V3E6: Sweetheart, Steelheart


The ring of steel striking against steel wasn't as normal a thing in Remnant as Hope would have thought. Sure, there was sparing but it wasn't as ubiquitous in the wild. Normally, it would probably be against the odd highwayman but that was it. Most people fought against the Grimm, not against one another.

Unless, of course, it was in competition, which was ubiquitous.

Penny and her handler/partner, Ciel Soleil, were down on an arid plateau demolishing a Beacon first-year team that Hope wasn't familiar with. The poor duo didn't stand a chance against Ciel's battle sense and Penny's overwhelming firepower. Hope had been surprised by miss Soleil's capabilities. Yes, she was obviously a support student, just as he had been but she had a developed knack for controlling the flow of the battle and cornering her opponent into a previously laid trap.

Penny was ostensively the only reason she was even still in the game considering her underdeveloped Aura, but Hope wasn't in the mood for another knife threat.

Yet.

I am from a place that is ostensively worse than fucking Baltimore. Though usually, gun threats are more common. Or claw threats... Fucking Grandchildren of Cain...

The otherwordly seer sat in the back and away from RWBY, who were cheering for Penny in the front rows. Well, Ruby was cheering, anyways. He didn't know where CMEN was, thank god. Surrounding him were SSSN, half of whom were having a nervous breakdown.

"ARE FUCKING FOR REAL!?" Scarlet screeched as half of the team opposing Penny's was sent flying out of bounds. "I HAD TEN K ON THAT KID!"

Hope snorted.

"Just ten?"

"Well, how much have YOU bet, huh wiseguy?" the pirate whined.

"Five hundred."

Scarlet spluttered mockingly.

"Are you serious? Just that?"

Hope smiled avariciously.

"Yes, just five hundred thousand."

Neptune spat out his drink while Scarlet and Sage looked at him like he was a madman. Sun was just munching popcorn, not paying attention.

"FIVE HUNDRED K?!" Scarlet screeched again in incredulity.

Hope looked at him like he was a moron.

"How do you think I make my dough?! Selling ramen?!"

Neptune gave his two cents, regardless of whether it was wanted.

"I mean, it was either that or stealing stuff."

"I'm not sixteen anymore, Nep." Hope countered nonchalantly.

The sea god paused as he went to sip from his cup.

"Wait, what?"

Hope ignored him, instead focusing on the pirate.

"Besides, what kind of idiot are you to bet on a bunch of newcomers with nothing to their name compared to two special division Atlas cadets?"

"I like rooting for the underdog!"

"That's stupid! Do you like wasting money?!"

"I like to dream, ok?!"

"That's like betting on BRNZ when it was obvious JNPR was gonna win!"

Scarlet's face distorted into a complex expression filled with pent-up aggression, envy and an unhealthy amount of resentment.

"You made the crucial mistake of thinking that I would ever put money down on that piece of shit Nolan!"

Hope cocked a surprised brow.

"Oh? Sounds like you have history."

Scarlet looked away, sulking.

"You could say that."

Sage sighed sadly.

"Pardon him, he's always like that when Nolan is mentioned."

"Well, I'm just plain curious now."

Scarlet groaned.

"There's nothing to it! At all! Nolan is just a cheating piece of shit, that's it!"

Cheating?

"Wait, You mean-"

"Yes, we were together. Emphasis on the WERE part!"

Neptune shook his head.

"He's still not over it."

"Yeah, I can tell," Hope said.

A croaking scream followed by the elimination buzzer alerted the group of Penny and Ciel's inevitable victory. The man who faced Penny in the head was sprawled out on the sandy floor, panting. A shadow cast itself over his face and as he opened them, he was greeted by Penny's smile. The steel maiden held out a hand for him to take.

"Thank you for such a wonderful time!"

The guy blushed timidly, taking her hand. Hope smiled warmly, proud of Penny for seemingly having improved her social skills. A ding on his scroll widened his smile further, as he just got back three times his original bet. He threw his hands into the air and then set them behind his head.

"Yup! It feels good to be a winner!" He smugly proclaimed.

Meanwhile, Scarlet sulked at being broke.


"Hmmm..."

Penny tilted her head toward her half-dressed partner, whose nose was deep in her scroll. It was a ritual of sorts for Ciel to check and compare data after every battle simulation, even if it gets in the way of her doing other things.

Like wearing clothes. Thank the gods they were in the locker rooms still or things might have gotten real awkward.

Her expression was different from usual, as in, she actually emoted with her face. She seemed... annoyed.

"Is something the matter, Miss Soleil?" Penny asked in concern.

"Your ranged accuracy has increased by 30% since starting our lighter work regiment." She noted, to her apparent chagrin. "Your focus as well... and Aura control seemed to have gone up as well."

Penny beamed at the news.

"Really? Yay!"

