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Her head ached the next morning when she rolled out of bed, rubbing her eyes gently and reaching for the bottle of water she kept on the night-stand. It was only when she found air, and recognized the feel of the thin rug in her ship's cabin. Flopping onto her side, she reached under the low bed instead and grabbed the little plastic bag of distilled water and took a long drink from it. It helped more than she'd expected, enough to let her take a breath and stare at the lazily spinning ceiling fan she'd had mounted for her room. The one, singular little bit of waste she'd allowed herself after their first job.

Gods, it was nice…

She heard a knock at her door and sighed, calling out a quiet, "One moment."

All she had in the room aside from the bed and fan, really, was her dresser. Old, worn, and missing a handle, but solid enough besides. Rather than her dress, she pulled out a pair of fitted silver jeans and a loose white blouse and tugged them on before she reached for the door and tugged it open. Pyrrha was waiting on the other side, clean and ready for the day, and gave Weiss a look as if surprised she hadn't been as well.

Sighing, Weiss just asked, "Yes?"

"I got us a contract." She smiled, "If you want it?"

"Want is not the word I would use…" But she didn't have a choice… Sighing, she said, "Let me shower and get my medicine?"

"Of course." She nodded, turning to leave and adding a flippant, "Captain."

Weiss rolled her eyes, sighed, and made her way towards what passed for the ship's shower - which was more like a glorified metal closet that sprayed too-cold or too-hot water, with no inbetween, rather than a proper shower.

Still, she felt at least cleaner after, and with Myrtenaster on her hip, she felt more ready for the day than she had been an hour or so before-hand.

Weiss found Pyrrha standing on the deck with a large crate beside her, holding a thermos in one hand and a mug in the other. When she saw Weiss, she filled it up and even from across the old bay Weiss could recognize the smell of real coffee. She had to fight not to snatch the mug, instead taking it gently and leaning against the center-mast while she sipped at it. She did let Pyrrha stew for a moment over having, apparently, accepted a job without speaking to her.

But only for a moment - after all, the sooner they moved, the sooner they were paid.

"So," Weiss sighed, "I see we already have what we need?"

"Remote-sensors." Pyrrha explained, taking a drink from the thermos and sighing. "One Specialist Amin forwarded it to me. An old favor."

"A Specialist…?" She hummed, "You surprise me."

"It's nothing so grand as you're imagining, I assure you." Pyrrha chuckled, shaking her head, "I helped him years ago, when a landing went bad for him. He… Sends me simple contracts once in a blue moon. It's rare, he works in the science departments, but when he does they're usually simple, straightforward, and well-paying."

"Sounds perfect." Weiss smiled, "So, what is the job?"

"We land at the edge of the Old Kingdom, and have the drones deploy these." Pyrrha explained simply, gesturing at the crates. Humming, Weiss stepped forward to peer in while Pyrrha held the top open. The sensors were long rods, about as tall as she was, with little white 'eggs' on the ends. "They're for tracking movement. They can tell individual Grimm apart, well enough, and the data helps keep zone-maps up to date."

"Important work…"

"Indeed." She smiled, "And these are slated for a green-zone. Residential, mostly scavenged, but safe enough."

"Perfect." Weiss smiled, already thinking about how the Lien could be spent before she caught herself and shook it off. "After this… I've been thinking."

"Should I be worried…?"

Weiss shot her a withering look as she backed up and let Pyrrha close the container. Leaning against the mast again, she thought for a long moment and said, "I… I think we need to consider next steps, to bring our operation into a place where we are more safe and stable against… Incidents."

"Incidents like…?"

"I don't know- Damage to the ship?" Weiss crossed her arms, frowning and drumming her thumb on her forearm as she went on, "One of us being injured? Gods know the trouble I'm in if either of us need a prosthetic fitted. More security droids could keep us safe if we have to extract, too, a-and weapons for the ship could be the difference between-"

"Weiss, breathe." Pyrrha cut her off, stepping forward to lay a hand on her shoulder and yanking her out of her thoughts. "All in good time, alright? Breathe."

"Right." She sighed, taking a breath and finding that it came out in a shudder. She hadn't even realised how anxious she felt until… Sighing again, she said, "I am sorry, Pyrrha. Forgive me. You're right. For now, let's focus on the task at hand. Hm?"

Pyrrha nodded and straightened, "I'd suggest leaving tomorrow morning."

"May I ask why?"

