Conflict of Interest - Chapter 9 (Patreon)

After spending an entire weekend dwelling on her meeting with Weiss, Ruby was still dwelling on it.  Unlike seemingly everything else she touched these days, she hadn’t figured out what it meant yet.  And when she couldn’t figure out what something meant, she couldn’t stop thinking about it.

In this case, that meant she couldn’t stop thinking about Weiss and what she’d been almost positive was just another recruitment attempt.  She couldn’t have been more wrong, and being wrong made her even more intrigued.

In isolation, that brief interaction with Weiss came off as inquisitive, thoughtful, and friendly.  Weiss’ questions were conversational without being prying, and she showed legitimate interest in each response.  Those traits, however, flew in the face of the person Ruby had watched stalk the halls of the Justice Center for years.  Was it an act?  Or was Weiss really that different between her work and personal life?

Ruby really wanted to know...and didn’t see the harm in trying to find out.  If Weiss wasn’t recruiting her, what other purpose could there be?  Weiss didn’t seem like the type to waste her time, yet her curiosity felt genuine.

Unfortunately, a mountain of work prevented Ruby from spending every second figuring out what made that meeting so special.  She would find the answers eventually, but it would take longer than she wanted it to.  In the meantime, she waited for Weiss to send another message, hopefully sooner rather than later.

The irony of the situation didn’t escape her.  Here she was, using whatever means possible to find small moments of interaction, when Weiss came right out and invited her to lunch.  Did that mean Weiss shared a similar interest in learning about her?

She shouldn’t jump ahead of herself.  But she did stop herself from taking an even deeper look into Weiss’ personal life.  Mostly by forcing herself to work, but also by imagining how awkward it would be if Weiss found out.

“Look at that…” Ruby muttered when a picture popped onto the screen, momentarily drawing her focus away from Weiss.

Even though grainy and partially obscured by a streetlight, the person centered in the frame was clearly their perpetrator.  He swore that he was on the other side of town at exactly this moment, making this photograph proof that he was lying.  That, or he had an identical twin.

“You never know,” she mumbled while beginning a new search - this time for a potential twin.  If this was some crazy coincidence of genetics, she didn’t want to look like an idiot blaming the wrong person.

While that search ran in the background, she grabbed another case file and spread the documents across the screens in front of her.  Another stolen identity - an increasingly common crime as mask-making software became more accessible.  This was just one of the reasons she told everyone to bio encrypt everything, but most people didn’t want to go through the hassle.

Hassle or not, this case proved the importance.  Of course, explain that to someone who didn’t want to spend hours meticulously scanning and saving every bit of their existence.  It took months of badgering before Yang and Blake finally agreed to do it.  Jez had been more willing, but Casey ducked Ruby every time she brought it up, and everyone else acted like having their identity stolen was no big deal.

Maybe she should throw together a presentation with some real-world examples of what happened when an identity got stolen, then send it around the department and offer to help set everyone up.  If she did that, no one would have an excuse not to safeguard their data.

“An idea for later,” she said aloud before dropping that thought into a note and pushing it to the edge of her screens.

With that out of the way, she turned back to the case only for a soft buzz to draw her attention.  Recognizing the overpriced encryption software immediately, she forgot about work as the moment she’d been waiting for finally arrived.

The message included another cipher, but Ruby circumvented it just as easily as she had the first time and quickly found herself staring at a very succinct ‘Free now?’ on her phone.

Admittedly, she’d planned on working late like usual.  But the stolen identity would have to wait until tomorrow, as she sent back a ‘Yes!’ and wrapped up her work.  Weiss quickly replied with a location and offer to come unmasked; Ruby was equally fast confirming that she would be there, grabbing her belongings, and racing out of the lab.

Without the computer screens to stare at, her mind rejoiced at the lack of distractions.  She’d wanted to focus solely on Weiss ever since they met at E’Clara’s.  Now, she could do just that.  Even better, she could add new memories and mysteries to her growing collection.

Honestly, she didn’t know what she was most excited about - testing her wits against the smartest person she’d ever met, going toe-to-toe in casual conversation against a skilled debater, or simply talking to a gorgeous, intelligent, successful woman who wouldn’t shy away from calling her out.  Possibly all of the above.

