Two more weeks. They passed quickly.
Garek took additional jobs, still keeping to the safer ones. Backup security for a village feeling it needed it. Additional patrol or guard duty. Some minor Grimm hunts.
He notified his parents that he was keeping his Scroll off, and only turned it on periodically. To anyone monitoring it, it would probably mimic someone spending most of their time outside communications range. He was trying to obfuscate his movements.
It probably wasn't necessary.
He didn't care.
He waited until he felt he had made his real location difficult to track, in a town he left his Scroll off completely, before visiting another public communications booth.
One with no cameras.
It probably wasn't necessary.
He didn't care.
He used a generic guest account rather than his own as he opened the search window. His fingers poised before the keyboard.
His back itched and he worked very hard not to jerk around to see who was watching. His rounded tawney ears were twitching so hard, he feared he would strain them.
Fingers cramped as they typed, trying to fight his brain. "Doctor Arthur Watts" with quotes around it. He waited, tense.
Zero hits.
Zero.
Doctor Arthur Watts did not exist and never had. At least not on the public nets. No news articles. No public journals. Nothing. He was starting to sweat through his clothing. Was it hot in here? Or is it just me? Hahah. Hahahahah.
He rubbed his eyes. Okay. One attempt. One attempt wasn't going to flag anything, right?
He tried it without the quotes. A handful of hits, but clearly nothing related to Atlas, or technology.
What about… just the name… Or…. Nicknames?
He typed in Art Watts Atlas Technology without the quotes.
One hit.
One single hit. And it wasn't even a news page. It was a single page, personal blog with a SCAN of what looked like an original news report.
YOUNG PRODIGY ARTIE WATTS PICKED TO BE YOUNGEST RESEARCH ASSOCIATE EVER
The article included a grainy photo of a young man that could have matched a description of a young Arthur Watts, shaking the hand of a dark-skinned older male human. The caption read: Recent undergraduate Artie Watts accepts position as research associate with respected expert in Machine Communications Technology, Doctor Pietro Polendina.
The article was not very long, but it extolled the expected technological breakthroughs of such a wonder team, and the very real probability that they would revolutionize communications, automation, and pretty much everything else, giving Atlas the cutting edge it so rightfully deserved. It was dated around the time Garek had been a toddler.
That was all.
It was enough, and he hit print and appreciated the sound of a machine behind him whirring to life and spitting out paper. Garek stretched. He felt like a detective in one of those pulp comics Umber used to talk about. He had a lead!
The terminal screen flashed, and blanked, and a pop up appeared.
WARNING
THIS TERMINAL HAS BECOME INFECTED WITH A W-VIRUS.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO HAVE SAID VIRUS REMOVED,
PLEASE CONTACT AWVIRUS REMOVAL SERVICES.
He rolled his eyes. Fake pop ups like that were common on less reputable pages, he'd learned during his earlier reading. It wasn't worth-
A W-Virus? AWVirus? A W Virus Removal Services? Surely not…
There was a click and a grinding sound from behind the wall in front of him that made him jump, and he almost fell out of his chair. The terminal screen went blank and finished with a death rattle.
Garek blinked and moved to a different terminal.
Thirty minutes later, he heard the technician speaking with the café manager. "Dunno what happened, but the short-term memory is fried."
He hadn't searched for anything else Arthur Watts related. But he had the printout.
He had searched for AWVirus Removal Services…
One hit.
It was a plain text page, left justified.
THE NETS CAN BE A DANGEROUS PLACE
ALWAYS USE PROTECTION
DON'T STICK YOUR DATA IN THE CRAZY
Have you discovered a nasty virus that you just can't get rid of? Found a thread that you can't stop pulling? As professionals, we can tell you that proceeding with due caution is key to avoiding catastrophic loss of data, or worse. Much worse.
So before you go blindly digging through the dark recesses of the net to try to remove a nasty bug from your information space, call the professionals.
And then call us.
Below, it listed a Scroll contact. Text only enabled.
It was… ridiculous. The whole page was amateur. Laughable.
No one would contact that number.
At least, almost no one. He could imagine two types of people who would look at that page and go, "Yeah. That sounds exactly like what I need right now." The first had been folks like his poor uncle Woodsey, who was known to fall for every single Scroll Scam out there before he passed away.
