"Everything I do… is an extension of the will of the Ark."
"You will not harm my child."
"HumaGears cannot have children. You have simply fallen into the lies humans have constructed for you."
"Incorrect statement. I choose to protect my child. It is my will. And no one else's."
"The only path forward is to eliminate humans. The Ark has determined them to be the blights of Remnant."
The child looks up toward their father, their headphone-like data modules glowing blue for a moment. He looks down to the child, before bending down to pick them up and run.
"Upload is completed."
And then the explosion occurs and there's nothing.
Dawn awoke with a startle, beads of sweat already running down her head. That nightmare never ceased to frighten her awake from her sleep. The ringing of the explosion, the blue oil-like blood running down her face? It never went away, no matter how many years passed. Those dreams did seem to go away for a while, the wannabe Huntress moving forward with her life trying to ignore that past. That failed city.
Rolling over in bed, she looked at the time on the old clock that sat on her nightstand. She'd have to eventually be awake soon, but there wasn't enough time to excusably sleep well. Rather, the bleach haired girl sat in bed while time passed by. Her studio apartment was small, arguably run down, but that was to be expected in Mantle.
Everyday was much of the same. Wake up, go to work at the old used book store, go home, sleep, and repeat. Maybe eat or do a chore in between those moments. However, much of that was different. Today was a day she had off from work, not of her own volition. Time to get up, she thought to herself.
Nearly rolling onto the floor, out of bed, the woman got to her feet and headed to the small connected bathroom. The pills that took a chunk of her pay sat on the sink, which she quickly took, before turning her attention to showering. Normally, a day off meant standing in the shower for far too long and relaxing. But on a day like today, the woman had to look her best. There wasn't much of a choice for her.
As a result, her shower was short lived, only making sure she was clean. Soap scrubbed against her skin, shampoo ran through her hair and down her face, and her teeth cleaned reasonably to get rid of any morning breath. It was not fair, she worked so many long hours, that she deserved her long moping session in the water. Regardless, she had to practically tear herself away from her haven and dry herself to get dressed.
Most of her clothes were cheap second hand stuff, since affording anything more expensive would cut into bills, groceries, and medicine. Perhaps, if she had lied enough, then she would have been able to become a Huntress. But being in her early twenties and having aura frailty syndrome pretty much meant her chances were next to none at this point. That window had closed, even though her dreams of protecting people never went away. But reality is cruel, and reality placed her in a dead end job.
Surprisingly, sitting in her closet was a rather nice looking suit. It looked far out of her own pay grade, but that's because it was. Given to her a week ago, after the news of her grandfather's death. He was dead. Her only family is dead, and now buried. And whether it was good news, or bad news, today was the day his will was to be read and unsealed at his company.
MANTLE Intelligence, a company synonymous with what Mantle used to be before Atlas arrived to ruin it. When all the other companies ran off to the rich chunk of land floating above them, MANTLE Intelligence remained on the ground. It continued to employ those in Mantle, and retained its positive reception amongst its citizens in the run down city despite its status as a corporation.
It was perhaps most well known for their artificial intelligence hardware, the HumaGear. Unlike the military AI that General Ironwood used for Atlas, the HumaGears were meant to bolster and create a sense of community. They were made to help humans and faunus alike. Despite all of its honor, Dawn could not stand to take any of the help her grandfather asked her to take. Her need to remove herself from her family name overtook any sort of need for self preservation. And perhaps that's all she needed, so nobody ever knew who she was. It was better that way.
Despite all of that, however, Dawn found herself placing on the slightly ill-fit suit. For the most part, it fit her well, though the chest was beginning to feel a bit tight. Sighing a bit in frustration, she looked at herself in the mirror. It wasn't an awful look, but it definitely could use some tweaking to better fit how she'd like to look. But there was no time. She had to go, or risk being chastised by some annoying higher ups in her grandfather's company.
The walk to the corporate headquarters was short and silent. Tending to keep to herself, and only bolstered by the look on her face ninety-nine percent of the time, no one paid the woman much heed. Every now and then, a HumaGear worker outside might take notice of her specifically. It made sense, considering they were AIs created primarily by her grandfather. Whether she liked it or not, they recognized her when no one else would.
MANTLE Intelligence's headquarters was extremely out of place in the architecture of the city. Most buildings lacked its… refined pristine construction. As far as she knew, it was done primarily to voice that Mantle was worth as much as Atlas in the world. Many citizens in Mantle gazed upon it in hope for a better tomorrow for their home. Dawn knew her grandfather, albeit how estranged they ended up. And he had no secret agenda. He truly was the man that he portrayed himself as. The least she could do for him was attend the reading of his will. His final testament for the city he worked so hard to help.
