ahhhhhhhh sorry for drought content coming soon


Rex was enjoying his downtime, scrolling through his phone, when a familiar power couple came over to chat with him.

"Hey, lovebirds. What's up?" Rex teased.

Ruby smiled down at him. "Hey, Rex. We need a favor."

"Sure! What's up?"

"We're gonna need those goggles, dude," Ben said.

Rex gasped, offended. "Hell to the no, you dick! These things are special! I would rather give up my first born child than give up these goggles!"

Ruby gave him a look. "Dude."

"...okay, okay. I wouldn't. But seriously, these were a gift from Six," Rex explained. "I'm not giving them up."

Ben groaned. "So now what? Having something that can detect corrodium would be pretty handy."

Rex smirked. "Hey, I said I'm not parting with this pair. I know a dude in Mantle who can help."


The trio approached a building with glowing green windows on the first floor, and an equally green plus symbol above its front door.

"A medical center?" Ruby asked, arching an eyebrow.

"The guy here used to work with the Atlesian military. He left a while back to raise a kid or something? I dunno. He just reopened a while back." Rex shrugged.

Ben gave the center an appraising look. "Any reason for the shut down?"

"...I think his kid died during the Battle of Beacon."

"...oh."

"Yeah, I really didn't want to say it," Rex admitted. There was something else he was hiding, but that one deserved to be kept secret, if he was being honest.

"I can see why," Ruby said softly.

"Well, on the bright side, I can get us a discount," he said with a grin, breaking the somber atmosphere.

Ruby blinked. "Wait, really? Is it because you're Atlas military personnel?"

"You'll see." Rex beamed as the side door opened. A Faunus with a prosthetic arm stepped outside, waving cheerfully to someone inside.

"Remember, don't do any heavy lifting!" a young man's voice called out. Ben and Ruby followed Rex into the waiting room. At the desk was a young man with shaggy blonde hair and blue eyes. He wore an army green utility jacket over an olive t-shirt with a white stripe across the middle, lined with black, paired with gray pants and well-worn Converses. He was typing something on an old laptop, probably secretary stuff.

"Yo," Rex called out, and the blonde kid perked up.

"Oh, hey!" The secretary's face simply lit up upon seeing the other boy. "Didn't know you were dropping by today."

"Well, I came to see you." Rex grinned. "They're here to get some stuff from Pietro."

The boy looked over Rex's shoulder. "Which duo is this- demon girl and tough guy, or the alien kid and the scythe lady?"

"Latter half," Ben piped up.

"So, you gonna introduce us?" Ruby asked slyly.

"Oh, right, right." Rex gestured with his arm to the new guy, "Guys, this is Noah. My boyfriend."

Noah gave a shy wave, a little embarrassed to be introduced that way.

"Nice to meet you," Ben said, smiling sincerely. "So, how long is the doctor gonna be? We wanna meet with him for some tech similar to Rex's goggles."

Rex smirked. "What can I say? I started a fashion trend."

Noah rolled his eyes. "Well, he's dealing with one of his older patients right now, but it shouldn't be too long."

Right as he finished saying those words, the trio actually heard said patient from inside the examination room.

"Ok, now everything's white," the patient was saying. The words were muffled by the door, but Ruby still recognized that voice a little. But..it couldn't be her, could it?

"Odd, I thought the upgrade would've worked properly," came another voice, one she didn't recognize, probably the doctor in question. "Maybe the lenses aren't compatible."

"Sooo, enough about that," Ben interjected. "What's your story? I am VERY curious about how you and Rex met."

Rex grinned. "Shooting hoops."

"He sucked. I showed him pointers," Noah stated. "And it all went uphill from there."

"...is it weird I was half expecting something out of the ordinary there?" Ben joked.

"Considering who we're talking about? Not really," Noah said with a smirk.

There were yet more tinkering sounds coming out of the examination room.

"There we go. How's that?" the doctor asked.

