King: So, we meet again. Shall we have a bit of fun? A new chapter?

Knox: But how can you ensure they read it?

King: ...

Knox: King?

King: Read it, would you kindly.

Inspiration: Bioshock

/\

The world opened to show a vault door opening to reveal Ilia standing on the other side. She was dressed in a white dress shirt and tan slacks with suspenders. She had a small firearm in one hand as she walked. One interesting note was her hair being tipped in golden blonde at the ends.

Coco raised an eyebrow at the scene, "Hmm… Old school."

Oscar blinked before adopting a deadpan at the realization he had the same style on right now.

Ilia raised an eyebrow. She'd never seen, or imagined, her hair in a different color pattern before. She admitted it was a nice look, but she didn't like the color. Maybe dark green…

She walked in and saw a large machine in the center of the room. The screen flickered to show those golden dual arcs before snapping to show Jaune's face. "Even in a book of lies, you sometimes find truth."

Yang groaned, "What is this, a philosophy lesson?"

"I see that there is, indeed, a season for all things. And now that I see you face to face… I know that I cannot raise a hand against you."

Jaune tapped his chair in thought, "I kind of sound older… a bit like my dad."

"But know this… you are my greatest disappointment."

"Harsh." Yang frowned.

Blake shook her head, "Not quite. Think about how he said that. There was no malus or anger. He sounded… sad? I think."

"Okay, but why?"

"Does your master here me?! Well, Atlas?! You may kill me, but you'll never have my city!"

Yang kicked up her feet and raised a brow, "So, she works for a guy named Atlas?"

Ilia growled, "I'd almost call it ironic…"

"My power is not in steel and fire! That is what the parasites will never understand! A season for all things! A time to live and a time to die! A time to build… AND A TIME TO DESTROY!"

The room shook as an alarm blared though the speakers.

Ilia's guild through the city, Atlas, spoke through her communication device, "Shit! He's activated the self-destruct! Get out of there and get to his office! If you can get the genetic key, we can stop the meltdown!"

Yang took in a sharp breath, "Oh… that's not good."

Ilia ran fast and far through the room, but Jaune's voice carried through again, unheard by Atlas, "Come my child… We have one final thing to discuss…"

Yang fell over herself and had to pick her self up to sit, "Woah, what?!"

Ilia blinked in surprise. She shook her head and dismissed the insinuation. It was likely just some crack about the age difference.

Ilia hopped into a duct and through the steel confines, breaking into another room. She fell onto the floor of the room and checked the area to ensure no enemies were around. She eased her stance and looked up to a strange board. It was an old cork board with dozens of papers pinned to the area to the point where they would flow over and be tapped to the table. Red string connected various photos and notes with strange red paint behind it all. [Would you kindly].

Ilia looked over the wall before noticing a set of tapes on the table. She picked it up and looked over a label taped to the side, [Mind Control Experiment]. She placed on in her communicator to see what she was glean from this.

Ironwood's eyes narrowed, "Mind control experiments? I've a feeling this won't be pleasant."

The tape started to flicker in and play. They heard the scientist speaking through, "Miss Sova, that's an adorable puppy you have."

Port growled, "Merlot… You're right James. This cannot end well."

They heard a young dog barking on the tape.

Blake and Kira tensed up but were able to keep watching.

They could hear this Miss Sova speak, "Thank you, doctor."

"Yes… Yes… Break his neck for me."

Yang slammed her fist into her chair, "The hell?!"

"W-what? No! I…" Miss Sova was weeping.

"Break his neck… would you kindly."

The dog's barking was loud, joyful, before becoming momentarily panicked. It let out a sharp yelp before going silent. The only sound remaining was Miss Sova's weeping.

Ruby, Weiss, and Yang went stiff and silent at the sound. It was haunting and disgusting. Why would she do that?

Blake didn't like dogs. That was no secret. But she still found that seriously fucked up. She didn't want any dogs dead, just away from her.

Ilia saw the other tape and looked it over, choosing not to hear this one out for now. She had a job to do. She marched through the doors on the other side of the room and into a dark room with a high ceiling. Jaune was waiting for her, still unseen.

"The assassin has overcome my final defense… And now, she's come to murder me." As she approached, the light washed over the scene and she could finally see Jaune Arc. Though, it was through a window to his inner office. He wore a solid white suit and was currently playing with an office golf set. "In the end, what is it that separates a man from a slave?"

Sienna's eyes narrowed, "This can go two ways… Let's see how he plays this minefield."

Jaune walked around to crouch down and line up his shot, "Money? Power? No. In my years I have learned it is simpler than that. A single dichotomy. A man chooses. A slave obeys."

Sienna blinked in surprise. "Okay, I'll admit, that's not either of the directions I was expecting."

Ironwood crossed his arms, "It's a rather deep sentiment, really. Even if you follow an order, you would choose to. But something feels off."

Jaune leaned onto his golf club like a cane, "You think you have memories." As he spoke, moments from Ilia's eyes flashed before her eyes matching each. "A farm. A family. An airplane. A crash. And then? This place." Jaune putt the ball down along the green carpet. "But… was there really a family?"

Ilia's memory showed her as a young child, hooked up to some kind of machine.

"Did that airplane crash? Or was it hijacked?"

A package in front of Ilia on the flight with a gun inside.

"Forced down. Forced down by something less than a man. Something bred to sleepwalk through life until they are awoken by a simple phrase spoken by their kindly master."

Everyone was getting a chill through their blood. This was getting heavier than they expected.

"Was a man sent to kill me, or a slave?"

"Shouldn't he be saying woman?" Ilia asked.

Blake shrugged, "It's probably a collective thing. Saying between human and slave."

