The one thing that unites all of man is mortality
Eventually, everything and everyone will die. Whether they be human or Faunus, death comes eventually for everything.
For something that happens to everyone, it was truly remarkable how little we know about death. We only know the heart stops, just like that, with almost no warning
You may begin to feel weaker, or your aura might begin to drain, but that is your only warning that your life has begun to end.
But no one knows why we die, it's an odd thought really. Most people just except the fact that we die, now wondering how or why. Why don't or auras save us? Why does our heart just stop?
Why don't we live forever?
Most informed individuals attributed it to the "great humbling", a idea that few acknowledge and even fewer believe
The "great humbling" is the idea that we were once able to live forever, but through our hubris we believed ourselves Gods, and it was our undoing.
The Gods humbled us by making us vulnerable to the embrace of death, then left our mortal plain, never to return.
But In the end, that's just a theory based on a combination of scientific and religious theory's. It was man attempting to make sense of something that they couldn't understand
Death is a fact of life, it cannot be explained, it just is.
Any man who attempts to run away from that fact is a fool
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Ironwood was no fool, being a general along with one of the few S+ huntsman in existence showed that. He was a brilliant strategist, powerful warrior, and had a cunning mind.
His semblance, strongest of wills, also contributes heavily to his strength as a leader. The ability to completely hyper focus on something or someone makes it impossible to distract him during a fight, unless one had access to the right semblance.
But, when it came to the subject of the head of the Grimm, any of ironwoods strengths disappeared.
The very idea of the leader terrified the general, how wouldn't it? The Grimm, who were thought to be mindless, were actually controlled by a incredibly intelligent person who could move Grimm around with a thought.
It was troubling, to say the least
Which is why anytime someone brought the subject up, all reason went out the window for the general.
Which is also why it was even more troubling that a child, barely even a toddler, had somehow found out that the Grimm had a leader, and that ironwood had known about it.
Ironwood was currently sitting at his desk, pondering over his last interaction with Jaune arc, with a very concerned Winter beside him
"General" winter began hesitantly "You can't possibly believe what the boy said, can you?" Winter shifted uneasily on her feet, trying to ignore the generals outburst towards the boy
Ironwoods glanced over to winter before his eyes returned to his screen, as he began to type on his computer "Winter, you are one of the people I trust the most in this organization." Ironwood said, ignoring the shocked look from winter
"General, I-I, I don't know what to say." Winter said
"Which is why you should learn the truth, the full truth." Ironwood continued "the thing we've met from the public for years, for their own protection."
"General, what are you saying?" Asked winter
"Your questions will be answered in a moment winter, please be patient."
"Yes general, I trust your judgement."
The lights in the room darkened as a large holographic screen appeared in front of ironwoods desk. Some large text appeared in the center
Truth- justice-freedom
For all time, always
The text faded away as 6 cameras lit up on the screen, each with a face and text underneath
The first was the Headmaster of beacon academy, Ozpin, who was sitting at his desk with his cane resting behind him and a cup of coffee in hand.
The text underneath him read PRIME
Second was the headmaster of Shade academy, headmaster Theodore stood behind his desk. His hair was a dark black with some white stripes, showing his age and experience. He wore a blue and black sleeveless over shirt with golden trimes, and a some black combat pants.
His word was SEEKER
Third was the deputy headmistress of Beacon academy, glynda Goodwitch. She was standing in what looked to be her own office, and wore her usual attire.
Her word was ENFORCER
Next was the disheveled and slightly drunken face of Qrow brawen, who seemed to be sitting in a tree. His hair was very disheveled and his red eyes were slightly unfocused.
His word was SPYMASTER
The next person caused winter to narrow her eyes and send a questioning glance at ironwood
It was a bull faunes with a white mask and red as blood hair, he had a annoyed expression on his face And was sitting on a train. This was Adam Taurus
His word was GLADIATOR
The final one was someone quite shocking to winter, she even gasped slightly at the sight of him. Sitting in a warehouse with a white bowler hat adorning his head of red hair was Roman torchwick, a smirk on his face.
His word was DECEIVER
Then there was ironwoods screen, which of course showed both Winter and ironwood himself standing by his desk.
Ironwoods word was PROTECTOR
A final message showed itself over all the cameras
The society of the crossed keys
"Protectors of remnant." Ironwood said, his voice booming slightly, a sign of his semblance activating "We have a problem."
