Chapter 59: Four Million Reasons

A/N: I'm tempted to post a fake chapter to catch all the art scammers so I can annoy them. I got FOUR SCAMMERS in an hour in the previous chapter.

I know they aren't reading this and leaving insincere comments. I'm giving my actual readers a heads up or if you're an author yourself do not believe them.

I'm speeding up my uploads out of spite. More follows from them equals DM equals more opportunities to call them out.

Or I just so happen to have it all planned out.

The joy of messing with people is just a side effect. I'm only doing shorter chapters because events are moving fast. It is an arc where the balance of power shifts constantly.

Even if it seems like Salem is losing this round, It is still too early to call.

Akari PoV

I woke up feeling like my ribs and nose had cracked. I looked around and noticed I was in an infirmary.

It had a lot of neurology-related posters and brain diagrams. An orderly yet overwhelming assortment of paperwork on a table near my bedside. There were also some random machine parts lying on the floor, the couch, and the desk.

Desk?

In an infirmary?

There is only one bed here and I'm lying on it. A strange pod on the other end of the infirmary stared at me.

This feels like a mix between someone's office, lab, and infirmary.

A moment of relaxation got scattered when I realized I was in HER office.

If I get up now, I could make a run for it. I forced myself off the bed and made my way through the door.

I took one step out, bumping into a wall wearing a lab coat and red blouse. The wall was Janice's chest.

Yep, I'm screwed. The good news is she isn't a blood-sucking vampire like I originally thought. Instead, She's a soul-sucking scientist trying to replicate Project PENNY and I rather enjoy nice, warm flesh.

"Oh hey, Mercy! Umm…hey again! Why am I here and not the ship med-"

"My dear cousin, How much was that entire battlesuit worth?" Those unnatural red eyes bore into me. She looks around the halls to make sure no one is near.

"Switch to blank," Mercy closed her eyes and uttered.

Now her cold, silver eyes lingered on me, a scalpel twirling dangerously in one hand and another hand clenching a clipboard hard enough for it to crack.

"It was charity," I beamed, arms on my hips.

The scalpel flew past my face.

"I mean it was for a good cause!" I quickly lifted my hands to beg for forgiveness.

"On behalf of us folks at R and D," She empathized every syllable with venom.

THUD

"Ouch," I got knocked to the floor. The clipboard scattered over my head.

She adjusted her long white hair and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"The collective cost of all those prototypes was worth a fleet," She spoke calmly but the rage was still there, beneath the surface," And you bloody blew it. Literally."

The majority of the prototypes need another few years to develop. Even the flight system only works because of Winter semblance. However, personal drones should be done within a year.

"She's my opponent, not my enemy," I picked myself back up, sheepishly rubbing the back of my head." I just…automatically thought of saving her first."

"And you automatically lost," She sighed," You can't be a hero and a lapdog."

"Winter's a hero."

"Winter is the hero of Atlas. Keyword, Atlas. She needed to be a Merc to get the freedom she needed to liberate South Mistral. Why don't you ask your 'opponent' how she feels about Winter?" She questions, closing the door behind her.

"That's in the past, the future is more important," I shrugged again," Frankly, I don't believe Akame is some embodiment of turmoil."

She is a demon in combat. I only got as far as I did because she was nowhere near her peak. It was odd how she froze seeing some of my weapons.

"Never bought into that propaganda either. Those sorts of lies would cloud my scientific integrity," She sighed.

"Latest breakthrough?" I looked at the pod. It seems like the same one Pietro used to bring Penny to life.

"No, Just a stasis pod to keep the body intact until we get back to one of my labs," She sat at her desk and pulled out a bottle of red wine and a fancy glass," Any hints on how Penny's core looks?"

"Nope, Not even that is allowed," I shook my head.

"How troublesome," She closed her eyes.

There is competition between various projects but it isn't too cut-throat. Information could and will be shared if it helps to improve another. As long as the information is properly cited and sourced.

Violation of such would result in a harsh audit, funding slashes, fines, and/or temporary leaves from said project. It has become a habit to keep a concise log of the experiment to prevent someone from claiming it.

There is a rule unique to me. I'm everyone's favorite guinea pig and can only share details of other projects if there is a formal collaboration. No amount of bribery is going to get me to spill any secrets.

Project Light and Project PENNY are headed by Mr. Polendina. The former is classified and Penny is for personal reasons. He is a kind man but I never understood why he finds Project Phoenix to be immoral. Penny is made with his aura. He is hurting himself more instead of benefiting the kingdom.

Project Phoenix is Mercy's plan to have a full soul conversion into a new body. It does work but the issue is how Penny, born a machine, views her body vs. a living organism. Which ends with the animal terminating itself or going comatose.

