Author's Notes

This story was born out of a few things. One, Penny is one of my favorite characters and I haven't done a story with her as a central character yet. Two, I wanted to do something that broke the mold of my usual story structure, which usually starts at Beacon and follows along that line closely. Three, I had a cool concept for a character when writing a chapter of one of my other stories (Saudade) and felt she would be an interesting protagonist of her own story. That being said, this story has nothing to do with that one, it's purely its own thing. With that said, I hope you enjoy!


Day to day life was difficult for Sarcelle Arc.

The girl was sitting in her bedroom, various robotic parts and projects scattered across the place while she fiddled with another on her desk. Her blonde hair only covered her ears and nape, unkempt and unbrushed, it stuck up in various places. She had never liked long hair, it was too much effort in her opinion. The only visible apparel she was wearing was a teal colored shirt a few sizes too big for her fairly diminutive (5'2'') and skinny form.

Her blue eyes, hidden under rimless glasses, scanned the small white rectangular device in her hand, it possessed a camera lens for an eye and an antenna on its head, gravity and wind dust would work to keep it aloft. After a few moments of fiddling, she set it down and sighed before looking at her computer.

At age sixteen she was firmly in the middle of a pack of eight, right below her brother Jaune, but having six other sisters to share a house with wasn't what made her life difficult. Instead, it was her illness.

Sarcelle coughed, wretched even, into her hand. She heard her mother call and ask if she was okay, and Sarcy called back with a tired and frayed voice, "Fine, mom." Her incredibly pale skin and sunken eyes would beg to differ, but that was just her normal look.

A severe immune system deficiency, that was what the doctors called it. From the moment she was born she lived a life of struggle, because if she wasn't in a clean environment she could get sick. She did get sick, she got sick a lot, and for a great deal of her life that meant she had to stay in her room. Her room was safe, even if it meant she couldn't talk to her sisters that much.

Sarcelle, or Sarcy, as she was called by Jaune, wasn't exactly the most social person as a result of that. She found solace in books, and later the CCTnet, because if she couldn't go out and play, then she would read and imagine what it would be like to play in her mind. That was part of what kept her going, and even if she had to be tutored at home, she still engrossed herself in it at all times. School or no, she would learn.

Her father, Jacquot (or Jack, as he preferred) Arc was a retired huntsman who spent his life training the local militias and assisting in managing the primary academy that functioned as part of the Arc family's home of Domremy. He was the one who unlocked her aura, because while he was against any of his children becoming huntsmen, he knew that having her aura unlocked was the only way Sarcy could live something akin to a normal life.

That wasn't enough, because she still got sick. She still could just barely leave the house, and if she got dirty in any serious way she could still be laid up in bed for days after the fact. She was still weak, and she hated that, because Jaune was so much more than her, and she loved him. She used her skill with computers to forge his transcripts, because she believed in him when no one else would. She would have unlocked his aura if she was capable, but the ritual would tire her out greatly, and that would have likely resulted in her getting sick again.

Sarcelle wanted to be a huntress, she wanted to be right there alongside her brother stemming the tide in her own way. But she couldn't, because she was too sick. A weak, sickly girl could do nothing against Grimm. So she designed gadgets, tools, and other things so that one day she might be able to fight, or maybe her gadgets would help save people.

She took hold of her creation, named 'Pod 0' for being the first prototype of her Pod Project, and tossed it into the air. The creation activated and hovered in the air, its camera lens looking around, the steady whir of the gravity and wind dust it emitted might as well have been her creation's way of breathing. In its own way, she felt, it was, "Pod… report."

Pod responded obediently, "The weather is 75 degrees fahrenheit, wind speed is 12 miles an hour, you have [1] new email. Sender: The Atlesian Bureau of Defense."

Sarcelle's heart could have stopped right then and there.

She had… appropriated a few designs from Atlas in order to make Pod, the Mantelian CCTS was easy to crack, outdated code that hadn't been changed for decades, she hadn't expected to be caught. She swallowed a lump in her throat and turned to her computer, accessing her email.

"Dear Miss Arc,

Your skill and efforts have not gone unnoticed. Your work on the defenses of the city of Domremy are worthy of praise, and your several projects that you have displayed have not escaped the notice of some very powerful people. You are a prodigy, there is no doubt about that.

However, you also breached Mantle's systems and through that made off with several highly classified documents on the workings of various robotic and biomechanical advancements. Under normal circumstances you would be placed under military arrest and tried for espionage. However, certain people in very high places have taken an interest in you.

Thus, instead, you are formally invited to attend Atlas Academy a year early. Your… unique condition will be remedied to the best of our abilities, and you will work with none other than Pietro Polendina as his apprentice outside of the normal duties you will be expected to perform.

As declining this invitation would result in your arrest, it is assumed that one as intelligent and promising as you will make the smart choice. Thus, a ship will be coming to escort you to Atlas in a day's time. I will be there to assure everything goes smoothly.

I will see you then,

Winter Schnee, Specialist of the Atlesian Military."

Sarcelle activated her semblance and pushed her will into the CCTnet, combing every possible avenue that could tell her whether or not this was a fake. Just one benefit of her semblance, which she had named 'Technomancy', it allowed her to gain any information she wanted from the internet she wanted, alongside allowing her to do… other things. Things like manipulating traffic lights if it meant her mom could get home faster, or causing Jaune's phone to start blaring the worst music she could find when he was trying to get a girlfriend.

Everything she saw told her that it wasn't faked, no one was trying to freak her out. Instead, she got to freak out for a totally legitimate reason.

Sarcy deflated in her chair and sighed, rubbing her forehead, "Atlas…?" That was so far away, and not at all where she had wanted to go when she dreamed of becoming a huntress, she had always imagined going to Beacon or Haven. Atlas was the furthest thing from her mind.

And yet…

Not only was it her one ticket to finally start working towards her dream, if what they said was true, then they might have the means to further reinforce her immune system! It wouldn't stop her work on her power suit, nor her nanomechanical immuno-replacers, but those were still just schematics on her desk, nothing physical yet.

