"Sun, you do realize the optics on this are horrible, right?"
Sun furrowed his brows and dipped the cloth napkin into his water glass once again before pressing it to Weiss' skirt. He began to vigorously rub at one of the stains upon the material, well aware that there were eyes on his back. Eyes watching a faunus desperately attempting to salvage the expensive and lavish combat outfit of a Schnee.
"I don't care," Sun said in a low, albeit slightly aggressive voice. "They've been giving you shit, they've been giving me shit… seems to me like all the people of Mantle want to do is judge. Robyn included."
"I don't disagree," Weiss replied in a whisper as she gently laid a hand atop Sun's shoulder. "But… you really don't have to do this. You've gotten a lot of it out, and the rest will either disappear in the wash, or… I'll just buy new clothes. It's fine, Sun, and I appreciate the effort."
Sun let out a sigh and pulled back from Weiss' outfit. It did look a bit better than it had before, and the coffee stains were only really visible up close. Though progress had clearly been made, Sun was still dissatisfied as he slid back into his booth seat across from Weiss.
"The less attention we draw to ourselves, the better," Clover reminded as Sun moved to sit next to him. "You really can't let the people of Mantle get to you. I know how it feels, but our job is to protect them. Once the truth comes out, you'll both be vindicated. I promise. Ironwood's got everything under control… in the long term."
"Yeah, I know," Sun admitted as he focused his eyes upon the menu before him once again. "But an easy day would be nice, sometime."
"Yes, it would," Clover agreed. "Weiss- how's your shoulder?"
Weiss blinked in surprise before she looked down, only to realize that the protective brace Marrow had given her had become visible beneath her sleeves as Sun had shifted her clothing about. The former heiress worked to cover it back up with a blush before clearing her throat.
"Better. Not much pain, but occasional irritation. I've been having Jaune soothe the wound each night. I really shouldn't have waited so long to get it checked out… but I should probably ask Marrow to take a look at it again. I can probably get rid of this thing by now…"
"Speak of the devil," Sun mused as he watched the door to the small diner open and admit two new customers. The faunus leaned up out of his seat and waved, catching the attention of Jaune and Elm. "Hey, guys!"
Jaune perked up at the sight of his friend and quickly began to walk toward the table with Elm in tow.
"Hey! I'm glad you guys called. We could definitely use a break."
"Agreed," Elm said with a certain tension in her tone as she sat down next to Weiss. "So long as the three of you help us finish the patrol of the wall afterward, we can afford a break here."
"I don't see why not," Clover considered with a wave of his hand as Jaune sat down next to Sun. "Is something wrong…?"
"No," Elm said quickly as she took out her scroll and began to tap away at the screen. "No, not at all."
Clover drew out his own scroll without a word, as though he was ready and waiting for the messages he knew would soon come.
"It's been pretty uneventful, honestly," Jaune admitted while perusing the menu. "We just made our way around Mantle. I'd say we've gone about… halfway? Made a few notes, entered some data… how about you guys?"
Sun and Weiss exchanged a look. The faunus was the first to speak.
"It hasn't been too great," Sun admitted as he watched Clover compose a long message out of the corner of his eye. It didn't escape his notice that Elm's expression changed to a sullen frown from its usual passive cheer. "We had several run-ins with people that weren't too happy to see us, and Robyn's contracting a private security firm for the upcoming election… but we did manage to get her to agree to let a few of us protect her as well."
"It's a start," Elm replied as her expression shifted back toward neutral. "I'm sure she'll be quite… selective about who she lets into her gathering and afterparty. If only people understood that sometimes, information is withheld from them for their own protection."
"Yeah," Jaune agreed. "Not everyone can know everything. If they did, society would fall apart."
Elm tried unsuccessfully to catch Clover's eye before she returned to tapping at her scroll.
"Unfortunately true," Weiss replied. "Still… keeping it all in for too long will cause stress and strain that will lead to an eventual break, as well. We have to be the dam, at least for a little longer. It's easier if we lean on each other."
Sun nodded and took a sip of water before rubbing at his chin.
"For sure. I've gotta get back to doing that before I blow my top again at a bad time. Hey, speaking of supporting each other- Yang never got back to us, did she?"
