"Lose the mask."

"What?" Adam curled his lip up in disgust at Mercury's first demand, "No. No. Never. That will not happen."

Mercury sat down on the floor, leaning against his bed and shaking his head in disappointment. "Look. I know some girls out there have some sort of fetish involving masks and shit. But you gotta save that for the bedroom when you bang. Never wear one on a first date. You won't get anywhere by doing that, unless…"

"Unless what?"

"Never mind. Only applies if she's with you against her will. Surprisingly not the case here."

"Then can you give me advice that I should actually follow?" Adam demanded, folding his arms, "Because this mask is not coming off. Besides, Miltia said it looked 'dope'. I don't know what that means, but I think it is a good thing."

"Fine then," Merc said, "So what did you two chat about online?"

"I don't remember."

"…What do you mean you don't remember? You two talked like what, only two hours ago?"

"She was the one talking mostly. I ignored basically everything she said because it was boring and I didn't care. Only when I saw her ask to meet up did I come back to attention."

"At least you're realizing things quickly," Mercury gave him a thumbs up, "Almost anything a woman says is pointless if it doesn't involve banging. Points to you for realizing that so soon. But the main thing – the number one thing – when talking with a woman is to make it seem like you care. Simple as that."

"So like what I already do when most people speak to me?"

"Exactly. But this is a little different. She'll expect you to respond, so you need to have some answers prepared for whatever question she may ask you. We're gonna start with those for now, so you better remember 'em. Got it?"

"I believe so."

"Good, good. So, first question. Most women ask this one right off the bat. What do you do for a living?"

"I told her I wage revolutions as a shadow of the-

"Gonna stop you right there," Merc said, holding up a finger to silence Adam, "That better not come out of your mouth ever again."

"But isn't that technically what I do for a living?"

"Yes. But she doesn't need to know that. The next thing you need to remember when speaking to a woman is to always, always lie whenever possible."

Even Adam could smell the layer of bullshit from that rule. "What does that accomplish, exactly?"

"Who's the 5-Star Man here?"

"…You are?"

"Damn right. Lying to a woman and her believing it establishes you as the dominant party. Always make sure you're on top. But since you were a stupid idiot and already told her that ridiculous line… You have to tell her you've got a side job. Something like, I don't know, a philanthropist or something."

"…A what now?" Adam's eye's widened in surprise. Surely, Merc wouldn't suggest he say that to Miltia. If there was one thing Adam wasn't, it was that.

"A philanthropist. Does good things for people and shit. You know what that is, right?"

"Oh. The way you said it sounded like you said full on-

"SALUTATIONS!"

"Christ!" Merc jumped onto his bed in shock when Penny burst through the doorway, not having the courtesy to even knock. "What do you want?! I'm busy teaching here!"

The quirky robot ignored him completely, walking up to Adam and shaking his hand. "I would like to congratulate you once again for obtaining your date! It sure is swell to see a friend possibly make another friend!"

"Um…" Taurus was completely clueless as to why Penny was even here, "Can you stop shaking my hand?"

"Sure!" Penny complied, smiling at him as she stood at attention, "I just wanted to ask you a question, that's all."

"A question?" Adam looked to Mercury, "Is this one of the questions you just told me about?"

"What do I look like, a goddamn psychic? How the hell should I know what she's gonna say?"

Sighing, Adam turned back to Polendina. Though the last thing he wanted to do was interrupt his learning session, perhaps it would be good to gain some experience by speaking with another female before his date. "What question would you like to ask?"

"Why are we friends again?"

"Friends…? We're friends?"

"Of course!" Penny grinned, "We became friends the moment we met! I'm just having trouble remembering what I liked about you to declare you as my friend. Could you remind me about your good qualities so I may have a better time remembering?"

Stumped by the oddness of the situation, Adam looked to Merc for assistance. His advisor just shrugged, deciding to let Adam deal with the robot girl's peculiar behavior on his own. Adam knew he could end this easily by ordering Penny to leave immediately, but his gut told him not to. Something about Penny's anticipating smile, her urge to know about the better side of him, probably had something to do with it.

"Well… I want equality for Faunus and man alike. For too long, my kind has been treated like dirt by filthy humans. I do whatever it takes to obtain that, even if it means others are hurt. Only through force can we change the future."

"I see…" Penny replied, slight disappointment in her voice, "But why does using force mean that others must be hurt? I believe there are many ways we can change things without doing that."

"I…" Adam stopped, surprised that he was actually going to respond to that. He'd never told another about what had led him to taking the path that he had, not even Blake. Years of scorn, being oppressed by monsters of men, beaten down over and over again when he tried to reason with his abusers… There was no way he could speak of those horrors to Penny. "I will tell you this, and only this. When all someone has been exposed to for their entire life is one thing, and this one thing has shaped the person they have become, and has slowly become the only thing they have come to know, what else can they use to change the future if not this one thing?"

Penny lingered on the words, the bitterness and underlying sorrow of them saving themselves into her modular processor. If there was one emotion she wished her father had not implemented into her, it was sadness. "I see… I think it is time I go, Adam. Thank you for the answer."

Giving Adam a weak salute, Penny saw her way out to return to her own room. Having tuned out most of the conversation, Merc yawned loudly and stood to his feet, slapping Adam on the back. "Well, that was a waste of time, am I right? Now, let's move on to something I like to call The MERC System… Hey. What's wrong with you? Are you even listening to me?"

"Yes, I am. I'm just confused, that's all."

"About what?"

"I never actually gave her an answer."

"So what? Who cares?"

"I do. Because I don't even know the answer myself."

"Whatever," Merc shook his head, not in the mood for cryptic dialogue, "Anyways, when is this date of yours?"