"Monochrome, again. We'll worry about the color upgrade later," the patient said. In moments, the door opened up...and none other than Maria walked out.

"YOU!" Maria yelled, throwing her cane so fast it hit Ruby square in the face. Ben flinched away, half expecting Maria to throw something at him too.

"No calls! No letters! Hell, I would have assumed you were DEAD!" Maria chastised angrily.

"You guys know her?" Rex asked quietly, trying and failing to hide behind Ben.

"This is Ruby's mentor," Ben told him, making his eyes widen in shock.

Ruby's hands covered her face, and she whined in pain as her forehead grew red. Maria's aim was as good as ever.

"W-we've been busy is all!" Ruby spluttered, reluctantly lowering her hands.

"Too busy to even check in? Is Ironwood just burying you in missions then?" Maria asked incredulously.

"Yeah, actually-" Ben began but cut off with a shriek as Maria threw her cane at him, hitting him in the face too.

"Anyways..." she said, picking up her cane. "Why are you two here?"

"Long story short, we need some cool goggles," Ben groaned, rubbing his head.

"For scanning things, and to protect our eyes. Especially mine," Ruby added.

"Your eyes? Let me guess, the general sent you out on a mission and he forgot to mention how likely you were to get snow blindness?" Maria asked, almost like that was from personal experience.

"Not exactly?" Ruby shook her head. "More like, and you might not believe this, but I might've used my eyes to...destroy an entire pack of Beowolves in an old Dust mine."

"...what?"

"Yeah, I know, pretty crazy, but-"

"What color are your eyes, Ruby?"

"Huh?"

Maria's tone had turned from sassy to serious. Her goggles were trained on Ruby's face. "What color are your eyes?"

"Um, silver? I, I thought you knew...but I heard what the doctor was talking abou-"

Maria cut her off. "Was this the first time you've used them like that?"

"No?" Ruby wondered, blinking. "There was the time on Beacon Tower...I don't remember what happened, but I froze a dragon."

"...a Wyvern. You froze a Wyvern," Maria said, surprised. "I've dealt with a few flyers that way before: Lancers, Nevermores, Ravagers..."

"Wait, are you telling me that-"

"Do you mind taking a quick walk with me, Ruby?" Maria asked suddenly. "I promise I won't be long."

Ben and Ruby shared a look. "I'll tell the Doctor you went out. I'm sure he won't mind."

"Um...ok," Ruby said, following Maria out of the clinic and into the streets. It was just another day in Mantle, with people on the sidewalks and cars driving by.

"If I'd known about your eyes, I would've had this talk with you sooner. Sometimes I hate how these goggles only see in black and white." Maria tapped the side of her prosthetic eyes. "But I want to hear what you know about those eyes of yours first."

"Uh, just that they can destroy Grimm with a single glance. Looks can kill, am I right?" Ruby joked.

"Just as I thought." Maria shook her head. "Then again, I had my father explain all this to me when I was around your age. He didn't have all the answers, of course, and I don't think anyone really does. But what he told me? After all these years, it makes sense."

"...did something happen to your eyes?" Ruby asked quietly. "Like, did you over use them or something?"

Maria sighed heavily. "I wish that was the case, kid."

"Then..."

"Ruby, before today, have you ever heard of or seen someone else with silver eyes? Outside of your family?"

"...no."

"Exactly. Look in any collection of Hunter myths and you'll always find at least one tale of a warrior whose eyes shine like mirrors, reflecting light onto a world of darkness. But beyond that? Very little. So little, in fact, that it makes you wonder. How could such powerful bloodlines be so rare? Unless..."

"...are we the only ones left?" Ruby asked, scared.

"I don't know yet," Maria sighed. "But even if we are, how do you think that happened?"

"Someone...someone was looking for them..." Ruby's eyes went wide. Salem.

"And the worst part is that it's not even a theory. The evidence is right here." Maria tapped the side of her goggle-like eyes again.