She didn't need to respond, but she did, with a simple "Alright, seeya then." Before she stood up, put some pants on, grabbed her scroll, and headed out of her room towards the stairs.

She was not looking forward to having this discussion with her parents…

Especially considering there were days when she needed to cling to the railing for dear life if she wanted to go down the stairs. Yet, maybe that wouldn't be much of a problem at all soon enough. Not that she was naive enough to believe that Atlas held the secrets to completely fixing her problems, she was certain that whatever they had in mind was highly experimental and likely not a cure-all.

When she reached the living room, she saw her dad and mom watching TV. Her mom smiled at her, "Ah, honey! Are you hungry? Dinner's almost ready."

Sarcelle smiled weakly and reached into her pocket, producing her scroll and walking over to her parents, "I was emailed… by Atlas."

She showed her mother the email, she and dad knew about her projects, knew what she was doing and why. That was why they weren't mad at her for what she had done, necessarily, but mom was certainly going to panic. She stood up, "You can't go to Atlas! You can barely leave home for more than a few hours at a time! How are you going to survive?! What will you eat, how can they-"

Her dad cleared his throat, "Honey." He tried calming her down, "There's nothing we can do about it. Do you want to fight the Atlesian military? They have every right to want to arrest her, this is… better. Besides…" He sighed, "As much as I hate to admit it, she needs this."

Sarcelle knew there was going to be an argument between the two of them later that night, but for the moment her mom deflated and resigned herself to the simple fact that there was nothing she could do. Sarcy didn't fully register just how distraught her mom was, emotions were… never her strong suit. She knew them, she had them, but she couldn't tell what a person was thinking at any given moment, nor did she even fully get why she was this distraught. This was a good thing!

Seriously, why couldn't people be like her machines? She understood robots and computers, metal and cogs, she didn't understand flesh and blood.

The rest of the day was spent preparing. Letting her sisters know (both the ones still at home and Saphron over scroll), packing her bags with everything she needed, and other assorted things that she was quick to forget about. That last night sleeping in her bed felt liberating, it wasn't as if she'd never be back, but the idea that the day after she would be in Atlas, the most technologically advanced kingdom on Remnant, filled her with all sorts of glee she had given up on feeling a long time ago.

Who knew that stealing military secrets would result in so many things going right? Maybe she should steal highly classified documents more often…

Of course her parents both still had their reservations. The only reason they didn't cause a bigger fuss was because they knew she wasn't the one trying to run off to an academy, not like Jaune, instead she was being all but dragged to one whether or not she wanted to be there. Luckily, she very much wanted to be there.

When the next day came around, Sarcy was up early for once. Normally, she woke up well into the afternoon, but this was a special occasion (that, and she wasn't naive enough to believe she would be able to keep sleeping that late while in Atlas). She was wearing a simple teal T-shirt (one her size this time), jeans, shoes… just civilian clothes. The main thing that separated her from the pack was Pod floating dutifully in the air on her right while she made her way towards the airship landing.

It turned out she was right on time, a rarity for her, as no sooner than when she sat down awaiting the airship did a large Atlesian carrier ship arrive in the skies above. The ship itself didn't land, that would have been impossible due to its massive size compared to the relatively small airship landing. Instead, a smaller dropship departed from the larger ship and descended onto the platform. Sarcy stood up and walked towards it, stopping just before the landing itself, with Pod reporting, "Atlesian Military Dropship, Serial Number #238546, Codename: Eagle."

The bay door detached with a HISS before falling to the ground and becoming a ramp for the Atlesian personnel who exited. Several soldiers in full uniform carrying rifles, marched out and stood on either side of the ramp while a tall, slender woman with snow white hair and ice blue eyes stepped out, her hands held behind her back. She was wearing what Sarcelle recognized as the standard uniform of an Atlesian Specialist, aka, military huntsmen. Not every huntsman that Atlas Academy trained became Specialists, but they were apparently highly encouraged to if their marks were high enough.

Pod's lens extended out as it scanned the soldiers and Winter, although it seemed to only find Winter to be of interest, "Identified: Specialist Winter Schnee, highly renowned specialist and former heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, now better known as General Ironwood's right hand woman."

Winter's stoic expression didn't change as she stopped a few feet from Sarcelle, she merely glanced at Pod before looking at the girl herself, "I would introduce myself but I believe your drone just did it for me. Although I would highly advise not speaking of my former role."

Sarcelle nodded slowly, "I'm not sure I understand why, but I'll add it to Pod's directives on the ship." Pod clicked and whirred a few times and Sarcy blinked a few times before speaking, "Right, thank you Pod. I should introduce myself. Sarcelle Arc, but you already knew that."

Winter hummed, "Pod, is it? Interesting. I see your file wasn't exaggerating. Reports of your activity are all over the CCTnet if you know where to look."

Pod answered for Sarcelle, "Sarcelle frequently posts on online internet forums to share her creations, as a matter of displaying her inventions to the world."

Sarcelle nodded, "I see that backfired on me. I suppose it was inevitable. Tracing my IP address, finding all of my posts, seeing my activity." Then, she looked away and muttered under her breath, "I knew I should have used a proxy…"

Winter regarded her for a few moments before turning on her heels, "Be that as it may, you won't be posting anything regarding your work for Atlas online. However, you will be free to continue posting your own personal projects, we shall not stop you from doing that. Now come, it's at least a day's flight to get to Atlas."

Sarcy didn't need to hear her twice, she and Pod followed close behind. It was only after she and Winter were inside and seated on one of the metallic outcroppings that acted as benches that the soldiers piled in and either took their own seats or stood and held on to the grab handles hanging from the ceiling.

It was… uncomfortable to Sarcy. Being this close to so many people made her skin crawl and made her incredibly anxious. She shifted in her seat and took a deep breath before closing her eyes, trying to keep a hold on herself. The ship took off and Sarcy was grateful that she had taken her motion sickness medication in anticipation of this, she wasn't going to make the same mistake many an Arc had made before by forgetting.

