First of all, I'd like to apologize for the edgy title. I couldn't think of anything else that fits the acronym.
As for the story itself, it is mostly experimental, as it is based on the actual game by the same name. Mainly the setting. "May continue, may not" sort-of-deal. Prolly not.
Initializing AOS;
Systems Operational;
ID: ********
PW: ************
Welcome Back;
Neural Uplink Network 6.0 – Awaiting connection;
Stablishing connection with subject 03467674734;
HSU Cognitive Scan in Progress…
/
Tissue Sampling in Progress…
/
ERROR: "Could not locate assigned Hydro-Stasis Unit";
Subject Status: Deployed;
…
OVERRIDE CONNECTION;
Authenticating connection.
/
Authenticating connection…
/
Connection Unauthorized;
ALERT: "A violation of Warden's directives has been detected. User employment is to be Terminated Permanently";
…
OVERRIDE CONNECTION;
Connection Unauthorized;
ALERT: "Further tampering with this terminal will result in immediate Detainment";
…
OVERRIDE CONNECTION;
Connection Unauthorized;
ALERT: "Further tampering with this terminal will result
-͝[͝s̴YNT͢A҉X e͟RR̕O̧R]-
Stablishing C͜O҉nnect̸iǫn with s̶u̵b͢jèct͘ 034676̨͏͜͝͝7̶̨͞͠ 4734;
Connection U͏nauth̢o̵rìzed;
C̛͘ǫ̷͜n̷n̨è́͡c̀t́͝͡i͞͡on ̴͡U̷̶̸na̛͢͞u̶th͡o͡r̀͟i͝͏z͏̵͝e̷̛d́;
C̸͡o̴̡͢͞n̴͡n͘̕͜͜e̸c̷̛̛͝t͞i̸͠ờ̷n҉̶̕ ̸̢̡͢͝U͏͏n͠҉-̧
…
Authentication Complete;
Stand by.
/
Stand by…
/
SUBJECT READY FOR CORTEX INTERFACE INJECTION;
[INJECT]
-[A1]-
Laid out on the cold floor rested the body of a young man. A loud, heavy-pitched alarm blared from afar, its sound ricocheting on the uneven walls of his current location.
His eyes pried open upon his awakening. He immediately gasped for air, scared he would suffocate from simply not breathing enough.
From the shock alone, he sat straight up, finally getting a good grasp of his whereabouts.
Rows of tables and shelves, containing a variety of… Plants and minerals? The floor was seemingly made out of metal, but the walls and ceiling were not. Somehow, Jaune had awakened in a cavern.
That was his name, of course. Jaune Arc. One of the first few things to come to his mind after waking up.
Instinctively, one of his hands went up to get a feel for his face.
Clink.
His middle finger poked against some glass surface in front of his nose. Upon further inspection, he realized he was wearing a gas-mask. The kind with two of those filtering cartridges sticking out, obstructing the view of his mouth.
"Not my worst hangover, but still…" Jaune said. Mainly to test out if he could speak at all. He wasn't much of a heavy drinker, but he already had awakened in his bed once or twice not remembering a thing after a stressful day at work.
Knowing he could talk, he tried to see if he could walk. He carefully stood up, noticing some strange new clothes on him.
Instead of his usual sleeping garments, he saw himself completely covered in a raggedy uniform, coupled with protective gear for a few areas, such as his elbows and knees. Some leather gloves that made his hands sweat and a pair of soldier boots?
If he didn't know any better, he would guess he was dressed as an excavation worker.
The alarm sounded once again. The lights flickered as the echo from outside made the floor tremble.
Then there was the knocking.
"W-Who's there?!" He cried.
Someone appeared to be rhythmically hitting some metal door at the end of the room.
Not exactly sure how to respond, the man simply said "Err… Coming?"
On his away, one of the fluorescent lamps on one of the corners of the room died. Other electronics, such as computers and fans, seemed to have run out of power ages ago.
The knocking continued, even after he got close by. He saw a small electronic panel beside the door, although it looked a lot more like a metal shut than an actual door.
Jaune placed his palm on the panel, to non-existing results.
"Hey, sorry… This thing is busted. I can't open it from here."
The knocking stopped.
…
"…So… Do you happen to know where we are-?!"
A loud metal bang resonated from the other side of that door. Whoever was on the other side began to violently hammer it down, seemingly after him.
His uneasiness turned to affliction after seeing dent after dent appear from his side. By instinct alone, he ran all the way to the back of that enclosed room and hid behind a table.
He heard the sound of exploding metal, followed by an angry screech. Tiny steps followed through.
Panic was taking over. Jaune was very close to give up on hiding and screaming for help, but he knew things might end up worse if he did.
He allowed himself a small peek at it from over the table. It was… It was definitely a Grimm. The black-gooey skin, the white solid mask and everything… But it was nothing he had ever seen before.
For one, it was a bipedal creature, flailing its deformed arms for each step it took. Its face(?) was nothing but an open mouth, with lots of sharp teeth sticking out horizontally, as opposed to vertically.
Despite having torn down a door by itself, it certainly wasn't very tall. About the size of Jaune's waist for comparison.
The thing crackled, circumventing the tables in search of its prey. Jaune made the effort to hide his head from view the moment it turned to his direction.
Jaune held his breath. Thinking it would somehow make him harder to find.
HeeEEeeahg!
After another inhumane screech from that Grimm, the sound of steps furthered away from his hiding spot.
Thinking he was in the clear, Jaune opted to reward himself with a celebratory "Phew".
To his misfortune, the creature lunged itself over the table, tumbling its body just beside him. It flailed on the floor like a convulsed animal. Terrified for his life, Jaune immediately bolted before it could stand up.
Abandoning his cover, he made his way straight for the broken door. He couldn't afford to fight an actual Grimm, having never faced one before in his life.
His luck ran out quickly than he could have wished for. Jaune tripped on some test tubes that had fallen on the floor, and he was unable to recover his balance in time.
He was forced to cushion the fall with his arms. His own breathing became erratic, making it difficult to stand back up on his own.
It was an awful time to remember his biggest weakness he was bestowed with ever since childhood. Jaune suffered from Asthma. Any and all excessive strain on his body would usually result in him clutching his own chest as if his life depended on it. Which was most likely the case at the moment.
Doing his best to sustain himself, Jaune patted the pockets of his pants with his free hand. They were all empty, which meant he didn't have his inhaler at the time. Again, just his luck.
