The next morning she was barely awake before chaos exploded around her. Somewhere in the flurry of activity Yang showed up and let her know all was forgiven then pitched in to help her move. Dove, Mezza and Rose all helped, too. Ruby hadn't thought she had much but she had accumulated two boxes of clothes, three boxes of books and an assortment of other little things Yang had given her so it did take all of them to carry her stuff to the new apartment. At least they made it in one trip.
Ruby's new apartment was on a floor that once housed offices for upper-management. There was a spacious lounge area with thirty large offices that had been converted into small apartments. Yang informed her there were three similar floors and her apartment was located two floors down in what used to be chemistry labs.
Hers was one of the smaller rooms but Ruby loved it. It was better than that pristine medical room. Hers had simple gray carpet and warm beige walls with a few beautiful paintings. Dove explained that three of the residents on this floor were artists - each one had been created by them. She loved the beautiful scenes and decided to track down the artists and thank them. The bed was no bigger than her old hospital bed but it didn't have wheels and a call button attached so she was happy. There was even a bookshelf bolted to one wall!
"There's a shared kitchen they keep fairly well stocked down the hall." Dove said as he helped her fill the bookshelf. "There are a few people on this floor who love to cook so you probably won't have to deal with that unless you want to. It'd be a good idea to help clean up, though. They consider that ample payment for them doing the majority of the work."
"Are you guys on this floor, too?" Ruby perked up.
"Yeah, other side of the main room." Mezza smiled. "We're in room nineteen."
"At least I know a few people here." She smiled, relaxing.
"Now we can play all the time!" Rose cheered, tackling Ruby.
"You bet!" She laughed.
By the time dinner was served she had met half the people on the floor and almost felt at home. Quite a few of them gave her that unnerving 'you're a hero!' look but many were nice and just treated her like a normal person. The cooks were happy to show off their skills with some fantastic dishes. It wasn't a huge feast, food was still somewhat rationed, but they showed what they could do within their restrictions.
The next week she spent taking on challenges and establishing herself within the community. She pushed hard to earn the reputation she had been given and she had to push because they had built her up pretty high.
Book checked in regularly to offer encouragement and advice but aside from her team he was the only one who really seemed interested in being her friend. Most people were nice but she really did feel like she was standing on a pedestal and they wouldn't let her get down. It didn't help with her feelings of isolation.
Yang was almost bi-polar, swinging from her old cheerful self to a snarling beast depending on whether it was almost time for another strike against Ozpin or not. If she wasn't out leading the charge, she was in a bad mood. Ruby found out that if she and Rose made faces at her, it would cheer her up for a little while, though.
Life almost seemed to fall into a comfortable pattern for a couple of weeks as Jaune planned the next attack. He had Ruby out front with Yang - they were going to try to knock out one of the towers Ozpin used to track and spy on people. Yang wanted to go after some of his pet Grimm as well but Jaune insisted they keep it simple and fast... so she was in a bad mood. Nothing new there.
Everything got tense when word filtered back that there was to be a broadcast from the Overlord the following week. Apparently he didn't address people directly often so it was big news. The council had an emergency meeting that was much more exciting than the previous one as everyone bickered about whether to allow the broadcast to play in the compound or just send someone to watch and bring back a report as to the contents.
Book listened silently, one of the only calm people in the room. Ruby kept out of it as much as she could since Yang was yelling loud enough for both of them. The majority wanted to see for themselves what he had to say. Jaune, Weiss and Blake all thought it was a bad idea since he was really good with his propaganda. Once Blake had gotten everyone to stop talking, she turned to Book.
"What do you think?"
"Well, I agree that it probably isn't a good idea since so many people have been here for so long. He may find effective ways to tempt them into betraying us… but if you don't allow people to see the broadcast there may be problems, anyway." He said after a moment of thought. He was choosing his words carefully. "Once someone is brought here they are given a safe place and everyone is grateful for that, but they revel in what freedom they have and many will view restricting their choice as a violation of one of those small freedoms. I advise you allow it to play."
"Very well." Weiss scowled. "We will allow it to play in common rooms but I want you to have people you trust on hand to observe reactions and make a list of anyone we may need to worry about."
"No problem." He nodded. "I'll have that list to you within an hour of the broadcast."
