#golddragon387

Bright lights and the upbeat tunes of music flowed throughout the converted hall, as the students of all four academies mingled with one another. Jokes and stories were traded, as the various refreshments were consumed. It was a joyous occasion as many enjoyed the party atmosphere, with several busting some moves on the dance floor.

Well except for one party-goer. Penny Polendina, who though outwardly was having her systems do a little jig, was inwardly barely holding it together. Ever since she had…awakened, her mind was flooded with memories of the future, past? Never mind that, whenever she thought and tried to rationalize what had happened to her, well that was no longer a major issue for her.

No, instead it was trying to implement her new, past, knowledge. She had so many conflicting points, her father, General Ironwood, and all of Atlas were in danger. Originally her focus had been trying to prep for the oncoming storm, but her status as an experiment left her few options. Anything too hard and she could see the worry on her father’s face, too soft was simply brushed aside by General Ironwood. She was trapped between being a daughter and a weapon, a fact that hindered her in other ways in Atlas too.

She couldn’t get close to anyone; she couldn’t make a friend that deep down she so desperately needed. The loneliness she now experienced was overwhelming, especially as she tried to keep up her façade of being the obedient girl. Sure, she could reach out to her father, but he would just keep pulling her back, to the false safety of his home. No, she needed someone to be willing to listen to her, to let her say what she needed to say.

Her new memories had pointed to one such individual, a person who prompted her to stick to the old/normal routine. A person that caused her to freeze over and over again. Someone that she had to see in this life to see just what these memories of her were about.

Ruby Rose, a name, and face that did the worst torment to Penny as she processed everything she had in her head. Sure, the deaths she saw came with their feelings of pain and terror, however, those paled compared to the fact that the fair-faced dark-haired girl in her new memories always made her soul yearn. At first, she only had a vague idea. The memories explained much but there was no way she had these feelings, at least until she met her again.

Penny had tried to model the first encounter as close as possible; she still froze when she gazed into the silver eyes of Ruby.  Even with the awkward first words, Penny could see why her past/present self had fallen for the young huntress. Ruby was just so kind, and she saw her as someone to talk with. The following evening had Penny trying to cope with her own feelings for Ruby and detangle the ones coming from her own memories. After all this Ruby wasn’t that Ruby right, it would be unfair…right?

So, she had continued just following the steps her memories laid down, except when they found the criminal Roman Torchwick. Penny would not distract Ruby from that man and instead had moved to deflect Roman’s sneak attack. The rest of the night was a blur as Penny ripped through the White Fang’s airships without even a glance. Instead, her mind had focused on how Ruby looked at her, in wonder and excitement. Sadly, before she could move to talk, the security detail from Atlas bundled her off the scene at the docks.

For weeks she was kept within the hotel as the head of her detail, her father, and General Ironwood berated her for engaging in such a public space. It was grating, and yet she knew she had to take it less they send her back. That was something she couldn’t risk, not when she was so close. Still, she did have to sneak out once, if only to meet Ruby again, to give her side of the incident of course.

However, unlike the time in her memories, Penny was much more careful, staying away from the potential patrols of Atlas personnel. She really didn’t want to cause any issues for Ruby, especially since she didn’t have much information for her. Instead of a harrowing chase and reveal, Penny instead got to listen to Ruby for a while. It was sweet, a nice calming moment that just felt right.

It was a moment that Penny wanted to keep going on forever, but she knew she had to get back. For a moment she almost asked if Ruby would save a dance with her, but she hesitated. She wasn’t sure if it was right, as due to her caution, there was no need to run, no incident with a truck almost hitting Ruby, and thus no reveal that she, Penny Polendina was…was built instead of born.

So, Penny packed it away and waited patiently for the dance to arrive, there she would ask Ruby. Or at least that was the plan. However General Ironwood was still concerned about her movements, and as such Penny found her protection detail being doubled for the night. Sure, she was annoyed, but the greater issue was that things were changing, becoming different from what her memories had shown her. She had accounted for slight variations at this stage, but these drastic measures by General Ironwood worried her. If too much changed, she couldn’t strike Cinder Fall’s plans at the exact—!

Cinder Fall, she would strike tonight targeting the CTTS Tower, and more dangerously confront Ruby. Her mind was a wash of the probabilities, with too many being unacceptable. A shift in priorities was needed. So, she made her opening.

