“Be honest Daniel, how do you feel?”
Daniel stood up and waited for the generator to kick in. After an extended pause, he felt the familiar energy surround him in a warm embrace. The fresh pink skin covering his burned back receded as normal skin took its place.
“I think it took a little longer to start,” Daniel said.
Yarrow rubbed at the blackened housing. “That’s what I was afraid of,” he said. “I had a feeling the sequencer was damaged but couldn’t find anything wrong with it. Might be past my ability to fix.”
“Is that bad?”
“Any case outside an ambush you should be fine. Don’t go into dark alleys anymore until I can get a new part in.”
Daniel opened his mouth to correct Yarrow but remembered the instructions Greeve had given him. He closed his mouth instead and nodded in understanding.
The door opened and Rojoe and Ebon entered the dorm. “Gear up Yarrow,” Rojoe instructed. “General wants us going after a lead on that gunrunner that escaped.”
“Ugh, finally!” Yarrow exclaimed as he deactivated Daniel’s generator. He grabbed his coat from his bed and slung it over his uniform. “No offense Daniel, but I’ve got cabin fever from you.”
“Same here,” Daniel said. He grabbed his sword to fasten to his waste. Ebon placed a hand on the hilt, stopping him.
“You’re still supposed to take it easy,” Ebon said. “One more day before you’re clear, Greeve’s orders.”
“Oh come on, I’m fine,” Daniel protested. “Yarrow checked my generator, everything’s good to go.”
“I’m with Greeve on this one actually,” Yarrow said. “Your generator was running for a minute, that’s not enough time to stress check it. We’ll run some tests when you get back.”
Daniel sighed, but put down his sword.
“It’s for the best,” Ebon assured him. “You went through Greeve’s portal with an Aura. That’s something Greeve takes seriously, even for him.”
“Because he doesn’t want someone to die from it?” Daniel asked.
Rojoe, Ebon, and Yarrow all glanced at each other with pained expressions. None of them seemed to want to speak.
“Oh,” Daniel said. “Someone did die?”
Yarrow spoke up with air of caution, unusual for him. “We, aren’t supposed to talk about that, but-”
“But nothing,” Ebon said. “Daniel’s a part of the team, he deserves to know. Rojoe, you know this better than us, you tell him.”
“Me? No, I couldn’t,” Rojoe protested. “I think, Greeve should tell Daniel. It’s his story to tell.”
“Greeve ain’t here and we both know he’s not going to tell Daniel,” Ebon said. “He’s too scared about it.”
Rojoe looked at Yarrow for help, but he shrugged noncommittedly. She sighed and began to speak. “Daniel, do you remember what I told you about Greeve’s portals when you were visiting?”
“You told me about his Semblance,” Daniel answered, “that if someone besides Greeve went through the portal that they’d die.”
“The dying wasn’t speculated,” Rojoe said. “And it’s not just a full immersion effect either. If any part of you enters the portal, it drains your Aura and you die. But when Greeve’s Semblance first manifested, he didn’t know about that. So, when he and his older brother were surrounded by Death Stalkers and had to escape, he conjured a portal, and, and,”
“They went through together,” Ebon finished solemnly. “He was nine when it happened.”
Daniel struggled for something to say; anything that could convey what he felt. Instead, Rojoe had the next word. “We’d better get going; Greeve’s waiting on us.”
“Probably already thinking of how he’s gonna chew us out for being late,” Yarrow said. He strode toward the door but stopped and turned back to Daniel. “Don’t run your generator while we’re gone,” he instructed, “And don’t tell Greeve you know what happened, he’s sensitive about it.”
Daniel nodded, and the three older students filed out. The door closed with a click, and Daniel was alone.
Daniel took a deep breath and tried to compose his thoughts. The sudden and abrupt reveal had taken him by surprise. There’d always been an inkling of suspicion in the back of his mind that something had gone wrong, but he’d always assumed it had been a close call. The truth was far worse.
Whispers started echoing in the back of his mind and Daniel instinctively activated the generator. Yarrow had just told him not to use it, but running it for a little bit shouldn’t be a problem. The longer startup time concerned him. A feeling in his gut told him that he needed to get the generator back working at peak performance sooner rather than later.