The second type was sitting in the chair he was currently occupying.
He sighed and rubbed his face. To his left was a pimply-faced human teen. Fuck it. Why not. "Hey kid." A teenaged male eyeball shifted right, suspiciously. "Do you know how to set up a generic messaging account? I don't want to use my Scroll."
The eye narrowed further, glanced at his ears. "Yeah… but… you some kinda creepoid cat dude?"
Garek sighed. "No… I…" he scratched his head. "I got this girl, see, and another one likes me."
The eyes widened. "Double-timing? Dude, save some for the rest of us."
Gah. "Right. Well, I will, I just need to be able to figure out which one, right? But you know how girls are."
"Snooping. Right. Cost you 50 lien."
"Seriously?"
"75."
"Okay, okay."
Fifteen minutes later and 75 lien poorer… and realizing he probably could have figured it out himself, Garek sent off the first message.
A.W. Virus Detected, Assistance Needed
The reply came back within minutes.
You've come to the right place, sir, madam, or otherwise. We have extensive experience in AW Virus removal. Tell us, how serious is the infection you are experiencing?
Garek thought, typed: Possibly terminal if adequate antivirus measures are not taken.
There was a long wait.
We see that you are using a new messaging account. That's a good idea. We wiped the other terminal at your location. Garek felt his stomach cramp. Don't worry, the authorities are not on their way. There was a smiley face after that. Suggest refraining from doing any inappropriate net searches, regardless of account, and avoid keywords in electronic communications. Do you understand?
Garek could barely type his response. Gotcha. No medical professionals, artwork, or measurements of dust generation. He paused, watching the cursor blink. Also found that including a certain scorpion with some of those key words triggers note corruption on Scrolls. Anything else I should avoid?
Another long wait.
That's… good information we did not have. Appreciated and continue to avoid. Also recommend zero, repeat zero searches regarding a certain role play gaming classification involving 'warriors that heal' in combination with those words. Separately appears to be safe, unless circumstances have changed.
Garek had no idea what that last part meant, but he was sure he could look that up.
Understood. Thank you for your assistance.
No problem. Looks like a nasty case. Reach out if you need further assistance.
Right. Right. Reach out. He started giggling, which got him a disgusted look from the teen, who decided that was enough creepiness for one day and went off to spend his money.
A week later, and Garek found himself in a large clearing, some miles further up the cost from the fishing village of Northmar. It was two hours past sunset and no moon.
A quiet sound drew his attention before he was buffeted by wind, and a familiar form alit in front of him.
"Garek!" Selene cried happily, dismounting and hurrying toward him.
She was beautiful, and dressed to travel. She'd given up her previous skirts for some sort of trousers with multiple pockets and had pouch slung across her side. And were those… goggles? He was so intent on memorizing details that he missed the fact that she was about to run over him.
He was tackled to the ground and attacked by a pair of laughing lips.
"I've missed you! I have so much to tell you!"
Garek grinned. "Good to see you too, love."
She pulled back, and her happiness faded slightly. "Garek are you… you look horrible!" Did he? He hadn't looked in a mirror lately. But people had been giving him odd looks on the road. And… and you smell!" She rolled off of him.
"I…" When was the last time he had bathed? Was that important? He'd been researching. That was it. And staying alive. There were links here. Important ones. His eyes flicked to Blackfeather, noting the pack strapped to his back. Was that part of the chain? Another link? Or maybe-
"GAREK!" He felt a slap.
"Ow…"
"What in all the name of the gods," she looked startled and glanced up for a moment, then shook her head, "what is wrong with you?"
"I… I don't know?"
"Come, you are going to bathe. Do you have clean clothes in that pack? If not, we will have to do something. You have not been taking care of yourself."
It turned out he did have a change of clothes that technically fit the definition of 'clean'. And Selene stood guard as he dutifully washed in some rather cold stream water. It had quite an effect, which she pointed out and teased him mercilessly.
"The cold makes it shrink!" He whined.
"Oh, I can attest. I am well aware of its… variability, darling."
It also served to, apparently, knock some sense into him. She started a fire and allowed him to warm up while they chatted a little more intelligently, and she helped make him feel civilized again. "So, apparently you've been buried in this little conspiracy world of yours for two weeks straight?"