“Excuse me, may I be escorted to the restroom?” she asked the corporal in charge of her detail, giving the man a brilliant smile. She knew they didn’t want to be here, guarding what they assumed was someone’s kid. As such it was easy for her to get reasonable requests, especially since she had stayed in her hotel room for the past few weeks. The corporal nodded and, in a few minutes, Penny found herself alone in a nearby girls’ restroom. Quickly she located a vent and scrambled into it. The blueprints of Beacon Academy were relatively easy to acquire for her. With a path selected, she hustled toward the tower.

The next few minutes were the most harrowing for Penny as she tried not to over-analyze what she knew of this incident. Time frames, potential attacks, and disastrous outcomes all rushed through her head. No matter how hard she tried to focus on her task her thoughts always seemed to track back to the fact that she was racing against time. If she was too late—

Penny shook her head as she finally managed to find an exit. Slipping out she hit the ground running, regretting not pressing her father for the jet boots her previous/future self had. Still, she filed that complaint for later, as she deployed her blades. She knew Cinder Fall was not someone to hold back on. A first strike would—

“Penny?” a familiar voice stopped her as she reached the entrance, and she turned to meet the concerned and armed form of Ruby Rose. “What are doing here?”

“Ruby it's fine, please return to the party, there is no need to worr—hic!!” Penny felt her eyes go wide at the startled hiccup that came out of her mouth. Ruby’s eyes narrowed in concern as she stepped closer.

“Penny is something wrong, I saw someone sneaking—”

“It's nothing—Hic!! No, it is just a HIC!!” Penny was not prepared for the rush of emotions as she tried to assuage Ruby that she didn’t need to get involved just yet, she didn’t need to be a target of Cinder. It would just be her Penny that would earn Cinder’s wrath, it is what she was designed for it was her purpose for being built. She—!

Her panicked thoughts stopped when Ruby stepped forward holstering Crescent Rose and brought Penny into a quick hug.

“Penny breath it's fine whomever she is we can—”

“No!” Penny quickly jerked back, wide-eyed, “I mean Ruby please you can’t she’s dangerous.” She pleaded as she stepped closer to the main entrance.

“If she is that dangerous then I can’t let you go alone Penny,” Ruby pressed, subtly swearing as her heels caused her to stumble on the bottom steps.

“I…I’ll be fine, this, this is what…” Penny felt her words stop in her non-existent throat, as her internal computers churned through vague explanation after vague explanation.

“How Penny what possible could, make you…fine,” Ruby trailed off as Penny turned her back to her, and the light shimmers of the thin lines that connected her blades revealed to be going directly into her. “Penny, what—!?” Ruby’s question was stopped as Penny had an auxiliary charge port at the base of her neck.

“I, I was built Ruby, I, can be rebuilt,” Penny answered as she turned back around, with a sad smile. “I can sustain more damage than a person and still fight,”

“What, but that just doesn’t mean you can do this alone, who knows just what that person is—”

“I am well aware of her combat capabilities Ruby,” Penny declared, as she interrupted Ruby’s questions before she gave her friend a small smile.

“How!? There’s no way that…” Ruby trailed off as her face scrunched in thought, which she quickly shook off. “No matter I’m still coming with you.” Ruby declared as Penny began to fidget. She knew it was a long shot, her memories told her as much, but perhaps there was a way.

“Ruby please,” Penny started again as she entered to door frame of the CTTS Tower’s entrance, in the attempt to block Ruby’s access as she tried to push forward.

“No Penny, it doesn’t matter that you're mechanical, you are still my friend, and I won’t just stand by and let you do this alone, now we can stand here arguing till whomever this woman is leaves or you can let me follow you.” Ruby promptly declared.

“You are my friend, Ruby,” Penny started, “but I—”

And with an impulse she never expected Penny bent down and gave a quick peck on Ruby’s cheek shocking said girl. In a flash, Penny had stepped back into the tower proper and immediately locked the entire building down. She knew Cinder would have already dispatched the guards, and most likely had one of Dr. Watts’ viruses in the computer systems. However, the lock-down protocols were easy for her to find and set to maximum. Penny then hustled toward the stairs. There would be questions, but it would all be worth it, as long as Cinder Fall did not leave this building alive.