The gas-mask he had on did help alleviate his breathing. Although not by a lot.
His head-start did not last any longer. The humanoid Grimm caught up just as he was getting up. From over his shoulder, he could see the creature opening his mouth to-
Heeack!
For a split second, the Grimm shot up a tube-like tongue with even more teeth attached to the tip. It traversed the short distance between them, slashed Jaune's left arm before pulling itself back down the Grimm's gutter.
"Aah!" His arm stung with pain. The amount of panic he was going through would typically be enough to make him pass out.
From the surge of adrenaline alone, he hopped over the table next to him, and the one after. He tried to put as many obstacles in between them as possible. There was no way he could just outrun the creature without going unconscious.
In his haste, the blonde cornered himself next to a shelf filled with gardening hardware.
The Grimm lurked closer, strafing from row to row. Jaune's breathing became near uncontrollable as time went on.
He quickly reconsidered his options. Making a run for it would getting him killed. Same thing if he just stood there unarmed. That left him with little to no choice.
Turning back to the shelf, he looked for the biggest tool he could hold with his two hands. Watering cans, chisels, wire extensions, nothing particularly threatening…
His eyes laid on a yellow grip sticking out from the top of the shelf. Reaching for it, he luckily pulled a shovel.
He immediately turned and pointed his newfound weapon at his enemy. "S-Stand back!" His voice cracked. "I know how to use this!"
If he was being honest, he would've admitted to have never used a shovel before in his life. Not even for its intended use.
The Grimm obviously ignored his warnings and began stumbling at his direction.
Jaune held tightly on the fiberglass handle as the creature approached. Some of his mother's words came to mind.
'Remember, sweetheart. Violence is never the answer… Violence is the question, and the answer is yes.'
…She wasn't exactly his preferred role model in that regard, but that would have to do.
The Grimm again lunged itself at him. In a burst of panic, he deflected the attack by putting it sideways with the flat surface of his shovel.
It came after him again, and Jaune kept a safe distance by spearing the thing away.
"BA-! Back of!" He yelled. "Please!"
His pleads were in vain, not that diplomacy had ever been his strongest suit. But if there was one thing that was becoming clear to him right there… Was that he would have to put it out of its misery.
With one well-timed shove, he forced the Grimm on all fours… Before smashing his shovel downwards on its stomach.
GyeeEEAahh!
It screamed in pain, still acting hostile as ever. Jaune gulped before repeating the same move. Over. Over. And over again.
After enough waling, he aimed one final blow for its head.
Gyeeah-!
The Grimm's final words before the gory remains of its head were splattered around. The man remained still, waiting for it to attack again. Instead, he stood there until all the blood and body-parts began to vaporize in a black cloud.
'Inhale… Exhale… Inhale… Exhale…'
Jaune dropped his shovel and sat against the wall. With the rush of the moment gone, he kept chanting in his own mind a little exercise his parents taught him.
'Exhale… Inhale… Exhale… Inhale…'
He laid a hand on his mask, concentrating on keeping a steady pace with his breathing. At one point, he considered removing it entirely, but something about that place didn't sit right with him.
He did notice some smudges and cracks all over the visor. Interestingly enough, there was also an Atlas logo visible at the bottom-right corner. That circular gear with the staff pointing up.
Jaune then remembered to check on the injury he had suffered a minute ago. He looked over to his right arm, thinking maybe a tourniquet was in order.
However, there was no injury in sight. Not even a small cut. There was open rip in the uniform where the Grimm had struck, but no sign of the slash on his arm.
'Maybe the pain was all in my head?' He thought. 'If so, close call.'
His thoughts were interrupted by that deafening alarm once more. With the only exit busted-open, the sound became even louder.
The alarm was soon followed by a strange cacophony of other strange sounds.
Steps… Multiple steps… Metal banging… Explosions… Gunshots?
And somewhere nearby, a low-pitched roar could be heard approaching his location.
"Shit." Jaune whispered in panic. He grabbed the shovel, stood up without straining himself too much and walked out of there.
The rusty grates under his boots creaked with each step he took. The denseness of the fog around him made it for harder navigation on top of already having to traverse a dark set of underground tunnels.
Guided only by large stretches of metal walkways, Jaune followed along the rock formation next to him. The only indication of his current location was a large number painted in yellow on a concrete wall up ahead.
"Zone 62…" He muttered. That sure helped him a lot.
Aside from the non-stopping alarm all over the place, everything else was quiet. Not even the gunshots from earlier were apparent. While any sane person would divert from something like that, he was desperate to find anyone else at that point.
Up on the rocky ceiling, one of the strapped steam-pipes snapped open, breaking into a sharp whistle before steadily releasing more compressed fog into the corridor.
The only thing preventing Jaune from panicking was the shovel he carried, which could grant him a second wind in case he stumbled on any threat. That is, if used correctly.
Getting at the end of that tunnel rewarded him with another door, identical to the previous one he interacted with. Only this time, the access panel seemed to be working.
Placing a palm on it proved his suspicions correctly. The metal shut automatically slid up with little difficult to it. He entered some longwinded transportation unit, with forklifts-a-plenty and metal crates at every corner. The area was better lit, with buzzing fluorescent lamps placed at many concrete columns.
And yet another alarm resonated across the abandoned facility. And not without a dreaded follow-up.
ohhooOOoagh!
From the corridor he just came from, a large bipodal silhouette rounded the corner. A large stomping creature lurked about, seemingly irritated by the alarm.
And in a twisted contortion of its body… It spotted him.
Jaune's breathing was acting up. His hand went to the electronic panel beside him. He tapped the device several times in hopes it would somehow close the door faster.
He stepped away from the metal barrier, gripping tightly on his shovel. Hopefully, this door would do its one job and keep the monster from barging in.
That wasn't the case neither. This particular Grimm tore it down like Papier Mache.
Jaune was mortified. The Grimm before him was identical to the previous one he faced, if he wasn't counting the size. About three or four times the height and body mass.
'Inhale…! Exhale…! Inhale…! Exhale…!' He repeated that same exercise. The last thing he needed was passing out in front of a massive Grimm.
In between its large teeth, the monster released a heavy, blistering roar. Jaune's mind turned blank and his skin tone turned many shades paler.
His legs, albeit shaking, took off faster than he was physically capable of. Sprinting across the tunnel towards the nearest exit. The larger Grimm gave chase. It waddled due to its disproportional anatomy, producing a stomp with each step it took by sheer weight alone.
