Silver, struggles to be
"Ladies and Gentlemen, now presenting, Miss Weiss Schnee." The young woman being called glided elegantly onto the stage, the train of her sapphire dress dragging behind her. The jeweled clip in her hair sparkled in the spotlight, the only ornament in her long, ice-white hair. When she reached the microphone she took it in her hands, the thin silver band on her right ring finger flashing in the harsh white lights. Turning her head back a bit to the pianist behind her, she nodded, her chest clenching in cold sorrow as she saw it was not her usual pianist. As the notes began to play, Weiss did her best to keep her face from showing her betrayal. So you really did leave me all alone in this frozen hell.
A young man quickly typed in password after password into a large mainframe computer, the only light in the room coming from the computer screen. The computer beeped once, signaling that the login process was complete. As the man scanned the screen and input prompts, he ran in fingers through his blond hair in nervousness. The code he was looking for popped up on the screen and he quickly scrolled through it. The man played with the tips of his hair, dyed silver, as his heart sank deeper into his stomach in horror.
"No... Father, what did you do to her...?" he hissed quietly. For a moment, he considered spending the night overwriting what was re-programed, but the sounds of footsteps echoing down the hall made him think otherwise. He knew security guards were making their rounds and if they saw the light of the computer he would get caught. And I might not get another chance. He logged off and went past the computer over to the metal table nearby. Wires streamed over it, connecting the computer the man had just accessed and a young woman on the table. "I'm sorry I can't take you with me..." He swept the girl's orange bangs to the side a bit, taking one last long look at his robotic friend. Her green eyes were closed, making her look like she was simply sleeping. However, the young man knew better; he had made her after all. He left, managing to turn the corner in the hall before the guards got there.
The exit was not five yards away from him before it was blocked by three security robots. "Intruder, identify yourself." one of the security robots called. It pointed a light down the hall at the young man, accompanied by two other security robots that activated their close-ranged weapons systems. Crap! I've been spotted!
"Alright... if that's how you want to play..." He hated to fight here, of all places, but he had no choice in the matter. He pulled his backpack off, opened the bag, and threw his hands in. He felt the familiar metal inside begin to change shape and wrap around his arms, forming gauntlets. As the gauntlets were forming, he pulled out two more metal contraptions and pressed them against his shins. The metal immediately reacted and began to unfold, turning into greaves. The last things he pulled out were the specialized knuckledusters. He quickly closed the bag and threw it back on his back, tightening the straps all the way to secure it. He grabbed a knuckleduster in each hand and tapped a button on the side of his visor, activating his weapon's Dust capabilities. "Let's play!" He quickly tapped another button on his visor and activated the Dust set into his gauntlets. The knuckles glowed yellow and crackled with electricity. He parried the first robot's baton and quickly followed with an electrified punch to its neck. He knew where their weaknesses were, he helped design them after all. The thin plating on the neck warped from the impact and the wires underneath were now exposed to the surrounding electricity.
The robot dropped to the floor with a heavy thud and the clanging of metal echoed down the hall. The young man knew he needed to end this quickly and get out of there before more showed to investigate. The last two were on him at the same time. He parried the one's attack into the other and managed to slip through between them. He spun around and quickly knocked them out in the same manner as what he did to the first.
"Sorry, I-34, R-9, and J-27..." He knew every robot's designation, their "name" so to speak, and he treated each one as a person whether they had more than a basic AI or not. Which made him feel even worse that he had to knock them out. They could be repaired, but he still felt bad nonetheless. As he turned to run out the exit a painfully familiar male voice called out.
"Samuel Rodenburg!" The young man, Samuel, cringed inside as the man rounded the corner. For a moment, everything stood still and he could see the fury in the man's eyes. "You should be at the concert playing piano for Miss Schnee."
"I'm sorry Father," Samuel tried not to spit the words out in his utter disgust at the man who was his father. "But I have my own business to attend to." Without another word, he spun around and ran at full speed, his father still calling out to him into the dark of night. And it's Sebastian Gilmore now, not Samuel Rodenburg. To hell with that.
Samuel - now going by the name Sebastian - made his way through the woods, the moon only about half full, barely lighting his path. Sebastian had terrible night vision but his visor had a night vision mode to guide him. He had a general idea where he was going; the small map and compass in the upper right corner of his visor was the only thing letting him know he as on the right track. Suddenly, he heard howls in the distance off to his right. His instincts told him to freeze, but he knew better. He had to keep going. He decided to pick up the pace and started sprinting. Now that he had made it out, he had to make it to the docks by morning to catch the first ship to Vytal. Moments later, snarls and growls seemed to surround him. He looked around as he ran to find he wasn't the only one running through the forest anymore.
"First the robots, now Beowolves..." He muttered to himself. There seemed to be at least half a dozen that he could see. When he looked ahead again, he saw several more right in front of him. He was forced to stop as he realized there was no way to get around them without a fight. The Beowolves howled and immediately closed in. He dodged the first, used the momentum of the second to knock over the third, and outright punched the fourth in the face, cracking the Grimm's mask. He quickly tapped a button on his visor and the knuckles glowed yellow and crackled with electricity once again.
The next Beowolf that attacked landed on the ground, temporarily paralyzed as it twitched with electricity. Well, this will be good to test out the latest tweaks on Overclocker... I just have to survive... Or get away enough that they'll stop chasing me... He decided to leave the testing for later. Survival was the most important thing right now. He quickly dodged another Beowolf as he tapped the handles of the knuckles three times with his thumbs and the knuckledusters stopped glowing as the electricity subsided. He then quickly tapped a button on each side his visor. Two rotators, one on each gauntlet, shifted to the next position. Then the knuckles began to glow a hot reddish-orange as flames suddenly enveloped them to form short fire daggers in the outside of the knuckles. The sudden burst of light seemed to cause the Beowolves to flinch a moment and the young man took that opportunity to knock the closest Beowolf away as he fled, burning it in the process.
He tapped the handles of the knuckledusters again and the flames went out. He knew he needed to get out of there faster. He tapped his greaves with the dusters twice and the dust-powered jet boosters that he recently installed activated. He used them to dash as he ran, listening to the howls and snarls of the Beowolves slowly recede into the distance behind him. He hated to run, but he was not there to fight. He had had enough fighting for one night.
Applause filled the room as Weiss finished her song. She bowed her head in gratitude and smiled humbly, knowing the script. Her father was no doubt boasting about her once more. Everything was, once more, just as the script said. Except for one thing. As Weiss elegantly walked off the stage once more, she bit the inside of her cheek, hard enough to draw blood. The metal and salt taste of her own blood mixed with the bitterness sin her heart. You promised Sam. You're such a god-damn liar.
Sebastian took out the thin silver band that was tucked under his shirt, strung on a simple silver chain. The boat chugged steadily on, the very first virgin rays of the dawn beginning to come forth into the world. The ring swung a little as he looked at it. He had first intended to throw it away but hadn't been able to bring himself to do it. It's not Weiss's fault. It's not fair to her. He tucked the ring back into his shirt. Samuel's dead. There's only Sebastian now.