Authors' Notes:

This chapter was added after getting much further into the story. Mostly inserted it so there is a bigger time lapse and the Courier can get a feel for not only the world more but also the Spring family. Hopefully this will make the beginning of the story run more smoothly. Enjoy!

"Text"

"Speech"

Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, RWBY, or any associated characters.

Remnants of a Courier

Chapter 3: Ghost of the Past

"And now that I've slain the Fiddlesticks Grimm, I'll be Queen of the Huntresses!" Carmine declared while waving her broom in the air, causing her hair to become a tangled mess around her head.

Six lay on the ground back first, utterly defeated by the mightiest of Huntresses, while messing with his scroll. It was a bit difficult to get used to the non-physical interface for the device. Or the fact he could access near limitless information.

Right now he was trying to click on an icon to open a "browser" but it wasn't working. He tapped it a few times and nothing happened where before it worked… Ah, his bandages. Six moved back the bandages wrapped around his hand before tapping the icon and opening "CCTS Explorer" or "Cross Continental Transmit System Explorer" also known as "Continental Explorer." It was time to learn a bit more about the world.

"Hey, my Grimm isn't supposed to look at his Scroll while dying," the girl continued before pursing her lips into a pout.

The Courier glanced upward at the redhead and blinked once before realizing his mistake. "Oh no, I've been defeated," Joshua replied in his best theatrical voice. It was obvious by the girl's expression that it wasn't convincing.

The girl let out a groan before replying, "you're terrible at this."

To which he responded with a shrug. The two of them had been at this for an hour already. She wanted to play make-belief and he agreed to go along with it. Six thought that the girl was a little old for make-believe at her age but there wasn't exactly a whole lot to do in Rhyt.

"Say, what's NewView?" The Courier asked while the broom came at him once more. He swatted it aside each time it came at him but Carmine always made sure to bring it at him again.

The girl huffed with every swing but still answered his question, "it's a place where people post videos online." She seemed to grow more irritated the less he paid attention.

How did posting "online" even work? The CCTS didn't make sense in the Courier's mind. Sure radio signals could be shared but all the tech he had ever encountered that was more advanced than a nuclear-powered toaster required either a direct connection or was a wireless local area network.

If they were all directly connected, then they likely shared a central server to share that data between as well as each local machine having its own personal storage. At least, that was how Vault-Tec liked to do things. Even House's setup was a local network that was mostly wired. The exception being his Securitrons. Though those had a limited range and functioned off a central server broadcasting a signal. It was thanks to House's nigh impenetrable encryption that even he would have a hard time cracking that the Securitron connection remained secure.

A central server…

Six caught the broom the young girl was swinging at him with one hand before asking, "do you think the CCTS works off of physical servers? It has to right? The four towers project a massive wireless signal that anyone can pick up on while also using mass amounts of physical storage and processing power most likely located in local servers to run and store information. Especially for "websites" as you called them which are likely stored on the servers and accessed remotely by users without even realizing it. I bet individual companies could even have their own private servers on their own private networks that can access the CCTS."

That still didn't answer one question. Why would someone make them reliant on each other? It seemed ludicrous in Six's mind that if one tower went down, then all cross-continental communication went down too. Maybe for that specific Kingdom. But not entirely.

"What? That doesn't have anything to do with you being a Grimm," Carmine muttered to him before shaking her head. "And I don't know, I don't make them work. That sounds like a question for Papa."

Right, a child wouldn't know any of this information. Not that Six really expected her to answer. He was more talking to himself than anything else. Richter would probably be a good source of information on the topic in the future.

"Do you know why all the CCT Towers are all linked to each other?" Six asked while getting to his feet. The girl lunged at him once more and he stepped back to avoid it.

Carmine pressed her attack and swung again in a wide sloppy motion. The Courier stepped to the side as the girl responded, "well that's because of the Warrior King."

The Warrior King… That sounded familiar. If Six's research of Remnant so far was correct, then that was the King of Vale during the Great War. Well, Remnant's Great War, which in comparison to Earth's might as well have been children fighting on a playground.

