"Ah, Atlas. The frozen tundra of northern Remnant, the everlasting cold of snow and steel. Surrounded by the march of technology... smells like home, eh VSM?"

[That may be, sir. But you are currently surrounded by the military, on the edge of the giant floating landmass called Atlas.]

Looking down, Quinn is indeed right on the edge, gazing into the burning embers down below. Nice.

A man, dressed in military garb with massive shoulder pads, grabbed a megaphone and shouted to Quinn, "Sir, you are in a restricted area! Please stand down and we will not shoot."

Staring at the man, Quinn shouted back, "Don't shoot! I came here accidentally!" putting his hands in the air, concealing the VSM and walking towards the officer slowly, "Relax! I don't have any weaponry!"

Coming closer to the contingent, Quinn was handcuffed and escorted to a military hostile containment vehicle to be delivered to a holding cell for interrogation. Sitting in the vehicle, Quinn sent a mental command for VSM to start mapping out the entirety of Atlas, or at least the places he's been.

Peering out the window, Quinn observed the towering buildings of Atlas, its citizens milling about like clueless fish. Studying their faces, Quinn could see that the less well-off civilians had worry beset on their fronts, while the richer were nonchalant. "Probably due to Beacon falling. A growing fear from a population this large would draw in Grimm." Shifting his gaze skywards, "That would explain the large number of ships in the sky. James must be worried."

Minutes later, Quinn is escorted to an interrogation room. Dimly lit with a simple table and a door to his front. "Heh, is Oz gonna pop out?" joked Quinn to himself.

The door opens, and a tall man enters the room. James Ironwood, General of the Atlas Military, and Headmaster of Atlas Academy. At an impressive height of 6 foot 6 inches, the Ironwood is dressed in formal military garb, leaning more to a suit than anything. Ironwood looks to Quinn for a moment when he starts speaking, "Mr... Baethan Quinn, born on Mistral, parents deceased, researcher. Now, why would a man like you be found in restricted military property?"

Blinking once, Quinn starts to chuckle to himself, "James relax... " squinting his eyes at the informal tone, Ironwood began, "General Ironwood to you." Raising a brow, Quinn continued, "I arrived there on accident, don't worry."

"And how did you get here. There is a 24/7 patrol on the borders of Atlas, and you were not marked as a visitor."

"I was getting to that. You see, I was conducting an experiment, where I was to travel to a specific location, specifically just outside Atlas, but I got the coordinates wrong."

"And what was the experiment?"

"Personal transportation. Easy stuff."

Ironwood began to speak, "That does-"

"Came from Mistral, Qrow's coming around in a few days... maybe a week. He's got Ozpin."

Pausing, Ironwood stared at Quinn, a blank face betraying no emotions when he spoke, "And where is your proof? A random person appearing, claiming that a presumed dead man is coming here? Why should I believe you?"

"Heh. James relax. I'm in the know, the Maidens, the Queen, Ozzy's body switching, relax. You can trust me, I helped them before coming here."

"That doesn't prove anything."

"What if I called them and show you?"

"Impossible, the CCT is down. Communication between kingdoms is impossible."

"Not with me. But maybe now would not be the safest time to contact Qrow, and subsequently Ozpin. Lionheart may see them."

"And why are you so worried about Lionheart. He's our comrade in arms against Salem."

"Don't worry about it. Give me a week, and I can safely get in contact with Qrow. In the meantime, could I get out? It would be awfully boring to sit around and do anything."

Staring at Quinn, Ironwood considered his options. Trust an unknown factor and allow him to go free, or lock him up. Easy fix for Ironwood. "No. You are staying in a cell for a week until you can prove that you are indeed an ally. Be glad I am giving you this privilege."

"What if I helped you?" Quinn offered, "I am a researcher and a scientist. I could help you in the RnD department. It would be terribly boring for me to do nothing for a week, you can even have 24/7 surveillance on me, not much for me to hide."

"Why would you help us? What's in it for you?" Ironwood asked. Shrugging, Quinn answered, "I'm a researcher, I yearn to learn about everything. And if I help some people on the way, I wouldn't mind."

Taking a minute to contemplate this new development, Ironwood finally spoke, "Very well. I'll give you this chance, purely on the fact that you have at least been cordial."

"That's good."

"But! If you do anything suspicious at all, I'll have you locked up for the rest of your life." Ironwood warned.

"Not a problem James, not a problem.

