Slumped over the counter, Yang did her best not to outwardly seethe with Raspberry seated awkwardly beside her.

Around them, several children cautiously mingled throughout the midday lunch, whereas some sat in silence while picking at their servings, others took the opportunity to try and forget their worries. The fact that so many of them over a variety of age ranges acted similarly to each other jabbed another knife under her ribs. It was plainly visible that they hadn't been given anything in the way of a formal education, what with late teens and toddlers chatting softly with similar awareness and experiences.

Many ignored the two clearly human women seated so close together and clearly separated from the apparent "pack" as many shared under hushed words, which was fine with Yang; the thought of trying not to spook any brave souls who dared try their luck with humans would be far too difficult in her eyes - not that she wouldn't try. Genuinely, she saw it as a blessing these tots could still, at least, act like kids to some degree, but Yang spied the way many froze and slightly curled inward when some of the others tried to share hugs and other childish ways of showing approval, kindness, or comfort; a perfect sign of those having come face to face with more... violent owners.

Owners... The stupidly common term had suddenly, upon witnessing just how many children needed sanctuary here, summoned a storm of unparalleled hatred within her heart. Once upon a time it passed by as innocently as any other word, but now she'd become uncontrollably bound to prone and prude resurrections of vile memories and thoughts whenever hearing or thinking it.

This stupid quirk would go away once she got out of here, Yang was sure of that, but it wouldn't die completely. Before, she hadn't known just how many victims there were of trafficking: that ignorance now sailed off for foreign waters. Being a huntress… Being a hero meant you strived to uphold justice by doing what was right whenever you could. But what was right, and what was, were two entirely different ball games: both legally and not.

Take the blackmailed bitch beside her for instance: technically, she did right by herself and her loved ones, at the cost of enabling the practice which inadvertently required deceptive operations like the one sitting right in front of them to even have a hope of rectifying.

Speaking of: Miss Starlight appeared to have choked down the rocks in her throat enough to try speaking up.

"You must believe me to be the worst of scum."

"Every perfect strand of my mane wants to strangle you," Yang admitted, beating back her fury for the sake of fairness; she'd overreacted with Ruby before on the topic of Jay, and she'd like to avoid another screw-up if she could. "But I don't even know the full extent of whatever "deal" you were forced to take." Grunting, she flipped around to look out at the kids doing their best to act comfortable around one another - a strange sight for one who grew up in a safe and fairly sociable environment. "But whatever it was clearly helped you sleep at night."

"Not one bit." This earned a little intrigue from Yang, who rounded a small unsteady glance.

Raspberry had, under her and Garanite's interrogation, revealed that the only reason she turned a blind eye to the "traders" swiping an orphan or two per trip and sale was because they'd apparently held some serious dirt on her. Nothing overtly illegal in a sense, but something deeply personal, that she openly refused to share - if her excuse carried any weight, and wasn't just a ploy to push them off topic. They could have "persuaded" her then and there, but to Yang's shock, Garanite allowed her to keep a tight lip. He believed in respecting her privacy despite her messed up decision, stating only that they needn't be complete enemies if they all fell upon the same page… It didn't add up, especially with what came next.

He'd then explained himself and his whole operation, risking everything on their sworn word they would speak of it to no one; a promise he requested via vocal agreement and nothing more. She wasn't sure if he had some deeper safety systems set in place they hadn't known about, but if he didn't, then this was a massive, and she meant massive risk he'd taken. For herself, Yang could understand as she was a known student, but Raspberry the self-blinding?

He was either an excellent judge of character and had seen an honest light in the woman which Yang hadn't, or he was an optimist who could give Rubes a run for her money.

"Hard to believe," Yang challenged, scoffing softly. "Even with my life on the line, I can't say I'd willingly let them collect the people I'd sworn to protect; I'd try my luck fighting them all off myself first, even if it cost me my life."

"If only my life was at risk, I'd not hesitate to do the same." A swell of reserved hopelessness sung whispered hymns within her voice. "But I have more at stake than that."

"Like what?"

"I can't say."

"Why not?" Yang didn't get it; they were completely safe. Garanite and his boys wouldn't have lasted as long as they did if this place was busted or easy to break into, so what more did Raspberry need? "You're not seriously just being a self-conscious prick, right?"

"I don't care what people think of me, so no, I'm not."

