Chapter 1
Heart to Heart
Penny walked through the lower levels of her home, a place she often tried to stay out of as often as possible. The barren white walls of the building were a stark contrast to the City of Vale, a place full of color and personality. From the warm orange of the setting sun's light being projected across the surface of the bay, to the soft light of the street lamps reflecting off the wet cobblestone paths of Old Vale after a spring time rainstorm. To the many kinds of people that roamed the streets, most of whom were warm and friendly. Each having a unique tale to tell.
The young woman was well known around the city, constantly dropping into to various shops to see how their employees were holding up. She would feed the ducks and jump rope with the little kids in the city park. These activities brought her great amount of joy, and served as escape from what had been many years hidden away from the world.
Here at home, the corridors were partially illuminated by bright white lamps located near the floor. The concrete walls were cracked and chipped in some places but structural scans showed her the tunnels were in no danger of collapsing. The people that worked throughout the facility treated her strangely, her friendly greetings often shrugged off by a simple one worded response. There was only one man who was a colorful as the City of Vale, and that man was her father.
When she was little, she was taught military tactics and history. She was told about the rise and fall of the world's greatest leaders. She was told she had been built for one reason, to defend Atlas along with its people and its interests. She was called an asset, she was a weapon.
Her father, however, treated her like a girl, an actual human being. When he wasn't working, he would teach her how to dance, how to prepare a kettle of tea. He would even make her cotton candy on certain days, a sugary treat that she had always loved. It would turn a bad day into a good day, and a good day into a great one.
As she turned to enter one of the faculties many laboratories, she found her father and General Ironwood reviewing her latest combat trial. Her father was jotting down notes absent mindedly while Ironwood critiqued every aspect of her performance.
"It-"
"She." Her father grumbled, sounding like he was tired of having to correct the General.
"She needs to move around more, we can't just have her sitting around like that. Anyone with a ranged weapon and decent aim would be able to take her down from afar."
"We'll work on it first thing tomorrow morning." Her father told the general.
"It's still relatively early, why not now?" He asked.
"She's been out and about all day, when she gets back she'll be tired."
"Professor, we can't just be letting her roam around the city by herself. We've talked about this, we had an agreement!"
"I'm well aware General, but there is something you and I have overlooked. Something we failed to understand. Penny is, at heart, still a young girl. She gets curious, she requires social interaction, she still has human needs that need to be met for her well-being."
"That machine is the future in our fight against Grimm, as well as anyone who threatens us!"
"Us General? Or just you?"
Ironwood shook his head, casting his gaze towards the ground.
"You always had a love for weapons, but you could care less about the people who hold them." The Professor scoffed.
"Geppetto my old friend, that is what this project is all about remember? We're taking humans off the battlefield for good. Imagine it, no one will ever have to send their sons or daughters to fight against the Grimm again." Ironwood reasoned, as he began pacing the room.
"Is that what you tell yourself? That all this came without sacrifice? Don't kid yourself. While you were in Atlas, dreaming of bloodless conflicts, I was here. Facing the reality of what you were asking of me. You can try and deny it all you want, but you and I both know why Penny was the first synthetic capable of conveying emotion, generating an aura along with everything else. My god Ironwood, if word ever gets out about what we did-
"Professor." The General grumbled.
He had seen her, standing in the doorway.
"Penny…" The Professor said, putting on a fake smile.
"Good evening." She said, putting on a smile of her own.
"How long were you standing there?" Ironwood asked.
"I just arrived." The girl replied, doing her best to suppress the hiccup rising in her throat, only to fail.
HIC
"Excuse me." She said sheepishly.
Ironwood raised an eyebrow, but he seemed to have bought the lie.
"Professor, we'll continue our discussion at some other time."
"Very well." Geppetto replied.
The General exited the room, walking a bit faster than usual.
The Professor sighed before he began clearing off a lab table, motioning for the girl to come closer.
"Tell me about your day, Penny."
She walked over and sat down.
"Well, I went to the library and read a most interesting story." She began.
"Oh? Do you mind telling me what it was about?" The professor asked, prepping a kettle of tea.
"Not at all! You see there was this girl, and she was given a box by the gods, and she was told that she was not to open it under any circumstance. However she ended up opening the box. All the evils of the world rushed out, but one thing remained with the girl. Hope."
"Ah yes, Pandora's Box." The professor said with a sigh.
"Technically a pithos." Penny corrected.
"Haha yes! That's something most people don't know."
"Really? Have they not read the story?" Penny asked.
The Professor brought over two cups of tea as he sat down next to her.
"Some stories become so important to a culture that they come to be known by everyone. Although the finer details can be forgotten." He explained.
"You see, the moral of that story, is that even after learning of the evils that would befall mankind. Pandora could hold onto hope, and hope is more powerful than any weapon any kingdom has in its arsenal."
"Why did she open the box though? She was warned not to, but she did it anyways." Penny wondered.
"Her curiosity got the better of her, it was just one of her flaws and it cost mankind dearly." Geppetto explained.
"A flaw?" The girl wondered.
"Yes, it is imperfection that most people have that can represent the worst of them. In this case, Pandora's curiosity could be viewed as a flaw. Another example could be the Schnee family's hatred for the Faunus. A vicious cycle was created, resulting in decades of senseless violence."
The Professor cast his gaze downwards.
"Part of being human revolves around having flaws, imperfections, weaknesses. It's what makes us who we are."
"What does that mean for me then…What am I?"
The man turned to face her, taking his glasses off and brushing a few strands of red hair out of her face.
"You're my daughter." He told her, planting a kiss on her forehead.
Penny smiled and hugged him in response.
"Come now, let's get you to bed."
The pair walked to the rear of the laboratory, where Geppetto had set up a simple bed room for the two of them. Two separate beds for two distinct sides of the room. Geppetto's side of the room was complete with a small wall mounted bookshelf and a desk, which was littered with scarp paper that were covered in notes. Similarly, at least to some degree, was Penny's side of the room. A portion of the wall had been turned into a mural of the city waterfront, although it was only a quarter of the way done, Penny's watercolor like style never ceased to amaze Geppetto. A small stock of paint cans were stacked by the girl's lime green beanbag chair, which was next to Penny's own little bookshelf.
Geppetto waited outside of the room so that she could change, after a few minutes she called him in where he found her lying under the covers of her bed.
"Father?" She asked.
"Hm?"
"I want to try sleeping tonight, as in actually sleeping. I don't want you to deactivate me until morning. It scares me… waiting for somebody to switch me on so I can get on with my life." She told him.
"Okay, I understand." He replied with a nod before switching off the lights.
"Good night Penny."
"Good night Dad." She replied happily, humming a song in an effort to ease her into a slumber.
I've got no strings
So I havefun
I'm not tied up to anyone
They've got strings
But you can see
There are no strings on me
…
A.N- OH man I should not be starting another RWBY story, but this idea has been bouncing around in my head for days. I feel like Penny doesn't get a whole lot of lead roles in full length stories, at least based on what I've read, so I think this story will be quite different from what's out there at the moment.
Anyways, I hoped you've all enjoyed this opening chapter. Can't wait to read your feedback and reviews! Questions are welcome as well, as long as you aren't asking for major spoilers!
Whelp, that's all I have to say, so…
Until next time!
Wolf out!