Sarcy recovered from her meeting fairly quickly, thankfully. After she got back to her apartment, she had to admit that she was excited at the possibility of having coffee with a girl as smart (and beautiful) as Irene, however, she was far from obsessive, given that the primary thing she cared about in life was machines. So, instead of letting her mind get occupied with the girl, she went to bed. She and Pietro had talked at great length, and there really was no time for anything but going to sleep at that point.

When she woke up the next day she found that she was presented with a problem: She had nothing to do. Sure, Marrow was going to come over and give her her weapon, but after that she had a free day. She could have stayed in and played video games, but now that she had all of that fancy gear that Pietro gave her, she kind of wanted to actually… go outside. A novel concept to her, really. She still felt a bit uncomfortable with going outside…

…Maybe a mask would help?

Yes, a mask would probably help. That way she didn't have to worry about breathing in some pollution and possibly dying. That wouldn't be good, especially with her life finally looking up. Sarcy went through the motions of getting ready for the day, the main difference being that the first thing she put on was the bodysuit she had been given, followed by the rest of her outfit, finished off with her glasses.

Just in time for there to be a knock at her door. She went to investigate with Enigma at her side, and she was not surprised to find that Marrow was standing there. He had a small smile on his face, he was holding a revolver with a bayonet attached to it in his hand, lowered of course, "Here you go, sorry it's so simple." He smiled, "Not everyone can get a super cool weapon like I have right out of the gate." Then, he held it out and Sarcelle took it, looking it over.

It had a pure white finish with an Atlesian military symbol on the grip, below the barrel was the bayonet itself, a decently long dagger, not particularly powerful but it could get the job done. Marrow explained, "Once Doctor Polendina has an idea of what to make for you, he'll get to work. He's still pretty set on emphasizing weapons that are simple to learn for you, so…" He shrugged, "Could be another dagger, could be a spear, or a rifle…"

Sarcy hummed, "It will do for now. I'm not exactly built to use a sword and shield like my brother is, or a claymore like my sister." Her body was always too thin and frail for that, and while she was certain that with her limb enhancers she could hold them, it was a totally different matter to actually learn to use them. Besides, those weapons were very… primitive, in her mind, not that she would voice that to either of them, they got prickly about having 'classic' weapons.

Marrow shifted, "Great! Great, uh…" He cleared his throat, "So, what's on the agenda today?" He still wasn't entirely sure what this girl would want to do with her free time. Was he just going to be sitting around while she hacked or did whatever it is she does? He hoped not.

Lucky for him, Sarcy had other plans, "I need to find a respirator mask. I may be safer than I was before, but it won't help if I breathe in the pollutants around Mantle. That's where I want to go today, Mantle."

Marrow hummed, he could question why she wanted to go down to Mantle, but he would take going out for a walk in the city over sitting inside all day. He smiled before turning towards the direction he came from, "Alright, we can grab something at the Academy before we take the Bullhead down to Mantle."

They did so, the ride was brief and upon reaching the Academy they were able to find a respirator mask. It only covered her lower face and relied on air dust canisters mixed with filtration systems to ensure a steady flow of air. It was thankfully not too intrusive, and the white color of the device blended decently with her outfit. She doubted anyone was going to look at her strangely for wearing something like it down in Mantle.

The ride down to Mantle was brief, and once they were there Sarcelle took the lead in wandering the streets. She already felt a bit better about the whole 'going outside' thing now that she had a mask on. She had some back home, but nothing like what she was wearing then, given that the cloth masks her parents had didn't interact well with her glasses.

Marrow had his rifle again, Sarcy doubted that he would ever go down to Mantle without it. Apparently, it was not uncommon to hear about Grimm finding weaknesses in the walls that they can slip through. She felt that that should be a bigger and more pressing issue to Atlas than it seemed to be. However, she also knew well how little attention Atlas paid to Mantle, after all, she broke into their CCTS.

The first distraction came in an unsuspecting form. Sarcy and Marrow were walking down the sidewalk when a woman's voice called out, "Hey, Wags! What's a Specialist doing escorting a kid?"

Both Marrow and Sarcy whirled around, and she found that she was grateful that the lower half of her face was covered. There were three girls standing there, actually calling them girls wasn't right in Sarcy's mind, there were three women standing there. The one standing front and center with her arms crossed was a tanned skin woman with violet eyes. She had light-blond hair tied in a ponytail, and a couple beauty marks on her face. She wore a black sleeveless coat with gray accents over a red sleeveless vest, a brown high neck shirt and a light gray short-sleeved shirt. She also had a brown belted waist cincher and black knee-high boots. She stood at 5'10'', qualifying her as 'significantly taller' than Sarcy, in her mind.

The two women standing on her left and right were interesting in their own way.

The one standing on the right was a fair-skinned woman with medium blue hair and a long ponytail that seemed wrapped in a white bandage-like fabric, her yellow eyes watched Marrow with a level of sternness and caution that was far more visible to Sarcy than what the other girls had. She wore a dusty brown coat, dark brown lapels with a winged bird on it, Sarcy couldn't recognize what it represented. The woman also wore dark brown shorts, a gray waistcoat, and a dark brown top.

The final one, flanking the seeming leader's left, was the one closest to Sarcy's height, albeit a couple inches taller. She had short and messy swept white hair and olive eyes, sheep ears twitched and jewelry adorned each ear. She wore an olive green sleeveless coat with a pin matching the one the other woman wore on it, as well as a green long-sleeved shirt with a white orange trimmed breastplate over it. She also wore dark brown pants tucked into gray under the knee boots.

Marrow seemed aware of them as he sighed in a level of frustration that even Sarcy didn't miss, "Great, you guys. What do you want?" He frowned and crossed his arms, whatever their relationship was, it was clearly not friendly.

The leader rolled her eyes, "I just said it, Wags. We're asking you a question. Now, are you gonna answer or are we gonna have to start making assumptions? We already heard rumors about a big mean Specialist playing armed guards to a young girl, a prisoner!" She smirked, "Is that the message Atlas wants to send?"

