RWBY Shorts

Night Guards

Night has fallen on Beacon, on the night of the dance. The music starts, the lights flare up, and the guests begin to arrive. Refreshments are plentiful while the students and their teachers dance the night away. Watching all of this from a tall tower nearby are two Atlas soldiers. Their helmeted heads obscure any visible emotion, but should you look beneath the masks, you would find two grown men bored out of their minds. With nothing better to do, one of them tries to start up a conversation

"Hey."

"Yeah?"

"Why are we here?"

"It's one of life's great mysteries, isn't it," his companion states in a sage voice. "Why are we here? Is it just some cosmic coincidence, or is there really a god? I don't know, man."

There is a pause as he stares at his companion in confusion.

"What? I meant why are we up here, in this tower?

"Oh, ok… Wait, you don't know what this is?"

"Nope."

"Ugh, ok, you remember Atlas Tower?"

"Yeah, back in Atlas, right? The same tower that gives us internet, right?"

"Yes. And this is Beacon Tower. Which means…"

"They stole our idea!"

"No, you idiot, it means every kingdom has one."

"Oh. So, why do we need to guard theirs? We already have one, so…"

"Because if one of the towers goes down, all of them go offline."

"Well, that's a stupid design."

"What?"

"I mean, what if one of the kingdoms was attacked, and the tower went offline? No one outside that kingdom would know what happened."

"I'm pretty sure if one of the towers just shut down with no warning, it would be pretty obvious they were attacked."

"Yeah, but would we know who did it? They really need someone like me to think through their security."

"Yeah, aren't you a genius." He goes over to the elevator and pushes the button.

"Thank you."

"Hey, why don't we go down to the general right now, and tell him your idea?" his companion says, stepping through the now-open doors.

"Uh, sure. Why not?" he says nervously. As they head down, he speaks up again. "Hey, man, do you know the Wi-Fi password?"

"It's Beacon, but replace the E with a 3, and add a pound symbol to the end."

As he is about to thank his companion, the doors open. The soldier sees his comrades lying on the ground, knocked out, possibly worse. In front of him is a woman dressed as a cat burglar. They both stiffen, preparing for a fight, but the woman remains relaxed and calm. She saunters into the elevator and takes her stand between the two of them as the doors close.

END