Yang felt her heart quiver upon Johann's confusion at being called Juan. Clearly she must've heard wrong, or something must be off with her boyfriend. Raising her hand up to Johann's forehead, she checked his temperature to see if he wasn't running a high fever. His head was warm, but it nothing to be worried about. That still doesn't explain why he didn't know his own name.
"Juan, are you sure you're feeling alright?" Yang spoke softly.
"I'm operating at maximum capacity, fraulein." Johann brushed Yang's hand away. "But my welfare is not of our concern at ze moment."
"Yes, it is, Juan." Yang urged. "You're not well, you aren't acting like yourself."
"I told you, I am fine. Und mein name ist nicht Juan, est ist Johann. Besides, vhy do you care about my health?"
"I'm your girlfriend, I'm suppose to care!" Yang shouted.
"You are? I don't remember getting together vith you." With that, Yang's heart dropped straight into the pit of her stomach, and something in the very depths of her psyche snapped like a twig. Gritting her teeth, she swung around and scooped Ruby up in the air, bringing her face to face with her as she wore a creepy twitching smile on her face. "Ruby?" Yang spoke in a cheerfully threatening manner.
"Y-yes, Yang?" Ruby fearfully answered as Yang's palpable aura of indignation and irritation grow exponentially.
"Tell me, what happened to my boyfriend?" Yang kept her eerie smile on her face. It looked as if it were crudely painted onto her face to hide the seething scowl festering underneath.
"I... uh, um... What was the question again?" Ruby asked sheepishly. Yang dropped Ruby back to the ground and started to pinch and stretch at her sister's cheeks. "Ow, ow, owwie!"
"You heard me, dear sister... what happened to my boyfriend." Yang asked again, enunciating each and every syllable with a painful pinch of the cheek, never losing the false smile she wore. "You were with him earlier, weren't you? You know what happened, don't you? Come on, tell you sweet older sister."
"Uh... Yang, I don't think pinching Ruby's going to hel-" Blake tried to intervene, but shut her mouth immediately after hearing Yang's head creak around a full ninety degrees, her glassy crazed filled eyes meeting her own. "Carry on."
"Now, where we we?" Yang turned her attention back to Ruby, who was starting to lose feeling in her supple cheeks. "You were going to tell me something, Ruby?"
"If I tell you, can you promise me you won't freak out?" Ruby mentally slapped herself for that statement. Her sister was totally going to freak. Still, a verbal confirmation might soften the blow, if only slightly.
"I... wouldn't dream of it." Yang's eye twitched.
"So, heh heh, funny story." Ruby started. "A couple days ago, I, just me and no one else, yup, just me and only me, wanted to try and cheer Jaune up." She deliberately left Pyrrha out.
"So, using the power of the 3-D hypno ring from my Captain Underpants books, I, get this, hypnotized Jaune into having a better outlook in life. Thus, a personality calling himself Juan came to be! And then you hooked up with him, and I tried to change Juan back to being Jaune again, only for another personality calling himself Johann to show up. Funny, right?" Ruby mentally slapped herself again. Her explanation was poorly worded.
"..." Yang remained silent and pulled her hands away from Ruby face. Ruby rubbed at her reddened cheeks, trying to see if she can feel anything anymore after that attack on her face. Left in a catatonic state, Blake seized the opportunity to step in to speak with Ruby and her absurd notion.
"You mean to tell us that you hypnotized, Jaune, making him think he's another person, and that you did it with some sort of ring that you got from that toilet book you read? Do you honestly expect us to believe that?"
"Not, really." said Ruby. "I was planning on waiting until after this whole mess was cleaned up to tell you, Yang, Weiss, and team JNPR. This is a serious problem, Blake. I had to go to Doctor Oobleck, who took me to another Doctor Oobleck, his crazy hippie twin sister by the way, who happens to be a famous psychologist just to find a way to cure him!"
"...Doctor Oobleck has a twin?" Blake blinked.
"Yeah, I know. Weird."
"Um, madchen?" Johann spoke up. "The bomb? Are we going to get the white fang or not?"
"In a moment, Johann!" Ruby shouted before turning back to Blake. "Listen, I have had a really, reeeeeeally stressful morning. I messed with powers beyond my own mortal comprehension, unknowingly wiped Jaune from existence, and now I have to deal with Johann and the bomb that he frankensteined today."
