Disclaimer: You know I don't own RWBY.

It may be odd but one thing you can always count on in life is change. Nothing in this world can ever be completely static but that does not mean that change is necessarily bad. It is just something that you have to accept as a fact of life and continue onwards.

My late night talk with Holo had changed her. Whereas before she seemed content to follow my lead she now strove to break out of my shadow and make her own path. It may have led to less time with Holo, but I was content seeing her trying to better herself.

Another change was Kraft going back to his chosen profession, cooking. This was a change I did not like at all because it led to a decrease in the number of times Kraft cooked for us. Going from a professional chefs meals to average meals was kind of rough. Although now that I've said that I feel like a spoiled brat. 'Jenkins, where is my golden silverware?'

Anyways another change that happened was that I now had a tutor for mathematics. I had passed all the way up to college level math and then stopped, not because I didn't want to hem up my intellect too much and more out of fear.

You see I had no idea if the equations that made such a difference in my old world had ever been discovered here or if new or different ones had been discovered here. Everything below college level was just foundation that would be built upon in college and I wanted to explore new horizons. I also didn't want to inadvertently create new fields of science from nothing all because I accidently blurted out an equation that didn't exist here.

That brought me to another subject. One that my principal had brought up, being a scientist. After that conversation I had looked long and hard at how advanced this world was and if I had to pick one word to describe it I would say it was hyper specialized. Almost every field of science out there at the moment revolved around the use of a substance known as Dust.

Dust was used in absolutely everything from power, to fuel and even weapons. Looking up Dust further I found it could produce marvelous effects such as lighting, ice and fire through the usage of Aura. That kind of stumped me to be honest. That you could use your Aura on an inert lump of something and create elemental effect was astounding. If I had to liken Dust to something it would the horrible love child of fossil fuels and magic.

I say magic because even though the use of Dust is so prevalent in everyday life almost no research has been done on its origin or even chemical structure besides the fact that different colored Dust produce different effects. I smashed my head against the wall a few times, with Aura blocking the blows and therefore the pain it wasn't as satisfying. It's like they just found something glowing in the ground and decided to use it for everything. They're like children with a toy.

But Alan what about scrolls, robots and mecha shifting weapons they surely don't use Dust. Wrong on all accounts all three use Dust either as power or a primer for attack techniques. Really, constant struggle has done wonders and horrors for their technological advancement. Wonders in the form of advanced machines and honest to God AIs, yet horror because nobody asks why it works only how. The how usually involves them saying "well we used Dust and it worked."

It's a cycle of asking how can I make this better, stronger, faster and once those results are achieved they don't know why it succeeded only that it did. Let me give you the moment where I realized how utterly backwards this place is. They have airplanes but they don't know what gravity is. I'm absolutely serious. These idiot savants found out how to fly, using Dust as a power source, without the knowledge of gravity. Just What. The. Fuck?

Actually while we're on the subject of gravity how are we not all dead? All you have to do is look up into the night sky and you'll see the shattered moon with pieces of it scattered about. That means it was once whole and recently, on a cosmological scale, it lost a huge amount of mass which should have either had it pulled into the planet or it should have escaped our local gravity well. My brain hurt just thinking about it.

I was conflicted about what to do. I could definitely help link the how and why to science here, but for all their advanced equipment they were like savages with a bomb. They may know how to use it but they could just as easily kill themselves with it. Then there was the problem of me picking and choosing what to help them with like I had some type of God complex and only I could solve their problems.

My fingers drummed a steady beat on the table. A stray thought hit me. Dust is a finite resource and most of it comes from Atlas mines to the North. What happens when those mines run dry? It wasn't a pretty picture. With their almost total reliance on Dust it could easily be an extinction level event for them. So maybe something that could wean them off of Dust, but what? Then it clicked, solar energy. Yes even if I never gave them anything else a limitless energy source that has almost no potential for harm would do quite well.

Even if it did seem like I was playing God with them. If I could recreate solar panels I could cut back on the reliance of Dust for electricity and since they already have super-efficient energy storage systems from their reliance on Dust the problems we had on Earth wouldn't apply here. It's perfect. I think that that was the day that I made up my mind. Being a scientist I would be to annoyed at holding things back and their lack of a proper foundation. Therefore I would be a Hunter first and foremost and a science enthusiast on the side.

I had my goal now. Recreate a functional solar panel and train to be a Hunter. Later though I would need a team as almost all Hunters operate in teams. 'Maybe I could see if Holo want to be a Hunter?' I mused.

~ 3 years later~

'Why? Oh, God why did I think that was a good idea.' Frantically I rolled to the side, a huge metal ball impacting where my chest used to be. The lump of metal ploughed through the ground creating a small crater and causing a small plume of dust to rise up.

"Alan, stop dodging and let me hit you." Such an innocent sounding voice shouldn't be possible for such a destructive creature. I sprang to my feet and immediately bent over backwards to avoid a metal pole to the face.

"Ah, I missed." The statement was accompanied by a pout.

