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You wouldn’t know it’s usually the quietest time of a Mantle night just by looking, Robyn muses. For the first part of their walk, she kept a running tally of how many Atlesian Knight patrols she and Joanna passed. She got to fifty or sixty, and then gave up. Between the knights and the swarms of drones buzzing about, it’s more than clear Atlas’s fury has been invoked, and come down on Mantle.
They’ve been given no explanation as to why the military suddenly cares about the security of their streets, but no one’s fooled themselves that it’s out of actual concern for them. Atlas wants something, and isn’t going to stop until it gets it.
Robyn frowns. She’s been running through scenarios of what will happen when Atlas doesn’t get what it wants. None of them are remotely good. It would be so easy, she knows, to just let them have what it is they’re after. Robyn has a fairly good idea what that is, and, more importantly, where to find them.
She won’t. Of course, she won’t. She has morals. Even if Robyn doesn’t know all the specifics of the situation, she knows enough.
Robyn and Joanna stop across the street from the Mantle Police Department. Joanna looks to Robyn and raises an eyebrow in a silent question. Robyn nods once, curtly, and then advances toward the municipal building alone. It shouldn’t come to bailing her out (or, at worst, a prison break), but it’s safer to have backup at the ready.
Nothing seems out of the ordinary when Robyn walks through the doors into the department’s lobby. The woman who works the front desk, a reindeer Faunus named Gwen, looks up when Robyn enters. She opens her mouth to say something, but a man walks through the door leading into the back of the PD, beats her to it, and makes Robyn’s night infinitely worse.
Clover Ebi smiles at Robyn. “Ms. Hill, it’s nice to see you.” He holds out his hand. Robyn doesn’t take it. Briefly, Clover grimaces, but he conceals it under another a smile a second later. “We just have a few questions. I’m sure you understand.” He gestures for her to follow him into the back.
“Care to tell me what’s got the military so riled up?” Robyn asks as she follow him. They stop at a conference room.
Clover gestures for Robyn to sit down on one side of the table. He goes to a small counter off to the side and prepares two cups of coffee. Robyn doesn’t take the one he offers to her. If they want her fingerprints or DNA, they’re going to have to ask. Nicely.
“Alright. I’ll get straight to the point.” Clover sits down across from Robyn. He pointedly sips his own coffee. “Do you know the current whereabouts of May Marigold?”
Robyn sits back in her seat and crosses her arms. “Can I see the arrest warrant?”
Clover purses his lips. “I can assure you, no one is under arrest. We just need to know where Ms. Marigold is.”
“Why’s that?” Robyn asks, considers for a moment, and then adds, “This wouldn’t be the first time her ‘family’ has decided they don’t approve of her occupation.” Sure, the Marigolds don’t care about May as a person, but when they found out she still goes by their name. Yeah, they’re not exactly thrilled with that.
“The Marigolds aren’t involved in this particular situation.” Clover gives Robyn what she supposes he thinks a pleading look must be. He places his scroll down on the table and opens a video file. “Earlier tonight, Mantle street security footage captured Ms. Marigold at a scene the Atlas Military has under open investigation. We need to know where she went afterward.” Clover plays the video.
The staticky recording shows what appears to be a random Mantle street. Something bright green hurdles down from the sky and crashes. A blurry, blue-haired figure that could be identified as May approaches and disappears into the impact crater. The camera isn’t angled right to see what happens in the crater. Minutes later, Atlas Military personnel appear at the scene.
“What am I looking at here?” Robyn asks, genuinely. Yes, she knew there was a ‘situation’, but this is the first she’s learned exactly what went down.
“Like I said, it is a matter under open investigation by the Atlas Military. I cannot share the details, but we believe Ms. Marigold walked away with crucial evidence before we could examine it.”
“Based on your video.” Robyn gestures. “It doesn’t appear that whoever that was walked away at all.”
“We both know what Ms. Marigold’s semblance is, Robyn. She has the capacity to move freely, undetected.” Clover takes a breath. “Please. As a potential future member of the Atlas Council, citizen safety should be one of your highest priorities. We believe what was taken from the scene poses a high-level security threat. We need to know their current location.”
“Right. I don’t have that information, Clover. I barely know what’s going on.” Robyn shrugs. “All I know is one minute I’m going about my business, the next, the sky is swarming with Atlas ships and I’m being called here to answer questions.”
Clover looks at Robyn critically. She meets his gaze. Nothing is said.
Then, Clover states, “It would be in your best interest to help us, Robyn.”
“Like I said, I don’t know what’s going on,” she responds. “Is that all?”
“For now.” Clover exhales a long sigh. “We’ll be in touch.”
“I’m sure you will.”
On her way out, Robyn is stopped by Gwen from the front desk. “For the girls.” The Faunus woman thrusts a plate of cookies covered over with plastic wrap at Robyn. Once Robyn takes it, she hands her a carrying tray with two hot chocolates. “It’s been a long night,” Gwen explains, and then hurries off without explanation.
Robyn looks down at the offerings, allows herself a small smile, and then heads off into the night. She collects Joanna, who acquired an armload of thick blankets, coats, and at least one pair of sturdy, weather resistant boots while she waited.
Together, they take a meandering path to the drop point and only arrive at their destination when they’re sure they’ve shaken off the last of the drones. They leave their bundles of clothing and food, and head off to rendezvous with Fiona, who’s been following up a theory at Dr. Polendina’s pharmacy (the military had indeed shut the place down and maintains a presence there. In all likeliness, Pietro is being held up in Atlas, most likely under some kind of house arrest.)
Some time later, a person, who cannot be seen due to her invisibility semblance, comes for the supplies. Even though seeing the abundance of Mantle’s offerings warms her heart, May curses at just how many there are and doubles back for Maria to help her carry everything.
They get the lot sorted, check for hidden tracking devices (there are none), and take everything to the safehouse (actually just Maria’s house, but now that it technically houses fugitives, a name change seemed appropriate).
They arrive as the doctor they called, Klein Sieben, is returning down the stairs, trailed by not-actually-dead Penny Polendina.
“The girl is sleeping,” Klein informs May and Maria without prompting. “Her injuries weren’t severe, but her general health condition leaves much to be desired. I shall return in the morning to check up on her. Until then, I suggest you let her be.” He turns and gives Penny a pointed look. “And rest up yourselves. Your friend wasn’t the only one who fell from the sky, my dear.”
Penny nods, but doesn’t say anything. Whatever’s going through her head, she’s careful not to let any hint of it show on her face.
“Don’t worry.” May approaches Penny, plate of cookies in hand. “Mantle always provides for its adopted runaways.”