I'm trying not to freak out right now. I'll never get comfortable as a machine. I doubt she is strong enough to force me into the pod but there is always that chance.

"Shame, you're not dying," she shook her head.

"Is it in the closet?" I look toward the corner of her office. The term skeleton in someone's closet would be literal for her.

"Female, near death. I made sure it was anatomically correct this time," She took a sip of her wine, A feeling of dread creeping back.

"Did you get rid of the ball joints?"

"Go check in on Winter," She shook her head," My doll is still a blank slate but I'll add some humanity during the process."

"Understood, Ms. Jasper," I sweatdropped. She is still expecting someone to get killed so she has an excuse to experiment.

"Wait," Mercy added," You didn't hear it from me but we may have located more of us."

"More of us," I whispered, running up to her desk," Ms. Jasper, I would have known by now."

The General, Aceops, Pietro even Penny would have given me an update. Jasper doesn't have access to the potential SEW list. It's information security but we current ones can chat with each other just fine.

"I've come across a file," She took another sip of her drink," Accidentally."

"This is illegal," I narrowed my eyes. She hacked Mr. Polendina's computer yesterday. It is a good thing Penny caught on fast. The culprit hasn't been found.

Until now.

"When Atlas found me through the DNA database and a rundown on what I am or could be, I thought it was all hocus pocus," She then pointed at her left eye," Until I watch you turn a sabertooth into stone."

Ah! That! The look on her face was hilarious. She went full dork trying to debunk it that day.

"A few days later, I petrified a young Nevermore. Akari, A brand new world opened up before me. It was as if the tragedy we both went through made much more sense."

"Stop yapping and tell me the name. If it is someone I recognize on the list, I'm telling Ironwood," I place both hands on the desk and lean forward.

"And if not not?" The corner of her mouth curved slightly.

"You're getting off easy either way."

She gets along fine with everyone in R but it is Pietro she's always fighting with. The same connection is why she isn't going to be out of luck or funds even if Atlas throws the book at her. Even worse if her research goes public.

The thought of immortality through robotic means is just chilling.

"Ruby Rose," She slid me a slip of paper.

That name? I heard of a similar name on the list but it was the deceased and missing one.

Summer Rose: Entire family line whereabout, unknown or confirmed dead.

Could that woman have a child?

"A lot of redaction on this one."

I open the slip and read.

"B-but…it can't be."

"She's traveling with a family, the Xiao-Long, and guess who's in Vacuo right now? Under the VIP list of Shade Academy. I did quite a bit of cross-referencing to track them," She motioned," Our supposed ally keeping one of us hidden."

"If I wasn't tol….No, He must have his reason," I stepped away. I shouldn't even be listening or accepting this mission. This is a dereliction of duty.

"It is in your authority to report my insubordination but isn't one of our top priorities is the protection and propagation of a dying clan," She raised the glass of wine toward me, "We will confront James together but for now, Find Ruby Rose. I don't care if you talk to her or not, I want confirmation on her silver eyes."

She tosses me a pair of gauntlets.

There are lost texts and legends of SEW being at the forefront of humanity even before the discovery of Dust. The clan that dismantled a Dark Empire ruled by a mad Queen.

This is why I trust Ironwood and by extension, Atlas to bring that light back to the world.

He must have his reasons.

"Do you want to let this opportunity slip by?"

No, This isn't right.

"I'm sorry but I can't-"

The sounds of the ship's PA system came online.

Ruby PoV

Dad was in his chair and Yang sat next to me on the couch. We were in a secure location overlooking the 4th match that was unlikely to happen. I wish she could keep fighting.

Even I could see big sis can't go on.

"So Rube, what do you think of this Akari girl?" Yang nudged.

"I don't like her," I huffed," But she is also so cool!"

The fighting style.

The armor!

Those wings and combat skirts!

"Daddy! See! If she can fight with multiple weapons, so can I!" I vibrated in place.

"Once again, Rube. If you try to master everything, You'll be subpar in all of them," he lectured.

"Dad, Does this Akari chick look kinda like…," Yang shook her head," Never mind."

"Silver," he mumbled.

There it is again. I'm not dumb. There has been a fixation on that color as of late. Even some adults in white suits show up to my school once before being chased away by Uncle Qrow.

I guess I shouldn't worry about it for now.

Aaaaaaa, I want to meet Akari. I'll get her autographed first then give her a piece of my mind for disassembling and later destroying my gift!

"Yo? Dad!"

"Yo, daughter."

"Not funny," Yang rolled her eyes," Where is Umber?"

Yo! Flame Head!" Umber's muffled voice came from behind the door followed by a knock/punch.

"Hey! Get back in here! You've been gone since the Pyrrha fight!" Yang stood up and opened the door. Umber had her weapons on her hips and her arms crossed.

