are you talking about Jacques' daughter?"

"Yes, Winter, his oldest. I wouldn't trust that snake as far as I can throw him, but his daughter is making a good effort to restore some reputation back to the Schnee name, and public perception of the Schnee Dust Company as a result. She's a very motivated individual."

Ironwood grew even more serious. "Is that why you called? Is Amber going to survive? Are you looking to choose a new candidate for a guardian?"

"I wish it were that simple. Amber is almost at death's door, but there are no standout candidates among the students currently at Beacon. There are a few young first-years which are showing promise, like Coco Adel and India Walnut, but they are too inexperienced and aren't ready to take on that sort of responsibility."

"Well then what are you looking for?"

Ozpin rested his arms on the desk in front of him and touched his fingertips together. "I need to keep Amber alive while we find a better candidate, or if worst comes to worst, wait for one of the others to become ready."

"And you want Atlas to help with that?"

"Precisely. If you can tell us how you are caring for Fria and send us the facilities to replicate them for Amber, that would unquestionably help a great deal. Or if you have more than that, it would be much appreciated."

Ironwood nodded. "I do have something better. I have recently been working with Atlas scientists on a pod system which can manipulate aura to heal or sustain someone while they are inside."

"That's perfect, how soon would it be possible to deliver it?"

"It's very highly classified, only a few select people know about it. I think you would have to come here with professor Goodwitch to retrieve it so it remains absolutely unseen."

"Why is it so secret, James? It's only supposed to be a medical device, or is there something else it is used for? Something more important?"

The general took a long drink of water as his mind raced. He didn't want the PENNY project to get out, even to Ozpin. It was very likely, no, certain that he would disapprove. Trying to make something living from non-living parts. He would likely interpret it as messing with the nature of life and death, which according to him, had been the whole reason for the ongoing battle against Salem and her forces.

"It's… only been tested a few times. And there are many people – bad people, especially Salem's allies – who would try and abuse an aura-manipulating machine – a stasis pod, essentially – should word get out. I've been wanting to use it on Fria, but she doesn't need it quite yet."

"I see. I could pick it up early next semester, before the huntsman shadowing missions. There is no Vytal Festival this year, so an excursion to Atlas Academy's training facilities would be a good substitute and good cover for the operation, do you think so?"

"Yes, that sounds appropriate. In the meantime, let me tell you how to help Amber in the short term with the equipment you have, and talk to you about what I've already been using to help Fria."

The two talked long into the night, the interface the only dim source of light in hundreds of metres, save a few select students studying late at Beacon, and fast food signs visible from the tower. It was past two o'clock when Ozpin pulled up his chair and got ready to leave.

"You really think this can save Amber? Can she really be held in stasis for that long?"

"I don't know if she can recover, but she can at least be kept stable until we finalise our guardian."

"I still don't know if any of the girls currently enrolled will be up to it. Coco's team is touching STRQ's records from decades ago, but they work very well as a group and there's no real standout among them. I don't know if she has the individual brilliance that is needed."

Ironwood scratched his chin. "If she doesn't turn out strong enough, and we are able to keep Amber alive until then, I might have a candidate from Mistral if you could persuade them to come to Beacon next year."

"Oh? Do tell."

"On my last trip to Haven a few weeks ago, Leo was very excited about one particular girl from outside the kingdom in Argus. She has won the Mistral regional tournament three years running and is heavily favoured to win this year's as well. Some say she's untouchable, like a mythical being born to fight. Leo thinks she could take on any of his second-year students, and she still has nearly a year of combat school before she applies to the academies."

"No one has won four tournaments in a row before, and only a handful have won more than one. Who is she?"

"Her name is Pyrrha Nikos."

Transcript 2: Damaged lives

A few weeks of mostly uninterrupted classes later, and things had moved back to normality, with students looking towards final exams and the new format of combat classes. Glynda Goodwitch stood at the front of the combat arena to announce the upcoming changes.

