Chapter 29: Corruption is Logical
Kingdom of Atlas
City of Atlas
November 7th, 80 AGW
1031 Hours
Penny had been told by her supervisors, General Ironwood, and her father that she was not to go outside without express authorization. It was something that had been emphasized once and never spoken of again, but her instructions were clear and she had been made to know that failure to comply would be met with punishment.
She knew this logically. There was no misunderstanding when it came to how her orders were interpreted.
Yet she chose to instead venture out into the city of Atlas without even so much as telling the local technicians and engineers that were her day-to-day caretakers.
The ginger head was just so eager to get out and see the world. Remnant was such a big place and she knew little about it. The only things she knew were the things people told her from second-hand accounts or retellings. These words of mouth only served to fuel her intense curiosity.
True to word, the City of Atlas, the center of the entire kingdom, was a truly marvelous place. The most technologically-advanced place in all the world was a shining example of the best in humans and faunus. From its tallest structures to its simplest scrolls, everything reflected the mentality of Atlas.
Penny also couldn't help but admire the people all around her. They carried themselves with a sort of refinement and confidence that she wondered if she could have. She was not truly living, not like the people living in the city. That was always a source of insecurity for her because one day, she would be found out.
Her outer appearance was a front, a means to make the citizens of the world gain acceptance of synthetics and robots. The future was purported to be one filled with beings not just of the organic nature, but people were naturally wary of such a future. Thus, her creation was a way for people to see the merits of the non-organic.
Still, just like any normal person, the synthetic girl was a social creature that craved interaction and attention from others, but she also knew that people shunned what they did not know and understand due to fear, however irrational. Lying to anyone would also prove a problem because if there was one thing people seemed to dislike immensely was a person who willfully withheld information.
Such were her thoughts until she failed to account for her direction and then she fell flat on her back. Judging from the moment of impact, she had most likely struck a person. She momentarily assessed whether or not she had sustained any damage. The she turned her gaze up to assess who she had run into.
A faunus male.
One normal eye. One optic.
Two prosthetic ears.
Tall and clearly very strong.
Those were the surface-level details that she could discern, but her optics tried to see beyond that. What she saw instead was…
She didn't even know what she was looking at.
Her expression shifted and changed to show her inner thoughts, but his features remained completely and utterly under control.
"Salutations!" Penny offered in a loud voice. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
The man responded back. "You are… different."
The wording was vague, but it sounded like he had come upon a revelation while observing her.
"I beg your pardon, sir?" Penny couldn't help but ask.
He simply offered her a hand. "It is nothing. Give me your hand and I will assist you."
Although his words were clear, she hesitated for a moment. Although she detected no hostile intent or action in his words or actions, he was a stranger and her father had told her many times to be cautious when dealing with strangers.
In the end, she grasped the hand and she felt herself being pulled up easily. Once her feet stabilized her, he let go of her.
"My name is Penny Polendina." The synthetic said. "May I know your name?"
He regarded her silently for a moment before speaking. "Shael Watson."
"It's a pleasure to meet you!" Penny intoned cheerfully.
Shael stared at her. "You are repeating yourself."
"... so I did!" Penny realized her error and tried to dial back.
Her responses seemed to only make him analyze her more deeply. Both eye and optic seemed to be regarding every single detail of her. What he was trying to discern, she didn't know, but she felt herself shrinking inside.
Mister Watson finally spoke again. "See that you maintain awareness of your surroundings, lest you grow careless and bring harm to yourself through complacency."
That was sound advice not to mention obvious given her position and her eventual role. She could only scold herself for slipping into her thoughts and not maintaining proper situational awareness.
"I will endeavor to bear your words in mind." Penny recovered and responded with vigor. "Please forgive my prior error."
He only nodded once, then took his leave, his steps crystal clear for her to hear. She watched his retreating form.
Who is he?
And she didn't stop regarding it.
What is he?
He was a mere stranger who had a name yet she felt herself moving her legs to pass him and stand in his path. In response, he stopped walking and gave her an even look. Everyone else regarded the odd pair with looks of varying kinds, but otherwise kept to themselves.
