You know how they say "Hell hath no fury like a woman's scorn"?

Well, the same goes for a father's as Qrow discovered when Yang came to the van with scroll in her hand after giving Taiyang a call home. After three weeks of residing in the penthouse, Yang had never opted to tell him about her and her sister's current living conditions. And to say he was not happy about being kept in the dark would be an understatement.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me anything, you jerkoff?!" Taiyang's voice shrieked from the other end. Qrow had to hold Yang's scroll a foot away from his ear so he didn't have his hearing damaged.

"Relax, Tai," Qrow tried to ease his brother in-law, "To be honest it was probably because I knew you'd act like this."

"Why wouldn't I?! My girls are sleeping in the same rooms as criminals and murderers! What if something bad happened to them?!"

"They've gotten better… The murderers, I mean. Adam hasn't tried to kill anyone in a while, so the two of them should be fine."

"Don't give me that crap," Taiyang seethed, "This was Ozpin's idea, wasn't it? I bet it was his idea."

"Yeah. Still the same ol' Ozpin. Him and the bitch had a bet-

"He's betting with her?!"

"Could you just relax? Seriously, things are goin' fine here. The girls are okay, their pals are okay, and everything is okay Tai. Salem hasn't tried anything screwy at all. Yet. Hoping it stays that way."

"It better, Qrow. I don't want to lose anyone else to her."

"Yeah, yeah…" Qrow sighed, a vision of Summer flashing in his head, "If this thing works out, then nobody will ever be taken away again by her."

After some silence, Taiyang changed the subject. "Ruby's birthday is coming up, you know. I better be allowed to visit. Not missing that for the world."

"Only one not allowed to visit is Oz. You, me, and anyone else can walk in and out as they please. How do you think I've been getting my fix?"

"…There's alcohol in there?!"

It was at that moment Qrow realized, he fucked up. It was time for this conversation to end prematurely.

"You know, I think Oz is calling for me from in the van, so…"

"Don't you dare hang up on me you son of a bit-

*BEEP*

Pinching his brow, Qrow handed the scroll back to Yang. His niece had been standing on the side, her dad not having finished scolding her yet for keeping him in the dark. "You know you're gonna get it once Ruby's big day comes around, right?"

"Yeah, I do," Yang lowered her head, "I just couldn't tell him, Uncle Qrow. It'd stress him out so much knowing about some of the people we've been living with. Not to mention the whole drinking thing. Thanks for letting that slip, by the way."

"Not my fault. Little inebriated right now, if ya couldn't tell."

"When aren't you?" Yang smiled lightly, punching him in the arm, "Anyways, about Ruby's party. I've been planning that out, and I kind of remembered the most important thing about a birthday."

"And that would be…?"

"Presents. How are we going to get her anything? Only Weiss has a credit card, and if we order anything online she'll just take it from the postman and open it on the spot. We have to get to a mall or something."

"Shit. You got a point there, kiddo. Let me talk to Oz about that. We'll think of a way around the rules. Promise ya that."

"Thanks, Uncle Qrow."

The two fist-bumped, and Qrow entered the van once his niece was out of sight. Ozpin's eyes were glued to the computer as usual, and Glynda had fallen asleep in her chair. The blonde was snoring loudly like always, so the Headmaster had stuffed his ears with cotton to tune her out.

"Did the call go well?" Oz asked. He was watching over the cameras and not his stories for once; a surprise to Qrow.

"About as well as you'd imagine. Gotta figure out some way to get Ruby birthday presents, though. Kids'll have to go to a store or something for that."

"Are presents a requirement for a party?"

"What, did you never get any when you were a kid?"

"The only two things I ever received were my spectacles and this coffee mug on my third birthday. I have never asked for anything else."

Not in the mood to dive into Ozpin's history anymore, Qrow changed the subject. "At least you're doing your job and watchin' the cams for once. Something up?"

"I'm not sure," Ozpin said, sipping his coffee, "Penny Polendina has been acting strange lately."

"More than usual?"

"Yes, in fact. Perhaps something has gone awry with her programming. Contacting James may be the best thing to do in this situation."

