"What is she doing here?" Blake asked strictly.
Weiss gave her a slightly mocking wave, leaving all the explanations to Egrer. He was left with no choice but to smile broadly and pretend everything was fine.
Their unscheduled meeting was slightly different from the usual ones. And it wasn't even about their ranks swelling, but the turned-on lamp on the desk. Previously, they didn't need light, but now they had a non-Faunus in their ranks, so they had to set up comfortable conditions for Weiss. She probably wouldn't have liked talking to someone in pitch darkness.
Egrer could have just texted their Scrolls, but Blake always insisted on passing such information in person. So they had to meet at night in an empty classroom, just like they usually did.
"It just so happened," Egrer started to justify himself, "that Weiss now knows about the Puppeteer, the White Fang, Torchwick, and even the letters, which even you guys don't know about yet."
Blake was clearly disappointed in him. She already looked much more tired today than usual, but now she slumped and seemed to age ten years.
"But there's good news too!"
With some minor additions from Weiss, he briefly recounted the meeting in the Headmaster's office. Sun received the news with a standing ovation, while Blake only frowned. Then again, she was always unhappy about everything.
"Just keep it quiet!" Egrer concluded, putting a finger to his lips. "Don't blab. If the Puppeteer finds out about the trap, She can prepare and outsmart everyone."
Blake skeptically raised an eyebrow.
"I have zero desire to rely on the Atlas military. Those morons just want to rattle their sabers."
"Hey!" Weiss objected indignantly.
"What? Tell me that isn't true."
"It's true, but it's still offensive."
"Then don't 'hey' me," Blake grumbled. "I'm almost certain that in the end, the Atlesians will lock up anyone but the Puppeteer. Delicate work isn't their thing. So don't relax, our plans haven't changed."
"Come on, don't be such a pessimist." Sun clapped her on the shoulder, making Blake stagger slightly. "They'll catch Her. It's Atlas, man!"
"Exactly, it's Atlas. You can't expect anything good from Atlesians. Well, except Weiss," she immediately added, making Weiss herself roll her eyes. "She's the exception to the exceptions."
"Blake," Egrer said, appalled, "are you... a ■■■■[1]?"
A completely confused Blake blinked slowly, the bags under her eyes wrinkling slightly as she squinted. Tilting her head slightly to the side, she uttered just one word:
"A ■■■■[2]?"
"You literally just said all Atlesians are bad. That's ■■■■■■[3]."
"I made an exception for Weiss." It seemed Blake herself realized this excuse didn't sound very convincing. "It's just... when I was in the White Fang, the most terrifying rumors circulated about Atlas. The secret police catching and torturing everyone indiscriminately, constant army raids forcing bases to move outside the walls, and ubiquitous cameras and listening devices making it impossible to even step outside."
"To me, that speaks to Atlas's effectiveness in fighting terrorism," Weiss noted carefully.
"Tell that to the innocent Faunus forced to endure constant government suspicion. This 'War on Terror' is just an excuse to oppress us even more. They practically implant chips under Faunus' skin, and anyone who squeaks against the authorities gets thrown in jail. Either work for pennies, or work in a penal colony; the Atlas Council gives no other choice, literally forcing them to join~"
"Anyway," Egrer interjected, intent on nipping their argument in the bud, "Blake is a ■■■■[4]. We all condemn her."
"Condemned," Sun played along.
"Condemned," even Weiss joined in.
"You were a racist yourself not long ago!"
"But I acknowledged that flaw and made an effort to overcome it. I am now a person of very broad views."
"Oh, really?"
"I am the heiress to the largest Dust company in the history of Remnant, with an excellent education and upbringing. If I fell for stereotypes, would I be in the company of three Faunus criminals right now?" She looked at each of them with a smile. Egrer chuckled; it really was quite funny. "And the most terrifying thing for me personally is that I feel quite comfortable with you."
"What letters?" Blake steered the conversation back to a constructive track.
Egrer placed the opened envelope on the desk, with a couple of papers sticking out of it. Sun immediately reached for it, but got his hand slapped by Blake. She was clearly waiting for further explanations.
