Hello again! A new chapter is, obviously, up. Not much happens in this chapter, but it is still important. Yeah, I'm really bad at Author's notes. But yeah, this chapter has the most time skips, due to Ruby spending most of it barely conscious :D. Also, the poll is currently tied. I mention that because I find it amusing.

TIME: 0009

DATE: XX/XX/XXXX

Location: Mother of Invention, Recovery Room

When Ruby woke, her senses were still really fuzzy. That, or the world was meant to be white, blurry and empty. And dark. Did she mention dark? Well it was pitch black. She groaned slightly, and tried to sit up, only to find she was unable to move. Oh well, she didn't really care, she wouldn't be able to do much in her state.

What if she was trapped? She suddenly though, and she mentally laughed. No, if Project Freelancer wanted her trapped, she would be. They had injected her with… something. What was it again? Ruby couldn't for the life of her remember. She cracked open her eyes slightly, finding herself staring up at a blank space on the ceiling. Well… that accomplished nothing. She saw a clock in her peripheral vision, but couldn't move enough to see it clearly.

She was so tired. So unbelievably tired. So she lay down, and fell back asleep.

TIME: 1944

DATE: XX/XX/XXXX

Location: Recovery Room

Ruby groaned again in annoyance, having woken up once more. There were voices around her, so many voices… why couldn't the voices just stop? She wanted to sleep. Didn't they get that? She sighed lightly, opening her eyes again. This time, she found she was able to move her head slightly, although the room didn't seem to be any different. So where had the voices come from?

Here… HErE… here… The voices seemingly replied. Ruby mentally rolled her eyes. Glad that was cleared up, she thought to herself.

TIME: 1807

DATE: XX/XX/XXXX

Location: Recovery Room

Ruby woke once more, but this time fully alert. She twitched her fingers slightly, and was glad to see they moved without trouble. Whatever had been used to stop her moving had thankfully worn off, and her mind was much clearer now. She opened her eyes and squinted, immediately blinded by the light, so she shielded her eyes with her right arm.

"…lcome back to the land of the living!" A voice said from her left. She turned in its direction, blinking rapidly to try and get rid of the blurriness. Beside her sat a medical officer.

She groaned in response and tried to sit up, which was a much harder task than she had first thought it would be.

"Woah, woah! Easy!" The medic replied. "There's no rush. You've only been in here about a week, the next few minutes won't really matter."

"A… we…eeek?" Ruby asked. Her throat was sore, really sore

"Yep!" The medic proclaimed excitedly. "I'm impressed you're up so early, to be honest. Apparently the operation had a bit of a hitch, with a few drill bits breaking off on your exposed skin. It was like there was some kind of force field blocking them, but that meant bigger drill bits, and more sedatives. We expected you to be out for at least another week, possibly up to a month. You're just lucky I happened to be walking by at the time, when your vitals started increasing."

Ruby frowned. Her aura hadn't been working, so… did that mean it was the armour supressing it? That would make sense, but overall it wouldn't change much. Her armour did roughly the same things her aura did, except instead of healing her it made her invisible. Still, at least that meant her aura was still somewhat accessible, she just had to bare her skin.

"What is aura?" A voice asked. Ruby would've jumped in shock had she not been sitting down, as she noticed the voice came from inside her head.

"U-um, who said that?" Ruby asked.

"Who said what?" The medic asked. In response, a see-through hologram-like thingy appeared, hovering at head level, slightly to Ruby's left.

"That was me." The voice said. This time, it was even more disorienting, as Ruby could hear it originate from her mind, as well as being spoken.

Ruby looked at the… thing. It was see-through, and a dull bronze, looking almost robot-like.

"H-hey! I-I am not a robot!" The voice replied. "Oh… s-sorry!" It continued, seemingly upset it had been so forward.

"Don't worry about it?" Ruby stated.

"Th-thank you." The voice stuttered.

"That's you're A.I, Agent West." The medic added.

"A.I… What's the-" Ruby started, only to be cut of.

"Artificial intelligence." The medic replied, sighing. Clearly this question was asked a lot.

"Thanks." Ruby answered sheepishly.

