Argh. Monday paiiin.

Cover Art: Kirire

Chapter 108

It was the Blades Office and the Fist Office that arrived to conduct the cleanup. Pyrrha and Terra were left on the surface to deal with the warring anomalies, while Saphron and Nicholas made their way downstairs and were guided by Blake to the command bunker. Jaune's father was silent and professional the whole time, but Saphron kept looking around with sharp eyes, lips curling in obvious disgust as she took in the facility and its various cells.

"They got what they deserve for playing games like this," she said. "Nothing good can come of trying to keep anomalies like pets."

Blake tensed, wondering if the last was aimed at her and Timothy, but Saphron didn't bring the spider up. Had Amber kept it a secret? It seemed so unlikely that she would, and yet they hadn't hated one another quite so much at the time of parting. If Amber had told her, Saphron would have surely come down to try and kill the spider.

"The facility stood successfully up until the Schnee were killed," Blake pointed out. "This outbreak wasn't a result of improper management. It was a deliberate act of sabotage by a dying Schnee agent wanting to get their own back."

Saphron sneered at her.

"Speaking of," said Nicholas, "The younger Schnee proved useful in identifying several members of staff absent from our rosters. We've begun investigations on each and I expect that the one that died here will prove to be among their number."

"You'll have to assume that by absence. There isn't enough genetic material left of them to tell for sure." Blake shrugged. "Though there may be their name in the computer systems. I assume those will be looked over and not just destroyed."

Nicholas hummed. "They will be destroyed once they have been investigated. Leaving behind data-based copies of anomalies is a flawed practice."

"Uh. Don't we do that as well? I've seen Jaune logging in the anomalies we deal with."

"But you haven't read the reports." Nicholas smirked. It was a very Jaune-like expression, except aged and ragged by years and scars. "The reports are written with great exaggeration, with flamboyant names like those you've seen before – The Twilight City, Blood that Feeds, One Good Man." The latter, she didn't recognise. "If someone were to hack our records and read them, they would seem like entries of fictional creatures. Make-believe or roleplay. No one would take them seriously."

"Wait, so we're hiding our anomalies as what... cryptids?"

"Cryptids, mythology. Look back through history and you'll see plenty of examples of fictional creatures like unicorns, dragons, ogres and such. And fictional gods and goddesses, whole pantheons. Legends of heroes and wild beasts. How many of those are make-believe and how many were anomalies?"

Blake's jaw hung open. "You're saying they're all real!?"

"No. Some will be fiction, or perhaps exaggeration of legend. A knight kills a crocodile in a far-flung land, no one recognises the creature and suddenly they believe it to be a dragon. Others could be true, however. We don't know – and that's the point. Anyone finding our records won't be able to discern whether these are true or not."

It was an interesting strategy. Blake pondered it as she led the way to the bunker and let them inside. Jaune was there, idly typing away on the computer terminal.

"Jaune," Nicholas greeted. "Well done on locating the cache."

"Director Arc." Jaune didn't salute or stand, but his voice carried some amount of respect. "It wasn't difficult when the perpetrator began to die and unleashed all the anomalies at once. They even left the computer system unlocked when they died. Convenient for us. All containment cells have been sealed."

"Good."

"That's no excuse to deviate from protocol," Saphron snapped. "Whether or not they are currently contained, ARC Corp's laws demand that they be destroyed!"

Jaune didn't answer, but Nicholas sighed. "No one suggested otherwise, daughter."

Saphron blinked, then flinched. "M—My apologies. I stated the obvious." To be sure, she said, "They will be destroyed, then?"

"The duty falls to you and I. Jaune and his assistant will man the command centre here and provide logistical support and navigation for us. They'll also seek information on the Schnee's files, limited as they may be, to give us an idea of what we're entering into with each anomaly. Jaune shall guide myself and Blake shall guide Saphron."

"I wanted to ask something after all is said and done," Jaune said. "But we'd best wait until the anomalies are destroyed. I assume the rest of the Fist Office are above deck?"