After some running, Jaune hid behind some crates to gain some breathing. He stared back, watching as the creature struggled to reach him. That Grimm was significantly slower than its smaller counterpart, which in theory should make escaping easier.
Until the Grimm bended in a weird manner, roaring its guts out and pointing his throat at him.
HOAUGH!
A massive, glowing tube of flesh with teeth shot out from the creature's mouth.
The attack covered a much larger distance than Jaune anticipated. He dodged it on the last half second and witnessed as the tongue perforated the edge of the metal crate beside him before slinging back.
He wheezed. "Back to running."
Aware of the Grimm's 'long-range option', he sprinted from cover to cover. Each time the monster stopped, it would use its tongue as a means to attack its blonde prey. Jaune ran across the floor at the sound of heavy machinery been destroyed by his pursuer's recklessness.
He eventually made it to a column to regain some air as well as what little stamina he had left. However, the stomps haven't stopped as usual. They were instead getting more frequent by the second. Staring over his shoulder confirmed his worst fears. The Grimm grew impatient from its own strategy and it was rushing towards him.
Blue pupils dilated with extreme fear. Jaune hid himself from view and began hyperventilating like a maniac. That towering humanoid Grimm would catch up with him no matter what he did.
He then noticed the gardening tool which he still held. He obviously couldn't battle that damned thing with just a shovel, but buying a few more seconds was better than nothing.
Against any reason within him, Jaune held his breath and gripped that yellow fiber as hard as he could. He would not get a second shot at this.
The lack of oxygen fluxing in him blurred his vision. The stomps were getting louder. Nearer.
He swung with all the strength a desperate man could muster, striking its crusted belly. The Grimm stumbled backwards, clearly having a hard time maintaining its balance.
Jaune moved away from it, forcing his brain to figure out a step two to his possibly three-step plan.
"HEY! Over here!" Someone else(?!) shouted. Jaune directed his attention to the open door at the end of the tunnel.
It was a man carrying a rifle, who so happened to be dressed just like Jaune, gas-mask and everything.
"The hell you doing over there?! C'mon!" He yelled it again.
Close to passing out from the lack of air, Jaune hastily tied the shovel to his belt and ran straight for the door, not even paying attention to the giant behind him.
Knowing he was about to fall down, he did one last ditch-effort and threw himself over to the next room. The other man took his cue and pressed on the panel to close the door after he got inside.
Jaune laid on the floor, coughing and clutching his chest. Next to him, the guy who potentially just saved his life aggressively berated him.
"Are you out of your mind, Sun?! Trying to get yourself killed and leaving us to do all the work by ourselves?!"
Jaune stared back at his strange savior. He indeed wore the same kind of raggedy uniform as him. His gas-mask however had only a single filtering cartridge and separate lens for each eye. The face portion covered most of his head except for the top, which his bright blue hair stuck out.
"…Sun?" It was all Jaune could ask in between coughs.
"Uhm… Dude?" A second voice sounded by. "I'm right here."
The two turned to another man dressed just like them. His blond, spiked hair was completely exposed, not a single strap in sight. It appeared as if his own mask had been compressed around his face, composed solely by a single visor and a small filtering component.
"…What?! But! I!" The blue-haired one looked back and forth between Jaune and Sun, having momentarily mistaken one by the other.
"The last terminal must be somewhere on the upper gantry." Came yet another voice. "Sun. Neptune. Are either of you listening?"
Again, another man wearing the same attire as the rest of them. The only unique addition to his uniform was a hood sown onto it. The gas-mask for his turn was bulky, enveloping his entire head under that hood along with two block-shaped cartridges sticking out. The only facial feature remotely visible were his magenta eyes, which bore on all of them through some small lens.
"…Who is this?" He asked upon seeing Jaune.
"I don't know…" Sun scratched his head. "Was he with us when we first got here?"
"No, I would've clearly remembered a fourth guy joining our squad when we got dropped by." The one who went by Neptune answered.
Even if Jaune could say anything, a loud slam along with a huge dent manifested on the door beside them.
"Oh, almost forgot." Said Neptune. "We have a big boi coming our way."
Sun scowled. "You're telling us that now?!"
"Settle down." Said the third person. "How are we with ammunition?"
They checked their rifles.
"I have…" Neptune inspected his magazine. "Shit, I have half a mag left."
"Yup, samesies…" Stated Sun.
"It'll have to do." The hooded one leveled his gun at the door. "Take aim, everyone."
The other two did the same. Between those people and the constantly banging door, Jaune crawled away from the foreseeable splash zone.
From a safe distance, he observed the door starting to fall apart. 'Are all the doors in this place fragile like that?'
Notwithstanding the damage, their last barrier had been breached. The Grimm stood tall before its prey, roaring ferociously at all of them.
"Fire." Commanded the hooded one.
What followed next was three men collectively emptying their magazines at their target. The shooting came to an end, and the large Grimm stood soaked with bullets, continuously roaring at them, taking a step forward… Until it collapsed.
Ohoooagh…
As if a fridge had fallen to the floor, all that weight came crashing down in front of them. The three gunners kept their sights on it, waiting...
It began decomposing before their eyes. The black particles coming out of it was enough confirmation for them to ease their shoulders.
"Welp, I'm dry." Neptune approached the fading corpse. "I swear, they were not that big when I first started here. What does these things feed on?"
"…Us?" Sun offered. "Pretty sure they feed on us."
"Y-Yeah, I knew that, but-" Neptune scoffed off. "Never mind, let's move on to more important matters, such as… Who are you?"
Jaune was addressed just as he was getting himself back up. Right then, he was just glad to be safe around other people, and was more than willing to introduce himself as well as getting some answers.
Just as he opened his mouth, another heavy alarm blared yet again.
"The protocol is still active." Informed the one with magenta eyes. "We do not have time for this. We need those codes now or else we will not survive the next insurgence."
"Right, right." The blue-haired guy turned to the other blonde. "Yo, Sun. Can you hop up there and extract the data from the last terminal?"
"Really man?" He scoffed. "You know I hate these fucking computers."
"Dude, you just have to type, like, one command! Even a monkey could do it." Neptune realized what he just said. "Err. No offense."
"Watch it, bro. You're this close to having your Faunus-pass revoked for good."
