Author's Notes:

Warning, this chapter does feature some elements of gaslighting and manipulation that some readers may find disturbing. I don't go into great depth and nothing too bad happens but I figured I'd warn the readers just in case.

"Text"

"Speech"

Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, RWBY, or any associated characters

Remnants of a Courier

Arc 4: Chaos Theory

Chapter 58: Verdict Pending

Three more weeks, just three more weeks and he'd be done with the charade and lies. Then he could just help people again. But until then, Six had more work to do.

From the safety of his room at Beacon, Six sat with his helmet and vest off. He was currently staring down at the display on his Pip-Boy as he watched Lilith Blade approach the CCTV tower.

The girl was what many in Vale would know as "goth." Natural black hair, pale skin that contrasted said hair, and dark clothing. Black jeans, a black hoodie, black gloves, black everything. It didn't make sense to Six but not a whole lot of the "young culture" of Remnant did.

More importantly, she was an informant for the Beholder Initiative. One that was easier to manipulate.

The seventeen-year-old had just moved out on her own, and it was easy to influence her with how she distanced herself from her family and any possible friends. It seemed a bit cruel but a necessary and short-term evil.

Simple, small acts. Drip feeding the information that made her feel important. Letting her discover messages and "hidden" information online about Vale's aristocracy and corruption. Giving her just enough clues to always point her in the right direction. And it made her feel important.

That was what Six had discovered about this girl, she wanted a purpose in the world, to be something beyond her parent's humble upbringing.

So he led her by the nose to small pieces of info on important political figures. Information on people she knew, her neighbors, and more. Nothing that mattered to Six but proved to entice her.

It gave the girl a false sense that she was part of something greater. That she was on the tip of the iceberg. In a sense, she was, but Six would never bring the girl fully into the fold.

And these interactions, instead of scaring her, terrifying her as they should, they thrilled the girl. The girl explained how it was like she "stumbled into the real truth of the world", that she was important.

And it was this manipulation, these small interactions using his Beholder Initiative, that made her easy to control. It was why he dropped off a small drive for her at her doorstep. And why she took its instructions with glee.

First, she was to go to the CCTV tower exactly thirteen minutes after 9AM. Like she was now.

The Courier switched cameras and watched as the girl entered the tower. Security had been upped, guards were everywhere and they scanned anyone entering. These security improvements meant that Six didn't have access to the now entirely internal camera system. They had an actual CCTV there now, a closed-circuit television system, or whatever they named the Scroll version of that. It was entirely cut off from any sort of internet access and thus required a physical connection to their systems. Not that it mattered.

Despite Vale's improvements in its security, their scanners couldn't detect the shielded device in the girl's pocket as she stepped through a person-sized scanner and ascended the large elevator with several dozen people onboard.

Once at the top, Six watched the girl glance around the room in a split second of nervousness, but she continued. As long as she didn't act out too much, no one would care that she pressed a finger to her collar.

Unfortunately for them, the hidden and shielded camera on the girl was set to activate once the girl pressed it like she just did, thus giving Six a view inside. It was roughly the size of a black pea attached to her clothing, nigh unnoticeable unless someone was looking for it.

This room was lined with consoles and people using them. Several guards, both automated and otherwise, watched. The purpose was for solid inter-continental communication between Kingdoms. While a Scroll could call someone across a Kingdom, calling to another Kingdom was still shaky and required more advanced equipment; equipment that the tower had.

Step two, Lilith stepped up to one of the consoles to make calls and plugged in her peripheral device.

It wasn't unusual for people to bring their documents and files to the CCTV tower for transfer between Kingdoms. However, they had heavy anti-virus, firewalls, and other safeguards in place to prevent a breach. Not that it mattered when the program on her device activated.

And that was it, all that Six needed to get his program started. Now that the device was connected, he could use the reverse-engineered Queen's Gambit… Wild Card? Wild Card. He'd let his Wild Card program do its thing, easily slipping into what might as well be a defenseless system. It would create not only backdoors to Vale's and the CCTV's towers systems but also overrides to Queen's Gambit.