Luckily, it didn't take very long, barely a minute passed before the ship came to a rest within the carrier and all of the soldiers were able to pile out. Winter, for her part, looked concerned at Sarcelle as the diminutive girl opened her eyes and stood up. Her voice betrayed her concern, "Are you well? Is it your condition acting up?"

Sarcelle just shook her head, "N-No. I just have trouble with tight spaces and large groups." Winter's concerned gaze remained for a few moments before she returned to her normal disciplined demeanor and nodded before leaving the dropship, Sarcelle following closely behind her.

The large carrier bay held numerous soldiers, working on various tasks, all of them saluted Winter before she waved them off and they went back to their normal duties. As they walked, Winter asked, "How much do you know about Atlas?"

Sarcelle thought over the question as Pod whirred and clicked before she nodded, "The Kingdom of Atlas, formerly the Kingdom of Mantle, is the most technologically, scientifically, and militarily advanced kingdom on Remnant. Atlas Academy draws criticism for rolling its huntsman academy in with their military school, some say it fosters unfair loyalty when huntsmen should have no allegiances to any of the kingdoms. The kingdom is also home to several brilliant minds, like Doctor Petal, Doctor Tesla, Doctor Polendina, and the late Doctor Watts."

Winter was surprised at the response, methodical and straight to point. In that way, she figured that Sarcelle would fit right in working with the Atlesian military and their fledgling cyber security division, "I see you've done your research." They reached a room, sealed with a pneumatic door. A simple press of the button on the wall caused it to hiss before it opened, one half going into the ground and the other half going into the ceiling, "This will be your quarters for the duration of your stay on this ship. Proper accommodations will be provided for you upon your arrival in Atlas, although you will only be staying there before the semester starts and during holidays. It will be located in Atlas, but expect to need to travel to Mantle to work alongside Doctor Polendina often."

That was curious, "Why does Doctor Polendina work in Mantle?" She had done her research, she knew Mantle was not exactly the place you'd go to find the foremost mind on robotics and cybernetics. Yet, apparently that's where he was.

Winter seemed amused, a small smirk tugging at her lips, "Doctor Polendina prefers to work at the 'ground level' so to speak. He will tell you more once you meet him, I am certain." The idea of actually meeting her hero was exciting and anxiety-inducing at the same time. What if he wasn't what she thought he was? What if he was mean? The saying goes 'don't meet your heroes' but she wanted to hold onto hope that Doctor Polendina would truly be the kind and brilliant man he was purported to be.

After that, Winter left Sarcelle to settle into her room. It was fairly generic, a bed covered in gray covers and with white sheets, a desk with a lamp, a dimmer switch for the lights, and a small bookshelf with some random books on assorted topics within it. Sarcy assumed it was to keep soldiers from getting too bored on their downtime. The most important thing about the room to her, though, was how clean it was. The whole ship was clean as a whistle, but this bedroom in particular stood out to her.

Needless to say, she didn't leave it for several hours. She had been busying herself reading a book about an Atlesian secret agent with a license to kill defeating supervillains when her stomach grumbled and Pod spoke, "Sarcelle, my scanner indicates that you require sustenance. I advise seeking out the mess hall." At that point, it was almost eight PM, she hummed and nodded before standing up and leaving.

Pod was able to locate the mess hall fairly easily, and within it were groups of soldiers of varying ranks and stations, some wearing their gear and others wearing white uniforms with a single streak of color on it, denoting their position in the military. Military Admins were orange, 'regulars' were blue, Archivists were Brown… Sarcelle couldn't remember all of them from the research she had done, but she knew there was more.

Her food was served to her by an old looking panda faunus, he was a large burly man who greeted her with a kind smile and gave her what Sarcelle suspected was an extra helping of the meal being served that day. It was a well portioned dinner, nothing descript and certainly nothing to write home about, but it got the job done. Pod mentioned that it was a very nutritionally balanced meal for the average soldier.

The fact that all of these soldiers were there to pick her up was… something. She was certain that wasn't the only reason they were there, maybe they had another deployment afterward?

She ate alone, not that she minded, she didn't know anyone on the ship, and being in a place that crowded was making her nervous. After she ate, she retreated back to her temporary bedroom and found that the luggage she had brought was delivered there, not that she needed anything from there at that moment, but it was good to know her projects weren't being tampered with.

Eventually she was able to sleep, and the next morning she was woken up by Winter knocking on her door and telling her that they were arriving. With a smile on her face, she said, "You don't wish to miss the approach, you won't forget the sight." Sarcelle didn't quite understand what the big deal was about right up until she reached the bridge.

Then, she found herself breathless.

A beautiful city with towering spires and shining lights that made Domremy look like a tiny village, ships came and went, and the shining city in the sky seemed to beckon her. The city below, while less impressive, still had its own beauty to it, in the tall buildings and rising smokestacks displaying industry, yet her focus was on Atlas proper. She didn't even notice that her mouth was slightly agape and her eyes were wide as she gawked at it. Winter certainly did, as with perhaps a slightly uncharacteristic bright smile took its place on her face.

"Welcome to Atlas, the greatest kingdom on Remnant."


Upon their landing, her bags were taken by soldiers to where she would be staying, an apartment that looked fairly middle of the road, more Mantelian than Atlesian in design, it was named Epsilon Heights. There was a living room, a single bedroom, a bathroom, and a kitchen. Apparently, General Ironwood himself ordered it furnished, albeit it was barebones, not that Sarcy wanted or needed much. It had a bed big enough for just her, a small round dining table in the kitchen, and a desk and computer chair in the back corner of the living room.

According to Winter, General Ironwood liked to treat his charges well. Sarcy believed that, given that she had never dreamed that she would have had her own place to stay. It was… liberating and frightening in the same measure. Yet, she would endure, because she knew she had to. Besides, she had Pod, so it wasn't like she was alone.

When she was finally alone, she went through unpacking. She had a dresser in the bedroom that she used to put all of her clothes away before she unpacked and set up her most important and prized possession: her computer system. There were a few days left before the start of the semester, and she knew she was going to have a lot to do.