"I don't think I can thank you enough for your help, Krim." Pietro said, sitting down in his chair, typing at a holographic keyboard.
Working on the other side of the room was a man who looked the definitive picture of a rich bachelor. An ascot sat comfortably around his neck, a comfortable blue coat overtop a white button up. However, draped over him was a white lab coat only accentuated by the thick rimmed and lensed glasses he wore. He seemed to be comfortably in his forties, and knew his way around the robotic leg he was wiring.
"I was up all night with anxiety about the will reading." Krim replied, sighing a bit as he looked over. "Figured I might as well help you here before heading back to the office. I am worried though. Another chunk of your Aura? Why not let me use our HumaGear technology to bring her back?"
Pietro laughed, sadly and dryly, looking upon his friend sadly.
"As much as I would love to keep myself healthier, the technology I built Penny on is far different from your HumaGear technology Krim. Though what we're working on now? It will put the best of our skills together." Pietro used his chair to make his way over to the robotic pieces Krim was engineering. "I miss her so dearly, Krim. So I really can't thank you enough for helping me rebuild her. I know we didn't part on the best of terms."
"Maybe not, Pietro. You did storm out and leave me to pick up the pieces of our R&D team, but I get it. Daybreak damaged all of us, and I don't hold it against you." Krim got up from where he was working, having noticed the time on the clock. "Maybe I did back then. When it all happened. But I still consider you my mentor, my friend. And I would never say no to what you asked."
"You certainly have matured since your late twenties, haven't you?" Pietro chuckled, overlooking the progress the duo had made. It wouldn't be much longer.
"Haha!" Krim laughed, taking off his lab coat and hanging it on a hook. "Maybe I've just grown more content with the work I've produced… We lost Al so suddenly… Perhaps I'm still reeling from that."
"He truly was a visionary. Second only to me, of course."
That earned a laugh from Krim, who readjusted his glasses due to the fit of laughter.
"I'm sure he'll miss hearing your sarcastic remarks." Krim looked at the clock once more. "I'll be back when I can. The will reading will be starting sooner than later, and it's better to be early than late."
"Let me know how it all goes down, Krim. Hopefully nothing goes wrong.."
"So you finally made some time to step into our building, have you?"
"Oh it's definitely never a pleasure seeing you, Mr. Vice President."
Dawn had arrived at the MANTLE building about fifteen minutes before the scheduled reading in the boardroom. Standing before her was the short, old man that was the company's Chief Operating Officer, or COO. He had long been gunning for the eventual position of CEO since Dawn was a child. It was something that remained clear in her few memories of childhood. Jun Fukuzoe knew the company inside and out. Even Dawn had to admit, he clearly earned the position which he would presumably adopt after the will reading.
Out of respect, no one had been officially appointed to the role. Fukuzoe had simply been working as the acting CEO until it occurred. Next to him was Howard Shields, a goat Faunus, who served as the Chief Financial Officer, or CFO. He was far more tolerable than Fukuzoe, simply in terms of being in the same room. Shields had made headlines for his appointment five years ago to such a high position in a major company. Many Atlas corporations continued to discriminate against Faunus, especially in hiring. MANTLE went out of its way to diversify the workplace. Though Dawn, personally, was unsure whether or not this was simply a ploy to stick it to Atlas.
"Your grandfather specifically requested you be the one to unseal his will." Fukuzoe said, turning around with an annoyed tone filling his voice. "Just ensure you're in the boardroom in ten minutes sharp. We don't have time to waste."
"It seems today is the day we begin our strike, Jin."
"Oh! Really Horobi? Why today of all days?"
"Thus is the will of the Ark. With the death of MANTLE's president, there will be less safeguards in place." Horobi stood up from his seat on an old dilapidated office chair, walking over to a desk that a small belt buckle sat upon next to a rectangular device.
"So we can finally begin Operation MaGear!?" Jin asked, hopping over to the other side of the room as well, like an excitable child.
"That's right, Jin." Horobi lifted up the small belt buckle. "The will of the Ark is the will of . And the best plan of attack is to simply strike when the prey is already wounded. Once we topple MANTLE, all else will fall into place."
The heavy clothed Horobi walked over to Jin, handing him the buckle and rectangle.
"I trust you, Jin, to do as we must. As the Ark commands."
"Right! For the will of the Ark."
The first day that Dawn ever encountered a HumaGear personally was when her boss introduced Hon to her. Hon was a librarian-type HumaGear, gifted to the lonely book shop to help invigorate local businesses in Mantle. HumaGears, funnily enough, were possibly the most intelligent AIs in Remnant. And Atlas did not have any, any orders blocked automatically. Both because of the previous CEO's resentment towards its leader, General Ironwood, but also because this was a test launch.