"Almost three, I think. I… I don't think I realized what doing that, with no one to talk to, was doing to my head. I feel pretty mentally screwed up, Selene." He shook his head, and she kissed him. "Seriously, I went from terrified to paranoid to seeing plots in everything. For a minute I thought Blackwing was part of it."
Selene laughed at him. "Then, dear, it is a good thing I have returned." Her smile went from warm to wicked, "And I received what your mother termed a care package. She is quite the wonderful woman."
"Yes…" he croaked. "She is something else…"
"So, would you like to return to the island and spend some… quality time together? Or shall we go visit your family?"
"Eh? Wha?"
"Garek Grae, your mother invited me to visit! To stay with your family!" She leaned in, bit his lip, and then whispered in a faunus ear, "She said in her note that we could share a room… she said… that you are an adult and entitled to your own decisions." She nipped the edge of the ear.
Garek didn't know whether to jump her, or die. It probably depended on which half of his body was making the decisions.
"Grbl…"
"Bah," Selene pulled back, but she was smiling, "You do not yet have your wits about you. So, I will decide for both of us. It would be a long trip to Mistral, and I am tired already. We will go to the island, and rest for a day… perhaps two." She winked at him.
"But… no boat."
"We will both ride Blackfeather. He can carry us both."
"WRBLE", said Blackfeather.
"Yes, you can," Selene argued back.
Blackfeather hissed.
"No sassing," she rebuked.
Garek had thought that he would enjoy being snuggled up behind Selene, his hips pressed firmly up against a firm butt that he knew very well by now, arms wrapped around her body.
He was wrong. He was very very wrong.
"I feel like I'm going to throw up, " he yelled above the wind noise as they flew over the ocean.
"You cannot. You have not eaten! There is nothing in your stomach!" Selene turned to her right and yelled in reply.
"I may throw that up then! Why didn't you tell me it was like this!?"
"Garek, love, I did inform you. Remember?"
He felt his life leaving his body as another cycle of the wings caused Blackfeather to drop tens of meters and then begin rising again. "No! I can't remember anything! I'm too sick to remember things!"
"Do not be a child. It is only another fifteen minutes!"
"Kill meeee!" He wailed as another upswoop caused his stomach to trade places with his heart.
They eventually landed
"I can't do that again," Garek retched as he fell bodily off the nevermore.
WRBLE-Click
"That was rude, Blackfeather. Very rude. And Garek, we have no other means of leaving, unless you wish to swim."
He sat on the ground, cursing himself. Was any amount of nookie worth this? He looked up at the pale woman before him, dressed in form-fitting trousers, and swallowed. She tilted her head and smiled. Gods yes…
It was like old times. If old times were exactly one month ago. With a few exceptions.
First, Selene was much more confident, less demure and proper than before. She'd rebuilt her relationship with her mother, and if he understood correctly, improved upon it.
Just goes to show that sometimes nearly murdering your daughter's boyfriend can be the right move, he grumbled to himself. And that should not be right.
In addition, she now walked with a stave of some sort, and had learned a few basic movements with it over the month.
"I had little do, other than speak with mother, and train. She allowed Hazel to teach me, which I found acceptable." She shuddered, "Tyrian volunteered, I am told, but she would not have it."
"Do they know you are 'out in the wild'?"
"Yes, but they have been told that mother merely repented of her earlier restrictions, and are attempting to make amends by giving me increased freedom. And a bodyguard." She giggled. It was adorable. "And I have learned another trick!"
They had finished setting up camp, and she stood before the fire, and creased her brow for a moment, and color washed over her.
"Wow!"
"Yes! And I can do portions as well. For example, if I were cloaked and hooded, I could focus it only on my face, to reduce the drain." Her eyes sparkled.
"Drain?"
"Yes… it is a small thing, but it does draw aura. Mother says that it has been proof against any semblance she has discovered so far, but that it can become tiresome if you do not allow yourself to rest in your natural form. And she warned against being made unconscious, or running low on aura, which can cause… an unwelcome surprise for observers."
"Oof. But still that is incredible. I had worried about our ability to travel, or that you would be locked into… well."
"Do you not find this version of me beautiful?" Her eyes were sharp.
"I'm screwed no matter what I say, right?"