Daniel scanned the room, searching for something to occupy his mind. They fell on Yarrow’s computer on the desk. He pushed a form off of the keyboard and he opened up the Atlas email service. Lunare had asked him to keep in touch after all.
Dear Team LSTRDLN,
How have you all been?
This is probably the most awkward email in the history of awkward emails. It’s been six months since I contacted you all. I would’ve done it sooner, but I thought that none of you wanted to hear from me after I left. I would have written it after Lunare got back, but I had some stuff I had to do.
My time in Atlas has been amazing. Team GREY has pushed me hard and I’ve made many improvements. I might even be able to take on some of you now!
I do miss Beacon though. If I could make a choice again, I think I woul
A vibration in Daniel’s pocket broke him out of the email. He fished out his Scroll and saw a picture of Yarrow attempting to look scientific with a flaming vial of dust in his hands filled the screen. He scrambled to deactivate the generator before accepting the call. “Hey, Yarrow.”
“Daniel, you doing anything?”
“No! Not at all, what’s up?” Daniel checked again to make sure that the generator had been turned off. Had Yarrow known he turned the generator on?
“Nothing much just; on your left Ro!” Yarrow shouted. There were some sounds of fighting followed by the unmistakable noise of Yarrow firing a stun pellet. “Sorry, guy almost got the jump on Rojoe.”
“Are you guys fighting already?” Daniel asked. “You’ve been gone for fifteen minutes!”
“And Ebon has a unitard in his closet, but let’s not repeat what we know,” Yarrow answered. “Listen, a guy just knocked some papers over and it reminded me about the estimate forms for your repair. Ironwood wants them by noon, and this is gonna tie us up for a while.”
Daniel grabbed the forms he’d pushed aside. “Don’t you send these in before the repairs?”
“Yes you should,” Yarrow said, “but Greeve thinks I’m a bad role model for you anyways so at this point why bother?” There were several gunshots and Yarrow swore. “Okay I need to hang up now; this is worse than drunk texting and driving.” The Scroll beeped and the call ended.
Daniel pocketed his Scroll and tucked the papers under his arm. He glanced at the unfinished email before saving it and powering down the laptop. He could come back to it once Ironwodd had the papers.
He left the dormitory into the courtyard. Icy wind cut through his uniform and threatened to tear the papers from under his arm until he made it to the main building.
Daniel pushed open the thick metal doors and entered the building. Unlike the barren courtyard, the lobby was a bustling thoroughfare. Everyone from officers to cadets were moving through at a brisk pace. Daniel recognized several, but they were moving too fast to talk. Not that they could have heard him if he’d tried. The high stone walls made every sound echo in a cacophony of noise that drowned out even thoughts. It was all because of the weather. The winter months had made the main building a thoroughfare around the connected offices and classrooms. It could take longer but kept you indoors for the most part.
Daniel swerved through the crowd and made his way to General Ironwood’s office. He made it just as the general was leaving, an older mustached man at his side. General Ironwood saw Daniel and nodded in his direction before walking off with the man.
“General!” Daniel called after him.
“Mister Grigio,” General Ironwood replied. He turned back to his companion and continued talking.
“General, I need to give you these papers. They’re the estimates you asked for.” Daniel winced as he realized his mistake. If he wasn’t healed, then there was no reason for him to be running around delivering papers.
“I’m leaving for an important meeting, Mister Grigio,” he said with a hint of irritability. “Put them on my desk, I’ll review them when I return. And slide the key under the door I have a spare.” Before Daniel could reply, he handed Daniel a key and put a hand on the back of the mustached man to usher him away. The man gave the hand a look of revulsion but didn’t say a word. They turned a corner and disappeared from sight.
Daniel retraced his steps back to the general’s office and closed them behind him. He hadn’t been in here since he was first assigned to team GREY. It hadn’t changed much. The only difference was the towers of papers that framed General Ironwood’s computer. They seemed to be even taller. He walked behind the desk and laid the papers down on the keyboard. He’d let General Ironwood decide where he wanted them. He was about to leave when the screen flashed a notification.
From: Percival Ashen Neil
Subject: Troop mobilization
Daniel frowned at the heading. The parting words of Oskar echoed in his head. His fingers hovered over the mouse button, and hesitated. Despite what the subject line was he had no idea what was in the email. Opening it could unleash a world of trouble for Daniel. If something went wrong and General Ironwood found out, there would be serious consequences. Any chance at becoming a Huntsman would be lost.