Unfortunately, she barely set foot in the lobby before Yang caught sight of her and intercepted her path.

“Where’re you off to so early?”

“Meeting a friend!”

“You have a friend you’ll leave work early for?”

Yang’s raised brow suggested that the comment was more suspicious than Ruby had intended, but she couldn’t exactly say who she was meeting.

“Uh, yeah!  Trying out new things to help with...you know.”

When Ruby motioned to her head, realization dawned in Yang’s eyes.

“Oh, I see...good!  That’s a good idea.  Find something interesting outside of work.”

“Exactly.”  Sensing the opportunity to slip out of the conversation, Ruby backed towards the exit.  “I’ll see you later though!”

“Alright - have fun!”

After returning Yang’s wave, Ruby hurried through the doors and sighed in relief as soon as she reached freedom.  From there, she headed towards the location Weiss had sent her - a sprawling park in the center of the tech district.

Had Weiss picked this location assuming Ruby would be familiar with it and, therefore, more comfortable meeting there?  Or was it a random selection that just happened to be near Ruby’s apartment?  Yet another question she wanted the answer to...and dwelled on while taking her usual route away from the police department.

Realistically, she and Weiss were only acquaintances.  Or, as Weiss suggested, competitors.  Whatever they were, they weren’t friends - yet - but that didn’t bother Ruby.  After only one meeting, she felt like she knew Weiss better.  That clear sense of accomplishment made her want to see what she would learn this time.

Hopping off the train a few blocks earlier than her normal stop, she joined the crowd flowing down the station’s steps before jogging across the street to the park’s entrance.  The park was busy, as usual, with a collection of runners, bladers, and robo or real dog walkers entering or exiting one of the largest green spaces remaining in the city.

After searching for a glimpse of beautiful white hair but not finding it, Ruby realized that Weiss was probably wearing a holomask today.  That explained her offer for Ruby to come unmasked...but also meant that Ruby had no idea who to look for.

Fortunately, spotting Weiss turned out to be easy - she was sitting on one of the benches lining the path leading into the park.  With a phone in her hand, an impeccably coordinated outfit, and long, wavy black hair flowing down her back, she looked so at ease with herself that Ruby smiled while walking over to join her.

“Hey,” Ruby said once near enough, only for her certainty to evaporate when the girl looked up in surprise.

“Hey?”

In one word, Ruby confirmed this wasn’t Weiss.  This was just another beautiful girl who happened to have a similar demeanor and sense of style.

“I’m so sorry,” Ruby apologized while a blush lit her cheeks.  “I’m meeting a friend and thought - that was my bad.  I didn’t mean to interrupt or, um, bother you or anything.”

The longer Ruby rambled, the more the girl’s confusion morphed into something closer to amusement.

“That’s ok.”  Lowering her phone, she gave Ruby a warm smile.  “You’re not bothering me at all.”

“Oh good.”  Ruby exhaled in relief before a nervous chuckle slipped through her lips.  “I know how annoying it is when you’re just trying to find a moment of peace and keep getting interrupted.”

“Sounds like you get interrupted a lot.”

“You don’t know the half of it,” Ruby replied with a laugh.  “I work with a bunch of detectives and officers who just love barging into my office.”

“You work for the police?”  The girl’s brow rose at the information, and she smiled when Ruby nodded.  “Wow...I wouldn’t expect you to be a cop.”

“Because I’m so young, right?” Ruby guessed, only for her blush to deepen when the girl’s eyes slowly swept over her.

“Ruby?”

Spinning towards her name, Ruby found a young woman with strawberry-blonde hair and plenty of freckles standing behind her.  Considering this stranger already knew her name, she gave the first girl a timid smile while pointing over her shoulder.

“That’s probably her,” she said while backing away.  “Again, I’m really sorry!”

Before hearing a response, she hurried over to Weiss.

“Making friends?” were the first words out of Weiss’ mouth, along with an amused smile barely held at bay.

