Disclaimer, I do not own RWBY

Chapter 24: Person of Interest

"They bought it, mostly." Yang tossed the newspaper on the table and folded her arms, glancing at the other members of RWBY and JNPR. "I mean, there are a few still convinced it was a prison break, but enough guards 'saw' her go down fighting the Replicants, their eye witness testimony is holding more weight than nutjob theories for now."

"But, the existence of the Replicants is public news now," Blake followed up. "So far people haven't started panicking about assassin mechs that can look like anyone. Winter's spinning it as the work of anti-Atlas extremists and downplaying the threat, but I don't know how long that'll last."

"Mm, so we need to find Jacques fast and end this once and for all." Weiss all but snarled her father's name as a curse. "And Blake, you sure you're okay to be running about like this?"

"It's just a walk through the city Weiss, I'm not made of glass." Blake rolled her eyes good-naturedly but appreciated the concern nonetheless.

"Yeah, I'll make sure she stays out of trouble." Yang reassured with a thumbs up.

"Right, has anyone checked in with Dr Polendina? I left that chem weapon sample with him for analysis but uh… haven't had the time to get a status update," Jaune asked.

"I did, it's not good Jaune." Ruby handed over a data pad with a headshake. "Without physical testing, there's only so much that can be done in the lab. But so far, it's looking like exactly what we suspect it to be, an anti-faunus weapon that targets the nerves, drives everyone exposed insane."

"Y-yeah, it's… a really disgusting feeling," Blake hissed, shivering at the memory of being exposed. "It starts with a sweet smell, and then you start feeling off, like you're drunk or something, and then you get… locked in. You're still there, awake but not in the driver's seat anymore. It's… it's terrifying, there was nothing I could do, but I could still see and feel everything. We can't… can't—"

"We'll stop them, we won't let Jacques use it on the kingdoms." Ruby placed a hand on Blake's shoulder to reassure her.

"Do we have a vaccine or… or some method to prevent it from working?" Weiss asked.

"No." Ruby shook her head. "Dr Polendina is still looking into it, but right now, we only have a cure of using lightning dust to scramble the nerves. A gas mask might work, but if it gets ruptured, that's it. Aura can't stop the poison."

"What does he want? Why is Jacques doing this?" Blake asked, frustration and a hint of despair in her tone. "He… does he want to exterminate all the faunus in the world?"

"I don't know. Eight years ago, it was probably to cripple if not get rid of the White Fang completely. And, since the Jacques in the CCT back then was already a Replicant, probably use the chaos to start replacing people," Jaune guessed. "But, Weiss shut down his Replicant clone and Agent Orange cleaned up the mess with Vale Intelligence's help. We got the new council up and running and forced the underworld in line too, he missed his chance to takeover."

"We know he's going after all the kingdoms this time, it's not going to be just Vale." Pyrrha added her opinion. "I'm guessing he just doesn't care about the faunus, right now, they're just tools to help him create the chaos he needs to succeed."

"Bastard," Yang growled.

"It's not our only problem, the CCT itself is compromised," Ren reminded. "If we try to coordinate anything, we'll tip him off and he might launch the attack early."

"Is there anything we can do? Just sitting around like this is making me antsy," Nora muttered.

"There is the lead we came to Atlas for," Jaune said. "Henry Marigold is involved somehow, they say he's dead but I'm not too sure about that."

"…There is a body in the morgue, it's human and it's supposed to match Henry's records," Weiss said. "But with the CCT and our servers unreliable, there's no way to tell for sure. The rest of his family left on 'extended vacation' to Mistral before his death so we can't get any of them to confirm either."

"Wait, if it's DNA evidence, what about cousins? May's with Robyn, we can just get a sample and check," Nora piped up.

Jaune and Weiss stared and Nora blankly before exchanging a glance. And then Jaune broke the silence with a cough. "That could work. Thanks Nora."

Weiss face palmed and started cursing under her breath. "Why didn't I think of that? I could have beaten those false charges long ago! Urgh!"

"To be fair, you were under a lot of pressure. Don't blame yourself Weiss." Ruby shot her partner a sympathetic look.

"Well then, we have our next step at least," Jaune said. "Confirm whose body is lying in that morgue."

"And if he's still alive?" Yang asked.

"He'll probably be in hiding," Ren replied. "If he's working with Jacques, then he needs to lay low otherwise Weiss will be proven innocent. And if he isn't, he's keeping his head down so he doesn't get silenced."

"So we hunt him down and have a little chat." Nora grinned and hefted Magnhild for emphasis.

"Nora, no smashing." Weiss shot her idea down and ignored the kicked puppy look on her face. "He's still a citizen of Atlas, and as councilwoman, it is my duty to look after him like all citizens."

"Even if he's working with your dad?" Blake asked.

"Jacques has never been my father. Not even once." Weiss shook her head bitterly. "But yes, even then. For all I know, he's being blackmailed into helping. If he is alive and doing it out of his own free will, he'll be tried in court, we're not going to play judge, jury and executioner."

Jaune coughed and all eyes turned to him.

"Hah, that won't be needed," Weiss sighed. "Atlas hasn't fallen yet, there's no need for you to stain your hands any further on my behalf. We will do things the right way."

"Alright, but my offer stands if he's going to escape justice otherwise." Jaune nodded in acquiescence. "For now, let's split up. Since Pyr and I are not supposed to be here, we'll be with Dr Polendina and Penny going over things. Emerald and Mercury… guess they'll be with us too. We'll check if the doctor has some way to communicate without the CCT."

"Okay, then Yang and I will go see Robyn and get her help with identifying the body," Blake said. "Ruby, you're escorting Weiss to her sister, right? Going by semblance?"

"Yep." Ruby nodded in affirmation. "As far as anyone can tell, it's just me going to report in. Nobody will notice Weiss if we're moving by semblance."

"Nora and I are still on Replicant lookout duty. We'll be working with Rust again to weed out any of them hidden among the ranks," Ren said, Nora nodding along.