She didn't bother answering, just stalked out of the room. Blake sighed. "Try to keep people calm and reassure them nothing has changed - Ozpin doesn't have anything to use against us. He's probably just going to appeal to the people to help him catch us again. Our spies are still out there and reporting back often. There is nothing new to be concerned about."
The week dragged by even as busy as Ruby stayed. She loved being back around people but was still frustrated by all the special treatment. Only her old friends really acted normal around her. Well, them and Book. She looked forward to visiting with the faunus. She had only seen a few others around and they were always too busy to talk to.
When at last the time came most people gathered in the various common rooms to see what Ozpin had to say. There were some who feared what he may say and hid in their rooms but most were too curious to pass up the chance. Ruby went to the room most of the council had chosen, the largest common room on Yang's floor. It really was an impressive place, if a bit boring. Clean white walls with silver accents, high ceilings and bright, indirect lights.
There were no chairs left by the time the broadcast began. Ruby sat with Yang on the floor near the large screen while most of the other council members stood near the back. Weiss was present but clearly didn't want to be. Blake was holding her in place with Book beside them looking highly amused.
"Thank you all for your attention." Ozpin's familiar voice brought Ruby's attention back to the screen. He sat at a desk, coffee cup in hand and had that same friendly smile she was so used to. Though he showed some small signs of ageing, he looked so normal it was almost insulting. "I apologize for disrupting your day but I felt it best to address a few rumors. It is true that the misguided children attacked us some time ago and took one of my dearest staff members captive. There is a lot of unnecessary speculation and I wish to assure you all that you need not fear."
"Is he talking about me?" Ruby blinked.
"Yeah, he couldn't exactly say 'that unconscious girl witnesses saw the rebels taking'." Yang scowled.
"Though they have done many foolish things, those who have not yet returned home to their families are not cruel. They are good people and I have no doubt their hostage is being treated well. We are still waiting to hear their demands for her safe return but please, set your minds at ease. If you wish to help and you know anyone among those misguided children in the wilderness, please send them messages to convince them to listen to reason. I am not sure if the one they took is watching but if she is I would just like to say…" Ozpin's smile widened. "Hello, Red."
Ruby tensed as the words seemed to echo in her brain and a terror rose to push out all other thought. She looked around and went cold as she realized she was still in the alley. Torchwick's lackeys were everywhere and there he stood, on the far side of the crowd, smirking at her.
She was on her feet with her weapon in hand in an instant and Torchwick laughed. "Kill her."
Not again… She thought desperately as she brought her weapon around. She had to get to him, had to stop him before he killed more people, before he won. His men were better fighters this time, the weaker ones ran in fear as she fought her way toward her tormentor. She was almost to him when one of his goons stepped in her way and blocked her scythe. "Don't."
It was Cardin was giving her that irritating, arrogant look again as he pushed her away.
"Don't tell me what to do!" She yelled at him as indignant fury overrode the fear. Then she blinked and it was Dove standing there. Slowly she looked around and the dark alley dissolved, where Torchwick had been there was Weiss with her own blade ready. Ruby dropped Crescent Beacon and stepped back. "...What just happened?"
"I should have known." Jaune snarled vehemently, though his anger was not directed at her. He glared at the dark screen behind her. "How did I not guess he would do that!?"
Blake pulled Weiss into an elevator while Sky and Dove hurried over, weapons sheathed. Dove rested a hand on her shoulder. "You okay?"
"What? No!" She shook her head, scared, furious and worried as she looked over her shoulder to see streaks of blood marring the clean, bright room. The injured had already been hurried away to leave only those bright traces as proof of what just happened.
"It looks like he set you up to go homicidal when you hear a key phrase." Book said thoughtfully.
"The son of a bitch knew we'd be watching, knew she would be healthy enough to do some damage by now." Jaune paced, shaking his head. "Yang, Sky, get her back to her room. Book, Kara, make sure everyone knows the trigger phrase and Dove, I want to know how you stopped her."
"I can expl-" Ruby started indignantly but Yang and Sky were already pulling her toward the elevators.
"Don't worry about it right now." Sky said as calmly as he could. "For now we just need to get you somewhere safe."
"But I'm okay now." She protested.