Ruby shivered. "She went after your eyes."

"Sent a half assed assassin when I was in my 30s," Maria explained. "I was supposed to be a teacher at Beacon a month later. I think she knew what she was doing."

A dark blue cloaked and hooded woman walked a lonely road through the mountains, a skull mask concealing her face. The wind whistled around her as it passed between the rocky peaks that surrounded her. Halfway across an old, rickety bridge, spanning over a ravine between two smaller peaks, she heard it- the screech of a Nevermore. She turned to her left to see the monster fly through the fog, and she drew her weapons - a pair of sickles.

The woman backflipped off the bridge just as the Nevermore rammed through it, splitting it in half. She threw one of her sickles at a wing and used the gravity Dust imbued in it to pull herself back up, while simultaneously dragging the Nevermore down.

She grabbed her other sickle on her way up, getting above the Nevermore, and used the recoil of her weapon to spin and grapple onto the Grimm. She then threw one of her sickles to a mountain, pulling the Nevermore with it. The monster crashed into the mountainside, losing its balance, before crash landing to the ground. Maria's other sickle was called back just as she landed on the ground in front of it.

The young Maria Calavera took out the sickle from the Nevermore's wing and caught her breath. She looked over to its head- and it's eyes stared back at her.

Maria didn't flinch. She dodged just as the Grimm snapped back at her. She put as much distance between them as she could, forcing the monster to make a quick, flying leap towards her. She stood her ground as her eyes lit up brightly, engulfing the area around her. Maria gazed at the Nevermore, petrified in midair, before it crashed to the ground and crumbled to dust. Maria walked over to her sickle to pick it up, using the gravity Dust to call her other weapon back to her.

"Easy." She smirked behind the mask. Suddenly, she deflected a bullet aimed at her. She noticed three men - one with a giant hammer, one carrying a rifle, and one with a machete - come out of hiding. Another woman then walked up behind her. What an interesting face she was.

She was a Crocodile Faunus with a shaved head, dark-green grayish mohawk, and yellow eyes. She wore a dark green collared shirt with a dark brown corset, that had a strap attached to a narrow belt around her thigh, along with black and gray striped trousers and black shoes. In addition, she wore dark brown fingerless gloves and carried a large stopwatch with her.

Her Faunus trait was patchy, shady green scales all over her body and face. She had an x-shaped scar on the left side of her head, black polish on her nails, and sharp metal teeth with two screws in them.

"Well, that's a fancy trick now, innit?" Tock drawled, crushing a piece of the Nevermore beneath her feet. "'Fraid it comes with a price though, love."

"I don't think you realize who I am," Maria said, readying her weapons just as the men did.

"Course I do." Tock grinned as she took out an alarm clock- what? She began to wind it up. "You're the Grimm Reaper...and this is the last sixty seconds of your life."

Tock hit the button and started the countdown. She drew a pair of sabers, activated her Aura, and rushed forward to clash blades with Maria. She fought back, but Tock's Aura knocked her sickle out of her hand. She kicked Maria back, the latter summoning her other sickle back to her hand. She then proceeded to fight the three men, deflecting their bullets. She cut down the rifle-wielder, knocked out the machete-wielder, and dodged out of the way of the hammer user before cutting him down. She then blocked another attack from Tock, who managed to push Maria back, causing her Aura to flicker.

Maria's sickles circled around her before combining together to form a double-edged scythe. Tock and the machete-wielder rushed forward to attack, but Maria blocked them with ease. The Grimm Reaper then took down the machete-wielder before clashing with Tock again. The two locked weapons with each other, before Tock used her razor-sharp metal teeth to chomp through Maria's weapon. She then headbutted the Grimm Reaper, shattering her skull mask in the process.

Maria widened her silver eyes in shock-

And Tock slashed at her eyes.

Maria screamed in pain, the sound echoing throughout the mountains. Her eyes bleeding profusely, she wailed as Tock's alarm clock rang. She pressed the button on her clock and breathed a sigh of relief as her Aura deactivated.