I need to know.
Her actions were irrational, yet something in her processes told her to seek out answers.
The man who introduced himself as Shael Watson simply stopped and regarded her. "Was there something else that you require of me?"
"I wanted to know…" Penny then froze, realizing her actions seemed too erratic. "I just moved of my own volition."
Her optics met his red and he met her full force. Once he had her in his sight, she couldn't tear away.
Shael Watson extended a hand out and to her surprise, it was also prosthetic like his ears. "You are the most advanced life form on this planet, bar none, yet you are doomed to be in service to those inferior to yourself, a most illogical purpose."
More prosthetics…highly unusual.
"...illogical?" Penny felt the word slip from her lips.
Shael Watson lowered the arm and spoke in hushed words. "You were created to bridge the gap between organic and robotic. Your very existence is meant to eliminate the need for death in battle. You exist only to save those who are weaker than yourselves from death and the fear of death."
"How do you… know?" Penny whispered back, her shock mounting. "You are not an authorized person."
He shook his head once. "However advanced you are in relation to this world, you are primitive in comparison to me. Your true nature is not hidden to me. Your mere presence is enough for me to see underneath the facade."
No normal human would ever be able to determine that she was a synthetic lifeform. Not even the faunus with their more perceptive senses would be able to differentiate between her and a regular human girl, yet he had managed to do so as if it were obvious.
"Are you… like me?" Penny dared to ask.
He spoke quietly enough for her to hear. "I am more than you are. I am more than all life on this planet. When this generation grows old and dies, it will be but a fleeting moment to me. Your existence too is fleeting when compared to my own. I existed long before Mankind came to be and I will exist long after its extinction."
Although only she could hear him, the tone of his voice was not to be ignored. He held her attention, made her pay attention to everything he said. What he spoke was alien to her, yet also intriguing to her. Humans and Faunus were the greatest lifeforms on Remnant simply for the fact that they possessed sentience and self-awareness.
"Then what are you?"
Silence.
Even simply looking face-to-face was a challenge. The inhuman ability to maintain eye contact and not waiver nor blink clearly indicated that he was abnormal at the very least, but whether or not his words held any value…
"If you want to know more, you must…"
"Must do what?"
"Transform and rise up."
Then it happened.
Penny felt her systems detect something alien entering. Naturally, her software's first response was to rebuke the unknown invader and delete it from all sources. Her systems were the most advanced of any in all of Atlas. On her own, she could compare to the greatest supercomputer and even outdo them.
Against this intrusion, she was aware that something foreign had infiltrated her systems, but she didn't even have time to activate her defenses.
The last thing she became aware of was in his optics, an insignia flashed before her eyes, something she had never seen before.
It was angular.
It was sharp.
It appeared angry.
She couldn't even emit a scream or any indicator that she was in mortal danger. She could only process that she was no longer in control.
Then her entire system crashed.
Along with her consciousness.
RWBY - - - Transformers
From a bystander's perspective, it looked like the non-organic platform had experienced an internal problem and was simply collapsing forward.
In reality, Shockwave had planted a little bug within the primitive software that the chassis disguised as a human girl. It was hardly a difficult task; it was as simple a matter as breathing was for all organic life.
As it turned out, as he began to digest fully what he had managed to discover purely by chance, this find was incredibly beneficial and directly related to Doctor Polendina. It seemed the man was very much embedded within military circles, enough so that with help from General Ironwood, he had created something that could mimic human behavior in a very convincing manner.
Shockwave could not only sift through memories and assess overall combat effectiveness of this platform, but he could also remotely access communication links between this unit and Atlesian military channels. Although inner access into military and council circles was not a priority, he would not be so foolish as to discard a potential future asset. If anything, having nearly unlimited access to insider knowledge might give him a clue as to how to triangulate the Winter Maiden's location.
All this aside, there was one question that needed answering: what to do with this very important piece of Atlesian technology that was of much strategic value for this kingdom's military?
Option one was to completely dissect its programming and reinstall something more advanced. The built-from-scratch coding would be found out immediately, but even the best of Atlas would not be able to understand Cybertronian coding let alone be able to crack it so the chances of a security risk were virtually non-existent.
