The Boy Who Talks to Machines
By The Good Life Creator 678
Chapter Two: Don't Fear the Little Red Reaper
It was supposed to be an easy day, a day where she can pick up her supplies, pick up the most recent copy of X-ray and Vav with the new cover variant, and indulge in all of what From Dusk Till Dawn had to offer. The new school year at Signal was fast approaching and she'd be damned if she and her baby didn't turn heads.
Phase one of her day plan went off without a hitch. Her boots got resoled, her belt got a new pewter rose, and she finally got that new cookie recipe book that was all over the net.
Regardless of whatever happened tonight, she was going to make snickerdoodles that put everyone to shame.
Phase one, done and over with. Next!
Phase two didn't exactly go to plan. The cover variant wasn't at the bookstore, an empty space of where it should have been greeted her with what might as well been a childish raspberry. Disappointment, thy name was Ruby Rose. She didn't leave empty handed though, a new story of stone beasts and a shining knight had caught her attention. After skimming through part of the first chapter, she was sold.
She really was a sucker for a hero thrown in with nothing and becoming everything.
Phase two partially completed. No plan survives first contact, or so she has been told.
Phase three was what landed her pacing around an interrogation room, awaiting her punishment. She did nothing wrong! They started it all! All she did was happen to be at the dust shop when they arrived! How was she supposed to know that it'd be robbed?
She was innocent!
All she wanted was some raw dust to reload her shells with, maybe some gravity dust to give her the boost she needed. She was light enough, it was a solid plan. But no, Roman Torchwick and his band of merry men decided to interrupt her.
Dispatching the grunts was easy enough, none of them expecting her to fight back. Roman was the difficult one, leading her on a chase across the rooftops of Vale. He was talented, having memorized the city like the back of his hand, leading her down paths that Ruby didn't even know existed.
But she kept hot on his heels the entire time, all the way till he decided to use a chunk of raw fire dust crystal to get some distance. That's where everything devolved into pure chaos and happenstance. Glynda had showed up like an honest to Brother Gods superheroine, saved her from the blast, then proceeded to have one of the most visually spectacular fights with Roman's savior.
Ruby was star struck, one of her idols had come in to take charge of the situation. Or at least, she would have been had it not been for what happened after Roman and his savior flew into the night.
Glynda had taken Ruby down to the police station, given her a scathing glare, and then left the poor girl in an interrogation room. Apparently, she had to attend to another matter that occurred at the other end of Vale. Something about a fist fight in a grocery store involving three EVOs, with two of the participants being taken into custody.
So now Ruby was left to her own devices, pacing around the room. How would this impact her career? All she wanted was to be a huntress, a heroine that gallivanted around Remnant and saved people! To help people and make a difference, just like her mom had taught her. How could she do that now with a criminal reco-.
The door swung open in a flurry, almost hitting her square in the face when a body was all but tossed into the room. "Get in there, EVO!" a voice bellowed before slamming the door shut, leaving her with the newcomer.
He wasn't exactly an imposing man; clumsily stumbling after being shoved through the door. He looked barely older than her, right about Yang's age. He was a thin boy, whipcord frame held together by tight muscles, wrapped in old militia armor and casual clothes.
He didn't exactly look like any EVO she had ever heard of. Was he one of the EVOs that got into that fist fight Glynda had been called to?
Only one way to find out.
"So, what did you do?"
"Gyaaaaah!"
--The Boy Who Talks to Machines--
If step three of his plan had went sideways, impromptu step four was going off the rails down a mountainside and into a lake of fire. Nothing he tried had to deescalate the situation was successful. He tried explaining that there was another EVO involved, they said that was a likely story. He told them that he cured the other one and they scoffed, calling him a liar. He tried containing Rebekah, she bit one of them on the hand.
What she meant by them getting fresh with her he had no clue.
After being all but drug into the police station they were processed, had their mugshots taken, and separated with Rebekah being drug off to who knows where and him being shoved into a dark room. This was it, this was the part where he got ripped apart molecule by molecule by some overzealous scientists. He could see them now, hideous marching jumpsuits and all.