Penny threw her hands in the air triumphantly while dancing a little jig. She stopped suddenly, seeing that Ciel was still vexed for some reason.

"Is... Is there a problem with that?"

"Not... Not exactly..." She admitted.

Penny's head kept tilting further in confusion until the angle became disturbingly acute. Ciel motioned her to correct the angle, which she did after realizing how unnatural the angle was.

"Then why are you upset?"

Ciel struggled to speak, awkwardly letting out weird sounds. Ultimately, she sighed in defeat.

"All of your improvements seemed to have started when you began taking weekend breaks..."

Penny blinked blankly.

"I mean, Yeah. Obviously."

Ciel pouted.

"Why are you saying this like it's the most obvious thing in the world?!"

"People need proper rest in order to work at maximum capacity," Penny said matter of factly. "All work and no leisure has a very detrimental effect on psychological well-being as well as drive to work and improve."

Ciel sighed.

"I just... I don't get it. You don't have the biological limitations that other people have. Heck, you don't even need to sleep or eat! But every time you satisfy these unnecessary wants, your statistic spike."

"So because I have an artificial body, I shouldn't have to do things I like?"

Ciel shrugged.

"I just don't understand why you would bother sleeping or eating when it does literally nothing for you. You don't get nourishment from food and you don't recharge your batteries by going to bed."

"Because food is yummy and sleeping is pleasant?"

"But it-" Ciel stopped herself, sighing in defeat. "Nevermind..."

Penny stared at her partner for a long moment before snorting.

"You're just mad friend Anon was right all along!"

Ciel exhaled through her nose.

"Just don't tell him he was right." She pleaded, already imagining how insufferable he would be if he heard her admit that.

Penny did not answer and instead smiled innocently. After taking away her scroll, the metal maiden helped the cold cadet dress before finally going on their way. Once outside Amity, Penny noticed two people among the sea of silhouettes, a red one and a blue one. Her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree as she recognized her two most favourite people (other than her father) in the whole wide world.

"Friend Ruby! Friend Anon!" she happily called out as she began running towards them.

Ruby, hearing her, waved at her cheerily.

"Hey, Penny!"

Penny did not stop once she was facing her rosy friend. In fact, she didn't stop at all. The metal maiden, like a freight train on a collision course with a stone wall, bulldozed through the sea of silhouettes and tackle-hugged Ruby to the ground.

"Why..." Ruby choked out as her torso was crushed by Penny's embrace.

Hope rolled into the red reaper's view, smiling mischievously.

"Because Penny's an affectionate girl." His smile faltered. "I would know..."

"You too?"

"Before the breach, yeah. I had to call for a chiropractic massage the next day."

"Could you like... Call a session for me later?"

Hope held a thumbs up, already texting his masseur with his other hand. Penny finally let go, grinning from ear to ear.

"It's so good to see you again!" She elated. "Were you waiting for us?"

Hope smiled knowingly.

"Maybe."

Penny jumped to her feet before flinging herself unto Hope. His heart stopped for a moment, just knowing he was about to be crushed. But instead of his ruined body finally giving out under the pressure of Penny's hydraulic hugs, it instead felt like a normal, if firm, hug.

"I'm so glad you're ok." She murmured into his ear.

After a short pause, Hope began petting her hair softly.

"Me too, Lil' Bolt."

"I wanted to say that ever since I saw you again."

"Yeah... Too bad Qrow was being a cunt."

Penny leaned back, pouting.

"Don't say bad words."

Hope rolled his eyes.

"Whatever."

Ruby stared at the pair, still in their embrace. She didn't want to separate them but something felt weird when they acted so close. Penny left Hope's arms, her head tilted slightly.

"Was there something you wanted?"

Hope's smile turned sinister.

"Oh, nothing much. Seeing as you won me a fuckton of lien I thought 'Oh, might as well treat my girl for getting me all this sugar.'"

Penny's sparkling eyes widened.

"Treat?" she asked in anticipation. "Can we go get ice cream?!"

She gasped.

"Is friend Ruby coming along?!"

Hope flashed an OK hand sign, much to Penny's delight. The metal maiden grabbed hold of Ruby's hands, looking like the happiest girl in the world.

"Yay! Ice cream with my friends!"

Something came up the otherworldly seer's throat. At first, he expected the bitterness of bile but instead felt a rich rush of sweetness.

Great, I'm puking sugar. I have turned into an anime character.

Ruby looked at Hope in the corner of her eyes, looking worried.

"Are you ok? You look... weird?"

Hope held a shaky thumbs up as a multicoloured string of sparkly rainbow puke escaped through the corner of his mouth.

"Doing swell, thanks for askin'."

Ruby, knowing Hope was probably fine and just being odd like always, looked back at the sparkly robot girl. Behind her, Ruby noticed her friend's partner, looking kind of sour.

"uhh... miss... Soleil? Was it?"