"They are dealing with the escaped anomalies, yes. We'll discuss your request once the facility has been cleared." Nicholas pushed an earbud into his ear and handed a microphone to Jaune, while Saphron did the same with Blake, staring at her sharply, as if she expected Blake to betray her.

Honestly, she was tempted.

/-/

"Door 114B."

"Door 114B," Blake repeated, browsing her computer and repeating the number out loud so Saphron could correct her if she'd heard it wrong. "Found it. No name. Image suggests it to be two wooden cupboards about waist high."

"Confirmed. Is it safe to enter?"

Blake almost wanted to say she should give it a shot without reading, but killing Saphron off like that would land her in a world of trouble. Not to mention it'd be cold-blooded murder, and that was something that was more the Fist Office's MO than her own. Blake opened the file and peeked through the long, long research notes.

"Okay, it looks like the two cupboards are dimensionally linked in a way that anything stored in the first will also exist in the second – but the items can't be duplicated. There's also the potential for travel between each cupboard over a theoretically infinite distance."

It sounded useful and harmless, but then it would have been sold at auction if that was the case, so Blake read further. There had to be a reason the Schnee had decided to keep it here rather than having it as an escape route in the manor.

"Ah, it turns out the changes in atmosphere between both sides can be a little explosive." Blake grimaced at the image of a man being reduced to a splatter of blood and gore. "If the atmospheres outside each cupboard are different enough, the sudden rush of displaced air when both are opened can cause a push or pull effect on the surrounding atmosphere which can – if the difference is big enough – result in lethal force to whomever is in front of the anomaly."

"That should not be a problem when they are located adjacent to one another. They are sharing the same atmosphere. Moving to destroy."

But it's harmless, she wanted to say. It was just two pieces of furniture that, if kept next to one another, were never going to be a danger. She and Jaune could keep one in each of their apartments without harm and use it to send items to one another. ARC Corp could also make use of it, especially to transport things over short distances. The sound of fire and crackling wood told her that option was long gone.

What a waste...

This marked the tenth anomaly she'd assisted Saphron in pacifying, some less and some more dangerous but all flawed in one way or another. Commercially flawed, that was. Some were a little too finicky to be given to people, others too dangerous, and most just not fully understood yet. It seemed even the Schnee weren't so reckless as to sell misunderstood anomalies that might later backfire on them.

At least there are only inanimate anomalies left in the facility, Blake thought. This would be a lot harder if I was helping her kill living, confused creatures that don't know they've done anything wrong.

It was also a reminder of what would happen on Menagerie if ARC Corp ever found out about the deals they made. The whole island might be destroyed. Blake cursed the Albain brothers and their stupid deal in her head, then cursed the anomalies who had caused a fuss in Vale in the first place.

"Anomaly destroyed. Moving on."

"Noted."

Blake silenced the microphone and called out to Jaune, "Do you really think they're going to let us keep the facility after all this?"

He finished his own call to his father before turning his mic off. "I don't see why not. Saphron demanded we have adequate facilities, and this is just a bunker. If we don't make use of it, someone else will. Father will also respect us asking in the first place, since technically Patch falls in our jurisdiction so we could just take control of it without anyone knowing if we wanted."

"Why don't we do that?"

"In case any of them come back to check the facility out and find we've filled it with anomalies. Imagine the conversation we'd be having in that case. Assuming Saphron doesn't just assume we've gone rogue and try to kill us both."

Try to kill, not kill. It could have been a tick of his speech but he sounded a little too confident for that. Did Jaune believe he could take on his sister and the Fist Office? Did she? Maybe he could. He didn't like to lean into his anomalous side and for good reason, but there had been moments where it seemed like a full-blown transformation might be close. Moments egged on by Winter, and ended when she snapped him out of it. But if Saphron killed her and tried to kill him, Jaune wouldn't have much reason to hold back.

"Is there a reason for the stupid nickname for it?"