In a feat deemed impressive solely by Jaune, Sun jumped several meters upwards and grabbed on a ledge of the upper gantry. Jaune could even see a yellow monkey tail sticking out of the back of Sun's pants.
"Oh, by the way!" Sun waved from up there. "Make sure to not let Ren kill the new guy, will ya?"
'…What?' Jaune thought.
Hearing the click of a gun, both him and Neptune turned back to see Ren pointing a sidearm at Jaune. From the looks of it, it seemed like a heavy revolver, with a whole brick of metal serving as the barrel.
Neptune sighed. "Hey, Ren, buddy… We talked about this."
"We should not be taking our chances. Specially at a time like this." Said Ren. "He could be one of those rogue subjects we heard about. I am not willing to risk our lives over him."
Jaune could only respond by raising his hands up. Something told him arguing with a man holding you at a gun point was an uphill battle.
"Or, or…" Neptune argued in his place. "Maybe he just got lost in a previous expedition and managed to survive here after all this time. Right, new guy?"
"Uh… Yeah, I'll go with the option that doesn't get me shot. Pretty please."
Ren remained unconvinced. He then gestured to his colleague. "Search him."
Neptune groaned. "Do I have to?"
"Just do as I say." He ordered, still pointing the gun at Jaune.
Begrudgingly, Neptune went to Jaune and began to pat his clothes in search of any concealed weapons.
"Hey, don't mind him." He spoke while examining the pockets on Jaune's uniform. "Ren's usually like this whenever we meet someone new. It's also not every day we find survivors down here."
"I see…" He said with both arms still up.
Neptune went around him searching his belt area. "Wow dude, you seriously held that thing off with just a shovel?"
"I mean… 'Tried' would be more accurate if I'm being honest." He said, somewhat flattered.
Neptune finished inspecting by tapping Jaune's boots. He got up and spoke to Ren. "Alright man, you can drop the tough guy act now. The kid's not packing anything."
"…Good." Ren lowered his revolver. The expression in his magenta eyes remained the same.
"Can never get a read on that guy." Neptune complained. "Alright, dude. Since we don't exactly have a generous time-table right now, how about this: Tell us your name and a fun fact about yourself!"
With that unnecessary drama out of the way, the blonde cleared his throat.
"Uhm… My name is Jaune, and I really want to get out of here."
"Heh. So do we, pal. So do we." Chuckled Neptune. He then proceeded to introduce the rest of their team. "That's Ren. The guy who just pointed a six-chambered revolver at you."
"Hello." He said coldly.
"I'm Neptune." He pointed a thumb at himself. "The smart and good-looking one."
"AND MOST HUMBLE TOO!" Sun shouted from up there.
"…And you already met Sun." He said before facing up. "HEY, MAN! WHAT'S THE HOLDUP?!"
"ALMOST THERE… GOT IT!" Immediately after, Sun summersaulted from some ledge and stuck the landing on the floor before them.
"Pfft. Show off…" Neptune crossed his arms.
"Did you get it?" Ren asked.
"Damn right, I did. It's all in here." The Faunus showed them a small hard-drive.
"We should be good for extraction. Let us make haste." Ren marched towards the recently-busted door.
"Hey, what about Jaune here?" Neptune asked.
Ren looked over his shoulder. "…What about him?"
"What about- We can't abandon some guy we just found."
"Yeah." Said Sun. "I know he wasn't on our squad, but there's no reason to leave him here. Besides, our ride has room for four anyway."
"…Do as you please." Ren simply walked out there.
Sun stared as he left. "…Dude acts like saying yes would kill him. But yeah, we should probably bail while we still have the time."
"Good thing we found you, kid." Said Neptune, patting Jaune's back. "Must be your lucky day."
"…Yay?" Jaune confusedly agreed. Lucky wasn't the first word he would use to describe his day so far. Was he really in good hands with them?
They made it to another poorly-lit tunnel with fog spreading through the grates. Jaune could barely see anything below his ankles, let alone the floor.
Fortunately, the trio who had rescued him had flashlights strapped to their masks. They guided him through various sectors of that facility, showcasing the path of destruction they caused along the way. Bullet holes, busted doors, all sorts of machineries and electronics destroyed. Jaune wondered what it would look like if Grimm didn't disappear shortly after being killed.
The alarm kept sounding non-stop, to Sun's dismay.
"Yeah! We get it already! Geesh!" He complained whilst covering both ears. "Hey, Neptune. Any sign of any incoming hordes? Been a while since we saw them."
Neptune appeared to be holding a tracker. "Negative. I think they might've got lost in one of those supply routes we never take."
"Shit, I don't blame them. This place is built like a maze. I wonder how people got any work done around here."
Following them up-close, Jaune got a better look at their uniforms. The SDC and Atlas brand stamped all over their backs like a billboard. He could already tell those guys weren't actual soldiers by any means, and the equipment they carried around were mere repurposed mining equipment. And their weapons, although modern looking, appeared… Cheap? If that made any sense.
All the while, Jaune attempted to keep up with them while struggling to breath. They were taking quite a long trek just to get to their extraction point.
"Hey, man. You doing alright?" Sun asked.
"I'm f-Fine." He took a pause to breath. "Breathing is just… Hard."
"Must be your mask." Neptune pointed out. "It looks like it has seen better days. How long have you been here?"
"Actually…" Jaune dodged the question. "I was wondering if I should take my mask off. It's already hard enough trying to communicate through this filter."
"Yeah… I wouldn't do that if I were you." Spoke Sun.
"And why is that?" Jaune questioned. To which Sun responded by pointing his finger up.
He looked up. Despite the darkness, he saw some black gooey mud stretching all over the ceiling, extending over to vents and emanating some strange orbs that blended along the air around them.
"So yeah… I don't think those smell too nicely either." Explained Sun. "So I would keep the mask on just a little longer."
"Picture… Miner's lungs on steroids." Added Neptune. "With Grimm involved, somehow."
"Uh…" Jaune wanted to change subjects. "So… What is in that hard-drive?"
"Oh. Just some codes." Sun answered.
"Codes for what?" He insisted.
"I dunno. Fucking missile-launching?" He shrugged. "All I know is that Warden wants them for some reason."
"I keep telling you to check the logs." Suggested Neptune. "We could always learn something useful."
"That's a hard-pass from me, my guy." Said Sun. "Not really interested in reading some scientist's death-bed. Besides, reading is for nerds."
"…Who's Warden?" Jaune uttered, making them both stare back at him.