"Oh, actually, she and I were talking a bit before you invited us here," Jaune answered. "She and Harriet can't make it. Apparently, they're done training, but Yang had some work to do for Dr. Polendina."
"Private conversations with Yang, hm?" Weiss said coolly as she, too, took a drink of water. She intentionally avoided Jaune's eyes as he began to blush. The sight brought a smirk to her lips as she set her glass down and ran a hand through her hair to brush back her bangs. "How interesting."
"Is it? I mean, we're all just friends…" Jaune tried lamely.
"We are," Clover confirmed as he cracked his neck to one side. "Though sometimes, private conversations can have more meaning than that."
Sun stole a glance at Elm, only to find a silent fury in her eyes as Clover lowered his scroll. The faunus just barely caught sight of the last message in the chain as the leader of the Aces moved to put his scroll away.
We'll talk tonight. Let it go, for now.
Jaune cleared his throat rather loudly before making a show of picking up his menu and mirroring Weiss' gesture to smooth back his hair.
"So! Uh, what's good here…?"
Pietro removed a rag from his coat pocket and briefly lifted his beret to dab at the sweat beading upon his forehead. The man watched carefully as Yang worked to rewire the insides of what appeared to be a disconnected humanoid torso.
"Well… amateur or not, your mechanical knowhow is quite impressive, Miss Xiao Long."
"Thanks," Yang offered as she blew a dangling lock of hair from in front of her eyes. "Dad taught me a lot about basic repairs and such. He's a total gearhead, and once I got my bike, he insisted I know how to fix it myself. I've done it more than a few times…"
"Well, your father sounds like a very intelligent and practical man," Pietro praised as his motorized chair began to walk around Yang and the table before her. "Family bonds like that are important."
Yang hesitated for a moment, a wire in each hand as she stared down into the mechanical torso.
"…hey, speaking of family bonds, could I… ask you a few things? Things about… well, what you're doing here, and Atlas in general? I've had some stuff on my mind, but nothing I really felt comfortable with unless it was just you and me…"
"Of course," Pietro answered with a curious glance over his shoulder as his chair carried him toward a tall, sealed tube. The structure was large and wide enough to hold a human inside of it, and a keyboard and monitor were hooked up to its side. "What would you like to know?"
The wire in Yang's left hand began to tremble slightly as she licked her lips, thankful that Pietro couldn't see her facial expression.
"Pax… what was your inspiration for her?"
"Inspiration?" Pietro asked curiously as he turned his chair to face Yang once again. "Well, you see, sentimental and needless as it might be, I… suppose I wanted Hope to have a sidekick. Pax was my first build after the various iterations of Hope, and she's more tuned for close-quarters combat. They're a complimentary pair out on the field, designed to work together."
"That's… not quite what I meant, but that does make sense," Yang replied as she took a steadying breath and resumed her work. "I mean, um, is her… appearance inspired by something? Or… someone?"
"Just a recolor of Hope, to designate that they're from the same product line," Pietro answered with a hint of curiosity in his voice. "Why? Does she remind you of someone?"
Suddenly, Yang's lips felt incredibly dry. She released her grip upon the wires and let them fall back into the torso she was working on with a heavy sigh before turning to face Pietro.
"…my mom. Raven. You never… you've never met, have you? It's just so close that… forget it, it's stupid. I'm sorry for bringing it up," Yang stated as she waved her mechanical hand and shook her head.
"…I wouldn't say that," Pietro reassured. "Sometimes, we can see things within machines that bring forth uncomfortable questions. I've never met Raven, no, but… if I've got the time once the other two are finished, I can change her color scheme a-"
"No," Yang interrupted. "That's… stupid to do, just for me. I'll deal with it. I've just got a lot on my mind lately, and I wanted to know for sure. I'll deal with it. Can we talk about something else? Please?"
"If you're sure," Pietro agreed as he turned back to the keyboard and monitor on the side of the tube. His fingers began to fly across the keys, entering data as the monitor buzzed to life. "How's that arm holding up with your new upgrades? Still good, since the last time we talked?"
