Robyn never felt right about the city of Atlas; she never understood why, but from the moment she was young the Atlas never felt right. She shouldn't be feeling that way; she knows that. Atlas was what one could call a perfect city. It floats high in the sky, above the clouds, free from the majority of the grimm danger. While the flying ones are taken care of by the hard-light dust barrier covering the whole island city is located on. The towers generating the barrier could also be used to manipulate the weather of the city, allowing it to always have perfect weather without being disturbed by the clouds, since it floats above them, shielded from the harsh winds by the barrier.
Perfect city, the safest city, the most advanced city, the greatest city in human history. As a child who grew up being protected by the city, she should feel grateful. But there was always this voice, in the back of her mind, that spoke quietly yet persistently; it whispered to her. It seems only getting louder and louder since she spent last month working at Mantle.
'Is something really wrong with me?' Robyn stared at her food; it was the usual, she ate the same every day during her time at the academy. She never thought too much of it before; everyone at the academy eats basically the same thing. A steak, potato mash, vegetables, and some rice. It's a normal thing here, yet it would have been considered a luxurious meal in the Mantle. 'Come on, Robyn, eat it up, you've got a big day waiting for you.'
Just as she was needlessly poking her food, she felt someone touch her shoulder. She quickly looked to the side, finally remembering she wasn't alone. Elm sat beside her with a worried look and asked her with a little bit of concern. "Remnant to Robyn, are you feeling okay? Is something bugging you?"
Robyn puts on her usual smile, a cheerful and happy smile, like she always does. "Nah, I think I am just having a nervous stomach, you know, today is kinda big day for me. I really haven't been getting any big cases like this one since the assignment. Perhaps I do well today, and who knows, maybe I will be here with you guys by next week."
Elm raised her brows. "Oh, believe me, being here in Atlas is nothing to be excited about. There is rarely anything exciting that happens here. Mostly, you would be stuck with paperwork and some patrol duties, ask Winter, even she looked tired of doing paperwork. And she is Winter."
Winter, who was sitting opposite them, looked a little offended; it was actually looked pretty cute seeing reactions like this on her usually stoic face. "What does that supposed to mean? What does being tired of doing paperwork have to do with me being... me?"
Both Robyn and Elm simply smiled with a knowing look, which annoyed Winter even more. Both of them simply shrugged their shoulders while snickering. Winter is mouth open and closed a few times, but no words come out; in the end, she lets out a defeated sigh. Their little banter finally convinces Robyn's stomach to eat a little bit.
"So, how do you describe the guy?" Robyn finally asked Elm, who was happily emptying her plate full of food. 'I guess having that kind of body demands you eat more.'
Elm paused for a second before forcefully swallowing what she was chewing. Now, even Winter was looking in her direction intensely. "I guess, you could say he is ominous? That's just the vibe I get from him. He seems easy to talk to, maybe a little narcissistic, but not too much. You guess he could also be described as charming, but I guess all those traits were given when he was operating an entertainment company." She seemed unsure, as if failing to find the right word to describe him. After a while, she simply sighed. "He is dangerous, just understand that, okay? He is good with his words, dangerously so."
"Sounds like every generic villain to me," Robyn muttered before taking another bite from the steak. Then she felt a vibration in her pocket, as she put her hand into her pocket to pull out her scroll other two did the same. She almost guessed who had sent her message. She pressed on the diamond-shaped button on her scroll. Soon, the white stick expanded, creating a transparent blue panel that worked as the screen.
As she suspected, the message was sent by General Ironwood, the message contained essentials about their mission. Keeping Simon Jenkins safe, keep an eye on him, secure the "evidence" he has, etc, basically bodyguard duty.
Elm was the first to get up among them; her casual smile had disappeared now, and with a serious face, she looked at Robyn and Winter. "Okay, girls, it's time to move. Jenkins should be waiting for us at the gate with our ride to Mantle."
'I really should have eaten more.' Robyn complained in her mind before she and Winter left the table, too, chasing after Elm, who had already started moving.
