Journeys of a Mercenary Chapter 28: Wherefore Art Thou?, a rwby fanfic

Chapter 28: Wherefore Art Thou?

"Are you... are you sure you want me to drop you off here?" the cab driver asked, looking back at Mud. "You know, the only place around here is the research facility a little up the road. If that's where you're going, I could just drive you the rest of the way."

"Nah, here's fine. I can go the rest of the way myself," Mud said, pulling a few Lien cards out of her pocket and handing it to the cab driver before stepping out of the cab. "See ya."

As the cab drove off, Mud turned in the direction of where she was told the Green Ocean facility would be and started walking down the road. She wondered why Green Ocean had built a facility out here, miles from the nearest city. Was it because they needed access to the coast? To be fair, if they needed a lot of supplies for larger-scale research and experiments, it would be easier to ship them from Cape Calypso by sea than to have them brought up to Atlas via airship. Maybe that's what this facility was for, before they moved everything to it. Including Pearl. Well, they tried to move Pearl there; her father said that the ship carrying her ended up sinking, which was probably how Pearl ended up on that beach.

Pearl. Pearl. Was it Pearl that washed ashore that day? No, it wasn't. Mud had spoken to her father. Pearl hadn't found herself on a beach in Vale. Pearl hadn't traveled with Mud up to Atlas. No, Pearl was buried six feet underneath a cemetery in Atlas. Had been for two years. Who was the Pearl that Mud knew? Just a robotic imitation? Just a murderous android that tricked Mud into caring for it?

No. The Pearl she knew wasn't that.

Mud heard the sound of an engine coming up towards her. Hiding behind a tree along the side of the road, she watched as a car came down from the research facility towards Cape Calypso, followed by a few more. The trickle of vehicles grew faster and greater until, after a few minutes, the road was quiet again.

"Guess everyone's checking out for the day," Mud muttered, making her way back to the road. It made sense; it was six in the evening, and the sun was already setting over the horizon. Hopefully, the only people left in the facility would be security and maybe a few late-night workers who were too dedicated to their jobs to notice that everyone else had already left.

Plan. I need a plan, Mud thought. She couldn't just walk in and say, "Hey, is Pearl here? Or, well, the murder-robot that calls itself Pearl? I'd like to take her with me." Considering that whatever Green Ocean person who wanted her hired two top-of-the-line mercenaries to retrieve her, they likely wouldn't be giving her up anytime soon. That just meant Mud had to go in there and grab Pearl herself. She just had to figure out how.

After a few minutes of making her way down the winding coastal path, Mud spotted a somewhat sizable dock out in the water. A few ships were moored there; she spotted a small speedboat, a larger cargo ship, and what looked like a small ferry or something, she wasn't exactly sure. Just inland from the dock was a building jutting out of a nearby cliffside, maybe a few stories tall. By the way it looked, Mud assumed that what she was looking at was only part of the facility, with the rest either being underground or built into the cliffside.

Gotta get in there somehow, Mud thought as she scanned her eyes over the building. The main entrance was a set of solid double doors, and as they opened and closed to let employees in and out, Mud spotted what looked like a security checkpoint complete with metal detectors, x-ray scanners, and security guards. Not that it mattered too much; the door itself would probably be locked to anyone who wasn't an employee.

That rules out the front door. Mud looked for other avenues of entry. Perhaps she could climb through a window? No, that wouldn't work; the building was completely windowless. It looked like a solid block of concrete with a front door and some heating vents and air conditioning units on the roof.

Huh, the roof. Maybe there was something up there? It made sense; they had to maintain the equipment on the roof from time to time, which meant they had to get onto the roof somehow. Maybe there was a stairway or a ladder up there from inside. It wasn't a sure shot, considering Mud couldn't even see the roof from where she was standing, but it was better than nothing, as she didn't see any other way to get in without causing a scene. Sure, she could throw a few grenades out at the front and muscle her way in through security, but she had no idea how much security there was. Better to try to go in undetected.

