As It Turns Out 07

"So, how did the meeting with Ozpin go?"

Elroy scratched his cheek. "Fine, I guess." He was expecting a lot more suspicion from the headmaster. "He just asked me to tell what happened during the dance." And so he did.

Elroy touched Penny, Soul Bonded to her, she passed out while saying some really strange words, and then the soldiers tried restraining Elroy. Thankfully it didn't escalate beyond that, but the dance had to be canceled. Something which Yang and Weiss definitely didn't appreciate.

Ruby looked down on her feet. "Did he say anything about Penny...? If she's okay?"

Elroy frowned. "No, I'm sorry. Apparently that's something that he will talk with the general about." He put a hand on his chest. "And if he doesn't, I will." He had some pull with the guy, maybe he could find out something.

He had to. Penny was Soul Bonded with him, the Mark on his chest made that fact undeniable, and so Elroy would see her as his responsibility.

Weiss crossed her arms. "I'm sure the general will find the best possible course of action." She grit her teeth. "Even if that course of action can be quite frustrating on a personal level."

Yang let out a whimpers. "Hours and hours planning that dance... all wasted... gone to the wind." Maybe the would reschedule and do it another time? That wouldn't give her her time wasted back though.

Elroy bowed his head. "About that, I feel like I should apologize. You guys put on a lot of effort and it went down the drain because of me." He didn't even get to dance with them.

Blake interjected. "It's absolutely not your fault. Don't lose sleep over it."

Weiss glared at her. "Blake's annoying tendency to jump into a conversation when she has not been mentioned aside, she is right. This is not your fault."

Yang gave him a thumbs up. "Yep! It's not like anyone could have predicted that you touching Penny would have caused all that." She tilted her head. "Ya think instead of becoming your wife, she became your archenemy? Maybe this is some reverse Soul Bonding." That would explain the pain.

He winced. "I'm pretty sure that's not the case." He looked at his hand, at this point Aura had healed it. "Maybe I'm reaching some sort of limit? We don't have records of how many people Ozma was Marked to." They didn't have many records at all.

It was even debatable if the guy existed in the first place, that's how old the story was, and it was mostly carried by oral tradition until a few centuries ago. Although Elroy's existence probably confirmed the legend to be true.

Weiss cackled. "A limit? How awful..." How great, no more harpies! And speaking of harpies... "However, theories aside, are you now married to Penny?" A new rival for his affection.

And it was that weirdo too.

Ruby suddenly screeched. "I really doubt that!"

Elroy sent her a look of confusion. "Why...? I do have the Mark." There was no further proof needed.

Ruby started flailing her arms around. "Because... because... well... she's... Penny is weird, okay!?" Could she reveal Penny was a robot!? Would that get her into jail!?

Elroy's jaw hit the floor. "R-Ruby, Penny seems perfectly fine!" He expected this from Weiss, not her! "And even if she's... neurodivergent, that doesn't mean she can't get married and find love."

Ruby paled. "I-I know, that's not what I meant with that..." And now she was looking like a jerk. Great.

Blake glared at her. "What did you mean then?" Seriously, the girl was quirky, but it did not merit this treatment from Ruby. Weren't they friends?

Although Blake... and the rest could not exactly talked. They had gone out of their way to avoid the girl in the past after all. Now however, there was clearly not going to be any more avoiding.

Ruby avoided her gaze. "I meant... I meant... I meant that Penny is a robot!" There, she said it!

Yang raised an eyebrow. "Is that how your generation calls be people tool's? Not cool Ruby."

Ruby scowled. "No! And the age gap between us is not that big!" Two years! Just two years! "I meant that Penny is genuinely a robot! A machine! She has... gears or whatever!"

Weiss squinted her eyes. "I highly doubt she has gears..." She put a hand on her chin. "But if what you are saying is true, how does that girl even have Aura? She was registered for the Vytal Tournament... and how did you find out?"

Ruby shrugged. "I don't know how she has Aura, probably because she's Penny. I guess. And as for how I found out... she stopped a super big truck, and like... it peeled off her skin. It was amazing!"

Elroy pinched his nose. "Amazing, right." This was crazy. "Wait a second, Atlas was gonna make you all fight some super robot?" Wasn't that... super dangerous?