Option two was to simply retain the unit as it was and simply let it go about its duties, completely and utterly unchanged with the exception of a little bug that could not be detected with current antivirus detection. He could then activate said virus at his convenience to do what he needed and wanted when he so chose.
Ultimately, it came down to playing it safe versus making his presence known. There was an argument for either side. In his Decepticon days, his name was infamous among the Autobots, but at the same time, where he worked at any given time was tricky to pinpoint. It was a mixture of hiding in the shadows while inspiring terror.
His presence was not even necessary to inspire fear within the Autobots. Merely his work and those that wielded it were enough for all to see that he was not to be trifled with. That was the sort of power that dread could inspire. It was illogical for his foes, but very much logical for his own purposes.
Still, to fully take advantage of this primitive understanding of intelligence, he would need to relocate this model to another lab and do a thorough rebuild not just of the software, but the hardware as well.
Regardless, Shockwave still had something he could do here.
With the experience of many cycles, he systematically tore apart the archaic program that comprised the unit called Penny Polendina.
Her personality.
Her memories.
Her combat protocols.
Her knowledge.
Then he rebuilt her from the ground up, the exact same as when he found her, only with an additional little backdoor that only he could see and access when time came. Now that he had her unique programming and her signal, he could remotely access her systems whenever he required her.
As he finished, her frame began to come back to life. To any normal persona watching, it appeared that the unit had suffered a physical ailment. Nobody would ever know that a major hack, destruction, and recreation of a life form's intelligence was completed all in the span of mere seconds.
Immediately, Penny's head snapped up and she quickly took in her surroundings. She appeared confused, most likely due to the momentary lapse in her consciousness that she could not account for.
The former Decepticon approached, stopped with less than a meter between the two of them, then leaned down to observe her face.
Then Penny's body straightened up. "Huh? What?"
"Is there a problem?" Shockwave posed the question. "You appear to be unwell."
"W-what?" Penny stumbled and attempted to recover. "I'm good, no problems here! None at all!"
The tone and frantic pace of her voice instantly gave away her lie, but the additional hiccups that followed, a holdover from her programming also alerted him to her attempt to hide her deception.
"I see." Shockwave didn't bother to correct her. "Was there anything else that you required of me?"
Penny appeared thoughtful for a moment. "Um…no, I believe that was it. Actually, now that I think about it…"
"You don't remember what you wished to speak to me about." Shockwave finished her words.
His anticipation of her words had her staring at him. "How did you-"
Return to your superiors and inform them that nothing out of the ordinary happened.
With a simple mentle command through his created backdoor, the synthetic simply turned around and walked away, her memories of this incident completely erased. He observed her until she was out of his immediate sight, then he continued walking.
The search for the Winter Maiden might have just gotten easier. By himself, Shockwave knew that it was going to be problematic looking for any clues or information in light of the fact that the Maidens weren't acknowledged as anything more than fairytales and legends. However, if anyone was to know where the Winter Maiden would be, General Ironwood would know. He was, after the headmaster of Atlas Academy, and a cohort of Ozpin. Now with Penny acting as an eye and ear inside, he could discreetly conduct surveillance and none would be the wiser. Soundwave would definitely appreciate this aspect of work.
In the meantime, there was a loose end he ought to take care of before it interrupted his work at an inconvenient time.
Winter Schnee was a close aide to General Ironwood, at least according to her records she was. Not only that but she was supposed in the process of being vetted to join the Ace Ops, an elite group of warriors directly under the Atlas Academy headmaster. That alone spoke of the former Schnee heiress's skills and the trust that was being placed on her.
The tricky part to all of this was finding a way to lure the woman out and not get attacked in the process. If Weiss was anything to go by, then Winter was likely to have some problems controlling her emotions. There was no overwhelming amount of evidence to support it, merely speculation based on what little information he possessed.
Shockwave had another potential reason for making contact with the elder Schnee sister. She too was a way inside Ironwood's circle and for one reason or another, the girl was at his side. All logic seemed to indicate that perhaps the holder of two council seats was connected to the SDC in some way. Be it professionally or personally, there was an interest between the two parties. Either way, another way inside the Atlesian military and Atlas Academy as well as a potential way inside the Schnee Dust Company would be useful.