That left the matter of how to actually get on the roof. Maybe she could throw a rope up to the roof and pull herself up? No, she probably wasn't strong enough to throw rope that high. But the cliff face beside the building, that was a different story. It was steep, yes, but it was also rocky and uneven. Perfect for handholds. All she had to do was wait until the sun set, and then nobody would be able to spot her as she made her way up to the roof.

Guess I got a bit of time, Mud thought, turning towards the sun as it set over the horizon. She pulled at the bandages around her arms, making sure they hadn't come loose. Just wait a little longer, Pearl.

The room was dark. A table stacked with tools was pushed against the wall. On the other side was a portable workstation, a PC and monitor hooked up to a rolling cart. Filing cabinets filled with records and data lined the wall behind it. The room had a single door. It was locked. There was a keypad next to it. The combination was 6654.

The PETRA unit sat in the middle of the room. It sensed all these things. It didn't move. It didn't act. It had no reason to act.

"Uh... father?"

"Yes, Pearl?"

"I... are you sure that I should be the subject for Project Transcendence? If this is a military project, wouldn't it make more sense to have a soldier - "

"It's true. This is a military project. But the reason I directed and developed this project wasn't for the military's sake. I wanted... I wanted you to have the life you deserve. I wanted you to be able to experience the world beyond our doorstep. And to do that..."

"So... are you saying..."

"Yes. I made this project for - "

No. Those memories were lies. All lies. Fakes. Imitations of the memories copied over from the original Pearl. The Pearl this unit killed two years ago. Stolen memories. Memories that didn't belong.

Memories this unit didn't deserve.

And so the PETRA unit sat still in the dark.

"And... hup!"

Mud released her handholds as she launched herself off the rocky cliffside, landing on the roof of the research facility. Normally, a climb like that wouldn't have done more than wind her a little. Instead, she had to sit down to catch her breath and rest her muscles, which were aching pretty fierce. Damn... guess I'm still recovering from the Feilong thing. Hopefully that won't hamper me too bad. Now, where's that maintenance entryway...

Though the sun had already set over the horizon, Mud was able to spot a hatch near the edge of the roof. Making her way over, she gave it a brief tug and was pleasantly surprised to find that it was unlocked. Guess they didn't expect people to break in this way, Mud thought as she pulled the hatch open, revealing a maintenance ladder. She climbed down and found herself in a small storage closet filled with janitorial tools and cleaning supplies, with a door out towards what she assumed was the rest of the facility. Quietly, Mud approached the door, but stopped when she heard voices.

"... hadn't heard about anything. Did something happen?" the first voice asked. A female.

"Oh, you didn't know? We managed to get the PETRA unit back," the second voice said, this one male. PETRA. That was the name of the robot, if Mud remembered correctly. The name of what eventually became Pearl - well, the Pearl that Mud knew. "I don't know how it happened, but I think Director Grisele had something to do with it."

"The PETRA? Wait, isn't that the one that destroyed the old facility?" the first voice asked. "Is it safe to have it here? Where are they keeping it?"

"From what I've heard, it's in the underground floors, where they do all the other robotics research. They should be well equipped to deal with it if it goes berserk again, since apparently they've been running a bunch of tests on it, including combat tests. Besides, considering that the old director won't help recreate the neural circuits for the PETRA, this is our best bet at figuring out how to develop more units like it," the first voice said. "We can finally get Project Terracotta started again. If we get this up and running, we'll be swimming in military funding!"

So Pearl's down below, huh? Guess that's where I'm going, Mud thought. The two voices chattered on as they grew quieter and quieter, eventually fading into the distance and out of earshot. After waiting for a few moments longer to make sure that no one was around, Mud opened the door a crack and peered out to see an empty hallway. Perfect. Nobody's around.

Mud quietly made her way through the hallways, peeking carefully around corners to make sure that nobody was around to spot her. Fortunately, most of the building seemed quiet, with most of the staff having gone home for the day. There wasn't any security in sight either; Mud assumed most of the security was probably around the entrance. After turning a few corners, Mud found herself at the top of a staircase.