"Comedy, mostly." Jaune said it without laughter. "If we call this Site A, the only thing Saphron and father will hear is the possibility of Site's B through Z. That's worrying. If I call it `Site Steve` it sounds stupid and harmless, but most of all it sounds singular. It sounds like a child with a toy they want to hold onto, which is a lot less concerning than us opening the first of potentially many such sites."

"Hm." Blake shrugged. "Better reason than I expected."

"There is method to my madness, Blake. Sometimes, anyway. There seems to be method to the Schnee's as well. Their ultimate aims of selling the anomalies may have been abhorrent, but these records are a lot more thorough than I expected of them."

Her too. It might have been her faunus prejudice and experience in the White Fang colouring her perceptions, but she'd really assumed the Schnee were just picking up random anomalies and flogging them to the highest bidder with no concern for secrecy or survival.

That obviously wasn't the case.

Which raised an interesting point of its own. Many of the items the Schnee sold ended up costing the purchaser their lives in some way, or their sanity. The Blank Slate had erased someone – and they still didn't know who it was – while the Magical 8-Ball had destroyed its owner's criminal empire. The cure for anomalous status was still being researched, but the chaos it caused at the auction was enough on its own.

All of them were monkey's paws that harmed the wielder (and now she wondered if actual monkey's paws were real anomalies). Either way, it didn't feel like it could have been an accident that they'd claim their new owners, and the fact that the Schnee tested everything in such detail made it clear they'd known.

So, had the Schnee been intentionally killing their own clients?

Why? It couldn't have been for money, rich as they were, so it must have been for entertainment. Had Willow and Winter genuinely enjoyed watching people bid for items that would ultimately destroy them? It was a sick and twisted thought, and Blake wondered if she wasn't letting her Schnee hatred creep in again just for considering it.

And yet what other explanation was there?

"Would we do the same?" she asked, eager to change the subject. "With the testing, I mean."

"I know what you meant. Not like either of us are going to start handing out anomalies left and right. And I think no. Testing requires test subjects and that means putting people at risk – and to what end? The Schnee wanted to sell, the original ARC Corp wanted to exploit. We just want to contain and preserve, so we don't necessarily need to understand every facet of an anomaly under our care. The same as we really don't for Timothy."

"But for dangerous ones?"

"We typically get a good idea on what they do before we secure them, as part and parcel of us locating them in the first place. I don't think we'll need to do any additional testing, though if we experience anything while they're in containment then we'll definitely take notes." Jaune fiddled with the keyboard. "And every cell here is covered by camera, so we can keep recordings and logs to look out for any activity. I just don't think we need to put anyone at risk to experiment on them."

"Fair enough."

"I've arrived at door 117B."

Blake flicked her microphone back on. "Confirm 117B? What happened to 115 and 116?"

"Confirm 117B. All previous cells empty."

"Right. One second..."

There was no rest for the wicked and a whole lot of files to go through.

/-/

It took hours.

Blake lost track of the time but she and Jaune had set out from Ruby's place at around eight in the morning, while Ruby and Taiyang headed off to Signal. It was early afternoon now, easily three, which meant they'd been active for over seven hours – and she felt at least four or five of those had been at a computer giving directions to Jaune's bitch of a sister.

Over fifty anomalies perished at her hand. Fifty inanimate objects that could have quite easily been locked away somewhere far from human hands, and some of which could have been kept close by as long as they weren't used.

Too much temptation, Saphron would have argued, had Blake the guts to question her. Or the stupidity. They all knew Saphron would take any weakness as a sign the Containments Office needed monitoring. Jaune and Nicholas had gone through just as many, clearing out a hundred anomalous objects and however many sapient ones had escaped and died up top.

That was a lot of anomalies to be stored in one place. A whole lot more than she'd expected when words like "cache" were thrown around. She'd imaging maybe ten or twenty, a small number of potentially dangerous anomalies kept in a bunker somewhere. Not a hundred and fifty plus anomalies in a sprawling complex underground only about fifty miles from a school for children.