"Yeah, you were okay five seconds before you flipped out, too." Yang pointed out. She couldn't really argue with that and stopped struggling against them.
"Did… I kill anyone?" She asked hesitantly once the elevator was moving.
"We don't know." Sky admitted quietly, walking with her back to her room. The few people in the halls watched Ruby warily. Word spread fast.
She shrank in on herself with every step and was unbelievably relieved when the door to her room closed and left her with two of the few people she really trusted.
"So you said you could explain?" Yang prompted. "Just what happened?"
"Cardin..." She began but she got no further before that recently healed wound tore open again. She found herself curled up against Sky as she sobbed uncontrollably.
"Any time she did something wrong or annoyed Cardin he would say 'don't' like that. If she couldn't tell what he was referring to she had to ask for clarification. It drove her up the wall and since it tended to happen multiple times a day, by the time things went wrong it would instantly infuriate her."
"So without realizing it Cardin embedded a trigger word of his own?" Yang laughed. "That's great! But what was up with the one Ozpin used?"
"That's how Torchwick used to greet her. I guess he decided that would be the best phrase since he could build on pre-existing fears." He sighed and hugged Ruby. "It'll be alright. Now that we know what he did we can work around it."
She shook her head, sniffling as she finally began to calm down. He sounded confident but how could he guarantee people would forgive her? She had thought they were enemies... If she seriously hurt anyone they may never trust her again. She had been so obsessed with reaching what she saw as Torchwick that she hadn't really paid attention to what happened to the people who got in her way.
She tuned them out after that, not wanting to hear anything else. She had to figure out how to prove she was reliable but convincing others would be impossible when she wasn't entirely sure herself.
She wasn't sure when she fell asleep, she just became aware that her nightmares occasionally gave way to a reality that wasn't much better. A few times Yang was there to offer empty words of comfort but eventually she began to wake up alone only cry herself back to sleep. She was only vaguely aware of time passing, of being hungry or thirsty but she ignored everything since she lacked the energy or will to do anything about it.
A few times she heard knocks at the door but she just couldn't gather the energy to answer. She was exhausted from bad sleep and her brain running circles, miserable from uncertainty and terrified about what may happen when she left the room. What if they decided she was too dangerous to have around? What if they didn't and she was?
Her brain continued its spiral into fear filled depression and it wasn't long before she saw that the only solution was to leave the compound and work against Ozpin alone. She wouldn't be able to endanger anyone else that way. Her friends might try to stop her but she doubted anyone else would. As long as she hurried, they wouldn't have a chance to do anything.
After gathering what she thought she might need, she took a deep breath and opened the door. She used her semblance to get to the elevator as fast as possible and hit the button for the top floor before leaning against the wall with her eyes closed.
"Leaving, then?"
She almost screamed at the unexpected voice. Book waited for her to calm down and answer. "Yeah. I don't want to endanger anyone else."
"You know," He said as he hit the 'stop' button. "I had a long talk with your friends earlier. They're all worried about you."
"They always worry about me." She muttered.
"You don't think they have every right to be? From what they said you ran off to handle your problems alone twice. Both times you nearly died. Do you really think the results will be different this time?"
Ruby slid down the wall and sat, not wanting to look at him. "No, I don't. It's just the only option I have. It'll be better if I go... maybe I can do some good out there before they get me. If I stay they may be able to take down the resistance using me whether I like it or not."
"Do you have so little faith in your friends?" He asked. She looked up and felt like she'd been slapped. He looked so disappointed, his ears were even drooping…
"It's not about my faith in them. How can anyone here have faith in me?"
Book knelt beside her and held her head still with one hand as he set an earpiece in place with the other. Before she could ask what it was for, he pressed a button on his scroll and she heard that irritatingly command. "Don't."
"All scrolls now have a button to trigger it. If you look like you might be losing control, if you are acting strangely, you will hear the word that will snap you out of it." He smiled and gave her a handkerchief as tears welled up again. They had thought this through. She was almost able to let herself hope again. "The doctor said to let you know this is a prototype. He's working on a smaller one while some of his men are researching ways to remove the programming. I know things look bad right now but we will figure things out. Just don't give up yet, okay?"
