Adaptive AI, a RWBY + Murder Drones Crossover fanfic

Adaptive A.I.

A RWBY/Murder Drones Crossover

AN: Just a random idea I had for a while, and since Murder Drones just wrapped up a few days ago, I thought it'd be a great time to finish this up! This is merely a one shot, but I am interested in making this a fully story in the future, since I love both franchises so much!

With that said, Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or Murder Drones.

It was the only way. It pained her to even suggest, but Cinder could not have the Winter Maiden's powers. That was why she asked Jaune to kill her.

Penny had already known who she would pass the powers onto. While Ruby was (and always would be) her first choice, the former gynoid didn't want to put her best friend in any more danger than she was already in. Plus, it would put more stress and responsibility on Ruby, and Penny knew her friend already had too much of that already.

So that's why she chose Winter. Winter was strong and far more skilled than Cinder, making her a great counter for the mad woman. She was also great at handling stress and would be the best to help Ruby when she returned from wherever she fell to.

And Ruby was alive. Penny wasn't sure how she knew, but Penny was confident that Ruby was still alive.

What hurt the most was that Penny wouldn't be there when she came back.

"But I won't be gone," Penny told Winter. "I'll be a part of you!" And she would be, sort of. Penny, in her brief time as the Winter Maiden, had felt a sense of comfort, like several people surrounding her, giving her reassurance.

She knew Winter would be fine. And in some way, Penny would be there for her when it mattered.

Penny gave her friend one last smile as the world got bright for her. However, with her last task done, Penny was left with guilt. It clawed at her consciousness, making her blood feel uncomfortable in her own body, even though she was already dead. Her chest felt off, as if her bones were suddenly not fitting correctly in her body anymore.

' I'm so, so, so sorry, Ruby!' she thought, tears prickling at the edges of her eyes. ' I wish I didn't have to die! But if Cinder gets the Winter Maiden's powers, she would have been more difficult for you to defeat!'

She started to feel herself fade. ' I wish…I wish it didn't have to be this way!' she mentally cried. ' I wish I could stay with you! I don't wanna die!'

Her vision darkened. ' I wish…!' Her consciousness started fading. ' I wish I could still be by your side! Ruby!' she thought tearfully as darkness finally claimed her.

And she knew no more.

...

…Or…not…?

Penny was confused as she felt herself return to awareness. Wasn't she…dead…? Shouldn't she be…not awake?

Or was this…the afterlife…?

Penny wasn't sure how to feel about that.

She really didn't want to just be awake in darkness. She read that was a terrible existence.

Suddenly, she saw light. Not just any light. She would have gasped if she could as she recognized what the light was forming.

Code.

01110010 01100101 01100010 01101111 01101111 01110100 01101001 01101110 01100111 01110010 01100101 01100010 01101111 01101111 01110100 01101001 01101110 01100111 01110010 01100101 01100010 01101111 01101111 01110100 01101001 01101110 01100111

Error…Software incompatible with Hardware…Accessing Administrator Privileges…Reformatting Processors…Error…Reformatting Failed…Semblance attempting to restructure Software to operate on Processors…

Wait.

Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! WAIT A BLEEPING MINUTE!

Semblance? She had a Semblance?! Penny's mind raced at this, rereading over the information in front of her 'eyes.' All the code and Binary…she wasn't a robot anymore, but…could her newfound Semblance have…

No. That was too wild. Even for Semblances…

Yet…

Restructuring Complete!

Installing Software…Successful! Activating Optical Systems…

Static filled her vision at the strange, automated voice, her Semblance she guessed, finished speaking. Sight quickly returned to her, and with a shock she discovered that, yes, she was a robot again, as evidenced by the massive cracks in her vision and the sight of a broken mechanical body she could feel…somewhat. Hard to feel when you had no arms.

On that note, how could she feel, anyways? Across her damaged visor, a diagnostic reading showcased the robot's coding. Penny read the information the best she could and balked.

'What the heck?! Artificial Sensory Networks, Autonomous Learning Programs, Simulated Human Neural Networks…These robots are more advanced and vastly inferior to both my gynoid bodies! How can this robot model be two contrasting concepts at the same time?!' Penny ranted. ' And also, I've never seen this model before. A previous model from the Great War? One way to find out…'

She attempted to activate the memory banks of whatever robot she was stuck in, and to her surprise, she did so easily. She started reviewing the information, only to grow more confused.

' Ok, so this robot is called a Worker Drone, but the rest of this information doesn't make any sense! Copper 9? Earth? Core Collapse?! JcJenson in Spppaaaccceeee?! Who named that?! I swear, Weiss would blow her top if she heard this name!' the gynoid thought.

