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Act III

Scene 37

Strings


Where, exactly, did I fuck up in life to end up here?

I couldn't help but glance nervously to my side. It didn't change anything, and there's nothing I can really do about it, but it's the fact that I know it's there that makes the difference.

It's like a suitcase with a bomb ticking right beside me. I know that it won't blow up anywhere near me, but that does nothing to soothe the unease it gives me.

In this case, the bomb is one girl by the name of Ruby Rose, while I am but a humble criminal mastermind who is trying to not get on the bad side of the psychic psycho.

"Could you think less loudly, please?" She asked casually in that flat tone of hers.

I blink.

"What?"

She lets out a large sigh, "I said, could. You. Think. Less. Loudly. Please?"

She enunciates each word slowly, like I'm some kind of child or foreigner. It doesn't really grate on me, considering it's far from the worst either of us have done in the name of a good mocking, but that's not the point.

So instead of mocking her back, I pinch my brow and say, "Let me get this straight. You want me to think less loudly?"

"If you would be so kind," She says, somewhat distracted.

"Why?" I ask, befuddled, "And more importantly, how?"

"Well, if you can't figure it out I could always do it for you." She offers in a clinical tone that sends a shiver down my spine.

I don't know what that implies, and honestly, I don't want to know.

"As for the other," She cocks her head to the side, as if listening in on something, "I'm tuning into Adam and Mila's little conversation. It's quite intriguing. Your loud thoughts, however, are quite the distracting beacon. It would be nice if you could stop."

"Oh?" I smirk, "Anything juicy?"

"Mila is a half-breed, her father was a famous human soldier that killed a lot of Faunus during a relatively recent terrorist attack or rebellion on the Atlesian continent. Some kind of major war hero and sharpshooter." She begins in a dull tone, as if recounting an old story and not someone's life.

"Her mother was just a civilian that her father fell in love with. She died in childbirth. Her father died when he was caught up in another White Fang terrorist attack, leaving Mila with a great deal of animosity to the group due to, well, it being the source of nearly all of her strife."

"That does sound bad." I mutter, intrigued, but not exactly sorry for her.

"Indeed. Mila will not be joining Adam's company." Ruby commented. "She'd rather die with her honor intact."

"Of course, that assumes we'll give her the choice."

I tried very hard not to think about what she meant by that. When the unbidden flashes of the night with Cinder and the burning, or the police station and the Watchman come to mind, I know I've failed.

I can't help but chuckle bitterly at the thought. The stuff of fiction and nightmares, all brought to bare by the twisted machinations of one demon in the body of a lost little girl.

Ah well, at least I'm on the profitable side.

I was jerked from my pointedly quiet thoughts when the door in front of us squeaked open. Adam, in all his brooding glory, walked out of the military grey room. He had a resigned acceptance about him.

Three guesses why.

"So?" I say, trying to fill the air.

Adam paused. For a moment he did that thing where he glared at me despite not even really looking at me. It was the feeling of his attention on you, a difficult trick with his aura, or just a fact of his existence. I got the distinct feeling of disgust rolling off of him.

For a moment, his hand rested on the pommel of his blade. I could hear the tiny click of his sword being slowly popped out of it's sheath.

And then, like that, it was gone.

"You can have her," He said, "She will not crumble to my will."

Adam stepped past me, not even bothering to move around me, just walking with supreme confidence I would move for him.

"Are you surprised?" Red asks.

He pauses.

"...Not… entirely...but the chance should always be given."

Ruby nods, as if that's all the answer she needed.

Adam walks on through the hall like the silent specter of death he is. Meanwhile, Ruby strides into the room like an executioner awaiting her victim.

Do I really want to watch this? I ponder for a moment, second-guessing my life choices as I follow behind her.

"Watching wouldn't do much," She responds casually, stopping inside the room to look at her newest subject.

She wasn't the only one.

"So I have you to thank for all of this?"

Part of me was actually hoping Mila wouldn't notice me. I suppose it's the part that was still fucking human after the shit I'd seen. I'd gotten to know some small part of her, and she was a good girl. A genuinely nice person, should you not cross her. I couldn't help but think she didn't deserve what came for her.

Hell, I scowled, pulling out a cigar, No one deserves to be Red's lab rat.

"And to think, I thought you weren't all that bad," Mila chuckles bitterly, "I guess I always was naive, wasn't I? I bet you were laughing the whole time, just knowing how you'd sell me out to these guys."