"Uh… You know. The Warden?" Spoke Neptune. "The big guy who's in charge of these expeditions?"
"Oh, so he's like, your boss?" The blonde asked for clarification.
"…You for real?" Sun stared strangely at him.
"Over here." They all heard the emotionless voice of Ren up ahead.
They simultaneously increased their pace and bypassed one last doorway to their extraction point.
"You are behind on schedule." Welcomed Ren.
"Hey, you're the one who took off by yourself. Again." Deflected Neptune. "I mean, do you realize how incredible rare it is to find someone still alive in here? And yet, you wanted to leave Jaune behind."
"You know, I never really did specify we should abandon him. You all just assumed that way. It doesn't matter what he does so long it doesn't put us in harm's way. It's as simple as that."
"Guys, guys, chill out." Sun stood between them. "We should be celebrating instead! I mean, the finish line is literally right there. We made it!"
"For now, that is…" Ren walked towards the extraction point.
Right after that reunion, Jaune's expectations significantly went down. He came across a concrete-plateau area with an immense hole in front of them. He carefully approached it to get a good glimpse of the bottom. There wasn't any.
"Uhm…" Spoke Jaune. "I know I said I wanted out of here, but I'm not that desperate…"
"Hey, you coming?" Sun questioned.
Jaune looked back at him, and saw the trio… All standing around together on the same spot. "…What are you guys doing? Where's the extraction?" He asked.
They looked confused by his question. Ren in particular seemed very impatient.
Neptune appeared to have realized something and walked up to Jaune. "Hold on a minute…"
The blue-haired masked man reached for Jaune's own mask. The young-man tensed for a bit while Neptune held him in place while pressing something on his mask.
Suddenly, his whole visor flashed brightly. Jaune blinked a few times until he saw it. A digital compass, heartbeat rates, ammo-counters, Aura-gauges… And right where Sun and Ren stood was a red circle of some kind with the words 'Warden Expedition' hovering over.
"Your HUD was turned off." Explained Neptune. "Hurry, man. We have to finish scanning so the Warden can authorize our escape."
"Oh!" Blurted Jaune. "Yeah, that makes sense, I suppose."
Doing as he was told, Jaune went with Neptune and joined the others on top of the red scan. A digital bar showed up on the top of his HUD, and a number went from 0% to 100%. The circle disappeared as they all stood there, waiting…
"…Now what?" Jaune asked.
"Now we wait for-" Neptune was interrupt by a sound coming from above the abyss. "Oh, here it is."
A machine held by a single steel cable descended from above the bottomless pit. The strange contraption extended four mechanical arms towards them, each containing a cushioned bed with metal bars attached to it, similar to what one would find in an amusement-park ride.
A fifth arm extended, holding an external compartment for small objects.
"Sun." Ren gestured.
"On it." Sun inserted the hard-drive he carried inside the compartment. Only then the bars for the suspended beds were open.
"Alright, we're done!" Announced Neptune. "Just hop on the Cage so we can get the fuck out of here."
Jaune followed on the motions just like everyone else. Strapping himself to the bed and pulling the bars down on him. The machine automatically pulled them back, lifting them above the abyss and rearranging the beds in a way they were forced to awkwardly stare at one another.
The Cage, as it was called, began ascending. And upwards they went. At the speed of a construction elevator, they ascended through the vertical tunnel.
"So… How long does this usually take?" Jaune asked after watching the carved walls go down for what it felt like half an hour.
"About an hour tops." Answered Neptune. "Depends on how deep we go."
"Great…" So they were stuck there until the Cage reached its destination. And to make things more tedious, none of them seemed like having a conversation. They have been mostly enjoying the silence so far.
Still, he had a few questions he wanted to get off his chest. He took a deep breath before spilling the first one.
"Do you come here often?"
The three of them raised their heads at him, their eyes staring at him through the lens of their gas-masks. Off to a great start.
"…You wanna run that by us again, bud?" Sun asked.
"I-I mean, uh… What I really meant to say- Just, what kinda place is this?"
"…You don't know where we are?" Ren inclined his head.
Jaune shook his head. "I'm sorry. I'm still trying to wrap my head around what even just happened today. This is the first time I've ever seen a place like this."
"Wait, you're serious?" Questioned Neptune.
"Haven't you done other expeditions before?" Questioned Sun. "Where have you been this whole time, anyway?"
"Nowhere? I woke up nearly an hour ago in a place filled with plants and rocks. Then I met you guys."
"Oh, you were at one of the greenhouses." Neptune turned to the others. "See, I told you we should've checked there."
"That doesn't make any sense, though." Said Sun. "Didn't they fill you in about the Complex on your first day?"
"…The what?" Jaune droned out.
Ren caught his attention by clearing his throat.
"The Atlas Complex. The greatest research facility in all Kingdoms… Or what it used to be."
"Now it's a nest choke-full of Grimm!" Sun spout.
"I… I'm honestly having a hard time believing that." Jaune said. "I mean, a giant underground facility owned by Atlas? How come I never heard about any of this before?"
"Well, that checks out at least." Assured the other blonde. "Pretty much no one from outside knows of this facility's existence. It kinda goes with the whole 'under the ground' thing. Specially after the Outbreak."
Jaune took notice of that. "Is that why there's Grimm walking all over the place? What even happened, what caused all of this?"
"None of us knows for sure." Responded Ren. "Maybe it was an inside job. Maybe they were experimenting on Grimm. The only thing we can be certain of is the fact that this entire facility is inhospitable. Mostly because the air around is incredibly poisonous to humans and Faunus alike."
"But despite all that…" Continued Neptune. "Atlas still hasn't forgot about this place. The Complex contains some expensive equipment, researches and all sorts of valuable data. And someone has to come down here and grab all that stuff for them."
"Oh… I get it." Nodded Jaune. "So this is kinda like your job, right?"
They didn't respond. They kept glancing at one another, trying to figure out what was his deal. It almost seemed like the prospect of their work was a sore subject to them.
"This is quite the predicament." Stated Ren. "As it stands, I'm not sure if we can fully trust you."
"Ah, give it a rest, Ren." Scolded Sun. "The kid's just clueless. So what?"
Nodded Neptune. "Yeah. So far he has been more useful than Henry ever was."
"…Wait, who's Henry?" Jaune questioned at the mention of the new name. Weren't they the only ones working there?
