Chapter 34: Even Robots Need Blankets

"It happens every time. If it counts, I'll lose my courage when I need it the most..."

Nex leaned over the railing, sighing at the fishy depths below. Fishy, being the literal odour of the docks. Steak. Oh gods, steak. What would he not give for steak?

"All I'm saying is that the White Fang has reasons," Blake said. "They're just misguided."

Misguided. Great. They were definitely stupid or even obsessed. But to each their own.

"And what reasons are those?" Weiss said. "What justifies terrorism and genocide?"

A lot. But they were irrelevant. Actions did not need to be justified for people to do what they did.

"Guys! Stop," Ruby said. "We're here to celebrate. Not argue about the White Teeth or whatever."

Crap.

Nex palmed his face, grimacing as his wolf ears stiffened.

A three-way war between his teammates was raging. And he was staying out of it. Not because he was scared. No. Definitely not because of that. But it was because he was the leader. And he had to stay impartial.

He reached into his pocket, fingering the smooth slits on the mask. Somehow, it was all the White Teeth's fault. They really should have stuck with dental plans, floss, and toothpaste. Preferably the SDC brand.

"White Fang," Blake hissed. "Don't mock them."

Ruby huffed. "I'm not mocking them!"

"The White Fang was behind that robbery," Weiss said. "And you know it. There were masks all over the floor."

Broken masks could have meant anything. But then again, the masks did look familiar. He even broke a similar mask yesterday. Had one in his pocket, even.

Blake growled. "You don't know that!"

His partner did not need to. Conclusions were formed from evidence. Not because a scientist already knew the answer.

A heel stomped over wood.

"What other terrorist cell uses ceramic masks?!" Weiss said, drawing a sharp breath. "Stop deluding yourself."

Yep. Point for Weiss Schnee.

"I'm not deluding myself!" Blake said. "The White Fang aren't thieves. They're reformists."

To be fair, she was right on one front. Half a point for Blake Belladonna, then?

Ruby heaved a sigh. "Maybe it was Roman Torchwick. I've seen him rob a store once."

And a full point for one Ruby Rose.

Well, all of them were probably right.

The White Fang was working with Roman Torchwick—both of them under Cinder Fall. Cloak and dagger conspiracies. There was definitely something brewing on the horizon. A storm about to take the whole of Vale and maybe even the whole of Remnant.

And there was no way he could spill a word. Not without unveiling his mysterious past, along with all the loaded history behind it. Enough history to put the Artificer behind bars forever. Fuck. A stiff drink. One of those would be grand. A cold one to quench the pounding sun in his temples.

But a single bottle of beer now could lead to a dozen more and then to becoming his father. Or even his partner's mom.

Fuck.

Fuckity fuck.

Screw it.

Nex spun, facing his team. "Rubes is right. Let's find a good place to eat. Who's hungry?"

Ruby managed a stained, twitching smile as she raised her hand. "Me! I want pizza. Who wants pizza?"

"Not before we sort this out," Weiss said, her arms crossed over her scarf. She fixed the ghost-ninja a frigid stare. "What's with you?"

Blake scowled, looking away. "Nothing. Forget it. Let's just eat."

"Blake Belladonna. I'll have you speak the truth," Weiss said, her heeled boots tapping the planks. No escape from his girlfriend. "So we can clear the air between us."

Blake stiffened. "I'll just go. Have fun with lunch."

The ghost-ninja loped towards the streets, taking steps that could have outpaced a bike. Her hair faded into the thick crowd—the crowd of students coming from the ships, dressed in their own duds, their chatter ghosting through his extra pair of ears.

"Wait!" Weiss said, twisting. Angling her calves for a sprint.

Too far.

Nex placed a hand on his partner's shoulder, rubbing the taut muscle with his thumb. "Let her go. She'll be back later."

The ghost-ninja would. Then they could probably talk to her straight. Not a shouting match. But a polite, civil talk like the one he shared with Roman a few hours ago. Despite how it ended. Or even with the White Fang woman.

Weiss nodded, her shoulder loosening. "We shouldn't be arguing like this."

An argument like the ones between her parents, even. A shouting match between Jacques and Willow. Not a pretty sight, considering the look in his partner's eyes whenever her parents came up. Sore spot for both of them, apparently. Odd that parents and no parents could result to the same thing.

Ruby frowned. "It's my fault. I shouldn't have said teeth."

It was clever though. That White Fang woman would have probably laughed. Not that he would come back to Roman's hole just to chat. The smoke was bad for his health, among other things. Definitely the other things.