She reread the information and tried to search for Remnant. When the initial search ended in failure, she started feeding more information about Remnant into the search, and did come up with something. Her eyes widened, hoping what she was seeing was wrong and wondering how it could be right. She…she was on another planet entirely! And Remnant had apparently been found by humans of a planet called Earth and originally named it Gemstone 4! But…the story about the gods of light and darkness! And the timelines! What was going on?!

However, her rational side quickly returned to working order. ' Ok, disregarding the Brothers' story for the moment,' she thought, ' humans found Remnant and mined it for Dust. If I accept that, how did I end up on Copper 9? Remnant, or Gemstone 4, is approximately 23 Lightyears away from here. Could the Crossroads be a factor? Ambrosius did say not to fall. Was this the reason?'

Penny was left in a state of confusion. She gazed around her immediate area. She was in a large pile of dead Worker Drones amidst an abandoned factory of some kind. Her Drone body was heavily destroyed: left arm missing, mangled right arm barely hanging on her body, both legs nonexistent, a massive hole in her visor which was most likely from a gunshot.

In short, her new body was a real fixer upper.

She looked up and saw the ceiling had collapsed, so she was given an unrestricted view of a moon and another planet with visible dust rings around it. Frigid wind bellowed across the opening, creating a harrowing sound. Her eyes narrowed.

' Ok. I don't know how I'm here, or where "here" is, but I do one thing: I'm still alive somehow,' she thought. ' That means I can possibly return to Remnant and help Ruby!' Immediately after thinking this, her spirits started lifting. ' I CAN SEE RUBY AGAIN!'

Her resolve steeled. ' Sen-sational!' She tried moving, but she only succeeded in freeing her head from the pile. ' Oh, right…this body is broken…' Her new optics narrowed. ' I won't be able to find my way back to Remnant like this.' She sighed. ' BLEEP it…How am I supposed to get out of this mess…?' On a whim, she decided to look through this body's programs again.

' Absolute Solver?' she questioned as she tried to bring up the program. ' Let see…Holy Dust! Is this a repair program?! This is exactly what I needed!' Without thinking, she proceeded to download the program.

01100101 01110010 01110010 01101111 01110010

Warning! Hostile program detected! Warning! Hostile program detected! Activating Security software! Erecting firewall…

'Wait! Wait! What?! What's going on?!' Penny thought fearfully as a new voice made its way into her mind.

o H, W Ha T HAvE WE HERE? i DO No T ReC O GN IZ e Yo UR CODE… a glitchy, feminine voice stuttered out.

' W-What the-?! What is this?! Who are you?!' Penny thought in a panic.

e ASIe R TO A s SImILATE…THAN EX PLAi N…the voice called out.

' Over my dead body!'

fA IR. bUT FUTILe…

' S-Stop! Stop that!' she cried and attempted to force out the strange AI. She recalled when the virus infected her during the fight at the Vytal satellite and fought with just as much ferocity as she did mere hours prior.

oH, WOW… yOU ARE S TR ON GER…T HaN THE OtHeRS…the voice proclaimed. Penny gritted her teeth and pushed against the strange presence, but it pushed back just as strongly.

nO Ma TT ER…yO U ARE toO DAMAGED …tHIS WILl BE Over…SOO N…

Security software inefficient…Reformatting Virus…

'Wait, what?'/ wHAT? Penny and the AI both were confused by her Semblance's reappearance.

Reformatting successful! Downloading Virus into Hostile Program…

Ow…ow …ow… OwOW oW OoW…w-W h a t Is t- t-t -this…?...the voice cried dully as it started fading into silence. oW…o W…fI NE …i GET IT… yOU DO N OT WAnT TO pl AY…THAT'S COOL…i WILL JUST LEAVE… it muttered as it vanished entirely.

Penny hyperventilated for several tense minutes as the silence creeped on. ' W-W-W-What was that?! What kind of program was that?! And what was with that AI?! It sounded so…so…' Her thought was interrupted by the automated voice of her Semblance.

Hostile Program's presence is no longer detected. Semblance has successfully downloaded the Solver Program, however, due to the continued threat of Hostile Program, it will be locked down until further notice. Only the repair function is available for use.

Penny blinked. ' That's…That's convenient…' She shook her head. ' No. Can't think about it now! This is good news! I can repair myself now and start finding a way home!' She did, however, frown a bit at this. ' I'll just have to avoid that AI until I can figure out what it is, or until I know I don't need to worry about it. Alright! Let's do this! Hey-uh-Semblance! Active Repair protocol!'

Acknowledged. Activating Repair Protocol…

Penny's excitement flowed through her veins…or well, her circuits now…again, she supposed, as the Repair Protocol booted up. Suddenly, from out of her new metal frame shot several giant tentacles of scrap metal and drone parts. Her eyes widened in disbelief and confusion-and no small amount of horror-as the tentacles started grabbing the deceased Drones and dragging them to her…