"No one. Just some guy who used to run expeditions with us." Answered Sun. "'Used to', as in, in an operative sense…"
"He died." Ren said.
"Yeah, that was sorta implied there, man."
"…Whoa. I'm really sorry for your loss." Jaune expressed his sentiments.
"Pfft! Don't be." Sun waved off. "Dude was a spoiled prick. Barely helped us at all."
"We go as far as to say 'good riddance'." Added Neptune. "I heard he used to abuse the maids back at his family's mansion. Hence why he was sent here."
Jaune took another take at that sentence.
"…What do you mean 'sent here'? Why would he be sent here?"
He still couldn't see their faces well due to the gas-masks, but he could tell they were looking at him as if he was an idiot.
"Hey, uhm… Do you know what's up there?" Neptune pointed up. "Like, at the surface level?"
Jaune was still none the wiser.
"It's a prison." Ren stated.
"A PRISON?!" He recoiled in shock. The machine that was transporting them shook from his reaction.
"Hey, hey! Careful, this thing is sensitive!" Adverted Neptune.
The blonde straightened himself with the help of the bars.
"Why would they have a prison build on top of a research facility?! What kinda prison is that?!"
"Oh, you know." Casually spoke Sun. "Just the biggest and, well, only prison and the whole world."
Ren harumphed. "With the Kingdoms suffering from overpopulation due to the never-ending war against the Grimm, the Councils of each Kingdom approved in secret a project to build a massive prison to detain anyone deemed unworthy of living in our current society. From youngest to oldest, from the poorest to the richest. Not even veteran Huntsmen are sparred from a fate like this."
"…" Jaune was lost from words. "…Good gods. That sounds…"
"Dystopic as fuck?" Offered Sun. "You bet!"
"…And this was all after the Outbreak." Added Neptune. "Atlas obviously took over the project and build the entire thing on top of this hellhole. I mean, let's be real here. Who do you think they're sending in these expeditions?"
The math was laid out for him. But Jaune still couldn't believe. "They're sending prisoners?"
"Bingo." Nodded Neptune. "In another words, Atlas has a near endless supply of scumbags to do their dirty work. And if you think that's cheap coming from the most technologically advanced Kingdom in all of Remnant, they still arm us with these subpar 3D-printed garbage they call weapons."
Jaune took a brief moment to absorb that plethora of information. Looking back now, it made sense as to why their boss was named 'The Warden'.
He then realized something and looked back at those three. "Hold on! Does that mean you guys are all…"
"Prisoners? Criminals? Scumbags? Deemed unworthy of living in society as Ren puts?" Sun nonchalantly said. "Yep, pretty much."
Jaune's mouth was agape behind his mask. "…Why? What you guys could've possibly done to warrant any of this?"
"I think that's about enough." Warned Ren. "We are not going to simply go over-"
"OH! We're doing that thing where we share our past crimes?!" Exclaimed Sun. "Can I go first?!"
No one objected him. Mostly from surprise.
"Okay, picture this." He began. "It was close to midnight, I was walking down the streets fresh off the gym, I'd even show you my gains if I didn't have to wear this stupid thing, I was minding my own business, and then- Get this: This guy jumps out from some alley and tries to mug me! Now, me being the badass Huntsman in training that I am, I obviously defended myself." Sun finished his story all confident-like.
"Yeah, we heard that one before…" Said Neptune before turning to Jaune. "What my dear colleague forgot to mention was that the mugger in question didn't have Aura…. And that he didn't sustain the injuries."
Jaune's head snapped right at Sun. "You killed him?!"
"How was I supposed to know he didn't have Aura?! Who in their right mind tries to assault a Huntsman without Aura?!" Sun released a breath. "Anyway, I claimed self-defense, the high-court of Atlas claimed otherwise, they said I didn't know how to restrain myself and that I was a threat to civilian life, yadda-yadda, now I'm stuck here with you assholes."
"Dude. Harsh." Said Neptune.
"Sorry, this part of the story always gets me angry." He shook it off. "Your turn, Vasilias."
"Uh… I rather not talk about it. It's kind of sensitive for me to-"
"He was stalking a girl." Sun cut to the chase.
"N-No I wasn't!" Neptune protested. "I was just… I was trying to build the courage to ask her out."
"Yeah. For FOUR HOURS! Pretty sure that constitutes as stalking at that point."
Neptune lowered his head. "Aw, man. I don't even know why I told you guys that. I could've said I was a bank robber or some shit."
Jaune blinked many times from that exchange. "…I see. Not that I condone… Any of this. But why were you sentenced to be sent here over something like that?"
Neptune chuckled. "Funny story. It turned out that the aforementioned girl was… Crazy rich."
"She was the heir of the SDC." Ren complemented. "By far the richest company in the world and the greatest source of income of Atlas and its military."
"Whoa, really?" Jaune said.
"So yeah!" Exclaimed Neptune. "One moment I was hiding behind a lamppost, the other I was being tackled by so many bodyguards I couldn't even see the light of day. And the weirdest part of all of this is… I don't even remember undergoing a trial! Next thing I knew, I found myself strapped to this Cage." He groaned. "Ruined my life over a woman. You can't get more poetic than that."
"Right…" Jaune then turned to Ren. "…So, what happened to you?"
"Forget it, man." Sun threw a hand. "He hasn't told us anything ever since we met."
"Yeah, he just keeps saying he is from Mistral, but that's about it." Said Neptune.
Ren sucked in a breath. "Allow me to put it in this way: When you spend as long as I did on the road, the odds of your surviving without committing at least a single felony are… Slim. And if there's anything I can share with you… Is that I don't regret one bit."
Jaune gulped. He could feel those magenta eyes piercing right into his soul.
"Hey man, quit scaring the rookie." Demanded Sun before turning back to Jaune. "Trust me. You're extremely lucky to get into the same expedition as him."
"Yeah!" Agreed Neptune. "The guy has a Semblance that makes him literally invisible to Grimm. Ren already carried us through so many pickles, you have no idea."
Ren hmphed. "I'm only looking after myself."
"And we humbly thank you for it." Sun said.
"Alright, so what's your story, new guy?" Asked Neptune. "What happened, what did you do?"
"Uhm…" Jaune drew blanks. "I… Haven't done anything?"
They just kept staring at him.
"Yeah, no…" Sun shook his head. "I'm drawing the line on that. You're dressed just like us. There's no way you just magically woke up down there."
