After Blake ran out of Team RWBY's room, the rest of Team RWBY were left in silence at her outburst. Silently processing the information that they'd just received. Their thoughts were cut off by a high pitched scream that cut through the air, causing the remainder of Team RWBY to run from their room and check for the source of the scream. They were lead to Team SONG's room as looked through the open door. What they saw caused them to freeze to the spot. Team song were on the ground in a group hug. ALL of Team SONG. Sensing their presence, Team SONG looked at the doorway and slowly got to their feet. Team RWBY's eyes were locked onto Nickel.
"I was just about to explain-!" Nickel's sentence was cut off as he was knocked to the ground again by a red blur that had latched onto him tightly. Ruby squeezed Nickel very tightly, as if it was to assure herself that he was actually there. Before Nickel could speak, Yang picked them up and embraced them both in an even tighter grip. After the two began gasping for air, Yang released them.
"What the hell happened, Nickel? We thought Penny killed you!" Sonata asked. Nickel turned to her and with a look on his face that made it look like he was contemplating what to say.
"Penny had a plan. My emergency shutdown is on my neck." Nickel replied. Everyone in the room froze at his words. After a moment, Weiss took a step forward.
"'Emergency shutdown?'" Weiss asked, silently asking Nickel to elaborate. Nickel simply walked over to his bloodstained coat that laid on his bed and pulled out of his swords. He shifted it into its gun form and quickly shot himself in the hand, causing everyone to jump in shock.
"Nickel! What're… you…" Ruby's sentence trailed off as she saw a large, bloody hole that the gun had left in his hand. Because, his bones were metallic. As he moved his fingers, pistons could be seen moving to allow said movements.
"…I'm not a real boy." Nickel finally said. Nobody reacted. They continued to stare at the wound until Nickel's aura kicked in and healed his wound completely. Nickel slowly sat down and wait for everyone to collect their thoughts.
"…How long?" Gnash asked softly.
"What?" Nickel questioned.
"How long have you been a… whatever you are?" Gnash asked.
"...10 years." Nickel replied. Everyone took a seat on the different beds in the room.
"When I was young, my father hated me. He was an inventor with unparalleled skills. So, he sought to 'perfect' me. One day, he invented a metallic endoskeleton and special nanomachines that would respond to electrical signals." Nickel explained.
"What does this have to do with 'perfecting' you?" Ophelia asked.
"Simple. He took me to his lab as I was sleeping, removed my brain and placed it into the endoskeleton. The nanomachines in my body respond to the electrical signals given by my brain. They can generate any tissue I want them to. I… couldn't bear to look at what my father had turned me into, so I had them create flesh, hair, enamel; everything to make me as I was." Nickel explained further. Everyone was hanging on his every words, just trying to comprehend every word.
"So… that's what actually look like?" Yang asked, unsure of what else to say.
"…Yes and no." Nickel replied.
"What do you mean, 'yes and no'?" Weiss asked. Nickel slowly looked down at the floor.
"There was a reason why my father hated me."
"Why's that?" Sonata asked. Nickel lifted his head to look at Gnash, catching the Faunus by surprise, before looking down again.
"Father put a program into the nanomachines that I could not remove. They prevent two parts of me from regenerating." Nickel said.
"What parts?" Ruby asked softly.
"…My ears and tail." Nickel replied just as softly. Everyone froze once again. Gnash was the first to recover.
"You… You're a Faunus?" Gnashed asked. Nickel nodded his head.
"Father was discriminatory towards Faunus. So, when he fathered an illegitimate son that was also a Faunus, he saw no reason not to loath me." Nickel said. Ruby slowly wrapped her arms around Nickel as tears threatened to leave her eyes for the second time that night. Yang looked over to him with a look similar to Ruby's.
"So, what happened after he… y'know?" Yang asked awkwardly.
"My father was discovered by the Vale military. I was taken away for examination and my father was killed as he resisted arrest. I was taken to General Ironwood and I was examined for years. They took copies of my programing and structure. That's where I met Penny. She knew what I was. She spent a lot of time together and we started to see each other as siblings rather than friends. However, General Ironwood didn't like that. So, I was implanted with a program that sent me into a homicidal rage whenever I saw Penny and I was released. They knew that if Penny and I were to battle, I would die. She was always the superior fight of the two of us." Nickel explained.
"So, why did she activate your emergency shutdown and take you away?" Gnash asked.
"She uploaded a program into my brain that allows me my brain to release chemicals like a normal brain. A function that was blocked by an experiment when I was in Ironwood's care." Nickel said.
"What does that mean?" Ruby asked, causing Weiss to step forward.
"Certain chemicals release in our brains to make us feel certain emotions. Like dopamine. He's saying he should be able to express and experience emotion. Right?" Weiss explained, causing Nickel to nod in agreement.
"Penny also gave me this." Nickel said as he raised his hand to reveal a memory stick.
"What's on that?" Ruby asked.
"A kill code. For the nanomachines that have my father's program on them. Basically, it will allow me to grow my ears and tail back. With my nanomachines and aura, it would only take a few hours." Nickel replied. Everyone looked to the memory stick in a slight amount of awe.
"So… You just install that and you can be a Faunus again?" Gnash asked. Nickel didn't reply immediately.
"I just realised that you're all taking this unsettlingly well." Nickel said.
"Well, you acted enough like a robot anyway, so finding out you are one just kinda seals the deal." Yang said humorously.
"Yang!" Ruby exclaimed.
"What? It's not like I'm driving him nuts! …And bolts. Eh? Eh? Guys?" Yang said as a number of simultaneous facepalms happened in front of her. However, there was one sound that filled the air. Quiet, breathy laughter. Everyone looked over to see Nickel covering his mouth as his shoulders shook and his eyes were clenched shut, trying to hold in his near-silent laughter. Yang suddenly looked slightly teary-eyed as she raised a fist to the air.
"I finally got one!" Yang whispered to herself in a very happy, prideful tone. As Nickel stopped laughing, he stood and held the memory stick in his hand.
"I'm going to need some help with this." Nickel said. Gnash stood from his bed.
"How do we do this?" Gnash asked.
"There is an access panel in my head that it must be inserted into." Nickel said as he drew his sword once more and placing it near his head. Everyone flinched as he pierced the flesh on his head and peeled it back to show his blood-covered metallic skull and the access panel that he mentioned. Recovering, Gnash took the memory stick.
"Alright, now what do you need me to do?" Gnash asked.
"Just open the panel and you should see a port you can insert it into." Nickel replied as he held back the flesh on his head to give Gnash clear access. Gnash gently felt the access panel and felt a small handle. Pulling on it, the panel opened to reveal a number of ports, just as Nickel said. Slowly inserting the stick, Gnash closed the panel and Nickel placed the flesh back which began to heal after a moment.
"If I leave it in there overnight, I should look a little different in the morning." Nickel said. Suddenly, Ruby let out a large yawn.
"Look, guys. We've all had a long day and we've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow. I think we should all get some shut-eye." Yang said as she and the rest of Team RWBY stood. Team RWBY and SONG said their goodbyes as Ruby hugged Nickel again before they left for their room. Team SONG talked for a little while longer, just glad to be reunited again. Eventually, however, they turned in for the night. Team RWBY may have lost Blake that night, but they were thankful that they hadn't truly lost any of their friends. They also knew that Blake was in for one hell of a story when they brought her back.