Marrow sputtered and was quick to come to Atlas' rescue, "No! Of course not!" He crossed his arms, "This is Sarcelle Arc, she's the brightest and most promising mind Atlas has seen in years, apparently equal to the daughter of that one doctor. She was given a scholarship to attend Atlas Academy a year early, in spite of her lack of training!" He smirked and seemed proud of that.

The woman blinked, "First off, she's sixteen? Wow… you gotta eat something kid." She shook her head, "Second off, you're telling me that this girl is a genius…" Marrow nodded and she added, "...With no combat experience or training of any kind…" Marrow nodded, "...And you're throwing her into Atlas Academy's initiation in a few days? You know, the initiation that takes place in the tundras of Solitas?"

Marrow nodded proudly, closing his eyes and turning his nose up, "She's also immunocompromised and relies on special tech to be able to fight!" He caught himself as his eyes opened wide, "Ah- Uhm…" He deflated, "Yeah that, uh… that doesn't sound too good when you put it like that."

The three women looked horrified, with the blue haired one muttering, "Wait till Joanna hears about this."

The white haired one was in agreement, "That's really out there…"

The leader glared at Marrow, "Wow, Ironwood really is something else these days, isn't he?" Finally, she looked at Sarcy, who was standing there a bit confused, the woman's eyes flicked to Enigma, floating idly by as he was, and then back at Sarcy, "Hey, kid." She smiled, "I guess you drew the short straw, huh? Getting dragged here. Name's Robyn Hill, this is May Marigold and Fiona Thyme." She gestured to the two women on her right and left respectively, "We're part of a little group called the Happy Huntresses. Now, what'd you do to end up getting dragged to this place?"

Enigma answered the question, "Sarcelle broke into the secured Atlesian military database and made off with several highly classified schematics in order to advance her own creations, such as myself."

Robyn blinked at the robot answering for her, although Sarcy followed up, "I… kind of invited it on myself." She rubbed the back of her neck, "I-I'm lucky that I didn't get thrown in military prison. Hah. Hah." Then she looked away nervously, "Hah…"

If Sarcy was expecting Robyn to look scandalized, she would have been incredibly surprised as her face lit up and she burst out laughing, "Oh Brothers! That's amazing! You really must be something then, kid! Man, you've got more balls than half the men in this kingdom!" She wiped a tear out of her eye, "Ooh that's great." She crossed her arms and tilted her head slightly, "So. How about me and my friends help prepare you for initiation?" She grinned, "A little 'thank you' for pulling one over on the General, even if you ended up getting caught."

Sarcy's eyes widened. She hadn't exactly expected to be getting any real training before initiation. She wasn't sure how much of an impact it would make because it would only be a few days as opposed to the literal years other people got, but Jaune hadn't had any training and was relying entirely on her upgrades to his weapons! If he could face the music like that, then she could with a bit of help, "I-I'd love that!" She cleared her throat, "When can we start?"

Robyn's grin maintained, "Right now. No time to waste, initiations not getting any further away!" She turned around, "We can take you to one of our little hideaways. Wags will have to wait outside, sorry but no boys allowed." Her voice carried mirth, and Marrow grumbled yet he didn't seem to be rising to protest.

During their walk, Sarcy was left to contemplate just how lucky she seemed to be. Getting to Atlas, getting her gear, and now getting training from people that, from what she could glean from using her semblance to poke around the CCTS, were all top graduates from Atlas Academy! No doubt Ironwood had likely intended for her to receive training in some other way, but Sarcy was fine with how this was working out.

The 'hideaway' Robyn mentioned was a warehouse in a part of Mantle that Sarcy had not been to before. Marrow had decided to go to a nearby cafe and said to just contact him when they were done, he seemed to have his own ways to pass the time. The outside looked grimey, but when they all went inside Sarcy found that it looked less like a warehouse and more like a really big hangout spot.

Sure, the ground was still concrete, but it was clean! There were bunk beds in a corner, with a large rug spread in the space between them. There were crates, but Sarcy deduced that they probably held things the Happy Huntresses wanted to keep close at hand. If the place had been cordoned off into rooms, it could have looked like a proper home. Although there was a large space in the middle of the building that seemed to be reserved for training, given the ropes that were around it, making it look like a wrestling ring.

The final member of the Happy Huntresses was there, and Sarcy for the briefest moment mistook her for a guy. Although it only took Enigma whirring in her ear to tell her otherwise. Rather, that was Joanna Greenleaf, a tall, tan skinned woman with short dark green hair that was partially spiked. Her eyes were beige and she had tattoos on her nose and forehead. She was wearing a brown coat over a long-sleeved top. She had armor pads over her torso, and wore brown trousers tucked into black boots to finish it all off. Her gaze stuck to Sarcelle for a few moments before she shifted and raised an eyebrow to Robyn.

Robyn placed a hand on her hip, "This is Sarcelle Arc. A girl genius who hacked into Atlas' military database at the ripe old age of sixteen." Joanna gained a look of surprise for the briefest moment before returning to a stoic look, causing Roby to chuckle.

Sarcy took in her surroundings while Enigma whirred and hummed, causing her to nod and mutter, "Right, right…" Then, she asked out loud, "Aren't you guys… concerned? With having Marrow know where you stay. Based on what I've gathered about the Happy Huntresses, you're not exactly seen in the most favorable light by the Atlas military."

Robyn looked somewhat surprised, "How did you find all of that out so fast?" She smirked, "Not that I'm that surprised, you did hack Atlas." Sarcelle ended up explaining what her semblance was to the assembled four, and after the fact they all seemed impressed. Robyn whistled, "Wow, that semblance wouldn't help you at all in the wilds, but in the urban jungle? That's gotta be one of the strongest I've ever seen."

She looked out at the ring, "As for your question, this isn't our primary base, and we're under no illusion that Ironwood doesn't know where we like to go. We're not doing anything illegal," she smiled, "at least, nothing illegal that he can trace back to us. If a truck carrying rations 'loses' a few crates and those crates 'happen' to end up in a few soup kitchens, who can you blame?"