———————————
Still in the interrogation room, Jaune arc sat in his chair, his eyes transfixed on the device on the ceiling.
After the generals outburst and departure Jaune had been left to his own devices for some time. He wasn't sure how long, there was no way to tell in his cell, but it had to be at least an hour.
Jaune had successfully documented the entire room, and taken apart nearly everything in it that had some value.
The bug under his chair had been the first thing he had examined. On the outside it seemed like just a small circular black device with seemingly no way to open it.
Jaune knew better
He applied a bit of pressure on the outer edge of the device, and was satisfied to hear a slight pop emit form it.
Inside the device were some wires that were of no use to Jaune, no he was looking for something very specific.
His eyes were greeted by a small piece of lightning dust, which he could tell was the power source of the device.
Removing it would normally result in shocking the person and setting off some sort of alarm.
But jaune knew how to get around these setbacks
He similarly dismantled the bug under the table and took out the equally as useless wires. He then placed the two bugs together, and watched in slight satisfaction as they canceled each other out
He loved when a plan came together
Now he had two small pieces of lightning dust at his disposal, they would each play a role in his escape to come. It
But before any planning could be done, his attention was brought back to the device on the ceiling and it's illogical purpose.
Why was it here? It wasn't a bug or camera, there were plenty of those around the room. Perhaps it was a heating device? No, that was illogical aswell, but what else could it be?
Jaunes questions were partially answered when the device began to drone and whine as it's orange lights shined brighter and brighter
Then as quickly as it had started, the beeping ended, leaving the room eerily silent once again.
Then the device opened, revealing a small platform that began to lower itself down to the table in between the door and jaune.
On the platform lay a pair of glasses, like the ones worn by his captors, and a small piece of paper with a message.
The queen sends her regards
Jaune disregarded the message, it was unimportant currently, and dawned the glasses.
He heard a metallic click from the door, and now the purpose of the objects given to him were clear
These were the glasses that would allow Jaune to see through the abyss that was his prison, and escape. But how had these come to him?
It seemed he had an admirer on the outside, someone who had a way to see in.
Jaune turned his head towards the security camera, only to see it tinted slight orange, similar to the device from the ceiling. Jaune stared at the camera for a few moments before moving to the door
His Imprisonment was illogical
It was time he rectified that
——————————
Few things could shake the society of the crossed keys, after all they were some of the most powerful individuals on the planet. They had the most experience, the best semblances, and the most knowledge of the world they lived in.
Yet here they were, faces in shock and eyes wide, all except their unmoving leader. Ozpin made no outward reaction to the news of the Arc boy, and the things he had said to Ironwood, but inwardly he was very very confused
But he could not show weakness, not in a pivotal moment such as this.
"Your sure the boy had no interactions with Salem or any of her pawns?" Ozpin questioned, still trying to wrap his head around the news
"Positive, Alexander would never allow his little children out of his view long enough for them to interact with someone like that." Ironwood said "Even if he did, Dormitory is one of the safest towns on this continent, maybe even remnant."
"The kid got far enough away to kill four people." Qrow countered "He could have interacted with plenty of people in that timeframe."
"In the middle of a forest in Amstel?" Goodwitch questioned "Why would an agent of Salem be there?"
"We have no idea of their plans." Theodore added, joining in on the conversation "They could be anywhere for any reason."
" perhaps we cannot see from our viewpoint, perhaps we need another point of view." Ozpin said, his tone betraying none of his emotions "Roman, anything from the underworld?"
Roman let a puff out of his cigar and spoke "No news on the vale end of things, panic levels have increased a ton, that's about it."
"An Understandable reaction to a Quadruple homicide, especially from such a respected family." Qrow added
"Why not do away with the problem entirely?" Theodore questioned "The boy has caused more problems then his is worth."
Goodwitch scoffed "To kill someone so young for an actions that we don't understand? That's hardly productive." She paused for a moment "And it would make us no better than those we are fighting, we should not execute a child."
Theodore did not respond, instead opting to raise an eyebrow but say nothing
"Adam? Anything to add from your front?" Ozpin asked
"On the boy? None, news hasn't even reached mengarine yet. Not even High leader Belladonna knows, the only reason I do is through all of you."
"I think we should address the white elephant in the room." Qrow said, bringing the conversation off track "what is she doing here?"