"I guess you thought that all Faunus got along, or we're all just dumb animals." She continued, pointedly trying not to look at me.

Still, couldn't hide the quiver in her voice. The tremble in her limbs.

I didn't know whether it was fear, anguish, or anger. Didn't really make me feel any less guilty.

Not guilty enough to cross her, though I added, lighting the stogie, While I might be suicidal on a bad day, I doubt Red would even let me die.

"You aren't wrong…" the girl in question acknowledged casually as if talking about her love of cookies or movies.

I sighed, taking the moment to stow my lighter, "Mila, as much as you might not believe me, this is far from my idea or my intent."

She snorts, "Really? I'm just supposed to believe the man who'd sell his own mother wouldn't sell me out to terrorists?"

"To be fair," I took a nice puff of the calming cigar, "My mother was an asshole."

"Will the two of you be done soon?" Ruby inquired from the sidelines.

Mila actually took a moment to glance up at her. I tried not to notice her wet and raw eyes.

"Who's the girl?" Mila asked, "Is she...yours?"

"Oh god. I hope not," I cringed. "I'd sooner have a botched circumcision with a rusty spork and two packs of floss."

"I am going to be your doctor for foreseeable future." Red corrected, pushing off the wall to approach her subject.

"My...what?" Mila said, confused.

"You don't need to understand. You don't even need to submit." Ruby explained, "cooperation is compulsory."

Mila frowned, "What does-?"

"Roman," She interrupted, turning to me, "You can go now, if you want. Watching won't really do anything other than, perhaps, giving you an upset stomach."

"The nightmares only require your imagination."

I blinked, a cold pit of dread forming in my gut, "Wait, what?"

Red had the audacity to chuckle, "Nothing, just a joke."

"Go on," She insisted, "Wait for me, this'll only take a moment."

"I...okay…" I said slowly.

I sent a sympathetic look to Mila, for all the good it would do. I hoped that Ruby wasn't as sick and twisted as I thought she was. I hoped this was all just part of my paranoia. Part of me wished I lacked a conscience like people seemed to think.

Then the screaming started.

It was deep and from the heart. It wasn't just the shrieking of panic or a flesh wound. It was the screaming of pure, mind-rending, terror. Of agony. Pain made manifest. Bloody and wet, it came from the core of one's soul.

It was the sound of someone being driven to insanity.

For a while, I contemplated if that person was me.

I couldn't keep my mind from wandering, from taking the screaming and turning them into images. I kept painting a picture of what could possibly cause something like this.

But did I stand up and stop it? Did I walk in that room and demand Red stop it?

No.

Instead, I just took another puff of my cigar as my foot tapped a frantic beat into the cement floor.

God, I always did have a weakness for pretty faces I thought with a pained smile.

I'd seen a thousand ways a man could die. I'd seen children shot dead, I'd seen people I knew killed for money, or even just revenge. But...there was something about this.

Something about hearing Mila scream herself bloody for what felt like hours on end just made me sick.

I guess it's that little girl I clenched a fist, The knowledge that she's so fucking clinical about it.

No, I realized, It's more than that. It's that she doesn't leave anything sacred while doing it.

She can tear you apart within the confines of your mind, all for an experiment, and not even bat an eye.

She doesn't get a rise out of it, not like Neo. She doesn't get money for it. No, it's all for that fucking love of science she has.

We're nothing more than person shaped objects to her.

SLAM!

I jerked up from my seat at the chair opposite the door at the sound. Ruby stood in front of it, the steel door slammed shut. She seemed somewhat drained, something that, given Ruby, wasn't a good sign.

Nor was the blood covering her hands and shirt.

"...So...uh...h-how was the science?" I offered with a fragile chuckle.

"Hmm," She hummed, considering it casually, "It was interesting, but I didn't get very far."

She wiped her bloody hands against the fabric of her pants. Not in some need to be clean of blood in a psychological way, but simply because her hands were wet and dirty.

"That's...uh... a shame?"

"It's what I expected, really. This is just the insemination step. Next, we'll see the results of it."

Her words tripped me up, "I'm sorry, the what?"

Red paused, putting a bloody finger to her lip, "I never really explained it all to you, did I?"

"No," I swallowed, "No you didn't."

"Well," She began walking again. "You know how I have the ability to rip memories from people, yes?"