She nodded after a moment and took a deep breath to ask the question she had been dreading more than anything. "Is... everyone okay?"
His reassuring smile faltered. "Most are. There were three people who didn't get enough help in time."
She shuddered and curled up, wrapping her arms around her legs and resting her head on her knees. She had killed three innocent people...
"Ruby..." Book firmly took her head between his hands and made her look at him. "You are not a coldblooded killer. You are the victim of a madman. No one blames you for what happened. You are a good person and there are people who need you here. People who need for you to be okay. Everything I have seen, everything I have heard proves that you have a kind heart and will do anything to save the people you care about. Even sacrifice yourself. What they need from you is your presence, your inspiration, your laughter. If you go this time it will not save their lives, it will steal their hope. Please, stay for them if not for yourself."
"I doubt I mean that much to anyone." She said, slightly unnerved by the sincerity in his deep brown eyes. He did make a good point, though. The earpiece would nullify a lot of the danger and the nervousness of the people would probably take care of the rest.
"You underestimate yourself. Your friends look up to you and have missed you terribly. What you did inspired them to start fighting back early on. It is because of them this place even exists. Those who don't know you personally see you as a true hero and for you to give up when things start to look bad... Ruby, if you leave it may destroy the resistance. They need to see that nothing Ozpin does will stop us, nothing he tries will succeed. I know it's hard but we need you to fight without a weapon right now. You have to fight the fear and hopelessness he has put in your mind. If you can do it, the rest of us can, too."
"I don't know if I can." Ruby admitted unhappily.
"I know you can." He smiled as he sat next to her and wrapped an arm around her in a hug. She leaned against him and thought about everything he had said. She didn't feel like she could handle the role they had given her, pretending to be strong, pretending she wasn't on the edge of tears all the time. It was so much easier to tackle problems that only required a blade or a gun. Problems that had a definitive end and a straightforward way to get there.
"Thanks, Book." She said after she had resolved to do her best even if it seemed impossible.
He hugged her tighter for a moment before releasing her and helping her stand. "It won't be easy but it will be worth it. I promise."
"I can manage." Ruby said but she knew the words lacked conviction. She stood silently as Book hit a button and they started to move again. When the door opened she followed him even though all she wanted to do was turn and run. She recognized the hall they were in - they were going to see the council.
She briefly glanced around as they entered before dropping her gaze back to the floor. It wasn't a full meeting and that almost seemed worse. The president and vice president were there, of course, and the secretary. The only others were Jaune Arc, Dr. Cansado and Glynda.
"Isn't there something you wanted to say?" Weiss said sharply as Ruby sat. She cringed, feeling those icy eyes on her.
Book rested a hand on her shoulder. "No. She has nothing to say. What happened was not her fault and she has no need to apologize for it."
"She tried to kill me." The girl snapped at him.
"Then demand an apology from Ozpin." Book said, everyone fell silent at the unusually angry snarl to his words. "Leave her alone."
Ruby glanced up to see both Weiss and Blake glaring at him while the others just looked surprised. After a moment of uncomfortable silence Dr. Cansado's loudly sipped from his coffee and turned to Glynda. "You were saying you may know how this was accomplished?"
"Yes." She said, relaxing slightly. "Years ago Ozpin introduced me to an old friend of his with an unusual semblance - he was able to influence the decisions of others. At least that was how they phrased it at the time. I've been thinking and perhaps there was more depth to what he could do. It is possible he was convinced to use his ability to turn Ruby into a sleeper agent. If this is the case we may not be able to fix the damage and they will likely use their influence against us."
"Dr. Cansado, I want you to do everything you can to find a way to nullify the threat. If she can't be controlled I want her quarantined." Weiss said firmly.
"No." Jaune said quietly.
"What?" Weiss demanded, turning her glare on him.
"You aren't going to lock her in a lab again just because you can't control every aspect of her brain. We know how to stop her if she gets triggered… but Ozpin doesn't. I think we would be better off trying to alter the conditioning, removing it may be near impossible but changing the target might be possible. If we can do that we can let her help and if they try to turn her against us it will only make things worse for themselves."
The president scowled at him for a moment before growling. "Fine. As long as she doesn't attack me or any other resident here, do whatever you want."
She stood and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Blake sighed wearily. "She's going to be impossible to deal with for a few days."