"Then what gives?" Yang leaned over this time, losing some of her anger and replacing it with an almost truthful curiosity. "If you can't spill it by name, then at least try to describe it in a way that makes sense. Gar's not here, so it'll just be between us."

"If it made sense, I wouldn't be hiding it either, but it doesn't."

"You're not about to pull out some paranormal crap on me, are you?"

"What? No." Narrowing her eyes into picky slits, Raspberry questioned, "Why would you even consider that?"

"Because "not making sense" is usually followed up by something blatantly stupid. Look, I'll be blunt here: I'd buy that excuse in a heartbeat; not believing in it, of course, but accepting that you are stupid enough to believe it. Get it?"

"You're not the type to easily, or even roughly, let things go are you, doll?"

"First off," Yang started, raising a finger. "Don't call me "doll." And secondly," she stuck up number two, "I've held onto wishes for literal years straight. Heck, I've been looking for, and still am going after, something from my childhood. I don't let things fade until I've gotten at least a little of what I want, or I'm dead, and clearly I'm still breathing. So unless you've got a plan to cut me out of the gig, you may as well accept and expect me to pester you every moment I feel like it."

"Tell me this: what is Remnant's greatest fear?"

"Huh?" Yang expected a wave of dismissal, or a scoff, but not a random question.

"Think of that one element of life everyone and everything, regardless of age, sex, race, or even sentience is terrified by. What, then, is Remnant's greatest fear?"

"Umm..." Yang had no idea what any of this had to do with anything, but some progress was better than no progress. Raspberry hadn't suddenly changed the subject until now, and maybe she hadn't at all, meaning this question carried some relevance to whatever kept the woman from telling them her story. With this in mind, she took a crack at answering. "Death, I guess?"

"Death?" Okay, now the way Raspberry tilted her head and looked at her like she was an ignorant little girl with her head in the clouds was just insulting. "Is that really it?"

"Well, it's either death or pain." Yang couldn't much visualize anything else that something like a worm could fear, seeing as the question aimed at all life.

Chuckling softly, Yang's frown lasted only a second, until Raspberry regained her barely broken composure.

"Don't look so down: that's a good answer. It's just not the one I'm looking for." Hearing that helped to ease the blow, allowing Yang to hold a more respectful appearance as Raspberry went on. "Have you ever read Calling Chaos?"

"I... don't think I have." Yang didn't exactly read a lot of books, but something about that title teased some resemblance of familiarity. "But I feel like I might have heard of it before."

"You probably have. It's a fairly popular work, written by Heartscribe during the decades when individuality was scorned, and before the rebellion which instated the color naming rule."

"Okay... The more you know, I guess." Despite her apparent apathy, Yang was locked in on Raspberry's expression, which switched from one of true regret, and into flickers of passive mulling, which probably had something to do with what she went on with.

"One of his most popular ideas was his description of terror. According to him, the greatest horror that could ever be known, was that which we couldn't. The simple act of uncertainty sparking caution and apprehension deep inside everyone and everything, from the children peeking down dark hallways to the birds whose heads flick towards every crack and creek. It's... it's this fear that keeps me in check."

Yang made to protest, but again froze when Raspberry timidly and finally laid it all out.

"I am both afraid and ashamed, because those who threaten everything I love and hold dear have proven that they have their hands on information regarding things that even I wasn't aware of. Family; friends; acquaintances; they never say just how much they can rob from me at a moments notice, only proving they can by occasionally sending me proof in the form of photos and texts I myself was ignorant to at the time - secrets only those involved would know, and far more personal than anything I'd ever seen."

"Damn..." Yang cringed a little. She'd gotten Raspberry to speak up, but in the end the woman was right in that she couldn't tell them about it; how do you explain what you don't even know? "I guess that's one reason. Granted, was the whole backstory and introspection into some guy's books I don't even read really necessary? And why didn't you just… say you didn't know the extent of the blackmail to begin with? It would have saved you some harsh words from me at least."

"Because ignorance is no justification, despite being understandable." Raspberry's sudden sturdy jab fell into a low whimper. "And... Recounting and mulling over stories and ideas helps me calm down. It's comforting to share and learn new things, even those which feel fairly obvious in retrospect."

