She hums. "So I guess the first question is how much you know about the conditions in and around SDC mines."

"Not a lot. Not a lot of news about working conditions and the realities of it gets out of Atlas. I can guess it's bad, but I don't know how bad."

"Yeah," she replies with a bit of disgusted frown at the SDC's practices, "they cover it up pretty hard. Atlas is basically owned by the corrupt corporations there, and the SDC is the worst of them. The conditions in the mines are blatantly unsafe, with frequent injuries among the mostly-Faunus miners. The one concession they make to safety concerns is hiring Huntsmen to keep the Grimm away from the mines. The second the miners strike, though, they pull those Hunstmen out and let the Grimm swarm the miners, drawn to the negativity. If the miners survive that, the SDC hires street gangs to break legs until the strike ends."

Violet winces. 

"That's... if that's really true, then I can see why some people would resort to violence..." 

She swallows. "It's all rhetoric about... Dust being vital to holding back the Grimm, and strikes depriving the nation of a vital strategic good on the network. I knew it was bullshit but that's a new low."

She nods. "Maya's parents died in those mines. We've personally fought to defend strikes. The thugs they sent were trying to kill us, so I try not to beat myself up that some of them died in the attempt." She sighs harshly, shaking her head.

"And that's not even the worst thing happening in Atlas. There are 'scientists' working in black divisions of some of the corporations that abduct homeless Faunus from the crater as test subjects in dangerous experiments." She scowls. "I can't fault the White Fang for shutting those divisions down, even if the process is a bit bloody sometimes."

Lillian winces. 

It's like something out of a bad movie. Do we really trust her that that's true? 

She saved our life, Lillian.

She could have done that for any number of reasons.

I am not going to look at the woman who saved all three of our lives and gave us a body that fits us at risk of her own life and treat her like a criminal. Full stop. Both of you quiet down, the discussion is over.

"We believe you," December says. "Why did you leave, then?"

She sighs. "Even though we loved what we were doing, the SDC was closing in on our base — our home in that warehouse. We'd put a lot of work into it, but they could've tracked us back there eventually, no matter how much the people of Mantle tried to misdirect them for us. Roman heard through his connections that the SDC was getting close, the local branch of the Fang confirmed it, and so he convinced us to leave Mantle. We came to Vale with him and set up here."

"I see..."

"Roman?"

"The scoundrel of an adoptive older brother I mentioned earlier. Thief with a heart of... silver, let's say. Sticks to only sufficiently corrupt targets."

Violet nots. "I know some people like that. Tangentially. I never considered getting into a gang - it's a good way to die - but there were some people I could respect who've done... less than legal things. I'm sure all those machines saw the results of my patchy hormone treatments."

She nods and smiles bittersweetly. "Good on you for getting those, but I'm sorry it was necessary. As for after we came here, we... may have caused a schism in the local branch of the Fang. There was an up and coming lieutenant who was too violent even for our taste, and we convinced some of the other local Faunus to push back against his bullshit, and well... one thing led to another. He took his die-hard radicals and split off, and everyone else — including his now-ex-girlfriend — formed the Harmony faction. Oops?"

She grins sheepishly and scratches at one of her ears.

So that would be Blake Belladonna then, and the ex-boyfriend would be Adam Taurus. 

Best to sit on that for now until she can verify it somehow else.

Well aren't you suspicious. 

It costs us nothing to just not elaborate, and it'll probably be more comfortable for Sable to not get into the gory details. Leave it, Vi. 

"Sounds really messy," December says. "I've heard of gangs that go through splits like that and it's rarely ever peaceful. Is everyone going to be okay?"

She nods. "She's got more and better of a support system than she did with Adam. There are still some hurts, I think, but all we can do is be there for her. The whole faction drew closer together in the aftermath, and I occasionally drop by to try to keep it that way."

Well, that confirms that. Freely offered, yet. Seems a little suspicious. 

Violet takes Sable's hand again, mostly to spite Lillian. 

"I'm glad. And I'm glad you got out okay and are still helping people as best you can. I..." 

She looks down at Sable's hand. "I can't say I wasn't surprised, but... I don't think this is a dealbreaker, not after all I've seen of you already in these few short days. I want to learn more about you, about... all the ways you're weird and complex and deep... And I think the way to do that is to stay by your side." 

She looks away. "I believe you're just trying your best to protect the people you care about."

"Um... This is kind of an insensitive question, sorry, but I've heard that in gangs there's kind of a... favors-for-favors thing that happens..." 

She looks over at the pile of gifts. "I don't owe anything in return for all of this, do I?"

Sable looks her firmly in the eye. "The only favor you owe is not dying. Live your best life and don't die."