-Day 6: Friday-

The three of them stood at the bottom of the stairwell. Fox had already changed the message they were sending out, she wasn't sure to what although he had probably said. Did he give my scroll back, or does he still have it? Probably doesn't matter. Coco raised her weapon, in bag form, high, and brought it down upon the door. I didn't hit the other two, did they go up the stairs? Just a dent. Try again. Once again a deafening bang reverberated through the stairwell and into the building. She had no idea which try it was that broke the lock, but she was fairly certain she had hit it after, a hit that swung the door open. Fox caught her arm as it lifted for another, which was when she noticed that it was hanging ajar.

Light shone from behind Coco illuminating a room with two predominant colors, white and metal. Oh it's dark. But I can see now? Does Velvet have the flashlight? It smells warm, like the forest, like people and life, not empty like everywhere else. Not like smoke either. The three students entered the room cautiously. Fox's weapons were out, and three pairs of eyes searched for any traps or movement. The room was long, with desks lining the left while the wall on the right eventually had doors, similar to the now broken one, at regular intervals. At the end the right wall disappeared allowing for an open room with a large table, it too ladened with objects but not piled. Not until reaching the far wall did any of the three really look around.

What they saw was shocking. The open room and in the center of the corridor above the desks had the Atlas symbol painted on the otherwise starkly white walls. I thought this settlement was created out of Vale? We checked the coordinates too.

"Atlas?" asked Velvet to which Fox merely shrugged.

"Fox, take the lantern on the table and check the communications systems. Velvet and I will look through the papers to see what was going on. Doors second but be on alert."

Velvet and Coco started on this end, first noticing an open emergency box with supplies cluttering the desk. Coco took one of the flashlights and began searching from the other side of the long room at the desk closest to the door. No more were they meticulously leaving everything as it had been, now satisfied that everyone had left and it unlikely anyone would come here again. Papers, notes, clutter, Atlas, subject xe034? Drawing, diagram, numbers, invoice from a month ago . . . nothing out of the ordinary. The communication lines appeared to be based from a terminal in the room with a table, Fox met the women as they neared the middle desk.

"The lines were cut. I found this." he offered a manual, open to a page marked up in red pen. Velvet allowed Coco to take it first.

"Evacuation plan?" she asked, handing the book to Velvet and looking to Fox.

"That's what it looks like."

"Why?" pressed Velvet, putting the book on the desk behind her. "The grimm were not getting in, judging by the buildings, why leave?"

"At least that explains why no one is here. Velvet, did you come across any logs for supplies shipments?" Coco glanced at her before looking back to Fox, who seemed intent on watching Velvet. "Can you fix the lines?"

"No, unless there are spare wires around I would not be able to reconnect them. There is no slack and they were cut twice."

Why? Why is this place so intent on destroying us? At least getting in here earlier would not have been much help for Yatsu- Stop thinking about that. Just look at Velvet, smile, and check the logs. She flipped through the logs silently for a few minutes, struggling to locate the information she wanted as her eyes rejected focusing.

"It looks like they had regular supplies coming in. Every two weeks was foodstuffs, three was infrastructure and office supplies, with intermittent private drops, all of which stopped about the time assistance against the grimm was first requested. The first message was on a Monday, with the food drops usually on Mondays or Tuesdays. I wonder if that arrived before this place was locked down."

"That was two and a half weeks ago. " said Velvet after a quick calculation.

"Which means the last message was three but almost four weeks since the last food drop, not terribly long. They did not seem to have requested supplies either. If they were fine, what could have happened in three days to clear out anything remotely edible and warrant an evacuation with help on its way?"

"I cannot imagine, but I suppose the answer might lie somewhere in here, if there is any answer to be found." answered Velvet, gesturing down the hall of unopened doors with her flashlight.

Fox watched silently as Coco strode to the first door, farthest from the stairs, and began bashing it in. Velvet went to check the doorknob on the next, but found it locked. Within the first room were counter tops, lining the walls as well as an island, broken only by machines. Boxes of gloves, glass containers, and red-lined trash bins populated the room. Tidy, no notes, is all the work on the desks?

"Next." announced Coco, departing this room and attacking the next door without pause. Velvet had to jump out of the way. The second room was painted a dark red, almost black, not evenly but in a spray. What was noticed first, however, was the rush of a distasteful smell, the warmth of life gone the odor's source seemed to be this decaying body. Nearly headless, likely bludgeoned, the person was cloaked in what was once a long white cloth, lab coat?, now stained in death.

Fox turned away, stepping out of the doorway, and hand over his face. Velvet gave a choked gasp and coughed, her legs stuck and Coco walked past and began on the next door.

What happened here?

Bang

What was going on here?

Bang

Why?

