Omega looked over the mech he'd commandeered. According to the built-in software, this was an "Atlesian Knight," a military police droid meant for riot suppression. Apparently this one was an older model as well, but he liked how it made him look; the red lights and black paint simply screamed "menacing" and synonyms thatof. Still, it might have been worth it to find something more suitable. He scanned the room, finding only more of the outdated 130s. This was going to take some time, obviously.

/-/

"So let me get this straight," Yang said, still holding her dislocated arm. "You had a psychopathic computer program in your head, and then let it out in an armed military base?"

"I didn't let him leave," Doc defended. "He just left. I can't make him stay."

"I thought you said he was harmless?" Blake asked.

"I said 'Harmless as long as there's nothing broadcasting on his frequency.' Apart from that, harmless is subjective; he's harmless to people if he doesn't have a body, but he's a danger to anything running on electricity."

"How many radios are there on this planet?" Wash said.

"There aren't," Weiss answered. "The closest thing I imagine there is are scrolls." She pulled out a widget similar to the one Yang had written aliases on.

"Smart phones," Tucker mused. "Fan-fucking-tastic."

"If these are as widespread as I think they are," Simmons dreaded, "Omega could be halfway across the planet in an afternoon."

"Unless everything in the base is on a closed network," Wash brainstormed. "If so, he'd be trapped."

" 'Trapped' is kind of subjective as well," Doc said. "It is a military base, after all."

"Either way, it's a better chance that we had a minute ago. Let's go."

Yang stuck her fingers in her mouth and whistled loud. A second later, her motorcycle stopped right next to her with an almost comical beep. "I've got to get me one of those," Grif said.

"Sorry boys," she winced, "Bumblebee's custom." Blake hopped on, and Yang sat at her back. "We'll head back to Beacon; I'm no good like this. We'll meet you guys at the base."

They sped away as Ruby ran the opposite direction. "So what, we're just gonna walk?" Tucker asked.

"Precisely," Weiss answered, starting for the base.

/-/

"It's all simple physics," Cortana instructed. She and Chief were showing some of the Atlesian troops close combat maneuvers with Lasky's permission. Chief was presently demonstrating a simple over-shoulder toss on one volunteer. "Just lock their arm over your shoulder like so, and..." Chief effortlessly lifted the cadet off the ground and cast him to the floor, earning an applause from the other observers. "With enough training, and possibly a high-calorie diet, what we've shown you here can neutralize just about any threat. Unfortunately, we can't show you the classified techniques or train you with our weapons, but hopefully you've learned enough for that not to be an issue."

Some of the soldiers were jotting notes onto little devices Cortana had learned were called "scrolls," which seemed to function similarly to smart phones on Earth toward the end of the 21st century. Of course, she was denied her request of one for personal use, but it wasn't a big deal; her own processing speed at a glance was at least ten times that of the scrolls she'd been allowed to see. She just wanted something to hold while she worked. It would have been nice. She pulled herself out of her thought momentarily. "Are there any questions?" she asked.

"Only one." The crowd parted slightly, allowing Penny to step forward with her question.

"Go ahead."

"This technique seems to hinge on the user having the upper body strength to lift the target from the ground," she observed, "as well as the target's arm being strong enough not to break under the needed force. May I borrow your comrade?" Chief and Cortana looked at each other before the latter nodded. The volunteer moved out of the way, and Penny moved up to face Chief. "The technique may fail if either of those necessities are insufficient." She grabbed Chief's hand. "If not enough force is applied, the target cannot leave the ground." She demonstrated by barely pressing Chief's elbow down on her shoulder. "If too much is applied, one risks damaging the target's arm; a disadvantageous scenario in training or interrogation, though I suppose that isn't a problem on the battlefield." She seemed about to prove the second point, but thought against it and released the Spartan. "My question has mainly to do with the purpose of such a technique, or whether an instance where no other course of action would produce a more favorable outcome exists."

"An observant question. This is mainly a countermeasure against an incoming attack, its purpose being to quickly subdue the target. A number of other techniques exist in the event the user can't exert enough force to lift the target from the ground this way; they all produce the same basic effect, it just depends on who's performing it. Does that cover all the bases?"

Penny paused, then nodded. "Yes. I look forward to the possibility of seeing this in action."

"The pleasure is ours."

One of the soldiers in the audience, Engineer Fordt, answered his beeping scroll. "Hello? . . . No, that warehouse is full of 130s. . . You're sure?"

"What seems to be the problem?" Penny asked as Cortana returned to the demonstration.

"Apparently some of the old mechs are freaking out. You wanna come with me to see what the hubbub is?"

"I may not be much help," Penny admitted, "but I would like the opportunity to analyze one of the Knight-130 models; I've yet to have the chance."

"Hang on, Pen." Fordt returned to his call. "Yeah, I'm still here. . . what?

/-/

"Yeah, their fine now," Fordt's subordinate, Grey, reported, "I guess the problem fixed itself."

"Well, just to be safe, run a diagnostic on the ones that were acting up. Can't risk something bad happening with so many still in the field."

"Roger that. We'll take care of it over here. But there are a few things about that." She checked Brown's corpse again to make sure she wasn't imagining any of this. "Brown's dead, and one of the mechs is gone."

"What?"

"Do you think the two are related?"

"I do." Grey turned around, only for her head to turn right back. She didn't even have time to register what had happened before dropping dead to the ground.

Omega smiled internally. My first one-liner, he thought. He looked at the device on the ground as a voice continued to come from the other end. "Grey? Still there, Shelby? ...Hello?"

He brought his new foot down to break it, silencing the device. Immediately after, it occurred to him that he could have used that little gizmo to jump again. "Damn it all... Oh well, I've gotten the hang of this body. I'll just keep it for now."

/-/

"Something's wrong..."

"Engineer Fordt?" Penny said concerned.

"Grey wouldn't just hang up like that... I'm gonna check on her. Are you combat ready, Penny?"

She shook her head. "The Pale Marionetta is still unresponsive. I am running diagnostics to determine the cause."

Fordt sighed. "Seems like everything's falling apart today, huh?"

/-/

"So, Halsey, it's finally ready?"

"Yes."

"Oh, sweet! Okay, how do I use this?"