"So, you two probably want some time alone, so I'll just go inform the Director you're awake."

"Thank you." Ruby replied, as the medic walked off. She turned to the A.I. "So hey, little guys, what's your name."

"Tau." It responded quietly.

"What's the matter? You don't need to be shy, we're friends now."

"F-friends?" Tau asked cautiously.

"Of course! We are going to be partners now."

"So… what was this… aura thing you were talking about, if you don't mind me asking."

"Um, well, I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone about that."

"U-um, but I think if-"

Ruby had a thought. If it was a computer program, that probably meant it took orders. She didn't like bossing it around, but it was probably for the best. "Direct override. Command: Acknowledge last directive."

"Acknowledged." A set of footsteps started approaching, and Tau flickered and vanished.

Ruby looked to the footsteps, as the Director himself walked through the door. Ruby tried to stand up, but couldn't, as her legs still weren't functioning properly.

"Director, sir!" She said respectfully, saluting.

"At ease. How are you feeling, soldier?"

"Umm… fine, just can't really move much."

"Are you feeling any side effects from the procedure?"

"No I feel pretty much the same. It's weird having a voice in your head though. I'll adjust fairly quickly though, Tau is pretty quiet."

"Good to hear it. How long do you expect until you are back in action?"

Ruby flexed her legs slightly, every second more and more feeling returning across her body, and she stood up slowly. "A few days, I guess." She replied honestly.

"Good to hear it." The Director finished, walking out, as a medic walked in.

"Good news! You're free to go as soon as you feel you're ready. I'd advise returning to your room for tonight, the beds here aren't very comfortable."

"Thank you." Ruby said, walking down the familiar corridors to the mess hall. She was starving.

TIME: 0600

DATE: XX/XX/XXXX

Location: Barracks, Room 107

Ruby sighed in boredom, rolling over. She had recovered fully weeks ago, just as every single Freelancer she knew was sent on a mission, leaving her bored witless. The armoury had gotten boring after a few further weeks of tinkering, due to how basic the weapons in there were. There was no one to spar against, and everyone who was still present was always busy with something or another.

Well, everyone except Texas, who she had sparred a few times. But the two had both gotten bored because the matches were so one sided, with Ruby constantly being pummelled into the ground. She had grown so reliant on her aura and Semblance, that having them yanked away really hindered her close combat, and Texas had inhuman accuracy with the pistols in other rounds.

Tau had been fun to talk to, even if they were a bit quiet, and in a state of constant nervousness. A few of the other, non-Freelancers had tried to talk to it, but it would always just log off, and even with Ruby it would hardly speak.

Ruby missed her friends, they would always have some antic to get up to that would distract her, or some problem to be solved. They were the type of person who, when you were around, there was never a dull moment. The other Freelancers were the opposite, and spent the majority of their time being 'professional', which was a polite way of saying boring as a rock.

North and York had been okay, but the others all seemed annoyed by her presence, and just went about their daily routine. It isn't that she regretted coming on her mission, it's just that she wished she was still able to see her friends. Project Freelancer was a science organisation dedicated to the protection of humanity, after all, so Ruby was just glad she could help.

"May the following Agents please report to the debriefing room," F.I.L.I.S's voice came over the speaker. "West Virginia." At that, F.I.L.I.S stopped, and Ruby chuckled slightly. That wasn't really 'Agents', was it. Ruby leapt to her feet. Finally something to do! She was already in her armour, having woken up early. Far earlier than she would've liked, actually, which had become an unfortunate habit of hers.

Tau was an early waker. And when you had two voices in your brain, if one was awake the other would be soon. Besides, even without that… there were the nightmares.

Ruby shook her head, walking out of her room. No point dwelling on the past, she had no choice. Besides, it isn't like killing people was going to be a habit of hers.

TIME: 0617

DATE: XX/XX/XXXX

Location: Debriefing Room

Ruby stared at the Director blankly. The Director looked back at her with curiosity.

"Agent West Virginia?" The Counsellor asked, waving a hand in front of her face, but Ruby didn't react. "Agent West Virginia, are you listening?"

Ruby's throat was dry, and her body was numb. She felt glad she was wearing a helmet, or the two may have seen the tears beginning to streak down her cheek.