"Wait, wait. Back up a bit. The bomb that the white fang stole was made by Juan, or Jaune? This is kind of confusing." Blake rubbed at her head. "Okay, if you did hypnotize Jaune into gaining a new personality, which I'm saying you're not, then who is he now?"
"He's Johann. A hyper intelligent german mad scientist from what I can understand of the time spent with him."
"I still don't believe you." Blake deadpanned. "Jaune could barely grasp the concept that pick up lines don't work on girls. How on earth did he manage to construct a bomb, of all things?"
"From the junk pile behind us and some plutonium he stole from the white fang." Ruby replied a matter o' factly.
"..."
"Yeah, I don't know how either, but it's better to just run with it. Don't want to get a brain aneurysm now do we?"
"...Fine, you know what. I'll believe your crazy story for now, only because there is a threat at hand. Grab your sister, we're getting our stuff, and we're heading out immediately."
"What about, Weiss?"
"She'll have to sit this one out. It'll be too much of a hassle to try and pull her out of class and bother her with all this nonsense..."
After a quick change of clothes and equipment, Ruby, Blake, Johann, and a barely functioning Yang all boarded the nearest Bullhead they could find and flew off into Vale where they intend to reach the mountains by foot. On the way, Ruby, who took her hypno ring with her, tried her best to fully explain the Jaune situation again to Blake without sounding like a complete and total nutcase.
"...In a nutshell, that's what happened." Ruby let out an exasperated sigh. "Something tells me I'm gonna get real sick of explaining everything again."
"How on earth did you, of all people in Remnant, successfully hypnotize an individual without training nor skill using a cheap plastic ring from a crude children's novel?" Blake asked disbelievingly. "It just doesn't make any sense."
"Blake, my whole day so far has been a rollercoaster of confusion. I think you'd at least have the common courtesy to humor me and my woeful plight."
"I do, I just don't feel like it at the moment." Blake glanced behind her to see Yang trailing them. She still hadn't said anything since she was hit with a terrible revelation. All she did was stay behind Johann, her eyes fixated on the back of his head with a thousand yard stare that could make even the most traumatized of war vets wary of her mental state of mind. "Your sister's taking this pretty hard."
"I know, I know." Ruby's shoulders slumped. "I didn't want to smash my sister's heart into tiny little pieces, but it had to be done, whether I liked it or not. I needed to bring back Jaune."
"You've only known him for a semester. Does he mean that much to you? So much that you're willing to go to the ends of the earth to cure him of him illness? Seems like you could be using that effort for something more productive."
"Friends don't let friends stay in a hypnotized state and live false lives, Blake. The sooner you know that, the sooner you can leave that cynical attitude of yours behind."
"Sheesh, look at me. I'm being lectured by a girl who can shovel mountains of cookies into her gullet without passing out. But, I guess that's why you're our wise leader."
"You're darn tootin that why I'm the leader! Oof!" Ruby grunted as she fell back onto her rump after hitting something hard. "Hey, who put a statue here!"
"Greetings, friend Ruby! Greeting, Blake! Greetings, Yang! Greetings stranger!" A familiar voice of curiosity spoke up.
"Bwuah? Penny?" Ruby stared at the android.
It had been a while since the two had last met, and also when Penny revealed to Ruby that she was not at all human. Rather, she a unique android, or synthetic if you prefer the term, who could bear and control aura. The very first of her kind, in fact.
Standing over Ruby was an utter breakthrough in science and machinery, but most of all that was blurred by the fact that she was merely a curious teenage girl with average teenage problems. Only Ruby knew of her secrets, and she'd promised to keep it.
"Hey, you're that girl that we met back then." said Blake. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm browsing the local clothing establishments and enjoying the eateries. Have any of you tried this frozen dairy treat called ice cream? It is sensational!" Penny exclaimed with awkward ecstatic appeal.
"Uh..." Blake backed away slightly.
"Oh! Let me assist you, Ruby." Penny bent over and helped Ruby back onto her feet.
"Thanks, Penny." Ruby dusted herself off. "It's been nice running into you, but my friends and I really need to go somewhere right now."
"Well, where are you going? Surely I can guide you there. I have a great sense of direction!" And it's not because Penny's artificial intelligence is linked to a global positioning satellite way up in space.
"No, no, it's fine. We'd rather not get you involved. It's sort of a serious matter." said Blake.
"Acknowledged. Then may I assist Yang?" Penny asked. "She appears to be exhibiting symptoms of extreme shock and post traumatic stress disorder."
