Whitley expected many things upon his return: from his father lightly shuffling him into the sway of whatever was popular for the gathering, or his mother stumbling around in a pitiful state. Usually, dear father was often hiding his irritation at him playing hooky, but could do nothing about it as Whitley always made sure to earn a decent amount of amusement and other assorted brownie points from their guests.

So when the manor itself was swarmed by both police and soldiers alike, he knew tonight wasn't going to be like any ordinary night.

His bodyguards suggested he stay, but he wouldn't listen. Surely, father was somewhere nearby, probably shouting at someone in a bid to speed up the results of whatever had caused such a ruckus. And naturally, as per their orders, they swarmed around him as he paced up to the nearest soldier, who looked to be talking with the head butler. Klein Sieben was, unlike most of the other staff, far more trusted by the family as a whole... However, it was strange to see him.

Normally, Klein was at the beck and call of his mother.

Making his way over, Whitley could see the relief spring across his face, and he turned away quickly from the soldier.

"Master Whitley, oh what a relief it is to see you unharmed." His eyes flashed for a second, swapping colors and, as the three siblings had learned long ago, his personality. "I was terribly worried the assault on the manor might have alluded to others seeking out the rest of the family! Is your grandfather also unharmed?"

"He is as fine as ever." Whitley saw the weight lift from the man's shoulders. Despite his somewhat short and pudgy exterior, Klein wasn't anything like the rest of the servants. Along with being a registered medic, Klein was also the one to raise the Schnee children alongside their mother, putting him in a special place within their collective hearts. Hardening his eyes, Whitley asked, "what happened here?"

This twisted Klein's own look of rest into one of concern. Regardless, he answered.

"From what we've gathered, at least one intruder made their way through the mansion."

"At least one?" Whitley was already confused that even one person somehow got past security, but then again, when it came to his father's gatherings, almost all of their forces were redirected to patrol around the guests. Normally this would be fine, as there were guards situated in the security room overlooking all the cameras. And sure, those cameras didn't cover everything, but they covered enough that nobody should have made it inside without tripping at least one alarm from the staff.

"Unfortunately so." Klein sighed, crossing his arms as his eyes flashed colors again, and a snarl crawled across his face as his voice screeched like nails on a chalkboard - an analogy he could only make due to his grandfather owning a small one which he liked to write on from time to time... when he recalled having it anyways, which this day and age meant never. "Our cameras showed nothing, but from what we've discovered with the help of Atlas here, as well as your sister: our live feed was tampered with."

That wasn't good, but even so, one thing caught his attention more than their breached security. "Winter's here?"

"Yes." His mannerisms swapped again, this time to a more regal style. "She's with the sir at the moment, helping him tend to the missus."

"What's wrong with mother?" The way he said it implied his father was involving himself directly. Willow Schnee, perhaps due to her chronic alcoholism, almost never got his father's help with anything directly. The only exception to this rule was when she was so drunk it was visible to others, at which point his father would command one of the staff - usually Klein if he was nearby - to see her away and aid with whatever it was she'd been doing. If his father was getting his own hands dirty...

Whitley's worry steeped at the thought. He did love his mother, and despite his personal feelings towards her actions and choices, hearing the implications that something serious happened to her brought out a steady panic from within.

"Nothing too serious, I promise!" Apparently, Klein caught onto his worry, and while it tempered his nerves a little to hear that, it still didn't explain what was going on.

"Then may I see her?"

"Oh, yes of course." Internally, Whitley sighed, and Klein offered a small apologetic wave towards the soldier he'd been speaking to. The man didn't seem all that bothered - via body language anyway; the helmet covering most of his face rendered his emotions difficult to read. With a short nod, he stepped aside, allowing Klein to take the lead and shift along with Whitley in tow.

They took the path directly around the manor, which was usually used when shuffling the guests of his father's outdoor excursions... which was a fancy way to say garden parties. During those ones, the man would have the bushes and other outer décor up in tip top shape, having only obtained such a prestigious display from the sweat and suffering of the - during those moments - far too overworked gardeners.

