Author's Note:

Before this chapter begins, I have a bit of an announcement to make. I have been posting on a weekly schedule for the past month or so. I have done so on Wednesdays. I will not be posting next week on Wednesday. I will be holding off that chapter until the Wednesday after (so in two weeks). This is for two reasons.

One, it isn't the technical last chapter but it is the "climax" of this arc. I want to take my time with it. The other reason is because the two-year anniversary for this story is coming up. I am delaying the schedule so that the last chapter for the arc will be posted on the day of the two-year anniversary.

One last note, a reviewer noted that I made an error in my last chapter, a small but very noticeable one. I changed that error so if you received multiple notifications I apologize.

"Text"

"Speech"

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

Remnants of a Courier

Chapter 30: Problems in Heaven

Six idly sipped on the fizzy drink in his hand; some purple drink from "Grimmtale Inc." It was sweet like many of the soft drinks from this world. Didn't pack quite the punch of Nuka-Cola but he had yet to find a drink on Remnant that did.

The chair he sat in was comfortable enough but was obviously of cheap make. The small café he sat outside of wasn't a fancy one so Six couldn't blame them.

The cheap sign, the stained windows, and the fact the waiter barely paid attention to him were all indications that this was not a five-star venue.

The City of Vale had plenty of small businesses like this inside. The signature of a thriving economy if any of the pre-war texts he read were to be believed. He had a good view as it was the afternoon so the sun was high in the sky. Just after Beacon got out.

The Courier wasn't here to reminisce about his world's history. He was currently spying on the target of the day on Roman's orders.

To do so, Joshua had donned a disguise reminiscent of his time with Adam. The bottom layer was a button-up white t-shirt, nothing out of the ordinary. Over that was a grey hoodie. Finally, a black leather jacket completed his three-layer outfit.

He wore the same bandages, sneakers, and jeans he had before; covering his face near completely with the hood being pulled up. While this outfit didn't draw eyes from a distance, the bandages did sometimes draw gazes from those near him. An unfortunate but unavoidable effect. One that his Pip-Boy didn't help.

Of course, he didn't really want people to think he and the Mimic were wearing the same thing. So, Six made a modification to his Pip-Boy. One that wasn't currently active but would serve its purpose when he was playing the role of the Mimic.

It wasn't perfect but for the most part when he activated the feature as long as he held his arm still the Pip-Boy was invisible to the naked eye. An effect he replicated on a small scale from his Stealth-Boy devices. Even when he was moving, it would be an almost unnoticeable blur. Another boon was since it was on such a small scale, the battery would last far longer for it. And he could turn the feature on and off at will, saving battery power.

His Pip-Boy was currently displaying camera feed from local security cameras around the city. Some of these were street cameras while others were private external store cameras. None of them were safe from his influence.

The reason for his intrusion into the camera network was that his facial recognition program had picked up "Penny." The "synthetic person" was currently on the move through the city. No one around her the wiser to her true nature.

Since Roman's little scheme was tomorrow night, this thing's presence could be a problem. Six was currently figuring out the best course of action to deal with her quietly. It would not only help their plan go off without a hitch but also protect the world from this thing.

The false lifeform was roaming around the city, seemingly carefree and curious. Either its captors were incompetent or this was its first act of rebellion. He'd make sure that this was its last if so.

So far, all the AI had done was explore. It was both incredibly boring and unnerving. What did the thing want? What was it truly after?

It did give Six a few moments to think over the progress of the past week or so. With the increased funding and since his meeting with Roman a few weeks back, the Voidwalkers had been expanding at a reasonable pace. There were roughly 50 mercenaries in his company now. Still, the demand remained far higher than what he actually had.

He had even gone as far as to buy yet another warehouse; erasing its public records so it looked like it never existed. He was currently fitting it with automatic equipment from several weapons manufacturers; these ones all legally bought. Once the machines were put into place, he'd begin pumping his own personal blueprints through the process and creating custom-designed weaponry for his PMC's. Of course, he had to check in on this equipment from time to time for maintenance but that was a small price to pay.