"Eh... she'll be fine. Promise."
"Very well then. I hope you meet you all again in the near futu-"
"Mein gott!" Johann exclaimed as he ran up to Penny and began to caress her face with a look of wonder spread across his face. "Hmm, a pseudo synthetic polymer made to feel just like human flesh. Genius."
"May I assist you in any way, stranger?" Penny asked unfazed as her face was being caressed.
"Ah, ja. We haven't met before." Johann cleared his throat. "Ahem. Mein name ist Johann. Johann Arc. Und you, mein dear wunderbar madchen, are a very remarkable piece of verk. May I ask, who manufactured you?"
"..." Penny reeled back, surprised as to how this person knew of her true identity. Was her cover blown? Was she going to be taken back to lab after being discovered?
"Hey! How about we do a quick little meet and greet somewhere else?" Ruby quickly intervened and dragged both Johann and a surprisingly heavy Penny with her into a nearby alleyway. "Blake, can you watch Yang for me! This will only take a sec. Okay, thanks. Bye!" Ruby used her semblance and darted off into the wind before Blake could even have a chance to say anything.
"...I hate it when she does that." Blake groaned. Little did she know that Yang stirred behind her. A fire grew in the pit of her stomach, and it only burned greater upon seeing her sister drag her boyfriend off into a filthy alleyway with some ginger haired hussy...
"Johann, what are you doing! That was totally inappropriate! You can't just run up to a girl and start feeling her up!" Ruby scolded Johann, but he paid no heed to her reprimands.
"Ah! But she isn't a girl, at least, not in the anatomical gender sense." Johann retorted. "Isn't zat right, Penny?"
"How did you know that I wasn't human?" Penny asked with a curious tilt of the head.
"I am a scientific genius! I have an eye for these kinds of things. Und you are certainly no different."
"Then, you are not shocked that I am an android?"
"Far from it, in fact. I find you to be very... intriguing."
Penny didn't know why, but for some odd reason, being praised by Johann caused some sort of mysterious warmth to form within her central power unit. Which was odd, considering her liquid nitrogen coolant systems appeared to be functioning at full capacity. Try as she might, she could not find a reason for this troubling warmth, even with a full internal diagnostics check.
"You really think I'm... intriguing?" Penny spoke slowly, savoring her own words.
"Absolut!" Johann gently caressed her face again, this time sending alarming shocks throughout Penny's system. "Feeling your synthetic skin, I can only imagine ze hypnotic array of vires und circuitry zat lie beneath ze surface. If I could, I'd study every inch of your body vith a magnifying glass, und jot page after page of notes und sketches of utter perfection."
"...Ooookaaaay..." Ruby drawled. "This is starting to lean on the disturbing end of the spectrum."
"Bzzt!" Penny jolted from the shocks of his electric touch and started to panic. "Ah! I-I'm not perfect! I-I'm a defective unit! You wouldn't want me, you'd want a better model. One that doesn't break down so easily from this kind of internal stress. Oh, you must be disappointed with a failure like me."
"Nein, you are perfect in my eyes. But, perhaps a tune up is in order for you. Pardon me for asking, but do you have an access panel?"
"O-on my back, but I don't know how you could hel- Eep!" Penny yelped as Johann curtly spun her around and brazenly lifted up her shirt, causing Ruby's jaw to drop at his audacious action.
"Johann! What are you doing!" Ruby turned bright red.
"SCIENCE!" Johann fervorously shouted aloud. "Penny here is in need of a tune up. But I'll do her one better. It's time for an UPGRADE!"
Johann felt around Penny's soft and smooth backside until he found an inconspicuous seam running along the small of her back. Popping it open, the panel slid open on a pneumatic track that hissed as it revealed Penny's inner workings. While Penny wasn't human, her entire mechanical structure were all modeled after the average teenage human female, complete with a full internal frame resembling a skeleton and several regulators filling in for vital organs.
"Um, J-Johann?" Penny squeaked.
"Ja, Penny?" said Johann as he ran and finger along her metallic spine, causing her to involuntary shudder.
"This... this is my first time undergoing maintenance from someone other than the scientists back at the lab. Please, be gentle..."
"There is nothing to fear. You're in capable hands."
"Oh, Monty. Strike me down now..." Ruby covered her eyes with her hands, but peeked through one of them just because half of her wanted to see what Johann was going to do.
