I super apologize for the huge delay. I ran into some timeline issues... I know what I want to happen, but placing events in an order that makes sense is giving me some trouble. Hopefully things don't appear forced or rushed in the future.

Ruby stood in Ozpin's elevator, wondering what was waiting for her at the top. She was starting to get used to being summoned to the headmaster's office. She only wondered just what this meeting was about. She had no more information for them, nothing she was willing to share anyway. The elevator stopped and the doors opened to reveal the usual suspects. Ozpin, Qrow, and Ironwood were seated around Ozpin's desk, with Glynda standing behind them.

Ruby stepped out of the elevator to approach the group. "What am I up here for today?"

Ozpin didn't miss the tone of her question. "Ruby, our goals may be more compatible then they are synchronous, but we are equal partners in this… alliance. This meeting is not about you specifically, it is simply a meeting, and therefore we called for you."

"But I haven't been to one of your meetings since the train incident," Ruby pointed out, "right?"

"We haven't had a meeting since then," Glynda corrected.

"Oh," Ruby nodded. "Seems…"

"Unnecessary." Ironwood finished.

"Inefficient?" Ozpin offered.

"A pain in the neck…" Qrow complained.

Ruby was silent for a moment. "Definitely one of those."

"We are a secret organization, after all," Ozpin explained, "it can be difficult for all of us to have a free moment at the same time."

"So is this just something we do?" Ruby asked, "call up a meeting and see if anyone has anything to share?"

"We need to at least attempt to plan for the future," Ozpin replied.

"We've been reactionary for far too long," Qrow elaborated. "If we keep waiting for our enemies to make a move, they're eventually going to hit us harder than we can handle. We need to get ahead somehow."

Ruby nodded. "I should tell you all I let my team in on a few things," she confessed.

"What!?" Ironwood shot to his feet. "What gives you the right!?"

"Excuse me?" Ruby was immediately defensive, especially considering who was shouting at her. "You wouldn't have half the information we're working with if it weren't for me! And before you jump to conclusions, I only told them my secrets, not yours."

Ironwood's glare didn't soften, but he sat back down without saying a word.

Ozpin leaned forward to take back control of the room. "As Qrow stated, we need a plan to pull ahead. Ironwood has theorized in the past that the Vytal Festival would be a prime moment for our opponent to strike. The question is… what will she do?"

Glynda spoke up first, "obviously make a play for the other half of the Maiden's powers."

"Do you think she knows about the vault?" Qrow asked. "Wouldn't this be real easy if she could just… never find Amber?"

"It would be…" Ironwood sighed, "which, of course, means that's not the case. She had plenty of time in the tower the night of dance while Ruby and I fought that… strange Grimm."

"Heartless," Ruby cut off.

"Whatever," Ironwood dismissed. "Do I need to tell you what she was there for?"

Glynda groaned. "The CCT tower is connected to nearly all the systems in Vale, Beacon included. The vault would have been buried under redacted documents and sealed original blueprints… but a skilled enough hacker might be able to extract the data."

"Can Amber be moved?" Ruby asked.

Ironwood shook his head. "The technology keeping her alive was… hastily thrown together. It is not mobile, and it is not likely Amber would survive for long outside of containment."

Ruby frowned as something clicked in her mind. "If she's in such bad shape… how do you expect to bring her back after we deal with the Maiden Thief?"

Ozpin shifted uncomfortably. "We are hoping her power will heal her when it returns, and if not… at least it won't be in the hands of this current monster."

"Which is a fancy way of saying 'we don't know'," Qrow clarified honestly.

The bell for morning classes interrupted the meeting. Ozpin sighed. "We'll have to pick this up again, hopefully a little sooner than the last."

"I can probably get away with skipping the first few minutes of Port's class?" Ruby offered.

"Yet, I cannot afford to be late to mine," Glynda pointed out.

"Right," Ruby conceded.

Glynda and Ruby left together, leaving Qrow, Ozpin and Ironwood behind. Ironwood turned to the Headmaster. "Equal partners?"

"Yes, General," Ozpin deadpanned. "Ruby has done nothing to earn our distrust, in fact, she has saved people on several occasions. She saved you."

"How can you trust someone when you don't know what they're capable of?" Ironwood questioned. "We've seen what she did at the event square. What else is she hiding up her sleeve?"

"And what do you plan to do against the Darkness without her?" Qrow cut in. "Yeah, Ruby is powerful. Maybe more so than our own Maidens. But even with all her strength, she is still terrified of what Darkness is capable of. Even you should understand what that means for how powerful this force is."

Ironwood displeasure was clear on his face.

"We are not asking you to like Ruby," Ozpin assured the general. "However, would you please stop antagonizing her?"

"How much more proof do you need that she's on our side?" Qrow pressed.

Ironwood's frown only deepened. Once again, he felt forced to go behind his allys' backs. If they aren't willing to do what is necessary… I need to get Penny back on mission soon.

"… And so I finally tracked down the nest, to find not two beowolves as I originally assumed, but a full pack! Oh-ho, things would be tougher… but I steeled my resolve and charged!"