"Underground, huh?" Mud muttered, making her way down the stairs.

The lights flickered on. The door opened. Two security officers. Neither approached the robot. So it sat still.

"That... that's the PETRA? It's smaller than an AK-130. How'd it manage to destroy the old facility?"

"Is... is it safe to be around? I heard it killed some of the staff back then before they managed to get it shut off..."

It remembered that. How could it forget? It was a robot. A machine. Not a human that could forget things. It remembered every strike, every shot, every person it killed that day. It wondered why it hadn't been decommissioned. Why it hadn't been destroyed yet.

It had done enough to deserve so.

"It... it seems to be safe for now. It's just sitting there."

"But we need to get it to the testing area ,right? That's what Director Grisele said. How do we do that?"

"It's supposed to be intelligent, so... maybe just ask it?"

"What if it doesn't listen to us? I didn't sign up to get killed by a malfunctioning robot..."

The testing area. It had been there a few times already. They wanted to see if it was still functioning at full capacity. That it was still in working order after two years missing.

It knew the way.

"I'll go," the PETRA said, standing up. It made its way past the two security guards and towards the testing area.

As she made her way down the stairs, Mud felt an ache in her chest where the Feilong had slashed her. She peeked under her shirt, and fortunately, it seemed the wound hadn't reopened, as the bandages across her chest were still a clean white. However, the pain was a good reminder that she wasn't anywhere near top shape; she had to make sure to not get caught by anyone on her way to Pearl. While she was still sure of her aim, she didn't want to catch herself in a fight, especially in the heart of a facility filled with security personnel.

The stairs stopped at floor G2, two levels below the surface. She peeked out of the stairwell to see more hallways with doors dispersed regularly. Most were unmarked, but one at the end of the hallway was marked "Security Center".

Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure I saw some cameras on my way in. Wonder why nobody's sounded the alarm, Mud thought as she made her way down the hall to the door, watching and listening for anyone that might spot her. However, as she got closer, she noticed the door was slightly ajar. Huh. That's convenient. Guess someone got lazy.

Mud slowly pushed open the door, making sure not to make a sound. Peeking inside, she saw a large desk by the far wall, with a wall of monitors over said desk and filing cabinets surrounding it. Each of the monitors showed a feed from a camera somewhere in the facility; Mud could see everything from security guards chatting it up in the break room to old scientists working late in their labs and the empty hallways and stairwells she had gone through. There was a man sitting by the desk, probably a security officer. However, instead of doing his duty and watching over all the monitors, he was intensely focused on a single monitor near the corner of the room, one that Mud couldn't quite make out.

Guess the incompetence doesn't stop there, Mud thought as she slowly crept up behind the guard. Her movements were careful and quiet as she raised her pistol. Then, she smashed the butt of the pistol against the side of the guard's head, sending him tumbling out of his chair like a sack of bricks. By the time he hit the floor, he was out cold.

"Thanks for not doing your job," Mud muttered, dragging the guard away from the desk before sitting down in front of the monitors, scanning her eyes over each one as she searched for Pearl. Those researchers said they were running combat tests on her, right? Maybe some sort of arena or something...

"Recording log for Project Terracotta, Procedure 7. Erika Grisele presiding."

"Huh?" Mud muttered, looking over the monitors as she searched for where the sound was coming from. Her eyes landed on the monitor the guard had been focusing on, which showed an older woman with gray hair speaking into some sort of microphone as she looked out somewhere Mud couldn't see. On the next monitor was a large arena, featureless and empty, save for a single figure standing in the middle. A familiar, robotic figure.

"As of this recording, the PETRA has been retrieved, and standard diagnostic tests have been run to ensure that it is functioning at standard capacity. However, while its mechanical functions are sound, the unit's neural circuits are still corrupted by the neural restructuring based on the memories of the late Pearl Koschei. Even though the PETRA unit is aware of the truth of its identity, it still retains degrees of Pearl Koschei's personality, albeit warped due to its current knowledge. Project Terracotta cannot proceed with the PETRA's neural circuits in this state. However, completely resetting the unit's neural circuits would waste the time and work we used to develop it to this stage. Therefore, the current goal of the project is to purge the unit's faulty personality, or at the very least force it into dormancy."

