Author's Headnote: Now we get to Earth, get in, get out. This'll be a short chapter.
The Ruby of Cerberus: Earth: Quantum Connections Theorist
Ruby Rose:
Health: Suddenly feeling unwell, though unsure why.
Aura Status: 50% (This is unusual, for some reason... Ruby's aura can't get higher than this).
Semblance: Petal Burst
Weapons: Crescent Rose, Myrtenaster, Gambrol Shroud (All she'll need for now).
Credits: 0 (Miranda is sucking her dry)
Party Relations:
Haedvin Jaular vaas Cordavire: Not too concerned about Ruby's health, actually considred kicking Ruby off the ship.
Esi: Actually worried about Ruby's health.
Jurdon Verkash: Ruby's been avoiding him.
End of Main Character Status Report.
Sol, Earth, New Orleans, April 17, 2175, 11:00, Monday, New Orleans Docking Bay
Well, when Ruby had touched down to earth... she had thought she had set down on Remnant. However, the moon is intact and there appears to be two really big continents and a menagerie sized island. What she didn't expect though is for humans here to have more than one language. How was communication even possible if no one knew what they were saying? This dimension's humans are weird. She would say she now knows how Blake feels, but that would be underestimating Blake's shoes.
Lately, Ruby's been getting these weird headaches... and rather strange dreams. They don't make sense... vanishing? The details of the dreams are etched into Ruby's mind so she can't forget it, and being a recurring dream only makes it worse. Either her subconscious is telling Ruby something, or being in another dimension is taking a toll on Ruby's sanity. But Ruby doubts either is the case, if it's the former... she wouldn't even bother getting out of bed, if it's the latter... the rest of team RWBY are affected by it as well. However, she doesn't know the state of the rest of her teammates... teammates... does she really deserve to call them that? After abandoning them? Every day she regrets not telling the truth, but she can't change the past now.
Ruby thankfully managed to touch down on the New Orleans docking bay, and they are much more strict than the citadel when it comes to landing. Ruby doubts any smugglers can get through that. However, Ruby wasn't smuggling anything other than her true origin.
When she looked around GAH! So many people... like, so many. Ruby looked up the population of New Orleans... and it's got more people than Vale! Kyiv too! How many people live on this planet!? Ruby looked it up...
11 billion? 11 billion!? ELEVEN BILLION!?
Ruby started hyperventilating. She never was one for large crowds, but this planet's population outnumbers Remnant's people population by... a lot. At most there's two MILLION people living in Remnant. But this place has ELEVEN BILLION. How much food does this place produce? Never mind that Vale's Hydroponic Labs and Patch's Farmlands can barely feed those two areas, and any settlement requires arable land to grow crops... and decent security to fend off grimm, though this dimension doesn't have grimm... so they likely expanded with ease. This doesn't answer all the questions though... given the intense infrastructure and massive population, there is no way they could have made enough farmland and hydroponic labs to feed ELEVEN BILLION PEOPLE. This is crazy, this absolutely crazy. Ruby didn't look up any more information regarding earth for the sake of her sanity.
She started to calm down before making a scene. So... she needs to find an old warehouse next to a fast-food chain. Should be easy enough, it's a city... Ruby can handle navigating that no problem. Well, it would be if the buildings weren't all so ridiculously tall. She really can't tell them apart. She spent a couple of hours looking around the city looking for the said warehouse until they get to some of the older buildings (Which looks rather similar to what she'd find in Vale), from there she had found where she needed to be.
Sol, Earth, New Orleans, April 17, 2175, 13:00, Monday, Old Warehouse exterior
The warehouse, described as old... looks rather similar to the ones found in Vale. wonder what the new ones look like, though. but nonetheless, there's not much to describe other than it being a warehouse. they aren't really that eye-catching.
Ruby had walked in front of the warehouse and knocked three times, paused, and then knocked twice. The warehouse side door opened up and Ruby rushed to there. The Cerberus agent then handed a credit chit.
"Head to this location, it's located in Virginia." the Cerberus agent said.
"Where is Virginia, again?" Ruby asked.
"Go here..." the agent said, pointing at the map.
"Can you bookmark it?"
"Fine..."
The location is then marked. Now Ruby just has to take some directions. And likely hail a cab... but she needs money... guess she'll be walking there. It'll take a while, but she'll get there. Hold on, she's getting a call from Miranda.
Character Change: Ruby Rose - Weiss Schnee
Stolen Transport Ship, April 16-17, can't really say since they lost track of time, Middle of Nowhere
Blake, Weiss, and Yang hijacked a transport ship from the Eclipse, and used it to escape Illium... problem is, Yang thought it'd be like a car and decided to take the wheel. And she missed the relay, and decided for some reason to head into dark space. They've been here for 3 days since.