This was his trump card against Cinder's plan. His Wild Card program would take any of Cinder's plans for Vale and turn them on their head.

Step three, the girl made a call to her alcoholic father, knowing that he wouldn't pick up. Just another reason why she had been easy to manipulate

But he still needed more time, and with Vale's upped security came a limited time of usage for the devices. If not actively in use, users would be kicked out. So, he sent the girl a message on her Scroll.

"We need more time."

She quickly tried making the call a few more times before lightly sniffling. She was a decent enough actor that it appeared to those around her that she was just a sad girl. Just trying to hold it together in front of other people.

All in all, it bought just enough time. And a few moments of acting sad later, it was done. Easy, simple, and without suspicion. How Cinder should have handled inserting Queen's Gambit into Vale's CCTV tower.

Six sent a message to Lilith's personal scroll. He watched her take it out and read it before pulling the storage device from the console.

"Time to go."

And without incident, the teenager left the tower, unharassed by its supposed "competent" guards. It had been easy, almost too easy.

But as Six monitored the situation, nothing changed. No alarms, no guards, nothing. So he allowed himself a sigh of relief.

He had done it. And it was so simple. The Courier couldn't help but laugh at how smooth it had gone. At how stupid it made Cinder look.

Today proved that even the smallest acts and plans he laid could have a profound impact if the Courier took advantage of them correctly. That his Beholder Initiative was shaping up to be everything he dreamed of.

He typed out another message while transferring funds to her account.

"Payment sent. Your assistance has been adequate. You will be contacted for further opportunities."

The girl read it as she walked away from the tower and squealed into her phone. Getting excited over such little things. She made it too easy.

Well, that was one worry taken care of. With a reverse-engineered Queen's Gambit to override Cinder and Ozpin, he just needed to get the Voidwalkers in line. Then lay low for the Festival.

Speaking of, now that he had taken it apart. Queen's Gambit was interesting. It was made by someone with talent in programming as it took advantage of every vulnerability Six knew about CAPL to exploit its systems. Only someone with insider knowledge and extreme proficiency could do that. There were less than ten people in the world, Six included, that probably had that level of knowledge and skill.

Of course, Wild Card had its own changes. It took advantage of his world's programming flaws too. Techniques that Remnant had never seen were now floating around in Vale's CCTV tower. Hell, if he had more time to create a more advanced program, he could've skipped using an agent and bypassed its security remotely. But alas, he did not. Not with the Festival so close at hand.

Speaking of, Six turned to his workbench and dematerialized the new stimpaks he had made. His supplies had been exhausted during the Mount Glenn fight and he'd be damned if he didn't have some stimpaks on hand.

While certain elements and basic things from Earth were missing on Remnant, the new planet had an abundance of different kinds of medicine. Even having penicillin. It was far easier to get the supplies for stimpaks than it was for bullets or his transportalponder.

Actually, the trans-

The device strapped to his wrist buzzed causing the Courier to look down. Who could be calling him now?

Turning his wrist over and tapping a button, the device's holographic display burst to life in front of him as it continued to vibrate. On said screen was a caller ID for Carmine Spring, causing Six to pause.

A part of him wanted to answer the phone and talk to her. To make sure that Carmine and Richter were alright. Another part wanted to not answer. To keep her safe from those hunting him but also not face judgment from her for what he did.

It was with a hesitant finger that he selected the blue "answer" button.

A holographic projection of Carmine's face appeared in front of the Courier. Her red hair was immaculate at the moment and she still had one patch over her eye. With that and her matching red outfit, he wondered how much she had prepared for this call.

Behind her was a desk much like the one he used to have in her home. On it sat A Light Shining in Darkness with a small toolkit. It appeared she kept up with her gun maintenance. A good thing too because the Courier would have been livid if she treated that gun poorly.

Without his helmet on, green eyes met green eye as the two stared at each other.

"Hey," Six spoke first as he tried to relax his body. Why did he feel so uncomfortable at the moment? She was just a girl.

"Hi…" She trailed off, Six noting how she looked tired and didn't quite want to stare at the screen. Always finding something else to look at.

