While neither the Machines or Androids had any need to eat, they still entered the cafeteria nonetheless. It turns out, the tour guides were volunteering upperclassmen. Each group had a different starting destination, and would all end at the ballroom. The machines and androids found themselves in different groups.

The tours themselves were long, informative, yet incredibly engaging thanks to the excellent tour guides. Even Eve was entranced for nearly the entire time. They had learned the location of the educational facilities, the library, laboratories, workshops, training halls; even after all that, it still felt like there was so much more to see. They were also shown around the dorm buildings and got a look at the room arrangement: Four beds in four corners, desks between the left and back most beds, and a bathroom on the right.

Now the tour is over, and they were led back to the dining hall to eat again. Unlike last time, 9S is running around striking up conversation with anyone who would lets him -which isn't nearly as many as 9S hoped- and asking as many questions as he could while 2B follows him around, still as reserved as ever. Those who did talk to them grew more and more confused when 9S asked questions about the technology and basic knowledge. Until he tries to strike up conversation with a certain woman dressed in a white dress, with pure white hair, bright blue eyes, with a scar running across her left, about her rapier. If 9S didn't know any better, he probably would have confused her for a YoRHa unit. 9S can't help but notice that nobody is surprised to hear her notably more hospitable tone she takes when talking to them. With the exception of a certain pair of sisters, that is.

"No, it does not shoot bullets."

"Then what's the rotating chamber for?"

"It's for Dust."

"Huh? Why would you put dirt in your sword?"

"Wh- Not dirt! Dust!"

"Ohhhh," does that mean dust is something special here then? "So what is dust then?"

"What is Dus- What ar- who-" The woman stammers, at a complete loss for words. "What do you mean 'what is Dust'? You are a relative! A member of the Schnee family- you are NOT telling me you don't know!"

"Uh-"

"Well?" The lady demands expectantly.

9S stops to think for a moment. She clearly thinks that the two of them are relatives. There really is no reason not to play along: she could very easily become an ally, however, he would need to choose his words carefully, or else it could backfire. "Well, about that... We could be related, but we wouldn't know" 9S says, rubbing the back of his head, pretending to be nervous.

"What do you mean by that?" The Schnee asks as she narrows her eyes in suspicion.

"Well, we, uh, ran away from home. At a very young age."

"Oh, really?" She lets out a deep sigh as she continues to look at them still in suspicion, but now with a hint of envy. "So who-"

"We don't remember. Nor do we care." 2B interrupts, having caught on to 9S's plan, and deciding to play along. "They- we... horribly mistreated my... friend here, so the two of us left and never looked back. We even chose new names for ourselves to further leave our past behind." The best lies have a little bit of truth mixed in.

"Oh. I see." Much of Schnee's suspicion instantly melts away, replaced with pity and understanding. That woman corrected herself to say 'we mistreated him' "I suppose that was how you were taught to treat your 'friend' there?" She asks as she motions to 9S. When 2B hesitantly nods, her expression darkens. From the sound of it, the boy- well not boy, but the younger one over there could have been a bastard child. It's no wonder he was 'mistreated'. I'm just glad that she had the sense to run away with him. "How utterly typical" She mutters under her breath. She takes a deep breath preparing herself for what comes next. "I take it you don't know who I am then?"

"Sorry, we really don't." For once, 9S has told the whole truth.

If it were anyone else, she probably would have felt insulted to hear that. However, for some reason, hearing that they have no clue who she is gives her a bit of comfort. Perhaps it eases her conscious that she can't trace their treatment back to her father. For now, at least. "Very well. My name is Weiss Schnee. I have decided that once we are formally accepted, that I shall be your personal tutor." Right now, she sees herself in them, a version of herself that chose a different path. A revelation that makes it all to easy to guilt herself into trying to help them, even if doing so defies all logic.

"Really thanks! Oh wait 2- Dess! The sun's about to set!"

"Really? We should get going then."

"Huh?"

"Yeah. Thank you Miss Weiss! We really must be going though!" 9S says as he and 2B depart to see the sunset.

"Oh- Wait! I wasn't done yet!" Weiss says, caught off guard by the suddenness and reason of the departure. I didn't even get their names. Wait, they probably didn't even go to any schools or academies. They didn't even know what dust was! So how did they even get into beacon? Whatever. If they make it past initiation, I'll get those answers out of them later.

Not only that, but everything they said was so vague too, almost as if they were hiding things or lying... Ugh, I let my empathy get the better of me. She puts her palm to her forehead in frustration. I... I really hope they weren't telling the truth though. But I'll have to tell them to stay away from the rest of my family anyways. With the color of their hair, eyes, and skin? If they do anything noteworthy, my family will jump over each other to claim them as their own.

.

.

A/N

Wow. This chapter was both a doozy and very easy to write. Also important announcement: University is starting up again next week (Yaayyyy) so starting soon, updates might become a bit more scarce. (Tragic I know. but trust me, nobody's gonna feel this more than I am. I LOVE GETTING UNSUSTAINABLE HYPERFIXATIONS WOOOOOO) Update on Naming Issue: I have come up with a new name for 9S: Cody Byte. Short sweet, On the nose, 2B loves it. I also need some team names. I'm Thinking Decadence. With any number of possible acronyms. Could just be DECA (and have Ruby comment on it) or DAEC. Man having all these vowels sucks...

Anyways, on to the BTS tidbits:

It took a few hours to figure out who would talk to who. at first, I wanted Ruby and Yang to sit next to Adam and Eve, and then have them converse from there, but I couldn't get them to meet in a way that felt natural. Eventually I realized that Wait a minute. Weiss has blue eyes and white hair just like the androids! I can use this! and since I had already established that 9S was running around asking questions, I already had a reason to have them interact! (The third paragraph was a lot shorter before and just said that people were confused, and gave them pity when they asked about basic amenities and technology) That was a gross oversimplification of said realization, but a true glimpse into my ADHD mindscape would baffle mere mortals

Anyways, it was also very easy to force the conversation to end before Weiss asked too many questions. Just had the two run off to watch the sunset. Which will also lead into next chapter.

... hopefully chapter 12 is this easy to write. I already have A plan, (involving way more deathstalkers than usual) but I'm not entirely sure if it will be good enough yet. only time will tell. I can tell you this though, One thing I want to make clear is that (at least early game) I don't want to tread on Team RWBY or JNPR's achievements. At least until