"So, what did you do?" a petite voice questioned behind him.
"Gyaaaaah!" His heart nearly broke through his chest bone with his skeleton fallowing suit as he turned to his attention to the owner of the voice. How long has she been here? Was she the mad scientist sent to 'examine' him? Was it starting now?! He was too young to die! He didn't even make it to Beacon yet!
Wait, didn't she ask him what he had done? Wouldn't they already know? Slowly, he turned to the sound of the voice, trying to calm his hammering heart. The first thing he noticed were her silver eyes glistening under the bright lone light in the otherwise dark room, holding a glint of curiosity. He liked them, they were oddly pretty, soothing in a sense. He couldn't place why but he felt calm under her gaze, if only slightly. She was a petite girl, barely coming up to his shoulders, garbed in reds and blacks, short dark hair with crimson tips framed her pale cheeks, a fitting red cloak draped over shoulders and an extremely shocked expression contorted on her face as she took in his own state of panic.
"Gah! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to scare you!" She sounded concerned, her hands coming up before her with palms facing him in an effort to placate his fear.
Jaune placed a hand over his heart in inept effort to try and steady his breathing. It refused his attempts, continuing its pace. "Calm down." He wasn't sure who he was trying to convince, the girl panicking at his current state or himself. "I'm… I'm sorry; I'm just a bit on edge."
The legs of the chairs scraped against the floor as the two took their seats, getting as comfortable as the metal would let them. Her eyes never left him; the curious glance only grew stronger as she inspected him, making him feel self-conscious.
"Do I have something on my face?"
"You didn't answer my question." That was true, he hadn't. His skeleton was too busy trying to rip itself out his skin in a fight or flight moment that he had almost forgotten that she even asked a question to begin with.
Jaune pondered a bit on how to even respond to her inquiry. He could tell the truth, about how he became a ragdoll to an Eldritch thing that he was fairly certain wanted to eat him whole only to be saved by a wise cracking raccoon with a plasma cannon. No, no, that sounded too much like a fib. That kind of stuff only happened in comics. He could lie, say that he took on a gang while trying to save a baby. Nope, that was even worse.
"I got into a fist fight in a grocery store." Nailed it. "You?"
The silver eyed girl took on a thoughtful expression, cupping her chin as her mind worked overtime on the best possible way on how she got there with him. "I…I tried stopping a dust robbery," she finally said, copying his noncommittal answer.
An awkward silence fell over the two, both trying to figure out what else to say. They had tried to at several points; both looking at each other, their mouths opening to speak; both becoming chickens and turning to stare at the door as if it were the most interesting thing in all of existence.
Finally, the boy had broke through the invisible barrier. "So, I'm Jaune." He offered his hand to her, a sheepish smile forming on his features.
She took his hand, her own awkward smile becoming reality. "Ruby." The name suited her.
Another silence fell upon them. 'I guess neither of us are good at small talk,' Jaune thought.
His fingers began lightly drumming on the table, his habit coming in full force as the quiet seconds progressed. "Two skins, one man, fits in one hand. Goddamn that man and everything created by him."
"So, you're an EVO?" Ruby asked, the curious glint returning to her eyes as she inspected him. He didn't look like one, baring none of the markings that the news had portrayed. He looked just like a normal boy. Jaune didn't blame her for asking, the nice police officer that threw him in made sure to let the world know.
"Yup, I am."
"You don't look like one I've ever heard," she stated. Jaune couldn't hear any malice from her voice. It came out more like a fact, like how grass is usually green till some paints it. He couldn't fault her, though; most EVOs weren't like him. The vast majority ended up more like the Glutton that he cured earlier, running on some instinctual need of survival.
Jaune attempted to find his voice to respond. "I'm special?" That sounded better in his head.
"You're a certain kind of special," Rebekah retorted, making her presence known to the duo. Jaune groaned, he should have expected his traveling companion to find her way back to him. Phase shifting had made it nigh impossible to actually hold her for long.
"Shouldn't you be in a cell?"
"I got bored," Rebekah responded, shrugging her shoulders, as if it made all the sense in the world.
