A.N. (3/24/23) - Just a reminder that I'm posting new chapters every Monday and Friday. Only, I never said what time I would post each chapter.


Atlas (14) - Inoperatives

She immediately tensed.

"Is something wrong?" Clover's concerned voice gave nothing away. "Ah, Doctor Polendina. I'd like to request that you come along as well. It appears that there's something wrong with the environmental biomes used by Amity."

"What?" Pietro frowned. "But I checked them all myself yesterday. There should be no problem as far as I'm aware."

"It's about that break-in that occurred a few days ago. Harriet thinks she found something that might require your expertise."

"Hm, if that's the case…"

They were acting normal. But of course, none of them were aware of the fact that Rin could tell that they were under control. Forcing herself to remain calm, her mind started working hard to figure out what she should do next.

"Marrow!" Harriet suddenly spoke. "You're coming with me. Councilman Sleet wants to meet us today."

"What?" Marrow gave a confused look. "You mean he asked for us specifically?"

"Yes. He wants to gather the opinions of those that worked with General Ironwood to determine who would be a suitable replacement."

"Sheesh, that sounds bad when you say it like that. I mean, it's only been a day since he died."

She shrugged. "I don't care. Anyway, we should leave quickly."

Her arm moved before she could think. Marrow blinked in surprise when he suddenly found his way blocked by her. There was no doubt in her mind that if she allowed him to leave now, he would soon end up mind controlled along with the rest of his team.

"Why would a council member want to meet with someone from special operatives?" Rin asked. "I mean, military matters aren't exactly his jurisdiction."

"This doesn't involve you." Harriet seemed annoyed. "In fact, why are you even here? After all, you're still technically considered a civilian."

"Now, now. Let's not fight amongst ourselves," Vine said. "Miss Tohsaka has shown that she is quite capable already. That's why Clover is bringing her with Doctor Polendina."

What were their intentions? Assuming that they were currently taking orders from the Crown, what did they want with both Pietro and Rin? The former made sense since that was the entire point behind her coming here. But why would they want to bring her as well?

Suddenly being thrust into a dangerous situation, Rin realized that this was the worst possible outcome. Although she had managed to defeat the Ace-Ops once before, four months have passed between then and now. During that time, they had been able to work closely together enough times that they were able to learn most of her tricks.

But she was not the only person here…

"Pietro," she suddenly said. "Do you recall our first meeting?"

"Huh?"

"You know, I don't think I apologized for what I did four months ago. But after all, how would someone normally notice something like that happening?" She gave him a pointed look. "In the end, something like that is out of our control."

Maybe she was laying it on thick, but hopefully, he would notice how she stressed certain words and figure out the hidden message. After all, she was referencing how she used her own form of hypnosis on the scientist during their first meeting.

It took a moment, but a look of comprehension dawned upon his face. "Ah, that's right. I should probably secure my lab before we leave in case anyone with ill intentions breaks in."

He willed his chair to move to the side.

"Doctor?"

"Forgive me, Clover. This will only take a moment."

The four Ace-Ops sensed something in his words, for their bodies tensed in anticipation. But it was too late. Pietro slammed his hand on a button against the wall, causing the entire room to shake. A translucent barrier suddenly appeared, separating the room and trapping the four of them on the other side.

"Cyrano Protocol," Pietro shouted. "Open Locker 74 - Arachna Mines. Target four hostiles!"

"E-Eh?" Poor Marrow had no idea what was going on. "What the heck!?"

Opening from the ceiling, several spherical robots with spider legs skittered toward the four of them. Without allowing them to react, they all exploded in tandem and threw the Ace-Ops back from the force of the attack.

Rin suddenly recalled a bit of trivia from her past life. The exact wording was lost to her, but it was something about how one should never target a magus in their workshop. And this wasn't a rundown clinic in Mantle either, but the main laboratory of Atlas' top scientist. It would make sense that there would be multiple defenses to protect it from outsiders.

"That should slow them down for now." Pietro turned his chair toward her. "So I'm assuming that they're not in control of themselves."