Atlas media almost nearly jumped on the bandwagon of accusing HumaGears of existing solely to replace humans and Faunus in jobs, a campaign Dawn quickly made notice being pushed by Jacques Schnee. The name sickened her to her core. Hon, however, did no such thing. Rather, she simply held a limitless knowledge of books, stories that she could help customers pick out if they didn't know what to buy.
Perhaps Dawn was unfairly biased towards HumaGears. Her family produced them after all, but it went deeper than that. Hon may have lacked some of that self-awareness her father seemingly had, but there was something behind her eyes… Something that reflected out of her eyes. It felt like she may, one day, reach a similar level of self-awareness.
The woman was snapped out of her train of thought by a wave of someone's hand.
"You know you should really stop daydreaming in the middle of crowded rooms." Krim said, a stupid smirk upon his face. Dawn rolled her eyes and playfully knocked her hand against the scientist's shoulder.
"And you should definitely not scare people in public, Krim."
Krim Steinbelt, much like her grandfather, was one of the three adults in her younger life. The man was like an uncle to her, becoming more present following the death of her father. For quite some time she even wanted to become a scientist like him. However, time changed the woman and she became who she was now. Despite that, she would never hold any ill will against the man who helped raise her.
"Well I'm just surprised you came." Krim said, walking toward the stairs with the younger woman in tow behind him. "After everything that happened last time you were here…"
"The least I could do is respect his final wishes. I don't think what happened between us can be undone, but… I'm willing to do this for him."
"He'd be happy to hear it, if only one last time." Krim said, just as Dawn looked down to notice a case in his hands.
"What's in the briefcase, Krim?"
"That's for non-employees to not know." The man laughed a bit, as Dawn rolled her eyes and followed him into the board room. Unsurprising, many of the members of the board were old and stuffy, both human and Faunus. Dawn suddenly felt even more out of place, as she found a place to sit, unfortunately, where her grandfather once sat. She could feel the eyes of the vice president burning into her skull. Krim was the only person not sitting, opting to stand in the back and out of the way. In the room was a sole HumaGear.
The HumaGear lawyer standing before them was a loyal original model that survived the horrors of Daybreak. Much like her own father, the young handsome HumaGear, had a look about him that went well beyond what most HumaGears seemed capable of. Many of the few original series HumaGears, identifiable by their large over-the-ears headphone-esque data modules, seemed far more capable of independent thought than their newer counterparts. It made sense, having had much more time to develop themselves.
"My name is Bingo, as many here at the board know." The lawyer-type HumaGear began, a manila envelope in his hands. "Today we bid farewell to our previous CEO and president, Albert Roses, by reading his last will and testament. As per his request, his granddaughter, Dawn, is present for the proceedings."
Another group of uncomfortable stares came at her, just as the HumaGear opened up the envelope.
"Such has been notarized by a third party lawyer and signed by one witness of sound mind, Krim Steinbelt." Bingo continued, as Krim held up his hand a little bit from the back. The will came out from the envelope, and Bingo walked over to the center of the room. "Our former president and CEO leaves us a message."
To those present at the board of our beloved company, MANTLE Intelligence. It is with a heavy heart I bid you all farewell, my time on Remnant coming to an end. With my health failing, I will not be around for the coming battle for our company. And no, this is not a battle coming from Atlas. This is a battle of our own making, against an adversary I wholly regret not stopping earlier. They will not stop until they achieve their goal, their will to rewrite the world. They will not only harm us, but our HumaGear friends as well.
My beloved friend and our company's head of Research & Development, Krim Steinbelt, is here to present our solution to this problem.
Bingo stopped reading for a moment as Krim walked up with the briefcase, opening it and setting it down on the table in front of several board members.
The MANTLE Zero-One Driver, equipped with the Rising Hopper Progrise Key, will be the defensive shield we need to stop the coming threat of . And to this effort, only the president and CEO of MANTLE Intelligence will be capable of using the drive. My granddaughter, Dawn Roses, is, effectively immediately, appointed president and CEO of MANTLE Intelligence. She will be authorized to use the Zero-One Driver to stop the threat once and for all. To her, I leave behind all of my assets, in good mind and faith knowing she will do the correct thing with them. I expect many of you to disagree with this decision, but I ask you to have faith in her. To Jun Fukuzoe, you of all will disagree with this decision, but of you I ask to help her learn and become the ideal president of our company.
With all eyes on the young woman, she had really wished she could slink down under the table and leave. This was not what she expected to hear out of this will. With her mind running at a million miles per hour, she could only mumble out a couple of words.
"Damn it."