"Then let's get this done, the world is counting on us," Pyrrha said.


Mercury kicked a loose pebble down the street as he wandered through Mantle aimlessly. They got the councilwoman out and now the boss was stuck in a meeting with them to decide the next course of action. And that of course left him with jack shit to do in the meantime.

Mantle as a city had seen better days, once the crown jewel of the most powerful of the four kingdoms. It was but a sad decrepit shadow of its former glory, forever in the shadow of its successor. There were attempts to revitalise the city, but they were few and far in between. The projects that were complete stuck out like a sore thumb against the grey and brown concrete buildings, and the ones that weren't… they just weren't.

"Do you have a place in mind?"

Mercury sighed at his minder's voice intruding on his thoughts. "No, I just want to walk around and take in the sights, the sounds of this magnificent shithole."

"Look, this shithole as you call it, is home for a lot of people. It's my home now, could you not insult it?" Emerald pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head. "I… I just thought you could use the company, so here I am."

"You thought wrong," Mercury said. "Come on, we both know you're here to shoot me in case I try anything funny. You can relax, I haven't been paid to cause trouble or anything."

"That's not true! I… look, I'm not here to supervise you Mercury."

"Sure, I believe you." Mercury's words dripped with sarcasm. "It's funny really, I'm the assassin, yet I'm the most honest son of a bitch around. Strange how that works out."

"I didn't mean for things to go down like that! What was I supposed to do!?" Emerald fought the urge to tear at her hair in frustration. "I didn't mean for you to get caught up in it! I just thought—"

"Let me stop you right there Em." Mercury held up a finger to interrupt. "You absolutely meant to do that. You wanted him in that trap, and so you needed me there to make sure he'd walk into it. And if one of your buddies had an itchy trigger finger… hahaha… we both know how it'd end. So please, stop lying to my face. I've had enough of being dicked around. With him, at least his money's green, and as the boss, he does have the right to keep his motives to himself. But you? I actually thought you were a friend. Nice of you to let me know that was never the case."

"I'm sorry okay!? I fucked up."

"Of course, you did. Emerald, you've always been a fuckup. Why should anyone else expect anything else from you?" Mercury's blithe response came with an equally dismissive shrug as Emerald took a step back in hurt. "You switched loyalties, but you're the exact same as eight years ago when it comes to how little of a damn you give about others. I suppose I should be grateful you didn't drop a building on me. But now, piss off, go drag someone else into your blast zone."

Emerald shook her head in denial, unable to muster any words to counter Mercury's scathing statement.

"Ha, would you look at that." Mercury glanced at his scroll when he felt it vibrate. "Boss wants us to meet him at some clinic, guess that's the place I have in mind now."

Mercury chuckled bitterly and slipped the scroll back in his pocket, walking off in the direction of Pietro's clinic, leaving Emerald behind to stand in silence.


Jaune was busy tinkering with some prototype equipment Pietro had helpfully provided when he heard footsteps. Looking up, he found Mercury walking into Pietro's workshop, a stormy expression on his face. "Ah good, Penny showed you in then? Got something for you to try, I think you'll lik—"

Mercury interrupted Jaune with a solid right hook to the face, sending the Arc staggering backwards from the unexpected blow.

"Ahg! Okay, ah fuck, that one hurt." Jaune winced and rubbed his sore cheek. "Got it out of your system?"

"…Mostly." Mercury shrugged and slowly unclenched his fists. "Still pissed though."

"You have the right to be, I'd be worried if you were already okay with it," Jaune said. Looking around and finding no sign of Emerald, he glanced back at Mercury with a questioning gaze. "Where's Emerald? I heard she was with you."

"Who knows, I wanted to be left alone a bit, guess she finally got the hint." Mercury folded his arms and grunted.

Jaune observed Mercury for a little and when it was clear he wasn't going to say anything more, sighed heavily. "Might be rich coming from me, but don't hold it against her. I didn't give her much of a choice in the matter."

"That's bullshit boss, there's always a choice. And she made hers. Yeah, so you both happened to be on the same side in the end, but that doesn't change the fact she was willing to stab us both in the back," Mercury growled, his shoulders shaking from the effort to keep himself restrained.

"Sure, there's always a choice, if you're willing to accept failure and a possible worse outcome. Mercury, she picked a method that would restrain the both of us, if she wanted you dead, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now." Jaune pointed out. "It's me she meant to betray, you just got caught up in it because I dragged you along."

"I thought you hated her, why the hell are you defending her now?" Mercury asked.

"Because I've been in that spot? Mercury, I'm Agent Orange. I joined Cinder with the express intention of taking you all down from the inside, so I understand perfectly well what she was trying to do." Jaune shrugged. "As for hate… I hate a lot of things Mercury, myself at the top of that list. Whatever the two of you did in the past… it's already done, none of us can go back and change things, I'm more concerned with what's coming next. And if that means burying my grudges deep, the so be it, this is bigger than whatever personal issues I've got."

"Then you're a better man than me, I can't let it go Jaune. Not that easily." Mercury shook his head.

"Hahahah… you give me too much credit. I just… focus on the present, there's always something that needs doing, something to keep the negativity at bay. Because if I stop, even for a moment, I'll break." Jaune admitted. "You've had a real shitty life Merc, but trust me when I say you're a lot more well-adjusted than I am. I'm not going to ask you to forgive Emerald right away, but please try to let some of that rage go, for your own sake, before you end up like me."

"That an order boss?"

"No, just a suggestion from someone who drowned in misery and hate long ago," Jaune sighed.

"I'll see what I can do," Mercury grunted. "It's a hell of an ask though, so don't expect much."

"All I ask is that you be civil," Jaune said. "And if you must blame someone, you can always just blame me. I'm the one who put her in a no-win scenario. I know you've got things you refuse to lose, if I tried to destroy them, you'd do everything you could to stop me too, consequences be damned. For Emerald, this kingdom is it, and she picked one of the best possible non-lethal methods to neutralise a clear and present danger short of calling in the Ace Ops to ambush us. If it were me in her shoes, you'd both be dead, and if it were you… well, you know yourself."