Yet, that night, she had nothing to do. Tomorrow morning she would have her first meeting with General Ironwood and Pietro Polendina (or as she called him, Pietro fucking Polendina, but only to herself and Pod).

The only thing she did of note that night was deciding to text her brother before she went to bed.

Sarcy: "Jaune."

Sarcy: "Are you awake?"

It took him a few minutes, but eventually he responded.

Jaune: "Yep. What's up? Miss me already?"

She blew air out of her nose and texted back, "Nope. I just wanted to give you some news, since I doubt Mom and Dad will."

Jaune: "Rude! What is it?"

Sarcy: "You remember how I borrowed those files?"

Sarcy: "Well…"

Sarcy: "Atlas kind of found out, but I'm not in jail!"

Sarcy: "They recruited me! I'm going to Atlas Academy a year early!"

No sooner than when she sent that last text did her phone begin ringing, the dopey picture she used for Jaune of him tripping on a sidewalk on full display. She answered and his wide-eyed face filled her screen, "You what?! How? What about your immune system?!"

Sarcelle couldn't help but grin an impish grin at her brother's panic, "Apparently they have something that will 'remedy' it. I don't know how yet, but I'm not gonna complain! I don't know what all they're going to have me doing, but in a few days I'll be a full fledged member of Atlas Academy, a huntress-in-training! Well, after initiation…" She was going to have to outfit Pod and some other gadgets to be combat ready…

Jaune huffed and pouted, "Man, I wish I could have gotten some full-ride scholarship to a frickin' Huntsman Academy. Hopefully I'll be able to find someone to unlock my aura before initiation starts…"

Sarcelle smirked, "Get good, scrub." At Jaune's mock offended face, she giggled, "You'd better get looking, Jaune, or else you might fail and then all of my work will be for nothing."

Other than being the primary person she talked to, Jaune was also her favorite sibling because his facial expressions were incredibly easy for her to read. She could never tell if one of her sisters was happy or sad at any given moment, but she could certainly see that incredibly nervous look on Jaune's face as he chuckled, "Y-Yeah. Don't want that. Okay, I should get some sleep. I'll talk to you later, Sarcy."

She nodded and bid him farewell before ending the call and getting into bed.


Marrow Amin was not having a great morning.

First, when he went to take a shower, the water was cold because his apartment complex's maintenance crew was fixing the water heaters. Then, his coffee maker wouldn't work, forcing him to buy coffee on his way to work like some sort of hipster, and finally, finally, after getting to work…

"What do you mean I've got to babysit some kid from Vale?!"

He received his next mission assignment.

General Ironwood found his outburst somewhat amusing, and it just served to highlight exactly why he had chosen Specialist Amin for this job. Given that he was a relatively green specialist at the age of twenty-one, he had yet to entirely prove himself. Many of the specialists under Ironwood's command would have accepted without contest, and yet at the same time they would have likely behaved like little more than regimented soldiers to the girl he was expecting to meet that morning. Ironwood didn't want someone that pristine and regimented, this girl was a prodigy, that was certain, but she didn't need her first impression of Atlas' finest to be someone that might leave her with a… less than ideal impression.

He knew, for example, that Specialist Bree would have probably ended up alienating the girl with her bombastic and competitive attitude. Specialist Ebi was too busy. Specialist Ederne was far too crass, and Specialist Zeki… Well, he was a strange one. So, Ironwood just nodded, "You are to escort Miss Arc to and from Atlas Academy, and follow her anywhere she goes until it's time for initiation. She's a very intelligent girl, but she still lacks combat experience and thus, is vulnerable to those who might wish her harm."

Marrow was about to speak but Ironwood interrupted him, "Is this too challenging an assignment for you, Specialist? Perhaps I should contact Clover and-"

Marrow cut him off, shaking his head, "N-No no! I'm perfect for this assignment!" If there was one thing Marrow didn't like, it was being told he couldn't do something. If Ironwood thought he wasn't going to do well, then by the Brothers he was going to be the best damn chaperone that kid has ever seen! "I'll leave immediately, uhm, if there was nothing else?"

Ironwood turned away and walked towards the windows his office had behind his desk. His hands behind his back, he added, "If you perform this to my standards, I will consider you for more… Let's say, challenging assignments in the near future. Don't let me down, Specialist Amin."

Marrow saluted, even if the General couldn't see it, "Yes sir!" Then, he hurried out of the door. As he got into his car, a simple two-person vehicle entirely meant to get him to and from work, he wondered if this was a stroke of good luck or bad luck. On one hand, how hard could it be to babysit some kid from Vale? On the other hand, this girl was supposedly a genius when it came to several fields of study he had absolutely no clue about, and on top of that she suffered from a severe immunodeficiency disorder. If she so much as got too much mud on her before Doctor Polendina's special provision was prepared, she could end up in the hospital, and who would be blamed for that?

"Yeah, always blame it on the dog faunus." He grumbled as he took off towards Epsilon Heights. It wasn't a long drive, apparently Ironwood wanted to make sure she wasn't too far off from the Academy at any given moment, and Marrow had to wonder why. What, was this girl going to make off with state secrets or something? He couldn't help but chuckle at the idea, he had seen a picture of the girl. Short at 5'2'' and incredibly thin, she was going to need to bulk up if she wanted to keep up with everyone else.

Honestly, he had to wonder why Ironwood wanted to put her through huntress training. She would have been better as just a cyber security geek, but he tried not to question the big man too much. He always knew best, and Marrow hadn't gotten to where he is by questioning his betters.

At least, not the betters that he thought were better than him. The betters who weren't better would receive his snark for thinking they're better when they're not at all better than him.

…What?

Marrow realized he had been thinking in circles again, luckily he arrived at Epsilon Heights in short order. Once he was there and parked, he entered the lobby and took the elevator up to floor six, where his 'VIP' was located.

Meanwhile, said VIP's alarm was blaring Vangelis at top volume for a few minutes before she convinced herself to get up and turn off the alarm. After that, she went through her morning routine. The stereotype that people like her were unwashed didn't hold true, given that her life literally depended on her being clean for several years, she was used to being spotless, and having her surroundings be up to the same standards.

