Randy's head rests easily on his pillow as he plays a game on his scroll. It isn't particularly challenging, nor is it anything like the ones he'd play on a console back home, but it passes the time efficiently. In the bed next to his, Gabriel rests with a computer on his lap.
"What are you working on?" Randy asks, putting his scroll down momentarily.
"Just a project for class," Gabriel starts, pausing in his typing.
"What kind of project?" Randy asks. At this, Gabriel squirms in his seat, and doesn't respond.
"You little liar! Come on, tell me what you're looking up. I won't tell anyone! What is it? Are you asking the internet personal questions?" Randy teases. Gabriel waves him off with a rolling of his eyes.
"No, I'm not. If you must know, I'm researching faunus. I can't get over how little I know about them, other than a bunch of made up shit shoved down my throat by Atlas."
"Just, ask Pixie or Mayumi when they get back. Mayumi was happy to answer your questions last time." Randy offers his suggestion in earnest, surprised when Gabriel's upper lip twitches into a snarl.
"No. Well, maybe I'd ask Mayumi, but I am not asking Pixie. How can you be okay with her after that night back in Nyma? There's something wrong with her, even you have to see that," Gabriel pleads. For a moment, Randy feels himself beneath the arachnid Grimm, it's jaws bearing down on him. Sweat beads on his forehead and he swallows hard.
"Listen, let's not bring that up-"
"So you do think about it!" Gabriel snaps, closing his laptop in a flash.
"Of course I do! I almost died, but...Pixie was just caught up in the moment. I don't think anyone would just leave someone to die like that. People aren't cruel," Randy fumbles, hating the seed of doubt he feels sprouting in his stomach.
"I just don't think you've met enough people," Gabriel starts.
"You don't know anything of the people I've met," Randy snaps back. Part of him knows that his anger isn't for Gabriel, but another part of him refuses to admit that Pixie is worth being angry at. To do that, he'd have to admit to what Pixie did, and that a person could do the things that she did.
Gabriel doesn't answer. With this, Randy is left in silence, staring at his still running game. Droplets of moisture had fallen through the screen, and the grips along the side were slick from his presperating hand's tight grip.
"I'm sorry, I-I know it's touchy, but I'm just really worried. I think about her all the time - she scares me. She scares you, too," Gabriel points out. Randy attempts to laugh it off, only succeeding at a dry excuse for a chuckle.
"N-no, I've fought Grimm. Now those, those are monsters," he jokes.
Gabriel gives a hard, unconvinced, stare. Randy's stomach twists.
Before he can think much deeper into the subject, the door swings open and Pixie saunters back in, Mayumi following meekly in tow, and there are bags in both of their hands. Randy, for a second, catches Mayumi's gaze and sees that it's barren, glossed over and empty, gleaming like polished river stones. She doesn't flash a smile, or even a wave, and the lack of a soft greeting disturbs Randy. Something was wrong, and Randy can't keep his gaze from drifting to Pixie's confident grin.
"Hey guys! We were just out on the town, you know, doing some leisurely shopping," Pixie starts, before Randy can ask Mayumi what is wrong.
"Oh, what did you guys get?" Randy ventures, trying to get Mayumi to meet his eyes, maybe respond. She stays silent, and Pixie jumps in.
"Oh, just some decorations, I got some new jewelry, some snacks, stuff like that," she responds absently.
"Did you guys have fun?" Randy asks.
"Ye-"
"Did you have fun, Mayumi?" Gabriel asks. Randy turns to look at his partner, seeing Gabriel's gaze burning, his jaw set as though he's biting back more words.
Pixie freezes, glancing over to her companion. Draping her arms over the young girl's shoulder, Pixie pats Mayumi. Mayumi's arm twitches, a spark of fear igniting, and then dying, in her eyes.
"Go on, Mayumi, tell them how it was." Pixie encourages her partner, squeezing her close. "She's just tired, a little out of it, you know? She gets like that," Pixie quickly explains.