By the time Nicholas and Saphron were done, Pyrrha and Terra were finished up top as well and came down to gather in the command room. There, Terra took over the security cameras flicking through every room to make sure there hadn't been anything missed. Pyrrha stared at the tree, lips turned down in distaste, while Saphron was sitting in a chair with her head lolled back, tired from all the walking.

Nicholas stood immovable as always. "You had a request to make," he reminded Jaune.

"Yes, I did." Jaune glanced around, making it obvious he'd have rather given this without so many people in the room. Nicholas noticed but made no move to clear anyone out, and Jaune sighed. "Associate-Director Saphron recently demanded we invest in dedicated containment facilities in Vale to house captured anomalies. We acquiesced and invested in facilities within the city that have been created to the best of our ability. However, the fact we have to store them in a population centre is less than ideal." Jaune drew a quick breath. "I would therefore like to request the Containments Office be given control of this facility for storage purposes."

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Saphron knocked her chair over in her mad scramble to stand. "NO! NEVER!"

Terra pushed away from the computer and reached for her rifle.

Blake's hand landed on her shoulder first.

A warning.

Terra froze and glared at her, but Blake stared right back. She didn't draw Gambol Shroud or make any overt threats, but the message was clear. She was faster – or at least had the advantage with Terra seated. As such, Terra shouldn't make any undue movements that might be construed as threatening.

Pyrrha, however, had no such threat against her and lunged for Blake.

Nicholas caught her by her coat and hauled her back. "ENOUGH!" he roared, shaking the room. Saphron flinched, while Jaune closed his eyes. "YOU ARE DIRECTORS OF ARC CORP! YOU ARE ADULTS!"

No one dared move, and Nicholas threw Pyrrha back.

"If you cannot behave as such, I will separate you. Associate-Director Saphron, you shall remain silent. Agent Belladonna release Terra Arc immediately. Agent Nikos, if you draw your weapon then I shall consider you a rogue agent and respond appropriately. Terra, back to the cameras. You have your duty."

Everyone in the room returned to their previous positions, except that Saphron refused to sit and was too busy staring at Jaune with clenched fists.

"Jaune. You will speak first."

"Thank you, Director." Jaune kept his voice even. "Associate-Director Saphron demanded we have facilities, as explained. We've done the best we can but they are in a population centre and are also far less secure than this one. This facility has been cleared. It is empty – or will be once Terra has finished double-checking. It makes no sense to just abandon the facility because it was once run by the Schnee. Additionally, the breach here was an intentional act of sabotage and not a failure in the systems. This is a very good facility. It's pointless to not use it." Jaune lowered his head. "That concludes my report."

"Thank you, Director. Associate-Director Saphron. Your thoughts?"

"This is a bad idea," Saphron said, voice stretched thin and warbling like a violin wire. "ARC Corp fell by the same methods Jaune would arrogantly follow. In his hubris, he thinks he is in some way different. He isn't. He's already been effected and tainted by the anomalous, and that colours his every thought and action. Allowing him to have a facility that once housed over a hundred anomalies will simply encourage him to fill it. And, unlike the Schnee, he won't have an army of researchers and security personnel to keep it stationed." Saphron turned to her father. "The facility should not be abandoned, I agree, it should be destroyed and buried, to serve as a warning for any who would dare gather the anomalous."

Nicholas hummed. "Your response, Jaune?"

"Associate-Director Saphron lets her emotions get the better of her, sir. I do not believe her capable of a measured judgment when her emotions are clouding her thoughts."

Saphron trembled, and somehow managed to avoid snapping. "I disagree," she said, frostily. "History allows us a chance to learn from our mistakes. ARC Corp has learned. Jaune has not."

"History is a chance to learn and not make the same mistakes," Jaune argued. "But it's not to close off entire avenues. If we go by that logic, we should have never allowed the formation of multiple kingdoms once one started a war. Similarly, if the Schnee came to be because of someone marrying into the family, shouldn't we have stopped Terra and Saphron ever tying the knot?"