"Hm." Bringing his scroll to his ear, Ironwood spoke a few commands, "Bring in Specialist Schnee to Interrogation Room 4 immediately." Minutes later, the door opens revealing a tall young woman, white-haired and dressed similar to Ironwood, but less grandiose. Facial features similar to Weiss, Quinn quickly identified her as Winter Schnee, sister to Weiss Schnee.

"Sir!" Winter saluted, standing at attention, "You summoned?"

Ironwood replied, "Yes. I am posting you as a handler to our dear friend here for the duration of his stay, make sure he doesn't do anything suspicious. I will be sending you more details of your assignment later. Take this time to get to know each other."

"Yes, sir!" Winter saluted, with that Ironwood left the two and headed straight to his office.

With the closing of the doors, Winter turned in place to look at Quinn. Quinn, who at the moment, had already gotten rid of his cuffs was now tapping the table. "So, you like jazz?" he introduced. Silence. "How about smooth jazz?" he tried once more. Silence. "Ok then, you don't like jazz. A shame... any interest at all?" Silence. "You like Qrow." Quinn stated.

That got a reaction, Winter did a double take and started to vehemently protest the statement. "No! Who would ever be attracted to that cur!" Winter spouted out. "Ha!" Quinn laughed, "That got a reaction."

Winter's face is beset with indignation as Quinn continued, "But a bit too fast for a reaction eh? Trying to hide something, Snow Angel?"

"Dear Oum, it's another one." Leaning back on his chair, Quinn demurred, "Nah! You're just an easy target, not unlike your sister."

Eyes sharpening, Winter demanded, "What do you know of Weiss?"

"Relax Win', if you would read your assignment requisites, you'll understand, in fact, it should be sent to you right about now."

Ding! Winter, in surprise, took out her scroll, and lo and behold, her assignment requisites were indeed just sent to her. Scanning through the folder, Winter's eyebrows shot up.

"Yeah. So could you lead me to the RnD department? I would like to start working. It is boring in here, you don't even like jazz!"

"I assure you, I have no problem with jazz. I just prefer other musical outlets compared to it. But yes, we can go now." Standing up Winter, followed by Quinn, headed out the door.

Looking back down her scroll, Winter read off the instructions more closely, "Ok, your room #34, luckily for you, it is the closest to the RnD division."

Stopping in front of a door, Winter announced, "R-34, your room" continuing on the corridor, Winter and Quinn entered a large room filled with machinery and people milling about doing various tasks, "And this is the RnD division."

"Huh, big place," Quinn noted

"Yes, the RnD division in Atlas is the largest branch."

"Not as impressive as my place, but you know..."

"What do you mean your place?"

"Don't worry about it."

"Moving on, says here you will be posted with... Dr Polendina?" Winter continued on. Thinking to himself, "Doc P? That's good, I got some questions for him."

"Interesting, the doctor is posted at the back, the General seems to be trusting of you to have you with the Doctor."

"Ah what can I say, I'm quite convincing when I want to be."

Entering through a door tucked away at the back, Winter and Quinn rode an elevator down an unknown amount of floors. When it stopped, the exited to a smaller lab but with seemingly more specialised machinery. Quinn spotted a balding, tanned old man working tirelessly on a presumably sleeping girl.

"Penny... Haha! She's been fixed!" Quinn mentally cheered, "But not waking up?"

"Dr Polendina. This is the man that has been posted with you." Winter introduced, "If you have any questions, please consult the folder that has been sent to you, or ask Quinn."

Face beset with fatigue, the doctor faced Winter and Quinn and replied, "Of course Specialist, just leave him here."

"Very well, if Quinn does anything suspicious, please report it to the General or me. You also have permission to use force to subdue him, if possible."

"Hey!" exclaimed Quinn indignantly, "I'm right here."

Ignoring his claims Winter walked off, leaving Quinn and Dr Polendina alone. Deciding to break the ice, Quinn started, "So? Trying to fix Penny? She seems about alright."

Ignoring Quinn, the Dr went back to his work. "Not a fan of small talk I guess." Taking the time to explore the relatively small Lab, Quinn noted that most of the devices were hooked up to the central pod, where Penny was being held.

Coming close to observe the girl, Quinn noted some improvements from her previous iteration, a more organic looking skin, less exposed machinery and the like.

"What do you know of Penny?" the doctor finally asked.

Walking over to him, Quinn replied, "Not much, just the bare minimum. First synthetic soul. Working artificial aura, you know. How did you do it?"