The cadet looked at Ruby with reluctance.

"You can... Take her..."

Ruby blinked multiple times. The last time they interacted, she was extremely curt and reluctant to let Penny even talk to her. She's still reluctant but for a completely different reason.

"Ok?" Ruby said. "But... Why do you look like you're holding yourself back?"

Penny beamed.

"Because she realized that Anon was right about giving me a break once in a while."

"PENNY!" Ciel shrieked.

Hope had the biggest shit-eating grin on his face after hearing his friend's revelation.

"Oh? Has she?" He quizzed.

"Yup!" Penny confirmed. "My ranged accuracy and focus have increased by thirty percent since we implemented mandatory break times!"

His smugness only increased as he stared into the cold cadet's eyes, her expression becoming even sourer than before.

"Hwell, Hwell, Hwell. Guess I hwas righ' all along!"

Ciel clicked her tongue, turning away.

"Just bring her back to our dorm by diner!"

Hope saluted facetiously, adding to Ciel's ire. Stomping off, Ciel returned to the visiting student's dorms. Ruby pulled on Hope's sleeve, looking disappointed.

"Did you have to be so... smug? She looked pretty mad."

He shrugged.

"I don't like people who treat others like they're objects."

Penny's smile kept brightening at Hope's continued assertion that she was more than a mere machine. Hope cringed suddenly.

"Shit, she kind of reminds me of Psy before I knocked some sense into her." He reminisced. "Although she had the courtesy of pretending like she wasn't a stone-cold bitch."

"Psy?" Ruby asked.

"An old acquaintance of mine back at my old office job. Used to be the queen bee of the office and a bonafide sociopath."

A large bead of sweat appeared next to her head.

"Sounds rough..."

"Oh, that was before I came along. Now, she's the biggest masochistic stalker I ever had the misfortune of bringing about."

Hope shivered uncontrollably.

"The amount of times she would probe my thoughts only to moan from the backlash is uncountable."

Ruby and Penny could only stare blankly at their friend, amazed by his (quite literally) insane past acquaintances.


"This place is pretty neat!" Ruby exclaimed as she looked around.

The trio sat at a table inside a family restaurant that Penny and Hope had previously frequented. The bistro's rustic atmosphere still warmed the jaded seer's heart in its familiarity. He could still see himself coming back there once all of this is over. Maybe he'd bring the whole squad, chatting and having fun while eating homemade-style food. Making memories that would last them a lifetime...

That is IF they can save it from the incoming disaster.

"Yeah." He agreed. "This is a good place to be."

"Oh, it's wonderful here, friend Ruby!" Penny squeaked excitedly. "Look at how many flavours of ice cream they have!"

Penny then held the four-page-long menu in front of her. So long it was, that if she were to stand up straight, the menu would be about as tall as she was. Ruby's eyes began sparkling as she read the menu.

"Oh. My. God! They have cookies and cream AND cookie dough?!" She gasped. "They have butter cookie ice cream?! Those are my favourites!"

Hope snorted.

"Really? I thought it was chocolate chips."

"I mean, yeah, those are my favourites too. But like, butter cookies are so expensive."

Hope looked at his diminutive friend impassively.

"They're like... fifteen hundred liens (fifteen dollars) for a variety tin with like fifty cookies in them?"

"That's what I mean, they're so expensive!"

"Doesn't your dad give you twenty thousand in allowance?"

"Well, yeah, but do you really think I'm gonna blow three-fourths of my allowance on a tin of cookies?"

Hope was shocked into silence.

Ruby is being... reasonable? About COOKIES?!

"I mean," Ruby continued. "Why would I buy one tin of cookies for fifteen hundred when I can get three value packs of cookies for the same price?"

Hope sighed in relief.

Never mind, crisis averted. All is as it should be.

They all placed their order once the server arrived. Hope ordered a vanilla coffee milkshake while Ruby asked for the butter cookie ice cream. Penny, as was expected, asked for a large sunday with extra chocolate sauce and whipped cream.

"Man, I still can't get my mind off your fight," Ruby mentioned. "The way you sent that guy flying? How do you keep control of all those swords? It was so cool!"

Penny grinned like a kid before keeping a finger in front of her mouth.

"That's an Atlas Military Industries secret!"

Ruby looked confused for a second.

"Why AMI when you're a stud-" She stopped herself, remembering what Hope told her previously. "Oh, right. Android."

Penny nervously played with her fingers under the table.

"Yes." She looked dejected. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier but..."

Ruby smiled reassuringly, holding her hand on the robot girl's shoulder.

"Penny, it's not that big a deal." She paused awkwardly, realizing that her sentence was a big lie. "I mean... It IS pretty huge but..."

Ruby ruffled her hair with a long groan, clearly unable to put her thoughts into elegant or elaborate terms.