Sarcy found that she liked Robyn a great deal already. They weren't so different, Sarcy had stolen from Atlas in order to bolster Domremy's defenses and work on her own projects, Robyn stole from Atlas to feed homeless people. Really, they were birds of a feather!

Robyn gestured towards the ring, "Alright, Smartie, step into the ring. Joanna, can you give her your staff? That dinky little revolver of hers might be good for six shots, but I wouldn't want someone like her to be stuck with a dagger in the heat of a fight."

Joanna was okay with that, and what followed was Sarcy's first real taste of training, assisted by all four Happy Huntresses. The staff fully extended out was a bit unwieldy for the girl, but she was able to get used to it. She found the staff to be an interesting weapon, although its strange crossbow wedged between two sets of blades was… odd. She knew that if she got a weapon like it she would certainly not want a crossbow. A concept for a rifle/staff/spear came into her mind during the training, and she knew she'd have to bring the idea to Pietro so she didn't need to rely on the revolver for very long. If she needed to use it at all, prior to initiation.

The training focused first on how to properly hold the staff followed by a few basic attacks that could be used. Things began to ramp up as the hours went past, and by the end she was trying out slightly more complex moves. When they finished, it was eight PM, and Sarcy felt sore all over. She was grateful for her limb enhancers, without them she was sure she'd have given out well before that point.

When they were done, Robyn wiped some sweat off her brow and left the ring to go sit on a crate, "Good work, kid. You've got talent, but talent alone ain't gonna cut it. Come back tomorrow, we'll make this a routine." She smirked, "You might not be on par with everyone else by the time of initiation, but you should be good enough to pass, what with our training and your brain."

Sarcy blushed at the praise, she had taken her mask off halfway through the training, finding that she was more comfortable without it on during training, "Ah… th-thank you, Robyn, ah… ma'am." She rubbed the back of her head, slightly hunched from exhaustion, "S-So, uhm… I meant to ask… why help me?" She tilted her head, "You… don't even really know me, but you were willing to spend so long training me."

The others seemed to have an idea, if the smiles were anything to go off of. Even Joanna had a small smirk on her face, which was something that had only appeared a few times during the day. While the others were leaving the ring, Robyn explained, her voice softening, "Honestly? It's 'cause you remind me a bit of myself." She chuckled, "Now, I wasn't immunocompromised or anything like that, 'course not, but… I was a fish out of water kid with big dreams. Dreams of making a real difference in the world, and doing right by my home." She looked up at the ceiling, "I didn't need to hear your life story to see the look in your eyes. You're determined to go far, to make a real difference in the world, and with that brain of yours? I believe that you will, one day." She returned her gaze to Sarcy and grinned, "Tomorrow we can go on a bit of a grand tour of Mantle, you know what we stand for, but I want you to really see it."

Sarcy was stunned by Robyn's words, it took all of her willpower to not start tearing up. The only person who had ever really believed in her before she came to Atlas was Jaune, and now not only was she being recognized for her intelligence, but her drive. She nodded a few times and moved to step out of the ring. While she was leaving it, Robyn spoke up, "Oh, one more thing, Smartie." Sarcy looked at her, Robyn was smirking, "Don't call me ma'am, I'm not a ma'am."

Sarcy blinked in surprise before nodding quickly, "R-Right, thank you ma- uhm, Robyn." After that, she donned her mask, returned Joanna's spear, and headed out to find Marrow. A quick scroll call ascertained that he was in a cafe nearby named Winter's Respite. It didn't take long to find it, particularly with Enigma giving her directions.

Marrow was sitting in a booth in the fairly cozy cafe, and he waved down Sarcy when she showed up. He asked with a smirk, "Tired?" When she responded by just nodding and groaning, he chuckled, "Yeah, training will do that to you if you're that green." He waved down a waitress, "Hey, get her some of those grilled cheeses you guys make, with the brioche and, uh, some water."

Once the waitress had nodded and left, Sarcelle asked, "I need to ask… if the situation is so tense between Atlas and the Happy Huntresses, why did you let them train me?"

Marrow smiled, "Well, they're harmless. I might not agree with them, but if they're offering to train you so you don't get killed at initiation, I think I'd be pretty stupid to try and stop that. Besides," his smile turned into a mischievous smirk, "this way I don't have to follow you around all day, I can just pawn you off on them."

It took Sarcy a minute to realize that was sarcasm, it came to her while she was removing her mask and setting it on the table, "Work smarter, not harder." She smiled, "I knew there was a reason Atlas kept you around. It's certainly not for your sense of humor." Marrow sputtered and acted offended, causing Sarcelle to giggle, a laugh which caused her to cough halfway through, but that didn't seem to deter her very much.

When the food arrived, Sarcy happily and hungrily scarfed down her meal and drank her water. It turned out that training left her with an empty stomach, which she knew was going to happen, but she hadn't been expecting to be as hungry as she was! Marrow even commented on it with a laugh, "Keep eating like that when you're at the Academy and maybe you'll actually look your age!" That caused Sarcy to toss a piece of bread she tore off from her sandwich at him, making him laugh in response.

When she was done eating and drinking her fill, the two of them left back to Atlas. She was told that she was going to have to visit Pietro at some point the next day, which was fine by her, after all Robyn was already going to be taking her around Mantle. When she got back to her apartment, sleep came extremely quickly for once. She didn't even browse her phone for three hours reading fanfiction! She knew that if Jaune had heard about her actually falling asleep as soon as she was in bed, he would ask what happened to his insomniac sister.

The answer was progress. Progress was happening to his sister.

/-/

Back in Mantle, dressed and ready for the day, Sarcelle was quick to return to the warehouse the Happy Huntresses were staying at. When she got there, Robyn greeted her with a smile and told her that they would go on their little tour first, and then they would train afterwards.

They had scarcely left the warehouse when they came upon the first spot of interest. A factory with pillars of smoke rising from it. Robyn crossed her arms as she looked at it, "This place isn't so important on its own, it's what it represents." She gestured to it, "This is one of the SDC's dust refining factories. It gives jobs to the people, but the wages are unfair and they're expressly forbidden from unionizing. The SDC is quick to stomp out any budding worker's rights movements, and Jacques Schnee pays off the council to look the other way." She grimaced, "Even if a few workers go missing in the process. Usually Faunus workers."