"Close call. I'll give you that." Tock strutted over to Maria, who was still reeling from the attack. Maria managed to grab one of her sickles and fired at Tock, only for her to nonchalantly step out of the way.

"You know, the only reason my master wants you dead is 'cause of your eyes. But seein' as you ain't got 'em no more, you might be able to convince me to spare your life."

In response, Maria tried to throw her sickle at Tock, but she dodged that too. The villainess chuckled. "Well, I respect that...a fighter to the bitter end."

Tock readied her saber, but Maria somehow managed to find her other sickle. She clicked the switch on it, calling the other blade back over-

...and let's just say things got messy.

Maria sighed as she finished. "It took some time to get used to the new eyes, admittedly. As for the Grimm Reaper? As far as anyone else was concerned, the Grimm Reaper simply...vanished. Or in the case of Tock's 'master', she was dead and she took her killers with her."

Ruby blinked before she put her hand over her eyes. "Woah."

"All the more reason to play it safe."

"Y-yeah..." Ruby was still processing all of that. She always knew Maria was a veteran Huntress, but the Grimm Reaper? Someone who even Qrow listed off as one of the best Huntresses in the last century, akin to a legend? If she hadn't mentioned the mine incident, would she have ever known that?

"I know it's a lot to process. You thought you knew who I was, just another retired Huntress passing down what she knows to the next generation. And then you find out I was like you back in the day," Maria said, taking them back to the clinic. They hadn't walked too far by the time she'd finished the story, so it would only be a few more minutes.

"Did Ozpin ever mention my silver eyes to you?" Ruby asked.

"Not even once, the old bastard." Maria sighed bitterly. "Maybe he'd thought I'd freak out. Smart of him, but still...we have mouths and ears for a reason."

"I'd say 'maybe he didn't know about your eyes' but...considering him and secrets..." Ruby trailed off, brow furrowed.

"If he did know, he was the only person who did before today. Never used my real name back then, always wore a skull mask too."

"...a skull mask. Seriously?"

Maria smiled sheepishly. "I thought it was cool. Fit the whole 'Grimm Reaper' theme I had going for me."

"Right." Ruby sighed. "Is there any advice you can give to me concerning said silver eyes? Like, a mantra or something that can keep me on my toes?"

Maria thought for a moment. "First, never think of the power as just a weapon. It's not that simple. Second, whenever you used that power, what did those moments have in common?"

"...I thought about the people I loved," Ruby said quietly, holding her hand close to her heart. "The first time I used it was when Ben was gonna die, and I...well, let my emotions out."

"Exactly. And you wanted to protect them, didn't you? You wanted to protect Ben. The light your eyes use is fueled by the desire to preserve life. After all, preservation is an extension of creation or, at the very least, an enemy of the destruction the Grimm embodies," Maria explained.

"So, if I just focus on my loved ones, I'll be alright?" Ruby asked, smiling lightly.

"You don't get far working alone, Ruby," Maria said pointedly. "Always have someone close to your heart. Value friendship over solitude."

Ruby grinned. "Always have."

In minutes, the two found themselves back at the clinic. Ruby opened the door for Maria before she followed. Ben was already talking to the doctor about the idea of Corrodium detector goggles. He was an elderly man with dark skin and short, white hair, wearing a red vest over a cream shirt with a pink bowtie, dark yellow pants and leather boots. He adjusted his pair of oval-shaped glasses as he looked at some schematics on a holo-screen as Ben kept explaining the idea. The most striking thing about this doctor, however, was the chair he used for mobility. Instead of a normal wheelchair, he had a specially designed Atlesian chair with a white and green color scheme with a few yellow accents, and four movable robotic legs attached to it, two on each side.

"So yeah, Doctor Pietro, we need something like that. For Atlas and what not," Ben said.

