The Badge and the Burden

The SRC

That Moment, Neo's POV

That's where I had seen him before. He was a friend of Weiss', a student at Beacon. Either way, I needed his help with getting my voice. I held up various papers, and he answered them appropriately. I was getting fairly tired of the girl, clearly obsessed with my hair. I thanked him and headed away, getting to the other side of the crowded airship before disappearing.

I rushed to Roman, out of breath when I got to him. I held up a paper that said one thing, 'Schnee has smart friends.' the sight of that one sentence meant thousands to Roman, as he paced around.

"Maybe that kitten and monkey at the ship yard were her friends as well... No, the Schnee girl would hate the Faunus. What could it mean then?" Roman said aloud, suddenly getting interrupted by Cinder.

"What could what mean, Roman?" She asked, clearly in the need of answers.

"Neo found out that the Schnee girl, who we've been stealing the dust from, has very smart friends at Beacon. That means, anyone who thwarts our robberies could be a friend of hers! She could have the whole city under her control!" Roman said, panicking to the point where he was bending his cane.

"No worries, we're proceeding to phase two." Cinder said, as I clenched up for the second time today.

If we were headed to Mountain Glenn, I wouldn't be able to try for my voice back until another two weeks. I couldn't wait that long knowing the solution was only half an hour away from the warehouse.

I walked out of the warehouse, spying the Ren boy from earlier. He was alone this time, so I could ask him some more questions.

'Do you know where I could get surgery for my muteness caused by semblance?' the paper said, as I held it up to him.

"Yes ma'am, go to this address and there will be one who has done thousands of procedures similar to the one you are looking for." Ren said as he handed me the paper.

I smiled warmly and gave him a wave goodbye, happy that the enemy was unknowingly giving me freedom to speak. I made my way to the address and walked into a room full of people with various medical things around them. I walked up to the register, careful of the kids running around.

"Welcome to the Sensory Reclamation Clinic! How may I help you?" A woman said, smiling so warmly it put me at ease for the first time today.

'I've always been mute, as I've always been able to use my semblance. Could you help me?' I held up, and the woman read the paper.

"Of course! We can do the procedure tomorrow actually; we just want you to answer a few questions. Take this pamphlet and fill out the back page. Return the back page to me and we'll schedule a time." She said, handing me a packet of papers.

I sat down on the chair adjacent from the counter, flipping through the papers. It seemed like recovery was fairly quick usually, so Mountain Glenn would just be postponed by a few days. I flipped to the back page, and saw there were only a few questions to answer.

#1: Are there any allergies that we should be aware of?

No, I have had no allergies my entire life.

#2: How would you like your voice so sound like?

Like a normal woman's voice, as if I had never been mute.

#3: Are you aware of the cost, and still willing to go through with the surgery?

Yes, I am.

#4: What time would be best for the surgery?

Any time tomorrow.

#5: How would you rate the person at the counter?

Very highly, she was very nice and helpful.

I stood up and handed her the back page, and she turned her computer screen to me.

"Would you be able to come in at noon tomorrow?" She asked, and I shook my head yes, happy that I was only a day away from getting my voice.

"Great! I'll see you then!" The woman said, smiling just as warmly as before.

As I walked back to the warehouse, I hatched a plan to get Roman and Cinder to wait an extra week to go to Mountain Glenn. I would tell them that the Beacon students had off the whole week, and were going to be everywhere around the city.