Azure stares at Esper, mouth agape, then finally closes it and swallows hard. "I don't think there's anything more I can add to that analysis" she says timidly.
"Uhhh... Good job, Esper. I... Couldnt add much to that... Other than its not very hard to record video..." Carmine adds
-Posted with Wayfinder
"Good, good," Peach says, nodding serenely. "I'm sure Professor Port has told you that Grimm, while feral, are far from the most dangerous opponents a huntress can face." Adjusting her glasses lightly, she leans forward and picks up the larger tablet off the ground. "Men are more treacherous, every time. Even regular men without aura training."
"For now, I'd like to ask you to keep an eye out. We'll have time to explore a little further," she says. "But I'm willing to bet that if we did anything overtly untoward, his security cameras would happily pick that up." Tapping the large scroll, she flicks a little stand out from its base and sets it down. On the wall, it projects an image of the compound, roughly, top-down. "So the next lesson is one of strategy."
"I'm happy to offer my suggestions, but let's do a thought experiment first." Peach draws a red X, marking the corner where the grimm attack occurred. "We have two weeks. Our overt goal is vigilance towards a potential Grimm threat, and figuring out where the Nevermore came from. But I'm assigning you a secondary goal--to figure out what Mr. Sable is hiding. Between the five of us, how would you set out to accomplish both?"
"Eavesdrop? Or maybe follow him or his assistants? And we should definitely split up the tasks."
Carmine nods. "All right, let's break down our objectives into more manageable chunks, then see who can handle what." he offers. "At least that's how it worked at my dad's office. Should work here."
He takes off his glasses and wipes them clean. "Okay. So we need to Protect the farm from grimm, find the source of the nevermore, and figure out what Mr. Sable is concealing from general inquiry. Let's break down the 'protect the farm' into at least two more sections: Find holes in their defenses and patch them, and... remove the current threats to the facility. For the Nevermore... we should break that into two steps, one finding the frequency and directions the attacks come from and then tracking it, and then step two is mustering together as a group to either block it from returning or, optimistically, destroy it."
Carmine puts his glasses back on his face, blinking. "Mr. Sable's going to be difficult. We need his cooperations to handle the other two objectives, so we need to avoid getting his suspicions up or setting off any alerts. I feel we need to take a look at their camera set up first and foremost, which we'd need to do anyways since we're going to be examining their security. Then we need to find out where we're not allowed to go... and, well, go there. Stealthily if at all."
"Okay, so I've broken it down into something more manageable without getting too complicated. Any volunteers for particular parts?" He asks. "I would be willing to look at the security system, and spearhead the Nevermore tracking."
|
Esper perked up at the planning, "I could look for gaps in security. Might be able to get a bit closer to Mr. Sable if you think getting on his good side will help keep his attention away. Might even be able to get access to some other areas that way. I mean I could always spout more security details about Atlas's hardware. Other than those I think i can cover ground more quickly than anyone else 'cause of Wander so i might be able to look around for that nevermore's nest if someone else wants to deal with Mr. Sable."
She proudly pat her hefty weapon set, knowing it'd been a bit since she actually got to get out and ride with it.
Looking back and forth at Carmine and Esper, Azure says "Well, you've each taken two tasks, which for the moment leaves Shamrock and me with nothing to do. We can't patch the holes in their security until we've found them, and we can't attack the Grimm until we've found it.
Esper, you're a personable person, why don't you try buttering up Mr. Sable? Carmine, you want to look at the security system or track the Grimm?"
"Ill look at the security system, you two focus on tracking down any grim in the area and clearing the local threats out. Sibce we are here we might attracts them with our presence." he declares.
-Posted with Wayfinder
|
|
"Alright I'm sure i'll be able to find something to get on his good side. Azure, you and Shamrock could probably work as a pair to find the break in the defenses and the grimm. I mean it'd be much safer for two of you to be together if it is a nevermore." She shrugs a bit and reaches into her pack for a snack.
"That is, if that's what you two wanna do I mean two..three? heads are better than one in those cases."
"I'm fine with that," agrees Shamrock. "We can scout a bit around the facility, maybe we'll find something else."
"Right. Keeping eyes out for breeches in their defenses and Grimm. Got it."
