In a dark room somewhere on Remnant, a screen flickers on.
[Tactical Analytical Intelligence database accessed]
TAI Greetings. Please identify.
{USER} CH4R113_X140_10N9
{PASS} Ru8Y_R053
TAI Welcome back, sir. Please, peruse my memories. You know what to do if you want to copy anything to an external drive.
CH4R113 Access J0urn41
TAI Accessing memory block codenamed J0urn41. Please specify an entry.
CH4R113 Y10M03D25
TAI Thank you, sir. Accessing journal entry for eight years, eight months and twelve days after my genesis.
[Journal entry Y10M03D25]
The screen displays a boy, sixteen years of age, with unkempt black hair, pale blue eyes and rectangular-framed glasses. he was wearing an unzipped navy blue zip-up hoodie with a pale blue lining over a zip-up shirt of the same colour as said lining. All this was over a white T-shirt.
"Well," the boy began with a sigh, "it's been eight years, eight months and twelve days, and I'm still keeping this journal despite everything that's happened. First Raven disappeared without a trace when I was one and Yang was two, leaving Taiyang a depressed wreck having to deal with two kids. Luckily I was pretty mature even back then for some reason. Then Summer came into our lives, and Taiyang was happy again. Ruby was born, and we became the happy family of five. Then, five years after that, Summer died, and all the happiness we had built up came crashing down. I threw myself fully into my work, finally finishing TAI's hardware and building the basic software that I hypothesised would eventually grow into a fully-fledged Artificial Intelligence. I began to keep a journal using a reserved portion of TAI's solid-state memory drive, and for some reason I kept doing so ever since.
But enough ancient history.
In more recent news, Ruby and I somehow managed to get ourselves into Beacon early! Honestly, I have no idea what went through the headmaster's mind, doing that. Then again, Ruby and I are at the top of our year levels and have beaten quite a few from higher years…" The boy shrugged. "Or maybe his reasons are just beyond the ken of us 'mere mortals'." He made quotation marks with his hands as he said this.
"Anyway, the two of us interrupted a Dust robbery led by Roman Torchwick and some thugs who looked like they were from Hei Xiong's gang. Unfortunately, as we were about to capture Torchwick, a couple of mysterious allies showed themselves. The first was a woman - I couldn't see her face, but she wore a dress that was heavily infused with Burn Dust - who fought Glynda Goodwitch in a fair fight and managed to hold her off. The other was even more of an enigma. He had red hair and a padlock goatee, he wore angular gold sunglasses which gave him a permanent frown, and fought using a pair of bladed shields and some kind of three-dimensional manoeuvring system. The worst part? He managed to completely annihilate me. He was utterly unpredictable, just when In thought he was establishing a pattern his style would completely shift, throwing me off-balance again. TAI ran an image of his face through the VPD database und couldn't get anything but a "classified: threat level omega" out of it. Omega level threats have the ability, drive and/or intention necessary to potentially destroy an entire kingdom - I thought I was the only one, but apparently not. The woman could not be identified without a face to recognise." He sighed again. "Either way, Ruby and I'll be going to Beacon tomorrow. But I don't think I'll be using the airship…"
The video file ends and the screen flickers off.
(Music: Interstate Love Song)
At 00:03, the words "TimeLordSPARTAN presents" fade in
At 00:11, the words "RWBY: Guardian's Light" fade in beneath it.
At 00:14, both fade back to the black and the sound of a motorcycle engine begins to fade in, reaching its peak at 00:16.
At 00:17, the screen suddenly changes to an aerial view of the ocean with some kind of craft streaking across it, leaving a wake disproportionately large in comparison to it's size.
At 00:26, the camera zooms down to follow the vehicle, which turns out to consist of two wheels as tall as a seated person set in front of and behind a fighter cockpit which is open at the sides.
The rider of the strange, military-looking motorcycle was the person from the video journal, with a pale blue visor over his eyes. A black kitten which looked almost as if it were made of shadow sat on his right shoulder, fur ruffling in the intense wind caused by the motorcycle's speed - which was just under mach one. The motorcycle's speakers were blaring music out at nearly eardrum-bursting volume.
Waiting,
On a sunday afternoon,
For what I've read between the lines…
"Your lies!" The boy sang along as the kitten let out a yowl that somehow perfectly matched both the rhythm and pitch of the line.