Clearing his throat, the Courier said, "How's Rhyt been? Boring?"

The girl nodded her head and looked at something off screen. "No one messes with me anymore but no one really talks to me too…"

Right… That was probably his fault. In a few weeks, once all was said and done, he'd give Carmine and Richter the option to live in the capital without fear of retaliation. Or, if they chose, to relocate them somewhere more quiet and away from it all.

"How's the flowerbed doing?" He asked, doing his best to keep the conversation going.

She nodded her head in response, "Good. Some flowers wilt in the winter but they always come back during spring."

Six reached for the preserved chrysanthemum pinned to his vest which was lying on his workbench. Taking it, he brought it up to the screen. "Still got this one by the way."

The girl finally turned her attention to the screen and gave a soft smile. One that quickly wilted as she said, "Joshua… Thank you for saving me. I didn't get to say thank you."

"You don't need to thank me," Six's reply was instant. "It was the right thing to do. That's all there is to it."

This caused the girl to glance away from the screen again. Either embarrassed or sad perhaps? It was hard to tell when looking through a monitor and not in person.

"You went out and hurt more people right? People like them? So that they wouldn't hurt me."

And the moment of truth. Did he lie to her or did he tell Carmine the truth? What was best for a girl her age?

Six's knee-jerk reaction was to lie, to let a ten-year-old be a ten-year-old. But this wasn't any child. This was Carmine, she had seen death, seen her mother die, and almost been killed herself.

Besides, she was pretty perceptive and Six had a hard time lying to her. She'd probably be angry and not believe him anyway.

"I did," the Courier muttered back, having a hard time finding his voice.

Her eye closed as she took a long breath in. Her eyebrows were furrowed and her mouth set in a frown but she was trying to force herself to relax.

"I…" She began as she struggled to find the right words. "Thank you for protecting me. For, um, caring about me." And now her tone hardened, as much as a child's could. "But I don't want you to hurt people, even for me."

Her frown deepened as Carmine continued, "I did that once for Papa and all it did was hurt both of us. You can do better, I just know it."

He could do better huh? That's what he told himself every day. Every day he struggled against insurmountable odds and terrible people to better the lives of others. And he still had to do better?

Six sighed as he replied, "I under-"

"No," Carmine cut him off, being unusually assertive. "I'll forgive you, but you have to promise that you'll never hurt anyone because of me again."

Tears were welling up in the girl's eyes as she tried to keep her composure. What could be going on in that head of hers? To ask a stranger she didn't even know the face of to… Shit.

Six sighed as he brought a hand to his bandaged head. "Yeah, okay." Six began as he felt his resistance crumble. "I promise not to hurt anyone because of you, unless they're threatening to harm you."

"Wait-"

"No Carmine," the Courier cut off. "Those men in the apartment would have done horrible things to you. I will never allow that." He let his words sink in before shrugging. "But I shouldn't have gone after those other people when I was angry. It won't happen again."

With her gaze off screen and brows once more furrowed, it looked like she was really thinking about something.

"I understand…" She trailed off as her gaze turned to the camera. "But just… Try to be nice okay? I know it's… Easy? Easy to be mad at people who do bad things. To get back at them because they did something wrong."

She glanced around the room and shifted, trying to find the right words as she grew anxious with herself. Six was proud that she cared this deeply but he didn't really need this lecture.

"M-Mercy? Mercy is a good thing. And forgiveness." Big words Six was surprised to hear from her. "It's also really hard. To show a person good when they show you bad."

"B-But mercy isn't just good for them. It's good for you and me too!" She found her voice again, slowly becoming more sure of herself as her gaze intensified. "When we forgive people, it doesn't mean we're weak, or sad, or can't defend ourselves. We decide not to be a bad person, and that means we're strong!"

Six wondered where this came from. Did Richter give her this little spiel? Or has she learned that simply from the way she was raised? Either way, he remained silent.

"And that's important because everyone has had mercy uh… Shown, yeah, shown to them. I can forgive you now but only because Papa forgave me when I did something bad. And because Mama forgave him when he did something bad."