"I had a great time, shopping was really fun," Mayumi murmurs.
The two of them are lying. Pixie is lying, Mayumi is lying, this isn't normal. Mayumi is an airhead, but this isn't that, this isn't simple ditziness. It's something else and Randy can see that, plain as day. Gabriel's warnings, they have a new weight, and that weight sinks to the bottom of his stomach like a stone.
"Yup! She loves shopping, really likes it. Don't you?" Pixe goads.
"I do," Mayumi answers.
The group stands suspended in the palpable tension. Thankfully, Pixie's scroll starts chirping from within one of her shopping bags.
"Shit," Pixie mutters, fumbling as she retrieves her scroll. A scowl crosses her expression, which is succeeded by a forced grin.
"Looks like I gotta get going, guys. Hey, Mayumi, you put this stuff away while I'm gone. Stay here until I get back, okay?" she asks sweetly, dropping the bags on the floor. Mayumi simply nods.
Without another word, Pixie pulls Mayumi into a hug and her lips brush the top of the girl's hair. Randy feels his stomach twist at the lifeless way Mayumi accepts the affection, and looks away.
Then she's gone. The door shuts behind her pink-haired figure, and no sooner than it does, the questions that were burning on Randy's tongue come all at once in a flurry of panicked breaths.
"What actually happened? What did she do to you? Are you okay?"
Mayumi, who is sorting through the shopping bags, freezes. With quivering hands, she staggers over to the bed and shakes her head.
"W-what do you mean?"
"Randy-" Gabriel starts, only for Randy to cut him off.
"What? Gabriel, you were right. Obviously something is wrong, and Pixie did something to her," Randy snaps his attention back to Mayumi. "You know what I mean, something happened with you and Pixie, what was it?" he repeats, his voice rising with a sharp crack. His panic is breathless, bearing down on his chest like a hoard of Grimm, tearing into his skin and leaving him shaking.
Mayumi doesn't answer. Instead, she buries her face in her palms and quivers.
"Randy-"
"Mayumi, what happened?"
"Randy, listen-"
"Come on, I want to help!"
"Randy!"
"Why won't you tell me?"
The backside of Gabriel's hand meets Randy's head, and finally he falls into a quaking silence.
"You aren't helping, dumbass," Gabriel murmurs, shouldering past Randy and sitting down next to Mayumi. He gently, almost fearfully, rests his arm over her shoulder, his cybernetics casting her face in a blue glow.
"It's alright, Mayumi, you don't have to talk yet," he murmurs. Randy balls his hands into fists, but seeing Mayumi's figure, quivering against Gabriel, his anxiety ebbs. It's replaced with guilt.
"I-I'm sorry," Randy takes a step forward, met with a stern look from Gabriel.
"Don't. She needs space. Why don't you go get her some water, okay?" Gabriel looks to Mayumi, his expression withering. "D-do you want water?" he asks, lowering his voice. She doesn't answer, quivering, her gaze locked on some place on the floor.
"Do you still want me to get her water?"
"Yeah, and then put away all that stuff for Mayumi. I...I don't want Pixie angry at her again,"
"So, you agree? Pixie did do something to her," Randy says, feeling anger flare up within him again.
Gabriel doesn't respond, but that in and of itself is enough.
"We should figure out what she did and tell Ozpin." Randy says, excitedly.
"We will. Just, not yet."
"Why not?" Randy asks indignantly.
"Please don't tell him." Mayumi finally speaks, her head snapping up to meet Randy's gaze. Round, pleading, saucers stare back up at him. "I-I'm okay, really! B-besides, I don't want to leave Beacon. If you tell him, I-I'll have to leave," Mayumi begs, tears welling up in her eyes. She bites her lower lip, hard, causing red to well up.
"It's okay, we won't tell Ozpin until you're ready," Gabriel responds quickly, squeezing the young girl.
"Yeah...when I'm ready," she murmurs. "What about you, Randy? You won't tell anyone about anything, right? Not until I'm ready?"
