The android almost seemed to be sleeping in the pod. Naked and still without a trace of movement. Vasily couldn't help but wonder why anyone would design a weapon to look like a little girl. Was the designer trying to play God in creating something in their image? Or was there something more deviant reason for designing as a young member of the fairer sex. Vasily supposed it was probably a bit of both. There was no reason to make a weapon look like a person, but Vasily supposed that it hardly mattered to him, he would use it for what it really was.
"How much longer?" Vasily asked Bonnie as she typed away on her laptop programming.
"Not long," Bonnie reported, her fingers were a blur as they went across the keyboard.
Vasily turned his attention to the other pod which housed his captured huntsman. He actually was sleeping with the help of the concoction Bonnie had brewed up keeping him quiet. He looked at the machine his assistant had built with the help of blueprints she managed to procure when she robbed the research and development labs in Atlas.
He had idly wondered how those eggheads in Atlas created a machine with an aura but he hadn't expected anything like this. Taking aura from someone and forcing into this weapon masquerading as a little girl. If the public knew just how Miss Polendina was bestowed this facade of life the outcry would be immense. And that Ironwood had been secretly building a new model could only mean he intended to have another cleave their very soul to power this automaton. And why stop there?
Vasily chuckled at the thought.
"What's funny?" Bonnie asked, looking away from her computer as her fingers continued to dance across the keyboard.
"I was simply musing that Ironwood is far smarter than I gave him credit for," Vasily explained, "I really should commend him for having the will to create such androids, to rend the very souls of others, leaving them permanently crippled for the sake of power and military might. He is far more cunning than I expected."
The typing finished with Bonnie striking the enter key with a loud and distinct tap. "Here we go!"
The machinery hummed with life as it activated powering the two pods. The red aura of his captured huntsman glowed. The cables connecting the two pods began to light up with the syphoned aura pouring it into the artificial body.
Vasily watched the machine stole the aura from the captured huntsman and forced it into the empty vessel. The huntsman squirmed in the pod despite the generous dose of sedatives, clearly he was in some form of pain as his soul was fractured. Vasily smirked at the sight.
In a mere minute it ended and the glowing cables darkened as they finished their task. He watched the android in its pod as the aura around it glowed and faded. Slowly the eyelids fluttered open revealing emerald green eyes just like the other one. The vacuum seals on the pod snapped open and released with a hiss.
The lid opened with the hum of hydraulics and the android stepped out looking around and observing the surroundings. Eventually it settled it's gaze upon him.
"Hello," it greeted him, "I am Penelope."
Penelope, a silly name for a weapon. Doubtlessly it was another habit of her sentimental creators desiring to pretend this thing was an actual person. "Hello Penelope," he greeted back, "do you know who I am?"
The android observed him for a minute. "Vasily… my master, how do I know that?"
"Because you're programmed to know that," he explained to it, "give me a diagnostic report!"
Penelope nodded, "Aura levels are currently at twenty three percent and rising, my internal systems are operating at peak efficiency and my power cells are fully charged. I currently have no internal weapons, my dust and ammo levels are empty, I am not combat ready."
Vasily nodded, "Bonnie is currently preparing your weapon and we are procuring dust and ammunition for you."
Penelope nodded, "thank you Master," she said, turning away to look curiously around. Bonnie was watching intrigued as the fruit of her labor walked around observing each and every thing in the room with a quiet almost childlike curiosity.
"It feels strange… I know what most of these things are, but I also know this is my first time seeing them," she explained picking up a screwdriver and inspecting it in depth. "I know this is a phillips head screwdriver and I know it's function, but this is the first time I have even seen or thought about such a thing."
"I uploaded your mind with this knowledge," Bonnie explained to her, "you know these things because you were already imbued with this knowledge."
"I see," Penelope said, setting the humble tool down and resumed looking around. She was unperturbed with her state of undress and showed no discomfort to the cold of the room. Her movements were simplistically graceful with no step or head turn without purpose. This model might physically resemble the current form of the original but in the simple way it walked revealed it was very much a machine, perhaps it's movements would resemble those of a human given time. She turned back to Vasily, "I take it you activated me for a task."
Vasily nodded, at least the machine was astute if nothing else. "Indeed," he said, "I am a hunter and I have use of your abilities Penelope, I am currently hunting huntsman, and my employer has been expecting results and what's more I have a more… personal matter that I believe you would be most advantageous in."
"I will aid you in these endeavors, master," Penelope told him.
"Of course you will," Vasily said, satisfied that she at least seemed eager to serve him. "You can start by disposing with that huntsman there."
Penelope turned her attention to the other pod and gazed at the huntsman inside still unconscious with the aid of the sedatives. Bonnie typed the command on her keyboard and the pod door opened with a hiss of air and a hum of hydraulics. "How should I dispose of him, Master?" she asked curiously looking at the sleeping man that had helped activate her.