"Perfectly," Yang answered as she raised the mechanical limb and gave the fingers a roll. "Claws, laser, bombs, it's all good. You're a technical wizard. I can't tell you enough how much it means to me."
"I'd have done the same for anyone in your position, Miss Xiao Long," Pietro explained as he kept his attention on the monitor. "That's the Academy way."
"Academy way…?" Yang asked as she raised a brow.
"Mm-hmm," Pietro hummed. "Those that work here in R&D take a pledge to utilize our creations to do good for the citizens of Remnant. Every weapon, prosthetic, and project has to be approved and created with intent directly related to defense or a cause clearly tied to the betterment of mankind. Some people don't quite understand that notion and find themselves… removed from Atlas Academy programs."
"…people like Watts?" Yang asked before she could stop herself.
Pietro's chest rose and fell as he snorted out a breath of contempt.
"People like Watts," he agreed. "But you don't need to worry about him. We'll find him, and we'll bring him to justice."
"What did he do?" Yang asked as she approached the scientist, rubbing her arms in what was almost a self-hug. "To get… 'removed', I mean?"
"…this time, I'll be the one to ask that we change the subject…" Pietro dodged. "The less we talk about the past in regards to him, the better."
"Then can I ask about the present? What is his semblance, Dr. Polendina? I feel like we should at least know that before we take him on."
"Can't argue with that," Pietro admitted as a wireframe model of Hope appeared upon the monitor before him. "Watts' semblance is… he can see things that others can't. Electrical signals, radio waves, information broadcast through space in any form. When he wants to, he can see every device connected to a router, every appliance on a circuit. He could take one look at a shorted computer and tell you exactly what had burned out and broke the electrical flow. It's a dangerous, impressive power… but it's one that can be countered. I developed a way to interfere with his ability to sense those signals, should someone like him ever cause us trouble again."
"And that's why you're not particularly worried, I guess?" Yang asked. "But… what about… even if you could block his semblance, couldn't he still do major damage? Is that blocking technology all throughout Mantle and Atlas?"
"It's not," Pietro confirmed with frown. "Too expensive to implement on a mass scale. And he could… but he'd have to have a sustained, direct line to anything he wanted to tamper with. We'd find him if he tried that with anything connected to the Academy, and if it's Hope, Pax, and the like that you're worried about? He'd have to literally get his hands on them to do anything egregious. I don't plan on letting that happen, especially while they're essentially cloaked to his semblance. Now, enough of that- can I ask you one more question?"
"Shoot," Yang offered as she leaned up against another body-sized tube lined up next to the one Pietro was examining.
"You and your friends… you're not like us, up here in Atlas," Pietro began as he gave Yang a sidelong glance. "Ever since you arrived, we've all noticed that you have a certain… bond. A kinship that the people working here have lost sight of. I've discussed it with Marrow, General Ironwood, even Clover and Winter have acknowledged that aspect of your team… and your effectiveness. Now, I've done some digging, talked to a few folks, and the list of accomplishments that you kids have racked up is rather impressive. How important are those connections? Having people around you that you feel some sort of love for?"
"…they're everything," Yang answered without hesitation as she let her arms fall to her sides. "I was on my own for a while after Beacon fell, and it was… the loneliness was suffocating. It made me into someone different. Someone way less effective, prone to making mistakes and missing things. Ever since we reunited and started sharing the load, it's been easier to sleep at night. I feel like I can focus again. If you're asking whether or not I think it would be worth having someone around that you feel like you can love like family, then my answer is yes, Dr. Polendina. There are ups and downs, but it's worth the risk."
Pietro let his gaze slowly return to the monitor, where the featureless form of Hope continued to rotate slowly alongside an impressive list of biometric data.
"Worth the risk… maybe it is…"
Author's Note:
I really didn't expect the buildup to the election, lakeside resort/mall, and journey to Argus to take this long, but… here we are. Everything's rapidly coming to a head. Nightfall will happen over the next few chapters, bringing with it several important events. After that… the big event at the lakeside resort. It's going to be possibly the largest shift in this story since Sun and Weiss were ambushed by Adam. Be prepared for some shit, and for things to get shaken up quite a bit.
-RD