Mercury looked away with a bitter frown, not wanting to admit Jaune had a point. The bitterness welling up inside wouldn't be dispelled with cold logic that easily. "I'd just like to not be dicked around anymore."

"Hahaha… you're in the wrong profession in that case." Jaune chuckled, a tinge of bitterness there. "If you survive this, best consider switching careers. Or retire, I've paid you enough for a very comfortable life as is."

"We'll see. Anyways, what was it you wanted me to try?" Mercury sighed and changed the subject. Anything else was preferrable to dwelling on the clusterfuck his life had been and continued to be.

"Upgrade for your legs, rocket thrusters, you'll be able to fly like Penny with them… and a lot of practice." Jaune nodded and didn't object to the obvious redirection. Instead, he gestured to a pile of disassembled parts on the table. "There're still some kinks to work out with the actual rocket boots, but getting them integrated with your legs shouldn't be too difficult."

"Huh, well how about that," Mercury muttered, his interest piqued despite his mood. "No lie, being able to fly would come in handy. So what now, you're gonna install them here?"

"Hell no! Do I look like a qualified robotics tech to you? The doctor will handle it once he's back." Jaune shot the idea down instantly. "I don't think we'll have enough time for you to figure out actual flight. It's not exactly untested technology, but it's something you've got no experience with. Could be an edge, could throw you off, I'll leave the decision to get the upgrade or not to you. Either way, I think you should let Dr Polendina give your legs a tune up anyways."

"Yeah, I'll talk it over with hi—" Mercury's mouth clicked shut as the door creaked open and Emerald walked.

"Glad you could make it, take a seat anywhere." Jaune gestured to the handful of empty chairs around since neither of the other two were going to say anything.

"Of course." Emerald wiped the downcast expression from her face and shot Jaune a bitter glare instead. "What did you need us for?"

"Hmm, to be honest, it's just Mercury I need here. You're with the Happy Huntresses so I'm sure you get a pass, but the two of us are still wanted criminals. Not exactly a good idea to be wandering around in public." Jaune shrugged. "Your semblance assistance with busting Weiss out is much appreciated by the way."

"I didn't do it for you," Emerald said flatly.

"Of course, you did it for the kingdom. Glad we have the same goal for once." Jaune fired back. "There is something I need to know though, the smuggling routes between Mantle and Atlas, are you familiar with them?"

"What are you getting at?" Emerald narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

"I'm not accusing you of anything, just curious. Atlas is… ah, I leave this place to Weiss so I'm really not that well versed in how the cities function. You probably know more about this place than I do," Jaune said. "So… I'm curious, if someone say… a big shot in Atlas wanted to hide a mistress in Mantle and either sneak down or sneak them up, what would be the best way to go about it? And assuming they care enough, where in Mantle would be secure enough to stash them without drawing unwanted attention?"

"…I have a few places in mind regarding safehouses. But smuggling routes are beyond me." Emerald folded her arms. "Now what is this about?"

"One out of two ain't too bad, I suppose." Jaune massaged his chin in thought. "Bait? Nah, looking for bait. Eh, it'll have to wait for confirmation on whether Mr Marigold is dead or not. If he is, then it doesn't matter." Jaune shrugged.

"And if he isn't?"

Jaune's smile was devoid of warmth. "Ain't no bait better than live bait."

Rising from his seat, Jaune handed Emerald some printouts, secret documents retrieved by his informant in Argus that he'd only just had time to go through.

Glancing at them, Emerald's eyes widened in shock at the unexpected news. The documents were hardly anything special, completely ordinary without a whiff of top-secret intel. But the fact they existed at all was damning in and of itself.

Chief amongst them?

A marriage cert.

And, a birth one.


"You want me to what?" May blinked in confusion, eyes flicking between Yang and Blake rapidly. "Yes, Henry was my cousin, but why exactly are you asking me to verify the body now? Hasn't that already been done?"

"There's a chance someone faked his death and switched out the records." Blake began, doing her best to avoid triggering any landmines with the touchy subject. "We can't be sure the body is actually his."

"And there's no one else who can do the verification?" May narrowed her eyes at them.

"Um, as far as we know, you're the only ah… living blood relative of his still in Atlas. Everyone else left for Mistral before the murder," Yang explained. "There are blood samples, but we can't be sure those haven't been tampered with either."

"Everyone?" May asked.

"Everyone." Blake confirmed with a nod.

"I see… so what you're saying is the Marigolds are traitors and in league with the robot menace." May snarled in anger, the wound left on her by the people she once called family fresh as ever.

"We don't know that for sure." Yang was quick to interrupt. "There's… no easy way to say it, but these Replicants are meant to replace their originals. And the best way to make sure there won't be any hiccups is—"

"To kill the original." May finished, her face studiously blank. "Hmmph, if they are dead, it's no loss to Mantle. It's probably an improvement now that I think about it."

"Woah, that's a bit—" Yang began.

"Much?" May offered. "The Marigolds have always been a stain on the kingdom, once I thought I could redeem our name by working with Robyn, hahahaha… no, they've caused too much harm for even a thousand lifetimes of work to make up for. There's a reason I threw the name away, but that's not important now, you need a blood sample, right?"

Blake and Yang exchanged a glance before Blake coughed. "Actually, we were hoping you could use your semblance to help us get into the morgue so we can get a tissue sample. It's… morbid, I know, but someone went through a lot of trouble to frame Weiss, they're probably watching and we don't want to tip them off."

"Fine, I guess. Joanna's on patrol with Fiona, so I do have the afternoon free." May shrugged and grabbed her weapon, slinging it over her shoulders just in case they ran into trouble. "Hey, be honest with me, will this help in resolving the Replicant problem? Because I am really, really tired of looking for assassins in everyone I see."

"If… your cousin is still alive, then we have finding him as our next step. If we can question him, we'll be able to get closer to the mastermind," Yang answered.