In just two hits the third door was breached. The walls were painted similarly, but the odor and source were not present here. Instead of a plain room with a table and two chairs this one had a heavy metal chair bolted to the floor and leather straps. A table, that too was welded to the floor, possessed leather restraints. Coco stepped into the room, and looked at the wall which held the doorway, Fox was stepping into the room. I suppose he's recovered himself. An interesting assortment of tools, surgical or for interrogation? Plain torture? This is not a medical center, but it might be passable as either.

"Torture." she concluded out loud, upon turning. Coco's gaze rested upon the table beside the chair, which bore a strange device that still held a fingernail from its last victim. This time she closed the door behind her, before going onto the next.

Coco would not be able to recall how many more doors there were nor what laid within. At least one was a hallway to a small, empty, prison. At some point Velvet had gone pale, and left to sit at the table alone. Fox and Coco returned to Velvet, the three of them began a renewed search through the desks, with a better idea of what to look for.

One of them went back to the house for an empty supplies backpack, Who went? I don't recall, it's fuzzy. Did I? Did I keep looking?, within which any interesting documents were placed. Voices, there were voices announcing finds, and determinations of what went into the bag; some were her own but she was not sure which remarks. Maybe they were not real, out-of-order? Her memories kept writing over each other.

"This one has chemicals on an invoice."

"These strings of numbers and letters are matched with names. Hold on, I think I saw some of these strange tags before."

"Something about a protocol for emergencies? It looks like a scroll message that was printed."

"Experiment?"

"What is important, how can we be sure?"

"Boarbatusk, Nevermore, Creep, I think this is a log of grimm sightings."

"Here, each of these folders has one of those weird number-letter combinations."

"An article about grimm?"

"I found a list! It seems like a code. Maybe just esoteric stuff, since everything is initials or abbreviated."

"Obituary clippings"

"Food invoice"

"Wait, one of those words, I think that is the name for a bone."

"This handwritten note mentions something about garbage collectors, a problem or money?"

"This looks just like -"

"Should we get another bag? Are were taking duplicates by mistake?"

"Darkness is harbored in all humans and faunus, as a strength or a weakness. What does that mean? It is some fortune carnival trick?"

"Here is a printout of just numbers."

"I think that might go with this, something to do with pay roll?"

"Atlas stationary all over this pile."

"Grimm feed on negativity."

"Subject called "EBY" failed. Deceased stamp and the top of the page has one of the letter-number things."

"Gala Taile asking questions, might replace HT."

"EBY and HT? Here it says 'grimm breached the walls', and 'EBT and HT' were found failed in the morning."

Documents, notes, ideas, and voices swarmed Coco's thoughts. The puzzle pieces flew across the table desperately looking for a match. Her fingers were checking the bottom of a drawer, discarded files lay scattered behind her, carpeting the floor. A red folder, flat against the bottom of the drawer, almost missed. Coco sat back to the floor, and propped the paper on her thighs as she scanned it with her light. The words she read escaped her lips in fragments.

"Atlas logo, military research project, study grimm to reduce threat, captivity? Weaponize? Darkness only exists in relation to light. Exploit and nourish the seeds for growth? How grimm come into existence? Breeding unlikely. Difficult to study, perhaps another method? Fursley Method."

Into the bag, next drawer, did we get photos of the communication damage with one of the scrolls? More papers, numbers, is my light getting dim? Coco rubbed her eyes and could read the words again, although Velvet's was looking low. The three of the continued pawing through anything around, going back through what someone else had checked, looking for anything that stood out or fit another piece. Words would permeate the heavy, odious, air, as one of the three read aloud or summarized a finding; perhaps a response would be uttered as well.

A chime shattered the group's focus, the sound coming from Fox who had just reached the doorway to the stairs in his own search. The other two watched him intently as he checked the scroll.

"Low battery." he stated simply.

Coco looked around the room, and the bag of clues against the wall. "We probably have enough to get whoever looks into this place started."

Coco, with the bag over her shoulders, emerged on the roof. Velvet reluctantly handed Fox Yatsuhashi's scroll. The day still bright, but threatening to fade, it was mid afternoon, maybe four. The fresh air was welcome, none of the team displaying any interest in returning to the basement they had shut away.

In the house, Fox and Velvet worked to start a fire as Coco rummaged through the belongings nestled into their sheets.

"I think we could stay on the roof tonight, this place has decent weather."

Velvet turned around, shocked. "The roof of the administration building? Why!?"

"The relay is hurting the total scroll battery we have." offered Fox.

"Tomorrow is when we were expected to leave. I know it was around noon, but being close might be a good idea."

"But the tower was hit by a nevermore! There are strong grimm around here. Have you two forgotten?" pleaded Velvet, already seeing herself out numbered.