That's not the worst part, the worst part is that they're out of food and the ship is out of fuel, so they're trapped and left to starve.
So... in other news, Yang basically doomed them to die in the middle of space, slowly and the most horrifying way possible.
"So...?" Weiss asked.
"No, we've already played I spy." Blake said.
"How about?"
"No, we've basically asked everything."
"So how about we?"
"No, I'm not that desperate."
"Fair, neither am I."
"Is Yang still sleeping?"
"Ya, why?"
"Oh nothing... I'll just..."
"No!"
"Why not? She doomed us all to die!"
"I don't care what you say, I'm not gonna resort to cannibalism. And she's our teammate, dumb as she may be."
"She basically doomed us to this fate."
"I know, but we're bound to stay by each other..."
"Then why hasn't Ruby shown up?"
"Blake... Ruby's gone."
"No, I'll prove it I'll call her."
Blake gets her omnitool and prepares to talk to Ruby... from the sounds of it... it's ringing... and she declined the call. Wait, declined the call? Blake called again to make sure it wasn't a fluke. It's ringing... ringing... the ringing stopped, and it was declined.
"She's rejecting my calls." Blake said.
"I can see that." Weiss retorted. "But why, though?"
"How about we call Miranda, instead?" Blake said.
"Good Idea, I'll call her." Weiss said.
Weiss decided to call Miranda on the omnitool. Okay... it's ringing... and she picked up the call.
"Well, this is unexpected." Miranda said.
"Well, sorry for not being available for duty for the past 4 months, we were held prisoner by the eclipse." Weiss said.
"Ruby said you defected."
"She WHAT!? Did she not tell you about how we were ambushed on our last operation?"
"She did not. IF what you were saying is true, then I believe there is a mole in our ranks that wanted you gone. However, you still completed your task so I'll let this off as a warning. I'll go get a rescue convoy waiting for you... you're near the Crescent Nebula, so you haven't strayed too far off into uncharted space."
"Thank you. Sorry for making you think we've gone rogue."
"Just don't make sure it happens again. Now if you excuse me, I'll have to tell Ruby something."
Character Change: Weiss Schnee - Ruby Rose
Sol, Earth, New Orleans, April 17, 2175, 13:07, Monday, Sidewalk off from Warehouse
Ruby had picked up the call from Miranda.
"I'm on my way to deliver the package, is there anything else you need?" Ruby asked.
"Get inside the warehouse." Miranda commanded, sternly.
"Uh... okay..."
Ruby had inside the warehouse. She informed the guard her supervisor ordered her to enter the warehouse. They let her in. Albeit they are keeping an eye on her.
Sol, Earth, New Orleans, April 17, 2175, 11:08, Monday, Warehouse Interior
The warehouse interior doesn't look very conspicuous. It looks like it stores food. Though, Ruby suspects more is going on beyond selling food. However, she's not concerned with that at the moment. What's she's concerned with is her call with Miranda.
"So... what did you want me for?" Ruby asked.
"Care to explain why I got called by one of your friends, claiming they were ambushed by the eclipse mercenary and captured, and not actually defected?" Miranda interrogated.
"Well... you see... erm... ehhh... Alright I lied! They were taken and I was afraid you'd punish me if I failed!"
"Your fear is spot on; however, I'm letting you off with a warning. Should you pull a stunt like that again, I won't be so generous, in just a flick of a switch I can flag you and your friends as hostile."
"Alright, Ma'am. I won't fail again."
"Good. I am sending a team to extract your friends; I will inform you to when and where you will meet them."
"Alright."
"Now finish the job and quickly. You really can't get far on this planet by walking."
"I don't have any money for a cab... or anything."
"And whose fault is that I wonder... maybe if you weren't so careless with Cerberus property, you would still have funds."
"I won't be careless next time."
The call ended, and Ruby sighed out of relief. Now she just needs a quick way to get to the destination. Though, she has an idea. Ruby swallowed her pride, and approached one of the guards...
"Excuse me, can you hitch me a ride to here?" Ruby asked one of the guards.
"Why? Can't you just hail a cab?" the guard asked.
"I don't have any money, and any I collect gets taken to clear off my debt."
"I see... I suppose I can hitch you a ride. Follow me."
Ruby nodded and followed the guard. From there, she sees a delivery car. The guard and Ruby both enter through the front and the guard starts the car. The engine purrs and the big storehouse door opens, allowing the car passage. The guard then starts to drive. The guard refuses to start a conversation, leading to a very awkward, long drive from one part of the continent to another, which would take hours, no days.