"D'oh, screw it! Penny's Penny, even though she's not a meat person!" She finally exclaimed. "And everyone who says otherwise is a big dumb idiot!"

Penny, moved to tears despite not having tear ducts, strangled her friend in another back-breaking bearhug.

"Friend Ruby!"

Ruby could only let out an ugly cough as her organs turned to paste. Hope smiled warmly despite knowing that, although socially incompetent at times, she was still a very good girl. She only let go once the server arrived with their order, to which Ruby immediately began digging in after recovering. The red reaper stopped as she took her first spoonful, the sweet and rich cream and the half mushy half crunchy bits of cookie melted together on her tongue into a smooth, sugary and creamy paste. Her eyes closed and her smile became comically large as she drowned in bliss. Hope stared on as he held his own sweet, thick shake.

"Y'see, Penny. She may be a goofball, but she's as good as her words."

Penny nodded slowly, still a bit 'teary-eyed'. She felt her core whirring faster than usual, as if imitating a real beating heart full of happiness.

"Thank you," she muttered.

Hope smiled quietly as he sipped on his milkshake. Nice and sweet, just like the girls who are with him. Both Penny and Ruby ate at breakneck speed, surprising the seer with their resistance to brain freeze. And as he thought as such, Ruby's eyes went wide and her head recoiled back, letting out a pained roar.

"BRAIN PAIN!"

Hope shook his head in amusement.

Never change.

Penny gently rubbed Ruby's hair in consolation as the self-described fun-sized girl held her hurting head. Ruby opened one eye, looking at Penny directly into her ocular modules. Just from a glance, it was obvious that her eyes were not natural. Unnatural enough that Ruby got caught staring.

"Is something wrong?" the metal maiden asked.

"No, I just... I just notice your eyes are uh..."

"They stick out like a sore thumb?" Hope commented.

"Yeah, that. It's kind of weird that people in Atlas haven't noticed."

Penny laughed awkwardly.

"Y-yes. There have been... Incidents... Magnets are scary."

The seer tended an ear as Penny regaled the two of them about the time she got stuck to a magnetic shipping crane, a completely different debacle than the Canon one where a small magnet got stuck to her head. A cruel chuckle did slip out, much to Penny's pouting.

"It was scary you know! I was really high up! Ciel had to commandeer the controls and force the foreman to sign an NDA!

"Isn't that what friends are for?" Hope jokingly asked.

"Eeemh... I guess? It would be like if Friend Blake was ordered to spend time with you."

"So Weiss?" Hope and Ruby said in unison.

"Precisely."

"So she knows about..." Ruby began doing the robot. "Beep-boop, does not compute?"

Hope thinned his lips.

"Considering she put a knife to my kneecap and threatened to make me into a pirate when I made a sly comment about it, then yeah, I'm sure she does."

Ruby paused, her eyelid twitching.

"The more I learn about her, the less I like the sound of her."

Penny did not comment. Ciel was... a difficult person to get along with. Ruby hopped off her chair and left the table. She walked away with an urgent step and a mildly impatient look on her face.

"Going flower picking?" Hope asked slyly.

In reply, Ruby puffed up her cheeks.

"None-ya business!" She said as she disappeared around a corner.

Hope's teasing smirk slowly disappeared as he was left alone with Penny. So far, the events of the Fall seemed inevitable. Preventing it has not worked, Ozpin was to thank for that. If the Fall is to occur, then someone has to die during the semi-finals.

That death must be Penny's.

Hope knew that all too well, the scene of Pyrrha tearing the poor android apart with her own blade control wires had been replaying in his sleep for days now. However, although it saddened him to think that way, Penny was software.

I mean, you can back up programs, right? I hope it's the same with Artificial Intelligence...

He had just been waiting to find an opportunity for him to talk to her without any interference from Atlas, in case they would object. With disaster at his doorstep, the last thing he wanted was to piss off one of his very few allies. Hope's sudden dour turn unnerved the adolescent android.

"Friend Anon? Is something wrong?" She asked, worried about her friend. "You look like you're about to go to a funeral."

She's not wrong on that last part.

"I... I'm just... Scared."

Penny's worry deepened as she brought her chair closer to him, now next to him instead of facing him. She held his calloused, damaged hand into her own.

"It's ok friend, Anon." She tried to reassure. "We will stop those fiends who are trying to destroy the world!"

Her determined look only worsened his mood.

"No." He said definitively. "You won't."

The implications of his emphasis put a damper on her enthusiasm, disturbing the robot girl further.

"...Did you foresee something?"

Hope didn't utter a word as he took out his phone. The piece of unfamiliar technology gave Penny pause as she began analyzing and scanning it with her ocular modules.

"What a strange object. It looks like it's made of metal and plastic, with an electrical current running through it by a strange energy reserve unit..."