"I ran into Neo at the dance; she handed me this envelope. To summarize, Roman can't handle it himself and wants to disrupt the Puppeteer's plans through us, and everything we need to do that is written here. But I think we've already over-fulfilled all their plans. They hardly expected us to deal with Her this fast."
He had already read both letters with Weiss back in that gazebo, and there was no mention of the tower infiltration in them. Either Neo didn't know about this operation, which was doubtful, or she intentionally didn't write about it so Egrer wouldn't run there headlong.
Blake took the first letter. Sun positioned himself behind her, reading over her shoulder.
"Pfft-hee-hee. Little wolf..."
"Listen here, I'm gonna smack you." It was no joke; Egrer even rolled up his sleeves. He only allowed his mom to call him that, and got very angry and embarrassed when anyone else did. "Little monkey."
"That doesn't sound as cute."
"Quiet," Blake waved her hand.
She read very carefully, frowning from time to time and raising her eyes to Egrer. He didn't quite understand the reason for such displeased looks, but could only wait for her verdict. And it didn't take long.
"We are not going to follow their plans."
"Why the hell not?"
"Because Torchwick came up with all this."
Weiss nodded in agreement, but didn't say anything. She had already managed to voice all her grievances against Roman to Egrer in their private conversation.
"You're too biased, Blake. Just because he's a criminal doesn't mean he'll definitely set us up..." Egrer paused for a second, pondering his own words. "Okay, maybe he would screw us over. But Neo wouldn't agree to a plan where I'd be taking serious risks, you can't argue with that."
"Who is dearer to her: you or Roman?" Egrer's silence was a rather eloquent answer. "We'll keep this plan handy, but first and foremost, let's use our own heads."
"I agree," Weiss nodded. "Eg, you are far too trusting of those who absolutely do not deserve that trust."
Egrer could only cross his arms offendedly and stick to his opinion. Even with all the desire and time in the world, he wouldn't be able to change their minds.
But he expected something like this from them. Torchwick really doesn't inspire trust, not least because of his line of work. Few would agree to listen to the words of a criminal, especially when the matter is deadly dangerous. It's primarily a question of trust.
But Egrer trusted him. And he could very well try to carry out the instructions written in the letters, even if he had to act alone.
"The anti-espionage idea is good," Blake said. "Especially if the Puppeteer really does have a minion with an illusion Semblance. We should work on code phrases right now."
"Or maybe a vacation?" Sun asked hopefully. "They're gonna catch the Puppeteer soon anyway. Why sweat it?"
Blake closed her eyes, took a deep breath, counted to ten, exhaled slowly, and opened her eyes again. But this time she wasn't looking at Sun.
"Egrer, be so kind as to share some ancient wisdom."
"Don't count your chickens before they hatch?" he drawled uncertainly.
"Exactly. While they're catching the Puppeteer, a lot can happen." Weiss nodded in agreement again. The degree of similarity in their thoughts was getting scary... "Right now is absolutely the worst time to relax, as the slightest slip-up could ruin everything. So I don't want to hear another word about vacations, especially from you, Sun. Out of all of us, you are the most... un-useful."
"You wanted to say 'useless,'" Sun took offense.
"I did, but I thought it was a bit harsh. Let's get back on topic."
"I suggest that before that, we ask each other things only we would know, just to be absolutely sure everyone here is one of us," Weiss suggested, giving Sun a somewhat unkind look. He just gave her a little wave. "If there's already a spy here, they'll find everything out."
"If there's a spy among us, then all this has already become pointless," Blake replied. "After all, the main goal is to keep the Puppeteer from realizing we know about Her. But overall, I agree. Egrer."
"Hey, why am I first? Because I'm connected to Torchwick?" Blake nodded without any shame or remorse. "Oh, and you were in the Fang yourself!"
"Exactly - were. And you're still in contact with your family." She pointed a finger at the letters. "You can be as outraged as you want that they're against the Puppeteer themselves, but it's much easier for a spy to pretend to be you precisely because of this."
Egrer still wondered why Blake disliked him so much, but couldn't come up with anything concrete. It even got to the point where he considered the answer to be some perfectly normal subconscious reaction to someone who is allergic to you. It's unpleasant to talk to someone who feels nauseous and wants to sneeze just from your presence.
