AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello! This is my first Fanfiction work to publish here. The story is about Penny, from RWBY, so all character rights belong to the appropriate copyrights (most likely all the rights are Rooster Teeth). I started writing this after the finale of Volume 2, so everything prior is relevant, and Volume 3 should start sometime between 10n minutes to 72 hours since RTX started today.

SO, before we start, I'm of the opinion to feel obligated to say this is not a shipping story, so don't expect any lovey dovey here. Maybe later, but it's not a core part of the story. So, without further ado, please read and entertain yourself too.

She hums a ballad her father sang to himself, out in the public, watching with interest at all the people milling about their business. A woman going into a clothing store alone, a child walking with his father, an officer sweeping by the street, each person with their own purpose. The girl in tin green amused herself trying to create reasons and lines of events that lead each person to here this day.

She tried to ignore the AK-290's, the Atlesian Paladin 290s, the new security force robots, that kept watch on her and the local population as they patrolled the area. Her father and his friends were so very protective of her that they have a dedicated system in the of AK-290s to keep an eye on her throughout the day. While she enjoyed the attention her father gives her, she knows at times it's too much.

The sun was setting on the day though, time was running out. At night, she was required to return home and maintain herself, and wasn't allowed out at night. It's been a few days since she was last allowed outside at night, having snuck away from people. Now, if she has any intention of doing anything wrong, she gets the hiccups.

An odd sensation, hiccups; a sudden lurch from the base of the throat, like something poking up hard. Penny wondered if all human hiccups felt like this.

"Sensational," she muttered, giddy. Humans are funny.

Again, she noticed the time, and plucked herself up from the stone bench she was leaning on. A quick glance revealed a few cracks forming underneath. Penny poked it, disgruntled, but continued on her way, skipping.

She walked down the avenue to the Center of the city activity, The Plaza, with a small peaceful park and a few café and restaurants across the street. Passing by, Penny realized the faunus girl companioned by her friends is there again today.

A Faunus is a person with inborn animal traits on their physical body. While not always obvious, this red-headed girl was very obvious, without an attempt to hide the rabbit ears that protrude from her head. Penny liked to test herself by placing the altered body parts appropriately. This girl has an extended temporal lobe for a second set of ears for acute hearing. Penny was actually concerned, wondering if the girl could hear a creak in her body, or maybe a hum of her Dust Engine Core. The amount of muffling was limited by her need for mobility, after all.

Always, as Penny walks by, the rabbit Faunus stares subtly at her, and turns red and looks away when Penny glances at her as well.

Unbothered, Penny continues walking through the city of Vale to a fenced community, passing by with a keycode, and strolls into one of the lavish homes yards. Instead of going inside, though, Penny travels around to the back into a diminished garden with a gazebo and stands in the center of it. A scanner pops up on one of the pillars and chimes. Around Penny the floor drops into a spiral staircase, and she descends.

Inside, underground, a lab was hidden, full of mechanical systems and heavy duty mechanical tools for cutting, welding and molding and a few cabinents around the room. There was a table, with heavy-load chairs and what appeared to be a full body chair before a cluster-ball of electronic readouts and monitors. Nearby, was a corner shower large enough for the table to fit..

Penny wandered towards the half of the room that appeared to be fore living and sat down to remove her shoes. She stopped to cautiously remove her pants, revealing smooth glossy skin. At her ankles, she disposes of her socks, her toeless feet dance as she rolls her ankle, checking for any abnormalities in her joints, and repeated the action on her knees. To check her hips, Penny performed a series of contortions not possible to do in succession, the skin stretching and faintly transparent closer to the base of her hips. Pleased, she removed her overall skirt and shirt.

She examined herself in the only beauty mirror in the room for a visual inspection. Her glossy skin melded over some casing near the torso and elastic plating comprised her body. Taking a deep breath, Penny breathed in, fingers digging into her sternum, and pulled her chest apart. Something inside her beeped a few times as her ribcage cavity opened, revealing the inner workings of her body, and the power core, her Dust Core Engine, glowing with a reddish hue. Penny examined each of the wiring and lines visually before exhaling and closing her chest and the closed cavity clicked shut again.

Penny smiled as she stared at her naked body, with the seam of the cavity just barely visible between her mounds. Reaching up, she pulled her neck collar off and opened a translucent seam to the front of her jaw, which pulled apart in two layers and exposed more cables and wiring, plus an outlet. Penny walked away from the mirror and over to body-like chair. Sitting down and positioning herself, the chair automatically strapped her legs in as Penny pulled a detachable socket from the cluster ball and plugged herself in. After hearing the clink of success, Penny sat comfortably in the chair as it automatically strapped her in and curled her into a fetus position around the ball.

There, her eyes fluttered and she looked away, at the mirror. Last thing she saw before sleeping was the mirror refection of the lab as the lights dimmed themselves and the stairs sealing the entrance.