Ruby was busy trying not to fall asleep during Port's class. She was failing. I swear even I have heard this one before. Just as her head was about to hit the desk, a digital jingle emanated from her pocket.

Ruby shot up in her seat, eyes wide. Everyone in class slowly turned to stare at her. "Ms. Rose, please silence your scroll when in class," the professor called out.

Yang stared as well but was the only one to share Ruby's exact look of surprise. "Is that…?"

Ruby pulled the offending device out of her pocket. A bulky and colorful communications device. Her Gummiphone. Her brow arched when she read 'unknown' was the contact.

"Ms. Rose?" Port questioned.

"Ruby?" Weiss also reached out.

Ruby answered the call. She wasn't sure what to expect, but she certainly didn't anticipate a pair of large, round ears. "Oh, it's you!" the caller seemed pleasantly surprised, "Ruby, right?"

A beat of silence followed. "Your Majesty?" Ruby asked.

"Oh, hold on!" the screen panned down so Ruby could clearly make out Mickey Mouse's face. "Boy, am I glad someone I know picked up!"

Whispers erupted around the classroom, reminding Ruby she was in a very public place. And she just mentioned a 'Majesty' out loud. She internally groaned. "I'm sorry, professor, but I have to take this," she told Port before quickly dashing out of the room. She didn't slow back down until she found a quiet corner.

"Oh boy," Mickey's spoke apologetically, "was it a bad time?"

Ruby shook her head. "I was surrounded by people, but by the light, you have no idea how good it is to hear from someone!"

"What happened?" Mickey asked, "I tried flyin' to the Land of Departure, but the entire world was vanished!"

"It's gone completely…?" Ruby leaned against the wall to slide down it.

"You didn't know?" Mickey consoled.

"At this point, I had guessed as much," Ruby told him. "But confirming it still hurts…"

"What happened?" Mickey asked again.

"The heartless attacked," Ruby explained. "It was overrun. I woke up on my home world, alone. I've called and called, but no one has picked up…" Tears slipped from Ruby's eyes as she dealt with feelings she hadn't confronted for some time. "It's been months."

Mickey's gaze drooped sorrowfully. "I'm sorry. If only I had noticed sooner."

"Well… what do we do now, Your Majesty?" Ruby hoped the King would finally have an answer.

Mickey thought for a moment. "Do you have any idea where anyone else is?"

"I think the Masters might be in the Realm of Darkness," Ruby gave her theory. "I'm not sure about the other students."

"Have you gone lookin'?" Mickey followed up.

Ruby shook her head, "My armor is broken. And even if it wasn't… it turns out there's a threat here, now."

"A big one?" Mickey guessed.

"I think so," Ruby confirmed.

Mickey thought things over for a moment. "I think the best way to start is to regroup," the diminutive King told her. "You said you woke up on your home world? Which is it again?"

Ruby nodded. "Remnant. It should be in the Gummiship's records somewhere, Master Kairi first picked me up in it."

Mickey went of screen for a moment, presumably to search the Gummiship's guidance system. "Got it!" He called out.

"Oh, but I won't be at home!" Ruby quickly informed him. "Look for Beacon Academy once you get here."

"Understood," the King nodded, "it'll take a bit of time, but I'm headin' your way!"

"Thank you, Mickey… I mean- Your Majesty!" Ruby quickly corrected.

Mickey chuckled. "I'll be there as soon as I can, Ruby."

The call disconnected. Ruby felt relief wash over her. After literal months of knowing nothing and mostly winging the situations thrown her way, finally a Master was coming to help her out. "Maybe things will turn around now…"

A tension returned to her shoulders when she realized, "oh Light, I'll have to explain the King to my team and Ozpin, won't I?"

Penny walked toward her room on Ironwood's flagship. Lately she had been spending as much time here as possible, only leaving for classes. Hell, she'd skip those as well if it wouldn't be a major red flag across Ironwood's desk. All in the effort to avoid Ruby… If I never see her, I have an excuse for not spying on her. It was the only plan Penny could figure at the moment.

She opened the door to her chambers and saw something that threatened to freeze all her functions. No… I thought I'd have more time… to come up with a more permanent plan… Turning their wheelchair to face her was none other than Pietro Polendina, her maker. Her father. His face turned up in an impossibly kind smile. "Penny! It's been a while. How have you been?"

"H-hello, father…" Penny greeted nervously. "I thought you had business to finish in Atlas before coming here?"

"And I finished it," Pietro informed the android. "I had to get here as soon as possible for my little girl, didn't I?"

Penny couldn't help but smile despite her anxiety. She always enjoyed the nurturing relationship she had with her father.

"So, I hear you're having a little problem with your memory? Is that right?" Pietro asked.

"Not really…" Penny answered nervously, "are you aware of my current assignment…?"

"I asked about it, but apparently such information is above my clearance level," Pietro informed her.

Penny approached a desk provided for homework, sitting in the desk chair and facing her father. "There is a person of interest at Beacon. I've been ordered to gain her trust. The General has been reviewing my recordings of our interactions."