“As great as holomasks are, they make it a little hard to find people sometimes…”

When Weiss actually chuckled at that statement, Ruby’s heart fluttered.  Weiss’ gaze then flitted towards the park bench, where the other girl’s attention had returned to her phone, before finally focusing on Ruby and smiling.

“Hi.”

Just like that, Ruby’s butterflies returned.

“Hi,” Ruby replied before remembering the other thing she’d been excited about since they saw each other last.  “I made something for you,” she added before fishing a small memory chip from her pocket and handing it over.

Openly curious, Weiss set the chip on top of her phone and looked through the files Ruby had thrown together.  Even through the holomask, Ruby could see the wheels turning in Weiss’ head as the information was absorbed, processed, and taken apart.

“Where did you get this data?” Weiss finally asked.

As soon as Ruby recognized the look in Weiss’ eyes - the same look that preceded pulling something apart and proving it wrong - Ruby smiled.

“Board of Attorneys.”

“How old is it?”

“Last year.”

“What did you leave out?”

When Ruby laughed at that subtle accusation, humor flickered through Weiss’ eyes.

“Nothing!  That’s really what it says.”

“Well, it’s clearly biased,” Weiss responded with a dismissive wave.  “I’m assuming it’s from those surveys I never fill out.”

“You got it.”

“So you only have responses from people willing to waste their time,” Weiss replied, jumping on the perceived weakness.  “Even if this was representative of all attorneys, it’s self-reported information.  I can call myself easygoing, but what does it matter if no one agrees with me?”

“I thought you might say that.”  For the life of her, Ruby couldn’t stop smiling while motioning for Weiss to look at the second page.  “So I gathered some additional opinions.”

After flipping to the next page, Weiss stared at the screen for a long, long time.  And the longer it took for her to respond, the more delighted Ruby became.

“You combed memorial pages,” Weiss said as Ruby’s smile grew.  “I’m actually a little annoyed by how genius that is.”

The response made Ruby laugh, especially when Weiss frowned at the screen as if she’d missed something.  That reaction alone made the time spent on this pet project more than worthwhile.

“Now will you accept that being an attorney doesn’t make you serious?” Ruby asked.  “It does make you argumentative, ambitious, and rich though.”

“As convincing as this looks, I can’t accept anything without doing some research of my own.  But you already knew that.”

By the time Weiss looked up, Ruby was already giggling.  She didn’t know why she got such a kick out of arguing with Weiss, but she couldn’t deny that she did.  Winning or losing didn’t even matter; she just loved learning how Weiss’ mind worked.

“I look forward to seeing what you find out,” Ruby added with a nod and another giggle.  “But now I wonder...what will your memorial page say about you?”

“I don’t plan on finding out.”

The response was so deadpan, Ruby thought Weiss was being serious.  When she noticed the slight smile on Weiss’ lips, however, she burst into laughter.

“I guess I don’t either,” she admitted and, after Weiss finally gave in to a smile, motioned towards the park.  “Want to go for a walk?”

“That was the plan.  After you.”

When the girl from earlier winked at Ruby as they passed by, she blushed and kept her gaze on the sidewalk rather than risk another awkward conversation.

If someone told Ruby a few days ago that she would spend an evening walking through the park with Weiss Schnee, she would have referred them to a highly-rated psychiatrist.  Here she was, however, walking beside one of the most enigmatic people she’d ever met.

“How was your day?” Weiss asked before Ruby could even start thinking the silence was uncomfortable.

“Pretty normal.”  Ruby left out the part where she spent most of it hoping Weiss would reach out.  But Weiss didn’t need to know that.  “Researched stuff, pushed some investigations along, and organized lots of data - what about you?”

“I also pushed some investigations forward.  Although, they didn’t find as much information as I would’ve liked.”

“Do they ever?” Ruby asked, earning a curious expression from Weiss before realization dawned in her clear blue eyes.

“I’m guessing you get the same half-baked reports I do?”

“Oh yeah.  All the time.”

“Would it kill people to be thorough?”

“Probably.”

“Honestly,” Weiss scoffed.  “The other day I asked Jared, our tech ‘specialist,’ to make a list of recent acquaintances for a client.  Do you know what he gave me?”