Feeling,
Like a hand in rusted shame,
So do you laugh with us or cry?
"Reply!"
At 01:07, the motorcycle zooms past the camera, which follows behind it from a distance of about ten meters.
At 01:12, the music skips forward to 02:58 and plays to the end as the motorcycle disappears into the distance.
Charlie watched as the airship came in to land, leaning against his assault cycle with his Shadowcat Blake sitting primly on his shoulder. TAI was currently using the assault cycle's speaker system to converse with the Shadowcat, which was a very strange sight to almost anyone who might be watching.
"Yes, I understand that you perceive yourself as a higher being than humans but-"
"Mrow!?"
"Yes, you perceive yourself that way. It does not logically follow that-"
"Rowl! Mrow meow!"
"That is an assumption that may one day get you killed, Blake."
The Shadowcat hissed at the AI, then turned to watch the airship land, ignoring every attempt by TAI to salvage the situation.
"You won't win this argument, TAI," Charlie informed the dejected artificial intelligence, "Blake is quite literally the most stubborn being I have ever encountered." The kitten-sized animal swatted him on the ear (She was just playing, though - her claws were retracted) before jumping off his shoulder, growing until she was similar in size to a large dog before she landed. Chuckling, he reached down and rubbed behind her ears. Blake pushed her head into his knuckles, purring contentedly.
Ruby and Yang were among the first off the airship. While Charlie greeted them, TAI was analysing the other new entrants. He ran images through the VPD database, searching for any wiped criminal records (Attending Beacon wiped the criminal record of the attendee due to a deal the headmaster had made with the Council)
He came up with three criminal records.
[Aeris Tempest. 116,800 counts of petty theft, seventeen counts of retaliatory assault. Judging by the black wings on his back, he is an avian Faunus - is likely capable of flight. Unless his teammates are prejudiced, Aeris should be a huge advantage to his team.]
[Flare Tempest. 742 counts of public drunkenness and 459 counts of assault (while drunk). Appears to be a lupine Faunus - suggests mixed parentage for both herself and Aeris. Personality profile indicates she is utterly mad - she will definitely fit the berserker role of her team.]
[Finally, Sterling Argent. Rap sheet as long as he is tall, though nothing worse than assaulting a police officer during an escape. Lived on the street before coming here - probably has a good knowledge of some less than legal skills.]
TAI filed these away for future reference, then retasked his primary focus to the conversation between the three siblings. He was just in time for Yang to abandon them and for Charlie to knock on his front wheel guard.
"Hey, TAI, think you can get the assault cycle to the garages?"
"Do you really have to ask, sir?" he revved up the bike, doing a 180 degree spin before streaking off toward the garages.
After a rather… interesting… speech from professor Ozpin, the new entrants migrated to the ballroom where bedrolls had already been set out. Charlie chose the bedroll next to Ruby's, slipping his combat visor on. The visor lit up, and TAI's voice spoke into his right ear.
"Good evening, sir. I assume you wish to review my findings regarding past criminal activities of new entrants?"
"Yes. Have you identified any?"
"Three, sir. I have also identified a Runemaster and a potential telekinetic, and have located four unidentifiable individuals."
"Start with the three, then hit me with the rest."
"Very good, sir. Individual one is one Aeris Tempest. Avian Faunus, likely flight-capable. He has committed large quantity of petty thefts - usually stealing large amounts of food before vanishing for days or weeks at a time. He has also committed close to twenty counts of assault - usually in an attempt to protect his sister, Flare. His psychological profile indicates he is level headed unless his sister is attacked - which makes him rather similar to you, sir."
"Flattery will get you nowhere with me, TAI. I don't swing that way."
The AI emitted a sound similar to a chuckle.
"Understood, sir. Second, we have Flare Tempest, the sister of Aeris Tempest. Lupine Faunus, which suggests the two have mixed parentage, with predominant traits being ears and teeth. Her crimes include public drunkenness and assault - with most of those assaults being while she was drunk.. psychological profile indicates she is dangerously unstable - I recommend keeping her well away from miss Rose."
"Good idea. What about the last one?"