Not to diminish the bloodshed and death of those wars or what they were fought over. It was just their war didn't end in the near-complete and self-imposed genocide of the human race in what could be described as hellfire. Only to then have humanity fight, bleed, and suffer for over 200 years in a world that they had destroyed in order to even try returning to some form of normalcy.

"After winning, the Warrior King made the Academies and the towers so that they couldn't work without each other. So people wouldn't fight anymore or they'd hurt their own Kingdom."

Oh, it was idealistic and stupid. But at least it had some kind of logic to it.

"Thank you Carmine," Six responded as he got to his feet. "I think I understand a little better now."

A smirk crossed his face as he raised his arms into the air as a Yao Guai would to intimidate its enemies. "Now, are you ready to face the Ghost of She?" As he questioned Carmine, Six brought his hand out and then down in a wide and slow pawing motion.

The child tilted her head to the side before asking, "what's that?" Of course, she then quickly raised her broom diagonally and let his hand slide along the broom's edge to deflect his blow.

In response, the Courier brought up his other hand in a horizontal swipe. "It's a big Grimm," he replied while pressuring Carmine by moving forward a step. A lie but one that would serve its purpose here. He still wasn't sure if the giant flaming Yao Guai had been real or not. He had definitely killed something that day though.

Taking a step back the red-haired girl brought her blade down vertically to defend. But since she didn't have the proper form, and with one foot forward and one foot back, when the blow struck it made her entire body twist. Her posture buckled and Carmine was forced down to one knee. Six hadn't even struck her, her own positioning and poor movement meant her body couldn't handle the sudden acceleration of her arms and force of his blow. What had likely originally been planned as a parry was now a sloppy block that barely redirected his attack.

Her face scrunched up in concentration as she tried to buy time to get back on her feet by bringing her blade back up at him. Six allowed the blow to hit his arm before reeling it back in fake pain.

"Raaagh!" The Courier let out in the best "bestial pain" he could make.

It seemed to work as the pretend Grimm heard the girl softly mutter "yes" under her breath as she got to her feet. She backpedaled two steps and fixed her posture before raising the broom at him.

Another roar escaped Six as he charged forward only to receive a broom handle to his shoulder. The Courier took the blow and let out a fake pained grunt before grasping Carmine by her sides and tossing the girl back. The soft sound of air escaping came from the couch as the Huntress-to-be landed on it.

After some quick shuffling Carmine had orientated herself on the couch. Six figured it was a good enough time for a finale.

Once more, Six charged towards her with his arms outstretched. This time the girl was ready for the same tactic and as he closed in she raised her broom to point straight at his chest.

Deciding it was best to let the child Huntress win, Six lunged and allowed the broom to hit his chest before reeling back. A quick and pained breath left his lungs as Six collapsed to one knee. One arm dramatically raised to reach towards the girl before he fell back onto the floor defeated.

Laying down back first, the Courier let Carmine catch her breath before tilting his head forward. A smile spread across her lips as she hopped off the couch. That was probably a good sign.

The child held the broom behind her back as she looked down at him. "I think I won," Carmine commented as she rocked back and forth.

The Courier nodded his response before laying his head back down. This whole looking after a child business was more work than he thought.

"Congratulations on your victory Little Spring," an older voice called out from the hall. Six glanced up to stare towards the foyer. The tired gaze of Richter greeted Six as the older man stepped into the room. "Now, why don't you run out and grab your Papa a few things?"

The girl nodded her head obediently before replying, "yes Papa," and darting over to him, the broom clattering against the floor. Her father handed Carmine a short list which she gave a quick once over. It wasn't long before she nodded her head and moved towards the entrance before leaving in a hurry.

Carmine was very obedient to her father. She was playing a game but when told to stop didn't pout or whine.

Six picked up the broom as he got to his feet. "Good kid," he commented while leaning the cleaning tool against a wall.

"I know."

An awkward silence descended over the two as neither of them knew what to talk about.

Should he act as he had for the Boomers? As an envoy of Vegas? No, probably not. It wouldn't be a good idea to act like he still owned the Strip either. What about his tough mercenary for Silver Rush? No. Wandering handyman like in Montana?

"I know this might be a bit rude, but how old are you?"