Six vaguely recalled something the real Joshua had told him once. That there was power in mercy and power in forgiving. To rise above one's baser instincts.

"I guess… Can we just try to be um… Merci-mercif-"

"Merciful," Six finished for her.

"Merciful," she repeated, rolling the word on her tongue. "Just try to be more merciful to other people."

"And may that mercy be paid to us in kind," Six muttered back to her, lost in a memory of something the Burned Man had told him a long time ago.

"Right!" Carmine piped up, happy that he had understood her. It wasn't a full one, but Carmine did smile for the camera as she looked straight at the screen. "Thank you."

"Now, how're the clothes you got in the city? And how's Chryse?" Six questioned–changing the subject–as he leaned back in his chair, finally relaxing now that the elephant in the room was addressed.

The girl's smile became fuller as she replied, "Good! The clothes make Pine stare because he's jealous. And Chryse has gotten bigger-"

A knock sounded through the screen, jostling Six as he stared at his screen. Wait, was that from his dorm door?

"Open up Little Lake, foods ready!" Richter called from the other side of Carmine's door.

"Instructor House, are you there?" Weiss called from the other side of his door.

Six chuckled as he glanced back at the screen. "I guess we both have guests. I'll talk to you later Carmine."

A nervous glance from the girl was the last thing she saw before cutting the connection.

Carmine brought up a few good points. Mostly that Six needed to keep his emotions in check just a bit more. It'd be easier to do so once everything was said and done.

He also hoped her vocabulary was advancing. Compared to the other kids her age, she was just a tad behind and trying to make up for it. Six assumed this was because of her shy social nature and lack of friends.

Another knock came at Six's door and he rose from his seat. "Coming."

"Instructor House," Weiss greeted as he opened the door.

"Weiss," Six returned as he glanced at her. She appeared to be fairly composed so this likely wasn't anything emotional like when they met in the city. "Come in."

The white-themed Huntress stepped inside as Six strode back over to his workbench and sat the flower Carmine gave him down.

"What can I help you with?" Six questioned while taking his seat again.

The girl doesn't respond at first, instead pacing over to his window silently after closing his door. A worrying display but nothing to comment on yet.

After a few more moments of silence, she spoke. "I need to know something. Beyond if you're a good or bad person, if you've hurt people, I need to know for myself."

Okay, well shit, this was looking to be another awkward conversation.

"You've done nothing but be helpful and a good teacher. Supportive but strict when necessary. And you've helped me with tough situations as well. You're as close to a mentor figure I've had since being here. A good person."

Praise, a good start. Six was sensing a 'but' in here somewhere though.

"However."

Close enough.

"It must have become clear to you by now that we are suspicious of you. My team and I." Was she really going to interrogate him here about being the Mimic?

"My father was not a good person. He did horrible things to innocent people so he could…" She threw her arms out to her sides while finishing, "Be better off."

"I wouldn't say the Mimic is a good person either," she continued, finally turning away from the window and towards him. Six did his best to not give any visible reaction. He needed to remain neutral now.

Her eyes remained firmly locked on him. "He's hurt and killed people. He's an outlaw and a murderer. But he's also saved my team before and protected people when he didn't have to. Once on the train where my father died, and once at the White Fang hideout."

"I wanted to give you a chance… That if you really are the Mimic, to explain. So I can understand why. Why would the teacher I trust do those things?"

She scoffed while looking away. "Why would the Mimic care about teenage girls being killed when he's an evil monster?"

Six's mind raced for an excuse of some kind as the Huntress-in-training began pacing in his room. Her shoes clicked and clacked against the floor. He could just deny all the claims…

"How could those two people possibly be the same person?" She said with a confused and pained expression, both disbelief and horror in her voice. And that expression made him realize that he still felt guilty about her father. That, as a person, she didn't deserve to be lied to.

Her desperation was evident as she whipped towards him, her voice rising, "How could the man who freed me from my father, who guided me when I needed it, also be a monster!?"

