Author's note: Not much to say here, so enjoy. And if you want Ruby to have a breakdown, let me know what you think of this chapter.
Team RWBY, Jaune, Ren, Nora, Qrow, Oscar, General Ironwood, Winter and Whitley looked around the office, seeing if anyone knew what supposedly obvious flaws Sirena saw in the General's plan. Sirena glanced over at them, looked back at her scroll and pressed a button, causing two countdowns to show up as holograms over Ironwood's desk.
"There," Sirena said, "The first one tells you when Amity will arrive, the second tells you when you can launch the tower."
"So, when's it all going to collapse?" Qrow asked. Sirena made a third countdown appear next to the other two.
"This one," Sirena answered, "It shows when Salem will find a way to use Amity Tower against us."
"It's… already at zero," Ruby said.
"Yes," Sirena said, "Because James didn't plan to use Amity Tower to restore global communications. It's just a distraction for the real plan, which my teammates and I have been helping him with."
"Wait, what?" General Ironwood asked and said, "I put all my effort into this project. I sacrificed hundreds of men and countless of Lien worth of military equipment to retrieve Amity Colosseum. I will build that tower, and it will restore global communications, no matter what."
"Sirena," Ruby said and asked, "Tell me, what flaws does this plan have exactly?"
"Ask James," Sirena answered, "He should know the most glaring one, which will definitely start the second Great War. If the Poltergeist doesn't do it, that is."
"What Poltergeist?" Winter asked, "And how did you even know how long it would take for the tower to be finished? We haven't even begun building it yet." Sirena gave Ruby a questioning look, and Jaune sensed that she used one of her semblances, likely telepathically discussing the next steps with Ruby. After a few seconds, Sirena stopped using the semblance and turned to Winter.
"When I use my silver eyes, I unleash my soul," Sirena answered, "In short, if someone looks into that light, I copy their semblance, and they copy mine. One of the semblances I copied that way lets me know how long it takes until a certain event occurs. Of course, I have to know that it will occur, and it has to actually occur in the future."
"I also have telepathy," Sirena said telepathically, "By the way, you will die in sixty years, five months, two weeks, four days and seven hours."
"W- was that really necessary?" Winter asked, slightly disturbed.
"Did you telepathically tell her when she'll die?" Qrow asked, looking at Sirena. He didn't seem upset, but rather like he knew exactly that this would happen.
"Maybe," Sirena answered.
"Really?" Ruby asked, sounding pretty upset, "What if someone told you when you'll die?"
"I'd use the remaining time as best as I can," Sirena answered, "Also, that was the first thing this semblance told me."
"Alright, fine. When will I die, then?" Ruby asked and said, "And say it out loud, so everyone can hear it."
"On the third Sunday after your hundredth birthday," Sirena answered, "At precisely 5pm Vale standard time." Ruby's friends were shocked by how casually Sirena answered the question, but Ruby didn't seem to care much about that bit of information.
"Thank you," Ruby said and asked, "Now, what was that about the Poltergeist?"
"Right," Sirena said, "As you know, Cinder used a virus to manipulate the Vytal Tournament and make Vale look bad in the eyes of the world. It was the most obvious approach to take, so I planned ahead. Before I left the surface, I asked Talia to do something for me. She put a paperclip in the wires under the central arena. It didn't do anything at first, but if you applied a strong enough magnetic field, it would cause a chain reaction that would cause the Colosseum's anti-gravity generators to shut down entirely once everyone was off of it."
"So you're the reason we can't get started with our plan!" Ironwood called out.
"Please, let me finish," Sirena said calmly, "I played out a few scenarios with several of my teammates, and Argent told me that you would set this plan in motion if Beacon fell. That's why I had to take action. If I can figure it out, Salem definitely knew about it before her assault as well. That is why Amity Tower will start the second Great War in exactly two years from now if it is launched on schedule, and you will get the declaration of war from the other three kingdoms in five minutes and three seconds on this day in two years."
"Sirena, what about the Poltergeist?" Ruby asked again.
"Salem knew what James was planning, and prepared," Sirena answered, "She sent a Poltergeist to possess the virus, and take over every piece of technology it gets in contact with. Every military unit, every scroll, every TV and other appliance that, for whatever reason, connects to the CCTS, will fall under Salem's control as soon as the tower comes within reach of the city's network."