Silence filled the room.

Until Blake snorted. "Wow, Atlas being shady. I'm surprised." This time Weiss could not even say something back.

Elroy sighed. "Well... for now I'll just keep a look for Penny. If she managed to Soul Bond with me, there's no way she's just a machine... I think."

Ruby nodded. "Yep! Penny is Penny!"

Blake raised an eyebrow. "Not saying she isn't, but weren't you the one talking about how she couldn't get married to Elroy a few moments ago?" Blake for one couldn't wait to welcome her machine wife overlords...

More dystopian concepts from Atlas...

Ruby pouted. "That's different, I mean, do you think the general is gonna let her be with us?"

Weiss huffed. "I am sure that... that he will! Besides, he won't scrap her or anything like that, because if he does... he would be killing all of us." Quite a dark realization.

Blake immediately paled. "My life is in the hands of general Ironwood. Oh no." She was basically already a corpse.

Elroy interjected. "I'm sure he won't try anything stupid, and if he does, we'll stop him. Somehow." He put a hand on his chin. "For now let's go to sleep though, tomorrow we can do some investigating..."

Ruby smiled. "Sounds like a plan! We'll go pick you up after your work shift is done and—."

Elroy's eyes widened. "Actually, I forgot to say something... I had a talk with Ozpin and... I'll be staying here for a extra day and two. Sorry if it sounds invasive." He did it because of Penny, so he lacked the time to consult them.

Ruby raised an eyebrow. "But what about your job...?"

"I called in sick." Not exactly ethical of him, but he was far too worried about his robot wife to really care.

"B-but you're not actually sick... oh." Ruby gave the air a fistbump. "Yes...!" Lying was truly the coolest.

Elroy was just glad that in the confusion they forgot about the ex thing. Small victories.



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"James, where do I even start with you?" Ozpin pinched his nose. "Seriously, please tell me where to begin. For the first time in quite a while I'm genuinely lost, an amazing feat by you, I assure you."

Ironwood had to relent. "I... I'm sorry, Ozpin."

Ozpin glared at him. "I hope you are James, but prove it. Tell me, just what is Penny Polendina? What happened back there in the dance? That was no normal Soul Bond."

Ironwood looked away. "It's a state secret, Ozpin."

The headmaster squinted his eyes. "I see, but James, I seem to remember a conversation we had not too long ago, about how you had the best of intentions in bringing your army here. So did you have the best of intentions with this?"

James nodded with no hesitation. "Of course." He knew he what he had been doing was breaking thr trust Ozpin had placed on him, but it was a necessary evil.

Ozpin glared at him. "That's all you can tell me, James?" The general stayed silent, glaring right back. "Old friend, can I still trust you?"

James' features became softer. "Of... of course." Finally, James relented. "Penny is an artificial lifeform. A robot to be more precise, one built for combat against powerful Grimm." At this point it was fine to throw the towel.

His original plans for bringing her to Vale would need to he scrapped.

Ozpin's eyes widened. "James, are you... are you saying the truth...?"

"Yes, I know it may be hard to believe, but it's the absolute truth." It was certainly Atlas' greatest feat in technology yet. "The brighest mind in all of Atlas has developed her, and so far no problems have shown... or they hadn't until the dance."

Ozpin looked down. "You... why did you hide that from me...?" And then his eyes widened. "You signed that girl for the Vytal Festival. You were going to pit teenagers against a weapon of war... and all while telling me she was your protégé."

And finally, Ozpin reached a realization. "This was your attemp at propaganda, was it not? Win the tournament with a weapon, reveal her, and then push forward for her development. Not something I expected from a straight forward man like you, I must admit."

It made sense, James had been talking about replacing as many soldiers as possible with his machines, that was the whole premise of Atlesian knights. Replacing Huntsmen would simply be the next natural step.

James shook his head. "I was simply trying to make the world believe in Atlas, and... Penny would not be fighting teenagers, she would be fighting Huntsman-In-Training."

Ozpin squinted his eyes. "People would not see it that way, James. Civilians would see it as Atlas flexing their might during a event for peace. Huntsmen would see it as an attempt to make things obsolete. You and your army would become even more unpopular than they already are."

