Busy day today since car was written off Sunday and I also went and bought a new car – kind of had to in order to keep my job. Ah, the pain of shopping on a deadline and being forced into an impulsive choice. Anyway, I need to get in touch with insurance today re my write-off and also arranging insurance for the new car, then get in touch with and organise return of my courtesy hire car, then contact the DVLA (uk driving agency) to say my car has been written off, then declare it SORN to the MOT company, then visit my bank to make sure they don't freeze it the nanosecond I try and make a hugely uncharacteristic payment from my account tomorrow.

Fun day. That and my normal job, albeit work from home since I have no vehicle, and I'm conducting a job interview (or was meant to) today as well, so now I'm doing tha via Zoom. God, I just love Mondays! Chapter may be impacted by this but all fixed by tomorrow as I'll finally have a car and be back to normal. Except my bank account. That'll be very, very sad.

Blergh.

Cover Art: Kirire

Chapter 43

"Is it strange how the more anomalies I learn about, the less sure of reality I feel?"

Jaune spared her a glance from his laptop. He was poring over information gleaned from his siblings about SDC movements, and trying to predict when and where they'd arrive. Weiss Schnee hadn't been able to provide much beyond the initial warning, and even if Winter did arrive early, it wasn't like they could up and arrest her. The normal world didn't understand what crimes she'd committed.

"Is this about Neo?"

"I think I convinced myself that anomalies weren't all that weird and were a natural part of the world, and that they were just like people – just different. Especially now that people have been turning into anomalies. I thought that maybe all anomalies were once normal people."

"That's a theory we've all had at one point or another."

"It's not real, though. Is it? They're not normal."

Jaune laid his gloved hands down on either side of the keyboard. "For all that ARC Corp claims to be the premier experts on anomalies, there's a lot we still don't know. That's why Coral's research is so important. Where do they come from? Why do they appear as if from nothing? What will happen if the world were to learn of them? We just don't know. All we can do is make assumptions. Guess. The last one is easiest because we can just look at what happened when dust appeared: people used it. They'd use anomalies if they became public, too. We've seen instances of that already."

Anomalous Artifact Abuse. As much as Blake would have liked to say people weren't so selfish, she knew they were. The world wasn't ready to learn the truth, and it might never be. Was it a bad thing, then, that she felt at least a little comforted at the idea the auction to happen was targeting those already in the know? At least they wouldn't need to work harder to keep things secret.

"It's just strange that they make so little sense in some cases and so much sense in others. Like, a house of flesh that can make illusions and digest people. What the fuck? And then compare that to a guy who is part-mosquito and who is just normal and running a bar, and he's just minding his own business and acting like any guy would. It's weird how different they are."

"To be fair, you're a part of ARC Corp. The anomalies you're used to experiencing are the bad ones. They're the nails that stick out. Chances are any anomaly we go after will be dangerous, unsubtle, hostile, or a combination of all three. But for every horrific anomaly we face there's another that's just minding its own business and not causing any trouble."

"Tell me some of them." Blake took the seat normally reserved for customers on the other side of his desk. Jaune looked over, confused. "Tell me some of the less world-ending and panic-inducing ones. I'm wound up," said Blake. "I'm tense and jittery."

"And this will help?"

"It can't hurt. I just don't want to imagine the world being full of extremely powerful anomalies like Neo."

"Neo is an exception. She's the exception. But all right." Jaune closed his laptop – he obviously hadn't found anything useful. "Let's see. You want something harmless and silly, but anomalous all the same. Well, there's Wandering Socks."

"Wait, is that where you always end up losing odd socks in the drier or your wardrobe?" At Jaune's nod, Blake gasped. "I knew that was a thing! I knew I couldn't have lost all those socks! There's always one missing, or one left over." Blake punched a fist into her other palm. "Mom always said I was messy, but I knew! I knew! What do they do with them!?"