"I want to take some of our remaining Lien and get a few things." Pyrrha answered, "Some furniture for my quarters, but that will come from my pay. And some things I have to hand. But besides that… I would like a handful of emergency supplies. Dust, food, water, first-aid supplies."

"I can spare a bit for that…" But not much - she only had a few hundred Lien left after debt payments, refuelling, and everything else. Not to mention putting in an order on her prescriptions - which, of course, cost an arm and a leg. Ironically.

"I'll put in, too." Pyrrha assured her, "These aren't just for you, after all."

"Alright…" She nodded, "I'll need to find a place for them…"

In the end, she made up one of the spare quarters into a pseudo-infirmary with a simple military cot Pyrrha purchased and a simple corner cabinet for bandages and the like. She also brought in her own bed - a simple thing like she'd expect to find in Atlas' military barracks, a thick red rug that filled most of the room, and a simple rolling clothes rack, like from a store, to hang her things. She even brought in a little nightstand she insisted Weiss accept, and a pack of bagged water. Proper purified water, with a bit of lemon in it, like Weiss adored.

The attention to detail made Weiss' cheeks feel warm just trying to drink it…

The next morning, Weiss stepped out of her room ready to get to work, and met Pyrrha in the hallway. She was dressed in her armor. She gave Weiss a nod in greeting and Weiss asked, "Are we ready?"

"As could ever be hoped for." Her partner nodded, "Yes."

Half an hour later, Weiss felt the wind whipping her hair as the bay opened up below her ship and she descended, sails stretching out and glimmering in the warm sunlight. The sky was clear enough, with clouds drifting around Atlas and smoke and steam filtering down from above, where Atlas was venting it today. It didn't cause problems with the launches, ships were warned ahead of time if telemetry said they'd have the fog on them, but it was a sight. Like clouds rolling off of Atlas' great peaks, casting them all in intermittent light and shadow and casting rainbows all along its length.

She'd loved watching it from above, and it made her miss it…

"Here." Pyrrha smiled, handing Weiss half of a veggie-sandwich and leaning against the railing in front of her.

But at least down here, she had good company.

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Their coordinates lead to an old culdesac, surrounded on all sides by what had, once upon a time, been a mostly complete circle of nicer apartments three stories tall, most of them burnt in places or stripped in others and rotted out. They had open, overgrown yards, their own parking, and alcoves where fetid, rust-rotted and waste-filled dumpsters still sat, their bases busted and engorged. The road was wide, with an old center piece long since overgrown by the tree planted there and a dedicated bus stop, its corrugated roof long since rusted out and fallen in.

Weiss' attention was stolen, though, standing at the top of the walkway down and looking at the vine and rust covered remains of a little playground in front of one of the apartments…

What had it been like, she wondered, to just… Be able to let your kids go outside and play? In the grass and the sun? Safe behind the distant remnants of what had once been great walls?

"They would have made it out, surely." Pyrrha spoke from behind her, yanking her out of her thoughts. She was watching their surroundings, eyes cast out over the honeycomb of culdesacs ringed by the wider road that surrounded the little wealthy subdivision. Still, she spared Weiss a glance and smiled, "The wealthy were among the first to escape."

"That…" Was less of a comfort than Pyrrha likely expected, and hadn't been what she was thinking about anyways. Not that it had been a bad guess, really. Setting it aside, she said, "Best we get to work."

"Right." Pyrrha nodded, "I'll scout for anything worthwhile to carry back. You hold overwatch?"

"I will be sure to engage anyone I see at all the range my sword affords…"

"Right." Pyrrha chuckled, "Join me, then?"

"That sounds better than doing nothing, at least."

"Yes, yes, I know, you want to spend time with me." Weiss sputtered and Pyrrha chuckled, walking down the ramp with a wave over her shoulder and four of their droids carrying the crate down right behind her. Scoffing, Weiss followed.

Each of the sensors had to be placed at exacting coordinates, but they were labelled and had the coordinates on them. So the droids were smart enough to handle it. So she and Pyrrha got to work searching the houses, wary of any nasty surprises.

All they found were mold-infested rooms with walls falling in, insulation hanging in moist rivulets, and lengths of rubber where cables and wiring had been ripped out and harvested. Any nicer furniture was gone, too - taken in the evacuation, or reclaimed since. Refrigerators were partially collapsed and rotting, filling every house with the worst stink she'd ever smelled, and what little electronics were left had been thoroughly gutted and hauled off, leaving glass shards amidst the spots of grass, roots breaking through rotting floorboards, and fungus.