Sarcy's eyes widened, "I-Is Atlas that corrupt?" Roby nodded and Sarcy's frown deepened from under her mask, "That's awful. Is there nothing we can do to help them?" She was all for people getting good paying jobs, but when people were treated more like cogs then, well, people, that was where she drew the line. If the SDC wanted machine men, they would be funding research into building machine men, not treating people unfairly!

Robyn smirked, "Well, we can't exactly break in and start advocating for worker's rights, but we can keep doing what we do best." She began walking again, Sarcy following close behind while she explained, "The Happy Huntresses apply pressure to any factory owner that we know is mistreating his workers and do our best to help the downtrodden. Even then, we're four, our associates add a bit more leverage but our reach only stretches out so far." Then, she stopped again and looked up at Atlas, that shining city in the sky, and added, "...Definitely not far enough to reach the people in the clouds. Not yet."

Sarcelle's gaze turned towards Atlas as well. She wasn't sure what to say, of course she'd known about Mantle being in dire straits, but she hadn't anticipated this. Robyn started walking again and Sarcy followed, with Robyn chuckling ruefully, "All of that said, things could be worse, much worse. I'm not going to pretend like we live under a brutal dictatorship, but, well…" She sighed, "Things can still get bad, not from direct oppression but from willful ignorance. It's March right now, spring, things aren't so bad as far as weather goes, but… When fall rolls around, it can get rough, and when winter approaches?" She shook her head and gazed down towards the sidewalk, "People die. Mostly the homeless, even if most of them are veterans."

Their next stop proved her point, they reached a homeless shelter, a simple two-story building that looked like it had seen better days. There was an older woman sitting on the steps in front of it, she was wearing a simple T-shirt and a pair of jeans along with her shoes. One of her pants legs was rolled up, revealing a very rudimentary prosthetic leg. Her hair was black with streaks of gray running through it, and her green eyes held a great tiredness to it that even Sarcelle could see. Yet, she smiled when she saw Robyn, "Well, if it isn't the pipsqueak, got a pipsqueak of your own following you around now, huh?"

Robyn placed a hand on her hip and smirked, "Just a little birdie I took under my wing," she extended out her left arm over Sarcy, adding to the metaphor, "Showing her how things are on the streets, y'know?"

The woman nodded and looked at Sarcy, "Name's Pewter, nice ta meet ya kid. I'd get up to shake your hand, but, well…" She looked at her leg, "This damn thing's screwed up. The whatsit is on the fritz, servos, I think. I'd go to Doctor Polendina, but he's busy, and I can't exactly get walkin' there like this. Could barely get up and come sit out here."

Sarcelle nodded at the greeting, but the talk of prosthetics got her attention. People? She had no idea. Prosthetics? She could work with that, "Would you mind if I take a look?" The woman looked skeptical, but her eyes glanced up to Enigma and then back to her, seeming to deduce that Sarcy had to know something. To that end, she nodded and gestured to her prosthetic while Robyn stepped back and watched with interest.

It was a fairly rudimentary prosthetic, still more advanced than anything you'd find in Vale, but compared to what she knew Atlas could do, it was basically nothing. Her semblance was able to push into the technology, it was something she had done before, using her semblance to reach into a prosthetic, and it was always a strange experience, because of the side effects.

'Strange kid…'

'...She should really eat something…'

'...Reminds me of Marcy.'

She felt bad that she could hear this woman's thoughts and feel her emotion, but it was necessary to figure out exactly what was wrong with the prosthetic. It was also really the only way she could accurately tell what someone else was thinking, and feel what other people felt. The emotions that other people had were almost always more intense than hers, their thought processes didn't really make much sense to her, but they didn't need to.

She figured out the issue pretty quickly, a few servos were locked up and making the whole system gunk up. Pod floated down to her side, a small soldering iron appeared out of his front, and the work began. All told, it was a simple fix for Sarcelle, and when she was done she made sure the leg was closed up and secured before she stood up and stepped back, "Try it now."

The woman hesitated for a moment but eventually stood up, she was visibly surprised in a way that even Sarcelle could see, "Woah! It's good as new!" She gave a few experimental raises and lowers, "You really are somethin' aren't ya, kid? A regular Pietro in the making."

Sarcelle blushed and rubbed the back of her neck nervously, "Ah, thank you." She smiled, "I-I'm actually Pietro's assistant." That reminded her of something, she looked at Robyn, "We should keep going, I need to meet with him after training is done…"

Robyn nodded and after bidding farewell to Pewter they left. They couldn't cover all of Mantle in the time that they had, but they covered parts that Robyn thought were important. The good and the bad.

When they were getting ready to go back, they happened to run into someone familiar, although they were dressed in a very unfamiliar fashion. Winter Schnee was clearly off duty, wearing a white blouse and a long blue skirt with a slit along the right leg, along with some jewelry that Sarcelle was certain cost a decent amount of money. Yet, that wasn't the most important part. No, that would be…

…The fact that she had her hair down.

It was a completely different look to what Sarcelle had seen before. Whereas normally she had a strict and commanding look about her, the way Winter looked now was far more approachable, far more relaxed. Her hair being down like that also complimented her greatly, because she looked amazing. Sarcy was thankful that her mask was hiding most of her face, although she was certain her wide eyes and blush wouldn't be that hard to spot, if one was looking for it.

Winter regarded the two of them with some surprise, "Sarcelle, I didn't expect you to be down here." Then, she placed a hand on her hip and looked at Robyn, "Nor did I expect you to be in the company of Robyn Hill." She raised an eyebrow, "I sincerely hope you're not trying to use her for your own ends."

Robyn scoffed and crossed her arms, "Just showing her how things really are down here in Mantle, and giving her some training. You know," she gestured widely, "the thing that this girl with absolutely no combat experience was apparently not getting prior to being thrown out into the tundra?" She returned to having her arms crossed, "Seriously, Atlas keeps finding new ways to amaze me, and not in a good way."