The older man's question caused Six to turn towards him. For a few moments he sat there thinking about his answer. Eventually, the Courier shrugged before replying, "I don't know my exact age but early twenties? Twenty or twenty-one I think."

The older man eyed him and it was here that Six got a good view of the older man's eyes which were normally half-closed. An almost icy blue gaze met his own and Six noted that calculating look the family head was giving him. It somewhat reminded Six of his own; eyes that reflected a man on the edge. He had seen that look in Caesar and likely would have in House as well if he hadn't been old and decrepit by the time Six met him in person.

It was a look that screamed of both paranoia from someone who's seen more than his share of violence and of a person that was doing his best to form some kind of scheme. Or maybe Six was reading way too much into a mere glance.

The older man's gaze softened as he replied, "well, you're younger than I expected. You carry yourself like an Atlesian sergeant that just found out a cadet shit in his cereal."

Richter slowly made his way over to his armchair before sitting down. There was a quiet whooshing noise as the air left its cushions.

The older man let out a yawn as he stretched. "Well, Joshua," Richter began as he relaxed back into his chair. "Can't say I've met too many people like you. And given that, you can't blame me for being a bit curious. Mind if I ask some questions about your travels?"

So, this was an interrogation? Six could play ball as long as he got to stay in their house.

"Go for it."

Carmine's father nodded his head before asking, "you say you're a courier right? That you travel around. Ever been outside of Vale?"

It was time to put the little research Six had done and his bullshitting skills to the test.

Knowing his cardinal directions, Joshua pointed towards one of the walls and replied, "I'm from out West actually. Lived in Vacuo for a good while. Raised in a no-name little town that doesn't even exist anymore before moving on."

After speaking, Six gave a shrug. "But I've been to Vale more than once too." He paused his answer as he grew curious himself. "What about you? You seem like you've seen a good bit of the world."

Richter gripped his cane and began tapping it against the ground. A nervous habit perhaps? Though his grip didn't seem particularly tight.

"Used to be a soldier for Atlas. Worked quite a bit with the Valesians too. Can't say I was particularly decorated in shiny medals but I did my part when I served." The older man pointed back towards where his daughter had run off to before continuing, "it's where I met her mother actually. Mara was a medic for the Vale Armed Forces when I met her."

A dour mood filled the air as the retired veteran mentioned his deceased partner. This was likely opening old wounds the Six really didn't want to go into but he was having a hard time excusing himself.

Instead, the Courier took a seat on the couch and made himself comfortable. They had this big television that would make the Old World Cathode-ray tubes or "Tubes" as they were called back then look tiny in comparison. Still not as overly grandiose as House's personal monitor that would primarily be used to display his face. And they had called him an egomaniac.

"She was a good person?" the Courier asked while crossing his legs. Maybe if he just pretended this wasn't awkward it would go by quickly.

A quick nod from Richter was followed by him saying, "yes. One of the best I ever knew. Convinced me to get out of the military anyways. Move here and settle down with our daughter."

"Can't say I'll ever do that. Not that it's a bad thing, I just can't see myself ever stopping for that long." Six's response earned a soft smile from the older man. At least he hadn't insulted Richter but at the same time Joshua felt like he was being patronized.

Richter nodded his head as he responded, "I felt much the same. I think you'll find yourself settling one day."

The Courier didn't respond to that. He didn't want to be rude to the person housing him even if he disagreed with the man's sentiment. Staying in one place for too long just wasn't his style. Vegas had been an exception because they absolutely needed him to keep order. He was a necessity there.

A silence descended over the two and Joshua was perfectly happy to keep to it. Small talk without a goal wasn't exactly his forte and Richter seemed to be lost in his own thoughts.

Which left Six to get lost in his. After all, it was interesting to hear of the older man's past. Military, Atlas specifically. That meant he was a long way from home. He'd have to look into the other wars of this world as Joshua was curious if Richter had survived any himself.

That was when the sound of the front door opening derailed Six's thoughts.

"Papa, I'm home!" The young red-haired girl shouted as the door slammed shut behind her. Six supposed it was time to play the part of a Grimm again.

Author's Notes:

I hope you liked the extra chapter that was inserted! Mostly fluff and nice stuff to build a better bond between Six and the Spring family.