"Everything that connects to the CCTS?" Yang asked.
"Yes, everything," Sirena answered, "This includes your scroll and everything it is connected to." The room fell silent as everyone except General Ironwood, Winter and Whitley realized what that meant.
"What's the matter?" Whitley asked.
"Talia modified my arm," Yang answered, "It serves as a connection between my scroll and… my brain. This Grimm could take control of me."
"Just great," Qrow said, "Not only would we lose Yang, Salem would also gain a powerful new minion."
"Sad as it is, it's just one person," General Ironwood said, "We'll manage it somehow."
"Except you're wrong," Yang said, "I… learned… a few things from Blake. Secret passages, a backdoor or two to get around virtual security, different shift plans for soldiers and the pattern how they repeat, that sort of thing. Also… I'm the summer maiden."
"Alright, new plan," General Ironwood said, "We'll shoot it down on sight."
"What?!" Ruby asked and said, "No, you can't! Penny is still on there!"
"Ruby, what about Yang?" Blake asked.
"I know, I know," Ruby answered, "I just-"
"I won't give my military to Salem," General Ironwood said, "Not again."
"But we're so close to getting Penny back," Ruby said, "But Yang is in danger."
"We'll just build a new Penny," General Ironwood said.
"What does that mean?!" Ruby asked, shouting a little, and said, "You can't just replace her like some object! She was a real person. With real feelings. She had a soul!"
"She was just a machine," General Ironwood said, and Ruby finally had enough.
"She was more human than you'll ever be!" Ruby shouted, and slammed both of her hands on the table in front of her.
~o~
Ruby took slow and deep breaths, her hands hurting from slamming them on the table at full force. She closed her eyes, some tears fell onto her hands, she took a deep breath and calmed down again.
"Sorry, I just-" Ruby said, opened her eyes and stopped mid-sentence when she realized that she was alone. The room looked almost like the General's office, but there were pale blue lines running through the walls, and they all converged on the table.
"What is this place?" Ruby thought. She turned her head a little more and saw something in the corner of her eye. Ruby took a look and realized that it was a dark gray wolf tail, meaning she was astral projecting again. She looked around to try and find her body, but couldn't see it anywhere. Ruby left the office and just walked around the academy for a bit, looking for any clue as to what was going on. After checking almost every room, and finding them all empty, she took the elevator to the bottom floor and left the academy. Weirdly enough, the city of Atlas was on the ground and part of Mantle, and the wall around the larger city was fully intact. Ruby walked through the empty streets and looked at the strangely artificial-looking buildings, with pulses of light blue energy running along everything and leaving pale blue trails. She realized that the energy was flowing away from Atlas Academy. Suddenly, Ruby felt a powerful dark presence approach her, and rushed to get on top of the wall.
"Are those… Grimm?" Ruby asked, looking at the enemy horde. The Grimm looked a lot like the ones she knew from Vale, but they had red pointy spikes growing out of their bodies, like long glass shards sticking out of them. She reached for her weapon, realized she didn't have it, burst into a cluster of rose petals and landed in the horde of Grimm. Just as the Grimm turned to her, she unleashed a powerful burst of white light, turning them all to stone.
"Ruby, is that you?" Ruby heard a familiar voice behind her ask. Ruby slowly turned around and saw a pair of light green eyes looking at her.
"Penny?" Ruby asked, tearing up a little.
"Ruby!" Penny exclaimed happily and hugged Ruby. She wore black leather boots, striped gray pants, a white shirt under a black leather jacket, had long orange hair and two sparrow wings on her back. Ruby hugged her back, but broke the hug after a few seconds.
"Penny, what's going on?" Ruby asked, "Where are we? What's with that outfit? Are you a faunus? What happened?"
"We're in cyberspace," Penny answered, "And this is how I was originally programmed. General Ironwood thought it would be better for me to not give my physical body any faunus traits. After my old body was destroyed, my core program somehow was transferred to your scroll, and then to Haven's main server once you got there. Sirena's virus messed up my code a little, but my mother fixed me, and now I'm fine again."
"We're in cyberspace?" Ruby asked, "Also, if you were on Haven's main server, why didn't you contact me? And how are you here now?"