"No, don't blame yourself," Weiss said, breathing a soft sigh. "Today is supposed to be your day."

Nex nodded, removing his hand from his partner's shoulder. "Yep. Let's go. You want pizza, right?"

Ruby nodded. Pizza it was.

They strolled through the docks, crossing the border into the commercial district. Strings of multi-colored balloons hung over the stalls by the road. Oil. Junk food, probably. His nose wrinkled. Give him cheap, mass-produced bagels or sweet, sweet wild strawberries any day.

The buildings around them were archaic, almost antique—a stark contrast to the sleek, towering skyscrapers of Atlas. Historically, it was because Vale was a city where everyone and their grandmothers lived—a macrocosm of Remnant's diverse cultures and identities. He found himself shaking his head from time to time, looking for the neon lights, the zooming cars, and the giant billboards. And Weiss was probably doing the same. Her skin glowed pink—a glow that never appeared in Atlas.

Weiss smiled, giggling as she poked his left bicep. "You've been staring and smiling at me. What's on your mind?"

Ruby grinned, nudging his right forearm. "Our team leader's in love. What else, Weiss?"

Ugh. He really needed to buy some aviators. It should go well with his hypothetical fedora. What the hell, right? He had the trench coat, the jeans and the boots. The mysterious past. Might as well go all the way.

"Yep. That's me," Nex said, rolling his eyes. "Your silly leader who's possibly in love with his partner."

Weiss flushed, even as she smirked. "Possibly? Why, Mr Shade. I'm positively offended."

Nex shrugged, mirroring her smirk. "You'll have to bear with it, Miss Schnee. I like to maintain my aura of mystery."

Weiss arched an eyebrow, fixing him a glare. Her fingers raced down his arm, lingering on his wrist. "We should test that aura of mystery. See how it fares under duress. Perhaps when we find some time to ourselves, Mr Shade?"

"Yuck," Ruby said, grinning as she gagged under her palm. She swayed to the side, bouncing on her boots. "You're—"

An orange blur crashed into one Ruby Rose.

Ruby rubbed her arm. "Ow. What was that?"

The orange blur screeched into a halt. Her boots dug into the sidewalk, kicking up a trail of broken cement. Lien. A lot of lien lost right there.

"Oh! I didn't see you there," the orange-haired girl said, spinning around. She smiled and tilted her head. "My apologies, citizen!"

Citizen? Last time he checked, they were in Vale. Not in Atlas. The citizen stuff came from Atlesian bots, not from a random girl on the streets.

"It's fine," Ruby said, smiling at the quirky girl. "You didn't mean it. I'm Ruby. Ruby Rose."

The girl curtsied. Like an actual curtsy from those fairy-tale themed commercials. "Salutations! My name is Penny Polendina. And I've come to represent Atlas in the Vytal Festival!"

Scrap. That explained it. Atlas spat out the weird everyday. Case in point—him.

Weiss smirked, eating up the girl with her eyes. "You're representing Atlas? My name is Weiss Schnee. It's a pleasure to meet you."

His partner was just getting to know Penny, where getting to know meant scouting out the competition. Nothing less from the more than competitive woman.

"Weiss Schnee of the Schnee Dust Company, " Penny said, flashing them a wide smile. She shot him a glance. "And this must be your mystery man. Nexus Shade of the Atlesian Cybertech Division!"

What.

Weiss flinched, her cheeks burning scarlet. "Mystery man?"

Nex shrugged, grimacing as he swallowed a ball of spit. Impossible. "Cybertech Division?"

There was no way he heard that one right. Ironwood wanted his involvement to remain secret. The secret boyfriend thing was expected, even inevitable. That picture was taken last night, posted in a tabloid article this morning, and probably spread like wildfire since then—even without that waitress telling on them.

Besides, he still had to take lien from his hidden caches and Beacon's subsidy. He was definitely not receiving lien for being a supposed technician in the Cybertech Division—the techy branch of the Atlesian Military. Home to the best and the brightest of the world's eggheads. In theory, at least. There was that rogue hacker who placed those now-closed backdoors.

Penny pulled out a scroll. "It says here in the article, the heiress and her mystery man. I cross-referenced the facial structure, the hairstyle, and the lupine ears of the mystery man with Nexus Shade's current physical appearance. My analysis is ninety-six point sixty-seven accurate. Capital!"

Shit.

No way.

The tabloid complete with grainy, amateur shot flashed on her scroll. Hell. His wolf ears could have been mistaken for hair. How Penny produced an impossibly accurate analysis was a mystery. Then again, Roman knew. But the thief probably knew because they were more than familiar with each other. Penny was a stranger. Something was definitely up with the loud, quirky girl.