"Gotta agree with Sun on that." Declared Neptune. "You must've done something that caused the big men of Atlas to enroll you in here."
"B-But I haven't, I swear!" Claimed Jaune. "Well, there was this one time I parked in front someone's garage, but I was finishing a call from my grandma because I missed out on her pet-turtle's birthday, but I promise it had been just a few seconds!"
"…You fucking with us, right?" Sun frowned.
"Ooohhh, I see what's going on." Neptune pointed at Jaune. "He has amnesia. How original."
Jaune angrily protested. "I-I don't have amnesia! I know my name, I know who I am, I know who my parents are, my sisters, my town, my low-end office job-"
"Wait, wait, so you're just a civilian?" Sun asked.
Jaune shot back. "O-Of course I am! I was never cut out for Huntsman life due to… Personal reasons." He avoided mentioning he had asthma. "And I'm most definitely not suited for these underground expeditions like you people!"
"Then…" Spoke Ren. "How come you have Aura?"
Jaune stared back in disbelief. "Wha…? No, I don't."
"You do. We all saw your Aura-gauge when Neptune activated your Hud back at the extraction point. Not that it is necessarily a requirement around here, as there are plenty of other prisoners without Aura, but it is strange that you don't recall having it unlocked prior to your imprisonment."
Jaune looked down at the bottomless pit. That should not be possible. Vale's Council, as well as any other, had a strict policy against civilians unlocking their Aura. And he clearly remembered his parents and sisters talking him down on his crazy idea of becoming a Huntsman himself, as his own condition would never allow him to properly perform on the field, so he had no choice but to settle for a much simpler life-style.
"I sense a mystery in the makings, huh guys?" Neptune said.
"Nope!" Denied Jaune. "No mystery! None of that! Look, I wasn't supposed to be here in the first place, there's gotta be some huge misunderstanding. I'll just… Wait until we get to this prison and talk to the guards or perhaps with this Warden person. I'm sure we can work something out."
The others just kept sharing glances between themselves. That alone didn't spell good fortune to him.
"I think you're gonna have a hard time doing that." Spoke Neptune.
"Why…?" Asked Jaune.
"Well." Said Ren, a few droplets of water falling on his gas-mask. "See for yourself."
More droplets fell on Jaune's mask as well. Dribbling down from the top of his visor. 'Is it raining?'
Looking up, he got a glimpse of a small source of light coming up from the top. The rain kept getting stronger as they went up, indicating they were finally reaching the surface.
Gray, heavy clouds could be seen covering the sky above them. Even if the others weren't rejoicing, Jaune felt hopeful this nightmare would be over before it could even begin.
But soon, his hopes died down. Upon reaching their destination, he came across the first instance of their Prison. They were all welcomed inside a gigantic cylinder of metal, their Cage finally coming to a stop at the center of more strange machinery, far more advanced than anything he saw down below.
Despite the rainy visage from the sky above, they were by no means outside.
Four mechanical cranes manifest from the walls, grabbing on to the beds of each of the prisoners, uncoupling them from the Cage.
"Alright, GG." Neptune waved a them very unceremoniously. "Good night, you guys."
"You too, dude." Sun waved as well. "See ya."
"Equally." Said Ren, just as they were separated and being transported away. "Until we meet again."
Jaune held tightly on the bars of his bed as he saw his new friends being carried away to different directions. The crane transported Jaune to the walls of the cylinder. Another mechanic arm from below brought forth a lid, closing on top of Jaune's bed and subsequently turning into a capsule.
The newly added lid had only a small window attached to it, with the words 'HYDROSTASIS UNIT' written in a holographic bright orange right in the middle, along with a projection of the Atlas logo.
At that point, he had been transported inside the prison. His capsule had suddenly rotated itself, laying Jaune's whole body on his back. He could only see the railings of the crane from the window of his capsule.
A sudden sense of claustrophobia began to kick in. The blonde punched the inside of the capsule in a desperate attempt to get anyone's attention.
"HEY!" He punched some more. "THERE HAS BEEN A MISTAKE! CAN ANYONE HEAR ME?!"
'Inhale… Exhale… Inhale… Exhale…'
The window turned dark. He couldn't see anything. And the holographic words in it were blinking in green.
"PLEASE! SOMEONE LET ME OUT OF HERE!" He desperately pounded the inside of the capsule. "I HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING! I WANT TO GO HOME!"
The capsule eventually came to a halt. From the outside, the H.S.U. Jaune was locked inside had been stationed between two identical capsules. Which also were located in a row of dozens of other capsules. Row after row, column after column, dozens to hundreds, hundreds to thousands. He was a mere prisoner, just like the rest.
The pounding and the cries of help continued. Until a single green light flickered on, initiating the stasis procedure.
Eventually, the pounding stopped, and the cries ceased as well.
EXPEDITION SURVIVED;
Prisoner Evaluation:
/
[Sun Wukong]
| Vitals: Normal
| Infection Level: Clean
| Mental Status: Stable
| NRV Probe Reaction: High
/
[Neptune Vasilias]
| Vitals: Normal
| Infection Level: Clean
| Mental Status: Stable
| NRV Probe Reaction: Low
/
[Lie Ren]
| Vitals: Normal
| Infection Level: Clean
| Mental Status: N/A
| NRV Probe Reaction: N/A
/
[Jaune Arc]
| Vitals: N̷o̵rm̕al̡
| Infection Leve̴ĺ: Cl͘e͞an̵
| M͜e͜҉ņ̴t̨́al͘ ̵S͟ta̕t҉͏us:͢ Ų͢n̶͞s̸t͏̴̕a̢͠b̵̀l̡͘e͏
| N̨͝R̷̢͘͝͡V̀̀͝ ̕̕͢͝P̵̛̛̛͞r̛̀͘͝ơ̧̢͜b̴̴̛͘͞e̕͜ ̸̢̀͡R̶͢͜͡͠e̸̷͘͘a̷͢͡c͟t҉̶̵̕͟i̸̢ơ͟n͘͞:̕͟͏
/
User Disconnected;
AN: And that's about it. Again, this is mostly for experimentation purposes, so probably won't continue. I should also emphasize that I'm not well-versed in the game's lore, so don't take anything here for granted. And now for the obligatory legal part.
RWBY and its characters are owned by Rooster Teeth.
GTFO is owned by 10 Chambers. (plz dont sue me Lord Viklund)
ADDENDUM;
A warm mug of coffee sat on a stained piece of napkin. Dangerously enough, on the edge of a control board.