"My mother told me not to contact you yet," Penny answered, "It was very important. As is this meeting. When Weiss retrieved the relic of knowledge, I was tasked with measuring her aura wave frequency and inserting those values into a program my mother has developed over the past few years."
"Wait, aura wave frequency?" Ruby asked, "You mean that thing that determines what someone's semblance does?"
"Exactly," Penny answered, "The program can replicate the effects of any semblance, and now it is replicating the properties of the Seer."
"So, hold on," Ruby said and asked, "Are you saying that there is a program that can allow any two devices to contact each other?"
"Precisely," Penny answered, "But it needs aura to function, and right now there aren't enough huntsmen available to supply the program with the needed aura, so we had to lock it for the time being. But once enough people unlock their aura, keep it active, and keep their scrolls with them, it will work perfectly. As long as the data traffic doesn't get too much."
"I see," Ruby said and asked, "How many people would you need to have their aura unlocked in order to support free global communications regardless of the data traffic?" Penny waved her right hand, and a calculator popped up out of thin air. She did a few calculations, then looked back to Ruby.
"Around four and a half thousand," Penny answered, "Until then, ambient aura at least keeps the system working on standby."
"Alright," Ruby said and asked, "But, what is ambient aura?"
"It is aura that has drifted off into the environment," Penny answered, "As a form of energy, aura seeks out equilibrium. It fills everything around people who can generate it, and eventually manifests as dust by mixing with natural forces."
"I... didn't know that," Ruby said in disbelief, shook her head to clear her thoughts and asked, "Anyway, what can you do about that Poltergeist in Amity Colosseum?"
"There is no Poltergeist in Amity," Penny answered, "It can only possess the actual virus, which was introduced to Vale's CCT tower. Amity Colosseum is full of these cyber-Grimm, which can damage programs, but they can't possess anything."
"That's a relief," Ruby said.
"But now I have questions," Penny said and asked, "How are you here? And what was that light?"
"I detached my soul from my body, it seems," Ruby answered, "And that light was my soul. Well, the power of the God of Light, which resides in the depths of my soul and lets me petrify Grimm."
"That sounds very useful," Penny said.
"It is," Ruby said, "Also, if someone looks into that light, my soul collides with theirs, and we both kind of copy each other's semblance."
"Copying semblances?" Penny asked and said, "I don't think that is possible."
"It is, it's just a bit more complicated," Ruby answered, "But basically, if someone looks into the light from my silver eyes, there is a mark in their soul, which can be used like a mold to make their aura act like mine does when I use my semblance. They get the same effect as when I use my semblance, but it also messes with their heads a little bit, since they're effectively forcing their soul to act like mine."
"Noted," Penny said, "I will be careful, then."
"Good to know," Ruby said and asked, "Anyway, how do I get back?"
"I'm… not sure," Penny answered, "But I can search the CCTS for answers if you want."
"Yes, please," Ruby said. Penny made a window pop up and Ruby saw countless articles flash by.
"Here," Penny said, "One record I found states that your soul has to be detached from your body for at least three seconds before it can return."
"Just three seconds?" Ruby asked and said, "But I've spent longer than that in Ironwood's office wondering what was happening."
"Remember, we're in cyberspace," Penny said, "Your perception of time may be drastically altered, due to how quickly information is processed here."
"I see," Ruby said.
"One thing, though," Penny said and asked, "Could you please keep all this a secret from everyone? At least until Atlas is no longer in danger from cyber-Grimm and I can return to my body."
"Alright," Ruby answered and said, "Also, I will find a way to help you as best as I can."
"Thank you, Ruby," Penny said, "And before you leave, my semblance is called Puppeteer, and it lets me control things by touching them. I only know that it works on computers, but it should affect Grimm as well."
"Thanks," Ruby said. The two shared another quick hug, then Ruby felt her body pulling her back out of cyberspace.
~o~
When Ruby looked around in General Ironwood's office, she saw many shocked faces looking at her. The countdowns were just three seconds lower than when she left, and her body felt like it had began to fall while she was gone.
"Should we take a break?" Winter asked, looking at Ruby.
"No, I'm fine, I just needed to blow off some steam" Ruby answered, "Also, I thought of a plan to save the military, Yang, and Penny."