"We have no idea. Also, you wouldn't believe how hard it is to keep that anomaly secret. Honestly, we have holiday resorts causing hallucinations that go under the radar, but missing socks is a worldwide epidemic. As for who is doing it and why?" He shrugged. "No idea. There are theories it's food for them, but then why do they never take a full pair? Also, we've never been able to see it happen. Not once. Not even with cameras watching a pile of socks."

A harmless anomaly. That helped. Surprisingly so. "Give me another."

"Hm. Well, there's What Tangled Webs we Weave. It's less dramatic than it sounds. Less spider as well. You ever noticed how when you have any collection of wires or leads, even if it's barely any, that they inevitably end up tangled beyond all belief?"

"That's an anomaly!? It makes sense! Does it do shoelaces as well?"

"You mean how they end up untied even after you tied the tightest knot known to man? No, that's No Knot Lasts Forever. The name on that one about sums it up."

"And none of these are just normal phenomena? I think I read an article somewhere about how tangling wires is because of friction, and probability. Like there's only one probability where wires stay straight, but infinite permutations of tangles, so a wire becoming tangled is statistically more likely."

Jaune was smiling. "It was a good article, wasn't it?"

Blake stared at him, at his smug grin, and then sighed.

"You wrote the article, didn't you?"

"It was one of my first assignments from mom," said Jaune, smiling proudly. "Back when I was too young to really go out on active jobs. I had a little help from Coral, but I wrote it, then we had someone spruce it up and publish it. Man, I can't believe everyone bought the probability angle."

I can't believe I did as well, thought Blake, despairing.

"ARC Corp really does have its hands in everything, don't they?"

"Nah. We don't have any dealings with the White Fang and we never had an office in Menagerie. Again, it's a miracle Menagerie is still standing. But you shouldn't worry too much about anomalies. Take Timothy for instance – he'd have stayed hidden and protected that family for the rest of their lives if we didn't come and find him. A lot of anomalies are like that. The dangerous ones that do hunt people tend to stay out of the cities, and as cruel as it sounds they take care of witnesses so it's out our hands. Most sapient anomalies are smart enough to know to keep hidden. A lot of them have existed for ages – thousands of years in some cases. Humanity has gotten a little more likely to find them since the advent of the internet, scroll cameras, and everything, but if they've stayed hidden that long then you can bet they want to stay hidden."

Blake nodded. "Any more?"

"Lots, but as much as I understand your issues I do have to work. If you're stressed, have you maybe considered destressing?"

"Oh wow. Good advice. Do you want to tell the depressed to cheer up while you're at it? I can't just tell myself not to be stressed, Jaune."

"No. But you are one of the most well-paid people in the city at the moment." He raised an eyebrow, and Blake shuffled, awkwardly. "Go book yourself in for a day at the spa with a massage or something. It's not like I need you until we know what's happening with the SDC. Have a day off."

"I… I guess I could." The money had just been building up in her account. All she'd done so far was go on one big clothes shop, and then used it to buy fast food. "There aren't any spa-based anomalies are there?"

"Blake. Go. Relax."

"But are there…?"

He waved her away. "No. Now go!"

Blake huffed but did make her way to the door and out, leaving the lone man in the room. Timothy was busy making webs in the bathroom. Leaning back, Jaune released a sigh. Blake really was good at her job, but she hadn't been born and brought up into this. It was honestly a surprise it took this long for the shock to set in. He made to stand, only to feel a tugging on his feet. He looked down to see his shoelaces had come undone, and more than that, they'd gotten wrapped up and tangled with his computer wires under his desk.

"Son of a bitch…"

/-/

The masseur at the high-society relaxation clinic in Vale was better than the one back home. It felt like treason to admit that, but the spa in Menagerie was a public thing, and this was the kind of place where you had to pay a week's wage for a normal person for one hour of time. It had better be good at that price tag, and oh boy, it was good!