"I don't really care," Vasily said with a nonchalant wave of his hand, "just don't make a mess."
Penelope grabbed the huntsman by his throat and lifted him up out of the pod. She held him up with her strength not even bothered by holding up a three hundred pound huntsman with one hand. Her grip tightened on his throat and she held him silently. The larger man's feet dragged on the ground as she was larger than her. His face turned blue as he suffocated silently in her grip. Suddenly the android tightened her grip on his throat and twisted. A wet crunch echoed in the room as she snapped his neck and dropped his limp lifeless body on the floor.
"Very good," Vasily praised, "Bonnie will show you what to do with the corpse."
"Will that be all Master?" Penelope asked him, picking the limp body back up with ease.
"For now," Vasily told her, turning to leave, "once your weapons are ready we will test your combat skills, for now help Bonnie and see to her if you require anything, I'll be in the library."
Vasily left them to dispose of the body as he contemplated his future plans. There was work to do, he needed to get ahead on his work. Weeks of resting had turned him soft and he needed to regain his strength, the now dead huntsman was a start but he needed to sharpen himself before he was ready to face Arc, besides he was currently rather low on lien, his other overseas accounts were currently inaccessible to him so earning some much needed capital while he regained his killer edge was necessary. A hunter needed to be prepared to face their prey and he would see that unlike last time he was fully prepared to face Arc.
Penny watched Jaune's breath turn to smoke as he breathed in the frigid air of the supply truck. They hadn't actually gone on a supply run together since the incident. Jaune was rather quiet as he woke himself up with a thermos of coffee. He looked unflatteringly bulky in the heavy snow jacket he and the others were now required to wear. So far their ride had been quiet with Jaune trying to simply conquer his weariness, but to Penny it seemed deafening. What was she to say to him? She had promised Ruby and the others that she wouldn't do anything to spoil Jaune's date with Neon, but she couldn't help but worry about it.
She couldn't help but wonder if riding in the back of that supply truck with Jaune was when these feelings started to manifest. Sitting next to him and offering him her warmth, asking him about what it felt like to feel cold and the taste of chocolate. Was that really when this all started? Right before that assassin had attacked them.
He yawned deeply and shook his head as if he could literally shake away the drowsiness. He took a long drink from his thermos. "You seem awfully tired," Penny commented trying to break the silence.
"I didn't sleep very well last night," Jaune confessed looking across the truck towards her.
"I see, do you know why?" Penny asked him wondering if anything she said could at least help him.
"Just some nightmares," Jaune told her honestly, looking at the floor of the truck.
"Oh," Penny said looking up at him. She felt a pang of sadness as he mentioned it. He had mentioned having nightmares before, with everything else that had happened in that ghost town with that assassin it almost seemed a distant memory to Penny. Those hours huddled around the small fire she had made listening to him explain camping and s'mores and ghost stories and dreams. Even though they were desperate and scared in that dirty abandoned house she couldn't help but look back fondly on that moment together.
"Would you like to tell me about them?" Penny asked him apprehensively. He had told her with everything he'd gone through he'd be worried if he didn't have nightmares, but what exactly did he have nightmares about?
Jaune looked up and met her eye, a sad look passed across his face, he shook his head, "I'd rather not if that's alright with you." Jaune explained to her, taking another drink of his hot coffee.
Penny nodded respectfully, "Of course," she said feeling a touch of disappointment. A part of her wished he would confide to her what had kept him up but she buried it down with an assortment of other emotions. "Were you at least able to get back to sleep?" She asked him, hoping to at least carry the conversation.
"After awhile," Jaune admitted to her, "Neon was still awake so we texted for a little bit," he explained to her.
Penny felt like a knife of jealousy was thrust into her. "Oh yeah?" she asked, trying to seem unperturbed by the fact that he had apparently stayed up late talking to Neon. "What did you talk about?" she asked him.
Jaune shrugged, "Nothing in particular, we just talked about whatever came to mind really, we talked about our teams and stuff."
"I see," Penny said, "did it help at least?"
"A little," Jaune said, "I probably stayed up texting her too long but I was at least ready for sleep afterwards."
Penny nodded to show she understood but continued to sit quietly with him as the truck traversed the icy landscape. It felt like there was a barrier between the two of them, Jaune didn't feel it, he didn't see or sense it but to Penny it felt ironclad. She couldn't get closer to him as much as she wanted to, it was like she had reached a limit to how close she could be to him.
"Are you doing anything after this supply run?" Jaune asked her, breaking the silence to her surprise.
"Uh no," Penny said looking up at him.