'Don't be so sad that you didn't hurt me you little hellion.' Recovering slightly I stepped inside her next swing and firmly planting my foot behind hers gave her a shove. I watched with some glee as she fell to the ground with a small "Eep."

"Alan that wasn't fair." Making sure Gretel wasn't getting up soon I turned to fully face Holo. She stood a few feet away from me with her hair done up in a bun and sweat and dust covering her. To anyone else it would have looked slightly ridiculous to see and 8 year old with a huge Morningstar, minus the spikes, and a tower shield almost as big as her. I however knew differently.

Behind that slim, childish figure lurked a monstrous amount of strength. We had actually taken her to see a doctor after she had accidently smashed through the dinner table one night. Apparently Holo had been subconsciously channeling her Aura inwards her entire life resulting in a huge increase in strength. Unlocking her Aura fully hadn't done much but give her a sporadic control over manifesting it outside her body. The doctors were stumped and Holo continued to grow stronger.

So yeah, I knew I wanted to be nowhere near that metal lump Aura or no Aura. "All is fair in love and war, Holo." I gave her my best cheeky grin then smiled for real at the look on her face. I stiffened when it morphed into a sly look as she looked past me towards my left. 'Gretel.' Whirling around I faltered when I saw Gretel still on the ground smiling up at me.

"Son of a-" Something hit me square in the back with all the force of a speeding car sending me flying through the air. I wheezed as all air in my lungs was forcibly expelled and groaned as my brief fore into human flight was abruptly ended by a tree. Even though I raged at being outfoxed by an 8 year old I couldn't help but marvel at the power of Aura. I would have been reduced to a smear on the wall if that had happened during my first life and now all I felt was a bit winded from the sudden hit.

My slide down the tree had ended and I collapsed onto my back to just lay there. The last two hours of endurance training and sparring had been exhausting. My relaxation was interrupted by my mom's concerned face appearing above me.

"Are you alright there sweetie? Holo didn't hit you too hard did she?"

I sighed before I clambered to my feet brushing off the front of my clothes as I did so. 'Ugh, tree sap. Now my hands will be all sticky.' "No I'm good. Just taking a moment to appreciate the clouds."

She gave me a knowing glance. "Knocked the wind out right out of you didn't she?"

"Pft, yeah right I was just playing it up so she would feel better."

"Oh, I see you flew 20 feet through the air just to play up Holo's beautifully done hit on you. The one where she played you for a fool right before it. That one." She deadpanned out. I could feel the arrows striking my heart at each statement. 'Why do you betray me mother?'

"Since she is obviously not strong enough to harm you I guess you won't mind being hugged by her." I twitched at the comment. I had developed a… heathy caution towards Holo's hugs after she nearly crushed me when she was asleep.

"Hahaha obviously. I love Holo's hugs."

There was a squeal from behind me and a thin pair of arms encircled me pinning my arms to my chest. "I'm glad to hear that I love giving hugs." I had unconsciously flared my Aura when I felt her grab me but after feeling no pressure I let it drop. I will admit Holo does give nice hugs when she controls her strength.

"Hey Alan do you want to know something?"

"Ay, sure Holo what is it?" 'Is it just me or is her hug getting tighter?'

"Your mom never told us to stop." Her arms clamp together like steel bands. "Get him Gretel."

"This is pay back for pushing me down." Her hands draw ever closer, fingers wiggling wildly, and plunge right into my sides.

"Nooooo, hahaha, noooo, stooooop, hahaha not the sides, hahaha." I wiggle and writhe against my captor but she's too strong. The tickle torture continues unabated. In the midst of my shattered pride I hear Holo whisper something in my ear.

"All's fair. Right, Alan?"

'I-I think I've created a monster. I'm so proud.'

"Mom, hahaha, help me!"

"What's that sweetie? I couldn't hear you over the sound of being tricked again and Holo beating you."

'E tu, brute?'

Later after they had finished their torture we had packed up for the day and headed home for showers and dinner. Finishing my dinner I went to my room still grumbling about female conspiracies against males and sadistic moms. My room was almost spotless except for what Holo called my tinkerer bench which held a large amount of wires, metal scraps and various other bits and pieces. Sitting at the front and center was my master piece.

A working prototype of a solar panel. It had taken three years of on and off toil and much cursing about their hyper specialization before it finished. I mean I even found out they have holograms but it's just ionized Dust particles creating an image. Stupid all-encompassing Dust.

Now you might wonder how I knew how to build a solar panel and all I can say is that I got involved in a green action movement on campus and we built a solar panel from scratch. The next question you might ask is why it took 3 years to build then. The answer is lack of materials and lack of knowledge base, not on my part of course but on theirs. They don't even have a periodic table and sometimes I wonder if they're Orks and their technology works just because they believe it can.

'What dat?'

'Dat flyin' machin'.'

'It fly an we use it ta fly.'

'Good let's use it an' hav' a nice and propa' WAAAAGH!'

Shaking off the amusing mental image I make a last few adjustments before heading to bed. Tomorrow I'll show my parents and hopefully they'll know someone who could potentially sponsor my invention and maybe bring it before the Vale council if I'm lucky.