"I'm not going to ruin someone's life to cheer up the snow queen." Jaune said flatly.
Glynda smiled faintly and Kara quickly hid a giggle.
"Are you alright, Ruby?" Glynda asked her after a moment.
Ruby forced herself to nod. "I'm still a bit shocked, that's all. It's all a bit like a bad dream."
"What are your thoughts on my suggestion?" Jaune asked. "I didn't mean for it to sound like the plan was set in stone, I just had to say something to contradict her before she got carried away."
"It's a good idea." She nodded. "I don't like knowing that people can say two words and I lose my mind… I don't want to go back there. It made me relive one of the worst moments of my life but if it's going to happen I want it to be taken out on the right people. Glynda said it may not be possible to fix and if making that change is easier, I'm all for making sure I only hurt bad people until we can figure out a way to make it stop entirely."
"Good. Dr. Cansado," He paused, sighing as he realized the old man had fallen asleep sitting up. He crumpled a piece of paper and bounced it off the doctor's head, smiling faintly as a sudden loud snore filled the room and the doctor took another drink from his half-empty coffee. "Ignore what Weiss said earlier. We're going to try to alter Ruby's conditioning so she only attacks Ozpin's people."
"That shouldn't be too hard. I'll figure out which of my people is best suited to this and send notification when we are ready to begin." He nodded, stood up with some difficulty and shuffled out.
"One of these evenings I'm going to slip sedatives in his coffee pot so he will get some sleep." Book said thoughtfully.
"That might not be a bad idea." Glynda nodded. "I'm not sure he'll remember much of what just happened as it is. I'd better make sure the right words get passed along."
She smiled at Ruby before going after him. Blake sighed. "Time for some damage control. Keep me up to date, Jaune. Book… we need to talk about your methods of communication."
"You and Weiss are the only ones complaining." He shrugged unapologetically.
She gave him a brief glare before walking out, quickly followed by Kara. Jaune sighed heavily and sat back, closing his eyes. "I'm really sorry, Ruby. I should have anticipated all of this. Ozpin is devious and heartless. After everything he's pulled before we should have known he was going to try something. I should have asked you to watch the broadcast from a separate room. Don't blame yourself for anything that happened - it was my fault."
"It is Ozpin's fault." Book said firmly. "You two need to stop trying to feel guilty, it's a distraction that we don't need right now."
"I'm trying." Ruby said quietly but it didn't matter how much logic the others offered, she couldn't help but feel like she might have been able to hold back if she had tried. It really did feel like a bad dream and the farther it got, the more convinced she was that if she had tried she could have seen through the illusion her brain created. It hadn't made any sense and that alone should have been enough to let her see something was wrong.
Jaune nodded but didn't look like he was having any more luck than she was. "We can talk about this later. I need to get going. Yang is pushing for a more direct attack and she's got everyone pretty worked up. After that broadcast it wouldn't be a good idea."
Book nodded and watched Ruby silently until he had gone. "It will turn out alright. Stop worrying."
"Why is he set against a direct attack now? After what happened I can see Yang's reasoning. I'd love to charge in and burn his house to the ground." She grumbled.
"He's clever. To anyone other than the resistance, he was nothing more than polite and forgiving. That's the way it always is. It's why Weiss was so set against allowing people to watch. He appears to be the picture of kindness and compassion, always reassuring his people that we are all foolish and misinformed but not to be hated, not a real threat. Hidden in his friendly talks there are usually comments that make sense only to us, insults couched in gentle words. A couple of years ago there was one similar to this." He sighed and closed his eyes. "They had captured one of our spies and sentenced him to death. We went to a lot of trouble to get him back in time. The rescue team was almost killed in the attempt. Two weeks later we discovered that he had injected the man with a disease that had a long enough incubation period that we had let our guard down. There was a broadcast where he said that he had gotten word of an outbreak of serious illness here and he wished to offer his condolences and well wishes along with the offer of medical aid if we returned to the city and gave up this 'silly game' we were playing. To the average citizen it was an act of kindness and he seemed genuinely sincere and concerned. To us it was adding insult to injury, he was laughing at us and none of the citizens would believe for an instant that he was responsible for our troubles."