"Lemme get this straight, you got bored, phased through whatever you could to find your weapons, and decided that the best use of your time was to find me and scare Ruby?" Jaune pointed towards the wide eyed girl in question; mouth slightly agape with astonishment.
"She can talk?" Ruby finally squeaked out, the astonishment never leaving her face.
"Kinda delayed response there, Hood," the raccoon commented dryly.
"That is so cool!" Jaune almost did a double take at the petite girl. That was definitely not on the list of responses that he expected. He was anticipating chaos at best and panic at worst, the usual responses to her extremely anthropomorphic abilities; not some start eyed girl clasping her hands as she all but beamed at them.
"What?" Jaune and Rebekah questioned.
"It's like a comic book with a hero and a sidekick! This is so cool!" Ruby was giddy at the two.
"I think he takes offense to being called a sidekick." How anyone barely over a foot and a half could have such a massive ego, Jaune would never know.
"I think she meant you." Rebekah snapped at the pointed finger, missing it by fractions of an inch as Jaune quickly retracted it. "Really? Biting?"
The door burst open and the next few moments became a blur to Jaune. One moment, he was arguing with Rebekah about her violent tendencies and the next he was staring into a set of strangely inquisitive peach colored eyes; fingers cupping his chin as she tilted his head side to side in further inspection.
He felt completely violated in all of three seconds. "Hmmm, strong jawline."
He blushed at the comment. "Thanks, I thi-"
With a flick, the new woman shoved a thermometer under his tongue before forcing his mouth shut. "Hold that thought."
She was an older woman with an olive tone complexion with peach colored hair and white lab coat giving off a reason as to why she had invaded his personal space.
Rebekah bellowed in laughter, almost falling backwards off his shoulder. "You look like a guinea pig!" she managed to croak out between fits of glee. Jaune groaned at her; she was having way too much fun with his new predicament.
Her inquisitive gaze shifted towards Rebekah, smiling with excitement.
"My, aren't you an interesting specimen."
"You stay away from me!" Crimson electric plasma crackled as Rebekah sparked her favorite weapon to life.
The woman's eyes lit up at the sight of Rebekah holding the cannon. "Did you create a lightning dust cannon?" If she felt any terror at the prospect of getting struck by burning plasma she didn't show it.
The crackling plasma died down as Rebekah's head cocked to the side, her tail swishing in confusion at the peach woman's strange delight. "No, it generates a plasma discharge from electrostatic friction caused by the magnetic prongs." Jaune had taught her that, their first attempt actually using lightning dust before exploding in their face. He had pictures of her with fur standing on end due to static.
"That is so awesome!" Ruby exclaimed, making a grab for the cannon. Rebekah shifted to Jaune's other shoulder, clutching the thing like a child. "You have to lemme see it! It could revolutionize how I fight!"
The image of a red hooded girl cackling madly with lightning bursting off into the air flashed through Jaune's mind.
A sheepish smile fell on her face as she sank back into her seat. Blood rushed to her cheeks in embarrassment. "Sorry, I'm a bit of a nerd when it comes to weapons."
The thermometer was yanked out of Jaune's mouth, allowing him to finally speak. "Who are you?" he questioned the woman. He really wanted to know if he was going to end up on a cold metal table and who was going to be the one that put him there.
"Oh, I never introduced myself, did I?" She spoke as if she was ashamed of the minor failure yet feeling none of it. "I always get excited when I get to meet new test subjects. I'm Professor Thumbelina Peach, head of both dust and EVO studies at Beacon."
A teacher from Beacon? What was she doing…there… Wait, did she say what Jaune thought she did. "Test Subject?"
"Well, yeah." She smiled at him. It was warm, inviting. The exact opposite of what he had been picturing in his mind of odd jumpsuits and reflective goggles. "Your abilities aren't exactly the best secret in the world. My goal is to figure out how they work and the repercussions that they might have on you. Whether you're a patient or a test subject is entirely up to you."
Before Jaune could get her to expand upon what she meant by the odd choices, heels clacked violently against the tile floor, right through the open door. Another woman, tall with blonde hair tied back in a professional manner. A manicured appearance that told a story of strict discipline.