Randy hesitates. It feels wrong to agree, but Mayumi's fear, her words about leaving, it's enough for Randy to muster a nod.
"Y-yeah, okay. Fine. I won't tell anyone until you're ready," he promises with a heavy sigh. "I'll go get some water," he mutters, turning away from his other teammates. With a new weight on his shoulders, and the heavy stone of fear in his stomach, he leaves the room in a search for water.
~Scene break~
There's a buzz in Pixie's ears as she makes her way through the halls. The janitor had picked the most inconvenient time to message her. Of course, she did have the cigarettes that he asked for, but that wasn't the issue. The issue, she knew, was leaving Mayumi alone with their teammates. Especially Gabriel. That Atlesian rat, a scoundrel whose goal was surely to steal Mayumi away.
"Did you have fun, Mayumi?"
His words sear the back of her mind. It's none of his business what the private time between Mayumi and her entails. She pauses, leaning against the hall, her vision blurring.
What if he's asking her questions now? What if she's answering them? No...no that's silly. Mayumi is too good of a girl, she'd never do something like that. She knows better than to do something like that. Pixie's hand balls into a fist, then releases.
She knows better. The thought comforts Pixie, enough to allow her to start walking down the hall again. On second thought, maybe the janitor picked the perfect time to meet. She needs a smoke.
After a quick walk, she gets to the janitor's office. She quickly knocks and is almost immediately let in.
"Do you have my smokes?" he asks, coughing. Pixie pushes past him, pulling a pack out of her pocket.
"Of course I do, or I wouldn't have come," Pixie mutters. He snatches it, and at a glare from Pixie, he gives her one.
"Do you have a lighter?" she asks, putting it between her lips. "Or have you lost this one, too?"
"I haven't," he says, moving to his desk where he fumbles for a few moments until he finally finds his lighter. Pixie takes it when it's offered.
"You really shouldn't be smoking those, you're too young to be ruining your lungs."
"It's not like I'll live long after I graduate anyways," she responds sharply.
"Touché," he responds with a heavy bout of coughing breaking up his speech, "anyways, what have you been up to? How's that little partner of yours, the one you always talk about…"
"Mayumi? She's great. We went into Vale today, when I got your smokes," Pixie says too quickly, her lip twitching as she speaks.
"You two having some sort of lovers quarrel?" he jokes, chuckling as he sits down and leans back, kicking his feet up onto his desk.
"No, we're not. I suggest you drop this topic," Pixie snarls, baring her fangs.
"You give faunus a bad name when you do that."
Pixie simmers, inhaling deeply. On the release, a cloud of smoke leaves her lips and she closes her eyes.
"I'm sorry," he tries. Pixie flicks cinders from the edge of her cigarette in response.
"You should be," she shoots back. He laughs, tapping his cigarette on the edge of his desk. Flurries of still-smoldering ashes fall down, settling just as unbothered as the man holding it, onto the hardwood.
"You do seem a touch...angry today. You're usually more fun. I know I don't seem like much, but you can talk to me," he offers.
No she couldn't. Even if she could, she wouldn't want to. Looking at him, she can't help but feel her stomach twist with disgust. The crooked grin on his stubbled chin, the drab, unkempt, hair that fell over his forehead. God, even the eyes were dull and empty, not to mention the fact that he took the stench of a man with him wherever he went. But she couldn't say any of this, or she'd never get her hands on the blueprints. Her mission, she reminds herself, is more important than the urge to vomit that she felt.
"That's kind of you," she says, cracking a grin. "But I can handle myself, I promise," she murmurs.
"Can you?"
"Of course I can," she says, placing a hand firmly on his desk. "I can handle myself better than you could handle me," she promises, her lips parting to reveal her well-kept white teeth. When he smiles back, his are yellow with coffee stains.
"You're lucky you know what kind of smokes I like, with how much you like pushing limits," he chuckles.