Even with all that, he was still sitting on a hefty sum of spare Lien. Six would put some of aside for safekeeping before figuring out where the rest of it should go.

Six took another sip of his drink as he analyzed the screen. Was it trying to learn how to socialize with humans? To blend in?

Joshua was just considering putting on some music when a Faunus rounded a corner at high speeds towards his target.

It looked like a teenager of some kind. Blonde hair, a tail, and a large grin on his face. Behind him were two officers or what looked like officers. Maybe the teen was a criminal of some kind? Not really Six's business.

And not the AI's business either as the blonde Faunus rocketed past her and further down the street. Maybe he should put on some music. That was the first exciting thing he had seen in the last two hours.

Then a group of suspiciously familiar future huntresses rounded the corner with the lead crashing into the synth and falling to the ground.

It was team RWBY. Of course it was team RWBY. Because that wasn't a complete pain in his ass or anything. Those kids always stuck their noses where they didn't belong.

There was a short conversation that he couldn't make out on the current camera he was viewing them from as Weiss lifted herself off the AI.

Figuring he should hear what they were talking about, Six closed the current screen he was on. He tabbed over to a new screen with the title "PT-C3." Wait… Was this?

A quick search for the place later and he found the name. Phantom Thrifts, the same place he shopped for his disguise with Adam. It was a small city apparently.

Six tabbed back over to the camera. A quick turn and a zoom later and he had a perfect view of the group with a camera that had a microphone. All he had to do was tune the microphone's input up and…

"-ou already said that…" The voice—while a little choppy—was distinctly Weiss's.

There was a pause for a few moments before the AI answered, "so I did!" Its sickeningly cheerful tone reminded him of Ruby but with even less understanding of social cues and dialogue.

"Well… Sorry for running into you." Weiss punctuated her words by turning around and walking away. Six hoped that was the end of it. They'd make the Penny problem a lot more complicated.

"Take care friend," Ruby said while turning with her friend and walking away. Good, that should get them away from it.

His camera trailed after the group as they walked off, only barely picking up their conversation now. Something about the AI being strange.

Then the thing moved at blinding speeds, almost fast enough to get past the Courier perception, almost. In a fraction of a second, the AI was standing in front of the group. Team RWBY giving a collective startled jump in response. A fair reaction to someone practically teleporting in front of you.

"Damn," Six muttered to himself as he switched to a different camera, flipping as fast as he could to find a camera with a long-distance microphone. An uncommon thing in Vale.

Eventually, he settled on a camera down the street from them. It only barely picked up their audio but at least it worked.

Joshua tuned it just in time to pick up Ruby stuttering as Penny invaded her personal space. What had happened to set the AI off? Six was tempted to run over there and protect his students.

"You called me friend." The AI-Penny's words threw Six off. What did that matter?

"Am I really your friend?" This thing's persistence on that point was obviously weirding the group out as Ruby let out a long "uhm" in response.

"Yeah, sure, why not?" Ruby's response earned her the event of her entire team falling over in surprise and disappointment. Literally falling over. Who does that? What was this, an old pre-war cartoon? An issue of Grognak the Barbarian?

The AI shook with excitement as she replied, "sensational! We can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys!"

…

What. The. Fuck.

Who designed this AI with this disgusting childlike personality? The memory of Montana was slowly creeping back into his head at the thought.

"Was this what it was like when you met me," Ruby whispered to her partner.

The former heiress got to her feet as she responded, "no, she seems far more coordinated."

Ouch, Six remembered orientation, and that was a low blow.

"So, what are you doing in Vale?" This came from Yang. A reasonable question and one Six wanted answered as well.

"I'm here to fight in the tournament!"

Weiss seemed to be baffled by "Penny's" answer, asking, "you're here to fight in the tournament?" Another good if redundant question. And one that utterly infuriated him.