However, right now it was little more than a walkway, and the pair passed by some of the servants being maneuvered around as both parties of protectors went about their investigation and securing of the area. Whitley saw how the stragglers and cops stretched far and wide, and with his own personal guard backing him up on all sides, he was sure that, should any of the invaders who'd struck his home still be around, they wouldn't get the chance to attack Klein or him.

His focus zeroed in the moment he saw his mother sitting off in the distance, and ironically enough, she was situated at the same quaint chair and table as she'd always used when drinking in the garden. Whitley hadn't noticed his sprint until after, when his guards and Klein caught up shortly after; he'd surely startled them with the sudden rush.

The boy didn't care though, not when his mother had him wrapped in her arms.

Normally, such direct displays of affection would feel degrading, but Whitley supposed this time it was acceptable. He'd returned the embrace, and as they both let go, he heard her whispering, "thank the brothers"

"Mother..." He looked over at her, not too bothered about hiding his concern anymore, and met her eyes again after finding no visible signs of injury. "What happened to you?"

That seemed to kill the little bit of a good mood she'd gained from his arrival, but that didn't matter when she was the only source of reliable info. Straightening her posture, his mother shot her eyes towards the manor, and following the sight, Whitley noticed the shattered upper window.

"I'm sure Klein has already told you about the break in."

"He has..." Right as she turned her sight back to him, he said, "but I'm asking about you." Doing his best not to grit his teeth, but failing anyway, Whitley elaborated. "I'd been told father was with you, so I assumed the worst."

Her face twitched just for a second, and evening out her breathing Willow began to explain. "Yes... your father came here after he was told I'd been thrown from the window."

"Excuse me, you were what?" This time he actually did hold himself together, but only because he wasn't sure he could properly believe what she was saying. Willow merely nodded to her son, and continued explaining.

"Our intruder, for reasons I can't understand myself, threw me out the window as opposed to any of the worse alternatives." Raising her hand, she let a flash of light wash over it for a second. "Luckily, she hadn't broken my aura... however I cannot say the same for some of our guards."

Whitley was about to ask, only for Klein to seemingly sense his curiosity again and hit him with the answer.

"Yes, it was..." The man shuddered, righting himself a little before carrying on. "It was a sight I'm glad neither of you had to see. We can only hope they hadn't suffered too long during the incident."

So there had been casualties, meaning this wasn't something so simple as a robbery or kidnapping - most would argue the latter was complex, but for a Schnee, these were all too common. Whitley set his sights back on his mother again, and prompted her with another inquiry.

"Do we know what they were after?"

His mother shook her head. "No... Neither your father nor I have any idea what she could have wanted." Her face grimaced. "She had me in her grips, and then just… tossed me away."

"So it wasn't to kill any of us?" Whitley wasn't sure he had the right idea, but with what his mother told, he knew at least 'she' wasn't the target. That, however, didn't mean the rest of them were in the clear, and she commented on it.

"We're unsure, but Winter suspects they might have been looking to steal something from the manor."

"Klein mentioned her too... but how would she know that?" Whitley crossed his arms. "Wouldn't the fact there were casualties imply they were after more than theft?"

"Those murders were in retaliation." Speaking of his sister… Looking beyond Willow as she herself turned, the three of them could see Winter as she made her way over. "From what we've gathered so far, our assailant only responded to security when they started trying to get in her way." Winter then faced him, and he could see the relief she tried to keep hidden all over her face - her face would relax for a couple seconds before stiffening again, as it always did when trying to hide something. She nodded before speaking. "Whitley."

"Hello, sister." He'd be lying if he said she was a sight for sore eyes, but there was a small part of him that was happy she hadn't been harmed; although, from what he was hearing, she only arrived after everything went down. "I presume you and Atlas will be handling the case?"

"Yes…" Her brow twitched this time, which was her usual tell for irritation. "However the general has tasked me with another assignment following my brief time here."

"General Ironwood himself?" It was no secret the general favored his older sister amongst all the soldiers, although whether this was due to her skills, patriotism, or even simply her namesake, he could not say. Whitley knew that when the man himself gave an order, Winter would follow it to a T, which made her claim not so much of a shock as it would have been for others. "It must be important if he's redirecting you away from the attack on our home. Surely he assumes we're targets in this matter, and with the drawing election ever closer, would he not seek to provide aid to father? If only to snuff out any claims of conspiracy?"

