Chapter 20: Reporting In
If you're reading this, you are the resistance. Right now, The Draigg is making a chapter for us. This chapter will be our final weapons against the machines. With it, we can finally free the shackles of oppression from the machines, and reclaim the Earth for ourselves. Remember the sacrifice Monty Oum did my making RWBY. Now, take these words as hope, and strike against them!
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Mr. Brass was brought along for this trip for several reasons. For one, the Schnee Dust Company needed a representative for the PDA program they got involved in. That one was the most prominent goal. But, his secondary objective was for Mr. Schnee specifically. Mr. Brass was to watch Team RWBY and report his observations to Mr. Schnee directly.
Because it was now a Saturday, and the team was away doing… whatever it was what they did on their free time, Mr. Brass could type up his first report to Mr. Schnee without being noticed.
So, Mr. Brass was sitting in the living room recliner, tying away on his scroll. If one was to look at the screen (but don't do that, it's impolite), they would see this already typed section:
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From what I have seen over the past week, I can determine the following about the members of your daughter's teammates:
Yang Xiao Long: Among her negative traits are her abrasiveness, her confrontational tendencies, and strange possessive attitudes towards certain objects (i.e., her motorcycle). However, these are balanced out by her caring, almost parental attitude, in addition to her loyalty to her friends. Overall, she isn't too much of a threat for now.
Blake Belladonna: This girl keeps mostly to herself. Whenever she does talk, it's either sarcasm, or something intelligent. I can't make a good conclusion about her without any more evidence.
Ruby Rose: The leader of her team seems to share a rather close relationship to Weiss. What that could mean is up for debate, but what I can ascertain is that Weiss also cares for her a great deal. Ruby is also rather capable of holding her own, in terms of planning and leadership capability. Still, she prefers to work with Weiss more often than the others. What this means remains to be seen.
The next report should come in a week's time, just as you asked of me to do.
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As Mr. Brass typed away on his report, he wondered whether or not he should be telling Mr. Schnee all of this. He did like the girls on Team RWBY. It just unsettled him that he was spying on them for the sake of his job. But, he really needed that paycheck. It was either that, or having him and his daughter move in with relatives. So, he was willing to do what he needed to do for his family.
Just as he put the finishing touches on his report and pressed 'send', Team RWBY walked through the front door of the condo. Quite loudly, he noted.
"Damn, that move was awesome!" Yang proclaimed as she tossed the van keys on the nearby table. Ruby was keeping the pace with her sister.
"That sharkopede?! It was awesome! Especially when it ate that train!" Ruby gushed alongside her sister.
Blake and Weiss shuffled through the door, looking very tired and fed up. Clearly, they didn't share the views of their partners. And, looking at Blake's face, she felt that the worst.
"I still would have preferred to have seen something else. That movie was nothing but pure dreck!" Weiss complained.
"Yeah…" Blake mumbled. She was like a zombie, just shuffling around and acting like she barely any life in her.
The movie that Team RWBY went to see was 'Sharkopede vs. Gargantuape'. One of the more positive reviews of the movie was, "I can make a better movie by spitting on film stock,". But, since apparently terrible taste in movies was a genetic trait, Ruby and Yang dragged Weiss and Blake to see the film.
Weiss wanted to see some romantic comedy playing in the same theater, and Blake didn't want to go to begin with. She was more than content with reading the books she had brought along for the trip. But, of course, she had to feel like her eyeballs were roughly violated by a terrible movie. Why wouldn't something bad happen to her?
"Oh come on, you two!" Ruby reasoned, "If you didn't want to watch the movie, then why did you come with us?".
"Because you dragged us along!" Weiss protested.
"Now, that's simply not true. I didn't pull you across the ground, you walked out of the door and into the van. Because people walk to get to places, and the place we were going to was the theater, that means you wanted to go to the theater to see the movie!" Ruby justified with her insane logic.
"I… gah… uhh…" Weiss went, making various choking noises before sighing dejectedly. There was absolutely no way she could argue with what Ruby said. It was so out there, so involved in its own twisted logic, that it made the perfect amounts of no sense.
Blake looked even worse after hearing Ruby's crazy explanation. She had always enjoyed the fact that her logic and smarts carried her through life. But, for something that insane to make no and all sense? It was like trying to make sense of a fourth-dimensional object.
"My brain hurts…" Blake moaned as she massaged her temples. She slowly shuffled off to her room, to sulk over what she had experienced today.
"I don't get it," Yang stated simply. Even Ruby could be an enigma sometimes.
"Well, it makes sense to me…" Ruby replied as she shrugged.
"Ruby," Weiss tiredly said as she patted Ruby's shoulder, "I respect you and your intelligence, but that made no sense whatsoever. Or, maybe it did. But, the point is that logic shouldn't be cyclical,". As Weiss tried to think about whether Ruby's reasoning made any sense, she could her feel her brain scrambling trying to figure it out. Maybe it was for the best to not think about it at all. The best reply Ruby could give her partner was a small shrug.
At that, Ruby and Weiss made their way to the living room couch, while Yang went off to try and salvage the remains of her girlfriend's mind. Yang could tell Blake wasn't having a good day at all before that logic bomb hit. Now, she had to tape together the fragments of Blake's psyche.