"Uh-uh," I nodded

"Well, in this experiment, I'm going to see what happens when I put memories in someone." She explained. "Since memories are so intrinsic to who we are, I'm eager to see what the whole life story of someone else would make."

"I-I see…"

I didn't, and we both knew that.

"Can't help but feel glad she stopped screaming, though." I sighed, looking for a silver lining.

"Oh, she didn't."

I stopped,

"What?" I said in a dead tone.

"It was mildly amusing at first, but it quickly got old. Plus, it was giving me a headache," She casually explained, "So I disabled her vocal processes so she lacked the ability to do it."

"S-so the blood…" I trailed off, trying to keep the tremble from my voice.

"Oh no, that's when she tried to kill herself by biting her tongue off." She chuckled. "Put a stop to that too. Can't have her contaminating the experiment."

"A-ah." I nodded, trying to keep an even step, trying to keep that god-awful terror out, "So implanting memories i-is that painful, huh?"

"Oh no," she shook her head, "The implementation process is almost completely painless. Likely no more than a mild headache."

"That was all the result of the memories she's being forced to experience."

"What the hell kind of life could do that to someone?" I questioned.

Ruby gave me a bitter smirk.

"Mine."


"Here we are."

I rubbed my face, trying to get the latest nightmare out of my head.

It wasn't working.

Maybe focusing on something else will help I thought cynically.

As I did I stepped through the entryway into the cavernous room.

"So what kind of resources are we talking about?" Red inquired.

"Can't you just read my mind?" I asked dryly

"I could," She nodded, "But that'd be awfully rude."

"Plus, I like your flair for the theatrical."

Despite myself, I snorted.

"Well then, prepare to be amazed."

And with all the flair I could bring to bear on the little bundle of scientific horror, I flipped the switch with my cane.

CLICK

Instantly, the cavern was flooded with light. For a few moments, there was only blinding pain followed by small spots in my vision. Didn't matter, I already knew what was there.

"...is that a train?"

"Yes!" I smiled, happy to finally be moving into something in my area of expertise.

Marketing.

"This, is a train," I announced, waving at the iron carriage on the tracks.

Apparently, this base was tied into the underground network that the Mt. Glenn site had. As such, it had an underground train system. Basically a heavy-duty subway.

"This fine beauty was appropriated by our very own heavy combat specialist, Adam Taurus." I smiled, striding up the lumbering carriage. "It's from the SDC and carried some of their most advanced security systems and supplies."

"Adam and his partner managed to disable the train, kill the crew, and turn off the local control network for the drones well before it was destroyed in the ensuing chaos." I continued, gesturing towards the ripped and ruined drones and scrapes we'd pulled from the train as I walked past.

"As you can see, not all of it made it."

Red nodded as she brushed her hand over one of the piles. Given the construction of the knights, I couldn't help but notice the disconcerting way the scene looked like a little girl running her fingers over a pile of the mauled dead.

"There's, uh, 2 tons of Dust still inside, along with another 6 tons of various parts and components being shipped with it."

She quirked a brow, "Only 2 tons?"

"We, of course, taxed the amount that we needed to sustain operations. Normally, we'd take all of it, but we hadn't gotten around to the last 2 tons." I explained, "And all in all, we don't really need it. Boss thinks you're worth it"

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I don't know what you gave Cinder, but she practically had kittens when she actually read it."

"She seemed to hate me earlier."

"I think she really just hates you when you're nearby."

"Ah," She nodded in understanding, "her symbiote."

"Yeah…" I grimaced, "...That."

I shook my head of the images brought to mind by her words, "What'd you give her, anyway?"

"Just some information on a girl Ozpin has locked in a tube at the bottom of the tower with a shredded soul."

I blinked.

"What?!"

I couldn't have heard that correctly.

"I think her name is...Amy? Amelia?" Red considered, "Amber? Something with an A."

Apparently, I did.

"I thought you had a perfect memory," I snarked on instinct while my brain played catch-up.

"I've always been somewhat iffy with names. I know a lot of them. I'm far better with faces."

"Right." I drawled, rolling my eyes.

"In any case, have fun with the toys." I shrugged, "50 of the gen 3 Knights are intact, so you can have fun taking them apart, I guess."

"Wait, you aren't using the robots?" She asked.

"No…?" I questioned, wondering why she brought that up, "I mean, Knights are nice, but they can't have an aura. Even the shittiest, most basic White Fang grunt has an aura, and he can't even find his way out of a wet cereal box."