"It might not justify what you did, sure, but everyone has that one part of their lives they'd throw most of their morals away for," Yang led with, knowing she was kind of lying. Even with Ruby in danger, Yang wouldn't sacrifice others to get her back. Would she lead with lies and deception to find the perps? Yeah, but risking real people - especially kids - was something Ruby would never approve of, and so she wouldn't. "At least by speaking, you let us know how extensive the problems are."

"But what if they're listening?" Raspberry shot back quickly, only to jump when Garanite sat beside her.

"Nobody's listening; not in here." Sporting a solid gaze, his eyes narrowed. "If they were, I'd very much be dead."

"H-how long were you-?"

"I've always been listening," he started, earning him suspicion even from Yang who tensed, recognising she'd been right in knowing real privacy wouldn't exactly be granted to them. "This is my operation, my home, and my life's work; nothing goes on here that I don't know about."

"So..." Yang leaned into the counter; body tense and ready to fight if need be. "You've got some, what, hidden cams and that around here?"

"Yes and no." His answer didn't exactly inspire a whole lot of reassurance, until he tapped a spot on the counter, at which point a small chunk slid over and revealed what looked like a tiny inbuilt speaker. "I can't see every corner, but I can hear everything said in every room."

"This is a breach of privacy, you know?" Yang said, getting a chuckle from her temporarily forced host.

"It is. But it's kept everyone here safe and alive."

"Then why not pull the cops into this?" Sure, there were bound to be corrupt guys throughout, but Garanite seemed like an okay - if paranoid - judge of character; better than her at least. "Surely there's some you trust."

"There are, but that won't help. Too many bad actors searching for me, especially now that they have uninformed help."

"So you don't have anybody at all?" Honestly, it was beyond tragic that the only person to care at all about the still alive and well faunus trafficking rings throughout the kingdoms was a single trio of rogues whose whole stick was buying the kids themselves and freeing them to under-capacity orphanages or seeking foster parents; one of which, now, had proven itself compromised thanks to Raspberry's explanation.

The whole thing still funneled money into the hands of the dirty monsters collecting the kids, but in his own words: they didn't have the power to save them any other way. And on a darker note she wasn't sure how she felt about, they often set up "accidents" to take out buyers after a purchase.

"Well, not exactly." Shadows fell over his face, burning the skin into darker patches as his throat croaked out a bitter spread of an answer. "There's one man I trust; one who, per our agreement, refuses to get directly involved. He helps me out, giving me what I need securely, and in exchange I keep an eye out for what he wants."

"Sounds like you don't really trust him." Yang didn't know if that was the right way to put it, but it didn't seem to bother him.

"I can trust him to let me handle things the way I believe is best, and he trusts me with information that I, honestly, wish I hadn't known. I guess you can say it's his way of binding me to him. Sometimes... simply knowing paints a target on your back, and those who seek this particular information can tell if you know, because your reactions to certain elements of the world are... different, to those who are "normal" so to say."

"Right..." Yang gave up here; they were getting off track. "So, in the way of moving along from whatever this is, what's going to happen with us?"

"You'll stay here for a while." Garanite stood, shooting her an inquisitive glance. "You wished to see Jay Williams, correct?"

Yang couldn't keep her body from jerking as she stood to face him.

"Yeah."

"Then you shall." Turning, he started off, but she managed to catch his final words. "After that, we'll discuss moving forward."

.

.

"Hold it."

Emerald whipped an arm out to stop her partner, nearly tripping him and getting a hurried reply.

"What?!" Mercury motioned to the subject of their chase. "They're getting away."

"It doesn't matter." Letting that linger for a bit, she waited right until he readied to lambast her before pointing out. "We've found them."

"Hmm?" He followed her directions, leaning for a better look, but being stopped again when he tried to approach. "I don't see it."

"That's the point." Emerald didn't really blame him for that; rarely were these bastards used.

Over her years as a thief while growing up in the slums, Emerald had robbed a good many people of multiple stations in life, but only once did she have a run in with someone truly dangerous. Luckily for her, the then head of the Xiong Family apparently harbored a level of mercy towards mere street-rats, sending her off with a laugh and thinking nothing of it. But while he might have shoved her away believing a young Emerald dazed and confused, she had instead spied something of particular interest, to say the least.

A series of out of place postings along the fence to his mansion.

When it came to home security, one of the simplest pieces was the standard camera. Cameras were a mainstay due to the fact they captured photographic evidence of intruders, but they weren't the only tools of defense. Sometimes enhanced audio recorders were hidden along routes where conventional cam feeds were either too cluttered, or usually muddy due to a variety of elements. These were great and all, but they were known by pretty much everyone, and any good thief had a way to circumvent them in the modern age.