Though, lately he had developed quite plausible explanations for such behavior, namely - a slight conflict of interest.
Their goals weren't exactly mutually exclusive, but they clearly didn't align. Blake wanted to stop the Puppeteer not to save Roman and Neo, but because her self-imposed duty to "Stop the White Fang" kept her up at night. Egrer, on the other hand, basically didn't care about the reasons why the White Fang betrayed their beliefs and started working for Roman. He was only interested in it because this information might prove useful for his own goal. He just wanted to help his former family get out of the swamp they were drowning in.
Were they friends? No. Allies who decided to join forces to achieve similar goals? Yes, that was closer to the truth.
It shouldn't be forgotten that things started in a similar way with Weiss.
"Sun is a good fit too," Weiss said, either standing up for Egrer or genuinely believing it. "No offense, but as I understand it, he plays the role of your mascot. That is, he hardly participates in discussions and mostly listens, am I right?"
Sun tapped his head and easily admitted:
"I'm dumb. Blake usually decides everything for us; she's like our unofficial leader. By the way! There are four of us now, let's give ourselves a name like a Huntsman team!"
Egrer experienced a profound sense of déjà vu. And if you think about it, Sun played the same role in their gang as Nora did in the union. And their personalities... weren't exactly identical, but a carefree attitude bordering on irresponsibility was equally inherent in both of them.
"Sun is definitely real." Blake sighed, closing her eyes for a second. "Only he would suggest such nonsense during a serious conversation."
"Hey... it's an awesome idea."
She paid no more attention to his presence.
"So, Egrer, what was I playing with my team when you suggested we join forces?"
"Uh..." He scratched the back of his head. She might as well have asked what color her boots were during Initiation. "You think I remember? That was a really long time ago."
"Let me try," Weiss said. "This is something he's unlikely to forget. How did we first meet?"
Egrer chuckled; he truly would never forget that fateful day. And not even because he met his future best friend and girlfriend, but because he decided to go against the Headmaster's decision and organize the Order of the Backstabbers. Nostalgia washed over him.
"We met near Professor Port's classroom on the very first day of classes. We had a common problem and inadvertently got to talking."
"How did we first meet?" she repeated, frowning this time.
"I just told you. Near Port's classroom."
Weiss began to circle him, blocking the only door. Blake, seeing her concern, also grew nervous. Following the chain reaction, Sun tensed up as well. There was something Egrer didn't like about their actions, but he had said everything right! Because the first time...
"Ah, I remember, I remember! I was sleeping in a weapon locker, my cramped leg twinged, I bumped the door, made a noise, and when I stepped out in nothing but my pajamas, Jaune was hitting on you and Pyrrha!"
"That's better," Weiss exhaled in relief. "I was already preparing to... incapacitate you."
Egrer laughed tightly, reflexively rubbing his neck. The tense atmosphere vanished right before their eyes.
"You're something else, Eg," Sun chuckled. "Forgetting the first time you met your own girlfriend."
"If that meeting had been less awkward, I wouldn't have forgotten a thing. Why don't you tell us how you met Blake. And she'll decide if you're a spy or just a dumbass like me."
Blake clearly didn't like the hidden implication Egrer put into his words, but she didn't have time to object.
"Easy! I was running away from the cops because I stowed away on a ship to Vale. Then I ran past Blake's team and winked at her."
"He's real," Blake repeated.
Suddenly, a very unpleasant realization struck Egrer.
"Wait. What if this illusionist has already talked to one of us and sniffed everything out?" Everyone exchanged frightened glances. "Judging by Neo's letter, the Puppeteer has long suspected that we know something. But we only recently found out about Her minion with the illusion Semblance!"
Egrer tried to remember if he had discussed secret topics with Sun or Blake outside of their meetings. And he couldn't recall a single instance; they usually hung out with each other without him.
"Sun, Blake, recall ALL your one-on-one conversations about the Puppeteer."
"Okay," Sun started quickly ticking off his fingers, "in the cafeteria, before you arrived; twice on the dorm roof; near the fountain..."
"Sun," Blake said, "I didn't talk to you about anything near the fountain."
"What do you mean?" he paled. "In the evening, almost a week ago. You even gave me such a charming smile then, I still remember it..."