"Y-you… you want me…to a-assassinate someone…"

"Yes. Your target is responsible for the deaths of thousands of civilians, but is also a member of another military organisation. You are the only Agent who would not be immediately recognised, that has the skillset and accuracy to take them down unnoticed." The Director replied.

'He's lying.' Tau replied in her head.

'About the civilians or me being the only Agent?' Ruby asked.

'I am not sure.'

"V… v-very w-well."

"If you do not feel comfortable taking this mission, you do not have to." The Counsellor added.

'He's ly-'

'I know.' Ruby cut Tau off. She was experienced enough to recognise a test when she saw one… if she didn't take this mission, then she would likely never receive another one, and would lose their trust. Meaning her overall mission, to help the project, would be a failure. She would be a failure. Ozpin had trusted this to her, and for now she would just have to take his word that the Project had good intentions.

Ruby steeled her resolved. "I will take the mission."

"Very well. Counsellor, give her the mission briefing."

TIME: 1500

DATE: XX/XX/XXXX

Location: Locker room

Ruby sat alone on a bench, hunched over with her helmet on, weeping silently. Her vision was nearly completely obscured, and all of her energy had left her, so she couldn't move even if she wanted too. The mission had been a success, and she had been praised for her excellent performance. She had been celebrated for murder.

Her target hadn't seen her, but Ruby had seen the blood and body, a huge hole in the forehead. She had run away, screaming silently, until the helicopter thing had extracted her. It had been named after some kind of bird… Sparrow? No, Pelican. That was it.

Ruby smiled lightly, still shaking, glad she was able to find entertainment in the smallest things, and guilty for the same reason. Killing someone on the battlefield was one thing. She had just committed a planned murder. It wasn't a necessary death, such as deaths on the battlefield. It wasn't a noble death. One moment a person had been alive, the next they hadn't. Ruby was even more upset and scared by how easy it had been. She had just pulled the trigger, and a human life had ended.

She heard another Freelancer walk into the locker room, but she ignored it, trying as hard as she could to silence her sniffles. A hand patter her on the back, hard enough to knock her onto the floor. She let herself lay there, she deserved the discomfort. A voice was talking, and she was pulled up, and sat back down on the bench. Why couldn't the voice just go away? It wouldn't stop talking.

A second, more familiar voice joined the conversation. Tau, she recognised. When someone had been living in your head for a month, you tended to know their voice well.

The other voice kept its familiar hum, and Ruby turned minutely to it, only to lack the willpower and determination. They would go away soon enough, she figured. And then she could be left to her mourning. Mourning of a person she didn't even know the name of, who's life had ended so abruptly.

She felt a sharp pain against her cheek, and her head spun to the left. Her cheek was stinging. She was confused at first, until she realised her helmet was gone.

"-ap out of i-" The voice besides her said. She started to turn to them, before letting her head fall again. The person besides her sighed in frustration, and Ruby felt another blow on the same cheek. Good. She deserved the pain, she was a terrible person.

Tau started talking again, and the voice replied a few times, before a third voice joined in. That was strange, she hadn't heard anyone else enter the room, and she definitely wasn't talking. After a short conversation, whoever it was walked off. The room feel back into its silence, to which Ruby was glad. Ruby had sworn to protect humanity… ALL of humanity. Not just a select few. Yet she had broken that rule… twice.

TIME: 0553

DATE: XX/XX/XXXX

Location: Locker room

Ruby stood up, picking up her helmet. She didn't remember when she stopped crying, her whole body had just gone numb, and even now she didn't particularly want to move. But she had glanced at the time, and knew other Freelancers would be using their lockers soon. It was fairly standard for them to be up and about at six.

She made her way back to her room, her body on autopilot, steering her back without thought as she donned her helmet. No point letting others see her in her moment of weakness… she didn't deserve their concern. On her way, she saw a Pelican landing in a nearby landing bay. Huh, so the others were finally back from their missions. Good to hear it.

She turned into her room and threw off her helmet, falling face first onto her bed. She was exhausted, and fell asleep almost instantly, despite still having her armour on.