"Classified."

"Doc, everything here is classified, and me just knowing that this is going on already grants me automatic declassification."

"That's not how that works boy. But I can see your point, the Ironwood posted you with me and gave you access to some classified information. Now, what do you know of the science concerning Penny?"

"Eh, not much, but give me the papers and I'll get back to you in a couple of hours. In fact, " Quinn said, slapping a unit on top of Polendina's computer, "Give me a few seconds."

"What is that?"

"Hm? My greatest work. You have Penny, I have this." Quinn replied smiling.

"And what does it do?" Polendina asked, curious, his scientific mind running.

"Ha! Not it doc, not it. VSM is my best friend."

[Thank you, sir.]

Eyebrows shooting up in surprise, Polendina asks, "A talking machine, is it like Penny?"

"Similar, but no. But we're getting distracted. Your folders here, show that Penny is fixed, but she's not waking up. Why?"

"You got all that, that fast?" Polendina exclaimed, "No matter. Yes, Penny is indeed fixed, but the Aura generator is not working, it seems that the old system is broken, Dust isn't working to kickstart the process."

"You used Dust to power Penny? I thought she was powered by her soul?" Quinn asked, surprised.

"No, no. We used dust to kickstart the process, Penny's soul can power her through, but the Dust is the catalyst. She did use to need a recharge every night, but that was for insurance. Her new body wouldn't need that recharge anymore."

"Dust isn't working eh? That segues neatly to my question, do you know how the mixing of dust works?"

"Dust mixing? No, you would need to speak with the scientist at the SDC to get that, I do know that it has something to do with their properties mutating. But why? I do not know."

"Huh, too bad. Anyways, can I try something? It may work, and if it doesn't, it won't do anything." Quinn asked, taking hold of a shard

Squinting his eyes on the shard, Polendina asked, "What is that? Dust? It already doesn't work. Why try again?"

"Don't worry, I gotta feeling this has a higher chance of working, it is what powers my VSM."

"I don't know... We may need to get Ironwoods green light, it is an unknown factor."

"Bah! Nothing ventured, nothing gained Doctor! Where's your scientific spirit!"

Sighing, Polendina replied, "I don't know why I should trust you, we just met." Looking up, a glint is seen in his eyes, "But your right, go ahead."

"Heh. Me too, Doctor." Quinn cheered, placing the shard in Penny's internal generator.

Taking a step back, a small spark of electricity jumped upped from Penny. Soon that single spark multiplied exponentially, bouncing from the generator and spreading across Penny's body.

"Hmmm..." Quinn muttered, commanding VSM to contain violently growing reaction. "Penny!" Polendina shouted.

"Don't worry, Doc. She'll be safe." Quinn said, holding the doctor back.

Penny's body starts to twitch and convulse. The sparks of electricity, bouncing lower and lower until it forms a skin-tight covering. Sooner or later, that too receded into Penny's body, until it stopped. Boom! A sudden burst of harsh light flashed, filling the barrier the VSM erected in its embrace. As suddenly as it appeared, the light collapsed upon itself like a star. Silence.

Dumbfounded, Quinn and Polendina slowly approached the central pod, Quinn dispelling the VSM units. Coming close, both see Penny still sleeping.

Quinn started, "Guess it didn't wor - " Penny's eyes flew open, staring vacantly towards the ceiling. Turning towards Polendina, Penny spoke, "Father? Where am I?"

Tearing up, Polendina embraced Penny gently, crying into her shoulders, body shaking with emotions, "My little girl, you're alright..." the doctor cried. Confused Penny asked, "Father? What's wrong?"

Leaving the two alone for the moment, Quinn went to the computer monitoring Penny's vitals. "Hmmm... some memory loss, but that's fine, we don't want that trauma." He observed, "Oh? What's this? The artificial soul has been replaced?!"

Turning to the father and daughter, Quinn ordered a unit to scan Penny. Looking at the scans, Quinn's eyebrows shot upwards as he analysed the data. "Holy... an organic soul. Did the void influence this? But how? And why?"

[Sir.]

"Yeah?"

[I should think that you let that go.]

"Oh? Why?"

[Not forever, sir. Just for now. For now, just let them enjoy each others company]

"Eh, fair enough."

A week passed, and Quinn is seen once again hunched over a unit, reading and the such. The week brought new light to Quinn on the topic on dust. "VSM, am I stupid?" he asks, "I feel like I'm stupid."