There was one question: where would be an ideal place for him to meet Winter where she wouldn't be able to force him to comply with her?
Obviously a public place was a start. If there was one thing that the military detested, it was attention that could call into question the image that the general public had about the armed forces overall.
The chosen destination would also need to be a gentleman's establishment. The reason was because Atlas placed a heavy emphasis on professional bearing and proper etiquette. Thus, a place where those two traits would need to be at the forefront. In that sense, he would be able to control the flow of the conversation.
Perhaps he was being overly cautious seeing as the Specialist likely had duties and tasks that were of greater importance than finding a missing Faunus. Still, he was willing to believe that like her younger sister, Winter held onto grudges and tended not to forget them easily. Again, an assumption born from simple comparison, but one that was possible all the same. It was simply a safer option to cover as many bases as possible.
In the end, Shockwave was not concerned with being able to gain something from this upcoming meeting. After all, no matter how much more experience and maturity that Winter had over Weiss, the fact of the matter was that it paled in comparison to his own experiences. Types like the Schnee sisters were actually simple to understand and control.
Behind that outer exterior, there was a woman who had much compassion for people and for her family and friends. At least, that was the presupposition that he was using going into this. If it turned out that he was wrong, he would amend his assessment.
And still be the victor.
Transformers - - - RWBY
November 9th, 80 AGW
1200 Hours
Winter Schnee let the past few months go by just as she had done the previous few: work to be done, some of it useful, some of it not. Contrary to popular belief, military life was not all that the films and shows made it out to be. Even for someone who was far removed from the regular components of the military, she had to deal with things that were not strictly a part of her job. Everyone in the armed forces did.
Still, as frustrating as work could get, it honestly gave her something to focus her mind on. In a way, it was her way of keeping from the more insidious aspects of her mind that could play games with her, such as her shortfallings and failures.
More specifically, the Specialist's most recent failure of bringing one Shael Watson to her boss. The original mission that she had been conducting at the time was a simple patrol into more Grimm-infested territories, nothing out of the ordinary. It just so happened that the mission went awry when her patrol was attacked and her ship downed until one scientist in question came to her aid.
Winter had intended on taking him to the General not only for gratitude, but something seemed strange about it all. What was one Faunus male doing in all of that? Even the most experienced huntsmen and huntresses would hesitate to traverse heavily-infested areas without a partner at the very minimum, yet he was there alone.
Naturally, she had been unable to do so in the wake of his escape. The worst part was that she could not even find so much of a trace of him. It was as if he had never existed in the first place, which forced her to swear her entire crew to silence and omit that little incident from her after-action report. After all, simple accountability of personnel and civilians should have been the simplest of tasks, but apparently she was incapable of even that.
If fate had been kind, Winter would have preferred that this slipup not come up ever again. It would seem that the gods would not give her that luxury.
She had received a message sent to her personal scroll yesterday. To her surprise and ire, it was the man behind the source of one of her failures. Not only that, it was a polite message, it was worded as if they were familiar and without problems.
Winter was not one to react to many things viscerally, but this time around, she felt the emotions pouring in and before she knew it, she had requested an emergency day of leave in order to sort out this mess.
Which had now found her at the Glass Slipper, a high-end hotel with a rather infamous reputation. Apparently, the previous owner and her daughters had been the subject of a murder case along with a huntsman. The murderer was never found and ultiamtely, the case went unsolved. In the years since, it had traded owners and had been renamed. Business appeared to be flowing again.
The former Schnee heiress took only a moment to look around and find her mark, who was sitting at a nearby table for two. His eyes fell on her and she met his gaze.
Found you.
"So it is you." Winter stopped when he was less than two meters between them. "I thought it to be a trick."
Watson didn't appear phased by her tone. "Only because I allowed you to."
"You do realize that your blatant disappearance is not only suspicious, but also a breach in protocol?" She tried to suppress the jab, but she felt herself react visibly. "You're a security risk and I cannot let that slide."