"As you know, for the last ten weeks you have been practising your individual skills and honing your adaptability in combat, although we have encouraged you to practise together with your teams outside of class. All of the individual fight combinations have been tested, and so from now on you will be learning to better coordinate with others, develop more complex strategies, and to focus on multiple objectives at one time. For the next few weeks, you will fight with a partner from your team, and test yourselves against other pairs of students before we move into full team fights next semester."

That sounded good, thought Lina. It was another step towards acting as a team of true Huntsmen and Huntresses.

"Your teammate will be the partner who you first met in the Emerald Forest at initiation. You began working together from that moment and will strengthen those ties in the upcoming bouts."

Jasper looked over at Nero and mouthed "No boarbatusks here!"

Nero smiled back and responded, "That's right, these guys are much uglier!"

Lina just rolled her eyes. "Boys," she said to Gale. "They're idiots, all of them."

"Ohhhh," replied Gale with a twinkle in her eye. "Even big, tall Castor Oyle? I hardly see you these days with how much you hang around Team CURI."

"Shut up!" grumbled Lina. She never could seem to get one over Gale, even though she had had a lot of practise with Coco. Her tongue was as quick and witty as she was jovial.

After the paired combat initiation was over, the teams returned to their dorms to study.

"Exams are only a month away now," noted Jasper. "We should go over some of Professor Peach's dust recipes this afternoon, I love them but there's so many."

"Boooooo dust science, give me combat, weapon upkeep or stealth any day. Even Port's military stuff is better if you pretend you aren't supposed to be learning anything from his rambles."

"I thought you were all about learning and perfection, no matter what it was? You don't like Professor Peach's content?" asked a twirling Gale, tying her hair up in a bun to prevent it flying into her face as she bounced on her bed.

"I don't mind Professor Peach, but I wish people would stop expecting me to be into nerdy stuff."

"What's that supposed to mean?" replied the upside-down brown eyes.

"My sister was like you, Jasper" voiced Lina, sitting down at her desk and looking over in his direction. "She loved data and patterns and science and all that sort of stuff, and you might remember she made a great weather reporter for a few years before she moved to main desk news."

She leaned back and stared at the ceiling. "I'm not like her. I'm not like any of my family, news reporters or lawyers or accountants or other fancy office people. I like to do stuff, hit stuff and be adventurous, and learning sixty-four different basic dust combinations and their hazards just isn't my thing. I might have picked up some of my perfectionist streak from my relatives, but people shouldn't assume things about me just because I'm a Lavender."

There was a brief silence in the room, broken only by creaking bed springs from Gale's direction.

"I get that."

"What?"

"I understand that" reiterated Nero. "I was in Vacuo for only 3 years, but when I came back, I wore Vacuan clothes, picked up a few habits and learned to fight at Oscuro Academy, and have been branded that way ever since. It's better now at Beacon since most students know me for who I am by now, not for where I came from."

He coughed, puckered his lips momentarily, and continued. "But whenever I go into town, and even sometimes here, it's "oh, he's from Vacuo, they don't like to talk much, he doesn't need any help, he looks down on us for not being tough like them. It's always the same wherever I go except for here, which is pretty much how you find it Lina, except it's your sister and your last name."

"So it is," mused Jasper. "I guess you guys aren't as different as you think."

Lina smirked, and looked over at Nero. "Oh don't worry, we are different enough. I'm just glad we really see eye to eye on something like this. It's nice to know you aren't the only one trying to shrug off an image."

"That's a good way of putting it" said Nero. "It's important to realise where you come from, but I guess that doesn't really define who you are."

Nero felt a jolt go through him as he realised how true those words were and how potent they could potentially turn out to be. Semester break loomed large, only another month after the two and a half already passed, then there would be ample time to put those words into action. Where you come from doesn't define who you are. For the first time in a while, he truly felt justified in leaving his family the way he did.

But it wouldn't stop him from going back there to make peace with them, to begin reforming some of the bonds he had so suddenly broken.

Because as he had said, it was important to remember he had come from somewhere.