And ash, too, where fires had started and burnt out…

It wasn't until an hour after they got there that she found something… Odd.

Odd enough she called out, "Pyrrha?"

"Yes?" The woman chirped, appearing at the edge of the deteriorated kitchen with sword in hand. Just in case, she was sure.

"Does this room feel… Short?"

"In… What way?" Pyrrha asked, looking up and down the old kitchen. "The ceiling is a bit drooping, sure, but…"

"Not height-wise." She said, "Length. And isn't it strange that the outside wall doesn't have a window?"

"Is it…?" The other woman looked at the wall, shrugging. "I wouldn't know- Design elements and style were… Well, anything but fighting was never my forte."

"Fair… This is one of three houses with the exact same kitchen design built into it." Weiss sighed, gesturing at the house and explaining as she walked to the wall and paced across the room and through the living room it adjoined, counting her steps there and heading outside to do the same while Pyrrha watched, "Further, each house's sides are exactly the same length on the sides. The fronts and backs vary, of course, but the sides do not."

"I see…" Pyrrha turned, looking at the other houses - whose sides she could see - and nodding, "I can see kitchens through windows from here, too."

"And this one is the same." Weiss grunted, standing at the corner and looking at the offending wall. "Except for this, and four missing steps inside. No windows, and the room is shorter. And…"

"And that could mean a lot…" Her partner hummed, brows suddenly furrowed in thought. Holding her sword, she walked to the middle of the wall and thrust it in. The rotted wood and paneling gave way with the barest hint of a 'scrape' and 'thunk' as she went, stabbing in again and again until-

Tong…

"Ah." Pyrrha smiled, using her sword to pull away the paneling and wiping away rotted bits of thin plywood. Tapping the now very metal wall, she said, "I haven't seen one of these in a long time…"

"One of what?"

"Surprises that don't involve teeth." She grunted, taking her time to cut away the panelling all the way up and yanking it off in a spray of rotted out wood, termite nests, and Gods knew whatever else. Setting to work on the other side, she waved for Weiss to help and explained, "First, we have to make sure it's not alarmed. Then, we crack it open."

"I still don't know what 'it' even is, Pyrrha…"

"Before the Fall, and Uplift, people were… Well, they were all dealing in their own ways." Pyrrha explained, yanking a few feet of panelling off and throwing it on the ground behind her. Tapping the metal, she said, "Some were in denial, doing cookouts and the like. Some tried to prevent it, pushing for military spending and whatever else. And some," she tapped the wall, "thought they could stockpile goods and get them after whatever they imagined happening. A few of them even hid their stuff in secret rooms and pits…"

"Oh." Weiss blinked, looking at the metal and humming, "Oh!"

It took about an hour of work but, finally, they'd fully cleared away the debris around the 'treasure box', as Pyrrha called it. There were no wires, and the district was without power so it couldn't just be wired to the house. So, handing Weiss her sword, Pyrrha laid hands on it… And slowly, painfully pulled it free with her Semblance, part of the house behind it caving in as what had doubtless been supporting it for years was dragged away.

The container itself fared little better when Pyrrha found the seam of the door and ripped it off, taking a deep breath to recover as she dropped it and sat against the edge of the container.

"So…?" Pyrrha sighed, looking at the three foot tall hole she'd made, "Gonna go in?"

"Why do I have to crawl into the strange hole…?"

"Someone needs to keep a lookout."

"Oh, very well…" She sighed, crouching to slide under the door and pulling taking the little hand-light Pyrrha offered her.

Inside were racks full of glass bottles, metal kegs, and jars of… Seeds? She checked them and found the expected - wheat, corn, asparagus - but the one next to last caught her eye and made her smile. Smearing away the dust, she tapped the glass and read out, "Spinach…"

It wasn't a name she recognized, which told her it was a crop that hadn't survived Uplift…

Excellent.

"Pyrrha!" She called out, grabbing one of the whine bottles and turning back for the entrance. "Get a few of the droids to empty this out!"

"What'd you find?" She offered the bottle up and Pyrrha nearly snatched it, laughing excitedly, "Wine? This could be three times our pay day alone…"

"Once we get it open," Weiss said, standing, "we'll properly account for everything."

"And decide what we get to keep…" Pyrrha asked, raising her eyebrows, "Right?" Weiss just smiled and took the bottle back, walking away while Pyrrha called after her, "That's not an answer! Weiss? Weiss, that isn't an answer!"

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