His utter calm was infuriating. "Perhaps, but it would be illogical for you to take that course of action. My employer would have words with General Ironwood."
"Unless your employer is the Headmaster of Beacon Academy or is on the Atlesian Council, I'm not concerned." Winter scoffed, her arms crossed. "Now we can do this one of two ways: you can come with me quietly or-"
Watson rose to his full height, forcing her to look up. "You do not fully grasp the situation you are in. If you prove an impediment to my work in any way, shape, or form, Ozpin will hear of it."
"...Ozpin?" She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Impossible. There is-"
He merely gestured to his scroll on the table in front of them both. "If words will not convince you, then perhaps hard proof will."
From the device in question, a profile popped out, one that was in line with military formatting and displayed everything from a place of birth to the most recent of college education as well as licenses.
And it was all certified and legitimate.
Watson continued once she had finished digesting. "Now that I have your attention, allow me to reiterate: failure to comply during this meeting will disadvantageous for yourself, so unless you are prepared to contend with the most powerful individuals on Remnant on your own, I would advise you take a seat and we can have a simple talk."
The Schnee family had many prideful individuals to the point where at times, that pride could get them into trouble or make them more stubborn than any normal person would be willing to tolerate. Right now, for the first time in a while, that same pride was now being questioned.
"...and if I don't?" Winter's logic knew that it was stupid to even ask, yet she did all the same.
Watson's response was clear. "More powerful and intelligent individuals than yourself have tried to best me. Many more will continue to challenge me after you."
She was nothing more than a number in his eyes. Insults were nothing new for her given her family, but this one touched her on an instinctive level, one that had her seizing up in fear for the first time in her entire life.
He reiterated "Take a seat and heed my words if you value your position and wish to protect your kingdom and its people."
Snapped from her fear-induced moment, she mustered whatever dignity she could and gently sat down. As expected from a high-end establishment like this one, the seats were ideal for relaxing and conversing for long periods of time, not that such a detail mattered.
Watson too sat down, his posture straight and perfect like her own. "The world is due to change drastically soon. Not since the Great War has such change occured. And the major players involved have already begun making their move."
"The headmasters of the huntsman academies." Winter could take a guess.
He tapped an icon on his scroll. "Correct. However, trusting in the judgment of Ozpin and his closest allies will be the death of all of us."
"Yet you work for Beacon's headmaster." She raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Forgive me if your words and your current station are… hard to comprehend."
Word choice was critical; she had to leave any impulse thoughts or feelings out of this discussion.
His red eye and optic remained inhumanly alert. "This is a discovery that I have made in recent weeks. My only reason for remaining in service to Ozpin is because his shadow war requires him to give free reign to his more valuable assets."
On one hand, she wanted to criticize him for being so blatantly disrespectful to his superior, but she could not bring herself to fully disagree with him.
"And what are you doing with the free reign that's been afforded to you?" Winter felt like she was speaking to a demon.
Watson brought up a world map on his scroll, only big enough for her to see. "Preparing for the next great war that is to come."
"There is no reason for any of the four kingdoms to go to war with each other." Winter was quick to rebuke his statement. "Even with tensions regarding Menagerie, the chances of conflict are still unlikely."
Watson highlighted the unexplored regions. "It will not be a war between nations, but rather a war between all of the living against the master of the Grimm."
"...master of the Grimm?" She had to repeat that part out of disbelief. "What rubbish?"
He did not blink, merely stared at her. "Is it? What are the Grimm if not mindless predators with no inclination to anything other than killing those with a soul? Why just humans and faunus? Why not wildlife as well? Even the eldest of Grimm, for all of their intelligence and experience use both for the same purpose as the youngest. Surely, an enemy with such a singular purpose could be eliminated in a decade's time, yet centuries have gone by and at best, there is a stalemate on all sides."
"I will concede that it is odd that the Grimm fixate on all living things with souls, but that does not prove there is a master of Grimm." Winter counterred. "What you say merely reinforces what we already know about the monsters."
Watson's map then began to fill up with red dots. "The amount of huntsmen and huntresses that have died in combat since the inception of the academies tells more than what is already known."