"Would you like to hang out with me and the rest of my team?" he asked her hopefully. "We haven't really hung out a lot since I passed out during movie night, I mean you were there when we got burgers a few nights ago but we never got to talk, it was a little crowded."
Penny nodded in agreement. "Well it is just the two of us right now," Penny told him observing the obvious, "are we not hanging out right now?"
Jaune cracked a smile, Penny almost resented how much she adored his smile. "Yeah but we're working, it's not the same."
Penny smiled despite herself, "Alright, what will we do?" she asked him.
"Well Ren has some more martial arts flicks he'd like to show us, and Nora has a couple of board games, but before that we were planning to do a little shopping in downtown Mantle."
"Shopping?" Penny asked him, "are you looking for anything in particular?"
"A suit," Jaune answered her honestly, "I'm gonna need one for saturday night, and there's not really a lot of variety in my wardrobe at the moment."
That felt like a knife to her chest. He was asking her to go shopping with him so he could look for a suit for his date with Neon. She felt a touch of anger, it seemed everything was a little tainted by his impending date, it seemed impossible to simply escape the jealousy she felt towards Neon and take her mind off of it. "I see," Penny said unsure what she should say to him about this.
"So what do you say?" Jaune asked her ignorant of the storm of emotions she kept hidden from her. "You wanna come with us?"
Penny thought about it for a second, she loathed the idea of helping Jaune find a suite for his date but the prospect to at least spend some more time with him was still enticing to say the least. Ruby had said that she was going to support Jaune going on this date and whatever came of it and urged her to do the same, Penny had promised she would try. "Sure," she said, we'll go after the supply run."
The sign above the store entrance simply read Threads.
"I guess this is the place to get a suit," Jaune said walking into the men's clothing store.
"Fancy!" Nora exclaimed walking in behind the two of them. She looked around at the sharply dressed mannequins, silk ties, gold watches and cufflinks and shiny shoes. "Ren, we're getting you a suit!"
"But I don't need a suite," he reasoned to her, "We're here so Jaune."
"We can shop for both of you," Nora said with barely contained enthusiasm, "Besides think how awesome you'd look! Especially with your twin pistols! You'd look like a secret agent! Or like Jut Lee in those martial arts films, you'd look so badass!"
"I think these suits are a little too rich to be combat clothes Nora," Ren said observing the rather high price tags.
"We keep the most select brands in front," A well dressed assistant told them approaching. He was also sharply dressed in a light grey three piece suit complete with tie and even a folded pocket square in his breast pocket. Penny guessed he was around their age. "We have more affordable options in the back, including combat options, I am assuming you gentlemen are huntsmen."
"Uh yeah," Jaune said with a nod. "But I'm not looking for any combat clothes, I just need a regular suit."
"What's the occasion?" The assistant asked him, "wedding?" his eye turned to Penny and he smiled, "is this the lucky lady?"
Penny felt herself freeze at the question both flattered and embarrassed. "Oh no no!" she corrected him immediately, "we are not together!"
Jaune laughed awkwardly and scratched the back of his head. "It's not a wedding, just a date. I'm going to a dance club."
"Ah, what kind of dance club?" he asked him.
"I don't know," Jaune told the assistant, "I've never really been to this club before."
The assistant nodded, "I see, well I'll try to make this simple, would you say you need a formal suit or a casual suit?"
"Casual I'm pretty sure," Jaune answered him, "I don't imagine this is a very formal club."
The assistant smiled and turned on his hee, "Alright, let's get you measured!"
They followed the assistant into the back and he measured Jaune from head to toe and eventually Nora had pressured Ren into getting measured too so he could also look for a suit in his size. "Unless you want to custom order something I'm afraid we won't be able to get anything fitted for you but since your date is this Saturday there's no time for that, but we can find you the closest thing."
Some other assistants brought them some clothes in Jaune's sizes in a number of different colors and patterns. Nora on the other hand was racing through the store grabbing anything and everything she could find that caught her eye and was in Ren's size. The usually stoic and unreadable member of Team JNPR seemed more than a little apprehensive as his teammate dropped off piles of clothes to try on, the stack Nora was in fact twice the size of Jaune's and when the two boys disappeared into the changing room with a couple of selected articles of clothing Nora disappeared to bring back more seeing that his pile never shrank.
Penny sat on a bench and watched as Jaune disappeared behind a privacy curtain to change. Penny watched as he came out again and again in a different suit with various commentary. That thankfully helped them narrow their options down.
After a little more than an hour Jaune had at least found a suit he liked. A simple black blazer and slacks with a blue shirt that brought out his eyes. The assistant assured him that a casual suit had no real need for a vest or tie so there was no need for any of that. The assistant did insist he'd need a proper belt and shoes, he stepped out to retrieve some options for Jaune leaving him to look over his reflection in the mirror.
"Do you like it?" Penny asked, watching him study his own reflection.