Winter seemed a bit taken aback, however she recovered quickly, "She was going to receive some training prior to her initiation, starting… right now!" She squinted, "Sarcelle, would you like to train with me? I can offer you the best tutoring Atlas has to offer."

Robyn was quick to interject, "Woah, woah! Slow down there, Snowflake. The Happy Huntresses have taken it upon themselves to train this girl, we don't need Atlas' number one girl scout coming in and mucking that up."

Winter took a confrontational step forward, "Snowflake?!" The normally stoic woman's gaze burned with indignation, "That's Specialist Schnee to you, and while it's true you and yours were top graduates in your day, I'm the best student in Atlas Academy history. I can provide far more to her than your… Happy Huntresses can."

Robyn uncrossed her arms and mimicked Winter, putting one foot forward as they glared at each other, "I know exactly who you are, Specialist Snowflake, and I know that stick up your ass will make Sarcelle as unadaptable as you are." She smirked at Winter's aghast expression and said, "How about a joint custody agreement? You get her today, I'll get her tomorrow, and we'll keep the trade going. Unless you're not up to sharing?"

Winter scoffed and stepped past Robyn, taking Sarcy's wrist while the dumbfounded girl watched with wide eyes, "Fine, then! Come on, Sarcelle. I'll show you how a proper Huntress fights." Sarcy barely had time to wave to Robyn before being dragged off, and honestly she wasn't certain how she felt about training with Winter. Winter was scary! Robyn was nice!

Well, at least she'd get to learn even more about fighting…

Winter rounded up Marrow and then the three of them made their way back up to Atlas. Marrow was dismissed for the day while Winter took Sarcy to Atlas Academy, where there were several training rooms that were readily available for use. Winter used the style most familiar to her to train the girl, swords. Hers were different to Crocea Mors, Sarcy found, for one she was able to wield two, and for two, hers were curved and light, whereas Crocea Mors was rather hefty.

To say that Winter was a demanding teacher was an understatement. She wasn't unreasonable, but she was also unrelenting and determined to make sure every move was perfected to her standards before moving on to the next. Needless to say, she had a feeling there were going to be many days of training with Winter on the same or similar things. Well, provided she wanted to keep training her after school started.

The training went for the same amount of time her training with Robyn went, and it left her in a similar state to the one that she was in before. When it was over, Winter told her to go speak with Pietro and advised concepting a weapon of some kind.

That was how Sarcelle found herself going to Pietro's on her own, given that Marrow was already off duty. When she entered Pietro's clinic, she found the man himself sitting behind his desk, Penny was standing next to it, observing what he was doing. The two of them looked up and Penny gasped in excitement. Sarcy didn't have time to prepare before she was suddenly tackled in a hug, she was luckily not sent to the ground, but only because her back was pressed against the door. Penny exclaimed, "Sarcelle! It's so wonderful to see you again! It has been almost exactly forty-eight hours since we last spoke, far too long!"

Sarcelle squirmed under the girl's hug, although when she realized the precarious position they were in, she froze and her eyes widened. Penny had all but pinned her to the wall with her hug, and her green eyes that sparkled with joy stared into hers while she wore a grin on her face.

Sarcy's face heated up as she stared wide eyed at Penny, until Pietro thankfully came to her rescue by chuckling and saying, "Now now, darling, don't overwhelm the poor girl. I've got a lot to talk about with her and I can't do that if she's unconscious."

Penny relented and let go, stepping back a few feet while her grin turned into a regular smile, "My apologies! I will try to be less overwhelming in the future!" She placed her hands behind her back while Sarcelle nodded nervously and then made her way over to Pietro.

Pietro had brought a padded armchair out while she was gone, placed directly across from his desk. Sarcelle sat there after Pietro nodded to it, and she said, "U-Uhm, Pietro," he had told her to call him by his first name yesterday, she had to admit it was still strange to her, "I've been thinking about possible weapons that are more permanent than this revolver." She already had schematics in her head, "I've been getting training from two distinct people, and I think there may be a way to incorporate what I'm learning from both of them into a weapon."

Pietro nodded and listened as she explained, "While I am not skilled at all, yet, they have taught me in the usage of a staff and a sword. I feel that if we could combine those two fighting styles into a weapon, and add some ranged component to it, I would be able to take full advantage of the training I am being given."

He hummed and rubbed his chin, "Well, I think we can manage something with those elements, although I have a few ideas that are more… unique to this concept that you might enjoy." He smiled, "As you're aware, given the information you borrowed from Atlas, I've found several new ways to turn hard-light dust into something not too different from lasers, except these can actually do some real damage!" He chuckled, "Something you may not know is that I've found a way to stabilize those lasers in a way that could create a solid weapon. It'll be weaker than the regular lasers, it won't cut through metal like hot butter, but it'll cut it if you give it time! I think your weapon should be the first of these laser-like devices meant for use by huntsmen. It'll be light enough for you to use without tiring, and you're the one most qualified to fix it should somethin' go wrong, provided I can't fix it of course."

Sarcelle was surprised that Pietro would want to trust her with something that new, that delicate, but she nodded excitedly nonetheless. Then, her voice brimming with excitement, she explained, "I was thinking of a mechashift weapon, a sword that can shift into a staff and a rifle. However, if you're allowing me to use that experimental technology, it might be more prudent to find a way to be able to shoot bursts of lasers from the blade, rather than add a gun. The hilt could turn into a staff…"

Thus, Pietro and her set to work, first came the schematics, the exact details of what this weapon would be and how it would manifest, and that alone took two hours to get into a rough state of completion. However, by then it was already late and Sarcelle had to promise to come back the next day to see what work Pietro had done, and also help further stages of progress on this weapon.

So began a new routine.

/-/

Penny Polendina was a simple girl. At least, as simple as one such as herself could be. She was elated to get her first friend, Sarcelle, and even more elated to find that she was very smart! She couldn't remember the last time she saw her father experiencing such joy in working with someone. According to him it was because she was an equal to him in intelligence, in spite of her age! Penny knew that was impressive, but he also said that, while she was his equal, she was also young and still made mistakes.