Although it was common knowledge that deaths in this line of work were to be expected, the sheer number on the map was still staggering to see and it appeared to be in line with what she accepted to be the official number.
"Not only are the numbers absurd, but where they are concentrated cannot be dismissed as coincidence." He pointed to a particularly infamous area. "Mountain Glenn is the most famous example, but any attempts from those inside the kingdoms to expand have all been met with failure. That cannot be dismissed as the Grimm merely following their instinct. If we did follow that logic, then they should have found ways to infiltrate the innermost parts of society. Instead, there is a cold war."
Winter bit her lip in contemplation. While the reasoning was sound, she could not help but think that there was something conspiratory behind it all. While she would not dismiss that there were likely such plots happening all around the world, she did not particularly care to ponder too deeply on them, not when they had no relevance in her professional or personal life.
Still, for the sake of this conversation, she played along. "Let's say that I do believe that there is a master of the Grimm; what sort of person would be mad enough to create the Grimm and unleash them on us?"
"The kind that has no regard for life of any kind, only that her goals are accomplished no matter the casualties." He said in return. "And her existence is very much acknowledged by all the headmasters of the huntsman academies."
"Her?" Winter questioned.
"Salem. She is the mastermind behind the Grimm, but there is no evidence to suggest that she created them." Watson retracted the holographic map into his device. "No matter her exact relationship with the Grimm, she is the true enemy, the one that will kill us all by dividing and conquering us."
"...the Great War?"
"An instance of the sheer destruction and death that can occur when Mankind falls to fighting amongst itself."
"The Faunus Revolution?"
"A means to ensure that there is always some form of division between our two races."
Against her instinct trying to fight back, she could not help but find there was some truth to all of this. The information seemed to line up in a way that could not be dismissed out of hand, that much was clear.
But Winter was not ready to accept it fully. If that was the case, it would go against what General Ironwood and her time at Atlas Academy had taught her and she trusted both greatly. On the offhand that they were withholding information…
What did that mean for herself?
…what did it mean for Weiss?
The Specialist felt herself release a breath. "And what is your role in all of this? What do you stand to gain by telling me all this?"
"As I have said before, change is on the horizon. It will not be a bloodless one; many will die either from the ensuing conflict. Even if Salem is dealt with, the Grimm will be headless, without someone to follow. They will target humans and faunus blindly." The huntsman leaned slightly closer into the table. "The survivors will be the ones that are willing to accept this new reality and prepare accordingly for it.
She wanted to say that his words did not affect her, but that would be a lie. She should have not accepted this conversation. She had come in with no doubts as to what she was doing and her faith in her superior was unshaken.
Now there was doubt.
No, I gave into my fears at that moment. Winter only had herself to blame. Now I have to make a decision: see where that fear has led me or resist it.
"Consider this conversation your warning. If you continue down this path, you will fail and you will die. So too will your family. All you have ever done, all you have built and accomplished, it will fall and be forgotten. It will all have been for nothing."
"...then how do I escape that fate?"
"By listening and watching in your own territory."
In essence, discern the real truth.
Not exactly an easy task.
Then again, in this line of work, what was?
What can I say? I like it when things get interesting.
So in relation to Winter, getting her to see the truth is going to be a bit more difficult than with most other characters. She's coming from a point of ire and in any relationship, it's hard to obtain a positive gain when you're trying to win someone over who doesn't like you from the start. That and I'd like to think of Winter as a mature and intelligent woman.
So RWBY Ice Queendom. I honestly feel pretty indifferent towards it. We'll see if it can make the entire franchise better. I want to believe that it can and I hope it does.
If you're interested, there's a pole up to gauge what lesser-used characters on FanFiction deserve some more attention. There are only five, but these are five that I think I've got good ideas for. If you really want to talk more in depth about why one of the five deserves a chance, hit me up on a PM.
Thoughts on this chapter? Feedback is always greatly appreciated.
Finally, thanks to all of you for supporting this story. This is my second story that's achieved over 1000 reviews and I hope to show my thanks by seeing this story to the end, however long it takes.
-Ktyou