[Sir, it's not your fault, Dust is a different energy source from our place. And therefore, nobody would blame you for not thinking about the simplicity of its mixtures. You're not perfect, sir. And that's fine.]

"Thanks." Quinn said, "Though this week was something, eh? Who knew such a simple thing would get me in the good graces of everyone here, well... specifically James, Win' and Doc, but semantics."

[Not surprising at all, sir. You did revive Penny after all.]

"Yeah... anyway, it's been a week, it should be alright to contact Rubes by now. Let's go to James' office."

"No need," the voice of Ironwood spoke out behind him, surprising Quinn, "Don't think I forgot, you may have helped Penny, but you are still an unknown."

"James! Jesus, jeepers, jinkies... j-word..." Quinn rattled off, "Well since you're here, let's call Qrow." Summoning a VSM unit, Quinn commanded it to call the one he gave Ruby.

"Change to a large screen," Quinn said, and so it was.

"Amazing. Do you know how this kind of tech would help us against the Grimm?" Ironwood exclaimed

"Yeah, it would. Too bad Dust doesn't work with the VSM as a secondary power source."

Flickering to life, the screen changed to a live video of Qrow and the gang. "Oh, it's you. We were worried about what was going on with this, thing you gave us."

"Qrow! Question, where are you guys?"

"Hm? We're just about to board the Argus Limited to Atlas. Should be there in a few days."

"Qrow is Ozpin with you?" Ironwood butted in.

"Oh, Jimmy! Yeah, yeah, Oz is here." Qrow replied, "Oscar, come here!"

"Yes, Mr Qrow?"

"Qrow, this is a boy." Ironwood deadpanned

Looking at Ironwood, Oscar's eyes briefly flashed gold, as his tone and stance changed.

"Ah, James. Good to see you." Oscar, now Ozpin, said

"Ozpin?"

"Yes James, seems like I've been returned in young Oscar's body this time."

"I see," Ironwood said, "And I am to assume that you will be arriving in a few days?"

"Yes."

"I'll have accommodations prepared."

"Thank you, James."

Getting off the call, Quinn recalled the unit to him and looked towards Ironwood, "So? Believe me now?"

"Yes, it seems you were indeed telling the truth." Ironwood relented. Shrugging, Quinn replied, "Don't worry about it, I understand." Looking around, "can I go now? I have something to test out in the lab."

"Very well, go."

Walking towards Dr Polendina's lab, Quinn mentally conversed with the VSM, "So how did the battle with Salem's forces go? Did you have to intervene?"

[No, sir. The battle went as usual, and my interference was unrequired.]

"Hmm, not much changed with the main group I see. That's good, I was worried I changed too much. And them still being at the station. Send a command to the unit they have, protect them from the crash, but don't prevent it. Wouldn't want them to be too injured."

[Already sent the command, sir.]

"That's good." Quinn stated, "Anyways, Doctor! How's it going!" The man himself turned towards Quinn with a large grin on his face, the Doctor has been on a constant high ever since Penny was revived, "Quinn! It's been good, Penny's getting through all the prechecks without any problems."

"That's fantastic," commented Quinn, looking through the glass pane, separating the lab and a testing room. In the testing room, Quinn could see Penny going through a combat test. Being swarmed by solid Grimm holograms. She was currently utilising her blades as a blender, massacring the constructs. Jumping up, she recalled the blades, spinning them in front of her and firing a massive beam of energy directly into her enemies, obliterating them.

"Is her power output greater than it was before?" Quinn thought eyebrow raised.

"Impressive. And her aura meter is barely below 50%." He commented.

"Yes, Penny is doing even better than her previous iteration. Quinn, " Polendina faced Quinn, "What was that shard you placed in her?"

Smirking Quinn replied, "Took you this long to ask, eh?"

Face determined, Polendina responded, "Sorry Quinn, I couldn't quell my curiosity for too long."

"Haha! Yeah, I understand that feeling."

"So?"

"Hm. The shard is from this Gem here, around my neck, " Quinn said, "The shards nothing special, just an energy cell. Of course, it contains a stupid amount of energy, but still just an energy cell."

"How about that Gem?"

"Heh. Just an even bigger energy cell. Where it gets its energy though... well, I can't explain that to you."

"I see..."

"Heh, don't worry about it Doc' it won't do anything harmful to Penny, I assure you."

"Thank you Quinn, again."

"Heh."

AN

Hey, Chapter 5. Yay.