Ironwood turned his head slightly to see Winter intensely staring at the screen, a look of confusion on her face.
"She was there when the boy spoke of Salem, she deserves to know." Ironwood said "I propose a new addition to the Society of the crossed keys, winter schnne."
All members looked quite shocked, each with their own reaction to the news.
A growl escaped adams lips "A schnne? Your must have lost your mind James."
"I have not, this is a serious proposal." Ironwood answered as he glared at Adam
"I'm with Taruas here, not sure Winter would be the greatest choice." Qrow joined in, a light glare on his face
"Are you saying we should turn her away? With all she knows?" Ironwood defended, a fierce look on his face
"This is not how we do things here, and you know it James." Goodwitch said, her arms crossed "You should have informed us ahead of time."
"The times we are in are hardly normal." Ironwood countered "besides, are you saying we turn her away, with all her knows?"
"What role would she even fill?" Qrow added "We already have enforcer and gladiator."
"Scout." Ironwood said "We don't have one, and winter is perfect for it. With her connections as not only a member of the schnne family but as a specialist, she would be able to move anywhere on the continent as we needed her to."
Ozpin sipped his cup of coffee and smiled a bit "I don't see why we should turn down potential help, Oum above knows we need it."
"All in favor?"
5 hands rose, Ozpin Goodwitch, Roman, Theodore, and ironwood
That left Adam and Qrow with their hands still down, each with their own reason.
"Welcome winter, to the Society of the crossed keys." Ironwood said, giving her a small smile
"If we're in the mood of purposing people, I have one myself." Qrow said, a small frown on his face "Tai Xiao long and Maria, aka the Grimm reaper."
"Interesting choices, any particular reaso-"
"
before Ozpin could continue the question an alarm gathered all their attention. It took a second for everyone to realize it was coming from Ironwood
"Prisoner has escaped, I repeat, prisoner has escaped!" The intercom blared as ironwood and winter shared a quick look before getting up
"I have to go, continue this conversation without me."
Ironwood and winter rushed out the door, leaving the screen on and the people on it very confused
"I really hope that prisoner wasn't the arc kid." Qrow said
"With our luck Qrow" Theodore said, his arms crossed "it probably is."
—————————
Jaune stalked silently throughout the abbyys of white space, a pair of glasses on his head and two pieces of lightning dust in his hands. With the abyys cleared the prison seemed very plain, especially compared to the blinding light that was the prison before.
The hallways were made of concrete and metal, and the hallways were filled with cells and what Jaune guessed to be either barracks or offices.
Jaune continue his way down the hallways, ignoring the blaring sirens that now blared throughout the facility and announced his escape, he would be gone soon anyways
To escape properly he would need more than his measly two pieces of lightning dust and glasses, he would need at least a scroll. He had become at least above novice at using technology for uses beyond their intended purposes. It was all thanks to his semblance, at least that is what his hypothesis was
Pursuit of knowledge is what he had named it, an accurate name for what it allowed him to do. His semblance completely cut him off from his emotions, allowing him to act purely on logic and not those pesky emotions that ruled everyone's life. It also allowed him to absorb nearly everything he learned life a sponge, it made learning even the most complex things possible with time and effort.
Jaunes walk came to an end as he reached his desired location, somewhere he would be able to gather the necessary resources to manufacture his escape. The sign on the door read technology center, and Jaune stepped into the facility
Inside was what jaune could guess was a lab, with several devices laying around as if they had just been left. It was logical to believe it was all abandoned in a hurry, seeing as the alarm was still blaring in here it was logical to assume the scientists ran and hid.
He took one of the spare scrolls left, pulling the cords out that connected it to a larger computer, and began to scroll through the device. Jaunes search for useful information proved fruitless, but he still pocketed the device nevertheless
Next he sat down on the desk and got on the computer, typing away at the keyboard. He attempts to access the files stored on the computer, only to reach a roadbump, it was password protected.
No matter, he would simply have to go around it using one of his admittedly weaker strengths. Hacking was something he hadn't had a lot of time to practice, he only had sixth months and hadn't wanted to draw the attention of his parents after-all. But he still knew enough to get around rudimentary things such as firewalls and password protected things.
The very things atlas uses to protect most of their assets.
Jaunes took his scroll back out and plugged it into the computer, as it downloaded all the files stored on it. Everything atlas had been working on at White space and beyond would be his. or at least he would know what they were working on and all their future projects.
