-Chapter 2: The First Day-
Ruby was excited, to say the least. Today, Monday, was her very first day of class. Last night, after she had gotten back from eating Weiss had been reading through their History of Electronics textbook, boring. Instead of that she had sat at her workbench idly working on something she had been trying to get right for years, a small mechanical thing that would function as a sort of personal assistant. The basic electronics were complete but the mechanics for it to walk were a bit erratic, not to mention she couldn't figure out the coding on the AI. after working on that for a few hours she jumped into her bed setting her alarm for 6am, she always liked extra time to wake up. She felt like tomorrow would be a great start. How wrong she was.
First her alarm failed and went off an hour late, then she was hurrying around with Weiss scolding her about being on time, she didn't have enough time for breakfast, then she was nearly late to her first class and had to sit way in the back. At least the class seemed to be fun though they spent the first entire class doing "ice breaker" activities. The teacher was nice enough, a large old man namd Professor Port who insisted they call him Peter. Next though she had History of Electronics, the subject she had thought would be incredibly boring, but their teacher, a weird foreign man named Dr. Oobleck made the whole thing sound really fun, especially with his funny voice and quirky fast mannerisms. She had a feeling Weiss wouldn't have liked hm uch. She hadn't been very forthcoming in Electronic Design. Finally though the bell rang at 1. She could have gone to get some lunch at the cafeteria, her full ride giving her the largest meal plan, but she had been dying to explore the school some more. She walked around, going to the school Activity fields, where she finally saw it. The thing that Beacon was known globally for, its pride and joy (and widely considered one of the wonders of the modern era) the Situational Training Arena.
Though students could choose to run on the actua track, or play on the actual fields, they could also choose to use the Training Arena. However soccer tennis and running were barely used. No, most people used it for its "Combat Mode". Though many had asked, no one but the Creators, Jacques Schnee James Ironwood, then students, and their teacher sponsor, Dr Ozpin knew exactly how it worked, and they weren't telling. The place where the STA now stod had originally been the school's Wrestling and Boxing area. But where those required punching bags, a sometimes expensive thing to replace, or other students to fight, the STA createdillusory holograms that, in conjunction with sensors placed on the wrists ankles and around the abdomen, allowed a student to interact with the holograms, and actually "feel" the hits.
Unfortunately for Ruby, there was already a line of 6 people waiting to enter and the machinery had to be calibrated to each person's size and strength, which took about 20 minutes. She just didn't have the time to check it out fully. In fact, she had been so entranced watching people through the door she only had 7 minutes to get to class. As she ran to her class she gave one last look back at the building and noticed something she hadn't before. Behind the STA, was a fence. Nothing too special, save for the Danger signs and the Razor wire at the top. And although it could have been just her imagination, she could have sworn the sign said "Biohazard"
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Over the next few days, Ruby began to notice other strange things. Like how the library, though full of tons of information, had a distinct lack of school history. Or how there were no classrooms that had windows facing the STA. or at least, none she could access. After first noticing that sign, she had expected to go back and check it right away, but had gotten completely caught up in the wonders of her dream school, plus a visit from her parents and sister. Her dad, Tai, was just a simple school teacher at their local school, Signal High, where he taught History and Philosophy. It was there that he had met her mom, Summer. She had been just a teacher's aide at the time, but now taught full time Science. Her sister, Yang, was two years older than her, and was enlisted, a CSM in the army. Her mom and dad always said how proud they were to have such exceptional children. She spent the rest of that day with her family. A few other people's families had visited as well, and they all gathered in the Quad, subconsciously grouping together there. Ruby tod them all about her time so far, her teachers, how boring the Mathematics class was, Led by their super stern teacher, Ms. Goodwitch (what was with the teachers and their strange names?) and how she didn't even need to take it because she knew it all already, and how she had fallen asleep in lecture hall, though the fact that it was an open lecture, meaning that various teachers would be giving lectures throughout the year, did make it a bit more interesting.
Before they left, they insisted on seeing her dorm ("its just a room, come on you have all seen rooms before") and Ruby had hoped that Weiss wouldn't be there, but she was, though when she saw her whole family there, she politely said she needed to do some studying, and shut herself in her side of the room, much better than how she normally acted. After assuring them she was getting enough food, and that she was just as organized as she needed to be, and yes she had emergency money, she finally got them out of the dorms, and then unfortunately, they had to go. Both Tai and Summer had teacher things to do, and Yang had only taken a few days leave, and she had other people to meet still, including her friend Blake, who went to the famous arts college in Mistral. She hugged them all tightly, before watching them drive off, Mom and Dad back towards Patch, Yang to the airport. She missed them already.
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The weekend. Finally no classes. And sleeping in. she still hadn't gotten used to her new schedule, so it felt nice to be able to sleep in as long as she wanted. At least she could have, but at 8am Weiss was knocking n her door, interrupting her nice dreams of endless giant cookies spinning through space. "Get up. I know you have homework to do. Professor Port wants our initial design ideas and rough blueprints done by next class, and I refuse to have a failing roommate make me look bad" Ruby sighed, looking up at the poster just above her.
"Think she'll ever stop being so uptight?" she asked of it. But sadly Robert Plant held no answers for her. At least not in poster form. She wasn't sure why but suddenly she remembered what she had wanted to do. The fenced off area behind the STA. she had forgotten, but it all came back. And some other things she had learned since then, such as the classrooms were all smaller than they originally had been, each having been essentially divided into two. And all of this she found to be incredibly suspicious. Jumping up she threw on some clothes, ripped jeans and a plain black tee-shirt, pulled on her Converse, and ran out of her room.
'Where are you going?" Weiss asked as she grabbed her bag
"Library." she quickly shot out, running out of the dorm. Once outside she ran off towards the practice fields, walking casually yet quickly among the various students running, shouting and laughing. A few classmates she had invited her to a game of frisbee, but she declined, saying she wanted to check out the STA.
"Oh, that place is really fun" said Penny, already distinguishing herself as one of the best mathematicians in their class. "I'll go with you, i found some fun things you could do with the-"
"No, really that's fine...I kind of want my first experience with this kind of tech to be solo you know? Makes it more special" with that, she jogged off towards the building. When she got there, she looked back. Through the trees around the edge's of the fields, she could see that no one was looking at her, and so she went around to the side of the building. Approaching the fence, she finally saw the sign she had noticed all that time ago.
"Warning, Biohazard: Holographic Situational Combat Arena and Sports Field Maintenance building beyond. Authorized personnel Only" but looking through the fence, all she saw was a field, a few trees, and hills. Maybe the building was in between the hills? Maybe, but looking at the fence and how the hills were shaped she could never be sure, she wouldn't be able to see around the hill at all. She suddenly remembered a door she had seen in one of the buildings. It was on the top floor of the academic building. Nd it had windows that looked out onto the field. Though you couldn't really see them, as several large trees blocked view of that side of the building. She also recalled that the door had been sealed with a very cheap and old electronic lock, and that Weiss had a wiring kit on her desk. A plan started forming in her mind.