Author's Note:

I've gotta say… while this story is nice, sometimes it can be a little restricting, especially with the limited POVs. How the characters perceived things from their view VS what actually happened, they all should be a little obvious to you, the readers. And a part of me keeps urging me to explain the obvious to you all.

But, well, I've got to start improving on my "show, not tell" thing. So, until the story is officially over, I won't give any explanations. Just… read the story and try to come up with your own conclusions :)

I know I'm probably overreacting, but I just can't help myself. I'm sort of a neat-freak when it comes to stories.

So, umm, in case this story turns out to be a jumbled mess and I've ruined every aspect of it and this entire project should be burned… Do wait until I've finished uploading the entire thing before telling me…

Strangers: Become Lovers

Act II

SCHN33

20:50

THURSDAY

She'd told Ruby everything.

And Ruby had listened, taking her situation as seriously - if not more so than - the android did.

And then the brunette had proposed an idea.

"What if we go back to the shop where… it… happened…" She'd looked at Schnee's scar with an unreadable, almost pained expression. "And see if anything comes up." She'd given a shrug, not giving her idea enough credit.

But the android had done so.

And that was why she found herself in that same shop, her LED flashing between blue and yellow as she looked around, tense, panicked, feeling like she was running out of time. Like she was suffocating.

But for once, the human was more composed and handled the situation better than she did.

"Hey, hey Weiss, c'mon now, I need you to calm down so we can do this, okay? Listen to me, okay? Calm down. Everything's gonna be okay, yeah?"

It took approximately four minutes and three seconds, but she calmed down immensely. Or at least, she could act like she was calm despite her LED still flashing its cautionary yellow.

"You okay?"

She blinked back to reality.

Silver eyes were the first thing she saw. And for a short while, they were the only thing she saw. The only thing she wanted to see.

But she knew that, if she were to continue on, she'd do nothing but worry the human.

"I'm… okay." She was not. The human pretended she believed her either way.

A beat passed.

The android noticed their close proximity. And how the human had one hand on her waist and the other on her cheek. And how Ruby kept staring at her, something that could only be described as 'want' dancing in her eyes.

Another beat passed.

Their distance slowly closed. The android didn't know who leaned into who.

Another beat passed.

And Ruby was suddenly chuckling and at a distance again, shuffling her body away from her, looking at anywhere but the android's eyes.

The android simply looked at her, pursing her lips.

She wasn't foolish. She knew what had almost happened. She may be a machine, but she was fully aware of what humans called 'being attracted to one another'.

She'd sensed Ruby gazing at her when she thought the android wasn't looking. She'd felt the human's touch, lingering for a second too long. She'd seen those silver eyes and what lay behind them.

She deduced that the human was attracted to her romantically.

What she could not comprehend, however, was why she seemed to be returning her… attraction.

Was this part of a secret coding she didn't know existed? Did Father plant these reactions into her? Was that why she kept looking at Ruby the way she did, kept wanting to feel her warm skin against her cold artificial ones.

It was confusing.

"Okay then," cheered Ruby, pumping a fist in the air rather dramatically. "Let's get started!"

And with that, she no longer dwelled on the matter.

She needed to deal with one problem, then the other. Not both at once.

One involved her having to tackle her own machinery-mind and dig deep until she found an answer to a question that, if not solved, wouldn't hold any real consequences nor real weight to anything of the material plane.

The other involved her having to tackle her own machinery-mind and dig deep until she found an answer to a question that, if not solved, would hold real consequences and weight to everything of the material plane.

… The answer was obvious, was it not?

Schnee took a deep breath and forced her mind to go into what Ruby once called the 'Robo-Zone'.

Everything slowed down.

And then she could see lines linking together to form a loose shape of herself on the center of the shop, the exact same spot she stood that day.

It was hard to believe only ten days had passed since it all happened.

The tragedy that led her to Ruby.

She increased the passage of the time until another line-filled person opened the door into the store. It was Ruby this time.

She watched as the human briefly stopped before fully entering the store. It was odd but not out of the ordinary.