"I think, I think they have stayed away for a reason. Something to do with the basement. We have not seen any within the settlement and the others would not get close. I have never heard of grimm with fear, but perhaps there was something else. It is clear that even the life of grimm is absent within the boundaries of this settlement."

"It will be so unprotected!"

"Velvet," started Fox, "we could take turns, we could sleep in, we can look at the stars."

And this house is stifling. The thought stabbed into her mind's conversation when her gaze passed over the fourth mattress.

The plain stew was heated to a boil, to try making it safe despite having sat out for many hours. With all three in the kitchen, Coco offered that the other two split the meat to keep up their strength. Fox opened his mouth, but thought against protesting; instead he pulled a bowl from the cabinet and filled it with broth, making it the largest serving of the three before handing it to Coco. The remainder of the liquid was split between two other bowls, each with a small pile of meat.

The three of them ate quietly, slowly, the sun still gave them plenty of time. A silence settled in, each lost in his or her own thoughts. Fox focused intently upon his bowl; Coco stared at the living room with three packed bags, none full, of anything worth taking back; Velvet had her back to the table, her eyes looking out the window. Coco was the first to rise, offering to rinse and fill the four canteens.

She shut the bathroom door, hit the small lock, and placed the four bottles on the sink. The toilet lid was swung open by her hands, which then grasped the seat as her body willingly and forcefully expelled her meal. Tasting that again is some cruel punishment, not undeserved. I paid a steep price to protect Velvet and Fox, but not steep enough to be granted a reprieve from hunger for myself. Coco washed her face and rinsed her mouth in the cold water before she filled the canteens, turned off the tub faucet for the first time in nearly a week, and returned to the house which served as the current location of the remainder of her team.

Coco bore one of the two lighter packs, and carried the heavy sword wrapped in a sheet. Fox had taken the one of documents and a pillow; Velvet wore the third, containing three bed rolls, and carried the second and third pillows. Red and orange glowed in the sky when they crested the stairs of the administration building. Velvet did not waste a moment shutting the door behind them. Coco blinked away the lights that were impairing her vision.

Once their burdens had been laid down, Fox took to the two remaining scrolls while the other two rolled out the beds.

"I adjusted the message to include that we are waiting here and that there is likely no good place to land, and I stopped the scroll from relaying to Coco's." he reported, before sitting on the unoccupied bed.

Coco nodded in response. It must not have been long before all three were laying down, the stars shining above them, with Velvet pointing out constellations to soothe her own worries. Yet, it took quite some time for the light to leave the sky and the stars to takes its place. Coco drifted off to sleep before she realized how exhausted she felt.

-Day 7: Saturday-

Coco winced as the sheet fell from her face when she rolled over. Sunlight bore into her skull, punishing her for her late arousal. Squinting, she eventually made out the forms of her team, already up. Fox probably checked for a message already. I wonder what time it is. Velvet was cheery, likely re-energized from dinner, when she greeted her leader.

"Good Morning to you too Velvet, Fox" Coco replied with a smile. "What time is it?"

"Mmmm I think . . ." Velvet looked to the sky, "probably around ten. You slept in late!"

"I trusted you two to let me know if a loud, giant, airship came by." jested Coco. She turned to Fox, "Has any message come in?"

Fox did not bother to look at her when he shook his head. He must be tired, focusing seems hard to me too.

"Too bad this place is still new, I'm sure countless cargo transports would have flown by this settlement in a week once they branched off." Velvet mussed, eager to not let the silence settle in.

Right, this village was going to be the central point, the trading post for a new ring of settlements, part of the plan to push Vale's influence farther into the wild. Just a handful of safe havens, all working together, using the starting point, here, as the central trading post. "Yep."

Velvet had failed, but her attempts continued sporadically. After a couple hours Coco got up and stretched a few paces away. When the world stops spinning I'll take a walk along the edge of the roof. That will keep me awake.

Velvet repeated Coco's movements in her own style once the leader returned to sit on her bed. About once an hour Coco would stretch and walk the roof, return, then Velvet would do the same. A smattering of small chatter worked its way in, but not enough to break the revere. The sun dipped low, grazing the horizon.

Beep beep

Low battery? Already? Fox spun around to the scroll and checked it. He must have read it completely before speaking. "Hello CFVY, this is a cargo transport. We were asked to go a little off course to check in. I am glad we did. We are not able to stop without a cleared landing though."

Coco spoke at once, Fox appeared to be typing it out. "Thank you for the detour. We need an extraction, please notify Vale to Beacon? We cannot hold a landing space, due to an unexpected situation."

It was not long before Fox read another message. "We already have. Sorry but we cannot stay, not enough fuel and getting dark. Vale responded 'expect tomorrow'."

It surprised Coco how quickly her eyes fell with the sun, ready for bed after such a short and inactive day.