For most people, getting some cash at an ATM was probably as easy as going to a store or a bank. Oscar could do the same, but the closest one in his farming town several miles away. He was too young to take the truck, so he'd needed to find some free time to walk there without his aunt noticing.

'This is so dumb.' He shivered in his coat. Even bundled up with a scarf and gloves, it was waytoo cold for this.

'Yes, you've said so repeatedly. Yet that hasn't seemed to stop you.'

Yeah, it hadn't. If it had, Ozpin would have just kept pestering him!

Yeah, Ozpin. That was the name of the voice in his head. Just the fact that he had one had made Oscar think he was going crazy at first, and he'd hoped that it would go away on its own. But it hadn't. The voice was always there, nagging him to leave the farm, to become a huntsman, that the world was at stake. Even when it was silent, Oscar could still feel its presence in the back of his mind.

The only reason he'd gone was that in return, Ozpin had promised to be quiet for a day. Giving up a few hours of his time for that was easy. Plus, on the off chance that he wasn't crazy and the voice was telling him about a real bank account, he'd get some money out of the trip too.

A breeze made him hunch over and try to cover as much of his face as he could. Winter hadn't arrived yet, but it sure felt like it today. At least Ozpin didn't say much while Oscar walked along the road.

"You know, why didn't you try to tell me about this bank account sooner?" Oscar asked, speaking aloud. It felt more natural than Ozpin just replying to his thoughts and way less nosy. It might make him look like a crazy person, but there wasn't anyone around anyway.

'Being put into a new body is always a confusing experience. I was actually with you for quite a while before I could manage to make you hear me. Recalling enough information to prove that I'm not a product of your imagination took even longer.'

"Okay, being put into a new body is confusing, makes sense." Then, Oscar added in a low voice. "Should have known better than to ask."

An hour later, he arrived in the shop and let out a sigh at the warmth. Gloves and scarf off to let him heat up as fast as possible.

'There, to the right of the counter.'

Oscar looked to where Ozpin said and there was the ATM. It was always creepy when he did that, and the explanation of the voice mentioning something he'd already noticed subconsciously seemed to get weaker each time.

He walked up it with his scroll which was already loaded with the bank account information Ozpin had given him. He just had to type some numbers and security question answers in whenever the ATM asked. Each time Oscar pressed next, he hoped that the screen would say that the information was wrong. That there wasn't an account with these numbers. Then he'd only need to go to a doctor, and they'd tell him he had schizophrenia or something and help him get rid of the voice.

His hopes were spoiled. Oscar made it to the last screen for verification, with Ozpin making sure that he typed in everything correctly and pressed confirm.

Oscar's eyes almost popped out of his head when he saw how much money was in the account. And it was real! Which meant-which meant-

'I suppose this is satisfactory proof of my existence?' The voice-no-Ozpin said. Pleased, but not smug.

"H-how much can I get?" Oscar whispered. He didn't want the store clerk to hear.

'As much as you like. Although I would suggest keeping the majority in the account. I've found that electronic access to money has many advantages."

"O-okay," Oscar's finger trembled as he tapped withdraw and tried to decide on an amount. A few thousand lien should be okay, more than enough to make life a lot easier for his aunt. There were a lot of old tools on the farm that needed replacing and plenty of bills that he could pay off. Except where would he say he got the money from?

Ozpin chuckled.

"What?"

'Apologies. I'm not laughing at you. I'm always glad to see my next host prove himself to be a considerate, respectable individual.'

Oscar blushed. Before, it would have been nearly impossible for Ozpin to make him react like that, since he'd only been a voice. "What do you mean?"

'Your first thought is how to use this money to assist your aunt. Of course, you probably wish to use this money for yourself as well, but your immediate reaction is promising. Go ahead and withdraw some, use it however you'd like.'

Oscar nodded and got a decent stack of bills out of the machine. He'd never handled this much money before, and he couldn't ignore its weight as he stored it in his pocket. He should have brought something else to carry it in, something safer, but he hadn't expected it to be real.

He walked along the aisles, overwhelmed by the choices now that he could buy anything he wanted. Okay, first, he didn't want to get so much that it would be hard to walk back home. That helped narrow down his choices.