"I'm here. I'm just hanging out with Night Raid," She locked eyes with Dad," Minus Sun."

"Good," he vocalized.

Dad is never going to stop hating Sun.

"Daddy, Is it because he's a Faunus," I blurted out.

Yang stiffened.

Umber eyes widened, both hands racing over her mouth.

"Ooooh," A chorus of oohs broke out in the hallway.

"W-what?! NO!" Dad paled," It isn't because he's a monkey!"

"WOW! Dad," Yang was half laughing and sounding offended.

"Ooooh!" A synchrony of angry oh is next.

"Okay! That came out wrong. It's because he deflowered Akame and has nothing to do with his race," He softened his tone.

"Oh.../Oh!" There was one depressed 'oh' and the rest was an understanding.

"Oh good, I was starting to think y'all were sharing a single brain cell," Yang looked down the hall.

"Dad, Mil is jealous and did admit to lying!" Umber pointed out," You don't act like this with Mercury!"

"That's different. He's an abused boy who doesn't understand love nor would immediately go for flirting beyond innocent admiration for the hero that saved him," He rolled his eyes.

"Abused and neglected boy now with generational wealth," the adopted sister motioned.

"Hey! I never said wealth makes the best man. She shouldn't be dating, especially now," Dad rubbed the back of his head.

"And yet you shared that one story about a NOT date with some rich Atlas girl who pays for everything," Umber argued," You seem to sweeten up after learning his real last name."

"Oh snap," Night Raid echoes.

"Out of context!"

Hmmm, Yang and Akame mom.

My mommy.

Now an Atlesian girl. Umber is from Atlas.

Would it be crazy if Umber could somehow be my sister even by blood?

Oh my! This is like one of those soap operas!

And that's three like Akame!

I silently gasped.

Big sister is the inheritance of the Xiao Long charm! Vernal is right!

Dad never mentioned her name but he did mention she has white hair.

"When did we start debating Akame's dating life?" Yang's head swiveled between her dad and older sister." I'll be team Militia!"

"Oh ho!" Night Raid piped together.

"Of course, you are," Umber and Dad agreed.

"Oh~" Night Raid oh'd questionably.

"WILL YOU GUYS SHUT UP ALREADY!" Yang and Umber shouted.

"Oh…," Now the depressed oh again.

They were about to go on a tangent when a distant voice came from outside followed by an emergency broadcast on the TV.

Is that screaming? Why do I hear a roar?

Melanie PoV

Atlas Airship hangar bay

"Straight to Atlas, Militia," She ordered," If you pull another escape like that again, you'll arrive in chains. Melanie, Say your goodbyes and stay near me."

"Yes Mother," We bowed and didn't raise our heads until she left.

We hugged each other and bid our farewell. I hurried my pace toward my mother and finally reached her side.

It wasn't a sad goodbye because we're always in contact. We can still do soul or body swapping if we want to experience what the other person is doing. Mother would know we did it now. Mother has both of us on a tracker, aura color included.

My sister and I opened a telepathic link to speak.

'Thank you for letting me see her one more time.'

'Whatever sis, I think you could do better than a girl. I'm totally sure she won't swing in that direction. She got a boyfriend, you know?' I replied.

'Just don't kill each other while I'm gone, please,' She begged. I turn around to see Militia board the transport.

'Unlike those two I'm not a monster,' I mentally huffed,' I can't guarantee it. I don't know what you see in her.'

'She is my friend I'm in love with. Thank you for helping her during the speech.'

'Unintentionally! I rather drop dead after! Ugh! This friend group is cursed!' I raged,' Like screw all of you!'

'Why do you hate Akame so much? She doesn't intend to hurt or embarrass you?'

'She's totally a freak. There are exceptional humans like my pretty self,' I self-congratulated,' And there is a freak of nature like her. She makes us little people feel inadequate. She makes ME feel like second fiddle in my own life. It's like the world decided to make her a main protagonist.'

'Mel…'

'Mother forgot about my recital, parent-teacher conference, and even my performance. It was just you and Trivia.'

The weight of all these expectations was difficult. I'm expected to be the very best, never to falter. I ace my tests for school and the family business. Yet, it's never felt enough.

I hated my childhood friend. I hate her for existing, making my life so chaotic.

'Just let it all out sis, while we have the privacy of our mind,' She soothed.

'How far are you now?' I calm down. I don't want my mask to slip. It would wound my pride as Browning Academy's best actress.

'Pilot getting the ship ready for takeoff. How about you?'

'Heading to the bridge, Akame seemed to want us in one spot.'

"Melanie, cut the mental comms," Mother snapped," It may cost nothing for that telepathy but your eyes give it away."

"Yes, mother," I nodded, sliding on the mask of an obedient child.