Ironwood grit his teeth. "Can you not see how amazing Penny could be!? No Huntsmen would need to lose their life ever again!"

Ozpin nodded. "I can see it my friend. And I agree with you, it would be wonderful. However, as usual, while your intentions are in the right place, you are sorely misguided. This is no time for this, and you know it, else you wouldn't be going behind my back."

Ironwood clenched his fists. "Why is it that you are always the only one allowed to keep secrets...?"

Ozpin showed no reaction. "Typically when I hold a secret, it is not out of the fear people will call me stupid and poke holes in my plans. But for now let's leave this talk aside, it doesn't matter anymore."

He took a sip of his coffee. "Instead, let's discuss what happened to your supposed weapon. Why is it that Elroy Reyne came to my office and claimed to be Soul Bonded to the girl?"

Ironwood let out a frustrated groan. "I was hoping you could tell me, seeing as you are the expert." He was the legendary hero Ozma, after all.

"I hoped I could tell you as well, James, but I am sad to inform you that I never Marked a robot." He was lost too. "But tell me something, does the girl have the Mark?"

The general nodded. "Yes. It's how I confirmed this in the first place, Elroy Reyne certainly didn't say anything to me." He put a hand to his chin. "But that isn't the only thing that happened, Penny is... different."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

Ironwood exhaled. "It's... complicated to explain, and I myself don't understand much of it. Her creator is trying to analyze her, but it's more complicated then it was before. It's like... she's more self-sufficient?"

He continued. "After her creation, Penny was capable of generating her own Aura, but she did need maintenance. Now however, she is working perfectly fine without it, with no sign of degradation at all."

Ozpin tilted his head. "Most curious... Tell me, where is the girl now?"

"I'm keeping her under watch twenty four seven, so if any other changes occur it will be noticed." Or at least that was the plan. "If I'm being honest, I wish I could just... turn her off." Permanently. "Scrap her, but I'm afraid that might kill Elroy Reyne." And team RWBY. It would be a disaster.

"A wise decision especially... because I believe this Penny girl might not be as much weapon as you hope she was." Her creator may have done something truly insane.

Ironwood squinted his eyes. "Are you suggesting that Penny... grew feelings or something of the sort?" He could not deny the possibility, but it sounded ridiculous. "Is the Mark capable of doing that?"

"It is not." Ozpin leaned forward. "What I'm saying friend, is that this Penny girl was never a weapon. No more than any Huntsman is, at least."

James snorted. "Ozpin, that's ridiculous! Penny is a machine, it was probably just a case where the Mark reacted awkwardly to a unknown object."

"I can certainly agree that the Mark was confused, but... it still acted. It recognized Penny Polendina, the machine, as a companion to Elroy Reyne." There was no denying that.

Ironwood rolled his eyes. "Her Aura is not even fully her own, Ozpin. She may generate it, but it started with her creator giving a sample of his. If anything, the Mark should have went for his body."

Ozpin shook his head. "And yet it did not. James... do not look at a soul as something you can grasp and understand, because that is impossible. Furthermore do not think of Aura and Semblances as souls."

Ironwood grit his teeth. "Then what is a soul, Oz?"

The headmaster looked at his coffee. "Did you not hear me? I cannot understand it either. But I believe somewhere along the way, Penny acquired one. One that happens to be perfect for Elroy Reyne."

In the end, Ironwood had to throw the towel. "Ugh... I guess I'll have to scrap the project then." Well, creating another Penny was looking more and more like a impossible process to replicate with each day that passed anyways. "But besides that, what would you have me do?"

Ozpin smiled. "Team RWBY will be going on a mission soon, while that occurs I'm sure Mister Reyne will be lonely and in need of company. Let him and the girl interact and grow their trust in each other.

Ironwood raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't that already exist between them? The Mark..."

Ozpin interrupted him. "To love a person does not meant to trust them, James. Take it from a old man like me."

Ironwood chuckled. "If you say so, I haven't had the time for romance recently... or ever really." He scratched his head. "Time spares no man... besides you."

Ozpin could only laugh in response.



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"Father, I am glad to see you once again!" Every visit from him was precious.

