When the girl was brought in, she wasn't immediately identifiable as a human. Chunks of hair were torn off her head, the left side of her face nothing more than a mass of scars, her arms lay at odd angles with bones sticking out everywhere. The same went for her legs. Her innards were hardly contained by her abdomen anymore, more of them were outside her body than were inside. All in all, there was no way she could possibly live, considering she was only about ten years old.

But where the other assembled doctors and surgeons saw a corpse, one Atlesian man saw only the perfect candidate. He dismissed all the other doctors, instead bringing in his own special team. As his team began preparing her, the man grabbed one doctor, asking them what had happened.

"She was found by hunters in the mild southlands. Her friend claims that Grimm surprised them both. It seems that her friend hid, at the cost of the girl here getting mauled." The bitter disapproval was apparent in his voice.

The man said nothing, instead going over to the broken girl. Various men and woman had examined and removed both her arms, as well as her left leg. Looking at the remaining leg, he instructed for it to be removed as well. Thus began a very long and delicate procedure, as the severely damaged internal organs were removed and replaced with new, cutting edge technology.

After almost 14 hours of surgery, Remnant's best doctor finished the last stitch, having replaced the young girl's heart, lungs, liver, kidneys and stomach with robotic parts. Her reproductive system was also removed to make room for computer systems - they knew she wouldn't be needing it. The left side of her face was replaced with metal plating and a robotic eye, connected wirelessly to the computer system in her abdomen, giving her direct access to the entire net of information.

But even after her life was saved, the surgeries continued, the ones to make her the perfect being, halfway between robot and human. Underneath her skin were paper thin sheets of a rare metal; lighter than paper, yet stronger than steel plating. Small components were placed inside her bronchial tubes that would close if sensors in her throat detected water going down the wrong tube, effectively preventing her from drowning.

Her new arms were made of the same metal, as were the legs. Both were filled with various systems to make her stronger and faster than a normal human, as well as filled with several weapons and defence systems. She was officially named Cybernetically Enhanced Organism 010, or CEO010. Unofficially, to the few who knew of her continued existence, they referred to her simply as "Cyber Rose".

The man looked through the window. His creation had gone through a total of 5 surgeries, totaling more than 105 hours of work. The last stitch had closed almost a day ago, and yet she had yet to awaken. The group he was with had checked and rechecked every system multiple times, saying they were working fine, that the problem probably was rooted in her brain. After several brain scans, they found several issues; specifically they found damage to the prefrontal cortex and limbic system.

"When she wakes, if she does wake at all, it's quite possible she will have no memory of her past. On top of that, there is a high chance she won't know how to process or replicate any emotions, nor will she have any individual personality. She wouldn't be able to speak, or smell, or concentrate, or problem solve. She'd be starting her life - if that is still what you wish to call it - completely anew."

After hearing that, the man had the doctor… taken care of, for telling him such; he would have had it done regardless of what was said, the man was not a part of the select few who knew she had survived. The girl's medical records stated she had died during surgery, and in a way she had. She was not her own person anymore, but now belonged to him.

She would be his finest creation, better than his eldest, better than his youngest daughter. Better even than his son. She'd be strong, loyal, unwavering in her support. The perfect child, obidient, and best of all, completely under his control. With a flick of a switch, he could shut down her legs, her arms.

Her heart.

Behind him, he heard shuffling. After her last operation, he had his creation moved to his mansion's medical bay to keep her under close observation. He didn't even need to turn around to know who it was.

"I told you to stay in your room, Weiss." In the reflection of the glass, he saw the girl freeze. With her shoulder length hair, dressed in a long white cotton dress, she wasn't much to look at. Not many would, if she hadn't been his daughter. Though she was only twelve, already some of his business rivals had their eldest sons trying to take her away from him.

"I-I… just w-wanted to see-"

"Enough." Instantly she stopped speaking.

Obedient, but not enough.

He turned, facing her, hands behind his back. He tried to keep himself composed, but couldn't stop the slight sneer from forming on his face. His wife, the pathetic woman, had given him two daughters before finally giving him the son he wanted, yet the son was weak, both in mind and body. Doctors claimed it was because his wife had not been physically fit to bear a third child, but he ignored them. What did they know?

Besides being the CEO of Remnant's largest Dust company, he was also the foremost doctor in the field of cybernetic augmentation. And so, with his knowledge of cybernetics, Dust and physiology, he strived to create the perfect child. After the emergence of cybernetics, the law was revised, and one section stated that an heir to any large company must be at least 35% human in order to be within the law. Anything less than 35% would be considered complete robots, and thus had no right to own property. The first attempts were… disastrous. They were mostly death row prisoners, whose bodies were too old to handle the sudden replacement of most of their limbs and internal organs.

Around the sixth attempt he realized that the test subjects needed to be younger, more malleable, easier to subject to change. The only problem was finding suitable candidates. His own children wouldn't work, too many questions would be asked if they disappeared. The next three came from various places, one a runaway, the other an orphan, the last was abandoned, living on the streets. None worked.

Frustrated, he had almost given up. What he needed was a young, healthy child, who he could make perfect. So when his daughter had invited her friend from Vale over to Atlas, he agreed. The accident with the Grimm was unfortunate, but reflecting on it, realized that with such severe injury, it gave him a cause to take her from the normal staff of doctors.

He shook himself out of his thoughts, looking down at his daughter. "You want to see her? The girl whose near death you caused? Have you considered that she might not want to see you?" She shrunk back, shoulders slumping with the guilt of the ordeal. "In any case, she has yet to wake up. No one except myself and the doctors get to enter the room."