***
Ironwood likes to think of himself patient person, well, as patient as his semblance allowed him to be. But truly, do the gods really need to test his patience like this? He looked at Simon, who looked like a completely different person after changing his clothes. And it felt like his personality did too... no, it didn't, he was simply acting like this to annoy him.
"Hey, general, why do we call it Bullhead? I mean, it doesn't look like a bullhead. So why do we call it that?" Simon asked while pointing at his ride to the city of Mantle. It was a VTOL tiltjet aircraft, a small aircraft meant to carry troops, perhaps a squad of a dozen or so people at most. Small squarish bulky body, two big engines located top of it, has a tail, and four small legs as landing gear, it was a standard Atlas Bullhead model used by the military.
"Silence, Jenkins, we aren't here to play," Ironwood said sternly. Simon looked at him with a bored look before returning to silence. He rubbed his temple with his fingers. May Oum give him patience because he was running out of it. But Simon wasn't the only thing that irritated him today; no matter how he acted, Ironwood could manage to deal with him, but what was really gnawing on his mood was his call with Ozpin.
Ozpin didn't say it outright, but he could feel that the immortal wizard didn't see Simon the way he saw him. It looked like he didn't take the possibility of him being involved with the Grimm Queen seriously. He didn't discard the possibility, but he is still skeptical about it. He said that Simon might be bluffing or have no real connection with her.
Ironwood really can't blame the man; indeed, what Ironwood had was only a hunch, no clear evidence. But he was sure that something was up with Simon; he could feel it. Perhaps if Ozpin met him in person, he would have understood what he meant.
Soon, the people they were waiting for arrived: Elm, Winter, and Robyn, all dressed in the white Atlas military uniform, carrying their weapons, looked striking, Simon must say. They saluted towards General Ironwood. Ironwood nodded his head, letting them lower their hands. "I take it that you all know the mission objective."
"Yes, sir." Three of them replied in unison.
"You will land in one of the military bases in Mantle, and there will be a vehicle waiting for you once you land." He turns to Simon. "And Jenkins will guide you to your destination." His glare sharpened, and he spoke in a warning tone. "Officer Elm will report their status every ten minutes they spend in the city. If anything happens to them, we already have their GPS location through their Scroll. So the reinforcement will arrive immediately at their current or last active location."
Simon rolled his head before turning towards his bodyguards for today. In his eyes, Ironwood could have been a little more direct, for example, saying all that he could have just told him. 'Don't you dare fuck around, we will always keep an eye on you.'
"Yes, sir." Once again, the trio said in unison like a machine. With one last nod, Ironwood gestures for them to get in the Bullhead. He was almost shoved into there by the soldiers who were looking after him.
"Assholes." He muttered, but secretly his lips couldn't help but curve upward. Following after him, Elm, Winter, and Robyn enter Bullhead, each carrying a serious expression.
Once they got in, the Bullhead door closed, and they could hear the engine turning on. The muffled sound of the engines roaring was accompanied by the sound of the blades of the fan cutting through the air could be heard from outside. The feeling of the gravity pushing him down gently, yet him ascending into the air, the feeling of vibration as the aircraft takes off, he has long forgotten those feelings.
He closed his eyes, focusing on the sensation. He savored it, nothing like your first flight, there is, well, in there is nothing like the first time you try something. Having forgotten all this sensation, it feels great to regain it once again.
"So... Jenkins was it?" Simon opens his eyes, looking at Robyn, who looks a little awkward. She looked like your typical sweet girl, all smile and sunshine, the beacon of positivity, but Simon could see that was not everything of this girl. She styled her light-blonde hair in a ponytail, violet eyes, and tanned skin; a confident smirk with youthful vigor, she was a charmer, alright. "Sorry, I didn't introduce myself, Robyn Hill, your Mantle's guide of the day."
She extended her hand in goodwill. Who is Simon to refuse the beautiful lady's hand? He shook her hand with a gentle smile. "Simon Jenkins, you may call me Simon, no need to be so formal. I am afraid I passed my days of being respected like that, Miss Hill."