"Huh? Oh. Tomorrow. Five in the afternoon."

"And there wasn't anything up in that head of yours that felt you should mention it's happening in less than 24 hours?!"

The paper airplane bounced off the wall of the Lieutenant's room, the man who had thrown it sitting at the desk by his bed. His gaze was concentrated on the world beyond his window, a place his mind could go to escape the strife that had happened only a short time ago. A pencil sat in his hand, but the paper before him was blank. He could usually put his feelings into words when needed, but there was no spark in him now. There was no point in having one anymore.

He didn't cry, of course. He had been trained not to break like that, to be strong in the face of situations like this. Faunus weren't meant to be weak. They were strong creatures, every last one of them. Rage was supposed to be his answer. But even that refused to rise up and take ahold of his mind. Everything just hurt too much right now.

A knock at his door caught his ear. Shaking away his morose attitude, he reached towards the floor to pick up the paper he had thrown. Even though the words written on it meant nothing to him right now, he still preferred to not have anyone else read them. "Come in."

"Hello," the visitor said, opening the door just enough so she could slide inside. The Lieutenant had to turn around to see her with his own eyes; of all people to come and visit her, she was the last he'd expect to ever do so.

"…Schnee?"

Weiss stood by the door, hands held in front of her. She looked fairly calm in front of the man who had nearly crushed her head into the floor of a train once before, but there was still some lingering tension floating about. "Before I say anything more, I know you don't think of me or my family very highly. But I want you to know I have something important I want to say to you. I understand why you feel that way about me, and I won't force you to change how you feel. If you want me to leave, then I'll go right now. But I would appreciate it if you gave me a chance."

The big guy thought about sending her on her way, and almost did so. She was part of the family that his past tormentors worked for after all. It was because of them that Adam rescued him in the first place. Weiss had been the only person in the house he had never tried to make amends with because of this fact; the thought of having a Schnee as a friend never sat right with him. Still, the curiosity to know why she came to see him was tempting.

"...Make it quick then. The last thing I want to hear from a Schnee is sympathy."

"Very well," Weiss sat down on Blake's bed, putting a good distance between herself and the Lieutenant, "I just want to say that this isn't about me pitying you, because I don't. Doing that won't change how you think of me and the name of my family. It's just that I've seen something happen like this before. Unrequited love."

"I thought this wasn't going to be a sympathy speech."

"Well, maybe it is… You know Jaune? Before Pyrrha, he was just like you. And by that, I mean he constantly tried to gain my affection the same way you do with Adam, though not as extreme as you are at times… But even though I turned him down, he still found someone to love. You might never be with Adam in the way you want to be, but I'm sure you'll find someone someday. I just don't want to see someone have to suffer like this and not know there's a light at the end of the tunnel."

"And there it is," the big guy muttered, "A Schnee talking down to a Faunus."

"I'm not talking down to you!" Weiss stopped herself, clearing her throat to calm herself down, "I know you think I was raised to think Faunus are lower beings than me. And you're right: I was. I was told they are thieves, liars, murderers, and all those despicable things people call you. But the thing about stereotypes is that they don't apply to everyone. I used to think that those labels applied to every Faunus, but I realized I was wrong when I became friends with Blake. It was a little rough at first, but now I have a friend for life in her."

The Lieutenant stayed silent, still not looking her in the eyes. He continued to fidget with the paper in his hands, folding it and unfolding it over and over again.

"I know a lot of us here were wary around you when we first moved in, with you being a part of the White Fang and all. But the things you did here proved the bad things we thought about you wrong. You reached out to try and make amends with everyone. Everyone except for me… I don't really express myself about things like this much, but it hurt that you never tried to come to make peace with me. I'd forgiven you for the things you'd done a while ago, but I couldn't bring myself to tell you. There was never a time I felt was right to tell you this until now."

"How can I believe you?" the Lieutenant asked, turning to look at her, "How do I know you're not doing this to torment me like the men your family hired did years ago? Why should I believe anything that comes out of a Schnee's mouth?"

"Because I resent my last name just as much as you do."

"What… What do you mean?"

"I said that my family feels a certain way about Faunus kind," Weiss ran her fingers through her ponytail somberly, "But it goes both ways. You think I'm just like my father, but if I was then I wouldn't even be sitting here right now. I'd be back home where he thinks I belong. I wear my hair like this because I don't want to fit into the symmetrical, perfect mold my family should fit. I want to live life the way I want to, and not how someone else dictates I should. And I want others like you to see me for me, and not just my name. It's that simple, really."

The two sat there in silence, the only sound in the room being the shuffling of paper in the big guy's hands. Reforming the airplane, he tossed it to Weiss and it landed in her lap.

"I want you to read that letter," he said, looking her right in the eyes, "And I want you to tell me if I should let him read it."

"Okay," Weiss opened it up and read it slowly, letting every word of his past sink in. After she finished, she smiled at the Lieutenant endearingly. "Is this your way of saying you believe me?"

"Nah. It's me saying I feel alright to cry…"

"Wha- Oh…"

Weiss stood up when she saw a trickle of water drip from underneath the big guy's mask. She put the paper on the bed before approaching him, when he immediately broke down before her. She let him place his face on her shoulder as he let everything out, holding him gently like a mother would her child. "Easy now… It's okay. Just breathe…"

"Should… Should I give him that letter?"

"Yes. There's nothing better you could say to him than what you wrote on that piece of paper."

"But what if he won't read it? He said he hates me!"

"Believe me, if Adam really did hate you, he never would have brought you along with him to this house. I know deep down inside, he does care about you."

"But not how I want him too… It hurts. It hurts so much. I love him, Weiss."

"I know you do. And nothing should ever stop you from doing so."