Weiss facepalmed, realizing the utter futility of their "Anti-Puppeteer League." Egrer wasn't far behind her, hiding his face in his hands and groaning in despair. They thought they were one step ahead of the Puppeteer, but in reality, it was the exact opposite. This idiot just got seduced... And a whole week ago, no less...
Blake seemed to have lost the ability to speak from shock. She blinked so rapidly it was as if she was trying to take off on her eyelashes, while opening and closing her mouth like a beached fish. She was only able to speak again a few seconds later, during which Sun managed to grasp the full extent of his screw-up.
"Sun, you degenerate!" This shout could probably have been heard even out in the hallway. "I gave a charming smile!? Anyone would realize that wasn't me!"
"How was I supposed to know then that someone could impersonate us?!"
"This is why we can't relax. If the illusionist had tricked Sun again, the Puppeteer would know about the trap being set. I won't rest until I see Her and Her minions in a cell. And you all won't either, got it?"
Blake did her breathing exercises again and continued much more quietly.
"Okay. Okay, okay, okay. The Puppeteer doesn't know that we know about Her Illusionist. We can use this to our advantage and leak disinformation through them if we encounter them again." She seemingly didn't even entertain the possibility that Ozpin's idea with the medical exam would work. "And code phrases will help us with this. And Sun..."
"Yeah?" the blond replied joylessly.
"If one of us approaches you and they don't say the code phrase, come up with whatever excuse you want and just run away. If you set us up like this again, I'll have to remember how we dealt with idiots like that in the White Fang. And believe me, I don't want to remember."
Everyone shuddered at this threat. It somehow naturally slipped their minds that Blake had once been a terrorist in a not-so-humane organization... They could only hope that this was a simple attempt to give Sun an extra scolding.
"What did you tell pseudo-Blake?" Weiss asked. "If she bombarded you with questions she should have known the answers to herself, you could start suspecting something even without knowing about illusions."
"She didn't ask about anything. Here's how it happened, I was walking around Beacon with Neptune in the evening and just passing the fountain when she called out to me. I swear, Neptune saw Blake in front of him too, he even teased me, like, 'Look, for once the lady of your heart is looking for you herself.'"
Blake paid no attention at all to this revelation. It was no secret to anyone that Sun had been in her friendzone for a long time, and his latest stunt threatened to get him kicked out even from there.
"Anyway, the fake Blake asked to talk to me alone. I didn't notice it then, but she kept looking between me and Neptune. Like she was darting her eyes between us, as if trying to look us both in the eye at the same time. And also, when my bro left, she kept looking back at him."
"That could be an important detail of how the illusionist's Semblance works," Weiss nodded. "Go on."
"Pseudo-Blake said a couple of Atlas students seemed suspicious to her. And... well, she steered the conversation so smoothly that I did most of the talking."
"What. Did. You. Tell. Her?" Blake demanded.
Sun, like an ashamed child, lowered his gaze to the floor.
"Nothing super secret. Well, like, she said there were a couple of suspects, and I confirmed what she said. They just know now that we know about the imposters in Beacon."
"And that's 'Nothing super secret'?!" Blake flared up again. "That's the most secret thing! We literally don't have any non-secret information!"
"Come on," Egrer said placatingly, trying to maintain optimism. "You win some, you lose some. Things aren't that bad."
"No, things are very bad. We lost a lot more."
"So, code phrases," Weiss said, trying to steer the conversation back to the previous topic. Blake shot an angry glare in her direction but quickly pulled herself together.
"They need to be inconspicuous but with a non-obvious answer. For example, when meeting, you can say 'Good morning,' and the answer would be 'After everything we've went through, it's not good.' Sounds like a simple complaint about life." It was easy to tell that this wasn't just a code phrase; she would have answered exactly like that to such a question right now. "Sometimes we'll change the answer. Otherwise, using the same phrase over and over will seem strange if we're being eavesdropped on. And we will be eavesdropped on."
"Gone," Weiss said. "Everything we've gone through, not went through."
"Don't nitpick over details," Blake brushed her off. "Say it however you want, the essence is what matters. In any case, a spy might try to infiltrate us at times other than the morning. And wishing someone a good morning right before curfew would be suspicious. We need more options..."