But the truth would put both him and her in danger. A conflicting series of emotions brewed in Six as he listened.

"I just… I need to know," she muttered after, trying her best to maintain her composure. "If it was you, I just need to know the truth." Her arms reached out towards him with her hands open. "Please."

A buzz reminded the Courier that the world outside the two of them existed as someone sent him a message. He didn't have time for such frivolities now.

Six thought, leaving the girl with no response, obviously making her anxious from the way she shifted. Then a thought occurred to him. Weiss seemed... Lost. And he did want to help her, but this also presented an opportunity. Especially because the rest of her team was listening just outside his door.

"Weiss," The Mimic began, his tone shifting down. "I am not the Mimic. But even if I was, I wouldn't tell you. Do you understand?"

The Butcher of House narrowed his eyes, giving the girl a stern expression. To which the girl opened her own in surprise.

"Sometimes, people can do bad things for the right reasons. Then, they have to keep that reasoning a secret, so that people don't get hurt."

She deserved at least some answers. And with his recent conversation with Carmine, maybe he had been cruel to Weiss in more ways than he originally realized. And perhaps he could turn this into an opportunity.

Leaning forward, he made his narrowed eyes turn into a glare.

Weiss had never seen this side of the instructor before. This was different from when he would threaten Cardin for doing something dumb; something he usually deserved. No, it felt… Almost malevolent. Like his stare was trying to cook her alive.

"Someone has to do the bad so the rest of us can live in the good. But it gets…" He paused, glancing to the side before snapping his eyes back to her. "Difficult. Difficult when young, inexperienced, teenagers go and think they know better. That they understand everything just fine."

That stare, she didn't like it. And Weiss wished he'd stop. It made her want to draw Myrtenaster in defense as he continued talking.

"It's not bad to want to help but when those teenagers run off into danger and you have to save them from themselves? Those teenagers are not helping."

She wanted to say something, to bring up that the Mimic was a monster, that they were just trying to do the right thing like him. But he stood up from his chair and towered over her.

"Do you know how many people died on that freeway Weiss?"

The question caused her to pause. What? That… With the Paladin Roman was piloting? That wasn't… She hadn't checked.

"Five dead, four critically injured, another twelve injured," he continued, taking a step toward her and causing Weiss to take a step back. "Because a group of Huntresses-in-training thought they knew better. Went on a dangerous mission that no one asked them to, went and lured danger to those innocent people, and got them killed."

"That… That was Yang…"

The instructor snarled, actually snarled at her. "Don't blame Yang for something you all decided to do! Any one of you could have said 'let's tell a trained Huntsman or Huntress, the instructors, Ozpin, me!'"

He pointed at her, "But none of you did, and people died." Then he pointed at the door and her blood ran cold. "People died because of all of you." He knew.

"Get in here, you want to play this game, then we will!" House commanded and slowly the door opened to a sheepish looking pair of sisters and a fuming Faunus.

The instructor ushered them in before closing the door as he said, "And let's not forget the docks. How many of those White Fang died too?"

"They were the bad guys!" Yang tried to defend herself, which caused Blake's bow to droop and her eyes to dart away.

He turned, anger still evident. "So it's bad when the Mimic does it, but okay if you kill White Fang? A bunch of students who can't use their heads for one second to tell an adult can make the right decisions?"

"Someone has to stop them, to keep people from getting hurt," Ruby piped in, gripping the hem of her combat skirt.

"Someone will," House chided as he stepped towards her, "But it will not be a bunch of schoolgirls running in dick first and getting people killed!" It was a bit shocking to hear House curse like that in front of them. He was usually so professional.

Was this… Their fault? Did they really do that? Had people really died because of them? Weiss felt something cold grip her heart at the thought as she stared at the ground.

"But you said that the docks were something Huntresses should do!" Ruby countered, doing her best to keep from crying as Yang's hair flared a different color. The blonde looked ready to fight.

That seemed to stump the man for a moment as he paused to consider what she said. That heat in the room dissipated as quickly as it had come when he did.

He took a few calming breaths in, having worked himself up with that scolding.