"I hear that a lot, from everyone," she jokes, taking a drag. Pursing her lips, she blows smoke towards him. It encases his head and he coughs violently.
"Jeez, girl, get back if you're going to be doing that shit," he mutters, flailing as he bats at the smoke.
"If you make me," she teases.
"I could tell Ozpin about this."
"That'd be worse for you, than for me." Pixie turns away, walking across the room to lean against the brick wall. He only laughs in response.
"You're smart."
"I don't have to be smart to know that much, just be glad I haven't told on you yet," she says with a grin. At this, she sees true unease fall over his features. That look. The concerned creasing of his brows, the way his jaw tensed...it's beautiful. It's the look of someone realizing how much they rely on your kindness. The look they give when they've fallen into the palm of your hands.
"Now don't say stuff like that…"
"I'm only joking, I wouldn't do that to you. You're a friend of mine," she giggles.
"I'm sure you wouldn't," he says, his tone suggesting otherwise.
"I'd never! Seriously, you can trust me," she says.
She knocks some ash off the end of her cigarette. Watching him carefully, he doesn't return the gesture.
~scene break~
The clicking of keyboards fill Narcissa's ears as she finds her own computer to work at. The CCT is busy, just as she hoped it would be, but that doesn't stop it from being annoying. All these people, all the noise...clicking away. If only she could have done this from the privacy of her own computer, back in Ivan's study. She'd have a hot tea at her side, maybe some muffins. Not that she'd ever admit it, but she did love muffins with tea in a nice, quiet room.
Enough of that. Shaking her head, she stares into the computer's blinking screen. It's imperative she focuses on the task at hand. After all, this part, getting inside the CCT's system, is arguably the most important part of the mission. It fully trumps anything Pixie is doing, fraternizing with the janitor in her spare time. With an irritated curling of her lip, Narcissa begins her work.
First she'd need admin access. With a final slide-long glance to make sure no one was watching, she quietly deletes the internet browser from the computer.
With a deeply set frown, she braces herself for the next part: acting stupid. Pixie does it flawlessly, but Narcissa is not Pixie. Unlike the pink-haired heathen, she isn't completely shameless. She has standards. Unfortunately, now is not the time for those. Work needs to be done, and that means her standards will have to be put on the backburner.
It only takes a few moments for an employee of the CCT to walk past. With a desperate lunge, she reaches forward and calls out.
"Excuse me ma'am, I can't find the internet!" she says, her voice strained. The worker pauses in confusion, but approaches anyways with a heavy sigh.
"You can't find the internet? Like, the browser?"
"Yes, like the browser. It's gone," Narcissa says, forcing a dim-witted smile.
"Oh, here, let me just take a look for you," the woman offers, leaning past Narcissa to get a good look at the screen. Narcissa scowls and quickly scoots her chair away. When the woman glances Narcissa's way, the smile is once again painfully painted on her face.
"Wow, it really is gone. Did you accidentally delete it?"
"How do you delete the internet?" Narcissa asks.
"Nevermind...here I'll get it back for you," she murmurs. Narcissa watches the screen carefully, and when the woman is prompted for a password, Narcissa watches her fingers on the keyboard.
Save4yourbeecOn
She scoffs. Easy enough to remember.
"Ah, there you go! I've got it back up and running for you. Is there anything else you need?" the young woman asks. Narcissa shakes her head, shooing her away.
"No, no that's all I needed. Thank you for your help," Narcissa says quickly. The employee leaves with a tired rolling of her eyes, and finally Narcissa is alone again.
Once she's sure there's no attention on her, she digs around in her purse looking for the USB, and when she finds it, she plugs it in. When prompted for the admin password, a thin smirk passes across her red lips. She enters it without hesitation and the program on the USB, a remote access point for when the virus is ready, begins to download.
It doesn't take long. Once it's done, she pulls the USB out and stands up. Discreetly putting the USB back into her purse, she leaves the computer behind with a seemingly harmless, brand new virtual calculator.