The Games We Play

DISCLAIMER: This story is NOT MINE IN ANY WAY. That honor has gone to the beautiful bastard Ryugii. This has been pulled from his Spacebattle publishment. Anyway on with the show...errr read.

Objective

I sat idly by the side of the room, doing my best to be unobtrusive. On the stage, a man was giving a speech about the airship, but I probably knew more about the thing then he did, so I only listened with half an ear.

"—We at the Schnee Dust Company are proud to present the next level of aerial transportation—the White Whale!" He said and it was the ship that dramatically broke through the clouds that drew my attention. And though I'd seen pictures of its constructions, diagrams…it was still a sight to behold. It was sleek, lacking any of the blocky, semi-rectangular look of most airships, and done mostly in white but for the Schnee symbol on its belly. There was a massive viewing window at the front which I assumed was for VIP seating, letting them see the sky and stars. Along either upper side were three long rows of circular windows that looked tiny compared to the tremendous size of the rest of the construct, like dots poked on the sides with a needle. The lower half of the ship was blank and smooth, a massive compartment for anything and everything else it would be transporting. On the back end, beneath the stabilizers, was an enormous energy converter facing the jet at the curve of its belly.

With the retractable stand pulled in, it looked, more than anything, like a giant flying whale. It made people look like ants next to it due to its size and I could believe that one day, decades in the future, machines like this might enable regular contact between the Kingdoms. That someday you might be able to just buy a ticket, get on, and be in Atlas a few days later. Even a single ship like this could transport over a thousand and a half people and enormous amounts of materials. Given a few decades to refine the design…granted, this one had taken a long time to build, but…

I wondered if I'd be alive to see the world machines like these could one day make.

I wondered if what I was doing now was standing in the way of that future. What would happen to this project because of my actions today? Would my actions here put a halt to the project?

Almost certainly not. If anything, once they saw what I could do—maybe even in response to it—they would probably invest in it even further.

"A miracle of innovation, made possible only by through the tireless work of Remnant's greatest minds, the White Whale is a symbol of unity and cooperation between the Kingdoms—and the first in a long of new ties between the peoples of our world. A sign that though we live far from each other, we stand together!"

Which didn't mean I wasn't going to piss of a lot of people by doing this.

Making one last run through the sky above the courtyard, the White Whale withdrew slightly to hover slowly to the ground, a hatch opening to release the massive robotic leg it used for a stand. Landing vertically on the massive space that had been emptied for it, I saw an enormous set of hydraulic stairs approach the vehicle, along with trucks that had their backs also set on lifts. Despite that, they'd need to use the system built into its stand to assist in loading and unloading it was so massive.

I looked around the room for a moment, scanning faces and the information above their heads. I had to suppress a sigh at the sight but began to draw away regardless. If things went well, it'd never come to a real fight. And if it did…

Well, let's hope it didn't come to that. If it did, we'd just have to improvise.

"But before we proceed, a few words from our guests of honor," The presenter's voice made me pause and give a quiet sigh, not really surprised. We'd discussed it in the planning after the possibility of their presence had come up. There hadn't been anything official, of course, because they couldn't very well advertise their presence at a given location in advanced, now could they? Not when there was the very real possibility of an assassination attempt or something to that effect being prepared if given time.

But we'd considered it and had eventually agreed that there was a pretty good chance of them making an appearance—after all, despite the risks, both of them had a great deal of investment in this project and even more to benefit from it if all went well. And even with the potential dangers…

Well, even if I had a history list President Schnee's, I'd feel pretty safe standing between Professor Ozpin and General Ironwood. He stood between them, his usual guards absent, as if daring someone to try something—which, in fairness, no one in their right mind would. Even Adam hadn't suggested picking that fight.

Still…it was unfortunate. I didn't know if the CEO himself would participate in the test flight—given the potential risks, I assumed not—but this was going to make things harder. I still doubted anyone was prepared for what I was going to do, but I was sure there were measures in place to keep the company president safe. Given what he had to go through, I'm sure paranoia got to be a way of life.

For better or worse, I empathized, which was why I wasn't caught off-guard by this situation—and had measures in place.

"Thank you, Kai," Schnee said as he took his place on stage with the general by his side, leaving Ozpin on the ground. I opened my scroll and snapped a picture of them before sending a message to Adam and Blake with it attached. Schnee gave a cool, easy smile as he brushed white hair back, looking calm. "But truly, without James and the brilliant minds of Remnant, none of this would have been possible. In the end, what am I but—"

And then I walked away, not waiting to listen to the rest. I saw several other people with scrolls open as well as several news reporters; if I wanted, I could probably catch the rest online later. In fact, I'd probably be able to catch my theft online later, too. People would probably be talking about me for weeks, especially on the forums and stuff.