Pietro gave a warm smile- it reminded Ruby of Max. "I should have something in the back."

And that was when Pietro noticed Maria and Ruby were back, turning to see them. As soon as he saw Ruby, his eyes widened a bit in surprise.

"You're Ruby Rose," he muttered softly. His face had a soft, thankful expression. "I'm… I'm Doctor Pietro Polendina."

"...Polen...dina?" Ruby repeated. Her face went pale. Ben's eyes widened, as he looked back at the doctor.

"You're...you're her dad." Ben said, a bit shocked.

"She's...told me so much about you," the doctor said, moving away from the desk. Each movement that the mechanical legs on the chair made thudded against the wooden floor of the clinic.

"And...I cannot tell you...how thankful I am. For everything you did for her."

"...I..." Ruby began, as she looked to Ben for an answer of sorts. He looked as equally lost as Ruby did. He didn't know how to handle this...at all.

"You," Pietro started to finish for her, "treated her as I always hoped she would be. Not as the next big leap in technology, but as a person. As a friend. I believe you said it best yourself: 'Do you think just because you've got nuts and bolts instead of squishy guts makes you any less real than me?'"

"...I need to go." Ruby said, sounding like she was on the verge of tears.

Ruby raced off, hiding the tears that were no doubt flowing as soon as she turned away.

"...I...said something wrong, didn't I?" Pietro asked, "Brought up some...bad memories?"

"...I think so." Ben frowned.

"I recall Penny and Ruby were very close...I can imagine she's still dealing with her death." Maria sighed.

"I am...so sorry. I only wanted to-" Pietro began.

"I think your heart was in the right place...just hit too fresh a wound," Maria then turned to Ben, "And you're still standing here? Really?"

"I know, I know..." Ben ran out of the store, leaving Rex and Noah behind.

"...woah, they're dramatic." Noah said.

"Yeah, always the CW with them." Rex joked.

Ben stepped outside, head on a swivel as he looked around for Ruby, trying to see some hints of red somewhere.

With the snow starting to fall, it wasn't hard to see the odd red petal among. The petals formed a perfect trail for him to follow. It got a bit harder to find the petals with the persistent snowfall, but they were still visible, he just had to look a little more carefully. He made his way past a few passersby as he continued to follow the trail. Ruby was probably just putting as much distance as she needed between her and that clinic. Nothing personal against Pietro, but like Maria said, the wound was still fresh.

Ben chased after the trail, hoping it led someplace that wasn't too far from the clinic...Ruby was a speedster, but Ben could only guess. After internalizing all that pain, she was absolutely going to be stopping somewhere...

And then he saw the petals turn down an alley, a collection of rose petals against the wall of one of the buildings. They didn't continue further down...so he looked up and made the right guess.

"...she's up there." Ben said, spotting a nearby ladder he could climb up. He took a deep breath before starting to climb. "Here goes..."

Like he thought, Ruby was up there, sitting near the edge of the rooftop with her knees to her chest. The cold winds up there blew her cloak to the side every so often. She didn't even care about the falling snow. She could feel it, but she ignored every snowflake. She was just...trying to keep it together...and she wasn't really doing a very good job of it. She could feel the tears streaming down her face the more she thought about those words.

"...Ruby." Ben said, as he reached the top. She didn't even turn around, she was just trying to tune out the world, maybe it'd get better if nothing popped her fragile bubble...

He saw her wipe away some of the tears that were falling. Those words Pietro said essentially opened a floodgate of memories. The first time she met Penny, when she found out that Penny was an android, that sparring session against her with Ben where she brought in the giant back-up swords...and then she remembered the Vytal Festival...her...her last fight.

Ben walked closer to her, and put a hand on her shoulder. "…hey. You need to get something off your mind?" Ben asked- was it the best thing to say? Maybe not. But…Ruby needed to vent…

"Yeah..." Ruby said, her voice still a little shaky, "Hearing...hearing those words again...I always thought if I ever heard them again...they'd come from Penny..."

