Weiss spent the day in the Dust Factory, learning the ins and outs of managing every team and sector. The facility manager did most of the talking, with Father jumping in occasionally to elaborate on specific points.
It was impossible to concentrate when her eyes were still heavy from last night's crying session and her head running on an hour's sleep. Only Uncle found her tired appearance offensive that morning, going out of his way to chastise her appearance at breakfast.
"I'm not used to sleeping in a new place," she lied on the spot. "The bed isn't like the one at home."
Uncle wasn't impressed with her explanation but Father bought her story without a second thought. Weiss made a conscious effort to avoid Uncle's gaze as much as she could that morning.
It was mid-afternoon when she took a lunch break in Father's private office. She was alone for the time being, munching away at the burger left by the cooks. When the office door opened, she expected to see Father return. Instead, Uncle walked in alone.
"Jacques will be joining us in a bit. He's dealing with a trivial matter at the moment," Uncle explained.
Weiss nodded, pretending not to notice Uncle taking a seat across from her.
"What do you think of the business so far, Weiss?" he asked.
"It's a lot more complicated than I first thought," she answered. "I still have much to learn."
"Yesterday was your first time seeing the Faunus, right?"
Weiss suppressed the cold dread clutching at her heart and nodded. "I've only ever seen them on the news."
"They're nasty little critters, aren't they? We train ours to behave like respectable citizens, but they still give in to their feral instincts."
She took a big bite of her burger to keep herself from responding.
"That boy you bumped into. What did you think of him?"
"Excuse me?"
"That red-haired cattle. What did you think of him?"
"I don't have an opinion of him. He's just another employee."
"That cattle was a Faunus. You should know better than to refer to it as another employee."
"It was common courtesy. I don't see what the big deal is."
"I find it curious how after learning all the nasty crimes their kind has committed, you still showed that boy kindness he didn't deserve. I wonder why that is."
Weiss clenched her jaw. At this rate, he wasn't going to stop pestering her until he got whatever he was looking for. The office door opened in time to save her from the intense interrogation. For once, she felt relieved to see Father walking in.
"I'm insulted at what you're insinuating, Uncle." She made sure to raise her voice for Father to hear.
"What exactly is going on here?" Father looked between the two of them.
Uncle shot her a murderous glare while Weiss remained visibly unbothered. On the inside; however, she was burning with rage.
"Jacques, good timing. I was curious why my dear niece was so kind to a feral animal. If she were properly educated, she would know of the crimes his kind have committed."
"He's our property. My daughter was looking after our business assets," Father answered curtly.
"I find it hard to believe a mere child could be that articulate."
"Weiss isn't simply a child. She's a Schnee, don't insult our family by comparing our children to the mere common folk."
Weiss hid her grin behind her burger when Uncle struggled to come up with a response.
"May I have a word with you, Jacques?"
Father regarded Uncle for a moment before pointing to the door.
"We'll talk outside. Weiss, take this time to review everything you've learned so far."
"Yes, Father."
It was only once the two men left her alone that she let out a sigh of relief and slumped into her chair.
She may have won the fight this time around, but it was clear Uncle wouldn't be forgetting this any time soon. She'd have to leave a bit later tonight to be safe.
By the time the two men returned, Father was looking extra smug while Uncle had the same ugly sneer on his face. She took that as a good sign that Father came out victorious in that argument.
They went out to eat that night, which was a pleasant surprise after a long day of mundane lectures. Father wanted to invite Uncle to try a new luxury restaurant that opened last month. While it was exciting to try new food, that also meant she'd only be able to grab fruits for Adam to eat that night. She'd take a little extra to compensate for the smaller dinner.
They returned to the lodge at ten. After showering and changing into her sleepwear, Weiss waited for Father and Uncle to settle down before making her move.
She left the house at around one with a bagful of apples and oranges. He was already waiting for her by the time she arrived at the cave, out of breath from the long run.
"What took you so long? I was beginning to worry," he said after a brief hug.
"Sorry. Came home late from dinner," she said in-between breaths. "I could only get fruits tonight."
They returned to their spot from the previous night. Weiss handed him the scarf before leaning back against the cavern wall. She waited until he finished eating to address the question churning in her head.
"Why are you in chains?"
"Not beating around the bush, are you?" he joked half-heartedly.
"We made a promise."
"I know," he sighed. "What do you think the reason is?"
Weiss fiddled with the edge of her sleeves. She didn't want to tell him it was because he was a bad Faunus, but she also couldn't come up with a convincing enough lie.
"I don't know," she ended up saying.
"It's to make it easier for them to control and hurt us."