"You three are the most irresponsible children ever!" she bellowed. The three youths sank deep into their seats, hoping that the ground swallowed them whole.
A finger pointed at Ruby. "You, young lady, put yourself and everyone in the vicinity in grave peril by getting involved with armed robbers."
"They started it!" Ruby defended. Her hands slapped down on the table as she stood up from her hair. Jaune admired her confidence in that moment.
Confidence that got crushed easily under the new woman's icy emerald glare. "And what if it turned into a hostage situation? Or if more dust was involved? Do you really believe that they have a care in the world about your safety?"
Ruby sat back down, deflated. Jaune felt bad for her, the thought of a life being extinguished like that was demoralizing.
The stern woman's gaze shifted towards the teenaged boy, catching him like a deer in headlights. "And you two, do you have any idea how dangerous EVOs like the one in that grocery store are? Do you have any idea how much collateral damage you caused in your little fight? What was your line of thinking?"
"I just wanted to do the right thing?" Jaune's voice was meek, sinking further into the chair in a vain effort to escape. Maybe Rebekah's idea of cheesing it was the best idea.
Her attention shifted to Rebekah as she hid behind Jaune. "And you, did you really feel it appropriate to bite an officer?"
"He got fresh with me." Rebekah had never sound so meek. Ruby snorted at that, earning another heated glare from the blonde woman.
"Take it easy on them, Glynda," the mad scientist piped in. "You've said it yourself, they're children. I'm sure they've learned their lesson."
"And just what are you doing here, Thumbelina?" The amount of venom Glynda had for Peach made it known that the good doctor was not welcomed in the room. Peach simply pointed at Jaune as if that was all the explanation she needed.
Glynda sighed in exasperation, having no choice but to accept the given the answer. Her attention returned to the two teens and raccoon. "Regardless, if it were up to me, all three of you would be sent home with a pat on the back." Ruby looked a bit elated at the comment. Jaune looked a bit apprehensive as if waiting for the other proverbial shoe to drop. "And a sharp slap on the wrist. However, there is someone else that would like to meet all of you."
The moment she moved a man with messy grey hair and dark green suit walked in carrying a trey off cookies, an odd egg with squares jutting off from its shell, and a large scroll tucked in his arm; a small smile on his lips.
"Ruby Rose," he spoke, addressing the young girl first before placing the cookies before her. She hesitated for a moment, earning a nod from the man before all but inhaling them. "So you do have silver eyes."
He turned to address the blond boy, placing the strange egg-like device in front of him. "And Jaune Arc. Would you do me a favor and speak to this?"
Jaune looked visually inspected the thing incredulously. What did the strange green man mean by speak to it? Was there a hidden microphone somewhere imbedded underneath squares? Fingers poked and prodded trying to get some idea before realization washed over him.
It was screaming. Not in audible words but in pulses of electricity. A series of ones and zeros passed through his mind as he gingerly picked it up at both ends. His eyes glowed as blue traces leaped from his finger tips.
If the green man wanted Jaune to talk to an egg-like device, he was going to give him a full conversation. The squares retracted and extended upon Jaune's commands as segments spun in response.
"And you can speak in binary," the older man stated as the glow in the teens eyes died down, satisfied with the display of technopathy.
Ruby stared at the Jaune with bright eyed wonder as he placed the device on the table. He could see the litany of questions written all over her face; one being the loudest of them all.
Just what else was he capable of?
Peach looked at him with excitement, almost vibrating in place. That terrified Jaune in ways he didn't know possible.
Fingers tapped along the scroll before placing it before the two teens. Jaune could only stare at the video displayed on it, mouth agape in astonishment. It was of Ruby swinging around a large war scythe, smacking into a few armed men before vaulting herself up a skyscraper in pursuit of a man in a white coat and a bowler hat.
His earlier scare and increased heart rate made sense. It wasn't because she got the jump on him; no, it was a fear response of a cute girl with deadly acrobatic skills.
"Care to elaborate just how you're capable of doing that?" Jaune knew a loaded question when he heard it, Rebekah always asked those.