Mistakes like almost lighting her father's desk on fire while they were experimenting with dust crystals and accidentally creating a hard-light barrier that took the two of them an hour to get down! Her father never got mad at it, and Penny herself thought it was rather exciting to see what she could do! Even if it was a mistake.

Although… she noticed that anytime Sarcelle made a mistake, she seemed very downtrodden and worried. The girl was strange, given that while Penny may not have been the best at understanding what emotions were, she did understand them better than people thought. It was encoded into her circuitry! Yet, Sarcelle was a bit harder to read, even when she wasn't wearing her respirator! She smiled and frowned, sure, but it was hard to tell exactly what she was thinking at any given moment, she didn't allow emotions to register on her face unless they were sufficient enough in her mind. At least, that's what Penny had deduced.

Maybe that was why she had decided that she needed to make a concerted effort to get to know her friend. After all, Sarcelle was very important to her! She was the first person to not look annoyed when she asked them to be her friend! Not even Irene Watts accepted!

Well, that one wasn't actually that surprising.

In order to get to know Sarcelle better, Penny decided that she should 'hang out' with her. That was the number one search result when she searched up 'what to do with friends' on the internet! To this end, with two days left prior to initiation, Penny made her way towards Atlas. She met with Specialist Marrow on her way there, although when she spoke to him he said that Sarcelle was not feeling well!

Penny knew numerous different ways to treat someone who was ill, most of them she looked up on her way to Epsilon Heights. When she arrived and knocked on the door, she heard a cough and a groan on the other side. Her friend was truly ill! Sarcelle's sickly voice came from the other side, "Marrow? I thought I said I wasn't feeling good…"

Penny piped up with a smile on her face, "Marrow is not present! It's Penny! I heard you weren't feeling well, Sarcelle, and I wish to assist you!" Penny tried the door and found that it was unlocked, so she let herself in and shut the door behind her. Then, she gasped at what she saw.

Sarcelle was sitting on her computer chair wrapped in a blanket and with a pillow behind her back! Her face looked redder than usual and her eyes betrayed that she was even more tired than normal! Penny hurried over to her, "Sarcelle! You are ill!" She quickly scanned her and found that her temperature was one-hundred and ten degrees Fahrenheit! "I will tend to you until you recover!"

Sarcelle smiled nervously, "Th-Thank you Penny. Y-You really don't have to if you don't wanna…" She seemed uneasy, although Penny felt that was probably because she was sick.

Penny smiled at her, "I very much want to help you!" Then she turned and strided off to the kitchen. Her research had told her that eating soup was one way to help someone feel better, and to that end she set about looking for and procuring a can of soup. She followed the instructions for making soup to a T and eventually had a very warm bowl of the healing food! Her sensors told her that the bowl holding the soup was hot, but she was able to ignore it.

When she brought the soup to Sarcelle, she declared, "Since you are weak, the internet tells me that I should feed this to you! You must open your mouth, Sarcelle, that way you can get better." Sarcy opened her mouth to protest, but that was when Penny first spooned some of the food into her mouth, a bright smile crossing her face.

Sarcell's face got redder, although it wasn't because of the fever. Rather, here she was having her friend spoon feed her! What, was this one of her Mistrali Animations? She wouldn't mind if her life was like that, but it certainly wasn't! Penny pulled the spoon back and her smile grew, somehow, "I hope that it meets your expectations! I followed the instructions to their exact letter."

Sarcelle took a moment before nodding, finding it to be, well… chicken noodle soup. It made her feel warm as she swallowed. Yet, Enigma, who had been in rest mode laying on Sarcy's desk, activated for a brief moment, "The smell and aroma from soup is said to relieve one's breathing. It is recommended Sarcelle has the bowl close to her while she's eating." Then, he shut off again.

Before Sarcy could even protest to Enigma's instructions, Penny had moved Sarcy's chair so the back was against the wall. Then, she knelt slightly on the chair and leaned forward so the bowl was close to Sarcelle. Sarcy's face would have heated up more if it were not already burning hot, she was so close again!

It didn't help that everytime Penny wanted to feed her, she looked right into her eyes. The smile she wore was, if Sarcy was reading it correctly, gentler than her normal excited ones. It looked… cute, very cute. Sarcy's heart was beating like a war drum from the situation she'd suddenly found herself in. She would have never in a million years even considered doing something like what Penny was doing, but there she was feeding her while getting into her personal space!

With each gentle spoon, Penny would smile and ask, "Are you feeling better?" As if it would work that fast, she doubted she'd be able to do anything at all that way. It turned out that not sleeping in the bodysuit was basically asking for her to get sick. She knew she was going to have to basically sleep in it from then on, unless she was comfortably gambling on waking up sick.

Sarcy would just shake her head, and each time she did Penny just fed her some more soup. She would admit that her nose had cleared up and she felt a bit stronger, but she still didn't feel one-hundred percent. When the bowl was empty, Penny took it to the sink and then came back, Sarcy huffed, "Y-You didn't have to do that, you k-know…" She rolled in her chair back to her computer.

Penny tilted her head, "I wished to care for my sick friend! Was it not correct to make soup?" Her voice was tinged with concern, "If that is the case, I can correct this mistake should you fall ill again."

In response, Sarcy shook her head, "No, I mean… getting that close, I've never had someone do that before. It feels… strange." She wondered how Penny could think that was a completely normal thing, did Pietro not tell her otherwise? Then again, maybe Penny was like her, just in a… different way. A way where she was more active and talkative than Sarcy was. That was a distinct possibility, one she'd have to ask Pietro about later.

Realizing she was getting lost in her thoughts, she opted to change the subject, "Man… Irene Watts and I were supposed to meet for coffee…" She normally wouldn't look forward to meeting with someone like that, but she was interested in learning what she knew! "I-I'll have to apologize later."

Penny hummed, "I am certain she will understand! Besides, you're spending time with your friend, that's more than enough reason to miss your meeting!" She grinned as if that made perfect sense, but she was right about one thing; It's not like Sarcy could help that she got sick, it just meant that she'd need to find some other time to talk to her.