"It's called a 'Phone' and it's ubiquitous where I'm from." He explained quickly. "But that's not what I want to show you."

The phone's screen came to life, a picture of two posing girls welcoming the two to his lock screen. One was an older-looking woman, looking to be no older than in her mid-thirties, with a soft mane of poofy shoulder-length hair and tired but loving eyes framing a dazzling white smile. The other girl was a shy-looking girl with ash-coloured skin and eyes and hair as black as tar. Hope paused for a moment, looking at the picture, before putting in his password. Respecting his privacy, Penny looked away to let him input his password.

"There."

Penny returned her gaze to this phone thing and was greeted with a video. Before she could enquire more about it, Hope began playing it. the video glitched and flickered, something Hope raised an eyebrow at. The video then suddenly changed to a first-person view of someone facing Penny.

"That's... Me?" The girl in question muttered in morbid fascination.

Hope recoiled away from the phone, a disturbed look in his eyes.

That's not supposed to happen! What the fuck is this?!

The video kept playing but to Hope's continued confusion, the cameraperson's visible body parts and weapons were blurred and glitched. He couldn't see a shield but the camera feed was so beyond goat-fucked, he couldn't make out much of anything other than Penny and the immediate surroundings.

Could it be that Pyrrha's not the one who'll fight her? Who then?

The video showed the fight between Penny and her adversary. The fight seemed even at first but strange tendrils began forming at the very edge of the camera's view. Suddenly, Video Penny began laughing mockingly.

"What's the matter?" She grew a sick smile. "Aren't we friends?"

The POV Character seemed to physically recoil, their voice a glitched-out mess. Video Penny went back on the offensive, locking her opponent into a physical clash. The tendril began crawling closer to the center of the camera's vision. Her smile was disgusting Hope in how horrid and cruel it was. This smile was not the real Penny's.

"Are you afraid that I might take something precious from you?" She laughed mockingly. "You never claimed it! It was never yours to begin with!"

IRL Penny stared in abject horror at her mirror image.

"W-why would I say such a thing?!"

Her expression worsened as Video Penny's face got closer to the camera, her electric green eyes turning a blood-curdling red.

"In life, it's first come first serve. And you missed your shot."

The tendrils overcame the camera's vision, leaving only a toothy grin and glowing red leering eyes.

"Like it or not, he's mine now."

He?

For the first time since starting the video, Hope finally understood something the POV character has said, although so distorted that the voice was unrecognizable.

"N-no... NO! I WON'T LET YOU!"

The POV character fought back, smacking Penny around until their weapon suddenly pierced through the Robt girl's abdomen. IRL Penny gasped at the sight of her being run through. The POV character continued, muttering deliriously despite the tendrils clearing from her sight.

"I... I still haven't told him that I loved him-"

Suddenly, the POV character regained their senses, standing over Penny's now bisected corpse. Penny's handless arm reached for the camera, oil and artificial ichor spurting out like a gruesome water hose from her stump and severed abdomen.

"F-f-f-f-rien-en-en-end... %?!&..." Penny's broken voice error'ed out, the name of the camera person turning into a garbled mess.

Penny went limp, her ocular lens' glow fading until ultimately shutting down. The POV character dropped their weapon and began shaking in horror, tears clouding their vision and blurring the footage. Their shaken voice, though still indistinguishable, was wrought with heartbreak and guilt.

"I... I didn't... I didn't mean to..." Their shaking voice turned into a sob. "Penny..."

The video feed cut abruptly, inviting a grim silence from both parties. Hope dared look up, already expecting the worst. Penny, as expected, looked incredibly disturbed but what next came out of her mouth made Hope think twice.

"I feel so sorry for them..." She said sadly. "They must have felt so bad..."

Hope blinked.

"What?"

"The person who cut me down. They sounded so guilty when they spoke."

"This is what you're worried about?! Not your imminent fucking disembowelment?!"

Penny gasped, as if she just realized that getting cut in half was a bad thing.

"That's right!"

Hope facepalmed, dragging his hands down his visage.

"I knew you were dense but fucking hell."

"T-that's so mean!"

"Penny, most people would have a mental breakdown at the announcement of their imminent demise."

"I mean... I can just have my body remade."

Hope stared intently at his artificial friend.

"You do know what Pietro had to do to create you in the first place, right?"

Penny's eyes began widening with concern.

"N-no?"

Hope put his phone away, looking down at his now joined hands.

"A part of Pietro dies every time he brings you back. Literally."

Penny's open mouth emitted no sound.

"How's your father faring? Can he still use his legs?"

Penny looked away, her thoughts slowly processing the implications.

"He... He has difficulties getting around... Before I left, he... He told me that he only had some numbness in his extremities and that it would pass..."

"Have you 'died' before?"

"Once... I... My core overheated during my initial trials and it fried my circuitry..."

"How did he look then?"

"...Tired... But he had hardly any physical problem..."