Pietro frowned in obvious disapproval, but unfortunately couldn't say anything about how Ironwood used his 'asset'. A dark part of the arrangement that made Penny's creation possible.

"I had a m-minor error during the Beacon dance a few weeks ago," Penny continued, still grateful her lie-detecting hiccups had long since been disabled, "and I had to leave to rectify it. I deleted that footage, thinking it would save the General some time."

"And now he wants to see your hard memory, to make sure there's nothing important you missed…" Pietro nodded. He stared into his daughter's eyes, noticing her various twitches and general nervous atmosphere. He casually reached over to the terminal nearby and hit a few keystrokes before turning back to her. "Penny. What aren't you telling me?"

"W-what!?" Penny jumped. "I-I'm not lying or anything…"

"Penny, I know Ironwood disabled your hiccups. I also don't need hiccups to tell when my daughter is… keeping something close to the chest."

Penny's eyes darted to the camera installed at the front corner of the ceiling.

"I disabled the security," Pietro informed her. "One of the few clauses I managed to secure in my favor. Everything about your critical systems is proprietary information owned by myself. Even Ironwood can't know the secrets to your construction. You can't always take the General at his word, but," he glanced to the console, "I have ways to ensure he isn't spying on us. And he doesn't have a legal leg to complain on."

"You… don't trust the General?" Penny questioned, finding such information incredibly relevant to her current dilemma.

"His intentions are righteous, but so were the intentions of many men that history remembers as dictators and tyrants," Pietro explained.

"I see. So, let's say he… gave me a mission that I, um…" she glanced to the apparently deactivated camera once more, reminding herself that Ironwood couldn't hear them. "That I disagree with. What do you think I should do?"

Pietro's kind smile returned. "You've made a friend, haven't you?"

If Penny could blush, she'd be shining right now. "How did you know…?"

"Because you're nervous about completing your mission," Pietro explained. "You've befriended the very target you're supposed to spy on. Am I wrong?"

"No…" Penny admitted, "you are not wrong. I don't want to betray her… but I don't want to betray Ironwood either."

"Well, unfortunately you can't do both," Pietro told her. "So which is more important? The General, or your new friend?"

"Well, obviously a world leader in charge of both Atlas's school and military-"

"You misunderstand," Pietro cut his daughter off. "I mean, which person is more important to you."

"To me…?" Penny blinked. The General had never given her that choice. But the General has never given me any choice… am I even a person to him?

"I do have to at least appear to be doing as the General asked," Pietro informed her, reaching to plug Penny in and access her systems. "But I promise, I won't tell him anything you don't want me to say."

"Even if he orders you?" Penny questioned.

Pietro smiled. "Of course. You are more important to me, after all."

Pietro entered Ironwood's office with a file in hand. "James," he nodded.

"Pietro. It's good to see you."

Pietro smiled, setting the file on his desk and opening it. Inside was an image of a mass of computer language that Ironwood couldn't begin to decipher.

"What is this?" the General pressed, unamused.

"It's what you asked for," Pietro reiterated. "Penny's hard memory from the night of the Vytal dance."

Ironwood leveled a hard gaze at the scientist, silently demanding an explanation.

"What?" Pietro seemed almost amused, "were you expecting a simple video file? Memory is more than what we see and hear, general. Our thoughts, interpretations… Penny was designed to perfectly emulate the processes of a human brain. This is the hard data she uses to 'recall' things as she experienced them."

"It still uses audio and visual data to generate these lines of code," Ironwood stated as a fact. "Is there anyway to compile the data back into usable images?"

"Perhaps," Pietro admitted. "Although, that would require use of proprietary information."

Ironwood's eyes narrowed. "Tread carefully, Dr. Polendina."

"I am," Pietro insisted. "As per our contract, I maintain ownership over, and the right to keep secret, vital information about Penny's construction and operation. You understand it's nothing personal against yourself, General. You knew from the start just what the P.E.N.N.Y Project means to me, and my reservations about the program being abused."

"Of course I understand," Ironwood told him, though mostly because there wasn't anything else he could say. Not with how the contract was worded. It's hard not to feel like this is personal…

Outside the airship, Penny was strolling across the Beacon courtyard. As much as she didn't want to run into Ruby, she had acquired a distaste for the Atlas Flagship. And besides, Ruby should be in Grimm Studies, so it should be safe…

"Penny!"

The android spun around in shock. No no no, why isn't she in class!?

"Hey Penny!" Ruby waved and started jogging toward her. "I haven't seen you since the dance, how have you been?"

"I've… been fine." Penny nodded, taking steps backward away from Ruby. "I am sorry, but I… have somewhere I must be."

"Oh… okay," Ruby watched Penny practically run away. "I wonder if something's wrong?"

Penny ran around a building out of Ruby's sight before slowing down. Despite her father keeping her secret, there was still the concern of how to handle her 'mission'. She knew the General wouldn't free her so easily. So until she had a plan, it was still imperative that she avoid Ruby as much as possible, and hope that Ironwood didn't wise up to her shifting loyalties.