The screen darkened as Daniel mused. If it all the way off it would lock him out. Daniel made an impulse decision and shuffled the mouse back and forth. The screen brightened, and he clicked on the notification. A window appeared and displayed the email.
General Ironwood,
The council’s suggestions for resource allocation during the expansion are most troubling. Although I am not in charge of the operation, I cannot recommend the troop deployments. The Grimm recently attacked these areas, and a reduction in men might incite another incident.
I know that my strategy takes longer, but it provides the greatest assurance for the total removal of Grimm. A rapid extermination plan will neglect areas in favor of preserving the resources.
I once again urge you to reconsider and hope that you make the right decision.
P.A. Neil.
Daniel re-read the message, then saw it was the third in an email thread. He opened the other two and read them as well. It seemed the sender was an officer in the Atlesian military. His first email had an attached report on an area Atlas was planning on expanding into. Plenty of land, promising dust deposits, and infested with Grimm. Percival suggested a long-term extermination program that slowly expanded the border over a period of two years. Daniel had a sinking feeling of what General Ironwood’s reply was, but he clicked on the email anyways.
Commander Neil,
Your report and suggestions were reviewed by the council. Your findings in the western peninsula prove more promising than we hoped. You will be highly commended for your work.
Due to the material need of Atlas we have decided upon a rapid extermination plan over the proposal you submitted. Two years is too long for our timetable. The council’s decision is final.
General Ironwood.
“What is going on?” Daniel muttered. He scrolled through the general’s emails, trying to get more context. He found another email between General Ironwood and the commanders of several battalions. It detailed instructions to ready their men for action in the wester peninsula. The most recent email before Commander Neil’s was one to Jacques Schnee, asking him to lunch to discuss the preparations to open another mine. Jacques had replied in the affirmative, but warned he was only available between twelve and twelve thirty.
With a start, Daniel looked up at a digital clock sitting on General Ironwood’s desk. He breathed a sigh of relief as he saw it read twelve twenty-fifteen. He had plenty of time, but knew he needed to get out sooner rather than later.
First, he needed to get the emails. He returned to the general’s inbox and was about to renew his search when he heard a rattling of a key at the door. With only seconds left he closed the mail browser and hit the shortcut to send the computer to sleep. He stepped away from the computer just as General Ironwood stepped inside. When he saw Daniel, his eyes narrowed and he raised a protective hand to keep the mustached man from entering.
“What are you doing here Daniel?” Ironwood said in a low voice.
“General Ironwood! I didn’t expect you back so soon,” Daniel said.
“I asked you a question Mr. Grigio. What are you still doing in my office?” General Ironwood’s free arm drifted down toward his coat, where Daniel knew from painful experience lay a powerful revolver.
Daniel inhaled slowly through his nose, taking a moment to compose himself. “I just got in here,” he said. “The key didn’t want to turn.”
For a minute, General Ironwood’s piercing eyes didn’t leave Daniel’s. They seemed to bore through him and into his core. There was no doubt that Ironwood was checking the validity of Daniel’s excuse, and he didn’t like what he saw.
Just when Daniel thought that Ironwood was actually going to shoot him, both of his hands dropped. “I’ve had the same problem,” General Ironwood said. “The winter weather makes it sticky.”
To Daniel, this simple statement was a gift from the gods. He took the offering and ran with it as hard as he could. “Is that what it is? I thought it might be, it’s the winter after all. Doesn’t happen with our dorms, but I think we might have different locks.”
“Daniel, I still have important business with Mister Schnee, I’d appreciate it if you left us alone.”
Daniel nodded and walked toward the door. Mr. Schnee decided to step through the door the same time as Daniel, and both found themselves in each other’s way. They sidled back and forth until Daniel finally stepped to General Ironwood’s left. Mr. Schnee huffed at Daniel as he passed, and Daniel found himself guided out by a powerful hand. Daniel barely had time to hand him the key before the door was shoved closed in his face. A solid knock of metal against wood signaled he’d locked the door behind him.