“A short, curated list of names organized by relevance?”

That was what Ruby would do, but the way Weiss stared at her implied that wasn’t what happened.  That only became increasingly apparent when Weiss shook her head.

“I can’t even tell you.  It’s too embarrassing.”

“But now I want to know!” Ruby whined, making Weiss’ amusement grow.  She even laughed at the situation before shaking her head one more time and turning Ruby’s way.

“You really want to know?”

“Yes!”

“Ok.  He gave me a list of every single person who walked through the transit center at rush hour on a Friday.”

Considering the sheer volume of traffic the transit center saw on any given day at any given time, that list must have been massive.  Not to mention incomplete, since it was next to impossible to track all of those identities when factoring in holomasks and the infamous dead zones.  Ruby couldn’t even imagine handing something like that back to a detective.  Just thinking about it was enough to humiliate her by proxy.

“Are you serious?”

“Yes,” Weiss replied, smiling when Ruby started giggling.

“Did you fire him?” she guessed, only to feel even happier when Weiss actually laughed.

“I wish, but they won’t let me do that.  I handed it back to him with some attitude though.”

“Is that what you call it?  ‘Some attitude?’”

“I know you agree he deserved it.  You don’t have to deny it.”

When Weiss gave Ruby a knowing look, Ruby shrugged and pretended like she didn’t have an answer.  That sounded like some shoddy work though.  How did Weiss deal with that and still rack up the win-count she had?

As they walked further into the park, that question made Ruby wonder what Weiss was like to work with.  Was she as demanding as she seemed?  Probably.  But maybe she only wanted perfection - an understandable goal considering their jobs.

“Oh,” Ruby said aloud when her eyes landed upon a familiar name plastered on an advertisement across the street.  “That’s your family’s company, right?”

When Ruby pointed at the sign, Weiss stiffened and intentionally averted her gaze.

“I have nothing to do with my family.”

“Oh.  Sorry...”

Now Ruby felt horrible for asking, but that hadn’t seemed like a bad question when the sign literally said ‘Schnee Industries’ on it.  She’d also seen the name on several big buildings downtown but thought nothing of it other than Weiss came from money, also explaining that bank account.  Apparently, Ruby was missing an important piece of information.

After walking for several seconds in silence, however, Weiss sighed.

“I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to be so...terse.”

“I’m sorry for asking.  I didn’t mean to bring up something you don’t want to talk about.”

With the apologies issued, they fell back into silence and meandered towards the edge of the park.  It didn’t feel like the type of silence Ruby could break, so she didn’t try.  Instead, she stuck her hands in her pockets and watched the sidewalk pass underneath her feet.  Eventually, Weiss sighed again.

“My father...isn’t a very nice man.  When I graduated from high school, he told me I could live how he wanted me to or I could leave.”

When Ruby looked over, Weiss was frowning at the sidewalk, looking both annoyed and bothered by the memory.

“So I left,” she added.  “Put myself through law school, found a job, started a career...without his connections, money, or power.”

“That’s why you’re so independent?” Ruby asked, but Weiss just shrugged.

“I suppose you could say that.”

As the poignant silence returned, Ruby processed that unexpected information.  Without running an extensive search on Weiss’ family, she would have never known that Weiss was estranged.  Even then, the details of that estrangement were probably locked away from the public eye.  It was only by being here, talking to Weiss, that she could learn such personal information.

While grateful that Weiss decided to share, Ruby felt heartbroken all the same.  Her family was so important to her that she couldn’t imagine being without them.  Knowing that Weiss was alienated from hers was...sad.

“But what about you?”  From her tone and the way she gestured with one hand, Weiss wanted to put that topic behind them.  “You went through Vale U.’s Innovation Program, right?”

“Ah, yeah.  I did.”

“What was that like?”

“Honestly?” Ruby asked before glancing over.  “Really easy.  The professors kind of struggled to come up with things for me to do.”

“That sounds...impressive.”