Introducing Stagnant EMS (Electromagnetic Sonar).

Modern devices like scrolls often used various amounts of dust and electricity, which in turn gave off a documented level of radiation - entirely harmless, but still present. Dust Crystals, both in use and dormant, produce a set level depending on quantity and size, which is how many mining deposits are found. Even huntsmen weaponry can give off radiation if loaded. While invisible to the naked eye, electromagnetic radiation lived all around them, singing tunes of their modern world.

Enter these peculiar bastards of security.

Similar to most of their profession, Stagnant EMS cams did their duty in watching for intruders, but their eyes saw things... differently. These bugs, instead of spying on people, listened to these little bursts or radiation; able to detect an inactive scroll up to 20 meters. Of course, that was if they were set up to focus their "eyes" onto scrolls. Unlike general readers, the 'Stagnant' of Stagnant EMS matched its purpose perfectly: these readers only searched for specific levels of Radiation decided on by the user, allowing them to ignore others.

Put simply, if you wanted to let someone through, you could attune the readers to sound the alarm if someone possessed something that expelled a specified level of radiation upon crossing the threshold. Or, if you so chose, you could reverse the requirement. The Xiong Family, for instance, had little pins they wore underneath their jackets that radiated an exact amount, and once the SEMS caught it, they would ignore any following pieces like scrolls and weapons; the pin was the membership card for entry, which was how Emerald had been caught, as she'd lacked that pin and her scroll alone was tagged, thus sounding the alarm.

Of course, such a measure remained mostly locked to the personal homes and top level bases of most organizations, as to keep the basic peons from alerting everyone all the time over stupid shit like not wearing your pin. And, if that wasn't the best part of all...

"That sticker right there," Emerald pointed to the little square pasted to the side of the wall some blocks down. Multiple took on various shapes, appearing no different than street postings and vandalism, but she recognised the small stars stuck in the top right corner of each: a measure to ensure the owner could tell which stickers and apparent garbage were Stagnant EMS and which were regular vandalism. "That's a cam."

Mercury squinted a little, before scoffing.

"Jeez, you're actually right for once."

"For once, huh?" Despite their teasing, this did make things more difficult. "We're not getting in quietly."

"Not unless we're going loud."

"That's for Cinder to decide." Emerald wasn't in favor of abandoning the mission, but now that they knew for sure where their prey was held up in - you didn't use extreme underworld security like this without just cause. In truth, she only recognised these prickly guys here because of her experience.

He's using outdated models.

Most Stagnant EMS were updated to be more... "handpicked." Nowadays, they blend with lamps, mirrors, and all other assortment of casual furniture - a strong armed change due to one bad actor turning the 'outdoor' variant she saw here on Mistral's Spiders. All four families chipped in to the idea, willing to sacrifice some coverage to ensure such a thing never happened again. Emerald didn't know the full story, but she knew that the use of these guys weren't exactly approved, meaning Jay's captors were potentially on the chopping block if Cinder so chose.

"So, are we heading back then?" Merc asked, pursing his lips. "Or are we gonna stay and watch for a bit to see if we spot something interesting?"

"Cinder wanted an update as soon as we found him." Emerald stepped away from the sight. "Besides, she might want to get involved herself. Let's head back a block or two and ring her up; she'll decide from there"

"Ooh~" Mercury followed, spitting a whistle and a devious grin. "Sounds like fun."

For them? Possibly. For the poor sods jailing Cinder's new interest? Not so much.

Author's note

…

Okay, back again, and with… progress?

Most of this chapter focuses on Yang and Raspberry, both telling and not telling what's going on. You probably get the basic gist of it now, but whether you like or hate it is up to you. On the other end, Emerald and Mercury stumble upon some underworldly illicit security, something the Big Four apparently don't allow; wonder what Cinder will do with that information.

Not gonna lie, I might have gotten a little carried away with some elements this time, but whatever.

Also, if anything seems strangely written compared to the usual, it's because I'm in the middle of revising one of my original novels, so some of that may carry over accidentally. That's the excuse I'm going with; nothing story-ruining, but noticeable since the genre of that one is high fantasy - similar to the other half of Beyond Destiny, for those who've read that.

Tootles~