Penny held her head, the revelation staring her in the face and crushing her core.

"Pietro has to sacrifice a part of his soul in order to save yours," Hope revealed.

Penny held her mouth in horror, if she could cry, she would right now.

"Daddy..." she muttered, borderline sobbing. "Oh my gods..."

Hope brought her close, petting her hair as he let her sob quietly in the crook of his neck. His heart hurt so much at seeing her like this. In a way, he could relate because without her even knowing, she was the cause of someone else's downfall.

No, I refuse to let her go through what I did. Not now, not ever.

Never again.

"Penny." He pulled her away slightly, still abreast of her. "Your core houses your soul, right?"

Penny tried her best to calm down, with marginal results.

"Y-yes. But it's interlinked with all of my other modules and functions, like a heart connected to arteries."

"Can you seal it?" Hope asked.

"E-excuse me?" She stuttered, still under shock.

"Can you seal your core? If your core doesn't get directly damaged, could you seal it in the case of complete physical failure?"

Penny's eyes glowed for a moment, looking through her databank. Her expression darkened as she returned to reality.

"I don't have that kind of fail-safe with my current software."

"Then just add it. It's software, right? Just write it, correct any conflicting code and integrate it."

Penny looked incredibly uneasy.

"It's... I can't do that..."

"What?" Hope questioned.

"I... I don't have the clearance to modify my own code."

He already had an idea as to why she couldn't, having watched enough sci-fi media. And with all of the droids in Atlas's warehouses...

Yeah, an A.I. uprising would spell Atlas' doom.

He shook his head.

No, Penny would never do that.

"Can you lift them?"

"Friend Anon, no." she dismissed nervously. "Father told me to never-"

"I know the risks, Penny."

Penny finally looked up at her friend, his pleading look tugging at her core.

"I trust you," he said. "I know you just want to do the right thing."

He looked down.

"I just what to do right by you and your dad."

Penny's gaze lowered to his hands.

"I don't want to lose a friend again when I could have done something."

He took her hand, holding them against his forehead.

"I know you don't want to disobey your father. But I just can't stand the thought of seeing you die."

The metal maiden couldn't speak, too caught up in her own thought stream. She theoretically could, in fact, she was in the process of double-checking. It all seemed so... Simple. It really was, all she needed to do was edit some of the lines of code using an admin password and she would be able to add and subtract whatever line or paragraph she wanted. But the engineers who built her... Her architect... they're her family, her father, and they told her to never do something like this. To change her software, her internal architecture... But Hope's words kept replaying in her memory bank. he really did want only the best for her. he really wants to do right by her and her family...

"Friend Hope..." she uttered, lost. "Should I really do this?"

Hope didn't answer immediately, weighing his words carefully.

"That's up to you to decide, Penny." he ultimately said. "This is your life, this should be you who decides its direction."

"But I'm a machine, I was built for a purpose."

"You're a person, Penny." Hope asserted. "You should have the right to choose."

The right to choose. That sentence rolled in her cortex the moment it was uttered. Did she, a machine, truly have the right to choose? But Hope's words shattered that conception. She was a person and as a person, therefore, she has the right to choose. Penny nodded to herself, having come to a decision, the biggest in her existence... Her life.

"I'll do it." She declared.

Hope let go of her hand, looking up at her with a glad smile.

"Thank you."

Penny shifted nervously in her seat.

"I don't know if I'll be the same after... or if it's going to change me completely." She admitted. "I... I'm worried. I'm scared."

Hope held her in his arms, holding her side tightly and closely.

"Penny is Penny. That's all I care about," he told her quietly. "You'll always be my lil' bolt."

Penny held one of his arms, her core whirring like a jet engine. This was all the push she needed to take that leap of fate.

Hope kept holding her, despite the weird sounds coming from Penny's chest. Her eye went dull as the glow intensified, thousands of lines of code scrolling down her view. Her grip tightened as her eyes widened. Then she began trembling, her uneasy expression becoming one stricken with fear and panic. Penny jumped into his arms, straddling him as she began hyperventilating like she was overcome with a panic attack and had to hug the closest thing to her. Hope never let go, even as her nails dug into his skin.

Suddenly, her core stopped whirring and Penny went limp.

Hope kept petting her hair as her core began whirring anew against his chest, reassuring him that she was still among the living. Penny jolted back to life without warning, her dead woman's grip loosening and freeing Hope from his pain. However, she didn't leave his embrace and snuggled closer instead.

"How does it feel to be in complete control of yourself?" Hope asked.

Penny remained silent, still trying to figure out how to feel about her newfound freedom.

"Overwhelming." she ended up saying. "But now, I can do anything I want?"

"For good or ill." He told her sagely. "The burden of free will is that you are now responsible."

"Of what?"

"Of your actions and their consequences, whether positive or negative. You can hurt others, you can help them, you can choose to do nothing at all."