After she finished drying and dressing in jeans, shoes, a teal shirt, and a black fleece jacket, her doorbell rang, much to her dismay. She had hoped to be able to eat something first, she needed her strength! She figured she'd get something on her way to Atlas Academy and made her way to the door while simultaneously using her semblance to activate Pod.

When she reached the door and pulled it open, she was greeted with a dog-faunus with dark skin, black and green hair, and light blue eyes. He wore an awkward smile, Sarcy had to crane her neck slightly to look at the man, he was almost a foot taller than her! He cleared his throat, "I'm Specialist Marrow Amin, and I've been assigned to be your… bodyguard?" He wasn't sure what title he should give himself, if he chose the wrong one he might get her upset within the first minute of meeting her. Then, he added, "Basically, I'm gonna escort you to and from wherever you need to go up until initiation."

Sarcy appreciated it, because while she was confident in her intelligence, she was not confident in her… everything else. Aura or not, she had the strength of a kitten. Pod whirred before extending out its lens to inspect Marrow, who shifted uncomfortably under its gaze, "Identification: Specialist Marrow Amin. Graduate of Atlas Academy, known for his quick rise through the Atlesian military ranks. No further affiliations detected."

Marrow cleared his throat, "Wow, that thing knows its stuff. Uhh…" His nervous gaze wasn't hard for even the likes of Sarcy to see, "Are you gonna… say something? Or does the robot do the talking?" To say he was weirded out was an understatement. It was one thing to meet an egghead, it was another thing entirely for that egghead to let her robot do the talking for her.

Sarcelle crossed her arms and tilted her head, humming in contemplation. Pod whirred and whistled, and Marrow watched as the girl rolled her eyes as if she understood whatever that thing was saying, "Alright fine, Pod." She managed an awkward smile, "My name is Sarcelle Arc. It's a… uhm…" She froze and thought about it, "It's good to meet you."

Marrow furrowed his brow, he knew the poindexter types were usually terrible at talking to people, but it still took him a bit off guard. Still, he smiled, "Yeah! Good to meet you. We should get going, General Ironwood's expecting you."

Sarcelle huffed as she followed him out, Pod floating next to her as she shut and locked the door behind her before going towards the elevator, "I'm going to need to eat after." She wasn't about to keep General Ironwood waiting, and she normally could go a good while without eating, but she knew that with all of this walking around, she was going to need her strength.

Marrow himself hadn't eaten, and the idea of getting something made his tail wag, "We'll grab a bite after. There's still a few places in Atlas I haven't been kicked out of…" The less said about his Academy days, the better. He still hadn't lived down the 'Underwear Incident' of his junior year.

Sarcy could live with that, before they knew it they were both down in the parking lot. The two of them got in, with Pod floating in and then deactivating, resting on Sarcy's lap while she slipped on her seatbelt. A few minutes on the road without talking later, Marrow was feeling awkward. Sarcy didn't seem to notice, looking out the window as she watched the city pass her by. Yet Marrow cleared his throat, "So, uh… Got any hobbies?"

She hadn't exactly been expecting him to want to talk to her, so that was a surprise. She thought the question over for a moment, "Inventing. Robotics, cybernetics, eventually nanotechnology, things like that." After a brief pause, she added, "I also play video games."

Marrow could have sighed in relief at the last one, he knew nothing about any of the other things she was talking about, but video games?! He loved those! "Oh, cool! What do you play?"

Sarcy hummed, "Remnant Universalis 4, Hearts of Dust, Farworld… Strategy and management games, mostly. It keeps me engaged."

Marrow huffed. Swing and a miss! He'd heard of those games, but he'd never played them before, "Uhh… Ever play Dogtags and Duty? Can't believe they're finally not releasing a game this year."

She thought about it before responding, "I have. I'm not fond of those games. For maximum efficiency, they generally require vocal communication." For a moment, Marrow expected this to be about how she was treated, instead she said, "I get… angry when I play those games. As a result the things I say usually aren't super nice."

Marrow was surprised, she didn't seem the type to get angry. Yet still, he understood, "I getcha." That was the end of that, luckily Atlas Academy was right there. They pulled into the parking lot and got out, whereafter Marrow escorted her towards Ironwood's office. He smiled, "Just play it cool. The General looks scary, but he's a real softie at heart." He caught himself, "Uh- Don't tell him I said that, please."

Pod, who had activated as they left the car and resumed following Sarcy, responded, "Response noted." Marrow wasn't exactly sure how he felt about the fact that the Pod was saying things for her. How was it doing that? Did she make it do that? Ugh, thinking about it made his brain hurt…

When they reached General Ironwood's office, Marrow knocked and opened the door after hearing Ironwood tell him to come in. He strided in with Sarcy lagging slightly behind as she took in the office. The decorative constellations on the floor, the windows behind the desk where the man himself was seated in an office chair, it was… admittedly very beautiful. At least in Sarcy's opinion. When they both reached Ironwood's desk, Marrow saluted, "Sir! Specialist Amin reporting with Sarcelle Arc."

Ironwood looked up from the paperwork he was writing and nodded, "At ease, Specialist. Wait outside, if you would." Marrow nodded and obediently left. Once the door was shut, Ironwood regarded Sarcelle, "Sarcelle Arc. Allow me to introduce myself, General James Ironwood, I have a feeling that you already knew that." He smiled, "I must apologize for the circumstances of your arrival. Had I learned of you before the… unfortunate occurrence with those documents, I would have given you a scholarship a lot sooner." He regarded Pod, floating next to Sarcy and silent save for the steady hum of the wind and gravity dust it used, "I take it this is what you made with those plans?"

Sarcelle nodded, "Yes, uhm.. Sir?" When Ironwood nodded, she continued, "This is Pod 0, the first of my Pod Project. He is capable of accessing the CCTS, gathering information on anyone he sees, and he's capable of combat, among other things. I've also given him a rudimentary form of sentience so that he might better assist me."