Though she had been seeing him a lot recently, after... the incident involving Elroy Reyne. They communicated through a screen, because travel was dangerous for him, but she still very much appreciated it!

"And I'm glad to see you Penny. I have good news to give..." He pushed his glasses up. "But before that, has anything else happened to you?" She had been constantly shifiting ever since the Soul Bond.

She nodded. "Yes... and it's something alarming. I cannot connect myself to Remnant's network and browse through its archives anymore. Although I still retain the information I had previously." Which was a lot, but...

People were constantly uploading funny videos online! She needed more!

Pietro scratched his beard. "Very interesting... I suppose that is just another step forward for your evolution." Soul Bonding truly was something strange.

Penny looked down. "Evolution...? I do not know if this is something that will help me survive my habitat better, father." It seemed more like the opposite, really.

He laughed in response. "That's not exactly what I meant Penny, but... do not think of this change as something bad. You are just... growing." In a direction that he could not quite yet predict.

"Not into a human, or a faunus, or a robot, something... else. Something new." A new species, by all intents and purposes.

She hummed. "Very well father, I shall not consider this change bad." Especially since she really was growing. Her father became quite surprised once she started becoming taller.

It was barely noticeable right now, she wouldn't grow much, but she was growing. It was as if she wasn't made of metal, even though that was still very much the case.

"Very good Penny." She was a good girl. As always. "Now onto the good news, the general had decided on giving you your freedoms back. You won't need to stay locked up for long." It was good thing that man saw sense.

Pietro didn't really know what he would have done if the general decided to... end Penny, but he would have certainly done something. Possibly something quite violent that would have ended his career, but his daughter was far more important.

Penny's eyes widened. "Truly!? I cannot wait to see Ruby again and... and her husband as well." The reason for her growth.

Pietro sighed. "He is your husband too, Penny." If she wanted to. If that boy was bad news, Pietro would learn how to break Soul Bonds. Somehow.

She tilted her head. "That is incorrect, father. Before I was disconnected, I've read upon the law that states that Marked are considered married. According to it, it only applies to humans and faunus... Oh, and some years ago it did not apply when a human Soul Bonded with a faunus. Why is that?"

Pietro winced. "Let's leave that discussion for later Penny." He did not know where to even start. "But about you and the young man... how do you feel about him?"

Penny tilted her head. "I am led to believe I love him." She looked down on her feet. "I do not exactly how to describe it, there is a strange feeling on my stomach when I think about him..."

"Thankfully, it is know Soul Bonding causes feelings of love, therefore it must be that." She put her hands on her hips. "I am glad this a well researched phenomenon, it helps clear out my confusion!"

Her father chuckled. "Indeed." Considering Penny's new state of being, clearly it had not been researched enough. "But if he makes you feel this way, then he is your husband Penny. Especially since he is feeling the same." Probably.

"But the law..."

He waved her off. "The law is... a lot more malleable than you think, Penny." Probably not something he should be saying to his young daughter. "And you... let's just say the general has already made sure you have been registered as his wife."

It actually made him a bit mad. Before she had been the general's little weapon, now she was just a cog of his other little weapon. Not that he couldn't understand James, but once that man got an idea in his head, he really had difficulty changing his views.

Penny's eyes widened. "Sensational! I shall begin searching how to be a stellar wife post haste!" And then her shoulders slumped. "Oh, I cannot do that anymore." She hadn't downloaded files on that before she grew.

Pietro immediately began comforting his daughter. "I'm sure you will manage just fine, Penny. He will love you just like you are." He'd better.

"If you say so, father!" Her creator was no lier. "I cannot wait to... to... get real close to him... and..." A blush appeared on her face.

Pietro muttered to himself. "I don't think I should hear this." The downsides of this whole Soul Bond thing.

Yes, he was extremely happy that his daughter had been considered as a living being by the Mark, and that she was now being changed into something more unique that would allow her to be more independent, but... she was a bit too young for this.

"Hold his hand!" She threw her arms up. "Yes, we shall hold hands!" It would be just like when they shook hands, except without pain and the fear of death!

"Too young indeed..."

"Oh! And perhaps...!" She felt like steam was coming out of her body. "I can hold hands with both him and Ruby at the same time..."