"Jacques Schnee, right? Hah, framing his own daughter… as screwed up as the Marigolds were, I suppose they at least never sunk that low." May laughed bitterly and shrouded all three of them in invisibility. "The body is being held in Atlas, we're in Mantle, I assume you have a ride ready?"

"Yes, Marrow and Vine will be finishing their patrol nearby soon and an airship will be down to ferry them back. We'll be riding along without anyone else knowing. As far as the world is concerned, only two Ace Ops and a pilot were ever on that ship," Blake said.

"Wonderful, then let's get going. Ah… we can finally do something instead of just reacting to never ending attacks." May rubbed her hands together in anticipation. "It's about time!"


Winter was midway through preparations for a meeting with the remaining council members when a flurry of rose petals burst through the window and into her office. Blinking in surprise, she found herself staring at Ruby and Weiss once the impromptu storm had cleared.

"Weiss? Ruby? Ha, coming here was reckless Weiss, you two know better than this." Winter rose and shot an unrepentant Weiss and Ruby a half-hearted glare, then pulled her sister into a hug. "But it's good to see you're alright."

"I'm not sure about alright," Weiss said as she returned the hug. "But I'm better than before."

"That's good then," Winter replied and released her sister. "But I stand by what I said, coming here was reckless, we don't know if anyone's watching."

"I'm sorry Winter, but I can't just sit by and do nothing," Weiss said, shaking her head. "What's the situation in Atlas now, do we know which areas of our network are compromised."

"I'm afraid not, all of the CCT personnel are clean… or not Replicants at any rate. Rust has checked them over twice with Durandal. Right now, we're considering taking the entire network down for a total reset, but that might not fix the problem if the Replicants still have access somehow." Winter grimaced at the direness of the situation and sighed. "So far, we're trying the isolate the local CCT, nothing in or out, if the hacker is based in another kingdom, it might keep them out."

"Isolate… so we don't know what's happening in the other kingdoms then," Weiss said.

"Unfortunately so, we're cut off aside from Argus. Physical reports couriered in by overseas personnel is all we have, it's… far less than ideal, but it's the compromise we need to make. And if the hacker is in Atlas… our efforts might slow them down at least." Winter tried to sound hopeful, but there was no masking the resignation in there.

"Okay, okay, one thing at a time then," Weiss said. "What's the status on weeding out the Replicants in Atlas?"

"It's slow going. The CRT test continues picking out new infiltrators every day, Rust and his unit are working overtime to ID as many as they can. Ah, but there is good news though, the Replicant issue is mostly contained to the civilians now, the army has been nearly purged." Winter exhaled in relief and perked up slightly. "Specialist Ochre's semblance has been most useful at picking out combat spec Replicants, their metal inner frames are a dead giveaway."

"And the civilian ones?" Weiss asked.

"…A little more complicated. Their inner frames aren't metal, she can't pick them out at all." Winter's face fell slightly at the admission. "But Replicant or not, we can't have anyone realising you're here. I'll arrange an airship so you can leave the city undetected, father will not get to you, not on my watch."

"No I'm done running. I've spent the last eight years running from his ghost, no more. It's time to settle things once and for all." Weiss declared resolutely. "Once we know where he is, I will head out with team RRBYN."

"Are you sure? You've been out of action for almost eight years now." Winter pointed out, a hint of worry seeping in.

"I'm sure, I'm not made of glass sister. I can do this," Weiss insisted and shrugged. "Maybe it's selfish but this is something I need to do for myself. There's still time anyways, you can give me a crash course if it's not too much trouble"

"We'll be right there with her," Ruby chimed in. "You can count on us."

"I suppose I'll have to, won't I. I will admit I don't like this, but I'll trust your judgment. You know your limits better than I do." Winter shook her head and sighed. "Alright, we've got our work cut out for us and there's no time like the present. Come, my personal training field's this way, no cameras or unwanted attention to deal with so we can go all out. You can grab a weapon from the armory along the way."

"Don't need it, I have mine right here." Weiss inhaled deeply and drew Myrtenaster, her grip shaky but firmer than it had been in a long time.

"I see, yes, yes that would do just fine. I'm glad you're back on your feet Weiss. But I hope you don't think I'm going to take it easy on you."

"I wouldn't have it any other way sister. Give me everything you've got."

"Go Weiss!" Ruby cheered. "Don't worry I'll be supporting you from the side."

"The side? Oh no Miss Rose, you will be participating in this training exercise as well." Winter shook her head with a wry smile. "You have Crescent Rose with you. And You used to be partners with my sister too, didn't you? Now come. I wish to see the limits of your teamwork, prove to me that I'm making the right choice here."

"Eh?" Ruby had a split second to process the words before Weiss was dragging her along. Her protests lost on deaf ears.

"I'm rusty, you are my partner Ruby, that means you must help me get back to proper form. And, it's not fair if I have to suffer alone. Now come on, time's wasting."


"Will it be ready in time? I've a bad feeling about things and I think we'll be needing it sooner rather than later," Jaune said as he handed a wrench over to Pietro.

"It's near completion, the control pod is ready for assembly and I'm working on the finishing touches," Pietro replied, most of his attention focused on the latest iteration of the rocket boots. "The issue is, I designed it to work with the CCT. The new network we're using now doesn't have the bandwidth needed to function properly, it'll work, just… not well."

"How much performance will be lost?"

"Hmm… I can't say without actually testing it, but in theory, running should be about the limit. But even then, it won't be natural, the lag will be too much to compensate for." Pietro shrugged helplessly. "I'd advise using it as nothing more than a mobile speaker."

"It'll have to do, thanks doctor, I know it can't have been easy doing all this while working on so many other things at the same time." Jaune bowed in gratitude. "I appreciate all you've done to help us."

"Oh none of that now, I'm just happy to do what I can to help Remnant." Pietro waved off the thanks. "Do be careful out there, Schale's work is… nasty business. So far, it doesn't seem to affect humans, but there's no telling what other surprises she might have prepared."