The interruption frustrated Daniel. If he’d had a bit longer he would have figured it all out. And once he did, maybe he’d know what Oskar meant.
Reality struck him, and he snapped out of his musings. Shaking his head to clear it, he leaned against the wall. What he was doing, what he had done, was dangerous! And why was he doing it? Because someone he’d only met on the street told him? The safest thing to do was go back to the dormitory and forget what he’d seen.
But deep down the musings brewed. They festered with the whispers and combined their strengths. Greeve knew who Oskar was, even if he hadn’t told anyone else. And if the emails were for real, then Daniel had to learn the rest.
Glancing up, Daniel saw an air duct tile in the ceiling. A memory sparked in his mind; one of Lunare emerging from a similar duct with a can of Rage in each hand. Daniel followed the hallway until he found an air duct far enough away from the general’s door that he wouldn’t hear a thing.
Which was good, because Daniel soon learned how bad he was at getting into an air duct.
No matter how hard he tried, Daniel couldn’t get up to the vent. At best he could scrape his fingers along the painted metal. After several minutes, he stopped for fear someone on another floor might hear him. He needed a boost.
Daniel reached back and activated the generator once more. The rush of energy gave him the needed boost to knock the vent off its mounting. The mangled metal flipped into the aluminum tunnel with a crash that reverberated down its length. Daniel waited until it finished echoing before squirming the rest of the way inside.
Faint light from the corridor below illuminated the metal walls. Daniel pushed the ruined vent out of his way and began sliding down the smooth metal. He counted the number of vents until he reached the one outside of Ironwood’s office. As he neared the grated opening, he began to hear the conversation going on below.
“And you’re positive the resources are in the peninsula?”
“I thought it would be clear now General, Schnee industries doesn’t make business decisions on just speculation.”
“I need to know. I don’t know how you convinced the rest of the council to follow your plan, but my advisors and I are against it. Another year, and the new knights will be ready for production. We can make the expansion without compromising our defenses.”
Daniel reached up and massaged his temple. He could feel a headache coming on. Putting discomfort aside, he slid the final length and made it to the vent. General Ironwood was sitting at his desk, reviewing one of the many papers from a mountainous pile. The man, Mr. Schnee, was standing in front of the General’s desk, his arms crossed.
“The western peninsula will shorten that time to six months,” Mr. Schnee said. If something happens to the villages, then you send a battalion of the 200s their way as an apology.”
“They won’t forgive us if something happens,” Ironwood said. He put the paper down and put his fingers to his temples. “Destroyed villages, surviving refugees, none of this looks good on the CCTS.”
“Villages disappear all the time General; it’s nothing the people haven’t seen before.” Mr. Schnee said. “If it becomes a problem,” Daniel couldn’t see Mr. Schnee’s face, but he got the feeling the man had a cruel smile on his face, “I understand the western peninsula will soon be needing workers.”
Daniel let a low grunt out as the headache worsened. It felt like a Beowulf was digging its claw into his head. He bit his lip and hoped no one had heard his noise.
Ironwood looked up at Mr. Schnee, then at the ceiling. His eyes grazed over the vent and Daniel instinctively slid backwards. “You’re a cold-hearted bastard Jacques. I pray we don’t live to regret this.”
“I know that I will not,” Mr. Schnee said. “How soon will the operation begin?”
“Our forces are already being in the west,” General Ironwood said. “I’ll send word once the south-eastern forest is cleared this weekend. It’s the least I can do for the villages.”
That was enough for Daniel. An overbearing feeling told him to get out and get out now. With an effort he pushed himself backwards and away from the vent. He didn’t try to mask his noise.
The last thing intelligible thing he heard was Mr. Schnee asking “Very well. Will that, boy be taking part?”
When Daniel reached the opening, he didn’t bother to pull the grate with him. He dropped down and ran. His head was pounding in agony. He needed to get out of there. He needed to find a place to calm down. Every corner he took he expected to collide with a security force waiting to arrest him for espionage. He flew down the stairs and dove into the crowds of the lobby. People cried out in shock as he pushed his way through. He ignored them. He had to get to the dormitories. There he might be in peace.
Daniel was at the front doors. He reached for the handles but they were pulled from his reach. Several people were standing in the doorframe. He couldn’t have stopped if he wanted. There was a shout, a twisting motion, and he was flying through the air with one of them.