Peach nods approvingly. "Looks like Ozzy--I mean, Headmaster Ozpin gave me a team with good heads on their shoulders," she says. "Very good. I'll accompany Carmine for the moment, and I'll take a closer look at the camera system if possible." She holds up a hand before any of you get a chance to reply, and the door slides open. An AK-100 and a human worker in waist-high overalls, a collared shirt that reads "Sable Industries Agriculture" and thick workgloves hands over a stack of clothes to Peach. They look much the same as his own uniform.
"Fortunate you kids aren't too big," he says, smiling. "Most of the uniforms we got left over are at least a lil' smallish." He points across the hall. "Got locker rooms just 'cross the way for y'all." He tips his hat and disappears soon, the AK-100 in tow.
"Before we go out, I'd encourage all of you to be careful," Peach says. "Mr. Sable won't hurt you, I'm sure of that much. But he is crafty, and I imagine outside of this room, his cameras are everywhere."
After a few seconds, another worker opens it for you. He's dressed in a uniform similar to the one you've already seen, with the addition of two holstered weapons--they're compact, with what looks like aftermarket customs modded onto Atlesian designs. "Pleased to meet you," he says, with the harsh voice of a military vet. "I'm Goldberg, I've been running the security feeds around here." He gestures to a wall of holo-monitors behind him that form a rough map and a few camera feeds of the facility. "Feel free to take a look around."
"That's interesting. Whose bootrpints are these? Could someone moved together with Nevermore?.. Nah, that's stupid."
Carmine will look at the uniform and put it aside. "I'll get changed once I've had a chance to look around. No need to rush into company work, right?" he reasons. He does take the gloves with him, but stows the rest in a locker for later.
When complimented, he takes off his glasses and cleans them, using the look down at his glasses to hide his face. "... thanks." he replies. "I'm gonna try to do right by my team. The least I could do, right?"
Regardless of the route, Carmine is careful to remember the location of the control center in relation to the building's interior. Even if one way were to become obstructed, there might be another route he could plan for. As Goldberg greets him, Carmine will give him a polite smile and nod, noting the weapon designs and finding the after-market modifications interesting. Ex military? Possibly. Atlas veterans do like their weapons to operate to particular standards. Noted.
"Hello, Mr. Goldberg. Pleased to meet you too." he replies with the courtesy that comes from having to greet his father's co-workers many times. "I suspect this rash of problems has been a thorn in your side. If you have anything you've noticed of recent events that will help, I'd be glad to hear it."
Carmine is very excited to look over the security fields and camera feeds, noting important details about the operation and how their security works. He repeats everything twice mentally, to help him remember so that he can put his notes down on his scroll the second they're away from prying eyes.
= 3
"It's more likely that someone, maybe Sable, has already tried to track this thing."
|
|
Esper would prefer to stay in her current uniform for the time being, not that she hated wearing uniforms but she kind of did. She got a bit upset with herself in the maze of corners and cold steel. "Comeon you know how to navigate a desert with almost no landmarks but you get trapped in a box?" Hearing voices up ahead she tries to hone her hearing in on them but can't seem to make anything out more than whispers, as she continues through the labyrinth that is Sable Farm industries.
"Yeah, that makes much more sense. By the way, why did this Nevermore walk? It could fly all the way, but it walked for some time. Do you think we should follow it a bit further?"
As you take a look at the map, Peach asks Goldberg a few questions about the camera system. Mostly, they're inane, and you gather that she's stalling him to give you as much time as you need to look at the map. It marks clearly each level of the building and the fields outside, tracking the movements of the airships, the threshers and all of the AK units. Not only that, but you realize with a start that it's tracking every employee, and it looks like Shamrock and Azure as well, if you're reading the two dots out in one of the soy fields correctly. Tracking devices in the uniforms, most likely?
The map also presents you with a rough map of the dust flows in the facility. You can see something of a reloading bay where the machines return for maintenance and refueling, as well as a small processing station for distilling dust. The dust runs mostly in parallel with the wiring, which includes the top floor, and an area marked as Mr. Sable's office. On the first floor, behind the water main you saw earlier, there is a fairly sizable deadzone. No electricity, no dust, just empty space blocked off by walls. For such an efficient place, it's a waste of space at best.
The more looming concern that you can hear as you find the end of the tracks is the sound of one of the automated threshers. Before long you can see it rising up over the stalks, heading straight for the tracks, churning up a hailstorm of soybeans. You can't imagine the evidence of the Grimm's tracks will survive much longer.