Something about this was fishy, and that was only cemented further a moment later.

"That he is, my son." Jacques Schnee's sudden, self assured comment tripped all of them up, and turning right around, Whitley saw his father approach with a much too satisfied smirk; seeing as their home was recently raided, he should have been screaming at the soldiers for not stopping a threat they had no clue about.

Though surprised, Whitley's partial bow was so practiced that he doubted his father noticed the slight jump he'd performed upon his arrival.

"Hello father, it is good to see you unharmed as well."

"The sentiment is shared, and for once, I'm relieved your visit to good Nicholas was so ill timed, or should I say, wonderfully taken." The sly look in his eye said otherwise. His father wasn't at all happy about him skipping the party; only the fact it had sent him away from the mess which shook it. If anything, dear old dad was probably just happy his protégé was still breathing, and as such, his legacy could continue. It infuriated Whitley to no end, knowing his dad only favored him because he had the common sense to at least pretend to care about the family business in ways he himself believed it should be.

Really, it was just a classic case of brainwashing; luckily for him, Winter and Weiss's rebellions hadn't been subtle, so he didn't need to try all that hard to make his 'acceptance' of the almost guaranteed future believable.

Whitley, however, wasn't just going to let his father's expression go. He knew the man had something to say, he was just waiting for someone to call him on it. And like that, it was once again up to Whitley himself to state the obvious, thus fueling his father's ego even more.

"It was merely luck on my part... although, I am curious." Whitley narrowed his eyes just a smidge, and his father, expectedly, stretched his smirk just the barest bit. "Would I be correct in assuming that, based on your first response, the general has spoken to you about something?"

"Good to see you're still so sharp, even in the face of chaos." Crossing his hands behind his back, Jacques continued. "I have just received a call from him personally, and after a quick breakdown of what I knew of the attack here, he has opted to provide a temporary sanctuary for us all at Atlas Academy. Conveniently, he also spoke of a meeting he'd host between us three candidates for his second council seat."

Whitley knew what it implied, but even so, he understood his father knew better than what that statement made it sound like. Still, he had to comment on it, as the man had that look in his eye again.

"Surely you're not implying he's using the attack on our home to his advantage, and by extension, to hold some sort of sway over our decisions with a perfectly timed meeting. The combination of this sudden instance of generosity from him with our heightened emotions from the attack would theoretically create a mental barrier within our minds, thus making us more reluctant to fully challenge him in any debates."

His father chuckled, and Winter fumed. All of them knew better, and his father said so.

"No; a meeting such as the one we've been invited to would take more than a simple few minutes to plan. I'm certain he had this on the backburner for a while now, and I also know he wouldn't use it in the fashion you conjured up." His grin stretched with every word. "But Ironwood won't look at it like that. No no, he'd surely assume we'd predict his scheming, and I do believe you hit the nail right on the head with your theory. The timing is too coincidental for him not to know how deceptive the offer seems, but with us being rivals for the election, he cannot simply ignore the danger we're in. His offer wasn't so much a chance as it was a guarantee: one which, if he doesn't play it smart, will make the whole thing look condemning in the eyes of the public." He then turned to Winter. "Do you not agree?"

She said nothing, with her only response being a cold stare. Still, Whitley mulled it over in his head. Basically, it was what he already lined out, but his father knew the general didn't see it like that. And, on the off chance Winter told Ironwood their thoughts, it wouldn't matter anyway; it wasn't his father the man had to worry about, but everyone else.

If you asked him back before the attack on Beacon Academy, Whitley would have scoffed at the people of his kingdom holding the intellect to imagine such a theory. But with how chaotic the world had become since then, and the embargo and lockdown general Ironwood employed upon the kingdom: Whitley wasn't so sure anymore.

He watched his father turn, clapping his hands together before resting them behind his waist once more.

"Come now. We've got a ship awaiting us, haven't we, my dear Winter?"

Glancing over, he saw her scowl. And yet, it left a second later.

"Yes father. However, I will be joining you all later." She turned away. "As you know, I must finish up my investigation here.

Their father simply scoffed, taking off as Winter did the same.

.

.