"That's not—"

"Silence." Nicholas didn't shout this time, but he didn't have to. "I am considering the proposal."

"Sir." Pyrrha bravely cleared her throat. "If I may, I do not believe the Containments Office's record to be entirely justifiable for—"

"This isn't a matter for us," Blake interrupted. "This is for the Director to decide."

Pyrrha bristled.

"Hmm." Nicholas eyed them both as unruly children. "You may share your thoughts. Agent Nikos may begin."

"Sir." Pyrrha straightened. "I think that granting a smaller facility with some ten rooms as a test to the Containments Office would be acceptable, but such a large facility as this – as close as it is to Patch – is too dangerous. While I do not believe they would intentionally unleash anomalies, their office is too small to get a handle on any accidental breaches that might occur. I do not doubt their character so much as their capability. They are but two people."

Damn it. Pyrrha was using logic and reason. And here she'd been hoping Pyrrha would default to the same angry ranting and emotional arguments Saphron was using. Sure enough, Saphron was looking quite proud of her protégé. It made Blake's competitive instincts surge.

"Agent Belladonna?"

"This is a location outside of a population centre and far away from prying eyes. More importantly, it is a location known to ARC Corp. If Jaune and I are to gather hundreds of anomalies, as Associate-Director Saphron imagines, then is it not better for those to be stored in a location you are all familiar with? Should you have doubts, you can conduct a surprise evaluation of the site. You can come down at any time, even when we're occupied on a mission, and make sure we aren't doing anything wrong. We can be monitored, tracked, and the site can even be destroyed from a distance without alerting anyone to the existence of anomalies."

Nicholas brought a hand to his chin. Blake knew she had him interested when she formed her entire argument around killing them off. Not that she thought he was really considering it, but pointing out how simple it would be to fix the hypothetical problem of a breach or betrayal was a lot more compelling an argument than saying there "might" be one in the future, as Pyrrha had.

"If we are to fail and experience a breach, it will currently breach in the middle of Vale and risk a Reality-Class crisis. If it happens here, the facility will be closed off and the worst that happens is Jaune and I perish, and you all blow the facility up from a safe distance."

"A good point." Nicholas glanced to the last one. "Terra?"

"..." Terra had the look of a woman who knew her bed-rights would depend on the answer, and who had a feeling she was going to be couch-bound no matter what she said. Eventually, she sighed. "If we say no, we just run the risk of them trying to make their own in secret."

Saphron frowned.

"Now that they've had a taste of having a dedicated facility, they're going to want one – and there's a lot of space where they could secretly build one. Better it be here where we can deal with it than out in the wilderness somewhere. Though," she added, "My honest opinion is that this should be destroyed and all anomalies currently with the Containments Office should be eradicated as well. I believe their office should be dissolved and they should be incorporated into existing offices, perhaps even split up to curtail any issues."

Blake's fists creaked. In the silence, the sound of it was audible.

Nicholas huffed. "I do not believe that is wise. Director Jaune's stability is directly tied to his emotional state. Agent Belladonna will stay with him. The Containments Office has also not faltered on any demands we have made and have assisted in numerous anomalies including the Twilight City, and in locating this cache. Closing them down because of what might happen is foolish."

Terra dipped her head. "Sir."

"I have decided. The facility will be granted to the Containments Office." Blake didn't smile, and neither did Jaune. They both knew an excited response would invite anger from Saphron. "However, there are to be conditions."

"Naturally, we shall abide by them." Jaune bowed his head. "May we have them in full?"

"The first condition is that any and all anomalies must be stored here. None can be kept on your premises excepting those classified as Slaved Anomalies or bound to you in some way that prevents their removal." He looked to the book on Blake's hip. ARC Corp knew about it, then. Blake didn't like that. "The second condition is that all entries here must be logged with us. Thirdly, there shall be no research and testing. Fourthly, you will submit to quarterly inspection. Fourthly, you cannot expand the premises without express permission. Fifthly, any and all breaches must be reported immediately. Sixthly, a backdoor to your systems linked to my own will be installed."