"You're so stiff," said the woman behind her, pushing down on Blake's shoulders. There was another massaging her right foot, while a third gently squeezed and pulled on her fingers, rubbing lotion into them and leaving her drifting on the edge of slumber. "You must have a very demanding job."

"Mmmmmm."

"What is it you do?"

"A-Accident relief. Council. Emergency stuff with Grimm."

"Oh, like a huntress?"

"Mmm. I'm the one sent in after the huntsmen are done. Pick up the pieces." It was the excuse Jaune had given her parents, and she supposed it worked. "It's been stressful lately. Very stressful."

"I can tell. We get CEOs and Managing Directors in here and even they're not as tense as you are."

"Or as young," giggled another. "How do I sign up?"

"You don't want to," mumbled Blake. "Trust me, you don't want to."

"Given how tense you are right now I'm sure you're right. So, do you work alone?"

"Have partner."

"A romantic partner?"

"Pfft. No." Blake shook a little as she laughed. There could definitely have been some questions on that status given what they'd gotten up to at San Valeo, though. That had just been the anomaly, though. Right? It made them drunk.

Though drunk me trying to get into Jaune's pants isn't a good sign, is it?

What was that old saying? In wine, truth? Ugh. She wasn't sure she liked the idea of that. Jaune wasn't bad looking – he was somewhat handsome. The suit helped. He probably looked above average without it but give a man a high-quality uniform and he was going to rise a few levels. Same as with her. He was also professional, driven, wealthy. She'd never seen herself as the kind of person to care about money, but it wasn't like it didn't exist as a benefit. Money made the world go round, after all. Jaune being young, fit, handsome, rich, hard-working, and an all-around good guy made him a good catch. A fine catch.

Oh, fuck me running. Am I…? No. No way.

Jaune was attractive, she accepted, but he had baggage. No, he had freight. Jaune had the kind of emotional baggage behind that made Adam look well-adjusted. Furthermore, he had a family that could politely be called "driven" and would more realistically be called "absolute fucking psychopaths" and she didn't want to get involved with that. Which she already was, but, well, it would be more involved if she considered that route.

Why was she even considering this? If she and Jaune shacked up then a) any children they had would have an awful life and b) they might not even be able to have kids because Jaune was an anomaly. And it wasn't like children was the only thing she was looking for, but Jaune couldn't even provide the other things she wanted – intimacy, holding, a warm body – because his bare arms would injure her.

Not that it stopped us nearly getting at it in San Valeo… good lord…

"You're awfully quiet now," teased the girl behind her. "Are you having second thoughts about your not-romantic partner?"

"No way. No chance. He's…"

"Old?"

"No, he's the same age as me."

"Ugly?"

"No."

"Arrogant?"

"Not in the slightest. He's…" The first thought on how to explain his problems in a non-anomalous way was to say he was disabled, but even she knew that would be taken the worst way possible. And it wasn't like that. There was a difference between someone not having arms, and someone who could accidentally immolate you with a touch. "He has a lot of family issues that would put a stop to anything. And I mean a lot of family issues. Staggering amounts."

The hands on her foot paused. "What counts as staggering? Like, parents who don't like you? Racist parents?" she added, looking to Blake's ears. It wasn't an unfair assumption.

"More like sisters who blame him for their mother's death and have, in no uncertain terms, said that they would not be upset if he died. Also, they're part of a family business that any kids we had would have to be a part of."

"Oh…" The girl tilted her head. "Oh, okay, that's… wow. So, it's not anything wrong with him that makes you against it?"

The question had Blake squirming. "Not exactly…"

"So, if he didn't have all that then you'd be interested?"

"N-Not exactly." Her ears twitched. "C-Can we get back to the massage? I'm still stiff."

"Then maybe this will help," said the girl behind her, pressing her thumbs to the back of Blake's faunus ears. Her fore and middle finger dipped over the shell of her ears to hold the inside, and then she began gently kneading with her thumbs. "How is this? Our faunus customers seem to really like it."