Ruby smirked, staring at the scroll. "Busted."

Apparently. The only thing left to do was wait for Jacques and Winter to call. Now that was a conversation for the storybooks. Or a funeral. Definitely one of those.

"Alright. Fine. Weiss and I are dating," Nex said, rolling his eyes. "What's with the Cybertech Division?"

Weiss frowned. "Yes. I admit that Nex and I are in a happy relationship. The guesswork of this... rag newspaper is correct. But what did you say about the Cybertech Division?"

Come to think of it, he never did tell her. It simply never came up again. Well, people did forget stuff.

"Nexus Shade's contributions to the Atlesian Military are marked as classified, as well as his position," Penny said, her green eyes boring into his. She pocketed her scroll. "But his name appears on the roster of the ACD."

Nex shrugged. Time for an intervention. "Come on. Let's eat lunch. Wanna come?"

Penny frowned, fidgeting with the hem of her blouse. "I wouldn't want to intrude."

Ruby smiled, her eyes snapping towards the quirky girl. "Nope. We're friends now, right?"

Yep. Friends with the quirky girl just off the streets. Their society of the socially challenged elite was expanding. Penny Polendina. The girl who spoke like she was on sugar. Their fifth member.

Penny gasped, her green eyes bulging as she held a hand to her chest. "Friends?"

Nex nodded, even as his partner shot him a pointed stare. "Yep. Come on. We're all friends here. Weiss and I included."

"Friends!" Penny said, her lips pulling into a taut grin. "Sensational! Three friends in one day! Capital! A new record!"

The look on Penny's face could have split open an ice queen's heart. Weiss shot him another look. A look definitely saying, this isn't worth it. He shrugged, returning one saying, Rubes has it covered.

Penny leapt, latching on to her victim's arm. Right. "Oh, we're going to have so much fun together, friend Ruby! And friend Nexus! And friend Weiss!"

Ruby's eyes lingered on his as she dragged Penny along. The bubbly girl slid on—no, through the concrete. She must have had godlike aura reserves. That, or feet made of solid titanium. Not enough data to form a conclusion. At least, not yet.

Help me, Ruby Rose mouthed.

She was pouting like a corgi, her silver eyes pleading for the sweet release of death.

Nex shrugged. Not his battle to fight. "Call me friend Nex. It's what my friends call me."

Friend Nex. That had a nice ring to it. Somehow even better than Artificer.

"Affirmative, friend Nex!" Penny said, raising her arm into a salute. The one not wrapped around her unfortunate captive's waist. "Onward, my friends!"

They charged towards the pizza place. To be fair, there were worse ways to commit property damage, disturbance of the peace, and vandalism all in one day. Mekel would be proud. Winter would be scandalized.

"So, that was a thing," Nex said as they settled at their table.

Steaming plates of pizza sat on their table, along with pitchers of different drinks. There was a rack filled with condiments—which he refrained from even touching. Knowing his luck, it would turn his plate into some sort of hot chilly abomination. And probably kill his can of diet coke.

Instead, he lifted a slice to his mouth, raising an eyebrow as Penny stared at her pizza. She poked the cheese, gasping as it stuck to her fingers. Droplets of yellow dripped over her chest as she brought it to her eyes.

"Sensational," Penny said, beaming at the goop. Steam rose into the air, puffing into white smoke. Well, to each their own. "The cheese is just at the right temperature to achieve a definitive state of adhesion."

Ruby shot the quirky girl a sideways glance, her eyebrows furrowing. "What?"

Weiss nudged his calf with her boot. "What Penny means to say is that the cheese is hot enough to stick to her fingers."

His partner shot him another look, sitting beside him on the couch, their knees touching. She stabbed the pizza on her plate with a fork, slicing it into small pieces with a knife. Apparently, there was a proper protocol for eating pizza—beyond just Mekel's lessons on Etiquette 101. Trust his partner to know.

"Right. So, Penny," Nex said, licking the soft cheese off the back of his teeth. "You've never eaten pizza before, huh?"

Penny flinched. "O-of course, I have, friend Nex. I'm a connoisseur of this pizza. I have travelled Remnant, tasting the glorious wonders of the cheese."

Nex rolled his eyes. Right. The glorious wonders of the cheese. Connoisseur, the quirky girl claimed. Truly, the heights of the socially challenged elite were yet to be attained. But still. Penny Polendina wanted to fit in. To be seen as normal. Far be it from him to deny a fellow member that.

"Of course," Nex said, offering her a smile. "What do you think of its taste?"