Penny looked up, her face a scant few inches away from his.

"That's what it means to be sentient, Pen. It's to bear that burden and live as good a life as you can."

Penny nodded, mulling over what he said. She buried her face in the crook of his neck again, this time to hide her brightening cheeks.

"Can we... Can we stay a bit longer?"

Hope smirked, snuggling his face into her hair.

"As long as you need, Lil' bolt."

Penny hid her own goofy smile from him.

"Thank you... Anon."


Ruby let out a relieved sigh as she exited the diner's restroom. Any longer and her bladder might have overflowed and led to an embarrassing display. She shook that idea right out of her head. No, she's a big girl now! only babies and little children soil themselves. But the scenario played in her head anyway, much to her embarrassed annoyance. She already knew that Yang would laugh at her and Anon would probably do the same, if ever so slightly more subtly.

Her fictitious embarrassment was interrupted by her turning the corner and seeing a scene she wasn't prepared for. She returned back behind the corner and looked over to her and her friend's table. her two friends were hugging closely, Penny straddling Anon as she cuddled with him. He snuggled with the metal maiden, making her smile. They seem so...

Happy, together...

Ruby leaned against the wall and held her heart. it didn't flutter joy, nor did it pump rapidly with excitement.

"Why...?" She asked.

She paused, her chest tightening so much. The longer she looked, the more her chest tightened. Her heart felt like someone was grabbing it and squeezing it like a sponge. She whimpered as she fell into a squat.

"Why does it hurt so much?"


News travels quickly, especially amongst those of a more nefarious bent. Bad news normally travels even more quickly. When you have access to Atlas's top-of-the-line code base and have one of the world's most infamous genii on speed dial, you typically have your finger on the pulse of everything that's happening. So when your genius calls you in the middle of your well-deserved nap to deliriously yell at you that something incredibly big just changed, being the first in the know with no clue as to how or why it's happening can be incredibly jarring.

Cinder simply couldn't catch a break, no matter how much she tried.

Not only has Hope become more proactive lately, but he's also been incredibly aggressive in mucking up her plans. After Watts finally calmed down enough to explain to her in a manner that was legible to the average person instead of spewing incomprehensible techno-jargon, she was informed that Penny's code has been rearranging itself on its own before disappearing altogether. This is incredibly worrisome because it must mean that Atlas has isolated one of the more destructive Trojans they introduced to control Penny and neutralized it. Or worse, Penny has become unshackled by her programming and they are about to be counter-attacked by an incredibly pissed off A.I.

Not taking any chances, the false maiden asked Emerald to send her surveillance report on Hope. As predicted, the otherwordly seer had come in, taken her plans, burned them to ash and then pissed on the remains. Hope, either deliberately or not, had foiled Cinder's plans to use Penny to engineer a massacre during the ensuing panic of the Grimm invasion. First the droid soldiers, now Penny. Not only that, but the soldiers are going to be there to keep the civilians out of harm's way. Atlas wouldn't be demonized nor blamed for the coming atrocities in Vale, instead, becoming valued allies and heroes of the people. The camera zoomed in on Hope as he hugged Penny. The angry sneer turned into an ugly, sinister smile as Hope looked directly into the camera with the evilest of grins. He knew he was being watched and was quietly gloating at her, mocking her efforts. Cinder began quietly cackling alone. She felt a strange warmth envelop her cold heart when she looked at Hope's evil grin. She wondered for a moment why she felt that way until a realization caused her cackle to turn to open laughter.

"Oh, Anon Hope! How I've been waiting for someone like you to face me!"

A rival. She had craved someone who could match her ever since she stole half of the Fall Maiden's powers. For so long, those who fought against her either collapsed pathetically at her feet or were too powerful for her to take on at the moment. Hope, however, was both untouchable yet utterly vulnerable. He predicted her moves and moved to counter. He wasn't equal to her physically, but his wits matched and perhaps even outmatched hers. A physical altercation was out of the question, he had the sympathy of everyone in Beacon and after some legwork, he was also liked by Vale's commercial community. He also had ties to Vale's power players through Beacon's instructors as well as Ironwood and his confidants. To attack him in the open was a death sentence and isolating him would be tricky since he's not dumb enough to go anywhere alone, as he always hangs around either RWBY, JNPR or CVFY. She would have to hit him from a blind spot if she wanted to bloody him, either literally or metaphorically. Cinder replayed the video and came across a detail she hadn't caught un upon first viewing. From behind a wall, she saw Summer's little rose.

Looking straight at Hope and Penny embracing, heartbroken.

A sinister giggle escaped the false maiden's throat. Lost love was such an easy way into the darkest recesses of someone's heart. Cinder dialled up Emerald, her dark smile not leaving her.

"Please wait for me, dearheart. I'll catch up to you real soon."