“I don’t know about ‘impressive.’  Computers have always just...made sense to me.”  Remembering one of the more interesting parts about school, she smiled and added, “My professors called me ‘Wizard Rose’ because of how fast I solved their problems.”

“Wizard Rose…” Weiss repeated before sending a thoughtful look Ruby’s way.  “It must be flattering that people think so highly of you.”

“Eh…”  Weiss’ brow rose at the lukewarm response, but Ruby shrugged.  “It’s nice sometimes, but mostly it makes me uncomfortable.”

“How so?”

“Well, like...what I do isn’t impossible - I just practiced a lot.  Treating me like...like some type of celebrity makes it seem like I’m special, but I don’t feel that way.”

“I’m guessing a career as one of those ‘tech gods’ isn’t in your future?”

“Um, no,” Ruby replied, laughing at the idea.  “They’re crazy.”

“They make a lot of money though.”

“But money can’t buy happiness.”

“Debatable.”

Glancing at Weiss, Ruby decided not to argue.

“Are you happy?” she asked instead.  The question brought Weiss’ gaze her way, and blue eyes searched hers while an answer was formed.  But that first answer never made it into the world - it was replaced by another, which showed in Weiss’ eyes before she spoke.

“I prefer to think of myself as content.”

The response didn’t leave room for negotiation, so Ruby waited several seconds before returning to the prior topic.

“I actually know quite a few ‘tech gods,’” she admitted.  “They’re not so bad in person.  They’re mostly just acting.”

“Aren’t we all?”

Hearing the dryness in Weiss’ tone, Ruby sent her a curious look.

“What do you mean?”

“Aren’t we all just acting, all the time?”

The question only confused Ruby further, so Weiss waved her hand at the nearby buildings.  More specifically, at the cameras dotting the corners of each building, perched on street lights, tucked into alleyways, and hovering above every door.

“We’re constantly being watched,” Weiss elaborated.  “Anyone, at any time, could be looking into our lives.  It’s only natural to modify our behavior in response.  The higher the scrutiny, the more likely we are to change.  To become someone we’re not.”

“Then...when are we ever ourselves?”

“When we’re at home alone, and we know no one’s watching.”

The response was particularly soulful coming from Weiss, but she seemed to think nothing of it.  Instead, she trained her gaze forward and continued walking without another word.  Ruby, meanwhile, frowned and parsed through that thought.

She didn’t want to believe that she was never being herself, but Weiss’ argument was hard to debunk.  They were being watched all of the time; she knew that better than anyone as the one sometimes doing the watching.  Still, there had to be moments when they could still be themselves.  Even if someone was watching - wouldn’t their true nature occasionally slip through?

She would dwell on that question later, as she glanced across the street and was surprised to see her apartment building.  Looking over her shoulder, she confirmed that they’d already walked several blocks.  After opening her mouth to mention it, however, she paused and second-guessed herself.

“What is it?”

Of course, Weiss was too observant not to notice.  She even gave the building an inquisitive look before returning her focus to Ruby.  With the decision effectively made for her, Ruby figured...what the hell?  They were already here.

“I actually live right there.”

When Ruby pointed at the building, the tallest in the area, Weiss gave it a far more thoughtful look.  She was probably cataloging all the important details, location and any identifying features amongst them, before nodding.

“It’s a nice neighborhood,” was all she said, though she must have drawn more conclusions than that.

“Yeah, I like it here.”  After another brief hesitation, which again drew Weiss’ interest, Ruby motioned to the entrance.  “Do you want to come up for a bit?”

The offer slipped out without much thought, and it was only after she heard the words aloud that she realized how bad that might be.  It wouldn’t be surprising if Weiss declined.  Ruby actually prepared herself for that answer when Weiss looked at the doorway and nodded.

“Sure.”

“Really?  Oh, uh, cool.”

After shaking her head at the lame response, Ruby forced a smile and waved for Weiss to follow her across the street and up the front steps.  While crossing the lobby, she noticed the way Weiss’ gaze swept every inch of the space.  It was nothing more than a delivery center with a few chairs, so Ruby didn’t know why Weiss seemed so interested.  She didn’t ask though; she just summoned an elevator to the ground floor and let Weiss finish her observation.