"What?" She gasped. "That's not true. We treat all our employees with respect."
"I don't see any Humans chained up. And don't call us employees, everyone knows we're nothing but slaves down here."
"No offence, but you don't know anything about how the business works."
"And you do?" He glared at her. "Open your eyes, Weiss. If I had the choice I wouldn't be cold, hungry, or working for nothing!"
One of the books she read detailed the living conditions at the Mines. Faunus workers wore thin layers to wear because it was easier to move and extract Dust Crystals. Unlike Humans, their animal genes let them endure extreme temperatures without falling ill. The metal rings, while uncomfortable to wear, tracked their health and vitals. The GPS chip inside also allowed staff to make sure no one was left behind in the Mine at the end of each day.
She didn't agree with underdressing them, and the metal rings could be more comfortable, but she knew they were treated well. They had warm facilities to sleep in after work and hot food at the table every day. Sure, the Grimm made delivering food to the facilities tricky at times, but it wasn't like they were deliberately starving them.
"I think it's rather rude to be bad-mouthing the people who feed you."
Adam shook his head and rose to his feet, pacing back and forth.
"If your company takes such good care of us, you wouldn't have to sneak food to me or give me your scarf to stay warm!"
"Sometimes the Grimm mess with our food deliveries." She jumped up. "I know we don't always do things perfectly, but at least we provide free living facilities for our workers. According to the Atlas census–"
"Oh, how selfless of your family," he said sarcastically. "You expect us to fall on our knees and thank you for your kind service? No thanks."
"My family helped build the modern world! Most companies don't bother hiring the Faunus, but we take the time to rehabilitate—"
"I wasn't aware we needed rehabilitation." Adam snapped. "What's wrong? Scared we'll go feral and attack you?"
"Well, Humans don't aren't violent by nature."
He looked like she slapped him across the face, but in her anger, she didn't care. How dare he talk so lowly of her family. After everything they did to make the world a better place and gave his family a stable job.
"Is that how you see me? An animal that needs to be controlled with chains?" he asked so quietly she almost missed it.
"No," she didn't hesitate to answer. "You're not like them."
"So there's a 'them' now, huh? I never knew my parents were secretly mass murderers."
"I-I never said your parents were bad! I'm sure they're different too!"
He walked right up to her until their noses were nearly touching.
"Let me tell you something. My entire family has been stuck here for years! No matter how hard we work, we never get a day off, not even when we're sick! I've lost family and friends to diseases and injuries because no one cares about us!"
"You're lying." She backed away from him. "We're ranked number one in employee satisfaction across Atlas!"
"And who told you that? Your Father? You trust the man who would willingly hurt you over me?!"
"Y-you don't know anything!"
"Then explain it to me, or do you think I'm too stupid to understand?!"
"Stop putting words in my mouth!"
For a moment neither of them dared to say another word. She was beginning to see what Father and her mentors meant by the Faunus being ill-tempered.
Maybe he wasn't so different after all. Maybe he was as unpredictable as the rest of them.
"I'll ask you again. Why do you think they put me in chains? Be honest," he challenged her in a deceptively cool tone. "We're friends aren't we?"
"You want honesty? Fine." She crossed her arms. "I think it's because you've been a bad Faunus, just like the rest of them."
She should've felt better from voicing the thought that's been lingering in her mind, but somehow it only made her feel worse. The weight on her chest was tightening along with the raging anger burning deep within her chest.
"Is that what you really think?"
"Yeah." The stone crushing her heart grew heavier. "Why else would they chain you up? It's not my fault you can't control yourself."
"I thought you were different." The pain in his voice snapped her out of whatever rage was taking over her mind.
Her blood went cold at the tears dancing in his eyes. It wasn't until then she realized what she'd said to him.
"Adam—"
"I was wrong! You Humans are all the same!" He ripped the scarf off his neck, throwing it on the ground.
"Adam, wait!" She ran up to him and grabbed his wrist, he yanked it away as if she burned him.
"Don't touch me! I don't want anything to do with you!"
"Adam, stop! I didn't mean—"
"I'm done listening to you!" He turned to run back to the cave but she held onto his arm before he could leave.
"Please, if you'd just listen to me—!"
"Yes, please explain what's going on here." The deep male voice made her heart drop to her stomach.
Uncle blocked the cave entrance with his arms folded across his chest and a smug grin on his face. Father was eerily calm beside him. Dozens of stern guards stood around them, their guns drawn and pointed at Adam.
"Crap." She felt Adam back into her.
She glanced behind her and found even more guards marching out from the dark cave, weapons drawn and ready to shoot.