What incompetent, negligent, downright insidious idiot created, let loose, and decided that an unshackled AI should compete in a tournament?! Was it for combat data? No wait, it didn't matter. As soon as he was done dealing with this thing, he'd go murder its creators.

Six was so caught up in his own enraged musings that he had to snap himself back to the conversation.

"If you're here for the tournament, does that mean you know that monkey-tailed rapscallion?" Weiss's question caused Six to blink a few times. The girl's vernacular was strange.

"Who?" Penny's response was the first thing he agreed with the AI on. He understood it was probably that Faunus from earlier but Weiss's description left much to be desired.

Weiss continued, "the filthy Faunus from the boat!"

"Why are you saying that?" Oh, here we go. Blake was cutting into the conversation now. Front row seats to teenage drama, how fun.

"Huh?" Weiss seemed baffled by what her teammate meant.

"Stop calling him a rapscallion, stop calling him a degenerate, he's a person!" Blake was really upset with Weiss. He could partially understand why. It was pretty derogatory to call someone a "filthy Faunus."

The white-haired girl seemed to shy away from Blake, not immediately giving a response.

Before Weiss could respond, Blake continued, "it's not fair to consider every Faunus a degenerate! Not everyone in the White Fang is a bad person!" By now, Blake was shouting at Weiss.

The latter seemed to be completely submissive as she went to the lengths of trying to hide behind Penny.

"I thought we had worked this out! You said you understood! You apparently don't!"

At this point, it looked like Ruby and Yang might step in as the AI stood there with a dumbfounded expression on her face. Six idly wondered what it was thinking about.

"I can't believe that I thought a Schnee actually understood that not all Faunus are evil!" Blake's rage was on full display as her face contorted into a scowl. She pointed at Weiss before continuing, "I can't believe you!"

At this point, Weiss seemed to be about to break down. She muttered something to the Faunus before darting off down the street. The girl was running away from her teammates.

Whatever their teammate said seemed to not only calm Blake but also leave her stunned.

The rest of team RWBY seemed to be stuck between comforting Blake and going after Weiss. Before either Ruby or Yang could act, their Faunus teammate took off as well. Being there one moment, and disappearing the next.

None of this seemed to bother the AI who looked at Ruby with an obsession he wasn't keen on.

"Uhm, Penny," Ruby began as she started following after Weiss. "I promise we'll hang out later but right now I need to be there for my teammate."

The AI shifted its head to the side before responding, "that's okay. We can hang out later! From what I know, you're supposed to support your friends! So go support your friends! We can do all of the girl stuff later!"

"Thanks Penny," Ruby answered, in a better mood from Penny's bright attitude. "I'll talk to you later!"

As the red blur took off with Yang in tow, the false person waved at them. It did so even after the two were out of sight. It was obviously trying to mimic human behavior and "friendship" but to what end?

Part of Six wanted to go comfort Weiss, knowing full well that some of the issues that were happening in the group were partly his fault. But… She had to grow on her own. And right now, Penny needed watching.

That had been a complete and utter bust. The AI had spent the rest of the day wandering the city. He wanted to go kill it but not only did he never get the chance, he also needed to see its capabilities before moving in for the kill.

None of that was on display as Penny went about its business being ignored by all. It stopped at shop after shop. Never buying anything. Just looking. No one approached it and eventually its masters came.

A rather suspicious-looking limo filled with Atlas personnel in the front came and picked the thing up before driving off. He followed it to what looked like an official Atlas compound in the city. Probably some ambassador thing for Atlas in Vale. It was a little heavily armed for that…

This also meant that Penny's home wasn't a good option for attack so Six was forced to wait until another day.

He used the rest of that night to stake out the docks one last time before the mission began. Since he had the day off tomorrow, he could afford to not be around Beacon.