Sol, Earth, Old building in Virginia, April 20, 2175, 6:00, Thursday, Meeting Spot
Ruby was dropped off and the car left as soon as the guard arrived. The spot is an old building, abandoned too. It is remote and isolated from the rest of the infrastructure, so it might have been a black site for something. Not even sure what it might be, though. Guess this where Michael Losser Lang resides. The door is closed... so Ruby remembers the instruction knock four times, pause, and then knock once.
Ruby knocked four times, then once. The door slightly opens, and a man started to take a look at Ruby. Likely to avoid any law enforcement.
"Are you the delivery person?" the man asked.
"Uh... yep. Here." Ruby said, handing the credit chit.
The man swiped the credit chit faster than Ruby's eye can see. He likely really needed it if he was that quick about it. Now that the first job is done... she just has to get to Kyiv, then get back to space. She may as well text Haedvin to go to the Kyiv dock, just so they can pick up Ruby after she's done there. Actually, she should just ask to just pick her up and take her there first. Kyiv is on a whole other continent and she doesn't want to spend hours on a plane or ship going there when she can just get there with the cordavire.
She waits for a couple of hours and the cordavire arrives. Ruby makes no time to waste to board it and head to the other side of the planet. And when she does... she notices that already five hours have passed within the matter of a couple of minutes... which is rather odd.
Sol, Earth, Kyiv, April 20, 2175, 15:33, Thursday, Rafael Zhenekov's Residence
The city here looks rather similar to New Orleans, or the other infrastructure she had on her way to visit Michael Losser Lang's hideout. There is also a golden statue nearby where she landed. She doesn't know who the figure is, because she can't read in any of the earth languages. However, the identity of the statue was irrelevant. The point is, she had found the residence of Rafael Zhenekov, who is a tenant of an apartment complex. He is living on the second floor, first door to the right. He started living here twenty years ago, according to the report.
Ruby knocked on the door. She waited a bit, but there was no response. Ruby knocked again. After the second knock, footsteps were heard. The footsteps have gotten louder and then to door opened, a middle aged man, in his early fifties has opened the door, his hair is a light brown.
"Excuse me, are you Rafael Zhenekov?" Ruby asked.
"That is me, you need something?" Rafael asked.
"Well, I'm here about a job you've been offered... if you could just come with me..."
"Is this a prank? You look awfully young."
Ruby needed an excuse... so she just said a random planet name from her mind.
"Er... Noveria?" Ruby said, trying to convincingly lie by saying a random planet name.
"Ah, fair enough. Tell me why would I want a job in Noveria?" Rafael asked.
"You won't work at Noveria, rather another branch of the company." Ruby stated.
"But you work at Noveria?"
"Yes..."
"Alright, is fair... lead the way."
"Great... now if you can just follow mEAAAAUGH!" Ruby screamed... with a severe headache coming across. Her vision began to blur, and her body started to feel weak. Breathing became harder, she then collapsed on the ground.
A couple hours later, Ruby had woken up on a bed. She sees Rafael Zhenekov beside her.
"You're not sick, well... you are, it's just not a pathogen." Rafael said.
"What do you mean?" Ruby asked.
"If my theory is correct, you are suffering from quantum illness."
"What do you mean?"
"Do you suffer from dreams about vanishing, as well as headaches?"
"Ya, why?"
"Just as I thought. I witnessed another who suffered the same, and then they disappeared, the next thing you know it, it was like they never existed."
"So... what's going to happen to me?"
"I believe your attacks are only going to get worse."
"So... what do I do?"
"You hope for the best."
"And just give up?"
"Unfortunately..."
"No, I can't go out phasing out from existence. There has to be a way for me to stay extant."
"Unfortunately, there's so little I know. If only I had more to go on."
"There's this lab in Unity. I can take you there. They're researching quantum physics like you."
"Hmmm... I never heard of such a lab. How did you figure that out?"
"I can't really say... just come with me and I'll explain the rest."
"Alright. If it means I can further study in my field. I'll go. Just make sure you don't put yourself in any unnecessary risk."
"Thank you..." Ruby said, trying to get up. It seems she can still walk. It seems she's not in critical condition just yet, but she must not get ahead of herself, another attack like that can happen at any time. She could at the very least find a way to mitigate the damage done.
After all of that, Ruby and Rafael Zhenekov leave the apartment and board the cordavire to where they head to Unity...
Author's Footnote: Sorry for the rushed chapter. Lately, I've been kind of anxious and VOLUME 9 AIN'T HELPING! So any future updates on this fanfiction or others may or may not happen. I figured I would post one last chapter before leaving you all in the dark. So... here... Short and brief earth chapter. I might rewrite this chapter if things turn out alright. Go ahead and complain all you like, though. I won't stop you.