Ironwood looked shocked, "Sentience…?" She nodded and he smiled, "Well. I see that you and Pietro will get along even better than I expected. Have you considered giving a name to your… Pod?" Ironwood found that having an attachment to things like that could serve to strengthen a student's resolve, and what better way to grow more attached than she already was then by naming it?

She hummed, "A name?" She looked at Pod, and Pod looked at her. Pod whirred and clicked a few times before Sarcelle nodded, "Very well. He's now designated Enigma."

Ironwood's smile grew, "Very good. Now, allow me to give you the rundown." He stood up out of his chair and began to pace, "You've been brought here because of your extraordinary skills, and because of those skills, you will become Pietro's assistant. In time, you will work on some highly classified projects. I understand that you wish to be a huntress, at least based on the posts you made online that we found. Some people suggested you be assigned strictly to work in the Cyber Security wing of the military, but I think that every young person deserves a chance to pursue their dreams. With the technology Pietro will allow you to use, you may well be able to follow that dream. That being said, should you fail initiation, you will instead be funneled into a mixture of R&D and cybersecurity. Are there any questions?"

That was a lot of information to process, Ironwood knew, but she would have a few days to work through it all before the real work began. If he had known about her sooner, she would have been brought to Atlas months ago. Yet, as the old adage went, you can't unshatter the moon.

Well, she supposed that was all fair. She didn't know if she was going to be able to pass initiation, unless Pietro could work miracles she imagined she would fail, but she was going to try regardless. If she succeeded, then she knew she'd be able to one day fight alongside her brother against the Grimm, "When can I meet Pietro, and when can I get something to eat?"

Ironwood chuckled as he stopped pacing, maintaining his smile as he spoke, "You can meet Pietro as soon as you've filled up." He pressed a button on his desk and one of his desk drawers popped open, he grabbed something from it and held it out, Sarcy saw that it was a Lien Chit, "Whether or not you pass initiation, you're with Atlas now. We take care of our own. So make sure you eat well, I'm sure you and Pietro will be talking for a while."

Sarcelle smiled as she took the chit and slipped it into her pocket, "Thank you, General Ironwood." She was dismissed and soon after she left, Marrow was waiting and the two of them left to go grab something to eat before they headed for a bullhead that would take them down to Atlas.

Sarcelle felt like she would be able to slip into life in Atlas easier than one might think. She could at least understand military etiquette, it was very regimented. Sarcy liked regimented, because it meant she was only expected to follow very specific rules, and didn't need to worry about things like 'reading the room' and 'emotional cues'.

Marrow took them to a pizza place, which was a great bonus for her considering pizza was her uncontested favorite good. Pepperoni, extra cheese, and maybe bacon. That's all you need. No pineapple, nothing! She would die on that hill. While they were there, Marrow started to talk to her about what to expect in Mantle, that was to say it was nowhere near as shiny and clean as Atlas was. Not that she expected it to be, the city quite literally lived in the shadow of its capital.

After they had eaten, they returned to Atlas Academy and caught a bullhead down to Mantle. The city was not exactly the nicest looking place in the world, but she still liked it, anything was more impressive than Domremy. Well, other than the defensive turrets she had helped build. They were beautiful.

Marrow had his rifle now, having grabbed it from the Academy before they left. He said there was no such thing as being 'too careful' when it came to walking the streets of Mantle. That and his uniform certainly seemed to be enough to keep civilians at arms length, if not on the other side of the street. Sarcelle saw some rudimentary police drones wheeling about, she clicked her tongue as she looked at them, prompting Marrow to ask, "What're you thinking about?"

She responded, "Those drones would be much more efficient if they could fly. As of now they are vulnerable to damage if someone decides to, I dunno, kick one into traffic." She rubbed her chin, "Maybe by using an alteration of Pods design I could create a drone that uploads surveillance footage to the CCTS…" She began muttering to herself, and Marrow knew she was going to be like that for a while. Eggheads were like that, he had heard.

Sarcy was still muttering to herself by the time they got to the clinic that Pietro worked at. Marrow cleared his throat as they approached the door, "Okay, here we are." He pushed open the door, "Doctor Polendina." He called as the two of them entered, the man himself was sitting behind a desk looking at some papers, he looked up and smiled as Marrow introduced them, "Specialist Marrow Amin, the girl is Sarcelle Arc, your new assistant."

Sarcelle was absolutely starstruck, her eyes were wide as she waved nervously, "U-Uhm, Hello, Doctor Polendina Sir. I-I'm a huge fan."

Pietro broke into a huge grin, "Ah! Well, aren't you just the sweetest thing! You remind me of my daughter." His chair backed up from the desk and he came around to greet them, "Thank you for bringing her here, Marrow." He gestured for Sarcelle to sit on the singular patient's bed in his clinic while saying, "Give me just a minute, I need to get that prototype ready…"

Marrow shifted in place while Pietro directed his chair to a side room. Meanwhile, Sarcy was on cloud nine. He was just as nice as the articles said he was! 'Don't meet your heroes' her ass! She met hers, and he's already awesome! Pietro eventually returned, carrying a bundle of clothes and a small box, "Okay. Now, before you put these on, I need to inject you with this here chip. It's an experimental form of biotechnology, it- Well, I won't bore you with all of the medical jargon. What's important is, this chip will help you. However, it will require routine injections of specific cells in order to function properly. The bodysuit here will routinely administer those injections so long as you're wearing it. Now, you can obviously take it off and the chip will still function for some time, but eventually it will need a new injection. So, it'd be better for your health if you make a habit of wearin' it."

He smiled warmly at her, "Now, you're free to go into the bathroom right over there," he gestured to the door leading to it, "and change, I also took the liberty of getting some clothes ready for you. They're a derivative of Atlesian attire, so everything should fit."