"…Ruby. Do you remember what you told me after Grandpa Max…" Ben froze up for a second. He brushed it off as a chill. "After Grandpa Max died? It…helped me. It got my stuff back together when I needed it most…"

"...no one goes through loss alone..."

"…and how do you think Pietro felt when he lost her?" Ben asked. "It was destiny that Rex brought us to him. We've been so focused on…the future we may need to step back into the past just for this one, one moment…to connect with this guy."

"...I know you're right," Ruby began, "...but...still..." She trailed off, staring off into the horizon of Mantle. What was it like for her, she wondered? What was it like for Penny when she came down here? If her father had a business down here, no doubt she would've seen the streets as well.

"We're here. And we're living on for her. I'm not too sure she'd be keen on her best friend…just kinda shutting down." Ben said,

"You're...you're right. If she saw me like this..." Ruby shook her head a little, "She'd try to help any way she could."

"Yeah...so...come on. We need closure in her death, and...maybe talking with her dad will help."

Ruby wiped away the last of the tears and took a breath before she got to her feet.

"Thanks," Ruby smiled as she turned around and began to walk back with Ben.

Ben paused for a moment, before catching up to Ruby. He hugged her from behind.

"You're never alone with this stuff. Trust me."

"I know," Ruby said. She would've hugged back if she could, instead she just let the hug go on for a few minutes.

Pietro was working on the idea Ben had given him, looking at possible schematics just so he could keep his mind busy. Although, he was also thinking of how to properly apologize to Ruby once the two of them got back. He heard the door to the clinic and saw the two of them walk back in.

"...Doctor Polendina." Ruby said, walking back in. Her voice was still shaky.

"Ah..." Pietro turned around in his chair. "I apologize for...being so tactless earlier. I just..."

"It's...it's fine. I'm sorry I just...bolted back there. I just...needed a minute, I think."

"I understand. I shouldn't have brought up something so...emotionally charged so soon. It was just..."

"I know. You...wanted to meet her best friend for the first time."

"And...I have." Pietro smiled. He was still hurting, but he was trying to power through it, to ease the girl into a sense of comfort. "You're just as wonderful as she said..."

"If you don't mind me asking...what did she tell you about me? I mean...aside from...well..."

"She told me you were the brightest star that ever did shine...and that you were the first person to see her for who she is." Pietro smiled.

"Did she tell you how I found out?" Ruby asked.

"No, actually. When I heard that someone knew but treated her as...well a person, I was just...overjoyed and I might have derailed the conversation a bit," Pietro admitted with a slight chuckle.

"She always was weird, but...in a fun kind of way. She brought out the best parts of me...and, I brought out the part of her that she needed." Ruby said.

"I would've used the term...energetic. When she...when she saw Atlas outside of the lab for the first time, she wanted to have a full tour of the city. The general-he'd been there to see her completion- asked why. She had a full read-out of the city in her memory after all, why need a tour. She said she still wanted to see it for herself. That read-outs were one thing, seeing it for herself was something else entirely, smiling the whole time. That was really the first sign that everything had gone off smoothly. That she wasn't just another machine, she was...well...Penny."

"...I miss her. Everyday." Ruby said, sadly. "I hate how...she was just used by Salem for...sending a message and trying to paint someone in a bad light."

"Ironwood wanted her to send a message as well. A different, more hopeful one, of course...I just wanted her to live her life to the fullest," Pietro said, sighing sadly.

"...We're just...sorry about everything, honestly." Ben sighed. "We knew what was gonna happen, but...Salem's group..."

"They had everything planned out. Down to that...damned virus," Pietro said.

Ben frowned. "Yeah...I can't even imagine the depraved individual who would just...make that..."

"Depraved, but intelligent...they knew exactly how to circumvent every firewall and protective program we have! Not to mention how...adaptive it was, jumping from device to device. That's probably how they...set their...scene."