"Ruby, listen," General Ironwood said, "I'm not holding what you said against you, I'm well aware how people see my actions. However, in times like these, we have to make sacrifices. All of us. And sacrificing Penny is the easiest way to fight Salem."
"Sir, with all due respect, you don't even know her plan," Winter blurted out, drawing everyone's attention to herself.
"Are you saying I don't know how to protect my people?" Ironwood asked.
"I'm saying we can't dismiss a plan we don't know," Winter answered, "Let her explain herself, then you can at least say you considered an alternative."
"Alright," General Ironwood said, turned to Ruby and asked, "What is your plan?"
"Thank you, Winter," Ruby said, turned to Ironwood and answered, "Blake copied a semblance that lets her make anything hurt any species of her choosing. If she uses it on your military, any Grimm touching it will die. That way, when that Poltergeist comes, it can't leave Amity without dying, and then we can just repeat the process with Amity itself to get rid of it. I copied Jaune's semblance, meaning that the two of us can boost Blake's aura to amplify the effects."
"Make that three," Sirena said and stepped forward. Ruby, Blake, Jaune and Sirena all looked at General Ironwood.
"I don't know," General Ironwood said, "Using a semblance on my entire military force at once seems impossible."
"Lucky for you, we don't care," Ruby said, and the rest of her friends lined up beside her to show their support of her idea.
"Alright, go ahead," General Ironwood said, "But if it doesn't work, we'll destroy Amity before it can do any harm."
"Sure," Ruby said, "Now, we'd need access to all your military equipment." General Ironwood turned around, pressed a few buttons on his desk and connected it to his entire military force. Blake put her hands on the desk, and Ruby, Jaune and Sirena stood behind her.
"And remember," Sirena said, "The semblance wants to protect as much as possible, so just let it reach out to whatever it can. Set the range to contact, for one month, and increase the damage as much as possible."
"Got it," Blake said. She started using Mithala's semblance, and her friends began amplifying her aura. As Blake used Deathzone on more and more military gear, she realized that she had no idea how much damage to inflict upon the Grimm, and went through a mental list of everything she knew. The Spider Droids, her maiden powers, Bumblebee's brute force, the tundra bear, nothing seemed strong enough. Suddenly, an idea popped into her head, and she imagined a weapon so powerful, she was scared to imagine what it could do. Before her inner eyes, she saw the power to wipe out an entire city in one strike, a weapon that unleashed the power of the sun itself unto her enemies. She knew how much damage to dish out.
"My name is Blake Belladonna," Blake thought, "I am the fall maiden, protector of Remnant and all its people. All who dare threaten my loyal subjects shall receive neither mercy nor forgiveness. Their only fate will be a slow and painful death by my hands. The Grimm hordes march against my people? I will destroy them, and their tyranny!" Blake poured all her aura, and the auras of her friends, into the military gear, and a purple energy covered the desk, airships, Atlesian Knights, camera drones, Manta airships, and everything else Ironwood had available, down to the very last scroll of the youngest intern. After about a minute, everyone's auras broke, and Blake slumped over, resting on the desk.
"Did it work?" General Ironwood asked.
"Of course it did!" Blake answered, sounding pretty offended, "Do not dare to question my ability to protect my subjects ever again."
"Blake, are you alright?" Yang asked, walking over to her friend.
"Of course I am," Blake answered, "You should show more concern for the General, as he clearly does not understand his own allies' abilities."
"What's wrong with her?" General Ironwood asked, looking at Ruby.
"Using someone else's semblance can cause some issues," Ruby answered, "But she'll be fine. She just needs some rest." Suddenly, a dark red portal opened next to Sirena, and Penny walked out, looking very different from when the others last saw her. Ruby was also a bit surprised by her new look, as it wasn't what she had seen in cyberspace.
"Salutations, friends," Penny said, and the portal closed behind her.
"What? How?" Winter asked and said, "I thought only Pietro had the means to rebuild you."
"That is correct," Penny said, "Except when it isn't. After Niob recovered my body from Amity, and brought my core to a secret location, Talia could begin construction of a new body for me. She then artificially manufactured the conditions to make my AI bond with this body, and once certain other conditions were met, they could install me on this form. Plus, I am no longer magnetic, and this new body is light enough that I can pass for a normal human."
