Red Vs Blue, & there's Magenta: Season Nine

Chapter 8 Shaking the Foundation

*Ruby (_) - Age 9, 2537*

Shortly after Ruby's first meeting with Rachel, Jason decided to just invite her over to his house. The girl had no reason to decline, so she found herself standing before a mansion.

Ruby: Th-This is your house?!

Jason: Uhh, yeah?

Ruby: It's the size of the whole orphanage!

Jason: Oh, I guess it is kind of big.

Ruby: You guess?! It's massive!

Jason: Can we go inside? It's going to rain soon.

Ruby: Yes!

The two went inside, the girl immediately realizing that Jason was rich. . . very rich.

Ruby: Geez, what is your dad's job?!

Jason: Uh. . . Rachel says he's a scientist for the army.

Ruby: That sounds important.

Jason: He's always busy though. He's barely even home now. . . *sighs*

Before his mood could dampen, he was snapped out of his thoughts when his friend demanded a tour. And so, the two spent the next two hours just touring the whole mansion, Ruby barely understanding what the purpose for the sheer amount of rooms was. Only a dad and two kids lived there after all. As the tour began coming to an end, Ruby realized they skipped a room.

Ruby: Hey, what's in there?

She pointed to a plain door, unlike the others, which all had nameplates.

Jason: Huh? Oh, that one. . . My dad says we're not supposed to go in there.

Ruby: Well. . . why don't we sneak in?

Jason: We can't. He locked it.

Ruby: Then I'll unlock it!

She took a hairpin out of her hair and bent it unnaturally, sticking it into the keyhole and trying to unlock it.

Jason: Uh, how do you know how to do that?

Ruby: Other kids at the orphanage keep trying to lock me out of my own room, so I just taught myself how to use this to unlock it.

The scratching of metal continued for a while.

Jason: I thought you said you knew how to do this.

Ruby: *sighs* That doesn't mean I'm good at it.

Eventually, they did hear the soft 'click' of the lock unlocking.

Ruby: Got it! Here we come secret room!

She twisted the knob open and the two ventured inside. They locked the door behind them just in case someone came by and saw it open. Clicking the lights on. . . the two were pretty confused. There was a lot of military uniforms, A LOT, each identical to one another. Most of the room was filled with them. There was also a M6D Magnum, unloaded and on display within a glass case. The two shared a confused glance before continuing their exploration. There was a desk in the corner, a laptop on it, but the two ignored it and went to the closet. Opening it, there was a lot of. . . women's clothing.

Ruby: I thought we already looked through Rachel's room.

Jason: That's because we did. . . I don't know what this is. Hmm. . . Maybe there's something in here?

Ruby began digging through the closet, not finding much besides more clothes. She did find one thing though. Jason had to give her a boost to grab it. Analyzing it. . . they realized it was just an old hat. It was green and had a weird symbol on it. The two just put it back and left the closet. Going back to the displayed magnum, it was over a shelf. On the shelf were a few things, but nothing of interest but one thing. A diary. . .

Ruby: Should we read it?

Jason: Sure. . .

He grabbed the book and opened it. The first page held the name of the owner, though the last name was covered in literal black ink.

Ruby: Allison? Who's Allison?

Jason: I don't know.

They continued flipping through the book, realizing that it was a diary that belonged to a teenager. Putting it down, they then moved to the final place of interest, the desk and an ancient looking computer to them. Jason sat down in the chair and moved the mouse, the computer turning on. They needed a password to get any further. Luckily, Ruby had an idea after multiple failed attempts.

Ruby: Why don't we use that name we found? Try Allison.

Jason typed it in and the computer turned black. They thought it didn't work for a second, but Jason moved the mouse, a play button appearing. The two shared a glance, Ruby shrugging and prompting Jason to click it. . . A video turned on, a woman in a military uniform talking to whoever was behind the camera. She had blonde hair and bright green eyes. The two both realized it was the same hat they found in the closet and that the uniform she wore was identical to the rest in the room. The woman then began speaking. . .

?: Stop it, put that thing down. You're gonna make me late. They're waiting for me.

She tried walking away, but a hand held hers and kept her there.

?: Leonard, come on. . . I have to go. . . Don't make me hurt you. *smirks*

She began walking away before the video cut to her fixing her uniform.

?: And don't worry. . . You'll see me again.

She lifted a rifle and latched a bag into her back. She began walking. . .

?: Don't say Goodbye. . . I hate Goodbyes. . . .

The video ended. . .

Ruby: Well. . . that wasn't confusing at all. What do you think, Jason?

She heard a soft sniffle.

Ruby: Jason?

The boy was holding back tears. . .

Ruby: J-Jason!

She tugged him off the chair and looked him in the eyes. . .

Ruby: Come on, tell me what's wrong, now!

Jason: I. . . I don't know.

Ruby: What. . .?

Jason: It just. . . It just hurts. . .

Ruby: What does? What hurts?

His tears began to fall as he hugged his friend as tightly as he could. . . The girl was confused, not knowing what to do, so she simply did what came to mind. . . Her arms wrapped around him and hugged him back just as tightly.

Ruby: It's okay, Jason. . . It's okay. You'll be okay. . . .

His sniffles turned to sobs, and his sobs turned to wails. . . .