Sarcy was at a loss for words. Of course, she knew it wasn't perfect, and she knew it wouldn't fix everything, but what Pietro had just offered her was a solution to her lifelong struggle. All she could do was dumbly nod while Pietro took hold of the injection device and placed it against Sarcy's arm after she pulled up her sleeve, "Now this will sting a little." It actually stung a lot, Sarcy was just glad that her aura would take care of the pain given time. When it wasn't busy defending her from getting a virus every five seconds. That wasn't it, though, he continued, "I've also included a very early version of some pauldrons that go on your arms and legs. I call 'em limb enhancers. They should give you a fightin' chance at initiation!"

Sarcelle felt like she was going to cry, so instead she just nodded several times and hurried to the bathroom so she could put on her new outfit. The first thing that went on was the bodysuit, and man was she glad that she had more clothes to put on! The bodysuit was skin tight, it was almost entirely pure white, except for the blue accents that trailed down her left and right shoulder, all the way to her legs. Over her heart was the symbol for the Arc family, it looked to be the most recent addition, two crescent moons angled down, just like Crocea Mors.

Next went on the actual outfit, a pair of brown dress pants with a black long-sleeved button-up shirt with teal stripes, a white vest with gold accents. It was simple, but it looked smart in her opinion. Finally, she had to put on the pauldrons, which were white with gold accents in a way that matched her vest, both invoked the colors of the Arc family, which she appreciated. Two went on her shoulders, two went on her outer thighs, and once they were on they seemed to press into her with a HISS, she didn't know what that was doing, but she already felt… a bit lighter. Maybe she was stronger too, but she didn't know.

She looked at herself in the mirror and couldn't help but be amazed as she fixed her glasses. If her skin wasn't so pale, and if her eyes didn't have bags under them, she might have looked like a regular well-adjusted huntress-in-training. Clothes made the woman, and she found that held true with this outfit.

When she stepped out of the bathroom, she found that Pietro was looking curiously over Enigma with a smile on his face. Marrow was the one who alerted him to her presence, "Lookin' smart! Which is good, because that's kind of your whole thing."

Pietro looked at her and grinned, "Wonderful. Just in time too, my daughter should be comin' around any minute now. I hope you two get along, she's my darlin' after all."

As if summoned by his words, the door burst open and in came a fair-skinned girl with short and curly orange hair that went down to her chin with a small cowlick on the top. Sarcy could see she was wearing a pink bow on the back of her head, and her bright green eyes exuded excitement, it was then that Sarcy noticed she had freckles. Her outfit was an old-fashioned off white blouse with frill detailed trim, along with a short gray dress with golden trim on the hem. She also had black thigh-high leg pieces, although she couldn't tell exactly what. The girl announced herself by declaring, "Sal-u-tations father!" She blinked a few times and looked between Marrow and Sarcy, "And sal-u-tations people I don't know!"

Pietro grinned, "Darling! This is Specialist Marrow Amin, and that," he gestured towards Sarcy, standing there staring at Penny with a surprised look on her face, "is Sarcelle Arc. She's gonna be one of your classmates."

Penny gasped, "Sen-sational!" She bounded up to Sarcelle with a bright smile on her face, "Greetings Sarcelle Arc! I am Penny Polendina, your future classmate and a real girl!" She hiccuped and blinked a few times before her smile turned into a grin.

Sarcelle swallowed a lump in her throat, 'Uhm…Hello Penny. It's… nice to meet you." She hadn't expected Pietro's daughter to be so… cute! She also talked in such a straightforward way… "I-I-I, uhm…" She cursed her nervous stammer, "I'm Pietro's new assistant."

Penny's grin somehow got brighter, "Oh, that's just wonderful! If you're father's assistant, you must be incredibly smart! Would you like to be my friend, Sarcelle?"

Sarcelle nodded a few times and spoke nervously, "Yes? I've… never had a friend before. At least, one that wasn't a machine."

Penny stared at her for a few moments and looked conflicted before she went right back to grinning, "Oh, that's just wonderful! We can paint our nails, try on dresses, and talk about cute boys!"

To say that Sarcy was blown away would be an understatement, she couldn't tell if she should be overstimulated or stimulated just right, so she ended up in some strange limbo between the two, "S-Sure? I usually talk about cute girls online, though, I know more about 2D girls than I do 3D boys… or girls."

Penny blinked a few times before nodding, "We can talk about whatever you would like! Oh this is going to be wonderful! We can trade scroll numbers and everything! Just as soon as I finish my checkup with Father!"

Sarcelle tilted her head, "Checkup?"

Pietro interrupted, "Ah, she just has some cybernetic enhancements. I need to check on them every so often, make sure everything's in good shape. Tell you what, Penny, why don't you go with Marrow here to get some supplies I need? I'll send a list to your scroll. I need to brief Sarcelle here on her duties."

Penny was in full agreement and before Marrow could even protest he was grabbed by the hand and dragged out of the building by the surprisingly strong girl. When they were alone, Pietro smiled, ":Right. So let's go over some details about what you will be expected to do. Settle in, this will take awhile."

Oh it did. It took them several hours. Eventually Penny and Marrow returned but Penny was soon off again to do… Penny things, Sarcy didn't know what exactly. Marrow just took a seat in one of the chairs Pietro had and promptly fell asleep while the other two talked shop. Sarcelle was absolutely floored at how intelligent Pietro was, sure she knew he was the foremost mind in Atlas, but this was a whole different level! Her crowning achievement was Enigma, Pietro's crowning achievement was basically all of Atlas! She could only hope that someday she would be half as intelligent as he was.

By the time they finished, it was getting late. The last thing Pietro brought up was something she really should have asked about sooner, "As for your weapon. Given the short notice, we'll have something rather simple prepared for you. A revolver-dagger combo. I'll admit, your apparel and suit were only so easy to whip up because I already had the prototypes ready to go! Just had to change the colors and add a bit of personal flair!" He laughed, "Your weapon will be brought to you tomorrow. It was chosen specifically due to your lack of combat experience, so it should fit you like a glove!"

