Proof of Humanity (RWBY - Lies of P)

Remnant VI: Feed the Machine

Ironwood slammed his fists on the table, his eyes full of rage. All around him were a handful of men and women in suits. Their faces were a mix of annoyance, guilt, and fear. The general raised his hands from the long circular table, a fist shape dent left in its wake.

"Why can't it be fixed?" He pleaded, looking around at the mass of selfishness in his midst, "You all understand the weight of this, right? He won't stop with my academy, or my military! If you sink me, you're all going to drown in the same ship."

One of the men spoke up. A man with a balding head and wrinkled face. Not to mention, eyes of greed. A kind of eye that was shared among the people on the Atlesian Council. They all wanted one thing. Money. The easier and bigger the number, the better.

"It can't be fixed because your military and our council are two separate worlds that cooperate with each other." He explained smugly, fiddling with a gold coin in his hands, "Your second in command-"

"Her position was renounced three years ago!" Ironwood yelled.

"Really?" The old man asked, "Where is your proof of her demotion?"

Ironwood raised an eyebrow, "The fact that she hasn't showed her face at my compound since."

The man hummed. He placed his coin down, then his smile widened, "That isn't proof at all, general."

Another woman in a red suit piped up.

"You never went through the proper procedure to be rid of Winter Schnee. You never filed the paperwork, never made a public statement claiming her being fired." The woman shrugged, then slid forward a file, "She was within her rights to sign the contract."

Ironwood walked forward and snatched the file away. He opened it, and was greeted by a ghost of his past. Winter Schnee. His right hand woman, someone he trusted, someone he taught. That was, until her graduation from the academy.

And on that file was her entire life. Her supposed current occupation. There it was, clear as day. Three years ago, Ironwood promoted her to be his second in command. There was nobody he thought to be more fitting and deserving of the position. Then, the day later, she betrayed Ironwood and everything their friendship stood for by becoming an operative for the SDC. In his grief, the general never bothered to file the paperwork to have her officially removed. He simply moved on, not looking back, or at least tried to.

He grit his teeth as he read the file. He knew damn well what Winter was. She was a traitor. A traitor that had more blood on her hands than Ironwood could possibly look past.

"Why are you doing this? Why are you working against the military that has protected you?" He asked, then turned around, projecting his anger across the entire room. His fury would be heard by the heavens, or so help him, "YOU'RE KILLING THIS CITY, OUR PEOPLE, FOR WHAT? MONEY? ANOTHER SHINY COIN IN YOUR MOUNTAIN OF TREASURE?"

The council man from earlier stood up, pointing down at the general, "This is why! We're not freeing the SDC, we're chaining you!"

"Atlas is a capitalist utopia. That has been the vision since the beginning. You, and your weapon wielding dogs, have been turning our military funding into a charity case." One nameless councilwoman said.

"Not to mention, the SDC is the most cost efficient mining operative in Remnant." Another added.

Ironwood damn near popped a blood vessel. He turned to the direction of the voice, eyes wide with disgust.

"SLAVERY!" He boomed, "The SDC has built its empire on the efforts of unpaid faunas, unable to resist due to their life expectancy being before adulthood!"