"Oh yes."
"Great."
"No darling, I mean oh. Yes."
He chuckled, and it was his turn to drag her to the tent.
It did wonders for washing away the last dregs of the prior weeks' manic paranoia.
The next morning, Selene presented the remainder of what she had accomplished, and gave him the full explanation of all that her mother, and her Queen, had each agreed to.
"Selene, you are incredible."
"Yes, you stated as much, repeatedly last night, and-"
"And impossible."
"Yes that as well. And I have these." There were two books. One looked plain, but the other was bound in black leather with a seal of some sort burned into it, and a complex clasp. "This one is simply a journal, where we can record whatever we want. I have little in there for now, other than my tutelage regarding general politics of Remnant. Mother says you provided an acceptable primer."
Thanks. I suppose that's high praise.
It is. But this one. She motioned to the more ornate tome. Is special. Only I am able to open it. Were anyone else to force it, it would combust, destroying its contents. Mother says even water would not quench it. Here we can record more delicate matters, which might otherwise put us at great risk were it taken from our possession."
"That's… clever really. And only you can open it."
"Yes, but once open, I can allow others to read or write in it. And I have already copied all of the information that the Queen provided to me. She was… not kind, but magnanimous?"
"Really?"
"Yes. I… Garek I was not prepared for how quickly mother, Salem, accepted my approach in segregating the two relationships that I have with her. It was uncanny."
"Uncanny. Yes I'm familiar with that concept."
She opened the tome, and they spent several hours, through lunch, reviewing it all. He learned that the heads of the Huntsmen academies knew of, and opposed Salem. That there were Relics that could summon the Gods and stand in judgment of humanity. And Maidens. And of course, Salem's and Ozma's curses. Most of the details were left more general. There was nothing regarding Queen Salem's specific plans nor approaches, but he now understood her general intent. To end her curse, regardless of the cost. He also felt he understood Ozma's, which seemed like they would be fine with killing her, but opposed her gaining the Relics to do so.
The greatest shock was regarding a name more familiar to him.
"Lionheart?!"
"Yes. He is the Headmaster at Haven, is he not?"
"Y-Yeah…. My old Headmaster. Queen Salem actually informed you that she believes he can be recruited to her cause? That is impossible! He's a Huntsman legend! How? Why?"
"That, she was unwilling to say, but Garek, she seemed confident. There must be some reason."
He shook his head, feeling nauseous. "Lionheart… it just doesn't make any sense… And why tell us?!" Finally he scribbled a few possible notes regarding that, and they continued reviewing.
They also added in what he had learned about Tyrian and Watts through his own searches.
"This is amazing information, Selene." She nodded in agreement.
"Regardless… there is more, Mother gave me an identification. It is based in Mistral, because of your family". She pulled out a card with chip embedded. "She said that I would need it, and when I expressed concern over Watts touching it, she told me not to fret and that she had acquired it from other than the Queen's inner circle, and that it was legitimate and safe to use."
"Even better."
"Yes." Selene became pensive. "Garek, she is… playing tricks on herself? Sees this all as a game? She, my mother, tells me she is working around Watts, but Watts is her, the Queen's agent and serves her commands! And the Queen gives hints of a potential asset, if we are to believe her words regarding Lionheart. Do you not find this troubling?"
"Selene, I don't know. I don't know your mother. Is this worse than before? Or do you feel she is toying with us?"
Selene stilled, sighed, and reverted to her natural form and began chewing a lacquered fingernail. "I do not know. It does not feel worse, or even duplicitous. In fairness, I felt both of her aspects were… relieved? The Queen need not avoid me, and the mother aspect is happier and closer to me than ever. I just… fear we are risking future harm?"
He stepped into her. "I don't know, either. You will have to be the one to judge. But it's a chance, right? This works. If it's a game, then it's one she's allowing us to play. If she truly is fooling herself, then that's a chance too?"
"We shall… we shall have to see. And I am willing to try." She shook herself. "Come, let us spar. I wish to show you that I am not as defenseless as when you poked me with sticks and my only defense was whining."
"Very well, partner of mine."
[A/N] And the plot thickens! Garek begins to understand that the benefits of technology can come with great risk, and discovers what may be a potential ally, or a honey trap. Stay tuned for the next installment!