"What secret location?" General Ironwood asked.
"I'm sorry, but that information is for authorized personnel only," Penny answered.
"And I'm not authorized?" General Ironwood asked.
"Correct," Penny answered with a smile.
"So, your body wasn't on Amity?" Winter asked.
"No," Penny answered, and Ruby noticed how everyone but her and Penny gave Sirena dirty looks.
"You lied to us?" Weiss asked.
"Do you know how we felt?" Yang asked, "How Ruby felt? Do you even-"
"Do not lecture me about empathy," Sirena said angrily, calmed down and said, "Of course I know how you felt. I sensed it. I shared in it. I felt like you felt. Your confusion, fear, doubt, I felt it all as if it were my own. Yes, I knew that Amity was safer than I led you to believe. However, it is still full of beings, half virus and half Grimm, which will damage any other program they come into contact with. Some of those arrived in Atlas when James brought his airships here after Beacon." Ruby stepped forward, sensing Sirena's guilt.
"Sirena, why didn't you just tell us?" Ruby asked softly.
"I couldn't," Sirena answered, "Had I simply told you what to do, it would have been less effective. Also, to do that, I would have had to reveal information about you and your friends to others, and you know how I feel about doing so."
"So, it was just to teach me a lesson?" Ruby asked.
"More like helping you grow," Sirena answered, "But yes."
"Well, if we can continue now," General Ironwood said and asked, "Sirena, how do you plan to get Amity here anyway?"
"I contacted a member of Sophie's swarm," Sirena answered, "She had a fruit fly make its way to the paperclip, then another one of her swarm members used her semblance to teleport the fruit fly and the paperclip out of there. The wires returned to their original position, the anti-gravity generators resumed normal functionality, and Amity Colosseum is now on the way back here. And with Mithala's semblance, the city's cyberspace is safe from the new threats. For a month, at least." She pulled out her scroll, pressed a few buttons, and put it away again.
"What was that?" General Ironwood asked.
"A precaution," Sirena answered, "When Mithala's semblance stops working, your men will get a notification. I also notified them that they can use certain kinds of equipment to quickly dispose of any Grimm."
"How can you set notifications like that?" General Ironwood asked.
"Universal Atlas admin rights," Sirena answered and explained, "I know a guy."
"Say what now?" Nora asked.
"It means she can do whatever she wants," Ironwood answered angrily.
"Really? Thanks," Sirena said, treating his complaint like he gave her permission, leaned against the wall and began playing video games again. Everyone looked at Sirena, not sure what to make of her sudden change in attitude, and General Ironwood cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.
"Penny's return helps us quite a lot," General Ironwood said, "Because once Amity Tower is finished, I will tell the world about Salem." Everyone was shocked, but Sirena just looked up from her scroll a little.
"James…" Qrow said, "That's crazy! Do you know what will happen?"
"Yes, Grimm will attack," General Ironwood answered, "But that is why I recalled my military, to fight them off."
"You forgot about Sophie," Qrow said, "If she finds out about Salem, she will want everyone to join her swarm, and anyone who refuses will be labeled as one of Salem's minions. It'll be a bloodbath." Ruby gasped, everyone else except for Ironwood, Qrow and Winter reacted with varying degrees of shock, and Sirena just sighed.
"Not if I handle things," Sirena said.
"Are you sure?" Qrow asked.
"Yes," Sirena answered, "If you let me handle the reveal, I can guarantee that everything will go smoothly. I will tell the people what they need to know, but not so much that Sophie can figure out the rest."
"Fine, it's on you, then," General Ironwood said. He pressed a button on his remote, and his office returned to normal. The hologram disappeared, the table disappeared into the floor, and the shutters went up again.
"Anyway, Sirena," Ruby said and asked, "What is your plan?"
"I was hoping you would ask," Sirena said and answered, "When James' plan fails, Salem will undoubtedly come here herself, and we can't prevent that once she sets things in motion to prepare for her arrival. Therefore, I made plans for after that."
"Why?" General Ironwood asked, "Wouldn't it be easier to destroy her when she comes here?"