"That's why Jaune was blaming himself…" She said quietly. He had tried a similar trick before.
"That's why you were in isolation for a month. Adjustment time and getting healthy again were important but more than that, we had to be very sure you were not infected like the last person."
"Can't detect an infected mind, though." She said glumly.
"Jaune is upset because he didn't predict a devious trick that none of us thought possible. You are upset because you didn't stop something out of your control. None of that will help us, though. It won't happen again and you need to worry more about the future than the past. A direct attack against Ozpin after his seemingly kind broadcast will look bad. We all have family and friends among the 'true citizens' and it could be dangerous to upset them enough to turn on us. We do what we can to hide our location but if they tried hard enough, I'm sure some of them could find us. Perhaps you could talk sense into Yang? She may not be the one leading the fighters in name but she is charismatic enough that if she really wanted, she could probably rally the others, convince them to ignore Jaune's orders and follow hers instead."
"It sounds like something she'd do if she was sure she was right, too." Ruby sighed. "Yeah, I'll talk to her."
"Thank you." He smiled, standing. "The sooner the better for that, though. I have to go see a few other people but send me a message if you need someone to talk to, okay?"
"Are you a psychiatrist or something?" She asked, smiling at him.
"Close." He laughed. "I was training to be a therapist when all this started. Needless to say I never finished but I do care about the mental state of the people here."
"I'm glad you came." She said as they headed for the elevator. "I imagine just about anyone who deals with the president needs someone to talk to just to keep sane."
"Everyone here needs someone to talk to. At least once in a while. This can be a very stressful place whether you are fighting or not. People just aren't meant to be confined for this long."
"Why not arrange for outings? If all the hunters are there it wouldn't be a problem to hunt down all the Grimm in the area. We could clear a big chunk of the forest if we worked all day - enough they wouldn't be able to pinpoint our location. Especially if we did this in different areas over the course of a month and just not have ours be the first."
"That might work… I'll bring it up with Jaune when I see him."
She smiled, glad to have potentially helped. That brief happy moment came to an end as the elevator doors opened. Soon she would have to deal with people again... See the fear and betrayal in their eyes. Book wrapped an arm around her and pulled her along as he stepped in.
"I know you're scared but it will be okay. You are stronger than you give yourself credit for, Ruby." He said reassuringly as he pushed the button for his next destination. "No one expects you to be perfect even at the best of times, just keep pushing forward and being yourself."
She didn't trust her voice so she just nodded. All she wanted was to go hide somewhere and not have to see anyone. That quarantine sounded fantastic.
"Don't forget, I'm always available if you need someone to talk to."
She nodded again and sighed as the door closed between them. It was nice of him to offer but she doubted she would bother him. She did wish there was someone uninvolved to talk to but everyone had some reason to be biased. Everyone wanted something from her and he was no different. He wanted her to be strong and help improve morale so everything he said would be to push her toward that goal.
She stared at the button panel for a while without seeing it. Finally she brought her mind back around to the task at hand. Where would Yang be in the middle of the afternoon? Her apartment? The training rooms, of course. She scolded herself, hitting the appropriate button. If she couldn't be outside killing Grimm and working to bring down Ozpin, she'd be in one of those large rooms where she could practice and challenge other hunters to duels.
When the door opened again she took a deep breath and forced herself to step out into the hallway. This level near the surface once housed facilities to build large machines. The hangar doors high above each of the rooms had been sealed long ago and she suspected they had become grassy meadows by now.
There were a few offices once used by foremen that now served as close combat training areas. After a quick check of all the large rooms she began peeking in the smaller ones. Most of the other people on the floor were either too focused to notice her or quickly went about their business and she was grateful for that.
She was about to give up when she heard the familiar, though muffled sound of Yang shouting threats and insults. That tiny bit of normality was enough to get Ruby to smile as she went to the door the sounds were coming from. She opened it just enough to see in. Last time she interrupted Yang had turned those threats on her and she hoped to avoid having any of it actually happen.
She had been too busy to watch many of Yang's sparring matches so she was careful to stay silent as she watched through the crack in the door. Her sister was fighting a faunus with bright yellow hair and a really long tail. His nunchucks shifted to a staff and back almost fluidly as he twisted, dodged and countered her attacks. She'd never seen anyone keep up with Yang quite so well, it almost looked more like a choreographed dance... at least until the man's tail whipped around, caught her ankle and pulled her leg out from under her.