With incredible speed and dexterity, Johann began to pull wires and swapping around circuit boards. He was in his element working on Penny, and all the while she could feel her systems operate at a speed her creators thought were impossible to achieve. However, the mysterious warmth she felt was still there.
"Now, Penny. Zis next part might sting a little. Just a little warning." said Johann as Penny nodded in acknowledgement. With one swift tug, Johann realigned an circuit board, causing penny to stiffen up.
"01001111_01110101_01100011_01101000_00100001!" Penny yelped at high speeds.
"Phew, there we go. All better now." Johann closed up Penny's access panel and lowered her shirt down. He gave her a few seconds to relax and adjust to her new changes. "how do you feel?"
"Hmm... Systems are beyond optimal. Everything is running at 120%. Not only that, I feel less... cluttered, than before. Lighter too. Almost as if I were metaphorically walking on air."
"Eeyup. Zat's because I got rid of all zat useless junk zat vas gumming up your works. But I didn't stop there. I rearranged everything and hooked zem in a vay zat they'd all verk together in unison vithout consuming extra power. As of today, you are ze most eco friendly android to valk around Vale."
"I don't know what to say, Johann. Except, thank you." Penny bowed her head.
"You are very welcome. Do you still feel like you're a defective unit?"
"Far from it. I feel like I was just built yesterday! I feel... I feel..."
"Sensational?" Ruby finished for Penny.
"Yes! Sensational!" Penny exclaimed with a giddy little dance.
"What's sensational?" A disturbingly cheery voice spoke up, sending a chill running up Ruby's spine. Spinning around, she saw her sister looming over her with a slasher smile plastered onto her face.
"Wah! Yang! You're back to normal, kinda..." Ruby exclaimed.
"Yes, I am. And I'm here to tell you that we gotta go. Now." Yang stated before turning to see Johann happily chat away with Penny. Her smile twitching, she stomped on over and unceremoniously pulled Johann away and flung him over her shoulder like a side of beef.
"Yipes!" Johann cried as she dangled atop Yang's shoulders.
"I'm sorry, Penny. But we must be going now. It's been... nice... to... see you again." She churned out each word with venom dripping from her psychotic smiling lips.
"I see. I hope you all have a splendid day! Goodbye, Ruby. Goodbye, Yang. Goodbye, Johann! And please, tell Blake that I said goodby as well."
"Sure, whatever." With that rude conclusion, Yang turned around and ran off with her treasure in tow like a greedy dragon. Grasping onto him tightly so that no one else can steal him away from her.
"Well, I better go too. If you ever want to hang out with me, you can hit me up at Beacon Academy." said Ruby.
"Why would you wish for me to hit you, Ruby? Are you a masochist?" Penny inquired.
"It's just slang, Penny. You might want to study up on that. Goodbye!" Ruby shouted as she ran to catch up with her sister, leaving Penny alone again.
Walking out into the streets, Penny strolled leisurely towards the park to enjoy her day of limited freedom away from uncle Atlas. Yet as she entered the park, she observed that there were numerous couples about, and that they were all publicly displaying affection for one another. Her mind wandered back to the feeling of warmth she felt in her central power unit. She was sure that she wasn't malfunctioning, especially not after Johann helped her.
"Johann..." Penny whispered. Just as she did, the warmth grew in intensity, so much so that she was worried her internal regulators might overheat. Yet, after another diagnostics check, she discovered that there was no danger to be had. Finding a bench to sit down at, she pondered her peculiar situation.
This warmth wasn't an issue, but it was still bothering her. From what she could deduce, this warmth only appeared when she thought about anything pertaining to her new friend, Johann. If she thought of something else, the warmth cooled off. If she thought of Johann, the warmth began to burn like molten iron. He was the root of the problem, but she was starting to reconsider whether or not this was an actual problem at all.
She search through her databanks to find an answer. After a few minutes of searching, all her results had one thing in common: the word love showed up nearly every single time.
"Love. Entry one. Noun. A profoundly tender, passionate affection another person." Penny furrowed her brow. Was that it? Was this warmth in her central power unit passionate affection for Johann? Did she... love, Johann? Can androids even love? She found herself at a crossroads. She needed to know, she needed to be sure that it was indeed this human emotion that was plaguing her thoughts and body, and whether or not she should act upon it..
"What is love?" Penny searched her databanks again for more proof. Anything that could help her to better understand it. "Result. Song. What is love. Artist: Haddaway. Playing music track."
"What is love? Baby don't hurt me. Don't hurt me, no more..."