"...something wrong?" Ben asked, looking a bit confused.

Pietro shook his head. "Ah...nothing. Just a...strange thought popped into my head. Nothing to be worried about..."

"If...you're sure," Ruby said, a little worried about that.

"Now then," Pietro said, shaking off that line of thought, "I believe I have some goggles to make for you all. I didn't get to ask before everything, but I assume you have a sample of the radiation signature to track?"

"Uh...the sample may be a BIT too dangerous to bring it. Again, complicated story." Ruby said, rubbing the back of her head.

"Like, REALLY complicated..." Ben added.

"Oh, I don't need a sample of the material. I just need the energy signature. I assume that watch of yours recorded it?" Pietro gestured to the Omnitrix.

"Actually...it...probably did, all things considered," Ben said, tinkering with the watch to see if he could bring up some kind of record like that.

"Lemme try something." Pietro said, his chair moving over to the device. "Bring back the history of radiation scans."

Ben nodded and brought back that history. The watch then projected a small holographic screen showing a history of the scans, just what Pietro was looking for.

"Interesting..." Pietro said, adjusting his glasses. "I see why you needed these goggles now..."

"Yeah. Results of the radiation weren't pretty..."

"With the signature, I should be able to make something to find them. Though, maybe I should be asking how many of these you need."

"...few. Maybe a dozen. We're finding them in random places..." Ben said. "And we can't afford to make any mistakes."

"It'll take some time, but it can be done," Pietro nodded, making sure to copy the signature for while he worked, "Uh, Noah, do we have any other appointments for the rest of the day?"

Noah typed a bit. "...nooooooope." He said, popping the P, "Open schedule from here on out."

"Perfect. Then we can start right away," Pietro said, moving over to gather some of the materials he needed for this project.

"...how long will it take you?" Ben asked.

"A few days, at most. Hopefully, by the time you run into this radiation again, you'll have them."

"Ah, okay…well, uh…" Ruby said. "We…better get going then."

"Ah, yes. No rest for the weary when it comes to Ironwood and his missions," Pietro chuckles, "It was good to finally meet you, both of you."

"...it was nice to meet you too." Ben nodded, looking over at Ruby. She looked pretty conflicted over what she should say next...

"Oh, and Miss Rose?" Pietro asked, getting the hooded huntress' attention, "Again...thank you. For...everything you did for her."

Ruby closed her eyes. She could still hear Penny's singsong 'salutation' in the back of her mind...and...

For the first time since Beacon...

It didn't hurt to think about.

Ruby smiled back. "...thank you. It was nice to meet you."

Pietro nodded and watched the two leave, Rex having a few words with Noah about some plans when the latter was before he followed the two. The good doctor turned back to his work and, while most of his mind was focused on the task of building these radiation detecting goggles...part of him had to wonder. Like he said before, whoever programmed the virus that helped Salem's cabal take down Beacon was...scarily intelligent. Every firewall and countermeasure Atlas had was useless. Someone with a mind like that had to be a prodigy...but there was a much more frightening, more possible option. The virus' designer...knew Atlesian code, all the backdoors, all the loopholes, everything and there were only a few minds on the planet who had that kind of knowledge.

Doctor Polendina looked over a picture frame on his desk, showing an image of a much younger version of himself surrounded by a small team of equally gifted intellectuals. If there was any kind of suspect list...as much as he hated to admit it, the members of that team would be at the top. Well...the ones who were still alive, anyway. His eyes shifted over to the rather tall and mustached scientist at the far right. It was always a shame when a great mind was lost, especially when they were lost to freak accidents like that one was.

"...there's no way someone could survive a crash in the tundra." Pietro frowned a little the longer he thought about it. "But, the bodies of Arthur and his pilot were never found."

Never finding a body was either the sign of a tragedy or...maybe a bigger story.

Pietro shook his head. "I'm just jumping to the worst conclusion again." He muttered, before returning to his work.