Jaune scrolled through the projects as they downloaded, and most of them didn't peak his interests too much. They would be beneficial down the line, when he had the proper tools to enact them, but for now none seemed too appealing.
Satellites
Artificial aura
The paladin
Spider mech
Then something caught his eye, something unlike the rest, something that caught Jaunes attention
The crash
He clicked on it, and was slightly surprised at the lack of information. All that sat in front of him was a single entry,
We don't know what it is, or how it got there, or even when it got there. We only know it's there. It's a giant black thing that looks to be a ship, with several strange symbols on it. We can't get closer than several clicks due to the Grimm. They hug this thing like it's their master, it's frightening. More research needed, coordinates attached below
Dr Maxis
Jaunes mind was made, that was where he was going. Grimm were of no problem to him now, so he would be able to slip past them easily, it would only be a matter of getting there. But for now, he needed to focus on his escape.
Time to put his hacking to the test
———————————
Winter and General ironwood moved quickly through the white area of white space, with a squad of atlas drones, 12 strong, marching behind them.
They moved to Arcs holding cell, only to predictably find it vacant, and they moved on
"I want a squad of drones at the elevator, and tell the man there to turn off the Abbyss generator. We need a clear line of sight." Ironwood ordered to winter as she typed on her scroll
"At once general." Winter said before turning around and moving to the elevator, a second squad of drones on her tail.
"Where are you arc..." ironwood said, his mind going into overdrive. The boy couldn't leave without using the elevator, it was the only way in and out of white space, yet the elevator operator was still alive and hadn't seen the boy.
Ironwoods ponderings were cut short when a different voice came across the loud speaker, one much different than the alarm voice. It was the boys
"You sought to imprison me in this place, you sought to hinder my progress in my experiments. You have failed." Jaunes monotone voice spoke over the speakers
Ironwork quickly turned to the nearest atlas drone "Track him! He can't be far."
The drone did not oblige, instead it's normally white lights began to glow a dull purple, much to the surprise of ironwood
"You cannot hold me in this glorified box, my escape is inevitable, give up." Jaune said over the speakers, before they cut out
The drones raised their rifles at the general, who pulled out his revolver and aimed it at them in turn
The drones opened fire on their leader, who fired a shot and rolled into an adjacent room. He peaked out to shoot another drone down before they continued their firing, forcing the general to duck into the room again.
Down the hallway winter was dodging and weaving through the rain of bullet that her drones were firing at her. She summoned a few borbusks from her semblance that sent some drones flying, but the durable metal allowed them to get right back up.
Winter focused her aura on the front of her body and prepared a glyph from Behind her, preparing to launch herself into the group of drones.
Before she could, winter felt something stab into her back before agony engulfed her. She felt as if her insides were being fried, as she dropped to the ground and began to twitch and yell in pain.
Jaune walked out from behind her, regarding her with a flat expression.
"Lighting dust is quite painful when injected directly into one's body, of course your aura should shield you from it, if you hadn't directed it elsewhere."
Jaune moved past her and the drones, who kept their rifles trained on winter. He stepped onto the elevator, and the terrified man who ran it
"To the surface, now." Jaune ordered, and the man obliged out of fear
"NO!" Ironwood yelled as he ran down the hallway, firing his magnum into the horde of drones, but he could not stop the elevator in time. It rose up, and out of white space
Jaune arc was free
—————————
Ironwood regarded the destroyed squads of drones with a annoyed look. The boy had turned their army against them, who knows what else he could do?
One of the broken screens of the drones lit up, and ironwood looked at it curiously
You will not find me, Pursuit is illogical
Ironwood crushed the screen
——————————————
That's all for logic dictates life chapter 3, a few things before I leave you:
1- the society of the crossed Keys's titles are all named after different classes of Cybertronians on Cybertron. A quick example of this is Megatron being a gladiator or starscream being a seeker.
2- the ages of the members of the society had to be switched around a bit, so all the characters are much younger then in the first volume of the show. This is taking place before the show afterall.
3- Winter is not dead, just injured and left there. Jaune has no use for her dead.
That's all I have for you. Again I'm going to try to keep interaction limited to a few replies on comments and these notes. It helps keep the immersion I suppose.
Epsilon logging off
"Preparation only takes you so far. After that you have to a few leaps of faith."
Michael Scolfield