Oscar loaded up on snacks and drinks, a stash that he could stretch out for weeks. After placing them all on the counter, he saw the hot chocolate machine, and got himself a cup. When he walked back out, the hot sweet drink made it easy to deal with the cold weather.

'Oscar.' The amusement in Ozpin's voice had disappeared. 'Now that you've accepted my existence, you must realize that I've also been telling the truth about what you must do.'

Oscar froze. That was right. If what Ozpin had said about the bank account was real, then that meant everything else he said was. He really was the former headmaster of Beacon, and he really did need Oscar to help protect the world from Grimm. It wasn't just the rambling of a voice in his head anymore.

"Okay, you're real, but I can't just leave my aunt!"

'I know it's difficult, but the world itself is at stake. You realize now that I tell the truth of a being capable of controlling the Grimm and how the attack on Vale during the Vytal Festival was merely the work of one of her servants. We must leave. Go to Haven and regroup with my allies in the fight against her. The money I just provided you will allow that.'

Oscar's eyes widened. "Is that why you gave me the money? To make me abandon my home?" He grabbed the bills in his pocket. "I don't want it then! I'll deposit it right back!"

'Oscar, try to understand. I have good reason to fear for the future more than ever before. Have you heard of the Dart?'

Oscar tilted his head. What was with the sudden change in topic? "Of course I know about him. Even here, we saw the news about the Vytal Festival and what he did."

'The Dart is one of my allies, the most powerful one I've ever found. Shortly after his appearance, the enemy gained a member with similar abilities, but outmatching even him. Can you imagine it? The devastation such an individual could cause?'

Oscar tried. The Dart had been fast enough that he'd only been a blur even in footage taken from the air. He was strong enough to tear through Grimm like paper and take down an enormous dragon. Huntsmen were strong, but that sounded insane even for them.

'You are on the right track, but you haven't seen what he is capable of. I myself have only witnessed worse at the hands of gods.'

Gods? Oscar wanted to make a comment but changed his mind. He was talking to a guy whose soul had been put into his body. Maybe gods were real too.

'You must go to Haven. Even if it will take time before you are ready for combat, my allies require guidance and knowledge that only I can provide. If you do not, this may be the era in which Salem succeeds and all people, not just your aunt, are at her mercy.'

Oscar grit his teeth. Why did this have to happen to him? The stuff Ozpin talked about sounded like it was from a fantasy book. Leaving home to protect the world? Yeah, Oscar had thought about leaving the farms before, living a life full of excitement somewhere else, but not like this. Not forced into it by someone else inside his head.

'I am sorry, I truly am, but you must leave. If you're concerned for your aunt, leave her a large sum of money before you go. Clearly, it's no substitute for you, but it will ease some of her hardships.'

For the rest of the trip home, Ozpin didn't say another word. Even with what he was asking for, Oscar appreciated that.

\\\\\

"Don't worry, I don't expect you to go through all that again. If we need to, we'll get one of the other families to do it. It's only fair."

"I'm not meaning to complain, boss," Kai said on the other end of the call. "It's just, like I said, they have strong guys. I can't think of a fighter who stands a chance against one of the two we found.'

"I understand. Now, I'm rather busy, so I'll speak to you later," Nioxan hung up on Kai, one of the men that he and Diomed had used to retaliate against the Interference. They'd both managed to get the men involved in that out of jail.

It hadn't been too difficult. Who could say that they'd actually committed any crimes that night? Their weapons were registered, and no witnesses had come forward to say that they'd shot at each other like the notes claimed. The men all knew how to play dumb too, especially when they really didn't know how they'd arrived at a police station unconscious.

Besides, bribing police could still be done. It required some extra maneuvering to be safe, but it was simple enough.

Overall, it had been a success. They hadn't lost any men and they'd gotten some actual information on the Interference. That had actually surprised Nio, since they'd always seemed to evade any attempt to learn more about them, and the men's description had been strangely ordinary. They'd worn black cloaks and masks, had aura, and Kai had actually managed to pin one of them before their much stronger friend came to help.

They could be attacked. They could be captured. They could be beaten.

Well, Nio couldn't have that just yet. He'd thought the Interference would maintain its remarkable mystery, but it seemed like they couldn't. They needed a little push, he'll have to organize some seriously damning information to fall into their hands. Petro had been a thorn in his side for a while, the Interference was the perfect tool to get rid of him and his annoying family.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Nio's scroll rang, a glance at the screen showed that his son was calling. He answered the video call. "What is it?"