Sarcelle thought for a few moments before deciding that she had a question she wanted to ask, "Penny…" The girl looked eagerly at Sarcy, so she continued, "You said I'm your first friend, right?" Penny nodded several times, and she continued, "...Why? Why didn't you have any before me?"

Penny, for the first time that Sarcelle had known her, looked downcast and sad, "Well… It's not for lack of trying. Nobody was interested." She didn't know why exactly, "Every person I asked to be my friend said no, or just ignored me." A forlorn frown played at her lips, even Sarcy could tell how sad she was, "Miss Irene Watts even said that she would not 'waste time with one of such low caliber.'"

Sarcelle furrowed her brow, that didn't sound nice at all, "Well." She frowned, for as beautiful as Irene was, it seemed she had a heart of stone. Who in their right mind would refuse to be Penny's friend? She carefully stood up, making sure the blanket was wrapped around her securely before she did something she basically never did.

She reached out and hugged Penny. The exuberant girl froze and seemed somewhat surprised, whereas Sarcy fought down a blush as she rested her head on Penny's shoulder and closed her eyes, "That's wrong. You're… a good friend. I… I haven't even known you that long, but I know that. You came here to help me because I got sick, that's… more than anyone has ever done for me before. Besides… besides my parents, and Jaune."

Penny returned the hug, for once it wasn't bone crushing, and Sarcy continued, "I thought Irene was cool when I met her, but… she sounds mean. She was mean to you, that… that doesn't make sense. Who would want to be mad at you?" She lightly shook her head, "That's stupid."

Penny had closed her own eyes, she felt a strange fluttering in her chest. Elation, her systems recognized it as elation, and happiness, and… warmth. Sarcelle really was a great friend, "Oh, Sarcy…" Her frown vanished and was replaced with a smile, "Thank you."

They stayed hugging for a few more moments until Sarcelle stepped back, and she was about to say something when suddenly her blanket collapsed off of her. Luckily, she wasn't naked, but in her mind she might as well have been, only wearing her bodysuit. She yelped and grabbed her blanket, pulling it up, "S-Sorry! I didn't- I- Uh- I thought the blanket was secure…"

Yet, Penny tilted her head, "What's wrong, Sarcelle? It's just your bodysuit, it's a requirement for you to get healthier."

Sarcy was somewhat baffled that Penny didn't get flustered at that, "I-It's 'cause it's all I'm wearing…" Yet, Penny still looked confused, and thus Sarcelle gave up and sat back down. Penny might have been a kind girl and a great friend, but she really didn't understand her. However, she still understood her better than anyone else, so…

Maybe she could get along with flesh and blood, instead of just cogs and metal.

/-/

The final days passed without incident, although Sarcy had to double up on her training the day after her spell of sickness to make up for missing one day. That hadn't been particularly pleasant, but it was necessary, both Robyn and Winter could agree on that. That was saying something, because they never agreed on anything.

She had contacted Irene and explained what happened, even if she didn't necessarily want to hang out with her at that point, she still would have felt bad for not explaining what happened. Luckily, it seemed Irene understood, at least from her one word reply, which just said, "Understood." Even Sarcy could understand that one.

The day prior to initiation was the day when everyone had to make their way to Atlas Academy, and also the day the first version of her weapon was prepared. Marrow brought it to her, knocking on her door and holding it out much like he had for the revolver. He smiled and said, "Here's your new toy."

Sarcelle, dressed in her regular outfit, took hold of it. The hilt was all she could see at the moment, it was metal with a white grip embedded into it on either side of where she was supposed to hold it. When she activated the blade component, she found that a cyan blue laser had formed in the shape of a longsword, much to Marrow's surprise. Of course, when she smacked it against her wall, she found that it hadn't torn into it, but it had scuffed it slightly. It was nothing Enigma couldn't fix, but she could tell that with enough hits she'd be able to cut through a great deal of things. It could also cut through Grimm with relative ease, according to the note Pietro gave to Marrow to give to her.

Then, she caused the blade of light to turn off and instead activated the staff form, the metal hilt extending out and the grip sinking into the metal before being covered. Instead, a grip appeared in the new middle of the polearm. She knew she couldn't try out the ranged component in her apartment, so she returned it to its normal sword form and attached it to her side.

Marrow had one other thing to give her, "Here, from Robyn." He held out an article of clothing, and Sarcelle found that it was a coat! A dark gray affair with white accents, it also came with a holster for her revolver so she could hide it within the coat. She did so, and then they were off.

It took little time to get to Atlas Academy, and even in the early morning it was buzzing with activity. Sarcelle felt her skin crawl at the overwhelming crowds of prospective students that were there, and they weren't even all of them! Apparently there were more coming from outside of Atlas that would be arriving soon!

Luckily for her, Penny was quick to single her out and find her. She felt a bit more at ease with her friend excitedly dragging her into the Academy so they could get something to eat before General Ironwood gave his speech.

The academy had a lot of grays, whites, and blues in it, Something Sarcy found she liked. It was very reserved and suited her style perfectly. The cafeteria had banners hanging from the ceiling, and she had expected the food to be fairly bad. However, that was not the case! Instead, they offered high quality food, the kind of stuff you'd find in restaurants! Sarcelle had no doubt that if she'd be eating like that every day, she would bulk up in no time.

Penny mentioned that she was excited to hear Ironwood's speech, apparently he gave one to new students every year. Sarcelle supposed that made sense, she just hoped that it wouldn't last too long. They stayed for a while, eating and talking, with Penny mostly leading the conversation while Sarcy just nodded along.

After an hour passed, though, prospective students were told to report to a large room, this one seemed to be one of the auditoriums the school had. Everyone gathered, and when Penny and Sarcy had found a place to stand, they encountered someone new.

She had dark skin and short, dark teal hair with blue eyes. She had a gold marking shaped like an oval surrounded by four small circles in the center of her forehead. She wore a blue beret, a plain off white golden button-down shirt, a blue combat skirt, fingerless elbow-length black gloves, and black shoes. At that moment, she was looking at her scroll.