Something slammed into the barrier, causing them to look toward it and witness an infuriated Harriet using her exosuit to attack the wall.

"Pretty much," she confirmed. "I can't get into all the details now, but the person responsible for the attack yesterday is controlling those four now."

"I feel like I should ask you to clarify that, but now seems to be a bad time." Marrow pointed at the others. "Stay!" The four Ace-Ops froze. "Please tell me that we have a way to free them."

Rin grimaced. "Not at the moment."

It would have been convenient if she understood how Jax's Semblance worked, but as far as she knew, there was no telling whether his mind control would continue working even after knocking out the Ace-Ops. If she wanted to find a solution using magecraft, then it was possible. But the issue with that was that it would take time to figure something out, and there was no telling whether they had the time or not if someone had sent them here.

"I can turn that part of the lab into a holding cell for now," Pietro said. "Marrow, keep up your Semblance while I grab some restraints. Rin, would you mind disarming them of their weapons and storing them in one of my lockers?"

She nodded and got to work. The barrier opened a small hole for her to pass through, and Rin helped disarm and capture the four frozen Ace-Ops until they were no longer dangerous.

"What now?" Marrow asked. "I can't keep using my Semblance on them forever."

"The restraints are strong enough that they won't be able to free themselves," Pietro said. "And I can make it so that nobody but myself will be able to free them from here. But if there are others who are working with the enemy…"

"We should probably leave this place then," Rin said. "If they were expecting them to bring me and Pietro elsewhere, they might send somebody else to finish the job."

"Then we should head down to Mantle," Pietro said. "There are a few spare facilities there that we can hide at for now. Rin, I believe it would be best if you explain the situation on the way."

"That's understandable." She pulled out her Scroll. "But before that, there's someone else you need to talk to first."

}-{

The manor was emptier than usual.

Weiss woke up in her bedroom, disorientated and sluggish from exhaustion. For a moment, she wanted to fall back asleep and forget everything that has happened recently. But then, her mind would conjure memories of Winter stabbing their father in the chest and make her unable to fall asleep again.

She had already contacted anyone she could to request help. Huntsmen, huntresses, military officials, private security firms, and so many others. None of them were able to give her a lead on the current location of Winter or the White Fang. As far as she knew, Whitley was doing his best in her absence to continue the investigation for their sister's whereabouts.

For once, the two were united in their goal of saving their abducted family member.

There was a knock at the door. "Miss Schnee, you have a visitor. She claims to be someone with information that will aid you."

Her back immediately straightened. "I'll be out in a moment!"

Even though she desired nothing more than to dash out and meet this person, she first took a moment to freshen up and smooth out the crinkles in her clothes. Only after Weiss felt that she was calm enough to greet someone did she finally exit the room.

Sitting in the living room was an unfamiliar woman. Her auburn hair and scandalous clothes made Weiss blink at first, but her concern over Winter forced her to put aside those thoughts at the moment.

"Welcome," she said. "I am Weiss Schnee. You are…?"

"Carmine Esclados." The woman smiled. "Don't mind my appearance. I studied in Shade for the past few years, but I was originally born and raised in Atlas. It's taking me a while to get rid of my Vacuan fashion sense, and it's not like the cold bothers me much due to Aura."

Weiss did not know what to say to that, so instead, she sat down across from the other woman. "I see," she said. "But forgive me, my butler mentioned that you possess information that might aid us?"

"Of course, let's not waste any more time. If you're looking for the location of the White Fang, then I may be able to help you. For context, I was also one of the attendants at yesterday's gala, and I managed to overhear one of the attackers mentioning something while they thought nobody else was around. I tried to tell the authorities this, but there has been no follow-up as far as I'm aware."

"What exactly did you overhear?"

"Sienna Khan did not order this attack," Carmine replied. "In fact, this was a result of a branch organization that recently split away from the main group. If you were to contact the normal leaders of the White Fang, they would claim that they had no part in yesterday's attack. And technically, they would be telling the truth too."

She gritted her teeth. "So who exactly is responsible then?"

