"Come on, all of you, at least try to keep up!" Weiss' voice came from up ahead, somewhere the others couldn't see.It had taken less than a few hours for the news to hit the school. While none of them were completely sure about the idea of sending a group of students to retrieve an unstable, potentially dangerous man, there was no convincing Ozpin - and besides, what was the worst outcome, really?
Penny, however, saw it differently. Unlike the others, she'd known about the crash from the moment Isaac's identity had been sent to headquarters. Regrettably, she hadn't stopped for orders. She couldn't. Not if he was alive, out there, and in danger. She had to find him. She couldn't lose whatever was left.Ciel had caught up first, mostly because she'd been present when Penny first ran away. It hadn't taken long for the rest of RWBY to find her, too. She still wasn't sure why they had been sent, and it didn't seem like they really knew either. But Ozpin was no fool. Anyone who knew him knew that. Whether it had been to keep her from getting hurt or because he thought they had the best chance of bringing Issac home was anyone's guess. But there was a reason somewhere.
Weiss' snarky comment only hung in the air for a second before Penny dashed past her. Schnee paused, turning away to stare after the ginger, apparently insulted. "C'mon, Weiss, try to keep up!" Yang laughed as she passed the heiress herself. "Hey! You can't just!" Weiss groaned. She paused as if to wait and see if Yang would stop, then took chase once more.Their bickering voices were growing distant. Try as they might, none of them were fast enough to keep pace with a weapon of war. Even Ciel, try as she might, had only been able to catch up because Penny didn't know where she was going.
That had changed. A little life signal beeped away on her internal radar, like a flashlight in a dark room. It was human, and there was no reason for any other human to be out this far. Penny had a direction now. "Penny! Wait for us!" Ruby shouted.Her cries fell on deaf ears, it seemed. Maybe it was because Penny was a robot. She couldn't see past her objective. That was her friend she was talking about, she knew - but she didn't know how robots really worked, and it wasn't like she could ask anyone else. Nobody else knew. Even Ciel, Ruby couldn't say for sure, though she had come to assume that she knew.In the end, it really didn't matter if she could or couldn't see past her goal. The main point was that Ruby was worried. Worried for her normally-attentive friend's state of mind and worried she would run straight into a fight she couldn't handle alone. So she did her best to keep her eyes on Penny and follow wherever she went.
"FUCK!" Penny stopped, just for a second. He was here. Right here, not far in front of her. She didn't want to scare him, especially considering the details of how he had run off. Would he even remember her? How much did he know about his old life that was true? All questions for later. For now, she had more to think about. She started walking again, this time taking care to move slowly, as humanly as she could. If he didn't remember, then she didn't want to frighten him. Spending so much time to think about how she was walking, however, came at the cost of thinking about where she was stepping.
A branch cracked under her weight, alerting Isaac to her position. She stopped for a moment and stared.
"Isaac- I mean you no harm-" she started softly.
A fist interrupted her attempt at an introduction. Penny flinched, mostly out of shock. What had she done wrong? She raised both her hands up in a white-flag gesture.
"Please, I'm here to help you!" she insisted, desperation coming through in her tone.
It was no use. He'd grabbed something to aim at her - a weapon, she was sure, although it didn't look like any she had seen - and fired. She shouted in surprise. The 'gun' had fired something akin to energy, and while it hadn't pierced her armor, it sure had left a cut in her clothes. She frowned deeply.
"Calm down. Please, listen to me!" she pleaded again. No use. Another shot was fired off on her. She had no intention of hurting him, but it didn't stop her from finally realizing that she had to dodge. And dodge she did, to the best of her ability. What shots did land did no real damage, something that - she hoped - Isaac would be happy to hear whenever he came to his senses.
"What's goin' on here??"
Penny's attention was diverted, as she ended her next dodge-roll. The voice belonged to Yang, Ruby's older sister.
"Be careful! He's armed!" Penny warned.
"Penny!" Ruby signaled her arrival, flanking Isaac on the side opposite to Yang.
Blake, Weiss, and Ciel came in last, surrounding Isaac from every side that they could. Not that there was much need for it, given that Isaac was already on his way down.
"Isaac!" Penny launched forward, catching him on his way down.
"Don't crowd them," Ciel warned, though her precautions went unheard to Ruby. The brunette sprung at the chance to help her friend, even if that help was only emotional.
"Penny- What are those? Are you hurt?" Ruby worried.
Penny shook her head. "I'm alright. I'm more worried about him."
"He's probably in shock, or something," Blake said, unsure of herself.
"We need to get him back somewhere safe," Weiss added on.
Penny nodded. That was right. They did need to get him somewhere safe, where maybe they could calm him down, actually talk to him. It was going to be okay - she nodded again, like she was confirming it for herself - it was going to be okay. She stood up, easily carrying the fully-grown, fully-armoured man. This earned a few stares.
"Uh, how is she..?" Weiss murmured.
"Penny has remarkable strength," Ciel covered. Although it was a vague answer, the confidence that Ciel delivered it with made Weiss believe her.
"Come on, we're not accomplishing anything just standing here. Let's get moving already!" Yang pushed, "And Penny, you've gotta show me your workout routine, if it lets you carry that guy!"
"Of course, Miss Yang," Penny answered, happy, but absentminded, "Let us commence!"
She was the first to start running, as usual. Ciel followed, leaving the team to stand there for one last second.
"That girl never stops," Blake commented.
"You gotta admire it!" Yang answered.
And with that, they sprinted off, one after another. They would get lost out here without Penny, after all, and that was the last thing that anybody needed now.
It was some time later, but Penny finally got the chance to see Isaac. It was behind everyone backs sure but it was the only way for her to see if anything messed with his head. The way he attacked her while she was trying to help him. Penny couldn't make sense of it with her code.
"Isaac..?" She said, walking up to the cell. "Are you okay?" She asked before a chuckle came frome the cell. "What? you people actually care about me now all of the sudden?" Penny lifted an eyebrow. "You people? What do you mean?"
"Don't act dumb. Unitologists." Isaac said with a hint of disgust in his voice as he got closer to the cell bars, looking at Penny. Penny Flinched. She knew it was Isaac's voice coming out of this man, but his face was wrong. He looked young and was clean-shaven. "What are Unitogists?" She asked after passing through her shock."They're what you people are. worshipping Altman and those damn markers." Isaac said, leaning against the wall."
Penny was confused at his claims. There was nothing she had learned about these unitologists or markers. "I'm sorry,I have never heard of these things. Isaac,what happened to you? what's that tech on your ba - " Penny began to ask before Isaac looked towards her with a look of fury on his face. "You don't get to act sorry for me. Screw you and your so-called sympathy." Penny took a step back. "Isaac, this isn't you! What would Nicole think about the way you're speaking to me!?" She said, sounding like she was on the verge of tears. "YOU DONT GET TO FUCKING TALK ABOUT HER!" Isaac yelled hitting the bars on his cell. "NONE OF YOU PEOPLE DO!"
"Isaac,Please Please Please tell me what happened. you've been gone for years. I.." Penny said, Her voice shaking. She had to know something. What Happened to Isaac? Was Nicole still alive? "You're not getting anything from me." Isaac said, walking back to his bed. Penny was dumbfounded by his stubbornness and him not realizing who she was and what she meant to him. She couldn't believe it. She left the room. Sadness running in her progam.