Ruby fidgeted in her seat. Was she nervous? "Signal Academy."
Mirth twinkled in the man's eyes. "You're telling me that the instructors of Signal took it up on themselves to teach you how to use one of the most difficult weapons in Remnant?"
Ruby looked like she just got caught with her hand in the cookie jar. "One teacher in particular?"
There was more to that shaky excuse. Whatever it was the man did not get deeper into. "I see." He quickly swiped the scroll to another video; one Jaune was all to familiar with. "And you." Jaune could only squirm at his clumsy fist fight with the glutton, cringing as he became a ragdoll. Finally it stopped at the moment he cured Big Mouth. "How are you capable of these feats?"
Jaune thought for a moment. He could lie, tell the man that it was part of his semblance. No, that wouldn't do. With what Peach has divulged earlier, they already knew what he was. "I'm an EVO that can talk to machines and will them to do what I want." His voice was nowhere close to the confidence that he wanted to portray.
His eyebrow rose in inquiry. "I see. I just find it rather curious that a cute little girl would get involved with a school for slaying monster and a boy with a raccoon would gallivant around curing EVOs. Either of you care to explain?"
Ruby was the first to answer. "Well, I want to be a huntress." That made sense to Jaune. The video of her fighting armed suits with acrobatic skills showed she was more than in her element when in combat.
"And you?" The man pointed at Jaune, waiting for the older teen to offer his explanation.
"I just wanna do the right thing. I have the power to help so I do what I can."
"So you want to slay monsters," he gestured to Ruby who nodded with earnest. "And you just want to do the right thing. Do either of you know who I am?"
Jaune hadn't the foggiest idea of who he was, just that he was someone very important. But Ruby did. "You're Professor Ozpin, headmaster at Beacon!"
"Wait, really?" Jaune remembered that name; it was on the list of faculty members when he forged his documents.
The older man gave a small smile and a wave of the hand. "Hello."
Jaune frowned at that. That was it? What about why he was questioning them? Or about why he was interested in a girl who attempted to stop a dust robbery or a boy who blundered a fist fight with an EVO?
The man ignored all unasked questions. "I'm sure you both have many questions on why I'm here, so let me ask you both one first. How would you two like the opportunity to gain the tools needed to obtain your dreams?"
"YES!" Ruby all but jumped at the question, her voice echoed down the hallway on the other side of the door and she had the largest smile plastered on her face that Jaune had ever seen.
Jaune was cautious to answer. Sure, he wanted to be a huntsman as far back as he could remember, and if what Ozpin was offering, he had a chance to legally do it; forged documents be damned. But he also remembered what Thumbelina said, that he had a choice to either be a patient or test subject.
Was this what she meant?
"Just a quick question, what if I were to say no?"
The soft smile never left Ozpin's face. "Well, your 'abilities' make you very valuable. I'm sure you can figure out the result of your denial of my offer." Jaune knew why they would cross that line if he declined their offer; he was the perpetual light at the end of the long dark EVO tunnel. He didn't fault them at that; the lives of the many outweighed that of the few or so governments had operated.
This was their compromise without outright stating so.
Jaune put on his best smile, trying to hide how unsure he was. "I've always wanted to be a huntsman."
"What do you mean always?" Rebekah questioned. "You only remember the last year and a half." She was wrong, he only remembered the last eighteen months, three days, and forty-five minutes.
"I dream fast?"
A/N-Yeah, this is a bit slower than last chapter. I wanted to showcase the gravity of Ozpin's offer; if it were to be called that. In Generator Rex, he was brought up by a para-government organization so he really never had a choice in the matter, with several concessions being made throughout the series on how to handle him yet it was made perfectly clear that at the start, he was viewed as a weapon.
I kinda wanted the same weight with this story. Lemme know if I achieved it.
Blazingshade3- Well, here's hoping that this fic fills that void of Gen Rex/RWBY crossovers. I also have a very soft spot for Lancaster, kind of my favorite pairing. Knightshade would be interesting for this as well. Not sure how to approach Penny though. I mean, I'm not opposed to it I just dunno how to go about it.