"But I-"

"No!" She was shut down before she even had a chance to offer her opinion. Suddenly, the man got an idea, one that hopefully he could use to gain another obedient daughter. "You really want to see your friend?" The snow haired girl nodded, still looking at the ground. Internally, he smiled at her compliance, though he kept a stern outward look. "Then you will take care of her. After all, this is all your fault;" he walked past her, heading out of the room, "all actions have consequences, Weiss." With that he closed the door behind him, leaving his daughter alone with her thoughts.

Weiss stood silently in the small viewing room. She shivered. Despite hailing from Atlas itself, she was young enough to still feel the bitter cold of the room, like there was an ever present wind around her. From where she stood, she could only see the top of Ruby's head through the window. Slowly, she moved forward to enter, before veering to the left, grabbing a face mask and scrubs from the wall. There were some in her size, a reminder of what her father expected of her. She went over to the door, using all of her might pulling open the door. Once she bested the metal gateway, she felt the air rush into where here lay, filling the void. What had her father called it, Negative Pressure Room?

On the bed lay her friend, but she looked so different from only a few days ago. Her arms, legs, and half her face, all were made of metal. Around her, various monitors beeped and whirred. Ruby looked peaceful, though the image was ruined slightly by the scars on her face and abdomen, visible even under the plain white underclothes she was wearing. Weiss couldn't help but remember what had happened, and how everything had gone so wrong.

"I can't believe you live in such a big house!"

They were walking by the edge of a canyon, a river flowing a hundred feet below at the bottom of the drop. Weiss walked in front of Ruby so that she could warn her of any dips or ice patches. Though it was the first day of summer, being so far north meant they got snow all year round.

"Yeah… I don't like hanging out there though. I much prefer coming here and walking around. It always seemed… freeing to be out here..." Weiss had taken Ruby directly from the Airship to the limo, traveling down to the southern part of Atlas where the weather was milder. Ruby was only staying for a few days, before heading back south to enjoy her summer with her family on Patch.

Weiss had met Ruby when her father had some business in Vale for a few weeks and had brought Wess along, sending her to the best combat school in that kingdom as an exchange student whilst he worked. Signal Academy actually didn't have an exchange program, but they weren't going to fight her father either, so they rolled with it.

The other kids either were afraid of her, or they were trying to get favors out of her. Even some of the teachers at Signal were eager to get in the good books of a Schnee. All of them wanted something from her. All but two; a pair of sisters - though Weiss honestly couldn't tell that on first Xiao Long was Weiss' age, with Ruby Rose being two years younger. They were the only ones who didn't care who her father was, or how much money her family had. She became friends with both, though mainly with Ruby.

At first it seemed like the sisters were as different in personality as they were in looks. But after being invited to their house, she saw that Ruby was not as quiet and reserved as she had first thought; she was bright, energetic and a cheerful optimist. She had the incredible ability to make everyone around her smile, as well as to make cookies disappear.

At the end of her father's trip, she invited Ruby to come visit her at her house during summer vacation. Then she went back to Atlas, but even in the cold, she still remembered the warmth that Ruby and Yang had shown her. The summer couldn't come quickly enough. It seemed to be years later when she got the message that Ruby would be coming for a few days.

She was so excited, she didn't give much thought to the fact that her father agreed right away. Ruby would be coming, and she had to prepare the best days ever, starting with a visit to her favorite spot. Things went wrong so fast.

They were just about to head back to the car, when Weiss heard the growling. Her first thought was that it was simply a fox or some other small creature, but then ahead of them, climbing up from the canyon, came a huge black paw, followed by a white bone plated face with the glowing red eyes.

Panic seemed to make the world slow down, sounds becoming muted and distant. The Grimm weren't supposed to survive this far north, not even here in the comparatively mild Southern Atlas. Distantly she could hear Ruby screaming in fright, and Weiss wanted to help her, to pull her and run. But her body had other ideas.

She turned, and ran. Behind her she could hear Ruby screaming, calling out for someone, anyone to save her. The screaming only asked for a few seconds, replaced by the horrific sounds of bones snapping, flesh tearing, monsters roaring. Weiss felt tears falling and her stomach churning at the sounds but her want and need to keep running won over until she reached the limo where the driver, having heard the screams and roars, was already on the line with emergency services.

Then the driver pulled out something from the trunk of the car, a gun, before heading toward the… the place… Weiss couldn't handle it. She threw herself out of the car as she emptied her stomach, lactic acid and nightmare inducing sounds taking their toll. She heard the first shot fired and her head went light, the vomiting didn't help either. Shakily she crawled into the open trunk, curling herself into a ball before passing out from the shock of it all.

Now she was here again, looking at her friend, fresh tears falling down her face.

"I'm sorry Ruby… I'm so sorry." As if the girl was privy to the confession on her friend's behalf, Ruby's monitors started to beep a little faster. She was waking up. A team of doctors suddenly rushed in, pushing Weiss out of the way as they began to examine her, while another guy moved around, activating the robotic arms and legs.

"Miss… can you speak?" one doctor asked as Ruby finally sat up. The flurry of activity died down and the room once again silent except for the machines. After one long moment, there came a response. Weiss wished she hadn't seen where it came from, it might have made it easier. In a flat, emotionless tone so unlike what she was used to hearing, Ruby spoke.

"Where am I?"

Hey, FeugoFox42 here ('Feugo' for short). I'm glad to be helping STRQ on this story. Um… yeah, I have no clue what else to write… hope you enjoyed it so far.

STRQ here, the OW (original Writer) Feugo is gonna be helping out with this as they said. Mostly on the now epic dialogue. Go give their stories a read, and if you want to see the original draft, check it out on archive of our own, profile STRQ.