I wondered what they would say. I guess I'd find out.

I slipped inside and headed towards the changing rooms, drawing a bag out of my Inventory and switching my hat for a company version. There was two others inside, older men who paused in putting on their Uniforms to look at me oddly. I just nodded back confidently, though.

"Cornelius, Lionel," I nodded, dropping the bag on a bench and unzipping it to withdraw my own uniform, a spare stolen several days. I paid no attention to the men as I stripped off my shirt and pants and got dressed. I saw them go back to changing as well and stretched slightly.

The thing about companies—groups, really—is that they tend to be big. A lot of the time in movies or show, a guard will see a character, disguised or not, and instantly know he doesn't belong. But I'd be shocked if there was anyone in any company who could remember everyone employed by it off the top of their heads. At school, I have several different classes of twenty to forty students and I bet most of them wouldn't know the names of more than five or ten others if you put them on the spot, tops.

And why would they? Most of them never talk to each other, don't hang out, and have little reason to interact. Nobody remembers everyone in their group because they have no real reason to do so and I couldn't imagine companies being any different. And for a project like this where the Schnee had to draw upon over a hundred people for the loading and preparations alone, memorizing everyone you work with is just unfeasible.

So if someone comes into the changing room confidently, looking completely unworried, and takes out your uniform, who are you to say he doesn't belong there? Especially when he's wearing a Schnee Company hat and uses your name.

That last part's especially important. Names are powerful things. I'm not talking about anything to do with Aura or whatever; I'm just talking about basic social interaction. Have you ever had someone come up to you and use your name when you had no idea who they were? Whether they were classmates or whatever else, that's awkward. It means they know you, that they remembered your name, but you didn't bother doing the same. It's weird to find yourself in that position and it's like, hey, you could ask, but that's the same as admitting you forgot them completely.

Most people don't want to do that. They'll just avoid the subject entirely or else subtly try to steer you into mentioning it yourself. Cornelius and Lionel, named such by the signs above their heads, didn't break that trend.

"You gonna watch the trip after?" I said, finishing my stretch.

"Yeah," Lionel said after a beat. "Me and the Mrs. You?"

"Thinking about it," I replied. "Probably gonna turn in early and catch the end, you know? Maybe watch the highlights later."

"You think it will make it okay?" Cornelius said. "Lot of Grimm in that part of Vytal. Especially in the mountains and the desert…"

"Probably won't even go near them," I said honestly and then clarified. "You figure it's basically a straight line to Mistral if you go over the sea, right? I figured that's what they'd probably do; stay high enough to avoid the squids and fishes, fly fast enough to avoid the birds."

"Could be," He mused. "Yeah, probably. I might try to catch the end too, then. Probably be pretty boring over the water, huh?"

"Hey, let's hope for boring, right?" I smiled. "It's gonna be a passenger ship someday. And if I was in that thing, well, I wouldn't mind a boring trip, you know?"

Lionel snort.

"Have a good one, guys," I finished, picking up my bag and heading out first. No one gave me a second glance as I headed out towards the trucks around the White Whale and I alternatively nodded or waved as I passed my fellows by. I went straight towards the truck who's back was slowly rising, peered up at it, and then tapped one of the metal parts with a finger.

"Summon Elemental," I said and saw a flash of Crocea Mors in my reflection before he was gone, rising up quickly. There wasn't much he could do in the forest except enhance my gauntlets, but here in the city…

I saw the raised truck connect with the lift system the White Whale used, creating a bridge for the Yellow Death, and then jerk slightly. I walked over to the truck's open window.

"Hey, Carlo, I think something's wrong," I said to the man frowning at his control. "I'm gonna head up and check, okay?"

Carlo grunted, tapping a few buttons.

I walked into the ship I was planning to steal through the front entrance and nobody so much as twitched.

Once I fixed the 'problem,' the unloading continued. Kind, generous person I was, I offered to chip in and help in the process and ended up rolling a carefully arranged cart of boxes down to one of the more distant storage compartments. After that was finished, though, I took a wrong turn down one of the ship many corridors and got lost.

A shame, that.

I walked through the White Whale's labyrinth of passageways, confidently pushing my cart of now empty boxes along as if I already knew where everything was—which I did. Crocea Mors moved silently beside me, an occasional shift in my reflection and nothing more, spreading and vanishing through the White Whale with silent ease. He'd changed in the last few weeks, his reflection body shifting to add more of me to it, or more of the person I was getting used to pretending to be. Levant walked by my side with a hand on my wrist while she looked around with curiosity in her eyes. I hadn't manifested her yet, so she was invisible to all but me, but she was bigger now, too, having grown to the size of a child with the creation of our contract.