And now, here he was, sitting in the exact same seat at the exact same café. It was mid-morning the next day and Six hadn't gotten a wink of sleep. Planning an operation like this did that to a person.

Six let the facial recognition program do its work as he sipped on his newest drink. This new fizzy concoction was the most sickeningly sweet thing Joshua had ever tasted. It was disgusting. He still kept drinking it. Something about having options made him want to try everything.

The Courier's mind wandered as he waited. All he had to do was show up, cause some problems, then leave. Nothing big or fancy this time. Still, he couldn't help but feel like something would go wrong. Probably nerves before a mission.

And how was Weiss doing? His thoughts slowly shifted to that. Her partner had really torn her a new one. The girl was probably beside herself. She'd get through it… Probably.

A ping from his Pip-Boy brought him back to reality. It wasn't what he had been expecting. The facial recognition program picked up none other than the former Heiress herself. The girl was walking in a melancholic fashion down the street.

When had he set it to find her? Maybe he was feeling more guilty than he thought.

She wasn't too far from him; he could go visit her no problem. Yeah, he could set it to find Penny and go visit Weiss. No harm in that. Besides, team RWBY running around the night of Roman's "big plan" wasn't good for him.

Weiss was tired. Very tired. She hadn't returned to the dorms at Beacon the night before. It wasn't a huge issue given there weren't any classes today and she had the funds to stay wherever she wanted. Still, she hardly slept and she could feel it weighing on her.

The street was dirty and the mute colors of it matched her own attitude at the moment. She wasn't proud of what she had said. Blake had a point that her words were hurtful to Faunus. But seeing a Faunus break the law right in front of her and have everyone play it off as a "joke" got under her skin.

Sure, it was a minor crime but that didn't excuse his behavior. Whoever he was, that Faunus was supposed to be a future huntsman. Not only did he break the law but he was spitting on the name of huntsmen and huntresses everywhere.

And more than that, with the late White Fang activity and her own previous history… It had all culminated in a regression back into what she used to be. A Schnee.

The funny part was with how she left and how angry Whitley had been; she was probably a Schnee in name only now. Part of Weiss detested herself for leaving. For abandoning her old life to get away from it all. To get away from what her father wanted her to be. Still… Whitley hadn't cut her funding yet. Maybe there was hope for her brother after all.

Weiss looked down for a moment; rubbing the back of her hand against her eyes. When had she started crying?

She had been stupid at the time but she hadn't expected Blake to hate her. How was she supposed to make it up to the person that saved her life? Especially after running away from her team.

The tears that filled her vision blinded her; causing the teenager to run face-first into someone. "I'm sorry," she called out, wiping a few more tears out of her vision.

The former Heiress looked up to spot instructor House standing over her. From their position, it was a bit unnerving. House was a tall person and the way he silently stood there was discomforting.

"Miss Schnee, are you alright?" Her instructor's question broke the ice which put the girl's mind in motion. He had always been a good source of guidance before so maybe he could help her now?

"I… Yes. It's just been a long day." Her answer didn't seem to convince the man as he tilted his head to the side.

He waited a few moments, crossing his arms before replying, "it doesn't appear to be that way. Come on, let's get you some food. Then we can talk about whatever is on your mind."

Weiss was about to protest but he had already turned and was walking away from her. It was obvious he was expecting her to follow. The teenager sighed before shuffling after him.

As the two walked, the future huntress gazed at his outfit. It was a little strange. She understood it was fall but it wasn't quite cool enough to justify wearing three layers. The colors were mute; matching the street perfectly. And the outfit he wore hid most of his features, not to mention the bandages that wrapped around his head. She remembered them from the last time she visited him. It was strange for someone to always hide their face.

"We're here," House said as he took a seat at a small table. Weiss looked up to look at the sign. "A Quiet Place" it read. It definitely was that. Aside from the two of them, about 3 other patrons were sitting in and outside the café. It was strange to see her instructor here. It looked kind of rundown for a huntsman's standards.