"Mmmmmmmmmmmmm…"

"Are you purring?"

"No-ooooooh…. Mmmmm…"

/-/

"There's a wealth of information here that I'm still going over. You have no idea how grateful I am for you finding me a live specimen. Though live is an unusual way of putting it. She – it – isn't living in the conventional sense, but it isn't dead either. If anything, I'd say it's asleep and dreaming."

"Have there been any issues with that? Where are you keeping it?"

"Out on an old unused rig in the ocean. Former dust-mining rig, but the deposit ran out. Staff are rotated off in the evening, so it's abandoned overnight. Did you doubt my ability to keep it contained, dear brother?"

"I didn't, Coral. I knew you'd handle this."

"Better than our siblings at any rate. They'd have killed it already. So much lost knowledge."

"I don't disagree, but I called to find out if a cure is possible. With what the Schnee are claiming-"

"It's not." Coral's answer was a hammer blow. Jaune sighed. "There's nothing here that can be cured and I imagine it's the same for every other human-turned-anomaly. I've cut its arm open and it's rubber all the way through. You can't cure this. To turn it human again would mean turning artificial material into flesh, blood, arteries, organs, and the whole lot. That wouldn't be a cure – that would be a full-blown transformation. Even if there was some way to do that, it would need to be precisely calibrated to each individual it was used on. If I had an item to turn her back into the woman she was, then it would turn any other anomaly into that same woman."

"It's a lie, then."

"It is. It's the same as your arms. X-rays showed no bones, and there's no blood even from incisions. Your arms may function as they used to, but for all intents and purposes they are living magma, rock, and fire. There's no cure to fix that." There was silence down the line. "I am sorry."

"Hah? For what? You've done as I asked and-"

"I know you were hoping this would be real. You were hoping the cure could be used on yourself."

That… That wasn't entirely incorrect. He sat there, scroll to his ear, unsure what to say, or if he should say anything at all. He must have sounded pathetic, and he sure as hell felt it, but the chance to be human? The chance to be normal? There was nothing he wouldn't grasp at for that chance. That must have been why the Schnee had decided to come and do that here. To taunt him. To dangle an opportunity in front of his face, and then laugh when he used it and suffered the consequences.

"I'm not going to use whatever it is," he told his sister. "I promise I won't."

"It's liable to kill you or make the transformation worse if you tried," said Coral. "I've confronted Willow about it, and she played dumb. Said that her daughter deserves a little freedom to find her preferred way of running the business. I needn't tell you that's a bad sign."

"I get it. I'll be careful. Do you think I should tell father?"

"And have him start a war in Vale? I think not. Besides, this is a local matter for your office. If you involve anyone again then Saphron will use that as more reason to push for you being stripped of your directorship. Don't give her the ammunition."

"Fair enough. Keep me abreast of any developments in your research."

"I will do. I could use another human-turned-anomaly for comparison purposes. Since you're the only I can trust not to murder anything that breathes, you're my best shot. Oh, and I read your recent report, too." There was a trill to her voice that he didn't like. "Did you and your cute partner go any further than you reported, hmmm? I notice you wrote kissing and undressing, but you left out what came after. Should I expect to become an auntie?"

"I have to. See you later!"

"Liar-"

Click. Jaune set the scroll down, and then let his face fall onto his crossed arms. He knew Coral was trying to change the subject at the end there. Tease him until he felt too embarrassed to dwell on the earlier topic. It hadn't really worked.

The cure was a fake.

He'd suspected, obviously, but there was a difference between suspicion and certainty. The former had allowed some small and ill-advised hope to shine through. If I was human, then I could do all the things a normal person could do. Walk around bare-armed, touch things, hold someone. He groaned into his arms and wiped his eyes on his sleeves. They weren't wet but rather itchy. He'd cried a lot when this first happened, but it was all a muted pain now. A soft and constant disappointment. I wish I could feel things with my own hands. Touch them.