Twilight drenched the Beacon headmaster's office in moonlight, the white light from the broken moon illuminating the Man with Two Souls. Ozpin sipped coffee as he read reports from the Vale Council on his tablet. It seems they have completely forgotten about the breach and only talk about how much money VytalFest is making for the city.

As always, greed blinds some to fear.

Ozpin sighed dejectedly, his hollow eyes still hidden behind his dark glasses. The characteristic ding of the elevator warned him of a new arrival. The doors opened, revealing his corvid agent.

"Oz." he greeted as he walked to his mentor.

"Qrow." The old soul greeted back, devoid of his previous jadedness.

"Jimmy and that Hope guy have quite the pain in your ass, haven't they?"

Ozpin turned his head momentarily before looking out the window again.

"It seems you've been caught up."

"Courtesy of Glynda." Qrow pulled out his flask. "She really seems to like that kid."

"Hope? Yes, he and her seem to have quite a few things in common. He has a habit of attracting quite a bit of trouble upon himself, however."

"From what I've heard, he's got some pretty important people in his pockets too."

Ozpin sighed.

"Indeed."

"The VCPD chief of police, most of the teachers here at Beacon, a good chunk of the students, fucking Ironwood..." Qrow enumerated. "Guy's got a lot of support."

"That he does," Ozpin admitted quietly.

Qrow sighed exasperatedly.

"No offence, boss, but he's making you look like a damned fool."

The old man shook his head.

"His heart is in the right place... it's just that his foul mouth can't be easily silenced."

"You got that last part right..." Qrow mumbled bitterly, the memory of Hope's biting words during their first meeting still hurting.

"He's simply misguided."

"If you say so." Qrow dismissed. "On a separate note, Amber's condition. Has it gotten better?"

The deep worry in Qrow's voice was very unlike his usual boisterous self. Ozpin shook his head, Qrow and her have been friends for a long time, it's only normal for him to get attached even despite his own warnings.

"Sadly no." The infinity man confided. "If anything, her condition has worsened."

"What?!"

"Her burns have dug deep. Her lungs are damaged and the damage that was inflicted on her soul has utterly crippled her Aura's natural healing capabilities."

Qrow looked distraught, looking away.

"Godsdamnit!" he cursed quietly.

Ozpin wetted his whistle with more caffeine.

"We will have to find someone to take her place."

Qrow groaned sympathetically.

"I don't envy the poor girl who'll have to replace Amber. Got any candidates?"

Ozpin hummed to himself as he changed pages on his tablet. The student repertoire scrolled by, the only filter being female only. Many had crosses on their portrait, which Ozpin added to the filter list. Now, only eight remained with six first years and two second years.

The second years were up first, both from the same team: Coco Adele and Velvet Scarlatina of Team CFVY.

Coco was immediately crossed out. Although valiant to the end, her defeat during the Vytal tournament gave the oldest soul a bad impression. That and her rampant perversion and the many, many complaints regarding her behaviour tilted the scale against her. Velvet was also crossed out, her meek and submissive nature would be of no use to him, nor would it mesh well with Fall's Temperament. What he needed was someone who was more upbeat yet reserved.

Next, also from the same team: Nora Valkyrie and Pyrrha Nikos of Team JNPR.

Nora was immediately crossed out, simply too violent and excitable. Subtlety was the name of the game and that girl was the farthest thing from subtle. Pyrrha Nikos on the other hand was a tempting option. She wasn't a fan of the spotlight despite being an international celebrity, she was quiet and withdrawn but also somewhat of a good-natured optimist...

A calm, cold breeze hit the infinity man's neck. must be from the half-opened window...

Although matching in temperament, Pyrrha's overprotectiveness towards her team leader would be too much of a hindrance as proven during the Vytal tournament. he could already imagine her jumping in the way of an arrow if it meant saving the son of Jeanne Arc. A death that would only benefit their enemies.

And so, the only people left were all members of Team RWBY: Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao-Long.

He pondered for a moment, his finger hovering over their portraits. His digit finally landed on the team's leader.

"Hmm..." the old man hummed.

She seemed to be a match... Quiet but positive, a natural knack for fighting, no real overt attachments apart from her family...

Ozpin shut his tablet down.

"I believe I have, Qrow," he said.

The old crow nodded, taking a swig from his flask.

"Just say the word, and I'll come flying, boss."

"I will."

The doors of the elevator reopened before closing again, leaving Ozpin alone. The old man sighed dejectedly once more.

"Summer would kill me for even thinking of doing this to her only child. But, it seems like fate has granted me this one, sad reprieve in her absence."

He looked at the moon, its shattered remains looking especially divided this night.

"I just hope that when the time will come, you'll be able to forgive me for what I'm about to do to your family, Qrow."


V3E6: END!

NEXT ON PLAYLIST: V3E7 - PLAY?