Her gaze shifted to him. Of course, he wasn't a huntsman, he was a mercenary, turned guard, turned instructor. House had probably lived a life of incredible hardship based on how he carried himself. He acted as a professional with strict discipline and paranoia. House treated the world around him as a threat. At least, that's what she had gleaned from being around him. It made her curious.

The future huntress took a seat across from him and was thankful that her dress acted as a slight cushion. The seats were of cheap make and were not comfortable to sit in. This place was a dump though she did like the privacy of it.

The waiter, a tired-looking older man, approached their table. He placed a soda on the table in front of House before turning to her. How often did House come here that the waiter already knew what he wanted?

"I'll take an unsweetened Fratearee and a Valesian biscuit please," she ordered, causing the waiter to nod his head before turning away. As the two of them were seated outside, the waiter proceeded inside to retrieve her drink.

"So," her instructor said. "What seems to be the problem?"

"I… I made a mistake." Weiss paused as she composed herself. She needed to be in control when telling this story. "I made comments that were unkind that angered my teammate. My teammate… Didn't take it well."

House stared at her. She wondered what was on his mind as they both sat in silence. If she was being honest, it was more than a little creepy.

"Is it Blake?"

How did he? "How did you-"

Before she could finish, the guard cut her off. "She's a Faunus and you're a Schnee. I'm guessing it's caused some tensions and I'm guessing you said something about Faunus. Can't blame you for not knowing Blake was a Faunus though."

I… Wait… "How do you know she's a Faunus?" His guesses were too accurate.

House lifted up his hood and exposed his eyes. He stared at her intently for a few moments signaling for her to do the same. The girl leaned forward in her chair and inspected his eyes. A slight glow and unnatural reflection from the sun gave her the information he was offering.

"You're a Faunus," Weiss answered while leaning back in her chair. She wasn't sure what to think about that. On one hand, it made sense. Faunus were apparently very good about picking out other Faunus. And it's not like Blake hid her ears all that carefully. On the other hand, was he not upset with her?

"I'm sorry." Weiss's words seemed to confuse House.

"What for?"

"I… What I said to make Blake angry was hurtful to Faunus. It's why I haven't talked with my team since." The former Heiress took in a breath before sighing.

"And?"

"And what?" Weiss looked up at House. What was he getting at?

"Why would I be angry with that? You weren't directing it at me. Who you should be apologizing to is your teammate."

House's words made sense but at the same time he was treating this so nonchalantly. "It's not that simple," she replied turning her head downward. "I messed up."

She heard House let out a sigh of his own and when she looked up at him her instructor was giving her a look of disappointment.

"Weiss, apologizing is the first part. Trust me, it's not that serious. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes." He paused to drink from his soda before continuing, "if they're your friends they'll forgive you but only if you apologize." After he spoke, House shrugged. "And if they don't, they weren't worth your time."

"Just remember, an apology is more than words. It's a promise not to do something again."

That made sense. She was still hesitant to go find her teammates but at least House had given her hope that the situation could be rectified. That she hadn't thrown it all away.

"I… Did apologize," Weiss finally responded as her gaze shifted to the street. "I think that was the worst part. Blake berated me for messing up and sure that hurt… But what was worse, I said sorry to her after. And she had this look of, disappointment and sadness."

Her vision blurred as tears threatened to rush forth. "I don't think I can take ever seeing that again," she continued before bringing a sleeve to her face.

When she had sufficiently cleared her tears, she glanced up to see her instructor nodding his head. His eyes were closed and he seemed to be deep in thought. After a few moments, he spoke, "I think you're all taking this situation way out of proportion. Teenagers take things way too seriously."

That was a little bit insulting but at least he thought the problem wasn't too bad. At least he didn't hate her.

"Look, the real reason we bumped into each other was because I was looking for you."

This caused Weiss to respond with, "why?"