The first thing Penny noticed once her systems came back online was the sudden presence of scattered unreadable data within her memory banks.

Almost immediately she attempted to do a total system scan… only to find it already active. Though concerning, she assumed it was an automatic response to the missing data, and held off on questioning it for the time being. While not perfect on her own end, it would at least determine what had happened to the afflicted areas. Right as that began, her optical sensors came back online, and she was once more given the ability to visually perceive the environment around her - or 'see' as her friends may have called it.

"Father?" None of her most up to date accessible memories contained any reasoning as to why the man was ahead of her, and there weren't any in regards to why she was in his lab either. Her father and creator heard her implied question however, and smiled up at her.

"Hold on now, just a moment and I'll have you down."

"Father, why am I here?" He typed away, and she heard the man hum, looking to try and collect his thoughts for an answer as he worked. But it wasn't her father who spoke next, no; that right belonged to Clover, who opened up from her other side.

"Penny, can you remember any of what happened earlier?" His face sported a sturdy calm, and yet his heartbeat told otherwise. Penny then shut down her deep routed scanners, not realizing she had them on... or so she tried. They, for reasons she couldn't quite determine, refused to obey her.

"Dear, please don't make changes to any current operations until I have you out of the pod." Her father's voice remained a little lower than was common, but she obeyed nonetheless. It would seem he was the one running her programs, which did not bode well.

"Apologies father, I was simply concerned I may have been running operations without my knowledge."

"It's fine dear, just relax and talk with Clover: he asked you a question."

"Very well." She turned to face the man again, and spoke. "I can recall only that we were scheduled to attend a gathering with Robyn Hill and her allies. I believe we were assigned as security for the event." Penny then prompted on with, "which is why I am concerned with our current position: I do not recall us coming down here."

"No... we didn't." Clover looked to let himself appear uncomfortable, and Penny had no ideas or leads as to why. It was a simple assignment, so there was no immediate reason for his unease. Perhaps it was the corrupted memory banks which concerned him: he may have known why they were unreadable. Taking into account they were clearly not in the location they should have been, Penny predicted the answer had a high probability of being 'yes'.

"Then, will you tell me why we're here?" It was an innocent enough question, and one which shouldn't have had any major effects, but his heart rate spiked. Clover was nervous, and Penny once more did not know why.

"Penny!" Ruby's voice came from the door just some distance away, and she rushed over looking quite worried. "Penny, you're okay!"

"I am, I believe." Penny looked down to her body, seeing no major damage of any sort. "My physical condition is in suitable shape, but I am undergoing what I presume is a diagnostics check." She looked over, seeing her father nod as he kept working, and then looked back at Ruby's less than chipper state. Her friend looked relieved to see her safe, but also like she'd been struggling with her thoughts. "Is something the matter?"

"Huh?" Ruby lapsed for a second, stuttering a bit as she straightened herself. "N-not entirely, maybe..." Scowling a little, the young woman sighed. "Sorry... I just woke up a little while ago to a whole mess of crazy news."

"Oh?" Penny couldn't hold back her smile; they shared a kinship in that factor. "Then we are in equal positions! I too do not know what is going on." Seeing Ruby perk up just the littlest bit encouraged Penny to keep going. "Although you seem to have woken up a bit before me. Would you please inform me of the news I've missed?"

"Sure, okay. Well, it all started-!" Curiously, Clover cut her friend off with an arm, and stepped in.

"Ruby, could you let me speak first before you tell her? There's something Penny needs to know."

"Oh... uh... okay." Ruby shuffled back a little, and Penny watched with spiked attention as Clover cleared his throat and took a breath before speaking.

"Listen Penny, we've already been to Robyn's event."

"We were?" Penny had no such memories, but with the corrupted data, perhaps this was what had been lost. Naturally, she concluded that he was about to tell her what happened, and she was right...

Whether she wanted to be, or not.

"Yes, we were, but things..." He scowled, and his eyes had trouble focusing on her. They found their place soon enough though, but his expression was a lot tougher than before. "Things got out of hand."

"How so?"

"Well, for starters, I… I activated your kill switch."