They hit the first stair hard. The person under Daniel howled in pain as they went into the air again. Daniel braced for the next landing, but it never came. They spun through the air before separating near the icy hard dirt. Daniel landed face first and skidded to a stop.
“My tail!” an indignant voice cried as its owner stormed toward Daniel. “Frikking Grimmspawn, the hell were you doing?”
“Ebon?” Daniel gasped.
A hand grabbed Daniel by the shoulder and rolled him over. “Yeah, what’s it to you, you jack-” Ebon stopped, his expression turning from anger to confusion. “Daniel what were you doing?”
By now, the rest of team GREY had made their way down the slippery steps and crowded around their fallen teammate. Daniel went to get up but collapsed when an arc of electricity burst from his generator.
“Dammit, the generator,” Greeve swore. “Yarrow hold him down; I’m pulling the core.”
“No, don’t,” Daniel begged, but it was too late. Greeve shoved his coat up and twisted the core loose. The headache was wiped away as the Aura faded, and the voices roared to life. Daniel screamed with them and became lost in their midst.
Free! Free! Kill the imposters! Kill the liar! Kill them all!
Daniel bucked the two teenagers off his back and went for Yarrow’s eyes. Yarrow ducked under Daniel’s grab and backed away, his eyes darting over Daniel. “Oh, son of a,”
“Take him down!” Greeve ordered. Haunted Toll wrapped around Daniel, pinning his arms to his side. Daniel strained against the wires, vaguely recognizing they were cutting into his skin. Greeve grabbed him by the back of the head and shoved Daniel’s face into the frozen dirt. Daniel struggled and growled, forcing Greeve to pin him down. Greeve shouted something to Yarrow. Rojoe bent down to say something and Daniel lashed out with his teeth, going for her fingers. Someone tugged against his coat, and the generator was reinserted. The voices howled in frustration, but they were soon gone. In their place the headache returned. Greeve released Haunted Toll and got off Daniel’s back, leaving him free to move.
“You with us Daniel?” Yarrow asked.
Daniel dragged himself a few paces across the dirt and threw up on the concrete. He couldn’t help it. The transition between piercing headache, menacing voices, and back again was too much for him. He struggled to lift himself and threw up again. He would’ve collapsed into the steaming puddle of puke had Rojoe and Ebon not dragged him away from it.
Yarrow bent down and offered Daniel a water bottle. “That was the voices, wasn’t it?” he asked.
Daniel nodded, took a swig from the bottle, then spat onto the ground. Every move of his arms was like fire. Haunted Toll’s wires had cut into his skin. He was certain they’d broken the skin.
“Something must have set them off, what were you doing in there?” Greeve demanded.
“I asked him to get that form to Ironwood,” Yarrow explained, “I’m not sure what caused him to run though.”
“Had, to get, out of there,” Daniel rasped.
“Get out of what?” Greeve asked.
“Greeve, we should return to the dorm,” Ebon warned, “There’s a crowd forming.”
Daniel twisted his head to see a crowd forming outside the building to watch the spectacle. A sense of dread filled him. He’d lost control again; this time in front of an entire building of Atlas personnel. Even here his past was following him.
A silver-gloved hand extended into view. He looked up and saw it belonged to Greeve. A look of weary exasperation was on his face.
“Come on Daniel,” he said. “Lets get you back to the dorm.”
Daniel hung his head in defeat and accepted the hand.
Hello everybody! Just wanted to do a quick update about To Be Human regarding RWBY. For those of you who've seen the finale of Volume 6, we got our first proper look at Atlas. It's, not how I've been describing Atlas' appearance. I've been writing it as some sort of high tech Anchorage Alaska, not a giant floating rock possibly perched over a city full of Faunus rights violations. It's a cool design, just not what I had in mind.632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDYpACMQyq2
Because Book 2 is so late in development, I've decided to not go back and update the appearance. I've just written the last scene where that might be an issue, and I'd like to keep moving forward so I can write more things, including book 3. It's a bit lazy, but that's how it's going to be unfortunately. 632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKL8zplXlwv
Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Leave a comment and kudos if you did, and I'll see you all next month.632Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh6jv8HGEn2
-Wrench