His son's face appeared on the screen with an anxious baffled expression. "Um, dad, something weird happened with our powder delivery today."

"Did the cops find it?" Nio frowned. Even with the new bribing arrangement, that would be troublesome.

"No, it was delivered just fine, but it's weird. There's a note too. I think you should come see this."

"And where are you?"

"At the office building. Where we usually pick up the packages."

Nio nodded. "Alright, I'll be there soon."

He walked out of his office, and his guards followed behind him. He arranged for a ride, and fifteen minutes later, he met his son outside the building.

"What happened?" Nio asked the moment he saw his son.

As they walked, his son told him about what he'd seen. "A lot of weird things . . . I'm still not sure what, but I'll try to explain. First, we'd arrived and were waiting for the delivery guy as usual. But he doesn't show up, instead, all the packages just-I don't know-appeared right in front of us. Just like that." He snapped his fingers.

"Appeared? Appeared how?"

"Like teleportation or something. I'm serious!" His son claimed at Nio's doubtful expression. "I know it sounds crazy, but the other guys who were with me saw the same thing!"

"Okay, enough about that. What about our deliverer?"

"We're calling him, but he's not answering. These are definitely his packages though, and they're the exact amounts we wanted."

"Let me see them."

Nio's son guided him to the room they'd been waiting in. They had to take a couple doors and go through a few hallways to reach it, and Nio noted that there were cameras in some of the corners. He'd have to check on them to see whoever had done this trick.

Once he arrived, he saw the packs arranged in a neat pile in the middle of the room. It looked like his son hadn't touched them at all, so he went forward and held one up. There was no sign of any tears in the packaging or any other tampering. Nio counted them and confirmed what his son had said. They were all here, ten packs.

Nio turned back around. "Where's the note?"

"Here," his son handed him a slip of paper.

You said M & P were annoying. You discussed giving an important role to D, and he said he wasn't sure. Check your scroll for more.

Nio went still. Who was this? How could they know about his dinner with Diomed and Iscon?

"Does it mean anything?" His son asked, startling him out of his shock.

His scroll vibrated, startling him out of his shock. He took it out of his pocket, and the screen showed it was a message from their usual transport man.

You read my note, good. Here's some more information I happened to get a hold of.

Below were detailed descriptions of the Ionas' routes and plans for smuggling material into the city.

I don't have proof of it, since you haven't moved much in that direction, but you're planning to use the Interference to get some serious control over the families, huh? Have to say, it's ambitious, I like it.

Nio was left speechless and could only gawk at his surroundings. They had to be watching him right now, that was the only way they could have sent this message just when he'd finished reading the note.

A new message came in.

Hey, calm down there. We both know I could ruin you if I shared this. If you want to keep this quiet, here's what you need to do.

Further instructions came in, and Nio recovered from his confusion and moved on to rage. Did this bastard realize what he was asking? This would upset his operations and put them at an unacceptable risk.

His hands shook as he read them. He had no choice, he needed to this, but only for now.

"I want Anastas found! Now!" He yelled, a few of his men jumped at the sudden noise. No way the delivery man had the guts to betray Nio like this, whoever had gotten a hold of his scroll was going to regret trying to order Nio around.

His scroll shook.

Yeah, I thought you might react like that. Luckily for you, that means I'm not going to share anything yet, and since there's not too much of a rush, I'll give you a few days to make the right choice.

I'll even save you some time right now. Anastas is dead.

Nio bit his lip. He didn't care what trick this jackass was using to spy on him. The moment he found him, he was going to rip his eyes out and see how funny he thought spying was then.

\\\\\

"Hello Ms. Mache," One of the two men at the table greeted her the moment she entered.

"Hi," Andrea replied and sat down for the interview. She hadn't been here much, but she recognized this as the room the station used to interrogate criminals. Metal walls and chairs. Wow, she was feeling warm and cozy already. "And you are?"

"I'm Inspector Yu and this is Inspector Nava," the man who'd greeted her said in a steady voice. "Now, before we begin, have any of your fellow officers mentioned the questions we're going to ask?"

