Deeper into the Winchester military compound, the smells of gunpowder and steel began to give way to a more heady, temperamental smell- that of raw dust. In the more secured areas, the company's focus was less about production and profit and more about experimentation and advancement. Dust explosions both controlled and uncontrolled were commonplace, as were test firings of all sorts of weapons that the public neither knew about nor approved of.
Both Jay and Robin had seen things go horribly wrong in the underground, and both of the boys had nearly lost limbs more than once. Every time, they were told to do better and get back to work regardless of their conditions. In the cases where an accident had cost one of the twins the output of the experiment, they had always left the grounds with more injuries than they had sustained from the original incident.
"…what are you even going to say?" Robin asked, his voice wavering as he ran a hand through his greasy tangles of red hair. "We're both gonna get it no matter what, but… can you at least try not to make it worse than it has to be?"
The two brothers continued toward a sealed metal bulkhead with a retinal scanner beside it. Jay leaned forward and stared into the lens, letting a laser sweep across his eyeball in a long, arduous process.
"I'll say what I have to in order to make this as quick as it can be," Jay answered. "But I need you to cooperate. Just go with it instead of running your mouth. Understood?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Robin asked. "You think I'm stupid enough to worsen the situation?"
"I think you're not great at holding your tongue," Jay replied as the indicator next to the scanner turned a brilliant green. He looked over to Robin and found the other boy's face was full of the same nausea that he was feeling. "I'm going to lie about my intentions with the Schnees. I need you to go with it."
"You're going to lie to him?" Robin asked, his pasty skin going even paler.
"He does it to everyone else all the time," Jay muttered as the multiple sealed plates of the gigantic door slid apart to admit the twins into a long, dark hallway. "About time I give it a try… without you interfering and ruining it. Let me take the lead."
"Fine. Your funeral," Robin replied as he stepped into the hallway after his brother. Red light strips were embedded in the floor and ceiling, providing a harsh and unnatural glow to the black tile upon the floor. "Just don't overdo it."
"Enough," Jay said as the door at the far end of the hall came into view, painted red by the ominous lighting. "I've got it under control."
The door slid open before the boys reached it, as though the man waiting on the other side was aware of their position in the hallway and had no time to spare on pleasantries. Blinding white light spilled out into the hallway from within, accompanied by steady beeping and whirring. Jay stopped just before the door to steel himself by taking a deep breath. It did nothing to alleviate the tension in his chest as he stepped inside.
Marius Winchester's office- or at least, his forward office, was high-tech even by Atlesian standards. Two entire walls of the space large enough to be someone's home were taken up by monitors, readouts, and machines the likes of which most people outside of the compound had never seen. Another wall was taken up by shelves upon shelves of chemicals, ammunition boxes, weaponry, and live specimens in cages. The final wall featured more shelving, as well as an even more sophisticated biometric scanner than the one out in the hall protecting an even thicker, bigger door. Neither Jay nor Robin had ever been allowed inside to Marius' personal quarters and whatever else laid beyond.
The center of the room was mostly taken up by large steel tables that looked incredibly clinical and cold. Some were covered in maps, others even more screens and tablets, and still more covered in weaponry. Most of the surfaces were stained by chemicals, blood, or scorch marks, and several had slashes across them. It was behind one of those tables that Marius himself stood, not bothering to look up as his sons entered the room.
Marius Winchester was a well-known figure in Atlas despite his infrequent public appearances. Most had only seen him in pictures, and said pictures did the man's imposing stature and attitude no justice. Marius was tall, and his shoulders broad enough to make both of his muscular sons look more fit for a playground than a battlefield. His face was pocked with scars and marred flesh, both from the battlefield and the lab. He wore a stained red rag tied around his head at an angle to cover his left eye, which the man had lost somewhere in his brief military career. Neither of his sons knew the details, nor did they dare to ask.
The man wore his hair slicked back, its black coloration streaked with rare strands of silver. He had a full, well-kempt beard that did a decent job of concealing his scarred lips. His forearms were equally hairy and warped by various types of skin damage beneath the rolled-up sleeves of his deep green dress shirt. Visible within the open top buttons was a gold chain necklace, and he wore several gaudy rings inlaid with gemstones on both hands. Jay and Robin both knew that the jewelry had little to do with matching the necklace and instead served a far more sinister purpose.
"Details," the man rumbled as he remained focused upon his work, screwing something shut on some sort of white sphere atop the worktable before him. "What does that stupid man want now?"
Jay attempted to work up the courage to speak, but his mind suddenly went blank the moment he tried to open his mouth. His jaw felt almost as though it had been wired shut, and all of his mental planning disappeared in an instant. He knew that hesitating was a mistake, and yet, he couldn't help but feel as though stumbling over his words would be even worse. When Marius looked up for his work and locked his piercing blue eye onto Jay's, the boy knew that he could no longer afford to remain silent.