Penny grinned, sucking on her fingers. "Sensational. I've tasted nothing like this... pizza before."

Ugh. Way to go, Penny. He handed her a pass. But she took her car diving off the cliff.

Weiss frowned, her eyes fixed on the self-proclaimed connoisseur. "Penny Polendina. If you haven't eaten pizza before, then there's no shame in telling us the truth."

Ruby smiled, patting the quirky girl's shoulder. "We're not going to bully you or anything. You can tell us whatever you want to tell us."

Cardin Dumbchester was gone, but Ruby probably had memories of that jar of sap. Understandable, considering that they were here to celebrate her health. He should have totally kicked Dumbchester in the balls before sending the idiot off. But still, that was neither here nor there.

"Really?" Penny said, her eyes darting between them. "I don't know what to say."

Nex shrugged. "Say ah. Eat your pizza. Enjoy the day with friends."

Penny smiled, her eyes blinking. Tears, probably. "I will, friend Nex."

Nope. Anything but the waterworks. Give him monsters or criminals any day. Just no crying boys or girls. Or crying men and women.

Nex took another slice, biting into the glorious cheese.

Apparently, Penny Polendina was the sheltered type. Atlas had a lot of those. Maybe Penny was the heiress of another mega corporation. It would certainly explain how she identified Weiss. Important people had their own little sphere of associates, elevated from the rest of the world. Head stuck in the clouds, and all. Case in point—Penny Polendina.

Huh.

Polendina.

The name seemed familiar.

Who was it again? The scientist?

"Nex," Weiss said, her knife halfway through another slice. But still, she fixed him a stare. "What exactly did you do for General Ironwood?"

Right. He still had to address metaphorical elephant in the pizza place. The one with the glass walls, the plush couches, and the tables. But no cameras. The place buzzed with conversation, grating against his extra pair of ears . People filled with energy for the upcoming festival. Doubtful anyone was listening in.

"That's classified, friend Weiss," Penny said, frowning at his partner. "Friend Nex shouldn't reveal Atlesian Military secrets."

Nex took a sip of his diet coke, offering her a smile. "No one's eavesdropping, Penny. You can keep a secret from Ironwood, right?"

Considering that said general was the headmaster of Atlas Academy, the quirky girl had cause to be worried.

"I—" Penny said, her breath hitching. "I'll try, friend Nex. I'll do it for my friends."

That sold it. Penny Polendina was the fifth member of their society, filling in the niche of the loud, quirky girl, even if she was competing with one Ruby Rose. The one silver-eyed girl stuffing herself with two slices of pizza, the yellow cheese sticking to her chin. She smiled, sipping on a tall glass of milkshake, even as Weiss shuddered and looked away.

"I wrote the new code behind the Atlesian mechs," Nex said, shrugging. "And I gave the good general some extra toys."

Weiss quirked an eyebrow, even as she frowned. "Really? So you didn't learn it from an old dumpster? You wrote it yourself?"

Oh. Apparently, she still remembered that half-assed explanation. To be fair, she was right. It was written by him, but only after he examined a dusty, old mech in a dumpster. And there was also Roman's data on the brand new Atlesian Paladins. The latter was definitely more helpful.

"Not really. I did tinker with a broken mech," Nex said, nibbling on a thin slice. "Then I made the military's new duds. I was bored."

Bored was an understatement. Mind-numbingly bored with nothing else to do in life was a more accurate descriptor. Well, that was in the past.

"Bored?" Weiss said, the bit of pizza on her fork sliding off. It fell, flopping like a fish on her plate. "You accomplished something like this because you were bored?"

Penny shot him a glance. "Friend Nex, boredom is inherently unproductive. Friend Weiss has a valid reaction."

Debatable. Boredom pushed people to search for new stuff to do. It could lead to more productive pursuits.

Ruby grinned. "That's so awesome. Can you make a video game? Can you do Queen of Fighters Five?"

Ugh. Video games were a waste of time. But still, to each their own.

"Nope," Nex said. "I don't do video games."

Ruby pouted, swirling the straw in her glass. "Awww. That's too bad."

Weiss shook her head. "Nevermind that. Do you have any idea why your name is on the ACD?"

It was the metaphorical Goliath in the pizza place. And there was no way to know for sure. Why would Ironwood place his name on the ACD's roster? There was no precedent. No cash, even.

"Nope. No idea. I'll call the good general," Nex said. There was no point in speculating about what-ifs right now. "Find out what all the fuss is about."

It was a conversation for another time. They still had to finish lunch.

And have a straight talk with Blake.