"Hey, you never allowed me to call you by your first name." Elm elbows him with a playful look, and Simon simply chuckled.
"Well, I need to show respect where it's due, Miss Ederne. We were doing an interrogation at that time; besides, I don't think General Ironwood would have taken it kindly if I let you call me by my first name." Elm didn't look convinced; even so, she kept her casual smile, ruffling his hair even more.
"Thought you were one of those clean freaks." She pulled her hand back, observing his tael-colored hair now styled in messy falls over his forehead and ears. "I think it surprisingly suits you, actually."
"I guess I just wanted to try something new. Besides, it goes well with my outfit." He straightens his shirt collar, Elm gives him an evaluating look before thumbs up.
Robyn poked Elm to get her attention, who looked at her confusedly. She glanced at Simon before looking back at her and asked curiously. "Elm, is he really the same person as you described? I thought you said he was dangerous." She looked at Simon once again, who was looking around the Bullhead interior like a curious child. "Doesn't seem like that. Besides, aren't you a little too close to him?"
Elm shook her head and glanced at Simon. "Isn't that more reason you should believe he is dangerous? The fact that you are lowering your guard even though you were warned tells a lot, doesn't it?"
Robyn blinked a few times before suddenly backing away with a realized look. Indeed, now that Elm mentioned, Simon seemed like he blended between them rather easily, almost too easily. His looks, actions, and way he talks almost seem integrated between them easily; she almost forgot the fact that his real identity is a high-risk prisoner.
Just as Robyn was getting wary of Simon, he suddenly looked in his direction with an awkward look and asked. "Uhh, Miss Hill, did I do anything to her that I am unaware of?" Then he points at Winter, who remained quiet all this time, simply sitting there, glaring at him. Winter looked in her direction, and Robyn simply looked away with an awkward look.
"That's just Winter being... Winter. She will warm up to you someday... probably. She did that with me." Robyn is hesitant; words only made things awkward. Simon glanced at Winter, who was looking at him like he had kicked her puppy or something. She had white hair tied back in a bun, icy blue eyes, and fair skin; her face was small and sharp, reminding him of a cat.
"Yeah, whoever named her is definitely spot on, she would definitely be what I would have imagined if the season winter has been personified." He muttered, which earned him a strange look from Robyn.
"You don't recognize her?" Elm asked cautiously. "White hair, blue eyes, nothing comes to your mind? Perhaps a certain family does mining operations?"
'Mining? Now she mentioned I do remember there is a certain white haired, blue-eyed character among the main characters. I think her name was Weiss Schnee... Schnee... ohh.' Soon, with the help of the memory of RWBY from his world, his mind pieces things together. "Right... Schnee. Like Weisss Schnee... and like Jasque Schnee." He looked at Winter and bowed a little bit in apology. "Sorry, Miss Schnee, I didn't recognize you."
Winter raises her brow, for some reason that made her look even angrier. Robyn looked at Simon, then Winter, then Elm before rubbing her head in a headache. "Sorry... but I thought you were supposed to be an info dealer? Like a really good one. How the hell do you not know about Winter?! THE Winter Schnee! You know, the snow angel of Atlas Academy, the heiress who gave up luxury. She is like... the most famous student in the Atlas."
She then looked at Elm with a dead serious look. "Elm, sorry but... I don't think I can take him seriously as a criminal from this moment on." Elm didn't repute she was looking at Simon as dumbfounded as Robyn was.
"It's okay... I understand why Mr. Jenkins didn't recognize me." Winter said while gritting her teeth. Robyn and Elm looked at her with a 'Really?' look. "It seems like I lost my right to inherit the company because career change; he completely lost his interest in me. Even though he does know about my ten-year-old little sister. I guess my father worked really hard to make sure even criminals won't pay attention to me... truly, I am the biggest disappointment of his lifetime, no?" With each word, her glare sharpened while the sound of her teeth grinding became louder.
Awkward silence fell between them; both Elm and Robyn seemed to have lost their mood after Winter's outburst, while Simon could only be awkwardly targeted by Winter's cold glare. Like that, they silently flew to the city of Mantle.