House brought his hand to his face and rubbed his eyes. "Because neither you nor Blake came back to the dorms yesterday. I noticed Ruby and Yang out of sorts as well. If I had to guess, Blake is probably very much somewhere doing the exact same thing you are right now."

"So listen," House continued, his tone taking a serious turn as he pointed at her. "You need to stop making your teammates worry. Go back and let them know you're okay. They'll understand. Then go and find Blake."

A mixture of both guilt and worry made her insides feel uneasy at House's words. Her teammates were worried about her and here she was moping. She was supposed to be a huntress soon; she couldn't do these kinds of things as a huntress.

"I understand," Weiss responded with renewed vigor. She'd apologize to them as soon as she found her teammates. Things were going to be okay. "Thank you, instructor House."

"Not a problem at all, now get going."

Weiss nodded her head before standing up. She gave a small wave that her instructor obliged before walking away. It was time to go find her teammates!

That went well. It made him feel all warm and fuzzy on this inside. Whatever that really meant. That was always a weird phrase to Six. More importantly, it hopefully got Weiss and Blake off the streets for the night. If team RWBY got involved with Roman's operation, Six's night was going to be way more complicated.

His eyes glanced at her food. What had she called them? Whatever it was, the small piece of toasted fancy-looking bread was an odd dark green color. It had a few bites taken out of it but… Six took the piece of bread before taking a bite out of a piece that hadn't been nibbled on. It was… Oddly sweet for bread but whatever. He quickly pushed both her drink and the rest of her food to the side. Weiss had left him the bill but he didn't mind.

Joshua's gaze shifted upward to watch the future huntress round a corner down the street just as his Pip-Boy gave him a small ping. Penny had been found.

His gaze shifted to his Pip-Boy as the holographic projection lit up. The camera was relatively close and had a microphone. Perfect. It took a bit but he was able to get access to the camera and bring up its view.

After another few moments, the Courier turned the camera enough to get a view of Penny. She was with Yang and Ruby. And it looked like Weiss was with them too?

A sense of alarm filled Six as he realized they were only a block away from him. How had Penny gotten this close? He immediately tuned in the microphone to the conversation.

It was midway through the conversation already as he heard "-ust know that I won't run off like a child again."

There were a few moments of silence from the trio around Weiss after she spoke. It looked like Ruby and Yang were stunned while Penny just gazed at her happily.

"Well as long as you don't do it again, I'll be your friend! After all, friends are supposed to forgive each other!" Six hated to admit it, but the AI's words were right. He was just surprised Ruby hadn't beat her to it first.

The three future huntresses gave Penny an exasperated if thankful look.

"Penny is right Weiss. We already forgave you yesterday. We're just glad you're back." This time it was Ruby who spoke. It was proceeding just as Six predicted it would.

"Yep," Yang chimed in as she crossed her arms. "Now, let's go find Blake!"

The trio seemed to be in agreement until Penny shook her head. "I'm afraid I can't right now, I'm sorry."

At the AI's words, the trio turned to her, with Ruby responding, "why not?"

"Well you see, I've been tracking this strange activity. All of the cameras keep getting activated wherever I go and I think someone is watching me."

Oh… Oh shit. Maybe Six wasn't as slick as he thought. After all, he had no real idea of what this thing was capable of.

All three girls gave Penny a worried look as she continued, "I've traced the signal to this area. I'm sure it's somewhere around here. I just need to find where!"

The AI's forever joyful attitude didn't seem to comfort the three future huntresses. It also made him panic.

Before anyone could say anything, Six cut the connection to the camera. He needed to be gone before that conversation was done.

Six moved with urgency as he stood from his chair. A small pile of Lien was dispensed onto the table; more than enough for his bill. He moved over to throw his drink into the recycling bin before walking at a brisk pace down the street in the other direction from the AI. He didn't want to draw attention after all.

That little incident spooked him enough that he wasn't going to try spying on Penny again for a good while. He'd have to deal with it later after Roman's operation.