As soon as they stepped into the elevator though, Ruby’s nerves started multiplying out of control.  And when she was nervous, she rambled.

“I live on the top floor,” she explained while pressing the corresponding button.  “Yang thinks I’m crazy, but I think it’s safer.  If anyone tries to get to my apartment, they have to take the elevator.”

“And people don’t like taking the elevator?” Weiss asked.

“No, they do.  And I patched into the elevator controls.”

Raising her phone to show Weiss the labyrinth of data sending the electric deathboxes up and down, Ruby smiled while that intent, analytical gaze pieced together the rest of her rationale.

“So you can trap anyone you don’t want to see.”

“Exactly!  Not that I’ve ever had to do that, but I’ve also never had to jump out the window like Yang’s always warning me about.”

When Weiss smiled at the response, Ruby took a deep breath and wiped her palms on her pants.

Weiss was pretty calm about this.  At least, she seemed calm while watching the lights illuminate floor by floor.  Did she really want to see Ruby’s apartment?  Or had she only agreed because she thought she had to?  Because she definitely didn’t have to.

By the time they reached the top floor, Ruby almost wished that Weiss hadn’t agreed just to avoid the nerves.  Plus, now that she thought about it, should she have invited Weiss up here?  She just wanted to spend more time together, but did the invitation send the wrong message?  What if Weiss thought that she wanted to...do other things together...?

Glancing to the side reassured Ruby somewhat, as Weiss looked simply curious while following Ruby down the hall.  Still, Ruby’s heart pounded in her ears as her apartment approached, and she took a deep breath before unlocking her door and stepping inside.  Moving out of the way, she motioned Weiss into the living room and watched Weiss’ reaction to her home.

First, that intent gaze studied the room.  If Ruby wasn’t there, Weiss probably would have taken the time to document every little detail.  Instead, the glance lasted only a second before Weiss reached up and removed the holomask from her ear.

When long, white hair and exquisite blue eyes revealed themselves once more, Ruby was struck by how crazy this was.  Weiss Schnee was in her apartment, but it didn’t feel weird or scary.  Sure, her heart was beating like crazy, but in an exciting, exhilarating way.

“It’s nice,” Weiss commented and, possibly emboldened by Ruby’s lack of oversight, stepped further into the room.  Her eyes swept over the space again - this time slowly and methodically, almost as if creating a list of everything Ruby owned.  When her gaze landed on the desk and stayed, however, Ruby blushed.

“...why do you have so many phones?”

By the time Weiss turned around, her brow was already furrowed in thought.  And Ruby was struck by the realization that she liked that Weiss didn’t just ask questions - she asked questions and immediately tried to answer them by herself.

“Uh, I was working on something,” Ruby answered.

“Do I even want to know?”

“You can know.”

“Then I want to.”

The response didn’t surprise Ruby in the slightest, and she felt a surge of excitement at the prospect of showing someone what she’d done.  Before she touched the phones, however, another thought popped into her head.

“Actually...I could show you the whole thing on Wednesday night, if you want.”

“Why Wednesday night?”

Weiss’ gaze flitted to the phones before returning to Ruby - again, trying to figure out the answer before Ruby told her.

Ruby couldn’t believe she was about to do this, but she also knew that her project needed a few last-minute tweaks.  It would be much more impressive to see the final result, and considering how much she wanted to impress Weiss...

“There’s this event on Wednesday, called Tech Masters.  It’s...basically an excuse for the biggest tech heads to get together and celebrate the newest advancements.”

“I’m assuming you’re invited.”

“Yeah!  They want me to talk for a bit, which I suck at, but I also came up with something to show them.  And you, if you’re interested.”

The moment Weiss’ eyes locked onto hers, Ruby’s resolve disappeared.

“I mean, only if you want.  Don’t feel like you have to or anything.  I can always show you now, since you’re busy and that’s probably better for your schedule.”

“Actually...”  After pulling out her phone, Weiss tapped a few buttons and nodded.  “I’m free Wednesday night.”

“Then...do you want to come with me?”