"Arcturus has… h-he has a new plan for Mantle," Jay stammered. "He brought in a new security expert- Arthur Watts- along with Nero Torchwick, and our company to… rethink the way the people of Mantle and the faunus are being tr-"
Jay and Robin both jumped as Marius impaled his screwdriver down into the steel table, the tool wobbling from the sheer force of the impact. The tip of the tool and the hole in the table both glowed a bright orange, and steady wisps of smoke rose from the surface.
"There is no discussion to be had, unless our profits increase."
"…I agree," Jay lied, swallowing hard.
"And did you make Arcturus understand that fact?" Marius asked as he came around the table, looming over Jay. Though the blond boy was tall, Marius was taller still by almost a full head. "Or did you just roll over?"
Jay took a step backward before he could stop himself. Marius' hand was on his shoulder in an instant, the weighty rings on the man's fingers digging into Jay's shoulder. The boy knew the damage that the jewelry could do. He had felt the loops dig into his stomach several times, and had lost a tooth to them as well.
"R-rob was thrown out," Jay said quickly. "The second he tried to say something, Arcturus' wife kicked him out of the room, and Nero Torchwick w-"
"Did I ask about Nero Torchwick?" Marius questioned, his grip upon his son's shoulder growing tighter. "Come."
Robin slowly walked over as he was beckoned.
"…I tried to say something," Robin said. "And… so did Jay. Arcturus' wife seemed to be running the show. There's some ulterior motive. Something's going on."
"…that fucking leech," Marius cursed. "She has no business making decisions that have to do with the future of Atlas."
"It has something to do with Willow," Jay added as he gave his brother a grateful look. "It has to be that. Arcturus wouldn't have such a sudden change of heart otherwise."
"Another task assigned to the two of you that you both failed," Marius reminded. "How interesting. If Arcturus is putting other interests before us, then we'll simply do the same. Contact this Arthur Watts individual and bring him to me. I want to see what sort of man he is."
"…and Nero?" Jay asked as his father's grip relaxed.
"…what purpose would I have for that glorified label-maker beyond what tenuous connections already exist?" Marius spat. "Leave him out of it. I don't trust you to be capable of handling more than one task at a time as it is. Bring Watts to me, and after you do, I'll have more work for you down here, where you belong."
"And what about negotiations with Arcturus?" Jay dared to ask. "We're not just going to drop it, are we? What's being proposed goes against everything the company stands for."
"Do you think I don't know that?" Marius retorted as he lifted his hand off of Jay's shoulder. "I have… other things to occupy myself with. That's why I'm going to see where Watts stands and go from there. If I have to make an appearance, then I will. Arcturus knows better than to deny me directly."
"…you're going out?" Robin asked, his voice full of fear. "What will you do if things don't turn around?"
"They will," Marius reassured as he stared down his redheaded son. "One way or another… on my terms. Do you think I'm incapable of getting it done?"
"No," Jay answered for them both. "Of course not. You'll handle the situation, I'm sure of it. And… I'm sorry I couldn't do more. The Schnees shut all of us down at every turn."
Jay braced himself for a hit that never came. Eventually, Marius returned to the table and wrenched the screwdriver free before fixing his eye upon his work once again.
"…when you two return to Beacon… I'll have new prototypes ready that you're going to bring with you."
"Prototypes?" Robin inquired.
"New weapons technology for law enforcement… or for war. Whichever is most profitable," Marius explained calmly. "You'll be spending the rest of the summer iterating on the designs and testing them yourselves before I give them to you to field test at Beacon. After all, you have plenty of faunus friends to spar now, don't you?"
"…'friends' is an exaggeration," Jay said as he felt his stomach ice over. "I have contacts. I tried to understand them, b-"
"I don't want your excuses," Marius interrupted. "I want results. You'll be utilizing our tech against them… and perhaps against Willow Schnee, as well. If neither of you two can manage to convince her to marry into the company with your pathetic attempts, then I want her to fear us. Manipulation and intimidation seem to be the only options left on the table between our families."
"I…" Jay began, only to think better of it. "…I'll get I done. Whatever data you need."
"Not just data- I want her gone from Beacon," Marius continued. "Her will broken. As the heir of the Schnee Dust Company, she needs to be under my thumb through whatever means necessary. In the future, when you two are the public face of our efforts, she will be in actual control of her family's assets. We can't let that become a problem, and the groundwork for getting ahead of her needs to be laid now."
Something about his father's words didn't sit right with Jay. It took him a moment to realize what it was that had jumped out at him, and when he did, he wasn't sure he wanted clarification.
"…what do you mean that Rob and I will be the 'public face' while Willow gets actual control of the S.D.C.?"
"Exactly what I said," Marius answered. "I've decided that neither of you are, or will ever be ready to run things by the time I retire. I'm keeping control until the day I die… and I've got some ideas for your new directions within the company…"
Author's Note:
Spoilers: Marius is not a nice man.
-RD