Weiss and Blake did most of the talking, as the smartest ones in their gang. Sun and Egrer just stood on the sidelines, looking lost as they memorized the phrases, though both realized they'd be mistaken for spies at least a couple of times.
It was evident that Blake had the necessary experience. She easily recognized which options were too contrived and suspicious, and which would be very difficult to use in everyday life.
When the code creation was finished, Egrer took the floor. Sun might be ready to put up with the fate of a part-time goofball, opening his mouth only when asked, but Egrer wanted to be useful.
"Whenever possible, secretly take a photo if you suspect you're dealing with a spy. If the illusion affects the mind, then the photo will show their real appearance. And if it's something like a second skin, physical contact might even make it shatter."
"You speak like you're some kind of expert," Blake grumbled.
"You have no idea how often Semblances like that pop up in the criminal underworld, especially among thieves or con artists. So I have some knowledge on the subject."
Weiss looked at him somewhat strangely, as if she just remembered that he had led a far from respectable lifestyle for several years.
"We truly have a dream team," she sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "The foster son of Roman Torchwick, a former White Fang operative, the heiress to the SDC, and... and a slacker goofball."
"Hey!" Sun objected. "I'm the strike force! I provide the muscle."
"We also have Yort, our resident oracle," Egrer added with a laugh. "He's with us unofficially, but we'll still need to introduce you to each other. What if you manage to put together some convoluted question, the answer to which will make everything clear to us?"
Even Blake smiled. While she might have been against Weiss joining at first, now she was glad for the help of someone she could trust. Furthermore, it was pleasant for her to talk to a person who boasted actual intellect. After all, neither Sun nor Egrer were particularly well-suited for the role of advisors...
"The world-saving team is assembled," Blake chuckled. "And we will be called 'BSWE' or Prosperity."
"So you thought about my suggestion!" Sun rejoiced. "Though I had 'BESW' - Biscuit - in mind, but I like your version even better."
"So, you don't value me at all, huh?" Egrer feigned offense. "Threw my letter right out of the name, look at you."
"It's just that Baescuit doesn't sound as airy, plus it's a typo in the name."
"So what? I named my union 'Enversion', even though it should be 'Inversion'. And even Weiss didn't correct my grammar."
Which surprised him to this day. A champion of rules and purity of speech like her, just keeping quiet? Impossible! No, for a while she stubbornly continued calling the union Inversion, but she still hadn't given him a lecture on language rules.
"It's a proper noun," Weiss explained. "It can be whatever you want, so there is no error per se."
"Let's get back to business," Blake requested softly, flashing a rare smile. Their playful banter had clearly lifted her spirits. "Since we have Weiss with us now, I would like to hear her opinion on the events in the tower."
"When Eg explained the situation to me, I had a couple of thoughts. First, why put guards in the tower at night at all? There's never even been a simple watchman there before. It was needed to prevent Her from doing something She cannot do during the day because of witnesses, which brings me to my second thought. I believe General Ironwood has known for a long time that an infiltration into Beacon was being planned, and if he knew, then Ozpin knew too. Such an army would hardly have been able to fly here without his approval."
"That also narrows down the circle of suspects," Blake nodded. "If the Puppeteer didn't infiltrate the tower when the Atlas soldiers weren't here yet, it means She Herself wasn't in Beacon then. Otherwise, She would have done it a long time ago."
"Damn, you're smart," Egrer marveled. "I definitely wouldn't have thought of that."
"Or She needed the Atlas air fleet overhead for some reason," Sun hypothesized. "That's why She waited."
"That is completely devoid of sense," Blake shook her head. "The fleet and the soldiers only get in the way."
"You're the brains here, I won't argue."
"Atlas arrived on the sixth. That means we need to check all the girls who arrived from that date up until today. Fortunately, I continued taking photos of the new arrivals, noting the date of their arrival."
"Stalker," Sun snorted into his fist. However, under Blake's strict gaze, he quickly choked on his own laughter.
"Help me out." She placed a stack of photos on the table and began sorting them by date. "Cinder Fall, arrived on the third. Toss her..."
[1] Nazi
[2] Nazi
[3] Nazism
[4] Nazi