When they came to a stop next to her, Penny greeted the girl, "Sal-u-tations! I'm Penny Polendina and this is Sarcelle Arc! Are you excited? I am so very excited!"

The girl looked momentarily surprised at the two girls' presence, yet she recovered and nodded while speaking in a fairly neutral tone, "Very. It's a very important step in becoming a proper Specialist. General Ironwood should be coming on stage in two minutes." Then, she thought for a second, then added, "Ciel Soleil."

Penny seemed intent on trying to talk to Ciel, which let Sarcelle look around. She spotted Irene, and it seemed she spotted her, because the taller girl smirked at her. That caused Sarcelle to avert her gaze while trying to remind herself that Irene needed to make up for being mean to Penny later. She doubted that would happen, but she could hope.

While she was looking around, her gaze came to rest on two more people. One was a girl with fair skin and sea green eyes that sparkled excitedly. She had red-orange hair with light blue streaks in her bangs, notably she also had a cat tail. Her outfit made Sarcy blush, it had loads of bright colors on it and consisted of a cropped tank top over a (visible!) dark purple bra, a mini-skirt, and short-shorts. She also had a cat bell collar and a bunch of other bells and whistles that Sarcy had trouble keeping track of.

She was talking to a dark-skinned guy with dark brown hair that was barely visible under the fedora he wore. He had on sunglasses that hid his eyes, and was wearing a dark vest over an untucked white dress shirt, along with dark dress pants, silver dress shoes, and a dark glove.

Sarcelle was about to look elsewhere when she noticed that the faunus girl spotted her. A mischievous smile took hold of her face before she bounded over to Sarcy, "Hey! I caught ya lookin'!" She stopped just a couple feet away and put her hands on her hips, "I'll let you off the hook this time, but next time I gotta charge you!" As Sarcelle sputtered and tried to stammer out an apology, the girl just laughed, "Relax! I'm just messin' with ya."

The guy joined them with a small smile on his face, "Not cool Neon, ya really gotta stop teasing people. She looks like she's going to check out just because you said somethin' to her."

The newly named Neon's smile never faltered, "Awwh, come on, I'm just playin'!" Her smile turned into a full-blown grin, "Hi! I'm Neon."

The boy nodded to Sarcy, "Flynt, nice to meet you." He lowered his sunglasses for a moment, revealing his dark brown eyes before he pushed them back up, "Lookin' smooth."

Sarcy wished she had Enigma with her, but he was packed up with the rest of her luggage until tomorrow, "A-Ah… Th-Thank you. I'm Sarcelle." She managed a nervous smile and rubbed the back of her neck. Then, she tried her hand at conversation, "I-I'm excited."

Penny interjected, apparently having finished talking to Ciel, "And I'm Penny Polendina, Sarcelle's best friend!" She grinned and declared that as if it were the single greatest honor in the world, Sarcy couldn't help but smile. Penny then added, "It's wonderful to finally be here!"

Before either of the other two could respond, the microphone that was placed on the stage was tapped a few times. Winter was there, dressed in her usual specialist outfit. She cleared her throat, "General Ironwood has some things he wishes to address." Then, she stepped aside.

General Ironwood walked onto the stage and smiled at the crowd, a lot less rigid than Winter, even if he still stood up straight and still looked very regimented, "Welcome to Atlas Academy. You are all here today because you seek to become huntsmen. Some of you will wish to become Specialists in the Atlesian Armed Forces, some of you will wish to remain independent. Regardless of your choice, the path you have chosen to walk is not easy." He paused for a moment, gauging the crowd's reaction before continuing, "It is a path that is marked with blood, hardship, and difficult situations. It is the path of one who wishes to face down the threat of the Grimm directly, placing their own lives at risk in the process."

He placed his hands behind his back, "It is also the path… of heroes. Make no mistake, the fact that all of you are standing here today is proof that you have the potential to do great things for humanity. To that end, becoming a student of this academy is a mutual agreement between all of you and Atlas. It is a promise that you will put your best foot forward, and work hard to achieve your dream, and it is a promise that we will in turn provide you with the very best we can in return. Food, amenities, education, training, everything is top of the line."

"You are all hopefuls right now, not students yet, but those of you that succeed, those of you that show that you are here to carve out your own path in life, will find that the guidance we offer is second to none. By being here, you have already taken the first step. I wish you all the best of luck."

He left the stage and students clapped at his speech, with Winter returning and saying, "You will all be directed to temporary accommodations. If you have not eaten, take this opportunity to do so. Then, it is advised that you sleep. Initiation begins at o' six-hundred hours." Then, she walked off the stage.

The students were all directed to large military-style barracks, with no distinction between gender. Thankfully, they had access to changing rooms to put on their night clothes.

Sarcelle changed into a large teal t-shirt and a pair of shorts that went over her bodysuit. She laid down on one of the bottom bunks and looked at her scroll for a few moments.

That was, until she heard Irene, "Interesting choice of attire, Sarcelle. It serves some sort of purpose, I presume?"

Sarcelle looked at her and nodded, "Y-Yes, it's… to keep me healthy. I'm… immunocompromised. Without this bodysuit, well… I don't think I could be here."

Irene hummed, "Fascinating." Yet, she didn't seem to have that much to say. She regarded Sarcy for a few moments before walking off, leaving Sarcy on her own. It was… strange, to say the least, for her to just leave like that.

Her mind instead turned to initiation, she didn't know too much about it other than the fact that it usually took place in the tundra outside of the city and was overseen by General Ironwood himself. She wondered if she'd be able to pass, the days of training she had were next to nothing compared to everyone else in the room, but Robyn had told her to just act the part. 'Fake it till you make it' were her exact words, if Sarcy was remembering correctly.

Penny showed up at her bedside a moment later, wearing an emerald green nightgown. She smiled down at Sarcy, "This is all so splendid! I simply can't wait for initiation. Hopefully we can be partners! Do you think you will do well?" Sarcelle thought over the question for a few moments and played back her scant training in her mind. Then, hesitantly, she gave her answer.

"...I hope so."