Idly, he slipped off a glove and traced his fingertip across the desk. Wood smoked and blackened, and the lacquer surface crackled under his digit. He couldn't feel it anyway. His hands and arms might have acted like they usually did, but the nerves were burnt and unresponsive. He felt a dull and constant pain, like his arms were dipped in scalding water, but subtle things like the roughness of the wood or the softness of someone's skin were forever lost to him.

The letterbox on his door shuttered open and closed. An envelope, thickly cased in a royal blue envelope, thumped to the floor. He stood and approached it, picked it up with his one hand that was still gloved, and worked it open with his teeth. He fished out the thick card inside and let the envelope fall away. The card was black, the writing elegant and in gold ink. Knowing them, it might well be actual flakes of gold used.

Dear Director Jaune Arc,

You are cordially invited to attend a most exciting and once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We hereby extend an invitation – as our VIP Guest of Honour – to bid at an auction of items most mysterious and most valuable.

As an honoured guest, arrangements have been made for the pick-up of you and your partner/assistant, Blake Belladonna, to be escorted by limousine on the night of the auction. A chauffeur will be dispatched to your office on the date of the fourteenth. Please be dressed and ready to be picked up at seven pm.

Please note that due to health and safety regulations you will be required to wear sleeves and gloves at all times, and to remain fully dressed both within the vehicle, and at the venue.

Yours sincerely,

Winter Schnee

Jaune growled and set the invitation down, not even surprised that they knew where he worked – or who Blake was. The fact they flaunted it made the mockery apparent, but the true insult was at the end. Keep his sleeves and gloves on at all times. Bastards. They knew, and they took pleasure in pointing the fact out to him.

Jaune dialled another number. "Allister? It's me, Jaune. The invitation? Yes. Did you get one?"

"Did I get one?" asked the anomaly, laughing. "Brother, I've spoken to my regulars and reached out to a few friends. I daresay every anomaly in the city received an invitation delivered straight to their door. I've yet to find anyone who hasn't had one."

"Warn them off it. Tell them I'll be there, and that I'll be there on business."

"I'm trying, brother. I am. But you know how this is. Desperation will always win out over common sense."

"Then tell them no one can outbid me. How many millionaire anomalies are there? I have literal millions to throw at this!"

"I'll tell them. But, as a friend, I best warn you that one or two people I know might be looking to take the risk either way. And they won't be there to bid if you know what I mean."

Jaune groaned. "Allister, I will kill them if I have to."

"I know. I know, brother. Better you kill a few rulebreakers than they expose the lot of us. I'll do what I can, but I can't force no one. I'm not a fighter like you. What I can tell you is that the most powerful players are staying well out of it. They're not interested in the cure. The big four are content to let this slide by. Well, Neo didn't say that, but I think you got through to her. The others confirmed to me they don't trust the Schnee any more than you do."

"That's a relief. I don't want to have to fight and kill them."

"Ahah. And I don't think the city wants to see that fight. Wouldn't be much left after…"

"I'll try to leave something standing when I deal with Winter."

"You making a play for her?"

"It's best you not know," said Jaune. "But let's just say she's caused problems on my territory twice now, and I'm not prepared to let that happen a third time."

Chapter is a little short due to all the things I had to do today. Sorry about that, but as you can imagine there's a lot to be done. Finally, finally, the whole car drama saga will be over, though. I'm looking forward to just being through with it all. Can't believe it's taken this long when I had the accident in January.

On a side note, the game "Limbus Company" has come out on Steam – which is about the world that THIS FIC takes inspiration from. It's he same world as Lobotomy Corp and Library of Ruina, which I loved and took a lot of thematic and atmospheric ideas from. I haven't had a chance to play it yet but their last games were amazing, so I'd recommend it. Plus, it's free, but it is a gacha so if you don't like those then yeah. Avoid.

Next Chapter: 6th March

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