Nicholas drew a breath. "Further conditions may be added as required, but you shall be informed of them as they are discussed and you shall not be held responsible for them in such an event. Is this acceptable?"

"Yes sir. On renovations, I presume we cannot pay anyone to bring material out here. Could I therefore make a request for some personnel to temporarily move rubble and material out for destruction? This tree, for instance." Jaune tapped the former Schnee agent-turned-tree. "There are also some small repairs that'll need to be made, and we can't really bring in contractors."

"I'll have our teams handle it on your behalf, yes. The facility will also be cleaned and cleared, and the databases wiped. You will have to leave it for at least a week for us to do that."

Jaune nodded. "We'll stay in Vale until then. Thank you. Last question, and this one to the Fist Office." He faced Pyrrha and Terra, unwilling to look at Saphron's furious face. "Do you believe you caught all the anomalies on the surface? And did you spot any humans? We heard a scream but were unable to confirm a body, alive or dead."

"We killed a lot of things," Terra answered, "But we didn't see any victims either. It could have been an anomaly screaming like a human."

"We're confident we got them all, though," Pyrrha added.

"Good. That's all."

"Then the matter is dealt with. Associate-Director Saphron, you may conduct the quarterly inspections to assuage your own worries. I expect them to be handled professionally and without accusations of unfairness."

"..." Saphron scowled. "Yes, Director. But I want it on record I thought this was a poor idea."

"I'll make a note of it. Containments Office, good work on finding this facility. You may return to Vale at your leisure. The facility will be surrendered to you once it is operational and cleared."

And once the backdoors and self-destruct systems were installed, no doubt.

At least this mess was over with.

/-/

Taiyang set another log on the block and brought his axe up and down. Being a huntsman meant he was fitter than most, and yet chopping wood still made him work up a sweat. Summer had enjoyed watching him do it, or rather she'd enjoyed watching his body glisten. Taiyang smirked at the memory, even as her absence stung.

Yang's absence stung too, with her being in Beacon, but at least Ruby was still around, and she didn't want to be a huntress – which had hurt at first but hurt less the more time went on. It stopped hurting at all when he realised it meant Ruby would be a) safe and b) sticking around Patch for a lot longer. He didn't want to deal with an empty nest at his age, so even if it was a little selfish, he was happy she didn't want to leave him to go to Beacon for four years.

Reaching down for another log, Taiyang caught Zwei from the corner of his eye snapping to attention. The corgi's ears pricked up, his head snapping left, and his lips peeled. He lunged to his feet and barked once.

Which was all the warning Taiyang got before something struck his back.

It was also all the warning he needed.

Aura sparked as he grunted and staggered forward one step from a meaty blow to his spine. Sucking in a breath, he turned, half-expecting to see an Ursa from the force of it and the chunk of his missing aura.

It was not an Ursa.

It was a scarecrow.

Taiyang stared at it, its eyes poked out by sharp straw and its arms out to the side.

"What the fuck are you supposed to be...?" he grumbled, arching his back and cracking it into place. "You a Gheist that possessed a scarecrow or something?" He'd heard of them, more common in Mistral, and capable of animating rocks into something resembling a golem. "Didn't think you were native to here. I'd better warn everyone at Signal tomorrow."

Zwei barked angrily.

"Oh, right." With a laugh, Taiyang slugged the scarecrow in the face. His Semblance activated at the last, delivering the right hook with so much force that the scarecrow exploded into splinters and straw.

The remnants of its stick scattered across the garden.

Tail wagging, Zwei picked one up and happily chewed on it.

"Good boy," said Taiyang, for the warning. "Such a good boy. Hmmm." He picked up some of the remains. "Might as well use this for the fire. Save myself some more chopping. Heh."

Next Chapter: 15th July

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