Whatever Jaune was about to say died on his lips when the door slammed open and two thoroughly battered figures stumbled in. Jaune raised and eyebrow and glanced at them in amusement. "What happened to the two of you? You look like you went a few rounds as a Beringel's punching bag."

"Ugh… I feel like it," Weiss groaned, wincing when the action sent another round of aches and pains shooting through her. "I know she said she wasn't going to go easy, but!"

"Your sister's a monster." Ruby echoed Weiss's complains. Getting trampled by a Goliath summon right after emerging from her semblance was not something she was keen on experiencing any time soon. Or ever again.

"Heheheheh… alright, alright, here's the top up." Jaune snickered quietly and activated his semblance, bringing them both to peak condition and wiping away most of the soreness from Winter's training.

"Ah, that's the spot." Ruby sighed in relief as the amplified aura infusion immediately started work on erasing the multitude of bruises she'd picked up. "Hey Jaune, did you get the news yet? We couldn't reach you on your scroll."

"Ah, it's flat. Forgot to charge it, what happened, what'd I miss?" Jaune asked

"We got the test results, it's not him! It's not Henry in there," Ruby said excitedly, then quietened and frowned. "But we don't know who the victim is, and we can't do anything to identify him while our systems are hacked."

"I see, the body is safe enough in there. Once we've dealt with things, we can focus on uncovering the truth and giving whoever that man is a proper send off, he won't be forgotten Ruby," Jaune reassured. "By the way, when did we get the confirmation?"

"Yang called us a few hours ago, we've been trying to reach you since," Weiss answered. "I did manage to get through to Pyrrha, but she was with Penny instead."

"Yes, she had something to do with a Replicant data core, I didn't ask for the details. A few hours… ah, should have kept my scroll charged. Mr Pietro, I'm needed elsewhere, is it alright if I leave?"

"Yes, yes, of course. You've been a great help as it is, don't worry, I'll get at least this pair of boots done by the time you need to leave. And for the control pod, I'll have it shipped the usual way to Beacon." Pietro gently shooed Jaune away. "Go on, you have somewhere you need to be, don't you? I'm old but I can look after myself just fine."

"Thank you again for all you've done," Jaune said and turned to leave. "Weiss, do we know where Henry might be hiding?"

"No, we're not even sure he's still in the city." Weiss shook her head.

"Ha, so much for the easy way out. Alright, time for bait… ah, hell." Jaune grumbled and frowned.

"What?" Weiss asked.

"…Winter needs to make an announcement, that new evidence has emerged that you're actually innocent." Jaune pinched the bridge of his nose and grit his teeth in displeasure, he understood the necessity of it just fine, but dealing with Winter made his skin crawl as usual.

"We're revealing the fake body?" Ruby asked.

"No. We're revealing nothing, we're just… pushing the blame to someone else. We don't have to have any proof, just announce that we've identified a new suspect and are moving to arrest them," Jaune said. "Then we'll see if he bites, and, if he's still in the city, I think he will."

"You think there's someone he cares about enough to put himself at risk?" Weiss asked. "Who?"

"His wife and kid," Jaune replied.

"He has a wife!?" Weiss shouted. "And a kid!? How!? When!?"

"Are we… really going there? They're innocent, aren't they Jaune?" Ruby asked.

"It's all a show, for the public and him. They won't come to harm, you know that, I know that. But he doesn't, and that's where the magic happens." Jaune smiled viciously. "As to when Weiss? About… three years ago now? He kept it hush-hush, a signing in the presence of an anonymous witness and a physical document filed away to be lost in the archives. No digital records, no video, no pictures, no nothing. I'm not sure if the other Marigolds even knew about it, nah, they probably didn't. Otherwise, wifey would have been accidented long ago."

"Why the secrecy?" Weiss frowned, the image Jaune was painting didn't line up with the boastful, arrogant leech she remembered having to deal with.

"I mean, besides what happened to May? Being disowned and cut off from your family to follow your path isn't an easy ask, ask me how I know." Jaune chuckled softly and buried that familiar ache in his heart. "Anyways, it's all hush-hush because if not, to his family, he'd actually be the bigger disappointment between the cousins. May chose Mantle over the family, but Henry's the one who chose a faunus over them."

"Oh." Ruby and Weiss whispered in unison.

"Yeah, kid's a faunus too if the birth cert I got is right. Not something he can ever let the rest of the upper crust idiots find out," Jaune continued. "Could be a fling, could be a random mistress he's just fond of, but… if that were the case, he wouldn't have gone through the trouble of getting married and then hiding it."

"So by announcing that we're after her…" Weiss trailed off.

"If he's in the city, if he cares for them, he'll definitely try to get them out. Then we grab him when he does," Jaune said. "If it fails… eh, we'll just have to come up with plan B."


"Come on, come on, what's taking so long!?" Henry glanced out the window of the worker transport nervously. It wasn't quite rush hour traffic, but his current ride just wasn't built for speed. A beat-up clunker stained with dirt and rust, with windows so grimy touching them was probably a health hazard, normally, a man of his means would never be caught dead anywhere close to a piece of shit like this, but these were desperate times.

"Our route bypasses the checkpoints set up by Atlas. The detours are necessary to avoid your detection and capture Mr Marigold." The driver, a Replicant wearing the form of a balding middle-aged human, replied in a complete monotone.

"I know that you soulless machine!" Henry yelled. "I just… we are running out of time."

"Noted Mr Marigold. However, we are already travelling at maximum permitted speed. Should we exceed the limit, we run the risk of being detected." The Replicant replied.

"Rggh…" Henry slumped back into his seat and glanced out the window again, worry eating him alive. Not for the first time, he cursed his old man's utter lack of foresight, the accursed deal he brokered with Jacques was now Henry's problem to deal with.

Riches beyond their wildest dream, the Marigolds achieving their rightful place at the top of the world, rulers of at least one of the kingdoms. All upside, no downside, for the low, low price of cooperating with a supposedly dead man and committing high treason.