Opening up his door, he beckons to you. "Ms. Fiore. My apologies, please feel free to come in." His expression doesn't so much smile as his cheeks very slightly round, but his voice still sounds pleasant and even enough.
|
|
Esper shoots ram rod straight as she realizes it was Mr.Sable. "Oh hello Mr. Sable, I was actually a little lost, your right it really is a giant maze in here in this well oiled machine. I hope you don't have a conference soon, I actually wanted to talk with you about the security drones you have currently, and maybe offer some advice if you'd like. I grew up tinkering with machines and i've studied a lot about Atlas designs before I even thought about coming to Beacon."
She cleared her throat, "Uh that is if you think the advice of someone like myself would be useful to a powerful business man such as yourself."
Carmine makes mental note of the 'dead zone' in the security, and also the tracking system. He will ask a few questions about patrols, if anything was seen during the attacks, etc, but they're really just to get a feel for what the facilities operations are like.
"Esper, you have any ideas about what to do about that thresher that's about to remove the Grimm's tracks? Should we try to stop it, or have we learned everything we can here?"
|
|
Epser perks up as she feels her Scroll vibrate, "Oh uh.. one second Mr. Sable. She turns around and opens up her scroll to hear Azure, "Oh yeah I'll ask if he can redirect it." She drops her voice low hoping to keep Mr.Sable from hearing "If not get up to the main compartment looks like a glass box, there's a manual override flip the switch. It should give you a few minutes while it cycles."
"Uh huh yeah no problem Azure. She turned to look at Sable, "Sir could you shut off one of your thrashers it's getting dangerously close to the damaged area and might disrupt some of the evidence?"
Carmine nods as the man explains how it works. "Ah, I see!" Carmine realizes. "So the attacks happen when you're both unavailable. That's expected with so few people here. Since we're here and are basically extra manpower, we can help cover shifts until we head back. I'm sure you guys are being bored to tears just sitting here."
He hopes that they can agree and actually get someone of their own eyeing the cameras. If not he could work with Esper and perhaps hook their scrolls into...
While he's looking it over he takes mental note of how the camera feeds are routed. Perhaps they can see what these two see even if the man turns them down.
There's a few moments of animated response on the other end before Sable growls, "Fix it or your business here is done." He hangs up and watches the line progress through the soy field. "It's very hard to find good help for the Atlesian products," he says, his voice still angry, but less so. "Few people really know them inside and out..."
Jumping up on the thresher and rooting around in its guts :
= 1
"Shamrock, you any good with mechanical devices?!?"
|
|
Esper moves closer to Sable and joins him in looking out the window, "I'm actually surprised you can't find good help. I mean I guess you'd get better if you were in Mistral, or Atlas. But the Threshers you've got are the FT-3 Model right? They've got a well developed hydraulic system, but there is a tiiiiiiiiny issue with their wireless connection box, that Atlas doesn't tell people." She punctuated the tiny bit by squeezing her thumb and forefinger together before letting up and continuing.
"Most just install an off-brand trans-receiver and call it a day. But of course no Atlas salesman would tell you that without risking their job. They're also known to have a bit of an issue with their feed belt getting overheated in high stress situations or on particularly hot days. No real fix for that one though, but it makes them particularly unusable in hot climates like Vacuo, or near the western edge of Vale.."
She looked over, "I could recommend a few brands for you to try out if you think that might help." Esper could rattle off about Atlas equipment for days strengths and weaknesses alike, but right now she needed to point out flaws in the current equipment hopefully to get on Sable's good side.
"Not really... I can try, but don't get your hopes up."
Shamrock gets up to the thresher and fiddles with it's systems until he somehow manages to make it stop.
"Well, that's unexpected. Esper, I stopped the thresher, so we'll continue here on our part."
Carmine nods, thanking him for the offer. After that, he excuses himself to head back and relay the offer to his team and figure out rotations.
Once they're back in a unwatched location, he turns to the professor. "So, That was... informative." he summarizes. "I think I'll need to spend some time with Esper and get us a wireless hack into their security net."
Two AK-100s stride through the field, one of them performing an automated salute on reaching you. "We have been instructed to repair this thresher and return it to the northwestern wheat field. Confirm?" It says mechanically, then goes perfectly still.