"You're not actually going to call him, are you?"

"Does a Beowolf have four legs?"

"Yeah. Yeah, they do."

"Oh. Well then… No. I am most certainly not calling James."

"Better luck with the metaphors next time, Oz."

"Are you busy, Cinder?"

Cinder looked down on Weiss from her bunk, setting her book down on her lap. The two's relationship had been growing better since the former's secret hobby had been revealed, and Weiss had been giving her daily vocal lessons in the basement ever since.

"Just reading, obviously" Cinder said, "If this is about my pitch control, I said I'd work on it. Not in the mood for a lesson right now."

"I'm not here for that," Weiss sat down on her bed, "It's more of a request, actually."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, Ruby's birthday is coming up soon, and Yang wants to give her the best party she's ever had. So she was thinking maybe we could put on a show for her, like a concert. I said I would sing for her, and Jaune can play guitar a bit, but I was hoping maybe I could have a backup sing-

"No."

"But why not?" Weiss asked, "You're getting so much better at singing. Doing it in front of a crowd of people will only help your confidence grow!"

"It's not about that," Cinder said, returning to her diary, "I have no desire to share my talent like that. Simple as that."

"Then look at me."

"Why?"

"You blush when you lie."

"I do not."

"You blushed when you told me you could sing soprano when you could only hit mezzo-soprano notes."

"I did no such thing!"

"You're blushing right now."

She had her caught. Sighing, Cinder contemplated the offer. She would be denying herself from an opportunity that did actually sound pleasurable if she said no. But to have her debut be in front of everyone in the house… and Emerald…

"…I'll think about it," Cinder mumbled just loud enough for Weiss to hear, "But that's all."

"Thank you," Weiss smiled, "I'll need your answer in a couple days though. The big day is coming up soon… By the way, have you seen Penny around? Yang told me to tell her about the party, but I can't find her anywhere."

"I'm not her babysitter. How should I know?"

"You're sounding snippy again."

"Look, I've been speaking this way for years. Bad habit."

Ironically, if there was one person who knew where Penny could be hiding, it would have been Cinder. In the lowest levels of the house, Virulet was exploring the darkness of the basement. He had seen in Penny's memories that she and Ruby Rose had descended down here in search of Fall. The half-maiden had been designated alongside Rose by Salem as one of the Latent 4 Virulet had to be cautious of, and he had become wary of staying inside of a room with both her and Rose in his direct vicinity. He might be a dastardly genius, but even an A.I could be struck by a case of paranoia and fear.

To establish an evil lair in the dark world of a musty basement was all too perfect an opportunity for him.

"Blast!" Virulet spat as he stepped in a puddle, "I must remember to destroy these puddles. Yes, they shall dry up and suffer with no way to defend themselves! Mwah-ha-ha!"

If not for Penny's built-in night vision, Virulet would have knocked off the head of his host body with all of the drainage pipes he had nearly collided with. Any fleshbag human would surely meet their demise down here if they even dared to seek out his lair, or at least would walk out with a severe concussion. Finding the hatch that led to the secondary storage level, Virulet opened it up and dropped down into the even murkier darkness. His robotic vision immediately detected the scraps of metal left behind by the workers Ozpin had hired to construct the house.

"Yes, yes…" Virulet said, feeling an evil laugh coming, "This place will be perfect for constructing my masterpiece! Mwah-ha-

*CLICK!*

"Huh? What's this?"

What Virulet discovered was not in his surroundings, but in his head. For some time now he had been hacking into a single firewall left in Penny's processor, having been unable to penetrate its defenses during his initial invasion. Only now had he finally broken through the intricate coding protecting a certain part of her robotic body:

Her backpack.

The sound of blades slicing against each other filled the silent void as Penny's signature weapons emerged from their storage. Virulet felt the tips of his host's fingers being wrapped by wire, and he wriggled them to test just how well he could control the blades with them.

"Oh yes," Virulet grinned, creating an arch of blades over his head, "I must thank you once more, my dear Penny Polendina. These will be wonderful additions to my masterpiece…"