Chapter Text
Undisclosed Location
"Is everything ready for the experiment?"
"I don't understand why I must work with zis... crétin. I was prepared to do what needed to be done when we began, but he has almost destroyed my work three times, and I am quickly losing my patience."
"Hey, it isn’t exactly fun to work with you, gramps. I don't even get to smash anything!"
"Both of you, stop it. The... unique nature of this project requires both of you, in the same room, unfortunately. You're going to have to find a compromise."
"Fine, fine. But I still say there's not enough smashing."
"Hm. I suppose I can tolerate zis for... a little longer."
"Good. Surely, however, you have something to report besides your bickering?"
"Oui. Zere seems to be a problem with ze actual execution of ze plan. Ze people of 'Remnant' seem to have some form of shielding against our technology."
"Yeah, that 'Aura' thing you told us about is interfering with the boom tubes, even the new and improved ones."
"That is rather unfortunate. Have you found a way around this setback?"
"Well, there is one way, but I don't think you'll like it."
"I'm listening."
"We believe zat we can get someone through if their 'Aura' is weakened."
"But, the thing is, it'll have to be really low for us to bring them over. Like, almost dying kind of low."
"Possibly even dead, for a few seconds."
"Do you have the technology to bring them back to a functioning state?"
"Yes, but it is risky. We may not be able to revive zem."
"... Proceed with the experiment as planned, but do everything in your power to ensure that they are alive. That was the entire point of this, after all."
"When you are ready, begin the first extraction."
Penny had never thought about death.
She knew that it would be her job to fight for humanity, but she had never considered what would happen if she failed. The Vytal Tournament was supposed to be safe, anyway. She didn't have a reason to think about death.
Yet here she was, lying on the ground in what she knew were multiple, sparking, mechanical pieces, struggling to keep from shutting down. Digital memories flashed before her eyes (she had always thought that your life "flashing before your eyes" was a metaphor, she supposed it was really true), and she saw snippets of her memory (short as it was) as they streamed through her motherboard.
Opening her eyes to a sterile white room, two people staring at her in awe, tears pooling in their eyes. She knew her purpose- to help humanity. So why were they crying? Had she done something wrong? When she asked them, the older man, with a long white beard and strong, yet gentle, hands threw his arms around her. She was confused, but at the same time she felt a warmth spreading within her, comforting and soft. Over the next few weeks, as she learned about the species she was designed to protect, she found a name for the feeling.
Love.
When she got the news that they would be journeying to the Vytal Festival, she had been ecstatic. New people to meet, places to see, a tournament that she would get to be in? She didn't see how it could be any better! She was thrilled when Mr. Ironwood let her roam around the city with the promise to check in every so often and not interact with too many people. But was it her fault the girl with the white ponytail wasn't looking where she was going? That the girl with the red cloak called her a friend?
That she wanted one so badly, she just couldn't resist when she saw them again, or hold herself back when the young, cloaked huntress Ruby, was hurt?
She remembered very clearly her thoughts at that moment. I'm supposed to protect humanity. Who is more worthy of protection than sweet, friendly, loyal Ruby?
She remembered that Mr. Ironwood had come to pick her up. He had been so upset with her for revealing herself like that. She couldn't blame him. None of them were sure how the public would react to... Penny in general. But Penny didn't regret anything she had done that night.
Ruby, who wanted to be her friend even when her own friends were telling her not to, was worth it.
She remembered General Ironwood telling her that she couldn't talk to Ruby and her teammates again. Not blonde, energetic Yang; dark, mysterious, cat-eared Blake; or white-haired, skilled Weiss. She had been so upset. If her digital eyes had been capable of crying, she would've. But she understood why it had to be done. What if Ruby found out what she was? What if she hated her? Penny didn't think she could bear it if Ruby hated her. And maybe she wouldn't, but Penny didn't want to take that chance.
Better to stay away and leave Ruby with good memories of her than to risk the huntress finding out and hating Penny.
Yet somehow they met again anyway, despite Penny’s efforts to convince the young huntress that there had been some sort of mistake. When it was clear that Ruby wouldn’t take no for an answer, she finally gave in. Ruby would help her. She was too kind not to. No one needed to know about P.E.N.N.Y. The only one revealed would be Penny herself, as a human. Then, they ran into Mr. Ironwood. His soldiers saw her. They recognized her- why wouldn’t they? - and she ran, for Ruby, she wouldn’t be the reason Ruby got into trouble. Ruby followed her- she hadn’t expected that- and the guards, she was sure, weren’t far behind. Yet she ran anyway, determined to lose all of them. She was losing ground, but she suddenly felt warm, organic arms wrap around her torso. Ruby used her unique speed to zip the two of them away, but it was clear that Penny’s weight was too much for the smaller girl. They skidded to a stop, and Penny was overwhelmed with horror as Ruby bounced- once, twice, three times- into the street. She heard a long, loud honk, and instinctively threw herself out into the road, shoving Ruby aside and turning to block the truck speeding down the road.
Thoom.
Oh no, what had she done, this couldn’t be happening, this was a terrible idea, what was she thinking? and the skin on her hands was torn from stopping the truck, revealing the metal underneath- no, no, no, this was all wrong, Ruby would hate her. She found herself running once again, accidentally cornered herself; she had no choice but to tell Ruby- “You’re my friend, right? You promise you’re my friend?” The android opened her hands, revealing the metal underneath her artificial skin and Ruby’s eyes went wide- oh no, now she hates me, doesn’t she- but Ruby doesn’t run, doesn’t scream or recoil in anger or disgust or fear.
All she wants to do, all she ever wants to do, is help.
Ruby would blame herself for what was happening now, but it wasn’t her fault. She can’t see the future. She can’t stop death. Neither can Penny.