"It is," Six replied as his tone softened and he sounded more tired than angry. "It's… Complicated."

Once more, now that the rest of team RWBY was there, the instructor collapsed into his seat.

"I am not the Mimic," he said, which Weiss just couldn't believe anymore. He said so himself, he couldn't be honest even if he was.

House continued, "And I think your intentions are good. I shouldn't be so angry with you. I've made mistakes myself…" It sounded like he was referencing something.

"Just, don't put yourselves in needless danger. Don't put others in needless danger because you think you know better. In the future, let a teacher know if you can. And if you can't, only then should you step in."

His tone hardened again as he continued, "And if you do have to do something like that again, just keep in mind each action you take has an echo, a consequence, and those echoes can affect and hurt people if you're not careful."

"An echo?" Yang questioned, her anger slowly dying down.

Blake finally piped up, "I think I read something like that once. Some sort of Echo Effect that one act can influence others and have reverberating effects right?"

House gently nodded, looking more and more tired. "To put it simply, your actions can have unintended consequences so just be more careful."

"I'll leave you with this," House said as he fiddled with the flower pinned to his vest. Weiss idly wondered where it came from. "The Mimic isn't perfect. But the people he's targeted have always been intentional, not accidental. Criminals and dishonest people." People like her father. "Before you pretend to be high and mighty like Ozpin or Ironwood in their ivory tower, consider why he's doing what he does, and if you really have superior morality to him."

"We're not saying we're superior," Blake countered, "We're just trying to do what's right."

Their instructor scoffed. "Aren't you? Think of all you've done since you got here. Disobeying school policy, fighting criminals, and going on White Fang raids. You consider yourselves above the rules just like him. At least when the Mimic kills people, he has the self-awareness to understand what it means to take a life before doing it."

"Those weren't on purpose!" Blake shouted back as she threw her arms to the side. "We didn't want those people to die, we didn't even kill them!"

"So it's okay to leave a trail of bodies as long as it's an accident?" House argued, his tone rising again as he stood up. "It's fine to accidentally get people killed, then you don't have to take responsibility." Their instructor towered over Blake as he continued, "It's not your fault you supported the White Fang and now they're killing people."

That was a low blow. Blake's bow lowered as the Faunus shrunk back into herself, unable to respond. Yang moved to stand in front of her but even their most outgoing member looked shaken.

"That's not fair, we're just students," Yang defended, taking on a careful tone.

Their instructor moved back to his chair and sat down before exhaling. "If you're not ready to handle the responsibility and burden of death because you're students..." His gaze passed over them before settling on the door to his room. "Then why are you running around and risking people's lives?"

"Before passing judgement on the Mimic, pass judgement on yourselves." House turned his chair after speaking back to his desk, there was a wooden person on it. A strange and overly large and bulbous lady, Weiss had never seen something like it before. "Now leave."

Stepping out of his room, Weiss understood now what he was saying. That they needed to be better. That he probably was the Mimic but that he could never tell them that. That he had his reasons.

It disheartened her that House was a murderer, that he had done horrible things. But he had never truly hidden that. The instructor had often mentioned he was a mercenary, and that he had killed people. She just didn't want to admit it.

But at the same time, some part of her was relieved. Relieved that the man she respected even if he was a murderer approved of her hating her father. That he was okay with her feeling relieved that her father had died, that he didn't judge her for that. And she was even thankful he had been the one that freed her from that life.

"So, he's definitely the Mimic right? That confirmed it?" Ruby questioned, trying to find a silver lining to the situation. Weiss always appreciated that about their leader.

"Yeah, yeah," Yang said as she turned towards Weiss. "That's great and all. But did you really blame me for those people dying Weiss?"

The former Heiress blinked. Oh, she had panicked during their conversation hadn't she?

"I…" Weiss tried to get out.

"Let's get this straight," Yang said as she poked a finger into Weiss' chest. "I didn't get anyone killed! I was just getting away from Roman and Adam."

"Yang…" Blake warned as she turned to the blonde.