"Sterling Argent. Human. Chose his name himself, since he grew up on the streets. is an accomplished thief, and has been caught trespassing in areas locked by key and/or electronic lock, indicating a proficiency with hacking and lock picking. I would be wary around him, as his psychological profile suggests he will do anything to survive.
The Runemaster I have identified is named Sol Lux. Like most rune users, he appears thinner than most. His mark is likely the rune Sol, which represents the sun. I would recommend that you get yourself placed on the same team as him.
The telekinetic is called Lavender Periwinkle. She appears to be dressed in a form-fitting bodysuit which covers as much skin as possible. scans indicate the presence of a large amount of scar tissue beneath, including a series of marks on her left forearm spelling the word 'monster'. Potentially very psychologically damaged.
These are the unidentifiable individuals."
Four images displayed themselves on the HUD. On the left was a boy who looked like a perfect half-and-half fusion of human and cheetah. He wore what appeared to be armoured trousers with a pair of glowing green pistols attached at the hips. To the right of the cheetah-boy was a girl who resembled a similar fusion between human and fox. Like the boy, she wore armoured trousers, though she also wore an armoured garment similar to a crop top. Both had nothing covering their arms save for a bracer on their right wrists. To the right of them was a boy with black limbs which resembled mechanical musculature. He was sipping something from a very large thermos. To the right of thermos guy was another boy with similar limbs. Both wore a one-piece armoured bodysuit which covered their remaining tissue from the chin down.
"Their faces do not match anything on any accessible database, which is odd considering their unique appearance."
"What exactly am I looking at here, TAI?"
"The first two appear to be very extreme examples of cheetah and fox faunus. Slightly deeper scans indicate cybernetic implants within their tails which appear to include a large retractable spike, along with implants in their hands which grant them claws."
"Sounds like someone really went all-out trying to turn them into living weapons. What are their armaments?"
"Unknown. The weapons appear almost artful in shape, and glow green in many places. I can speculate on their function, but the projectiles are completely impossible to deduce from the results of your scanner badge."
"Sounds like I'll need to ask them, then. What can you deduce?"
"The female appears to carry a sniper rifle and a pistol, while the male carries what looks like a pair of pistols."
'So, a sniper and an assault, similar to Yang and Ruby's team dynamic. Interesting.'
"And the other two?" The two faunus disappeared from the visor's screen, and the other two grew to fill the empty space.
"These two were both easier and more difficult to figure out. They share almost identical cybernetic augmentations, though their armament appears to be different. Their limbs have been replaced with a polymorphic structure composed of carbon nanotubes. How they control such a thing when they do not contain motors or control systems of any kind is beyond me. The cybernetics are bonded to their nervous system through these 'docking ports' for lack of a better term." The shoulders and hips of the boys flashed as TAI explained. "If my hypothesis is correct - and they usually are - these ports could be used to 'jack in' to any system designed to use them."
"Tai… Are we talking mechs here?"
"Proximity alert. deactivating briefing protocols and depolarising visor. The individuals are here."
The visor cleared, revealing Ruby engaged in an avid conversation with one of the cybernetic ally enhanced boys - who was surprisingly keeping up with every word - while the remaining three were staring at Charlie. He cleared his throat.
"Uhh… Can I help you?"
The cheetah boy stepped forward, and Charlie quickly got to his feet, stretching.
"Colonel Proteus Deleo," the boy responded, holding out his hand. Charlie grasped it cautiously, remembering TAI's description of the cybernetic claws in the fingers.
"Charles Xiao Long." The boy quirked an eyebrow.
"You certainly don't resemble your sisters."
"Adopted."
"Ah. Where are my manners?" he suddenly spoke slightly louder. He released Charlie's hand hand indicated the other two.
"This is Major Koby Alexander," the cybernetically augmented man with the oversized thermos raised his hand and waved slightly before he took a sip from his thermos, "Major Aina Kawaguchi," The fox girl nodded before returning to cleaning her weapon. Charlie noticed that while it was disassembled it had no glowing components. 'Must only work when it's assembled.'
"And your younger sister is speaking to Lieutenant Richard 'Leroy' Jenkins." Charlie chuckled slightly at the nickname, and Colonel Deleo quirked the same eyebrow again.