"I've heard some details," she said. Actually, before she came in, she and Phil had reviewed everything they'd asked him during his interview. "Is that a problem?"

"No, but it does affect our investigation." The man pulled out some papers from a briefcase and read them. "Now, Ms. Mache, you and Officer Helios were the ones to arrest Christopher Petridis. Is that correct?"

"Yes," she had to resist giving into sarcasm. What was the point of asking her when they'd already asked Phil?

"And what were you doing on mid-level three that day?"

"I was just killing some time with Phil. I mean, Officer Helios. We're friends outside of work, and we spent some time together. He actually had some interesting history to tell me about Acrisius Vlahos."

Inspector Yu took down some notes. "I see. I'm sure you're aware that many police officers received information with evidence of Petridis' crimes. How did you receive it?"

"Yeah, that was weird. Someone managed to slip a big folder in my purse without either me or Phil noticing."

"You're certain that nobody could have placed it there?"

"A hundred percent. I know how to take care of my stuff."

That seemed to satisfy him. "We understand. What about Christopher Petridis? Were you aware that he was nearby before you made your arrest?"

"No, we just happened to run into him," she answered.

For the first time since she entered, Inspector Nava spoke. "What made you so sure that the evidence in that folder was real?"

She looked away, acting as if she was nervous about possibly breaking protocol. "Um, it looked real when I read through it. Plus, even if it wasn't, someone was still accusing Petridis. So I was just doing my job when I arrested him."

"Don't worry Ms. Mache, you're right, you had probable cause to suspect him," Yu said calmly. "Let's move on to another topic. Surely you've heard of the gang members dropped in front of police stations all over the city?"

"Yeah, the ones with the notes attached."

"That's right. Do you happen to know any details about them? How they're brought there, who writes the notes and delivers them, that sort of thing?"

"No, why would I?"

"We've looked into your past," Nava said. "You grew up in the sub-levels with these types of people, and your co-workers are well aware of how you feel about them now as a police officer."

Andrea's eyes narrowed. Obviously, Phil hadn't prepared her for this, but she could handle it. "Yeah, so? You think I'm doing all that? That's ridiculous, I'm just a cop."

"We're not accusing you of that," Nava said. "But there aren't many police officers with such experience with gangsters and a strong motivation to put them behind bars. To the people leaving them on our doorstep, you might seem very useful. Have you been approached by them?"

"No, I haven't," she said. Which was actually the truth. She and Phil had gone to the Interference, not the other way around.

"Then that's all we need to ask you for today," Yu said. "Thank you. You may leave."

Andrea did, her fist tightened against her side the moment she went out the door. Damn it. Even now, being from the sub-levels of Mistral was messing things up.

Phil came up to her. "Hey, did it go okay in there?"

"Fine, but it was super annoying. I'll tell you about it after work."

He nodded. It was a tense few hours until they finished their shift, since they both obviously wanted to talk about what had happened. They managed to keep their mouths shut long enough to make it to her apartment to talk about what they were going to do.

"It's serious now," Phil said, as jumpy as a cat whose tail had just been stepped on. "The police are going after the Interference. What are we gonna do?"

"Relax. As long as we play dumb and don't do anything stupid, they'll have no idea we're with them."

He nodded. "Right. Right." It was like if he repeated it enough times it would become true. "What happened during your interview though? You seemed a lot more pissed off than I thought after we went over their questions."

"They asked me something new," she explained. "They think I might be helping the Interference because I have first-hand experience with how shitty the low-lives they're putting away are. What a bunch of bullshit."

"They suspect you?" Phil leaned forward.

"No, I don't think so. They definitely think me working with the Interference could be a possibility though, so I'll have to walk on eggshells. What about you?"

"I didn't get the feeling that they suspected me. They treated my interview like it was routine, like it was the same as any other officer they questioned. When he saw her upset expression, he added "Sorry."

"Don't be. Anyway, we need to talk to Farmer. We can't make plans to lay low if we don't know what the Interference needs from us."

"Yeah. You think they'll use us less now?" Phil seemed as uncomfortable with the thought as her.

"That's almost guaranteed, but we don't have any other choice." Andrea went into her room and got the radio that Farmer had given her. It didn't take long for him to answer, and they set up a meeting for later that night.