Jaune nodded, "yeah, it's just… I hardly recognize myself wearing this," he explained, "does that make sense?"
Penny shook her head, "I am afraid I do not understand."
Jaune looked back at his reflection, "Last time I wore a suit or went dancing was back at Beacon," he explained to her, "it seems like it was so long ago, I almost feel like the person I was back is gone."
"I remember that dance," Penny told him, "You wore a dress too, it seemed very strange to me though I do remember you danced quite well. I had not had the pleasure of meeting you yet but I was left with quite an impression."
Jaune chuckled, "That was my own stupidity, I told Pyrrha that if she didn't get a date for the dance I'd wear a dress. I was such an idiot back then, I was too busy chasing someone else to even realize that Pyrrha had feelings for me."
"Did you have feelings for her?" Penny asked him. She knew a little about how Pyrrha had feelings for Jaune from Nora and Team RWBY but this was the first time Jaune had ever mentioned anything about it to her.
Jaune released a heavy sigh, "I don't know," he confessed, "by the time I actually managed to see how she felt about me it was too late, but I wish that we could have had the chance to give it a go, I wish I had the chance to look at her like that, as more than a friend or teammate. I don't know if it's possible to miss something you never really had but for so long now I've been thinking about what we could have had together. A part of me feels like I'm betraying her by going on this date."
Penny stood up and closed the distance between them. She reached up and put a hand on his shoulder as he continued to stare into the mirror. She met his eyes in the reflection. "Jaune, I did not know Pyrrha but I do not think she would want you to stay alone for her sake."
"I know that," Jaune said, "she was always putting others before herself, she was kind and caring and never selfish, I just feel like this is actually me having to say goodbye to what could have been. I know it's silly."
"It is not silly," Penny told him, "you are mourning something you could have had, something that could have been wonderful, there is nothing silly about that." Penny felt that painful ache bloom in her chest again, just like when she had watched Neon ask him out. "But this date, this too could become something more, would you want that?"
Jaune nodded and smiled at her in his reflection. "I would," he admitted his smile melted the ache in Penny's chest. "I guess I can't live the rest of my life thinking about what could have been."
Jaune turned around to face her and set both his hands on her shoulders. "Thank's Penny," he said to her sincerely, "I uh… I'm glad you came with us, it actually feels good to talk about this." He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into an embrace.
Penny let herself get squeezed against him. Penny returned his embrace holding him tightly as he held her. Even if she wasn't his girlfriend Penny felt like that barrier between the two of them was crumbling as they held each other.
They released their embrace and the assistant showed up. "I have some shoes here for you sir, I believe they will be comfortable enough to dance in, and some belts for you to try."
Jaune nodded and accepted the boxes of shoes and draped the different leather belts over his arm. "Alright," he said, disappearing behind the curtain again to try on the accessories.
"Penny," Nora said, appearing from behind the girl. A black fedora was clutched in her hands and she looked at her.
"Hey Nora," Penny greeted.
"I heard what you said to Jaune," she told her, "Thank you… I know that couldn't have been easy."
Penny looked to the curtain Jaune had disappeared behind, she was sure he couldn't hear them if they kept their voices down. "I want Jaune to be happy," she said honestly, "And right now… I guess that means I have to be the one wondering about what could have been."
Nora stepped forward and pulled her into a hug. "You know, you kind of remind me of her right now, Pyrrha I mean, she was like this too."
Penny wasn't sure how to feel about that comparison but she knew Nora meant well saying it. "Thank you," Penny said, returning the hug.
One of the curtains pulled back and Ren stepped out. He too was dressed in a black suit but with a green vest and dress shirt and a pale pink tie that matched his eyes and a matching pocket square. Unlike Jaune his suit was far more formal. Nora rushed forward and placed the fedora on his head.
"Ren! Nora exclaimed drinking in the sight of him. "We are buying this for you!"
Ren released a deep sigh seeing that there wasn't any victory to be found in protesting. The minute he saw the assistant again he asked, "How much?"
"Fifteen hundred lien," the assistant answered, "not including the hat, tie and pocket square."
Ren reached for his wallet and both girls giggled.
Hope you all enjoyed this week's chapter. I have a new laptop so writing went a little easier this week. Writing on a touch screen tablet like I have was a pain in the ass so this is a definite upgrade. Sorry to disappoint those of you who wanted Penny and the other girls to team up and sabotage Jaune's date with Neon but it's not that kind of story. It certainly had comedy potential but I think if I went down that route Penny and the rest would have gotten caught trying to ruin his date. Please review and leave me with your thought's and comments. Thank you MidKnightMoonglow99, MajorBrony95 and DrknssRules1, all of you have been fueling this fic by sharing your ideas and listening to mine.
Next week is the incoming date! See you all then.