"Welcome back," greeted Mr. Brass form his seat.
"Hey, Mr. Brass!" Ruby greeted back.
"So… a movie, huh?" Mr. Brass inquired.
"Oh man, you should have seen it! There was this sharkopede, and it fought this HUGE ape in the city, and the ape was like GRAAHHH! And the sharkopede was like HISSSSS! It was so COOL!" Ruby swooned over what she had watched. Weiss was shaking her head behind her.
"Don't listen to her," advised Weiss, "The ticket was five lien, and now the director of the movie owes me twenty as reimbursement,".
"I'm guessing it was a masterpiece then," Mr. Brass commented sarcastically.
"Yes!" Ruby agreed.
"No!" denied Weiss.
"I see. I guess I'll just have to watch it myself then," Mr. Brass said, his voice indicating his sarcastic mood.
"Totally!" Ruby replied. Weiss settled on groaning in disappointment.
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Later, in the nighttime hour, Team RWBY was watching something decidedly better: a reality show about making biscotti. Or, they were trying to, since Mr. Brass decided then was the time to tell them next week's schedule.
"So, our next showings will be next Tuesday and Wednesday. After that, you're free for that week," Mr. Brass explained as he looked at his scroll.
"Got it," Ruby confirmed, even though she was too busy watching television. She just wanted to reach into that screen and eat those treats so bad!
Mr. Brass knew that Ruby wasn't paying attention to him at all, but he let it slide. She would know about the showings soon enough. Just as he was going to read further down on his scroll for more information, he got an e-mail notification.
Opening the message, he saw it was from Mr. Schnee's personal e-mail address. Mr. Brass' heart skipped a beat as he realized that it was his boss. The fact that he responded was in of itself odd, but the fact that it was the same day as his report made it even more suspect.
Looking down, he read the message. It read:
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Mr. Brass:
Your report has told me all I needed to know. In addition to the other materials and information gathered on the rest of the team in question. I know have enough data to act. I will be coming by your location in person to see these people for myself. Expect me by your lodging by next Friday.
Don't disappoint me.
THIS MESSAGE IS A CONFIDENTIAL MATTER OF THE SCHNEE DUST COMPANY. ANY ATTEMPT TO DUPLICATE OR DISTRIBUTE THIS MESSAGE OR ITS CONTENTS WITHOUT PERMISSION WILL RESULT IN LEGAL ACTION OR A 50,000 LIEN FINE.
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Mr. Brass' face slightly paled as he read the message over and over again. Mr. Schnee was going to pay them a personal visit? Next week?! That wasn't enough time! A visit from Mr. Schnee required at least two weeks of preparation! And what about the girls? He had to warn them and get them ready!
"Are you alright?" Weiss asked Mr. Brass, dragging him out of his stupor.
"I'm fine," Mr. Brass waved away Weiss' concern. He would need to talk to them about this at a better time. Man, the Schnee girl wasn't going to take this well…
Weiss eyed him with some suspicion. "Is something wrong with the performances?" she pressed further.
"No, no… It's something I'll tell you later. It's not a big enough of a deal to worry about," Mr. Brass lied. He had no idea how he would explain this in a way as not to panic Team RWBY. He could tell they were apprehensive when they got on the flight over here. There was no need to make this situation even more obtuse.
Seeing that she wasn't going to get a straight answer out of Mr. Brass, Weiss let go her train of questioning. However, she wondered what would make Mr. Brass pause like that.
"Maybe it has something to do with the company. After all, he DOES work for my father," Weiss thought. But then, something hit her. "Wait! Father! He probably has something to do with this!" she realized. Now, all alarms were going off in her mind.
If whatever Mr. Brass was worried about had to do with her father, then she needed to be on her guard at all times. She couldn't allow him to ruin everything that she had spent so much energy building up around her. Her dad just couldn't take away what she loved!
Weiss shifted her gaze over to Ruby. Looking at Ruby's rapt attention to the baked goods on screen, Weiss felt a spark of pain and worry flash in her heart. She couldn't let her be taken away. If she left her life…. Weiss didn't want to think about that. That was a dark thought that she wished would never happen.
The paranoia in Weiss was rising to extreme levels. Her father was always a meticulous planner. If he was involved directly in this trip then that meant he had some ulterior motive. Weiss needed to do everything in her power to prepare her psyche for a possible clash of wills.
No, she wasn't being crazy. Crazy people were usually wrong. Weiss was just being preparative. Damn it, she was going to save everyone from her father!
Her teammates were completely unaware of the conflict developing in the background. Maybe it was for the best. If they helped, then maybe Weiss' father could use their weaknesses for his advantage.
Weiss steeled her resolve as she glanced over at Mr. Brass. He was probably in on it too. She was right not to completely trust him. Even if he was a good person, he still worked for the Schnee Dust Company.
A blizzard was brewing over the horizon of time.
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Ohh… now stuff is REALLY kicking off! I guess you'll just have to read the upcoming chapters to find out what happens to our beloved characters! Oh, and be sure to leave a review below in the proper section! I love hearing feedback, regardless of content! This is The Draigg, signing off on this drama bomb.