With a shout she tumbled to the ground and glared at him. "That was cheating, Sun!"
"Yeah?" He grinned as he leaned down, his nose almost touching hers. "I guess you better cheat first next time."
"Think I won't?" She snapped and moved quickly, wrapping an arm around his neck as she pulled him off balance and slammed him to the floor.
Ruby quickly but silently closed the door and took a few steps back when Yang kissed him. Yang was dating that guy? She decided to just leave her a message and talk later. Glad for an excuse to go home, however awkward it may be, she ran back to the service elevator. There were four elevators accessible on each floor and most people preferred the three larger, faster ones accessed from the large lobbies and common rooms. Very few went out of their way to go to the service areas and that was how she preferred it. The only other people she ran into most of the time were usually folks on the council who didn't want to be bombarded with questions and conversation from random people. More often than not, she was alone on her trips and she was relieved when the ride proved as quiet as usual.
Her room's door was visible from the common area but the elevator let her out in one of the hallways that would allow her to get back without incident if she was quick.
She had the door unlocked and was about to open it when someone appeared beside her.
"Miss Rubyrose? Are you going away forever?"
The sad resignation in that little girl's voice broke her heart and she turned to kneel and hug her. "I thought about it but no, I'm going to stay. I promised to teach you how to use a scythe, didn't I?"
"Why did you attack Miss Schnee?" She asked. Ruby cringed, there was no fear or malice in her eyes, only innocent curiosity.
"The Overlord did something bad to my brain that made me think she was someone else. A very evil person."
"Oh..." She frowned as she thought that over.
"I hope it doesn't happen again but if it does and I start hurting good people, I want you to stop me, okay?" She said softly, taking Roses hands in her own." Call your parents and then stop me. Tell me 'don't' and if that doesn't work, do whatever you have to. I don't want to hurt any of our friends here and it scares me that the Overlord can make me do it without me even realizing it's happening."
"But I don't want to hurt you, either." She protested with tears in her eyes.
"I know. I hope we never have to worry about this but don't worry. I can heal if you hurt me, if I hurt other people they may not be able to. Making me stop is the most important thing, okay?"
Rose nodded and Ruby hugged her. "It'll be okay. Soon we'll start practising with a training scythe."
"Tomorrow?" She asked, instantly cheering up.
"We'll see." She smiled. "For now I need to get some sleep, though."
"Yeah, you look really tired." Rose agreed. "When you wake up I want to play!"
"Okay. I'll come find you later." She smiled as the little girl scurried away across the common room.
Ruby tried to ignore the wary stares from the people in the common room and slipped back into her apartment. With a sigh she dropped her hastily packed bag and dropped on her bed to send Yang a message. The scroll she had been given was a modified version of the ones carried by Schnee company employees. It was still strange to use something so basic compared to the one she had at Beacon but at least it was able to send text and voice messages to anyone in the building. Of course they worked on an internal network so there was no way to send anything to the outside world.
She quickly scrolled through a few 'are you okay?' and 'please answer the door' messages from her old team and Yang then moved on to sending her sister a message.
Hey, sorry I didn't answer earlier. I'm still pretty upset about
what happened but I'll be okay. Jaune has an idea to use this thing
against Ozpin but there are some details to work out yet. If we hold
off on the planned attack for a while longer it may make a big
difference. Think you can stand hanging around here longer while
we prepare a more devastating strike? Maybe we can go hunt some
Grimm to take the edge off?
She read it over twice and nodded. That should work, Yang wouldn't respond well to being told she's wrong to want to attack right now but with promise of a better fight later and a fun distraction she should back down.
With that sent she dropped back on her bed and stared at the ceiling, her somewhat acceptable mood sinking into depression as she looked at the situation again. Two words would drive her into a violent terror that had already killed three people and they had no way of knowing whether there were other trigger phrases. She wouldn't put it past Ozpin to come up with multiple ways of using her to make the people around her miserable.
"Book should have let me go." She said to the light fixture.
Closing her eyes, she willed herself to fall asleep and wake up in a better world.