The past two weeks had given me plenty of time to train Summon Elemental and the spell had grown mighty in that time as had the spirits. Even manifesting both and keeping them that way constantly wasn't a problem for me anymore; a big change from when I'd first learn the skill. Between the two of them, I could keep track of everything going on within the ship, keeping an eye on the locations of everyone within a decent range through the metal of the ship and the very air they breathed. It was a vague feeling, taken secondhand, but it was still pretty cool.

There were a number of people on board still, mostly loading crews moving on and off periodically and putting everything in place, but I avoided all of them easily and made my way towards the front. Once I was close enough to the cockpit I stopped, leaned against a wall, fired off another message with my scroll, and tapped an ear lightly. Tugging on my wrist again, Levant floated easily into the air, coming up to rest on my shoulder. Placing one hand on my head and cupping her mouth with the other, she leaned down as if to whisper in my ear.

"Any changes?" I heard a man ask.

"Uh…nope, skies seem to be staying clear." Another voice replied, sounding a bit different, further away. I guessed that the first voice was the pilot and the second a man on the radio—probably the person in the control station. "A storm heading this way, but you'll probably be gone before it gets here. Sea looks fine and…yeah, Mistral's forecasting good weather for the next we days. I was worried when I heard about the Nevermore thing, but apparently they shipped out some big name Hunters to clear out the area."

"And that was your last chance of getting rid of me before I became famous," The pilot said and I could hear the grin in his voice.

"It's sad on many levels, but I guess if I've put up with you this long…" The other mused.

"And if I got myself killed, you'd have to explain it to Ulku, right?"

"Let's add that to the list of reasons why you should do what I say, Kuffert," The second man said. "Can't have you going down in flames again, can we?"

Kuffert chuckled.

"It'll be fine," He said. "The weather's good, my flight path's clear, and I'll have escorts as soon as I reach land—not to mention the fact that I could probably fly into Grimm in this thing and not notice. My only real concern is that huge-ass window for the ones flying first class; I keep worrying that I'm gonna splatter Grimm all over it and get complaints as soon as I land."

I heard snorting laughter and then a ping.

"Oh, there we go," The unnamed man said. "Let's see…good, good, as expected, green, good, good, and…we're good. Need any help on your end?"

"Because I haven't done this fifty million times this week?" Kuffert asked. "Check, check, full, check, people running around in my beautiful ship wearing dirty shoes, check, I'm evidentially still in Vale, I got my coffee, I got my mask…yep, hasn't stopped working in the last five minutes. Does my bell still go ding?"

There was a small sound like, well, a bell.

"It dings. And—oh, shit!"

"What!?" The second voice asked immediately.

"Nothing, I'm just making sure you still work. Man, I still can't believe we're paying for a beaten up, outdated model like you." Kuffert sighed.

"Oh, ha-ha, very funny. Right back at you, you relic; I can't believe their letting an oh-four-seven fly the White Whale. Why don't you go back to your flying box?"

"Ouch," Kuffert said, snorting. "That hurts, really. Anyway, all clear on this end. All fueled up and everything; just need to wait for everyone to finish loading up and—oh, well, there you go. Wanna finish up?"

"Mm," The other hummed.

The button at the center of my scroll flashed once and I put my hands back on the cart, but didn't act yet. I heard clicks and the occasional beep through Levant, but the two men were mostly silent. I didn't have a visual, so I just waited patiently. After a minute, it flashed again and I pushed the cart over to rest beside the door and then knocked loudly.

"Hey, uh…" I paused for a moment as if trying to recall his name. "Mr., er, Captain Kuffert! You in here? Sir?"

"One sec!" I heard footfalls before the door opened to reveal a tan, brown-haired man. "Something wrong?"

"Nah, my boss just wanted me to tell you that we're finishing up," I nodded at the cart as if to demonstrate. "Just gonna take the garbage out and organize some stuff and we're done."

"Yeah, I got the message," He said and I frowned.

"Then why'd he…?" I sighed. "Oh, whatever. Do you have anything you need me to take out?"

"Um," He tilted his head and then looked behind him. "No, I don't think so. Thanks, though."

"What about your….co-pilot?" I asked, peering passed him. I saw a screen in the center of a mess of controls, with the face of a dark-skinned man—though I was more interested in the shadow behind him, myself. I saw the captain frowned, his back to the image, and glanced passed me.