Andrea and Phil showed up at their new semi-regular meeting spot about an hour later. An old warehouse in the middle of the city that had been abandoned years ago. It was much more convenient to get to than the random caves that Farmer would find for them. Thankfully, he'd agreed to their request to meet here instead.

It was mostly clean, just dusty, with no graffiti or garbage littering the building. It was bare, with only a few portable lamps against the walls. Which were on at the moment. Farmer was standing by them against the wall. Like always, he was the first to arrive at their meetings.

"Andrea, Phil," he said with a nod. "You two didn't give a lot of details about what's going on with the police. Are you two in danger?"

"Not really, but we thought this was important enough to tell you face-to-face," Andrea said. The two of them filled Farmer in on the interviews.

"I see. So it seems that Andrea's at the most risk, but the both of you should be okay. There aren't any upcoming tasks which would put you in danger."

That was good, but Andrea crossed her arms. "Then what kinds of things are we going to do?"

"I'll look into the investigation on my own, but I'd also like updates on it from you two. There probably won't be anything like arresting Petridis for a while but see if you can find any officers who disagree with how Chief Atreus runs the police."

"You want more police in the Interference?" Phil asked.

"Not necessarily. I just want you to find those who can be counted on to condemn Atreus rather than fight to keep him as chief once evidence of his crimes gets to court."

"Alright, I don't think we'll find many, but we'll try," Andrea said. Most cops wouldn't risk defending Atreus if the Interference found something serious, but the problem was that most of them also wouldn't put risk any serious attempt to get rid of him.

What happened if she and Phil couldn't get find any? Now that Atreus had wised up and started questioning his own officers, the two of them would be useless.

"By the way, there's something I've wanted to ask," Andrea said. "I've heard rumors about something that happened a few nights ago, some family goons managed to attack the Interference. Is that true?"

Farmer nodded. "It is."

"Wait, really?" Phil asked. "Are you guys okay?"

"The Interference is fine. Nobody was seriously hurt."

"That's good, but . . . the family thugs, I heard they all got out of jail."

It was small, but the look in Farmer's eyes showed some definite annoyance. "Yes, they did."

"Are things ramping up with the families too?" she asked.

"No, we're not in any serious danger. However, the remaining families and cartels have gotten difficult to handle. We can still get information on them, but now that they're somewhat aware of us, getting evidence acceptable in a court has become nearly impossible."

"Yeah, it must be, I've been thinking about that and I think we should try something that will save us a lot of trouble." Andrea paused for a moment, preparing herself to present the idea she'd come up with a while back. "Why don't we set the families against each other? A lot of them have old grudges that wouldn't be hard to reignite. If they're fighting each other, we'll have to worry a lot less about them trying to go after the Interference. Also, they'd cut their own numbers down and you wouldn't have to bother getting them to a court."

"No, we're not doing that." Farmer said, giving her a shocked look. Phil was the same.

"B-but why not?" she asked, her face heating up while they stared at her as if she'd just suggested murder. "It'll make things a lot easier for the Interference, and besides, they're just criminals."

"They're still people," Farmer said. "Even if it makes our job easier, we're not going to manipulate them into attacking each other. Besides, street fights between small, dying gangs have already resulted in civilian deaths, how many more would there be if we did this?"

"I know, but those bastards are going to hurt people whether we do this or not," she argued. "At least this way, we'll be able to stop a lot of them permanently. Otherwise, we have to depend on courts. Even if the Interference is scaring them into refusing bribes, they're not going to judge fairly."

"You think it's worth it? Sacrificing people's lives to stop them?"

"Isn't that what you're telling us to do already? They're hurting people now, and the fastest way to get them to stop is to have them to get rid of each other."

"That's enough." Farmer stepped forward. His eyes focused on her so strongly that she could barely meet them. He spoke, his voice rigid and stern. "My plans can definitely be improved, but this isn't up for debate. We are not arranging people so that they kill each other. Do you understand?"

Andrea surrendered under his gaze and nodded.

"Good," Farmer said. "Remember what I said when you first joined us. You're here to help the city, not satisfy your hatred of criminals. If you're so eager to stop them, find a way to do it without sacrificing people's lives."

She bit her lip and trembled in anger. The preachy asshole, she knew what she was here for.