"I knew something was off this morning, but never in my wildest dreams would I expect my niece to be fraternizing with scum." Uncle patted Father's back. "Your daughter sure is something, I'll give you that!"
"H-how did you…?" Weiss could hardly stay on her trembling feet.
"Oh, it was a brilliant idea! What better way to find the truth than to install a few gadgets around the lodge?" Uncle grinned triumphantly.
"The dinner…" She wanted to throw up when she realized why Father suddenly wanted to dine out.
It'd make it easier to install cameras in her room without making her suspicious.
Father approached them, the hard look in his eyes froze her in place. Weiss thought of the many ways she could try to explain the situation. She could lie and tell him she was interviewing a Faunus to learn more about the mining process. Or she could convince him that they only happened to bump into each other.
But no matter how hard she tried to will the words out of her mouth, her body wouldn't respond.
Weiss wasn't sure exactly what happened. One moment she was staring up at Father, and the next she was on the ground. The left side of her face ached and her vision blurred with stars.
"You little BITCH!" Father screamed at her. "How dare you dirty the Schnee name with one of them!"
Weiss squeezed her eyes shut when he reeled his fist back. She felt something land on top of her but it didn't hurt.
"D-don't touch her!"
Weiss opened her eyes and found Adam shielding her from her Father's wrath. He had his face turned away from her, glaring at Father despite the trembling in his arms.
Father ripped him off of her, throwing him on the ground. Whatever fear she had for Father vanished when his foot collided with Adam's head.
"Stop! Leave him alone!" Weiss scrambled up to her feet, but a strong hand clamped around her arm before she could reach them.
Weiss glared up at Uncle. She scratched the hand holding her, but no matter how she clawed him with her nails, he wouldn't loosen his grip.
"Now, now, Jacques, it would be useless to kill him." Uncle chuckled.
Uncle's voice stopped Father from kicking Adam. He remained curled in a ball even once Father backed away, his arms shielding his head. She cried, prompting him to perk his head up. Her chest clenched at the fear she saw in his eyes.
"And what might you suggest?" Father asked through gritted teeth.
"If the boy wants to be with the Schnees so badly I'm sure I could arrange a…permanent mark of his allegiance to us. You should spend some time disciplining your daughter. She's had too much freedom."
"I…agree." Father turned his murderous gaze on Weiss. "You're free to do whatever you want, but I want the boy transferred to a different station by sunrise."
Uncle tossed her to the ground like a rag doll, knocking the wind out of her when she crashed into the ground.
"Guards, take the boy down to the Isolation Chambers," Uncle ordered.
"Adam!" Weiss crawled towards him the moment the guards converged on him.
She never made it as the guards on her side grabbed her and held her back. She screamed and cried out his name as they dragged him away from her.
"Let him go, you big bullies!" She was kicking, scratching - doing anything to make the guards loosen their grip on her, but nothing was working.
"Weiss!" He struggled against the guards holding him with slightly better success.
Neither of them stopped fighting the guards' hold, even when their efforts proved futile. Weiss didn't stop resisting until they tossed her into her room.
Dread punctured her bones when Father walked in, closing her bedroom behind him.
.
.
.
Her ears rung from the shattering of glass.
The storm poured in from her shattered window.
Glass fragments sunk into her back.
A mirror shard pressed into her face.
Red splattered her walls.
Red stained her hair.
Red blackened her clothes.
Red pooled on her carpet.
Red haemorrhaged from her face.
Red.
Red.
Red.
Red.
Red.
Red.
Red.
Red.
Red.
Red.
Red.
Red.
Red.
Red.
Red.
Red.
Red.
Red.
Red.
Red.
Red.
Red.
Red.
Red.
Red.
Red.
Red.
Red.
Red.
The world turned red.
.
.
.
When she woke up the next morning, Father left a permanent reminder on her face to never disobey him again.
Ideal upload schedule: one chapter will roll out every Saturday and Sunday. Delays may occur depending on how busy my week is.
Remember to see if your email opt-ins are on!
I wasn't joking when I said I'm giving you a slow burn. I did the math and decided January was the absolute latest I could upload without bleeding into the start of the next school year in my country. I won't reveal the total number of chapters I have prepared, but the word count is well over 200,000 ;)
I'm also curious, how many people from the first fic migrated here? What are your thoughts on these updated chapters? I hope they're different enough that it doesn't feel like a repeat of the old story!
Also, can my returning readers try to keep major spoilers to a minimum for these early uploads? I think it'd be more fun for newer readers to go in blind at least in the very beginning! Thanks all!