"Not with that mindset," Sirena answered, "Also, unless she feels safe, she will remain in hiding, and out of our reach. If the plan to tell the world fails, for whatever reason, we must lure her out of hiding by making her think that she won. Once she is within reach, I will disintegrate her Grimm side, turn her back into a toddler and wipe her memories clean, so she can be raised to grow into a normal, healthy, and well-adjusted person."
"Babysitting the most evil person in Remnant's history?" Yang asked, "Who would even want to do that?"
"It would have to be someone whose appearance resembles her own," Sirena answered, and looked at both Yang and Jaune.
"Isn't there some other way?" Yang asked, turned to Jaune and said, "No offense."
"Non taken," Jaune said.
"There is, yes," Sirena answered, "I can petrify her, and then you lock her in the Atlas vault and use the staff to send the entire city into the sun."
"So, to reiterate," General Ironwood said, "Either you two play family, or we send one of the biggest cities in the world into a giant fireball in the sky."
"Yes," Sirena said.
"And where do you think the people of Atlas should live?" General Ironwood asked.
"Mantle," Sirena answered.
"I don't think too many people would be happy about that," General Ironwood said.
"There also is plenty of space out in the tundra," Sirena said and asked, "Or is it that you simply don't want to live there?" Jaune sensed that Sirena was using another semblance.
"Of course not," General Ironwood answered, blinked in surprise and asked, "Why did I say that?" Sirena just smiled deviously.
"Sirena, what was that?" Ruby asked.
"Just a semblance of mine," Sirena answered, "It makes people answer truthfully if they choose to respond to a question I ask them."
"But if they answer with a question, it bounces back to you, right?" Jaune asked.
"Yes," Sirena answered, "I have to be careful if that happens, as the answers are sometimes more than I'd like to reveal."
"Now, this is all very interesting," General Ironwood said, "But we still have two more plans to stop Salem.
"James, listen," Qrow said, "Telling the world about Salem, Oz spent several lifetimes keeping her a secret."
"I know," General Ironwood said, "But with him gone, I can only trust my own judgment." Oscar stiffened up uncontrollably, and Ironwood looked at him.
"Well, you see," Oscar said, "I'm kind of, in a way, the new Ozpin." General Ironwood walked over to Oscar and dropped to his knees to be on eye level with him.
"That is wonderful," General Ironwood said, "With Ozpin here, we can-"
"Well, actually," Oscar said, interrupting the General, "He's… not there right now."
"What? Why not?" General Ironwood asked and got back up.
"We… don't know," Ruby answered, "We got into a train crash, and since then he's been silent."
"However," Sirena said, "As Ozpin's current reincarnation, Oscar is an honorary citizen of my kingdom, and I will protect him with all I've got. And if you think you know how violent I can be, just dare to hurt him."
"Don't worry, I won't," General Ironwood said. Sirena used her Inception semblance to give Whitley the idea to keep it a secret that he copied Ruby's semblance, and then the group left the office again.
~o~
Salem walked through her castle, looking for Mercury, who had been missing for the past few weeks. A Seer floated over to her and made a few clicking noises.
"Let him know not to disobey me like that again," Salem said, "Then bring him to me." A few minutes later, she met Mercury at the front door of her castle, and he had to catch his breath before he handed Salem a field bottle and headed inside.
"Here, I'm sure he'll be useful," Mercury said, "Still owes me my semblance, too." He walked past Salem, Salem closed the door and went back inside her castle, thinking of a way to punish Mercury for his blatant disrespect.
Author's note: Scientific consensus is that one person cannot possibly affect thousands of tons of military equipment with a semblance at once. Ruby and her friends did it anyway, because they do not care what scientists think they should or shouldn't be able to do.
Penny is back. I had this planned since the beginning, because we were told she wouldn't come back, and my original idea was to have Ruby and Penny reunite in Amity once the gang goes back to Vale after they're done in Atlas. Also, I was always really looking forward to writing the moment when Ruby tells Ironwood that he was less human than a literal android.
Sirena has two semblances to mess with people's minds. Suggestion is for quick and immediate actions, while Inception is for larger ideas.
The last line in Blake's internal monologue when using Deathzone is a reference to the album Attero Dominatus by Sabaton. One song on that album is sort of relevant to this moment. Also the entire album is just awesome, so go listen to it.