“Sure.”  For a brief moment, it looked like Weiss might actually smile.  Instead, she nodded again.  “I want to know what the phones are for,” she added with a nod towards the desk.

“I don’t think you’ll be disappointed!  At least, I hope not.”

Now Ruby was both excited and terrified about Wednesday, when she would either impress or embarrass herself.  What if it didn’t work?  She’d tested it multiple times using the few dozen phones at her disposal, but those were only small-scale recreations…

“Oh, uh, you’ll probably have to go masked...” she pointed out, but Weiss waved off the inconvenience.

“That’s fine.  I figure they actually want to see you there, seeing as how they invited you.”

“Possibly,” Ruby replied with a soft laugh.  “But I’ll send you the details.”

“Please do.”

As soon as a hint of a smile appeared on Weiss’ lips, something warm, happy, and jittery flowed through Ruby’s veins.  She’d planned on going alone, but this was better.  It made her way more nervous, but she couldn’t wait at the same time.  When Weiss’ gaze slid to the side, however, she realized she wasn’t being a good host.

“Oh, sorry, welcome to my apartment!”  Stepping to the side, Ruby made a grand gesture towards her apartment, which was really just one big room with furniture denoting the separate living areas.  “Uh, this is pretty much it,” she added.  “Then there’s a couple bedrooms and bathrooms.”

Fortunately, she’d recently cleaned.  Otherwise, she’d be really embarrassed when Weiss walked to the center of the room and looked around.  The kitchen was in front of them.  The living room on their right.  And her home office, which was...well, some might call it excessive...took up the left side of the apartment.

“It...suits you,” Weiss surmised.

Glancing around, Ruby tried to decide what prompted that response.  The wall of computer screens, most likely.  Or the tables covered in random electronic parts, including the stack of phones mentioned earlier.

“Thanks.  I like it here, at least.”

“That’s good.”  After one more look around, Weiss nodded to herself before glancing at the clock hung in the kitchen.  “I should probably head home,” she added before meeting Ruby’s gaze with an apologetic one of her own.  “I have a lot of work to do.”

“Oh, that’s fine!  Me too.”

Disappointment reared its head, but Ruby pushed it aside with a smile.  She did have a lot of work to do - most notably her Tech Masters project.  The last thing she wanted to do was embarrass herself in front of Weiss and hundreds of strangers.  But, on the plus side, she knew exactly when they would see each other next.

“I can walk you out,” she said, but Weiss waved away the offer.

“Don’t worry - I can see myself out.  I’m sure you have more work to do.”  Weiss’ gaze lingered on the phones for another second before she smiled.  “It was nice seeing you again,” she added, the words sending another flurry of butterflies through Ruby’s chest.  “I’ll see you Wednesday.”

“Y-yeah!  See you Wednesday.”

With another perfect smile, Weiss fit the holomask around her ear and left Ruby’s apartment just as quickly and easily as she’d entered.  As soon as the door closed, Ruby rushed over to her computer and pulled up the cameras from the hallways and the elevator, letting her watch Weiss leave the building.  An expensive car pulled up to the sidewalk just as Weiss got there, and the door opened for her before she slipped out of view.

Once the car pulled away from the curb, Ruby sat in her desk chair and stared at the screen for a long time.  Her heart was still racing - logic suggested Weiss was the cause, but was it normal for someone to have such a big effect on another person?  Was it normal to want to spend so much time with someone even though they hardly knew each other?

Maybe it was just Weiss’ personality, but her questions were inquisitive bordering on searching.  Every response Ruby gave was noted, and she couldn’t help imagining that a mental profile was being created under her name.  Just like she created files on people at work and attached any relevant information, Weiss was doing the same with her - only without the use of a computer.

At this point, Ruby wanted nothing more than to find every scrap of information about Weiss and build the most comprehensive personal profile imaginable, but she was also enjoying learning the slow way - the old-fashioned way.  There was something much more...intimate...about it.

Whatever it was, she liked it.  So she would refrain from more searches, for now, and impatiently wait for her next opportunity to learn more about Weiss.

Wednesday couldn’t arrive fast enough.