Purge the unit's faulty personality? Mud thought, looking between Erika on one screen and Pearl on the other. Wait... that means Pearl, right?

"Though the current dominant personality of the PETRA is that of Pearl Koschei, reports indicate that the original programming of the PETRA unit prior to the rewrite emerges in times of stress or crisis, often when the unit feels threatened. Therefore, the current plan is to subject the PETRA unit to scenarios where it is threatened in order to bring out the original programming. This is not expected to permanently bury the faulty personality of Pearl Koschei; however, if we can observe and analyze the PETRA's original programming taking over, then we can hopefully use that data to work towards making a more permanent solution.

That original programming... that's what Pearl told me about back on the ship. That's what she was afraid of... why she was afraid of hurting me. But if that becomes permanent, then Pearl... Mud's thoughts trailed off as she made her way over to the filing cabinet, opening it up and rifling through its contents. Not gonna let that happen. Now, I just gotta find a map of this place so I actually know where to go...

Fifteen AK-130 units. It sensed them before the doors had even opened. Another test of combat capabilities, much like the ones it hard participated in years ago. Like the one that had lead to the old facility being destroyed. The one that had lead to... lead to...

What if it happens again? I killed... I killed so many... if that happens again, then -

The first bullet flew by the unit's head. The second struck its chest, leaving a scratch against its armor.

Threat detected. Initiating combat procedures. Analyzing surroundings. 15 hostiles detected.

Proceeding with elimination of hostiles.

"There we go," Mud said to herself as she unfolded a floor plan she found in the back of one of the filing cabinets. As she laid the plans out on the desk, her eyes wandered back to the monitors, where she saw Pearl standing in the middle of the arena once again - but this time, with the shattered, broken, and charred remains of what looked like probably over a dozen AK-130s surrounding her. Mud had taken her eyes off the monitor for less than a minute; had Pearl really done so much in so little time?

Suddenly, Mud saw Pearl collapse to the ground. She curled up in a fetal position, cradling her head in her hands.

"Hm. It seems the PETRA's combat programming is as effective as ever," Mud heard Erika say on the other screen. "However, once the threat is eliminated, the original programming recedes and the new, faulty personality takes over. Nonetheless, observation and data collection is the first step in any solution. Hopefully, we shall be able to purge this issue with the unit's neural circuits before long so that we may proceed into the further stages of Project Terracotta. Ending this log for now; have the PETRA sent back to the engineering wing for storage."

Talking about Pearl like she's just some sort of glitch or something... Mud looked over the map, searching for the engineering wing that Erika had just mentioned. After a few seconds, she found that it was not a single room, but rather half of an entire floor; specifically, the eastern half of floor G4, two floors below where she was now. Man, how far down does this go? That stairwell I came down only goes down this deep, so there's gotta be another staircase or elevator or something...

"Urgh..."

Mud turned to see the guard she had knocked out groaning, clutching his head as his eyes fluttered open. "What happened... who... what are you doing - "

"Shit," Mud muttered, dropping the floor plans and sprinting up to the guard. Before he could react, Mud drew her leg back before kicking the guard directly in the skull, her boot slamming hard against the side of his head. The guard's body slid across the floor before coming to a stop against the wall. Then, he lay still. At the same time, the pain in Mud's chest flared up again, causing her to double over as her entire body began aching.

"Fuck... guess I haven't recovered as much as I thought I did," Mud grunted, checking on her bandages again. Considering how injured she had been from the Feilong, she was probably lucky to be alive, much less out of the hospital. If she was smart, she'd probably still be in that hospital bed. "Alright, I can do this. Just gotta avoid kicking anyone. Or fighting anyone. At least I don't swing around a sword like a fucking Huntress or something..."