"Supposedly, they're calling themselves the Red Fang." Carmine chuckled at the look on her face. "Well, I can't exactly claim that they have a creative naming sense. Anyway, the Red Fang is a new group that is mostly based in Altas compared to the White Fang which has its main branches in Anima and Menagerie. The majority of recruits come from the poorest parts of Mantle's Crater, but I learned that they're also kidnapping other huntsmen and huntresses and having them join their ranks."

That caught her attention. "Kidnapping?"

"Yes. I don't know why, but over the past four months, there has been a rise in the number of missing individuals during missions. I'll admit that it's only a theory, but have you noticed that some of the attackers seemed to have huntsmen training? It could be that they were forced into their service somehow, or maybe they managed to convince them to follow their dogma."

Weiss had another thought. If their leader's Semblance was powerful enough to work over that many people, then maybe all those huntsmen and huntresses were also being mind-controlled like her sister.

"That is good information," Weiss admitted. "If we can spread the word that huntsmen and huntresses are being forced into service, then maybe we can rally enough numbers to create a group to target this new sect."

"I'm afraid that there's an issue with that," Carmine replied. "Due to the rising Greem attacks from all the recent negativity, most of the huntsmen in the city have been sent to far-reaching villages. Right now, only the soldiers and a few huntsmen are what's left of the city's protection."

"What?!"

"And what's worse, I fear that this was what they intended all along. An attack on this scale would naturally generate negativity from the public, weakening the defenses of the city by taking away valuable protection from its defenders."

Weiss reached the same conclusion. This was why her father always warned her of the dangers of the White Fang. Not the damages that they could do to their mining operations and workers, but the fact that their actions could raise negativity and affect the kingdom as a whole. That was also why Atlas always had a negative view of terrorist organizations. Because by definition, their use of terror as a tool meant that they were already causing trouble for everyone.

"Do you have any suggestions?" Weiss asked. Somehow, it was becoming easier to trust the other woman. "Any other information that might be able to help stop the Red Fang from doing more harm?"

"Well…"

"Please, there must be something."

"This is merely another guess of mine, but if their goal is to spread terror, then what better way than to sabotage a national gift of Atlas? One that is a symbol of peace and cooperation between the four kingdoms?"

It took her a second to realize what she meant. "Amity?"

"Yes. It might be today, or maybe tomorrow, or even the day of the launch itself. But if the Red Fang manages to somehow sabotage Amity and stop it from traveling to the Vytal Festival, this won't merely be a problem for Atlas. Everyone will be affected if the Vytal Festival does badly this year, especially if it was caused by the actions of terrorists."

"That can't happen!" Weiss stood up. "How can we stop them?!"

"Right now, you possess the means of preventing this from happening. After all, with your father gone and your sister missing, doesn't the company fall to you as heiress? If you invest your resources into speeding up the launch of Amity, then it can escape the hands of the Red Fang before they have a chance to strike at it."

"I'll make a few calls right away." She was already making her way out of the room before she remembered her manners. Turning around, Weiss bowed in the other woman's direction. "Thank you for your insightful remarks. I promise that I'll do my best to make sure that the Red Fang won't cause any more damage."

"Oh, I believe you." Carmine smiled, but Weiss didn't notice with her head facing down. "After all, only you have the power to save this kingdom from ruin."


Who would have thought that a grieving fifteen-year-old Weiss would be susceptible to emotional manipulation from a supposedly kind stranger?

I was planning on making the fight with the Ace-Ops a bit longer, but with the fact that they were inside the workshop of a top military scientist as well as the fact that Marrow and his stupid bullshit Semblance was there, they had no chance of winning. The fact that Rin was able to remind Pietro of how they met and connect that with their current situation was a bit of a gamble, but it seemed to pay off.

Anyway, sorry for the late release. I know I promised Monday and Friday weekly chapters, but it's been getting harder for me to meet those deadlines lately. Then again, those deadlines are self-imposed so that I don't go on another hiatus again, so I'm going to keep sticking to them as long as possible.