She gave me a strange look.

"It was a weird Tuesday." I shrugged.

"Besides," I continued, "it's not like we can do much with them anyways. When I said 'Turned off the control Spire,' I really meant, 'destroyed the control Spire'. We don't have a way of controlling them."

She quirked a brow in that way that insinuated you were an idiot without actually saying anything. "So you just had 50 robots sitting around for…"

"About 10 months." I supplied.

"And you've done...nothing...with them." She asked critically.

"Er…" Wasn't entirely sure I saw the problem honestly. But I did feel like I was being judged.

"Well, I mean it's not like we can sell them. They're useless unless you have a means to control and charge them. Even if you have that, the SDC and Atlas are more uptight than a terrified sphincter. They get one whiff of these things on the market and they will hunt whoever's dumb enough to sell them down like a dog."

"You were going to sell them?" she asked, her tone dripping with incredulous scorn

"Yeah…?"

Red let out a strangled groan, spitting out a string of curses in that thick Atlesian dialect that seemed to involve having a cow fuck someone until they turned into a cactus."

Not sure how that works, but the anatomical correctness did make me flinch.

"I'm just astounded at how painfully stupid humans can be. It must be agonizing for all those with even a spark of any actual intelligence." She muttered, slipping back into common as she came to the end of her rant.

"Red?" I queried, wondering where she was going with this.

The moment I opened my mouth, she whirled around on me, meeting me with a burning gaze of molten silver eyes. The buzzing in my mind returned, the feeling of my brain itching under my scalp.

"Free, tireless, labor," She enunciated.

"I..what?" I replied, confused.

"Robots. Capable labor. You don't have to pay them, you don't have to feed them. They don't need rest, and they don't need motivation."

I pursed my lips, "They're combat robots."

"Considering what passes for combat here, I'm assuming that means swords and acrobatics." She said in a dull tone.

Despite myself, I blushed, "Yeah...and?"

She gave me a look so flat, no other words were needed.

"The point being," She continued, switching topics, "That compared to the circus of murder, menial tasks would be simple and basic. And even if it isn't, the mear fact that they have hands makes what I require possible, if not difficult."

"Pft, " I snorted, "Well good luck getting them to stand up."

I jerked my thumb at the larger central car of the whole rig. "In case you forgot, the control Spire is dead. Circuitry is all busted. Without the right signal and the right codes, all these things are is a pile of parts."

"I mean, sure, you could code them by hand, rewrite them from the ground up, one by one, but-"

The lights flickered.

I blinked. An all too familiar shiver going down my spine.

The blinking bulbs buzzed as they shuttered on and off. The flickering lights playing havoc with my eyes.

Through it all, I could hear the bone-chilling sound of something so similar to a child's laughter, but too...wrong to be the same.

The short bursts of electrified sound quickly fell in tune with the girl's uproar. Each huff amplified by the sound of the very being cracked by plasma.

"Oh, Roman…" She chuckled. "I'd have thought you'd learned by now."

I suddenly heard a dull Thud on the concrete behind me. I spun around and found myself face to face with the half-illuminated and skeletal visage of a broken Knight. Half destroyed, left arm shattered, chest caved in, but still standing on two feet. Behind it stood the shredded chassis of 10 of it's brethren.

Thunk

And to the right, rising from the darkness, was the blood red hull of the Spider Drone. It loomed over me, red lightning crackling over it's imposing form. All of it burning and humming within my mind.

I felt a cold hand grasp my own as a twisted voice whispered into my ear.

"I'm a master of puppets."


A/n:

Alright, it's been a while.

I...don't actually have a lot to say.

Anyways, this is a shorter chapter than usual and doesn't exactly hit all the points I might have wanted it to.

Whatever, I'll live.

And so will you

See, what I'm going to try and do is post shorter chapters since they're easier for me to write.

This also means that I'll, more likely then not, be throwing out the whole "Arc, Scene, Act" thing because as nice and organized as it was, it did play hell with me actually trying to update properly.

So yeah, I'll post as I feel fits.

Oh, and I'd also like to thank Trav for his timely and useful Beta-ing of this.

I'm really goddamn tired, so I'll be going to bed right about now. Hopefully I didn't miss anything big.

In any case, happy Halloween. I hope this is a good enough treat to satisfy your day.