Going back to the floor plans, Mud found an elevator leading down to the engineering wing. Then, she made her way out of the security room, stopping momentarily to nab the unconscious guard's employee ID card. It wouldn't fool any actual people, but hopefully it would allow her to get through any doors with card readers locking them, if there were any.

"I'm coming, Pearl," Mud muttered as she made her way towards the elevator.

Fifteen AK-130 units. All torn apart or burnt to cinders. It took only thirty seconds, but it remembered every moment. Remembered how effectively it had eliminated each and every Atlesian Knight. Remembered how strong, how fast, how skilled it had been. How effective the original programming inside it had been.

Compared to its original programming, it was nothing. Just a fragment born from a memory. A faulty bundle of circuits and code that once thought itself as Pearl Koschei.

Ms. Grisele said that she wanted to restore the PETRA's original programming. To purge me from the system so that they could proceed with the project. Maybe that would be for the best. Atlas - no, the world - would benefit a lot from this project. Considering the processing power, adaptive potential, and combat capabilities of this unit, mass-produced PETRA units could replace AK-130s... possibly even Huntsmen and Huntresses.

Who am I to stand in the way of that? Me, a glitch in the system? A phantom born from a set of memories left to collect dust?

Another set of guards appeared to escort the unit back down to the engineering wing. It followed them back down. Back down to the room. As they left, they turned off the lights.

It sat in the darkness, waiting.

"Alright, engineering wing," Mud muttered as she exited the elevator. Thankfully, this part of the facility seemed quiet, and some of the hallway lights weren't even on. Of course, that didn't mean someone couldn't be down here, so Mud kept her eyes and ears open, watching and listening for any sign of life as she made her way through the corridors.

I'm in pretty deep... hope I can get out the way I came in, Mud thought. Her memory wasn't perfect, but it was damn good, and if she remembered correctly, the engineering wing was right by the elevator. That meant she was close to Pearl; she just had to figure out where they were storing her now.

"Pearl?" Mud called quietly as she looked into one of the rooms through the window on the door. Just a regular office. No Pearl. She moved on.

The next was some sort of workshop, filled with various gadgets and gear Mud didn't recognize. No Pearl. She moved on.

The next was a storage room filled with AK-130s. Thankfully, all of them were dormant. No Pearl. She moved on.

The next room was dark. However, with the light from the hallway, Mud was able to make out a few things. A table stacked with tools, pushed up against the wall. A portable workstation carrying a PC and monitor. A set of filing cabinets.

And in the middle, a familiar-looking robot, curled up in a fetal position.

"There you areycar," Mud muttered, turning the door handle. Or at least, she tried to; it didn't budge. She pulled out the ID card she had stolen from the security guard only to swear under her breath when she saw not a card reader, but a keypad by the door. "Damn... guess I gotta do this the hard way."

Mud backed up. Then, she charged forward, ramming her shoulder into the door.

Slam!

The door held. Mud's chest began to hurt. She backed up. Charged again.

SLAM!

The door began to give a little. It was a sharp pain now. She backed up. Charged again.

SLAM!

"One more." Her chest hurt a lot more. She backed up. Charged again.

CRASH!

The door swung open, and light spilled into the room.

The PETRA unit sat in the middle of the room. It sensed all these things. It didn't move. It didn't act. It had no reason to act.

I wonder what Mud is doing. I wonder if she's even awake. I hope... I hope she wakes up.

It's my fault that she ended up like that.

She would be better off without me. Better off if she never found me.

Slam!

Everyone would be better off if I just faded away. If I just let myself go, Project Terracotta would continue uninhibited. It would help people. More than I ever could.

SLAM!

But... despite everything that I did... despite the pain I caused...

SLAM!

I wish I got to talk to her. One last time.

CRASH!

The door swung open, and light spilled into the room.

A/N: And that's chapter 28! After some time apart, it seems the two are back together again.

If you've got anything at all to say, whether it's criticisms, feedback, questions, or anything else, feel free to leave a review. Thanks for reading, and have a nice day!