So she laid there, the entire experience having taken no more than a few seconds, her eyes frozen open, mechanical pupils dilating as she tries to see in the blackness creeping over her. Suddenly, her processors were overwhelmed by light, consciousness fading even as the brightness consumed her.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Amber stirred into vague consciousness. The sounds of shouting and pounding footsteps had roused her, and she fought past the haze of drowsiness that weighed down on her like a truck. There was a warm, hard surface under her. Metal. There was...pain, in her face and in her back. That she could feel. She grasped at that thread of the real world and embraced it, struggling back into reality from her nearly comatose state. She couldn't see, unable to muster the energy to open her eyes, but she could still hear perfectly fine. She forced herself awake in time to hear "Mister Arc, if you wish to help, you can stand guard here." The voice was familiar- it was Ozpin. Where was she? Who was the other one, the "Mister Arc" he had been talking to?
Amber heard another voice to her left, a teenage girl from the sound of it. "What do we do now?"
Ozpin spoke once more. "We do nothing. You, Miss Nikos, have a decision to make."
That sounded... ominous, to say the least. What did he mean by that?
There were three clicks on the ground, footsteps, and then a different kind of click.
A latch.
There was a tense, heavy atmosphere, and even without being able to see Amber could tell that something was going to happen.
"Are you ready?"
Silence.
"I... I need to hear you say it."
"...Yes." It was the young woman's voice again, sad and anxious this time. What was going on? The last thing she remembered was... the little girl on the road... the attackers... that thing in the glove! How long had it been? Was she still in danger? What was Ozpin doing there, and the other two?
Was she... dying?
As Amber began to panic, struggling even more now to open her eyes, the beeping sped up, and it took her a moment to realize that there were two heartbeats. What in Remnant was going on?
Amber felt a tug at the top of her head, and then a painful pull- not on her physical body, but on her very soul. She could feel her Aura being dragged upwards, and for a moment she could see her surroundings in a sort of out-of-body experience. She was in a dark, enormous room tinted green by strange torches with emerald flames. Were they underground? There was a blond teen with a sword and shield; he must've been "Mister Arc." There were two pods, and Amber felt the odd sensation of looking down on herself.
She was in one of the pods, wearing nothing but a wrap around her chest and a pair of underwear, and there were hideous scars across her face. That had to be the pain she had felt. The second pod contained a young woman with vibrant red hair, presumably "Miss Nikos," and she looked like she was bracing herself for something. Amber didn't have time to see any more as the pull increased and she put her energy into figuring out what was happening. Her Aura... what was happening to it? She suddenly felt strangely calm and at peace, even as she could hear a pained yell from the girl in the other pod. Part of her knew she should have been scared, panicked, even, but she couldn't bring herself to feel anything but calm. If this was death, it wasn't so bad. The pull was strange, uncomfortable, and almost sore, but it didn't really hurt-
Thud.
Amber crashed back into her own body with a slight gasp, enveloped in a haze of pain. She could see an arrow shaft sticking through the glass in front of her, but she couldn't see the tip. There was one thing, however, that shone through her mental mist like a beacon, a flare of misleading marsh-fire that would send her to her doom. A woman with a bow, in firing position, with no arrow nocked.
There was an arrow in Amber's chest.
This was death. She could tell that now. It wasn't a tug, it was losing her grip, falling away, grasping at straws of her soul in a desperately futile attempt to stay, to keep herself alive. In the end, however, her effort was in vain. Like grasping at the edge of a cliff, Amber had no one to pull her up, and she was taken over by an inexorable force. As she slipped, losing control and falling into a mental void, a flash of light overtook her.
She felt herself disappear.
When Pyrrha took her first real hit, time seemed to slow down. She felt the arrow enter her heel and embed itself in her muscle. Though she knew it was futile, she drove herself to get back on her feet, to no avail. Each pained, panting breath, it seemed to her, lasted an eternity. Falling on her hands and knees, a pale hand gripped her chin and forced her head to an unnatural angle. Vibrant green eyes met flame orange, an amber color. How ironic, Pyrrha thought. Amber, like the woman she murdered. The first woman she murdered. The next, Pyrrha thought, will be me.
But if these were her last moments, she wouldn't spend them in submission, kneeling to her killer.
She shoved herself away from the new Fall Maiden into a sitting position, gritting her teeth through the pain. She stared into those cold amber eyes defiantly, determinedly.
"Do you believe in destiny?"
This elicited a response from the woman besides that smug smirk. The raven-haired beauty frowned and- were those tears in her eyes? Her reply was simple, just one word:
"Yes."
The black bow formed in her hands, and Pyrrha took a deep breath as the string pulled back.
Time slowed even more, and a thousand thoughts spun through Pyrrha's mind. One in particular stood out from the jumble.
Jaune.
That earnest, oblivious, hopeless, gorgeous boy. She had fallen hard the second she met him, but he was so smitten with Weiss that, for so long, he didn't notice the girl who cared about him. Pyrrha still remembered the thrill of happiness and surprise that had run through her when she had turned to discover that the source of the trail of laughter penetrating the room was Jaune, standing in front of her, unabashedly wearing a full out prom dress and asking her to dance. She remembered the deep, deep connection she had felt, with Jaune especially, but with all of team JNPR, her team, dancing in the middle of the floor like they had practiced for weeks.
She would miss them, but she didn't regret her decision.
The bowstring was released.
Thunk.
It was so much worse than she had imagined, so intense that nothing else existed, just the pain. She couldn't move, couldn't scream, couldn't breathe, couldn't even think about anything but the pain, the pain, the pain!
The light was a welcome relief, washing her essence away from all the pain, bit by bit, grain by grain, cool, sweet, relief.
Before she knew it, she was gone.