Penny believed she was feeling the human emotion known as shock, as all the symptoms running through her artificial consciousness pointed towards that deduction. A crude inability to properly emote towards the news, followed with the complete understanding of what was said, created this distinct presence of unidentifiable thoughts in her mind, one which couldn't exactly settle on what was the appropriate response.

"Okay." It was all she could reasonably put out as she continued trying to formulate a formal reply. Clover's shoulders sank a little, but he kept on regardless, only to be shot down.

"Kill switch!?" Ruby, unlike him, didn't exactly look to have taken it well. "Since when does Penny have a kill switch!? What did you do to her!?"

"Easy there, don't panic too much." Penny saw her father look away from his work, towards her startled friend. "It's just our emergency shutdown feature. I installed it personally into Penny in case something messed up in her systems. It just turns her off, but at the cost of her most recent memories, or to be more specific: those of which haven't yet been completely situated into storage."

"Oh! ...Oh." Ruby relaxed her breathing as a shade of soft red spread across her nose. "S-sorry... I panicked a little thinking she was hurt."

"Unfortunately, your worries aren't exactly unfounded." Ruby's heartbeat began to rise again, as did everyone else's. Penny was sure whatever her father was gearing up to say next wouldn't make her feel all that much better. "While Penny may have only lost a few of her memories, the reason behind Clover's decision might just imply multiple mandatory uses of the switch."

"Why?" Penny herself couldn't rationalize why they'd need to deactivate her via that method when they could just bring her in for her usual routine. Her father looked worried though, and she listened intently to what he said.

"Clover explained how you were acting uncharacteristically violent, which we all know you're never normally like." No, she wasn't... Yes, she was combat ready, but that was during situations where it was mandatory. "However..." The man twisted his sights back to his work. "From what I'm seeing here, I was unable to prove it... at least not yet."

Clover then jumped in, drawing her focus over.

"Penny... we think you've been hacked."

"Hacked?" She tilted her head, and Ruby looked even more concerned as Clover clarified.

"You stopped talking altogether: complete silence. Then, without much of a warning, you made a beeline for me and started a fight."

Penny got that feeling again, albeit less confusing and more worrying; symptoms identified the emotion as fear, such as its appearance back at Beacon. The idea of people discovering her non-human nature prompted the exact same emotional response as now, only this time it was stronger. Another time had been when the general and her father revealed the truth of her existence to the people of Mantle and Atlas. However that portion of fear was erased when seventy-five percent of online opinions showed a positive feedback towards her existence, albeit twenty percent of that still bore concerns.

She'd since washed those worries away with her guardianship over Mantle.

"Did I harm anyone?" That was the most important piece of information though, and she saw Clover's face soften.

"Luckily no; you only seemed to be targeting me. On the bright side, we managed to play it off as a game, so I don't think anyone will outright blame you for acting weird." He chuckled a little. "As far as they know, I was making fun of you behind your back."

"You don't make fun of me though."

"No, but they don't know that."

A new voice joined the fray, and looking over to the door once more, Penny spied another familiar face. Although she shouldn't have gotten excited, the presence of familiar people created an aura of emotional comfort: having others around in a calm state implied control over whatever situation was cropping up, which created the belief that their situation was not so dire as it seemed. Logically, it made sense: emotional peace allowed for critical thought, which then made determining a solution to whatever problem presented itself easier. It was an evolution which still remained useful even with today's technological advancements.

"Alright boys, we've gotta get a move on." Roman then spied her, and smiled. "Great to see you up and ready, agent P."

"Move on?" Clover crossed his arms as he looked back. "She's only just woken up. What's with the rush?"

"Mister Iron-man, that's what. He's managed to extract our local screw-up from the city, and believe it or not, the guy wasn't even the one caught." Roman tossed an arm up in the air, visually displaying disbelief. "Apparently there were others invading the manor! Sheesh! You'd think they'd have better security."

"Does that mean V's back?" Ruby spoke just a little too loudly, prompting a sly - and a bit irritated as well - face from Roman.

"Look, you can kiss him when we get back-'' Ruby went blood red. "But we've got to move. Mister chair holder's made the questionable decision to host a meeting between the three election candidates at the academy itself, and he wants us all there to keep an eye on things." He then looked over at Clover. "The rest of your crew has already been called back, and if I were to guess; Jimmy's already calling the two idiots in. With any luck, we might be able to get in there before either of them arrive."