"He's not here yet," Kuffert murmured, more to himself then me it seemed. "Well, he still has some time but if he's not here soon, I'll have to switch him…"

I nodded understandingly, smiling at the words as if I'd had nothing to do with it.

"Well, sorry to take your time, sir," I apologized. "Good luck on flight. I need to get a few more things to take outside."

"Thanks," He said, turning away and pausing as he saw the now empty screen. "What—"

I came up behind him and silently put him in a chokehold. He was still for a moment, probably caught off guard, and then started struggling.

But only briefly. That's the thing about a chokehold; if you did it right, you can put someone in a few seconds. I did it right and I'd taken the man by complete surprise—even ignoring our level difference, he didn't have a chance. I watched him quietly as he went down and then calmly picked him up and placed him in the box on my cart before covering it, but for the holes I'd put in it to let him breath.

"Sorry," I said, sighing as I looked down at him. Double-checking to make sure no one was near, I walked into the cockpit and sat in the pilot's seat, glancing at the screen that now showed Blake's focused face. I connected my scroll to the ship's computer and waited until Blake finished and gave me the nod.

Then I opened two pre-prepared files and set it down as a loading bar appeared.

"I handled the cameras on this end," Blake said. "And hid the technician. No one should notice until he doesn't show up in the main room for the show."

Call it ten, fifteen minutes, then.

"When you're done, break the computer the way I showed you," I replied. "And then leave a sticky note on the screen saying you had to move to the backup. Everyone loves sticky notes. Anyway, I'm downloading stuff over here. Pretty quickly, too. Uh…okay, let me just get these up and running in the background and…cool. I'll be right back."

I shut off the camera, left the room, and locked the door—it didn't really matter to me, since Crocea Mors could just open it for me, but it should keep any one from wandering in there if on the off chance they happened to come this way. I grabbed the cart and swung around to the pile I'd noticed the movers making before, loading mine up with a few more things from the now tiny pile. Sure enough, the airship was slowly emptying and I only saw one other person on my way out. I gave him a nod and took the trash and empty boxes out back, hiding Kuffert in the process. With only a few other things to carry out, I doubted anyone would spot him here one way or another, but I made an effort to conceal him well regardless. Then I swung into the building, poured a quick cup of coffee, and walked back towards the ship.

"What are you doing?" One of the other moving men asked as he spotted me.

"Practicing to be an errand boy, apparently," I said. "Ran into the pilot, he asked me to get him some more coffee, and…"

I shrugged and the man, Jered, sighed.

"Seriously?" He asked. "I swear, it's like they see us moving shit and something in their head goes 'Oh, hey, I'm sure they'd be happy to do whatever the hell I need right now while they're at it.'"

"Tell me about it," I said, shaking my head. "But, well, you know—he's gonna be a big name pilot when this is done."

"Probably shouldn't piss him off now," Jered agreed. "See you later, men."

I nodded and went back into the ship. Once I was inside the cockpit, I went about doing what I needed—mainly removing things entirely or replacing them with my own versions. None of the stuff involved in actually flying the thing, of course, but the security stuff? Yeah, I didn't need that.

And all the while I watched the clock. I knew Blake would be rushing this way and Adam had to be finishing up by now, but every second seemed like an eternity. Levant and Crocea Mors kept my silent company as I checked the ship, made sure everything was clear, and waited for things to finish. I'd checked before and the presentation had already gone inside; by the schedule, it'd be half an hour to an hour before passengers started getting on, but now that things were loaded, the rest of the flight crew would start funneling in soon enough, as well as people who'd probably want to get on early to get better seats for the maiden voyage. Realistically, I could probably keep it empty for another five or ten before I had to move.

That should be enough time for Adam and Blake to get here. They had their outfits if they needed them, had the plans and back up plans and everything. There was no real reason to be worried yet, especially with everything going so well, but…that was just it.

This was going too well.

Could this be the result of my improved luck? Of good planning? Of something else? Maybe. But I couldn't shake the feeling of anticipation, like something was coming, and—

Oh, that was real.

I paused as Crocea Mors and Levant turned as one, feeling their thoughts in my head. Someone had just entered the ship. I could feel them—her?—distantly through the alien senses my spirits shared with me. A steady clicking vibrated through the floor as she walked, a displacement of air that was her body. Someone small, female, but to blurry to sense more than that.

For a moment, I entertained the possibility of fortune smiling upon me and it being Blake.

I opened my scroll and asked.

The reply was almost instant.

'No.' It said and was followed a moment later by. 'There's a problem.'

Perfect.