'Sorry, Mil,' I mentally sighed.

'Mel, Be strong.'

The mental comms cut off.

Atlas…There is a mission both of us are forced to do. Soul swapping ensures our participation.

Mother believed Militia's kind, princess-like personality, and appearance would win over the Schnee. It's to incentivize more favorable negotiations and gain access to the Schnee semblance.

My part is to use the connection Militia has with them to access my version of glyphs. I'll switch with Militia. Especially when a more forceful persona is needed at negotiations.

I don't care for relationships but my sister prefers Weiss. She's on her own when that happens.

…How the hell could I get out of this mission? Ugh!

The mental comms re-engaged.

'Umm, hey, Mel! What if I get Winter?'

'That's better. Winter semblance is far more developed.'

'Developed…Yes, I mean… Akame didn't work out. She doesn't want to do it despite the hints.'

By the Gods, my sister is the deviant.

'You…JUST BROKE UP WITH AKAME!'

'I need to move on and it's for the mission!'

'You know we don't have to take a relationship that far right?' I calmly explained,' Stick to Weiss stupid.'

That's a better long-term investment.

The PA system came online and suddenly my sulking/disgust was replaced with anger.

Akame PoV

I didn't know when it would end but I kept resisting. I remembered how many times she killed me. I counted all of them. I threw those numbers right back at her.

How hard she tries to break my will.

How desperate she wanted me to be her pawn.

Four hours become 40 years.

I found out afterward how long she kept me with her.

It was 40 years of nonstop mental torment.

356 days in a year.

24 hours in those days.

Sometimes death comes a second.

Many times it is minutes.

Rarely, did she let me live for almost an hour.

On average, I only last 5 minutes.

It all felt real to me.

I added all those deaths up and came to a mind-numbing number. It felt real and made my deaths in the tundra look like a drop in an ocean.

I died 4,101,120 times, give or take a few hundred.

I approached Ironwood after he saw the message from Ozpin. I need him to cut through the red tapes or else I'll cut through them, nonlethally.

Lisa and the cameraman were able to get to the bridge, unharassed. A smug look on her face as she passed the bridge crew she beat back with my sword.

They set up in front of me as I got a microphone in my hand. It was hooked up to the PA system.

I'll never get used to public speaking but who else could do it? Vacuo is more inclined to believe my words. How would I start it? The pings on my scroll got me to check it. I sped through the bad news in seconds. I needed the bare minimum to understand how messy the situation was.

VACUO MEDIA Dieheart: BODIES FOUND THROUGHOUT THE CITY!

Drew Gayl: Vernal still missing!

Alpha Team Sierra 1-4: The Embassy is under attack. Unknown Grimm breeds.

The embassy is the command hub for all my forces.

How did Grimm get inside the city?

Even worse, General Wicker is there so my next highest-ranking commander is occupied. Vernal is still far away and the Crown higher-ups aren't here. Which means all commands are defaulted to me. I can't hand power to my newly minted admiral either. I don't want to overwhelm Shay.

Police Chief Wiggs: Boss, We arrested a suspect but he suicide pilled himself.

Sinmara of team SAMSARA: We're breaking up a fight but it will turn ugly.

Cali of Night Raid: Akame, We're evacuating your family to the next strong point.

Sun Aunt: Sun's Pookie, My people got eyes on an Atlesian sniper. We're returning fire rn.

Border Ops 1: The south gate was compromised, They admitted to taking bribes.

Patrol Ops South: Outposts S-3 and S-4 aren't responding. Depatching men to affected locations.

Relay Ops: Seismic activity detected, No word from the Embassy on what to do next.

These texts would sound even more frantic if they were on call. Salem has made her move. I need to hurry now before it spirals out of control.

From afar, I see a ball of fire.

There is an act of terrorism up ahead. Everything is falling apart at this very moment. I have everything I need to know. I set my scroll to silence as it vibrates violently. I thought sheer numbers would be enough to deter these sorts of attacks. It must be the lack of unity and varying quality of my forces. I need to stop this now and worry about the security failure later. I cleared my throat, motioned Lisa to start rolling, and spoke into the microphone. First, a hook.

"There are 4 million plus reasons why I don't fear death. Welcome to Vacuo, Salem."

A/N: I'll cut it off here because I'm still working on the speech but got most of it down. I did the math on how many times Akame 'died' to Salem and it was astronomical. Akame was hanging onto hope even when it seemed nonexistent. Even when she was at her lowest point in the story.

The fact she is still sane is beyond human.

I switch PoV often in the beginning because there are so many details that get neglected if I stick to Akame only.

Akari's part is to develop Atlas and introduce Mercy. Ruby was the most unneeded but I wanted to be funny before things hit the fan. Melanie is about how Akame's influence isn't always positive to those around her.

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