Sarcy finally couldn't stop herself, she walked over and gave Pietro a hug while sniffling, "T-Thank you, Doctor Polendina." Pietro just smiled and hugged her back while she explained, "I thought… I thought I wouldn't be able to do anything with my life. Now… All of this…"

Pietro chuckled, "It was my pleasure, Sarcelle. It won't fix everythin', I imagine you'll still be getting sick sometimes, and you'll need to protect that suit with your life. If that and your aura were taken out of the equation, well… We'd best not dwell on somethin' that won't happen." There was an unspoken 'probably' in there, but Pietro wasn't gonna bring that up.

After that, Sarcy let go and she left with Marrow. The two of them were on a Bullhead to Atlas in no time, while they were on their way back, Marrow had to admit that as far as assignments went, he could have gotten worse. He imagined that someone like Specialist Bree, or Hare as he called her, would have lost her mind sitting around and listening to eggheads talk about science stuff. Marrow wasn't an Ace Op yet but he knew that when he was he would far outperform her in that department! She spent so much time living life in the fast lane that she never slowed down to smell the flowers, or enjoy a good nap when the opportunity presented itself.

He wanted to make conversation, and so he asked, "So… how was it?" 'It' could have been just about anything that happened over the course of the day. Atlas Academy, the pizza, Pietro, Penny… She really just had to choose.

Sarcelle chose 'yes' as her answer, "Amazing." She simply responded, Enigma resting in her lap while she gently stroked the metallic chassis of the robot as if it was a house cat. Marrow couldn't even contemplate how strange that was, he had to keep his eyes on the road. Unfortunately, it seemed like conversation was off the table, so instead they remained silent until he pulled up to Epsilon Heights and was able to drop her off. After that, it was just Sarcy and Enigma.

While she was in the lobby, she spotted a fair-skinned girl that looked about her age standing around and looking at her scroll. The first thing Sarcy noticed was that she was tall, almost as tall as Marrow! Her shoulder-length brown hair was pulled up into a bun, and her green eyes seemed keenly disinterested in what she was looking at. She was wearing a black shirt that was barely visible under her asymmetrical peacoat, which was decorated with golden accents and had a popped collar. Rounding off her outfit was a black and gold scarf that wrapped a few times around her neck.

Sarcy realized she was staring and shook her head before going to walk to the elevator. That was, until the girl cleared her voice, "I understand why you would, but it's impolite to stare, my dear." Sarcelle froze in place and then slowly turned towards the girl, who was walking towards her. She stopped a few feet away and slipped her scroll into her pocket, "Hmm." She rubbed her chin, "Your apparel shows good taste, but the pauldrons… I recognize those. Pietro's prototypes. I say… Are you his new assistant?"

Sarcelle swallowed a lump in her throat before she nodded, "Sa-Sarcelle Arc." Tongue-tied for the thousandth time that day, she couldn't help but feel embarrassed. Her face heated up and her eyes widened before she tried to gain control of it. Pod was floating next to her, and it whirred some calming words to her that helped her get control of her heartbeat. Just a bit.

The girl chuckled, "An Arc in Atlas? My, if only father could see this. You must be the prodigy that Pietro was speaking of when I visited him yesterday." She regarded Enigma and hummed, "Your pet is rather charming, I must say. I can recognize ingenuity when I see it. Clearly, Pietro was right to be excited to meet you."

Sarcy's face was heating up more and more by the second, "A-Ah, uhm… Thank you. How do you… k-k-know Pietro?" She cursed herself internally, put herself in front of a computer and she could talk all day, but put her in front of a beautiful girl? She was useless! Beautiful was the right word, Penny was cute, pretty, all of those words. This girl was downright gorgeous, beautiful, refined, smart… She was having trouble functioning because of it. Because of her.

The girl's coy smile seemed to indicate that she knew this well, although Sarcelle didn't pick up on it, "A bit shy, are you? Hm, understandable. Many of our caliber are. I was simply blessed with a sharp tongue to go with my sharp mind." Her smile grew, "Perhaps you heard of the Atlesian Heartbeat Project? A new means of tracking individuals with aura, called such because the pulses it picks up are not dissimilar to a heartbeat. I was at the forefront of that project last year, while I was not alone I dare say that my peers would still be working on it to this day were it not for my genius."

It was all Sarcy could do to nod along to the girl's explanation. She had heard of the Heartbeat Project, albeit she couldn't for the life of her remember the names of the people who worked on it, "I-I designed Enigma, that's him." She gestured to him, "He has… a rudimentary f-form of sentience, and is capable of performing various tasks depending on what m-mode I set him to."

Her conversation partner hummed, "Hmm, I see. Rudimentary sentience you say? I simply must pick your brain later so we can discuss your work in greater detail. Perhaps we could meet over coffee?" Sarcy just nodded dumbly while the girl chuckled, "Very good, very good. In time, surely you will reach the heights of our finest minds. Not before me, of course."

She seemed amused at her own joke before she produced her scroll, "Let us trade information." Sarcy nodded and took out her scroll, they tapped their scrolls together and with that had each other's contact info. Sarcy didn't even look at the name before she hurriedly put her scroll away. The girl checked her scroll's time, "I must be off. I was simply here visiting an acquaintance and was about to depart. I have a great deal on my plate, you see."

Sarcelle nodded, "O-Of course, later." She squeaked out and cursed her lack of social graces. Why couldn't she be all posh and refined and cool?! She was just a gremlin who barely saw sunlight, this girl was everything she wasn't and more! "Wha-What's your name?"

The girl had started to walk away by that point, but she stopped at the question, "Ah, yes. I suppose you are a bit out of sorts, aren't you?" She turned her head slightly and looked at Sarcelle, "I will only say this once, so try not to forget."

"My name is Irene Watts, daughter of the late famed scientist Arthur Watts."


Author's Notes

If there are worries that Sarcy is being given too much too quickly, then rest assured that nothing she has is not without its drawbacks. It will just take time for those drawbacks to manifest. Her immunodeficiency is not going to suddenly stop being a thing, it will be a pervasive issue she has to deal with consistently throughout the story. After all, where's the fun in everything going smoothly? Additionally, this story is marked OC x Penny, and that is the end game, before there is any concern. Hope you enjoyed!