Henry growled and slammed a fist against the window, wincing when the pain registered. High treason, that was a mandatory death sentence if they were ever caught, and they were all guilty as sin. If he wanted to live, that meant cooperating fully and hoping Jacques succeeded in crowning himself emperor of the world, because if not…

"No, no… we've come this far, we can… he can still do it," Henry said, his mutterings more a prayer than anything else. Things had been going wrong ever since that incident at Sanctum, now even their plan to remove Weiss from the equation had gone awry. First the councilwoman had been kidnapped by rogue Replicants or whatever, then her sister had come looking for revenge and pinned Henry's own 'murder' on his wife of all people.

A not insignificant part of him wondered if this was Jacques's way of cleaning up loose ends. The CCT connection to the other kingdoms had been cut and there was no telling what his remaining family members in Mistral were doing, if they were still alive at all. For all he knew, Jacques's had already disposed of them all and this was just some twisted joke at his expense.

Shaking his head to clear the negative thoughts, Henry tried to bury the doubt deep. The Replicants assigned to 'guard' him still obeyed his commands… mostly, and none of them had tried executing him… yet, so Jacques clearly didn't want him dead… at least he thought so.

But none of that mattered right now. The only thing he needed to see through was that his wife and daughter were safe from the mess. They were the sole remaining bright spot in his life and he refused to accept any harm coming to them. "Hold on Anya, Stella, I'm coming."

The rest of the trip was largely done in silence, only broken by the Replicant driver providing the occasional progress update. Henry's slowly fraying nerves were only alleviated by the sight of one of the post office's distribution hubs coming into view. The facility was fully automated by mechs, mechs that had long ago been subverted by the powers that be to facilitate easy smuggling between Atlas and Mantle.

Despite the crackdown on Replicants, no one had thought to take a closer look at the obvious mechs running daily life. From here, it was just a short flight down to Mantle, then he could pick up his family and smuggle them out of the kingdom. If only he hadn't allowed his fear of their discovery keep him from doing so beforehand, but hindsight was twenty-twenty and he couldn't change the past anymore than he could escape from under Jacques's thumb.

"Mr Marigold, we have arrived. There are no signs of Atlas personnel in the area, we are clear to proceed. Caution is advised even though we remain undetecte—" The Replicant said before having its head ventilated by a sniper round through the windshield.

"Aaagh!" Henry screamed as fake blood, smoking synthetic flesh and scraps of twisted metal splattered him. Unbuckling his seatbelt and throwing the door open, he quickly stumbled out of the transport, unheeding of the potential threat.

He managed to make it five steps from the truck before something hit his legs and tied them together, sending him sprawling painfully to the floor. Glancing up, he found himself staring into the very hostile eyes of his former cousin May.

"Get up Marigold, you have a lot to answer for," May growled and hauled Henry to his feet, dragging him to a waiting unmarked car.

"What!? How are-damnit, let go! Let go!" Henry struggled in vain, he simply didn't have the strength to overcome a royally pissed off huntress with aura. And when his struggling and cursing got too annoying, May simply bagged his head with a black canvas sack, muffling the noise.

"In you go." May shoved him unceremoniously into the backseat and gave the driver a nod. "He's all yours Xiao Long, I'll take a different route as planned. And you Henry… I suggest you cooperate fully, or else."

"We'll take care of our VIP, see you back at base May." Yang waved as the door slammed shut and she floored it immediately, speeding out of there with all the grace of a charging rhino. And of course, Henry's mix of terrified screaming, angry ranting and panicked begging went ignored.


Henry screwed his eyes shut as the bag was ripped off his head, exposing his sensitive eyes to the blinding glare of the overhead spotlights. When he could finally see clearly again, he could vaguely make out that he was in an interrogation room of some kind.

Normally, that would have been worrying enough, but it was the person opposite him that sent a chill down his spine.

"Good evening Mr Henry, I trust your journey wasn't too uncomfortable?" Jaune greeted politely. "I'm truly sorry to have to invite you here so forcefully today, but you see, there are pressing issues that we need your help to settle. I hope you understand, it's nothing personal, no hard feelings?"

Henry could read between the lines perfectly enough. "W-what do you want from em? Y-you're not supposed to be here."

"Yes, yes, the great criminal Jaune Arc, Atlas's most wanted, here in Atlas itself without being in chains? The world must be ending I guess." Jaune said with a shrug of his shoulders. "Come now, let's not waste each other's time, okay Mr Henry? You know why I've brought you here today, so how about you give me what I want and we can pretend today never happened?"

"I… alright! You're Agent Orange, you're here about the councilwoman being framed right? I don't know who did it, I… I received a message to go into hiding, and there were these… things guarding me. I only just managed to get away earlier today." Henry tried to bluff his way out with a twitchy smile on his face.

Jaune sighed and wrung his hands. "Can we not do this? I don't have the patience for such nonsense. See, I am Agent Orange, and that fact is very highly classified intel. The fact you know of it is enough reason to silence you, irrespective of whatever else you've done."

"W-what!? You can't do that! I… I'm a citizen of Atlas!" Henry yelped.

"You say that like I care. Look, I know you're working with Jacques Schnee. If he knows enough about Agent Orange to inform you of my existence, then he should have also informed you of my purpose. And if not, I'm sure you haven't been living under a rock. You know what I've done, tell me, why do you think your life is any different from all the others I've snuffed out?" Jaune asked nonchalantly.

"T-that's…" Henry stammered, unable to come up with anything.

"Hah, it's a simple question I want answered. Where is Jacques Schnee hiding?" Jaune clasped his hands together and leaned in closer. "Come on Mr Henry, work with me here, cooperate and we can make all this disappear. Don't… and hahahhahah… go ahead, make my day."

"I… I don't know," Henry said, causing Jaune to sigh again.

"I don't even need a lie detection semblance to know that's a lie. Come on, who are you talking to again? You're a hundred years too early to sneak bullshit past me." Seeing that Henry was unwilling to talk, Jaune shook his head and reached into his pocket, retrieving two photos and tossing them on the table for Henry to see. The shock and dismay on Marigold's face was damning enough despite his immediate attempts at denial.