"Sorry, it's just that his nickname is literally Leroy Jenkins." Deleo held his expression for a moment before he dissolved into a fit of laughter as well.
"He chose the nickname himself, and it just seemed so fitting for him, considering he's an Assault."
"A what now?"
"Our unit divides us into four classes: Assault, Support, Sniper and Heavy. And that's about all I can tell you. Classified information, I'm sure you understand." Charlie nodded, then posed the question he really wanted to ask.
"So what drew you four over here?"
"Overheard you talking to yourself, caught a few snippets of what you were saying. How did you know about MEC's?"
"Everyone knows about mechs. They're in about a hundred different shows and-"
"Not mechs. MEC's. Mechanised Exoskeletal Cybersuits. They're what Koby and Leroy were originally meant to pilot, before the polymorph combat augs came into being."
"Really? Huh. I was just speculating on whether they could pilot a modified mech, that's all."
"Ah. Shit. Forget I ever mentioned MEC's. Please?"
"No worries, friend. No worries. So, you're part of some super-secret black ops group, huh?"
Deleo smirked.
"Classified."
"Oooooooof course it is."
"Well, I should probably drag Leroy away from your sister before they wake up the very few people who have managed to fall asleep."
Charlie looked around, and TAI highlighted five people sleeping and one very pissed-off looking girl with a clear motif of snow glaring at the the weapon nuts. TAI spoke up helpfully, identifying the individual.
"Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company and very rich. Suggest you refrain from antagonising one with such major pull."
"Oh yeah," Charlie agreed, both with TAI and with Deleo. "Looks like miss Schnee over there is getting annoyed at not being allowed to get her beauty sleep." Colonel Deleo just chuckled.
"Maybe we should give them a few more minutes?" A shake of the head was Charlie's response.
"Never get on a Schnee's bad side. it's a very bad idea."
In the dark room, the screen reactivates.
[Tactical Analytical Intelligence database accessed]
TAI Greetings. Please identify.
{USER} CH4R113_X140_10N9
{PASS} Ru8Y_R053
TAI Welcome back, sir. Please, peruse my memories. You know what to do if you want
to copy anything to an external drive.
CH4R113 Access J0urn41
TAI Accessing memory block codenamed J0urn41. Please specify an entry.
CH4R113 Y10M03D26
TAI Thank you, sir. Accessing journal entry for eight years, eight months and thirteen
days after my genesis.
[Journal entry Y10M03D26]
Charlie's face fills the screen again.
"Well," he chuckled, "Here we are. Ruby, Yang and I are all at Beacon, despite the fact that, logically, I should be a year away and Ruby should be two years out. Met some interesting people, including a group that seem to be some kind of black ops group - note to self, try to keep them away from Ruby, they could be dangerous. Got a few individuals I will be watching in case they make a move, as well as one to try and help and one whom I definitely want on my team.
Initiation's tomorrow, and from what Taiyang says its going to involve being shot off a cliff at high speed with virtually no warning. Some people here I have a few doubts about being able to land safely," here he lets out a cough which sounds suspiciously like "Jaune Arc", "but I have complete faith in both Yang and Ruby at the least. My landing strategy is already all figured out - and I don't think anyone will fail to hear it at the least." A voice, and a flying pillow, interrupt him.
"Go to sleep, Charlie! It's almost midnight!" Charlie chuckles.
"You stay up longer very often, Yang."
"Go die in a hole." With another chuckle, Charlie turns back to the camera.
"Charlie Xiao Long, signing off."
Once again, the screen flickers before deactivating.
A lamp clicked on, revealing a muscled man in his prime, with red hair, a padlock goatee, and blazing red eyes. He wore black trousers and a black tank top, and his face was set in a thoughtful frown as he stared at the now blank computer screen.
"The boy shows promise," he mused, "but is it enough?"
The man shook his head.
"Either way, I'll soon find out. Nature always has its way. The weak die. The strong survive."
A pale hand reached down and plucked an angular pair of golden sunglasses off of the desk.
"Keep your wits about you, Charles Xiao Long."
He put the glasses on, giving his face the appearance of a permanent frown.
"For Nemesis has his eye on you."
End credits music: Witch Factory - Adrian von Ziegler
(Link: (add to the end of youtube in the address bar) /watch?v=4Y6BDbkYNDE)