"Now, Ms. Fiore, did you have something you wanted to ask me?" He asks. His eyes draw slightly tighter. "I can't imagine you stumbled into my office entirely by acident."
|
|
Esper listed off a few brands before looking back out the window, she was prepared for the question."Actually yes I was wondering if i could shadow you for awhile, while we are here since i don't have access to everything myself maybe there's something I can see inside the factory. Make sure that if it is someone and not something attacking you that there aren't any dangers for the workers inside."
She straightened at the back and smiled at him, "The others are far better trackers out in these woods anyway, my skills at tracking through the sands don't really translate well."
Azure looks at Shamrock, her eyebrows raised in a question, then turns to the robot and says "Um...confirm?".
Shamrock shrugs and tilts his head and echoes Azure. "Confirm."
Take some pictures of the tracks if you can and then come on back.
He smiles, genuinely, pouring you a glass of water. "Of course, heads are going to roll when I mention all the machinery they should have been selling me instead of the junk that they already did."
|
|
Esper grinned internally, "What If i could offer you a trade deal sir?" She took the water, "My mother runs a quite successful merchant barge in Vacuo, and well my entire life has been training myself as a huntress, and my mother and father teaching me how trade works."
She laughed a bit, "I will agree though when you pull their proverbial pants down with your newfound knowledge it would be fun to watch. If you mention the possible contract with my family, you may be able to use it as a bargaining chip against the Atlas sales team."
Azure takes plenty of pictures on her scroll, from where the thresher stopped obliterating the tracks, all the way back to the plant.
He chats with you for another few minutes, and you can tell that he sees something in you, though he's reserved enough that it's difficult to tell what it is exactly. When you eventually receive a text from Peach asking you to return, Sable asks "Would you be willing to come back in a few days to comment on some of my upcoming purchases? More security," he glances back at his scroll, frowning deeply. "Is always better."
Once the four of you reunite in your temporary dorm, Professor Peach grimaces, performing the same room-scanning trick she did before with her scroll. "Can't be too careful," she says, then sits again. "So, let's trade what we learned. After that, we can figure out a schedule for assisting security." Her face darkens. "And after that, I'll give you your homework. If I don't, Glynda will probably kill me."
|
|
Esper felt her scroll jingle in her pocket, but decided she should finish up this conversation first. "If school allows, I would love to continue to assist you with your security purchases. However remember that my calling is still as a huntress. Speaking of which" she pulled out her scroll and read the message, "It seems Professor Peach wants me back at our room so that we can get our first assignment. Um.. would you happen to have a downloadable map so i don't get lost again?"
Map or not Esper would thank Mr. Sable and return to her room, plopping down on the bed and going over what she had slightly overheard on her approach to the office, she needed more information. She pat at her scarf and grabbed a few snacks until the others arrived and while they talked about what they had learned.
"Well, Mr. Sable was talking to someone when i stumbled onto his office, but i wasn't able to get close enough to hear anything before the conversation had ended, but he sounded like he was done with a deal of some sort. Something about them being too close? But I don't want to go ahead and assume them is us." She rubbed at her temple for a moment, "Aside from that he seemed quite surprised that the thrasher was heading over towards Azure and Sham's direction and tried to call it off immediately threatening to fire whoever was on the other end of the line."
She kicked herself up and pulled her scroll open pulling up a few parts that she had mentioned to Sable, "Of course I told him that there were issues with his current tech and he could buy some other products to make them more reliable, but even then I wasn't able to get into his board meeting, which I don't really need into. But I also don't want the workers to get injured if we aren't just dealing with Grimm. I will be allowed to shadow him a little so long as it is in areas that are not top secret, business standards still apply. Oh and he wants me to come back in a few days or when this grimm thing blows over to suggest more tech and show him about what he's got on the block to buy."
Azure shares the pictures she took of the Grimm's tracks and claw marks, and asks if anyone can get anything more out of them.
Carmine relays everything he found out during his meeting with the security guards and the observation room. He also tells of the area they could splice a feed into the camera lines so they could see what the security teams are seeing without them being any wiser. He also will babble on for several minutes about their weapons and the after-market modifications they have.
When dragged back onto topic, Carmine suggests Esper and him spend some time making the device to connect their scrolls to the security network.
He also tells everyone the uniforms have trackers on them, so do NOT wear any of their gear if stealth is planned.