"No," Yang shot back as she turned to her partner. "No one gets to point fingers at me here, I did the best I could. No matter what some Huntsman murdering maniac says!"

"I'm sorry," Weiss finally got out. "I panicked, I didn't mean to say that." Even as she spoke, she could feel her own guilt weighing on her for the lives lost. Both then and at the docks. Had they really done the right thing?

The blonde stared at her for a few moments before closing her eyes and sighing. "Fine, I forgive you. I probably would've done the same. He's got a freaky way of talking when he wants to be scary…"

"Tell me about it," Ruby said, nearly in tears as she crossed her arms over her chest. "He was way too scary!"

"I hate to say it," Blake cut in. "But this doesn't really help us. Sure, we know now that he's the Mimic for sure. He all but said it. But we can't prove that to anyone else."

A thought occurred to Weiss as they continued walking. "Why did he help us?"

"What?" Yang replied as she turned away from Blake.

"He had no reason to help us when Adam tried to kill us at the base, no reason to help me when Adam tried to kill me on the train, and no reason to give us any of that information. It seems like a mistake, right?"

Blake's eyes furrowed as she followed that train of thought. "But how could he possibly make that same mistake three times in a row. It feels almost…"

"Deliberate!" Ruby finished for the two of them.

That was what Weiss thought too. It felt like they were somehow being tricked? Something didn't add up. Was he evil or was he good?

These thoughts wracked Weiss' brain as team RWBY made their way back to their room.

Six sat in his chair absolutely drained from that conversation. But it had been productive. It was obvious at this point he couldn't dissuade them to stop harrassing him through normal means, perhaps this was the kick in the ass they needed to leave him alone. At the very least he had used a diversionary tactic and pointed the finger back at them, turning their guilt against them. A common tactic for winning arguments. But Six realized something else during that conversation.

He may have started off that rant in anger but Weiss had revealed something to him. She could be won over. During their conversation, she had displayed agreement with some of the Mimic's actions, specifically revolving around the White Fang and her father. Weiss agreed with him on certain points and there was wiggle room for him to reveal is the Mimic and with the right motivators, she just might come to his side.

And if Weiss could, the normal populace could as well. Again, with the right motivators. Perhaps he could put on a show during the Festival. A little informational message to the people of Vale and the world. Maybe, the Mimic could be seen as more than just a villain…

Not like they could use his little outburst against him yet. They hadn't recorded it, something he had been on the lookout for. So it was just a random team of Huntresses-in-training versus his word.

Words… Text… Right, shit, Six got a message earlier when he was talking to Weiss.

Pulling up his Pip-Boy, the Courier glanced at the new message.

"I know we've been enemies before. But I wanted you to know I appreciate what you did for the Faunus on that train. Consider our deal upheld."

-Adam

Six grinned under his helmet. He remembered helping as many Faunus as he could through that shitshow. It was good to know that paid off.

Now… To prepare for Cardin's cousin visiting Beacon. Six was going to enjoy the show of the bully getting embarrassed.

Author's Notes:

The Echo Effect is basically the same as the Butterfly Effect on Earth. Though it's more directly inspired by Knights of the Old Republic II. It's also a direct link to Chaos Theory which this arc is heavily based upon.

And we march ever closer to the reveal of the Mimic and the Courier. How do you think he'll go about finally drawing back the curtain?

Gear:

Burned Man's Armor

Elite Riot Gear (Modified: Mimic Edition)

Stealth Suit Mk. II (Firmware Version 1.6)

Civilian Clothing

Beacon Uniform

Rebreather

Maria

Survivalist Rifle

Mysterious Magnum

Modified Anti-Material Rifle.

YCS/186 Gauss Rifle variant (Magnetic Version)

Stimpaks (10)

C4 - Plastic explosives (0)

Burn Dust – Plastic explosives (5)

Detonator.

Frag Grenades (1)

Burn Dust Grenades (5)

Gravity Dust Mines (3)

Burn Dust Mines (40+)

Combat Knife.

Plasma Grenades (3)

Plasma Mines (0)

WulfsBann Power Fist (x2) (Mobility Modification)