She sped up time again until another person walked into the shop, one that was tall, big, and not a female.

She paused for a moment, taking a moment to make sure she was ready before… she played.

She watched as the man kept fidgeting, looking around the stores, even up into the ceiling - most likely checking for security cameras despite him - if her memories served her right - already dressed in all black, wearing a mask.

She watched as Ruby tried to run away from him. But he grabbed her forearm and pulled, pointing a gun to her head.

She watched as the messy figure that was her friend flail around, futilely trying to escape from the criminal's grasp.

And she kept watching.

As Schnee suddenly started, running to them. They had a stand-off. She must've spoken something because, for a moment, the criminal actually relaxed and his grip on the human loosened.

But then Ruby jerked away from him.

And he pointed the gun at her.

And she watched herself stand in front of the human, shielding her from the impact.

She watched his hand jerking back as the trigger was pulled. She watched as her trembling body froze before she slowly descended down on one knee. And one became two. And then she was lying motionless on her stomach.

And that was the end of it all.

In real time, not even a second had passed.

The android sighed. This would've been much easier had she come sooner, had the place not been cleaned up. That way, she could have gathered more evidence, see detrimental objects or people that could've played a big part in it all.

Instead, she was in a place that was no longer a crime scene.

An empty, closed shop.

"I'm… missing a big piece of the puzzle."

"What do you mean?"

"Someone sent me the order to intervene," she stated quickly. Bluntly. She didn't want to waste any more time. The clock was ticking and taunting her. "Someone had to. Whoever they are, I need to find them."

"What?"

The question didn't quite register with the android. "Is it a virus? Is it still inside my head - whatever it was that breached my security measures? Is it still breaching my security measures? Can it be removed safely? Do I really need to be rebooted?"

"Weiss." The way that name was said. It made her finally turn to look at the human for what felt like the first time.

RUBY: Distant

"I… I thought you were doing this for yourself."

Her eyes were wide and shocked, hurt. She hugged herself and her feet kept shifting her weight.

And the android couldn't comprehend what it all meant.

She took a step forward, a little tentative.

She didn't know what to do.

Nothing prepared her for this.

Sure, there were phrases that were coded into her which she could use, but… she didn't want to use them. Because this wasn't just any human. This was Ruby.

-[ASK]-

-[EXPLAIN]-

The android hesitated but chose nonetheless.

"Father needs an answer. A legitimate answer. I need to give it to him now. Were you not listening?"

She couldn't stop her anger from bubbling. A part of her kept telling her this was no time to involve herself in a human's silly games. She needed to focus.

She ignored that part, reasonable as it may be.

"So… This was never about you… This was never about us… I thought that even with him pushing you- I thought there was a part of you that knew…"

Her face fell when the human took a step back. A step away from her.

"Ruby?"

The human ran. Out of the store. In to the city.

A beat passed.

She was frozen. She was comprehending it all. She was uncertain.

-[PRIMARY DIRECTIVE]-

-[RUBY ROSE]-

She wanted it to disappear. She wanted to choose both or not choose at all.

But… she knew it was an impossible feat.

So, frigidly, uncomprehendingly, and uncertainly… she made a choice.

Author's Note:

Wow. Cliffhanger again. Yay. You guys are so happy, I'm betting.

But, for reals. I wanted this scene to include more of Weiss investigating the store similar to what Connor did with gathering the evidence and piecing the incident together with more clue he found.

Oh well. Another time, perhaps?

Next up is Bumblebee again, or more specifically, Blake. And her having a conversation with Ghira. About… stuff. Yeah, important stuff. I'm writing this at midnight right now because I couldn't sleep because I was up all night waiting for RWBY Vol. 6 Chap. 9 only to realize it wouldn't be out until the next fucking week because of this weird thing called Christmas and- ugh! I forgot, alright!

So yeah. Either I'll stay up until the sun rose, writing maybe 2 more chapters… or maybe I'll try to get rest… and write it after my mind's recharged…

Either way, I'm sure you'll enjoy the next chapter.