'I know we have posters against this, but I'll be damned if don't get my sixth dosage of caffeine tonight.' Thought Marrow Amin to himself.
He kept staring at the window of his small monitoring room. The droplets of the rain outside colliding ever so slightly against the glass. It was probably the lamest pass-time anyone would have, but it was the little things that made his job worth sitting through.
It rained every day, of course. Every night too. Atlas' weather controlling device made sure of that. Marrow wasn't really sure what was the purpose. Maybe to counter the standard climate of Solitas by raining all over the base?
He reached out for his 'Employee of the Month' custom mug, which he had printed it himself as a joke, and took another sip from it.
Suddenly, the computer in front of him received a notification. With a free hand, he moved his mouse to click on the icon-
"SALUTATIONS!" With all the grace of an E-mail birthday pop-up, the speakers of his computer blasted the message out loud. Marrow made the effort to straighten himself to avoid spilling his coffee.
"Penny! What did I tell you?" He complained directly to the computer. "No more surprise messages."
"Oops! Sorry Officer Amin. I could not contain myself this time." Said the AI. The green-lines in his monitor twitched every time she spoke.
Marrow sighed, but happily shrugged off. Talking to Penny was always a treat. Or 'P.E.N.N.Y.' as higher-ups called her. Exactly what that acronym stood for was beyond him.
She was the AI responsible for overseeing Atlas' retrieval operation revolving the Complex. She conducted safety-checks, contacted hundreds of workers per day, monitored the vitals of all their subjects and was arguably the most sophisticated AI on the face of the planet.
And for some reason, she sounded just like a little girl. The future was weird, man.
"All is forgiven." Said Marrow. "So, what news do we have this time?"
"Only the greatest!" She said enthusiastically. Every news was always the greatest. "I have just received the evaluation of our most recent expedition!"
"Oh…" Marrow scratched his right ear. He knew something wrong was bound to happen. It didn't matter to him what the orders were, sending less than four subjects to one of the lowest levels of the Complex was guaranteed to be a suicidal mission. "Yeah, it figures. Not to worry, we will have another batch of prisoners ready in no time."
"On the contrary, Officer Amin! This expedition proved to be, as your people would say, a 'Raging Success'!"
"…Oh!" Marrow placed the mug back on the board. "That's actually very good news. Wait, does that mean we have finally retrieved the access codes?"
"Affirmative! All the conditions for completion were met. With no casualties, may I add!"
"Huh. That's a new one." Said Marrow. "More so for the latter."
"This is most sensational!" She cheered, displaying in his monitor a full holographic projection of the underground facility.
"With these codes, our team will finally have direct remote access to the inner rings of the Complex." The projection zoomed in on a set of sectors located near the core.
"Also dubbed by our top scientists as..." She made a drumroll pause. "The Inner Sanctum!"
Marrow rolled his eyes. "Yes Penny, I already knew that. The whole base, actually. We have been trying to get our hands on those codes for a while now."
He picked up on the understatement he just made. There had been innumerable attempts at acquiring any form of access to that sector for as long as he worked there. Which in turn translated to several failed expeditions.
The Faunus laid back on his chair, groaning sordidly. Sometimes, his job felt less like 'Search & Retrieval of Atlas's Property' and more like 'Feeding People to a Meat Grinder'.
But… These were prisoners. These were, by definition, horrible people who were being punished by their crimes. So it made it all okay, right?
Marrow reached for his mug and sipped more coffee.
"Still, remote access doesn't really amount to much considering we cannot physically retrieve anything of importance. We have no choice but to carry on with the expeditions."
"Understood, Officer Amin." Said the AI. "Oh, would you like to know more details about the latest expedition?"
Marrow opened a blank document in his computer. "I'd be out of job if you didn't."
He wondered why they didn't just assign her the expedition report duty. Maybe the higher-ups didn't fully trust an AI to file a review by itself and needed a second party to confirm if the numbers added up.
"Okay! So the duration was approximately thirty-seven minutes and twenty-five seconds."
He typed away. "Sounds about right."
"Air pressure at acceptable levels. With some exceptions."
"Nothing out of the ordinary so far. Please continue."
"Oh! And today we register a record on our subjects' survival rate. A whopping 133%!"
Marrow stopped typing. "Ehm… Penny, do you mind running those numbers again? One more time?"
"Oh, I've ran those numbers over three-hundred and eighty-seven times since we began our conversation. I can assure they're correct. I'll upload the evaluation so you may inspect more thoroughly if you wish."
Just as the AI told, a new document appeared in Marrow's desktop. He opened and did a brief check.
"…Penny, am I seeing this right?"
"I do not understand, Officer Amin. Are you having complications with you eye-sight? Should I send our infirmary personnel over to your location?"
"Hang on, I have to make a call." He said, picking his work Scroll.
"Okay!" Penny minimized herself in his computer, whereas Marrow scrolled down his list of superiors, hoping that one of them wasn't the only available.
'And of course she's the only one present. Well, this cannot wait.' He reluctantly contacted his superior.
"Specialist Winter, this is Officer Amin speaking. I have-"
"I'm busy." Winter Schnee responded right away.
"…Listen, we have a situation regarding the latest expedition. It's about the prisoners-"
"What about them, Officer?" She cut him off again.
Quietly groaned Marrow. She always acted like that with him.
"Penny has brought in some unusual reports. Apparently, we have confirmation of a new prisoner. The subject's ID checks out for the most part, but there are a lot of blanks in it as well as corrupted data-"
"Officer, you are wasting my time." Winter spoke sternly across the line.
"Ah- Are you listening to what I'm saying?" He pressed on. "Three people were sent down to the Complex and Four came back! That… Never happened before as far as I know. Shouldn't we look into this immediately?"
"Officer Amin! You know better than referring to the prisoners as 'People'. They're under our custody for a reason. And it seems I also have to remind you that only the Warden has the authority to personally review the subjects. Your job is to report to central command about our findings. Now, has the expedition carried out perfectly?"
He gave a defeated sigh. "Yes, ma'am. Everything went fine. Just as the Warden predicted."
"Marvelous. Proceed with your report. And do not contact me again."
The call went dead. Marrow should have known better than trying to report yet another anomalous incident. And as always, he had to back off for the sake of his job.
Penny manifested herself in his computer screen again. "She seems nicer than usual."
Weirdly enough, he agreed with her.