"Shh! Shh… shh… shh, shut up and listen." Jaune interrupted Henry's rapid-fire denials with a raised finger. "I'm Agent Orange, things of interest fall into two categories for me. Number one! Things I know. And number two, things I'm about to know. Got it?"

Henry's lips were glued together as he nodded quickly.

"This right here? Lovely family you've got, I'm honestly surprised you went and married a faunus. I don't suppose your family would have approved? Guess it's why you tried to keep it secret. Well you failed, but points for trying," Jaune said. "See, when it comes to intel, the location of your family is number one and Jacques Schnee's location is number two about to become number one, if you catch my drift."

"They're innocent! Leave them out of it you monster!" Henry yelled and slammed his fists against the table with a loud bang.

"So what if they're innocent?" Jaune asked.

"E-excuse me!?" Henry sputtered in incomprehension. "They're innocent means you can't hurt them! You-you work for Atlas! It's your job to—"

"It's my job to safeguard not just Atlas, but the world Mr Henry. Do you know what's the mandate I've got? By any means necessary," Jaune interrupted. "Do you have any idea how many innocent lives have already been destroyed by the Replicants you've been aiding? Do you have any idea how many innocent lives I've ended over the years for the greater good of mankind? Your wife and daughter are innocent, but so what? What makes them different from everyone else we've both helped to bury?"

"You're a monster." Henry whispered.

"Yes I am," Jaune said. "Right now, I'm the monster with your family's lives in his hand. So, are you going to cooperate? Or do I have to make an example out of your family?"

"You can't do this! This… this is Atlas! The huntsmen will stop you. Uh, the army will stop you!" Henry cast his eyes about the room, searching for anything he could use to dig his way out of this predicament.

"Agent Orange. By any means necessary," Jaune said and rolled his eyes. "But sure, I lie for a living, so don't believe me."

Jaune nodded to the opaque observation window, and seconds later, Weiss and Robyn marched in. "You recognise these two, don't you? I'm sure you know Ms Hill's semblance, but just in case you don't, it's lie detection. You're not bluffing your way out of this Mr Henry."

"…I see how it is," Henry said and fell back into his chair. If Weiss was here, then the whole thing was one giant setup from the start. "It's not illegal if the council does it, right?"

"If you say so," Weiss shrugged. "A lot of lives are at stake Henry, just tell me where my father is hiding, and we can see about reducing your sentence."

"Reduce? Hmmph, whatever you may think, I'm not stupid. I know damn well what a mandatory death sentence is." Henry glared angrily at the three of them.

"If it were up to me, I'd have your family skinned alive in front of you, let you watch them die slowly. Then I'd scoop your eyes out with a rusty spoon so their deaths will be the last thing you ever see. And then, I'd let you rot in a cell till you die," Jaune said in such a blasé tone that the sheer callousness sent a chill down Henry's spine. "But luckily for you, your fate's not up to me. If Councilwoman Weiss wishes for it, I can easily create the evidence to show that you were nothing more than another innocent victim, kidnapped and replaced by a Replicant."

"You sick bastard!" Henry spat vehemently.

"Guilty, of course, whether I do so depends on your cooperation. Do well enough and I'm sure Weiss here might be willing to show mercy. If not… lie detection semblance, I can just torture you until you start screaming, with enough yes-no answers, I'll get Jacques's location eventually. There just won't be much left of you or your family by then," Jaune said.

"What the hell!?" Robyn said, glancing between Jaune and Weiss in disbelief, unable to tell if Jaune was being serious or bluffing again. Weiss wasn't saying anything, so surely that was a good sign, right?

"Where are my wife and daughter, I'm not doing anything until I know where they are," Henry said.

"They're—" Robyn began, only for Jaune to interrupt and hold out his hand for her semblance.

"They're not dead yet if that's what you're worried about. Both of them are in protective custody at the moment." Jaune's words rang true as Robyn's semblance didn't react. "And for now, I haven't been cleared to hurt and or kill them."

Once again, the statement was true and Henry allowed himself to relax slightly. So Jaune's earlier words were just a bluff, Weiss and Winter weren't total monsters like their father and they weren't going to let their pet monster off the leash. They were… probably still going to kill him, but if his wife and daughter made it out alive as a result, he'd make that trade.

"Don't get too comfortable, if Jacques Schnee succeeds in his goals, they will most likely die screaming." Jaune's words doused what faint hope Henry had. "Tell me Mr Henry, do you know what this is?"

"No, I… gas? Some kind of gas contain-poison gas!?" Henry took a closer look at a small canister Jaune placed in front of him, recoiling in shock when he noted the yellow gas within. "W-what the hell are you going to do with that!?"

"This one? Nothing much, return it to the lab for study later." Jaune spoke the truth and picked up the canister for inspection. "It smells sweet or so I've been told, want to take a whiff?"

"What the fuck!? No! Get it away from me!" Henry shouted and fell out of the chair as it looked like Jaune was about to uncap the thing. "You crazy son of a bitch! Th-the councilwoman is right there!"

"Yes, thank you for pointing out the obvious Mr Henry, my eyes aren't working so well today," Jaune said and rolled his eyes, grasping Robyn's hand again before speaking. "Grow a spine, would you? This doesn't even work on humans."

"W-what?" Henry glanced at Robyn, her semblance indicating Jaune was telling the truth once more. "What do you mean it doesn't work on humans? Then it-oh… oh no."

"Yep, it's a bioweapon that targets faunus. Drives them all insane, you heard about the last Vytal festival in Vale? How the White Fang went nuts and started attacking everyone including themselves? Yeah, this is the cause of that, only, it's now good for airborne dispersal so it'll be a lot more than just terrorists being affected," Jaune said, a twisted smile growing on his face. "Just think about it Mr Henry. Every faunus in all the kingdoms suddenly driven to murder everyone in sight. They're still awake and conscious you know, they just can't control themselves. I wonder, what would your wife think once she's affected and bashes your daughter's brains out with a frying pan?"