"A man chooses! A slave obeys…" Jaune walked to the side, out of site. His door unlocked. "Come on in."

Mercury huffed, "An obvious trap."

Ilia was caught off guard but moved to the door. She was finally face to face with her target, the man who commanded the City of Rapture. She growled and took a step toward him.

Only to have his club meet her shoulder, "Stop. Would you kindly."

Ilia froze up, her body shaking lightly.

Ilia felt her body go stiff. "What's… what's going on?"

Jaune pushed her back lightly, "Would you kindly… Powerful phrase. Familiar phrase?"

Scenes played out in Ilia's head. Atlas repeating would you kindly before she would take on a task. Each moment flashing in succession as he spoke. Each horror or death she would cause, accented by those damn words! Until, she saw the board again. Would you kindly go to Arc's office and kill the son of a bitch! It wasn't a question. It was an order. And she followed it this far. Reality returned to Ilia and she backed away slowly, her head pounding at the memories.

Jaune placed his club on the top of her shoulder, "Sit. Would you kindly."

She sat.

"Stand. Would you kindly."

She stood.

"Run!"

She ran.

"Stop!"

She stopped.

"Turn."

She turned to face him once more. Every action without her input. Every act without her say. Without her choice.

The scene scared them. Not on the more horror-based levels of previous versions. No… It was existential this time. The pure terror of a loss of control. To have your body without you wanting to. To act at someone else's word. This would be a nightmare for a long time to come.

Meanwhile, Cinder was wondering if it was too late to train her subordinates in this method.

Jaune tossed his club up again. "A man chooses… A slave obeys…" He sounded like a man who was alone. His world crumbling around him. He couldn't fight her, he couldn't bring himself to. Even after all these years, he still knew who she was. She looked too much like her mother not to be.

Yang leaned forward a bit, "So… it was saying that she's his daughter."

Jaune blinked, "Okay… but… how? The ages don't add up."

Even after Merlot's experiments aged her beyond her years, he still knew it was her.

"Oh…"

In the end, she only had one thing to do, and he knew that. His hand tightened around his club. He held it out toward her. Once she took it, he spoke again, "Kill."

Her hand moved without her say, striking Jaune across the head with his club.

Everyone jolted up at the sudden swing. It was way too fast to have any thought behind it. It was more reflex than anything.

Ilia, in particular, recoiled at her swing. This scared her more than any of the previous versions.

Jaune was bleeding from the blunt force trauma, but he looked back up toward her. "A man… chooses…" His voice was getting weak and he strained to speak at all.

Another strike exasperated his wound and bent the club further.

He was on his knees now, "A slave… obeys…"

Anther hit bent the club even further.

Jaune grabbed at her shirt collar and lifted himself toward her, "OBEY!"

Ilia buried the end of the club into his head. Jaune Arc, architect of Rapture, was dead on the floor of his once proud city.

Ilia shrunk in her chair. The loss of control? The murdering of her father? In this dimension, at least. Things only got worse for her. She lost her parents while she was young and only wanted to belong. It made her an easy target for White Fang recruitment. To go as far as she had to in order to belong. She shook in her chair and took a breath to calm her nerves.

Ilia shook in place, her breath unsteady. She looked to the club in her hands and tossed it to the ground. Every action until now had been her actions. Her choice. Right?

Before she could really think about it, Atlas called to her from her radio. "Quick! Grab his genetic key! And would you kindly stick it in that goddamn machine!"

Ilia jolted up and rummaged through Jaune's coat to find the key in question. She moved to a machine in the back room to override the self-destruct of the city's core. As she placed it into the machine, she heard the core powering down again.

Atlas let out a relieved and a chuckle of relief. This chuckle hardened, becoming more villainous. "Nice work, lassie~" His voice changed from its jovial accent to something more refined or sophisticated. "Time to end this charade."

The machine let out a mass of steam as the monitor flickered between Jaune's symbol and something else, but it was hard to make out for the moment.

Ilia looked around in confusion. "What's… what's going on?! Atlas!"

'Atlas' laughed. "There is no Atlas, kid. Never was. In my line of work, one must adopt a number of aliases. You've been a wonderful help, so I suppose I owe you a bit of honesty. My name is Arthur Watts."

Ozpin growled up toward the screen, "Watts… This does seem up his alley."

Ruby turned to the professor. "That guy that arrived with Salem? The one with the mustache?"

"That's him."

Yang scoffed, "He doesn't seem that tough."

"He's a dangerous man that's toppled cities like they were dominoes. He may not be physically strong, but he doesn't have to be. He outwits anyone, getting them to fight amongst themselves before he swoops in and picks through their ashes."

Yang's grin fell away, and she was left stunned. Okay… note to self, stay away from that guy…

Watts laughed. "I've had plenty of business partners, but you've proven to be the most capable. Of course, the fact that you were genetically engineered to bark like a cocker spaniel if I said 'would you kindly' likely had something to do with it. You've been wonderful, but you know what they say. Never mix business with friends. So long, kid."

The machine started to spark and flicker. Ilia broke through the barrier and ran from the room. She ducked back into an air duct as the machine erupted. As she crawled through those vents, she just heard those damn words over and over. Would you you kindly. Would you kindly!

Then, something new. Are you man or slave?

Ilia jolted stiff in the duct.

I gave you an order.

Ilia thought for a moment. Jaune Arc's last order… He only said 'kill.'

Mercury laughed. "Got to love those loopholes."

Choose and obey!

Ilia, fueled by anger toward Watts, smiled. Finally, an order she wanted to follow. The she wanted to accomplish. To choose. The world came to a close on that note.

One final message flashed on screen.

[WOULD YOU KINDLY]