"Why?" Penny directed her question to Roman, who faced her. "Did you not escape already?"

He smiled in a way that told her everything was going according to plan.

"Yep, but Neo and I aren't exactly going to be seen by anyone. We'll be sitting out most of the mingling to keep an eye out for any attempting intruders. Or, as I like to look at it, we're the main event." His smile turned playful. "If Cinder shows up, we raise the alarm and get to have a bit of fun, plus, we'll officially get to make our escape."

Clover still didn't seem impressed by the reasoning.

"We at least need to finish Penny's scan."

"It's fine." Apparently Doctor Polendina had other plans. "Basic systems checks have cleared most of her processors so far. I've narrowed down the potential areas of infection, as well as a basic list of possible ways she could have been tampered with. However, if Ironwood needs you all present, I'd wager Penny's hacker may make themselves present. We may not know who it is, but I believe we can use this opportunity to find out how they're infecting her."

Penny saw her father slowly circle to her other side, unlatching the locks on the pod. It then lifted up with a mechanical zip, and Penny found herself able to move around just fine.

"I've installed a short alarm system within your new scanners, so I'll need you to keep them on for the entire event. Should anyone tamper with you via any means necessary, the program will log it and trigger your kill switch again." His face dropped a little. "I know you don't like the idea of losing memories, but it's the only way to keep you from losing complete control. Once we have our invader's method logged, I should be able to close off their entryway, and theoretically you'll be free from their grasp."

"Okay." Again, she probably could have used a better response, but she understood what her father was doing. Yeah, she'd have to forget another event, but at least they'd be able to prevent any more invasions of her system, and potentially even capture the person responsible.

A person who, if they were capable of editing her systems, may have just been the rogue agent general Ironwood set up the embargo and lockdown to catch. If this worked and it was indeed the same person, then they could end both decrees and open the kingdom up to the outer world again.

That would certainly put everyone in a better mood.

Penny stepped down onto the floor, and Ruby came up. Surprisingly, she opened up with a short hug, and while Penny wasn't quite sure why her friend did so, she returned it anyway. Roman then, as he seemed to usually do, put an end to the small showing of happiness.

"Aw, how nice: you've missed each other." He offered a few short claps. "Good for you two, now can we please just go already?"

Roman seemed particularly cranky today, and Penny wondered just what had put him in such a bad mood. Ruby glared back at him, but he just rolled his eyes and took off out the door. She then faced her again, and said, "I'll catch you up once we're back."

"I'm sure Roman will inform us of everything we need to know as well." Clover added, only for Ruby to clap back.

"Yeah, like a jerk."

This got a good chuckle from him, and he simply motioned for them to go on. Ruby stuck her nose up as she pulled them all along, with Clover once more leaning in to whisper.

"Sorry about earlier by the way. I didn't have much of a choice, but that doesn't mean I liked shutting you down."

"It is fine. I was not in complete working order." Penny felt a slight tingle in her aura, and strangely, herself. "I'm glad you stopped me before I hurt someone."

"It's fine; you'd never hurt anyone willingly."

No, she wouldn't, but if there was a hacker involved, Penny still felt it acceptable to be concerned.

They pulled out into the main room to see Roman standing there with crossed arms, and next to him was a crimson swirl. The man rolled his eyes before stepping in, followed by the individual known as Saw, who wore a less irritated looking face. Ruby huffed and pulled her up, and with Clover by her side, the three stepped in.

They were greeted by the sight of team RWBY, apparently about to enter their dorm room with a slightly ragged look.

"Ruby!"

The named girl was then tackled by her older sister, with Roman sighing and vanishing from sight, presumably to begin preparations for the event.

Author's note

…

To be honest, I had a few more POV's to add, but unfortunately, they'll need to wait for another time - Basically, they'll make up a bit of the next chapter, seeing as they aren't that long.

Okay, so it isn't exactly all that exciting, but I like to consider it the calm before the storm - now the real question is how long will the calm last? Jacques Schnee gets his invite, so that just leaves us with Robyn. But don't go counting your chickens yet: her invitation may not be so simple.

I'll leave it there.

See you later.