"Leave them alone!" Henry roared and leapt to his feet, with another furious roar, he lunged towards Jaune, arms outstretched to wrap around his neck.

But of course, as an untrained civilian with no aura, he didn't get very far. Jaune simply straightened his free arm and held out his fist, allowing Henry to ram himself into it and fall back sputtering and coughing.

"Just so you know, releasing this gas isn't my idea, it's Jacques," Jaune said. "Eight years ago, Vale was an experiment. Today, he's about ready to go full scale with his… ah, I don't really know what his full plan is, but near total faunus extinction in the kingdoms is probably in it."

"Hundreds of thousands will die in the chaos, this gas works on all faunus, and aura won't protect against it," Weiss spoke up, drawing Henry's attention. "We have gas masks and hazmat suits, and of course we have secured air tight bunkers with proper filtration to handle the gas. It's just nowhere near enough to safeguard everyone. And I regret to inform you that your wife and daughter are not on the list of faunus to be protected."

"How… how can you be so… evil? Anya and Stella, they have nothing to do with this. Execute me if you must, leave them out of it!" Henry shouted in despair.

"Evil? Us? We're not the ones helping my father facilitate the worst terrorist attack in history," Weiss replied. "I have more important things to deal with than threaten your family Henry. But if my father isn't stopped, he'll be the one who takes them from you, permanently. Do you understand why we're going so far now?"

"Personally, I don't give a rat's ass if your family is gassed or not, and neither does Jacques," Jaune said, continuing from where Weiss left off. "But you do. We don't know when the attack is going to happen, but everything points to it being any day now. Could be next month, could be next week, could be tomorrow. So, are you going to cooperate now? With Ms Hill here, I will eventually get the truth out of you one way or another, but that's a waste of time. And if we're too late, you'll have only yourself to blame, won't you?"

"I… I…" Henry inhaled deeply and screwed his eyes shut. Things were fucked, everything they were saying was true, he hadn't been informed of this bit of Jacques's plan. If he only knew, he'd… he'd… ah, it was too late for regrets now. But he could at least try to mitigate some of the damage he'd helped cause. Sighing explosively in defeat, he held out his arm for Robyn. "Alright, I'll tell you everything I know, just… promise me, whatever happens, I… just keep my family safe. They're all I have left, the other Marigolds, I don't know if they're still alive or not and… I'd be disowned anyways."

"We'll do what we can, but the best way to protect your wife and child is to stop my father," Weiss said. "Where is he?"

"I don't know where he is now, but I know where he might be." Henry admitted truthfully. "I… I know he needs to be in Vale to send out a global signal activating all the Replicants. There was a… a virus or something, in Vale's CCT from a long time ago. It wasn't purged by later updates and it's the only CCT still usable for his plans. The others are too fortified for the broadcast."

"Vale? Damnit, I thought we already cleared out the tampering back then," Jaune growled.

"T-there's one other place, it's… somewhere in Solitas. I don't know where, but it's… he has a base there, I think. He warned me not to take a flight anywhere close to that area or be shot down," Henry said. "I didn't query further, but if there's anywhere else he could be other than on his way to Vale, it'd be there."

"Can you point it out on a map?" Robyn asked, drawing her scroll and pulling up a map of the continent.

"Y-yes, this sector." Henry circled a 'small' section of Solitas before shrinking into himself. "I'm sorry, that's all I know about this place. I believed Jacques when he said it was dangerous and just avoided the place."

"This place? There's nothing but—" Weiss cut herself off as recognition hit. "Ah, I do believe we've found our hacker. There's an old abandoned research lab here, this is where the testing for the CCT was done. It should have been decommissioned, but thanks to Grimm activity and other issues at the time, the scuttling wasn't complete. I wouldn't be surprised if enough equipment remained for father dearest to bring the place back online. Jaune?"

"I'll see if I can dig up anything else. If the place is saturated with AA guns like those hidden factories in Mistral, getting to it might be a bit of a problem." Jaune nodded and headed for the door. "I'll leave his interrogation to you then, excuse me for now."

Weiss and Robyn nodded in acknowledgement before returning to grilling Henry as Jaune left.


"Would you have done it?"

Jaune stopped in his tracks to find May leaning against the wall. "Done what?"

"What you said, hurt Henry's family, torture him, that stuff," May said.

"If it came to it, yes. Why? I thought you hated the Marigolds and wanted them dead," Jaune replied.

"This and that are different things Arc. Henry is… not the Henry I remember," May admitted with a bitter frown. "The others can go to hell for all I care, but you'd ruin innocent lives just to get to him? It's messed up."

"Ruin lives to get to him? No. Ruin lives to save the world? In a heartbeat." Jaune's smile didn't quite reach his eyes. "You're one of the Happy Huntresses, Weiss and Winter might be turning a blind eye to your actions, but at the core, you still break the law regularly to do what's best for Mantle. You understand why what you do is necessary. I am the same, I just operate on a much large scale, with far higher stakes."

"We can't all win, so some things… some people must be sacrificed? What a life, you think there'll ever be a world where that will no longer be the case?" May asked. "Robyn and the others, they think if we can deal with the Replicants, then things will be just peachy after that. The Schnees are bridging the cities and making the kingdom a better place, that there'll come a day when we no longer need to do what we do."

"It's a beautiful dream, isn't it?" Jaune said.

"But dreams aren't real," May replied.

"Yeah. You've seen the darkness festering inside the hearts of people too." Jaune stated. "Even without Jacques, without your family, that darkness isn't going anywhere."

"And we clean up the mess so no one else has to." May shook her head and started waking away. "Heh, you remind me of Emerald. I get the feeling you'll be heading back to Vale soon and she'll be tagging along. Look out for her would you, I'm worried she's one bad day away from snapping."

"She's tougher than that, but don't worry, I was planning to do that anyways."