章 58: Vytal Assessment (1)
"What? Blow something up? I already did that." – Tony Stark (Iron Man), MCU
The visit to see Pietro's workshop left me much to think about, and I knew I could only start to give a serious contemplation to the details I learned from the man's current work only after I was done with the unexpected meeting with 'Old' Ruby.
I knew I had forgotten something important… or rather, I was subconsciously left to ignore her through her lack of interactions with the unusual individual in this timeline. I remember asking her to write to me once I was back in Atlas. At least twice each month. And yet I never heard of her until now. Even James seemed to have 'forgotten' to bring her up in any conversation, which made me incredibly disappointed in him and really annoyed at her for backing down from that promise. Let's just say that I was modestly irked through the entire conversation.
"I-It's not that terrible."
"Then why did you decide to not do anything about what we promised each other. Two letters per month, Rosie. I think we can both agree that you faced worse assignments back when you were at school," I lamented with some irritation. Sienna had lost the first half of the conversation as she went to check on both Blake and Damian before sitting down with me by the sofa in front of Ruby's couch. Nora had gone to the bathroom, and I could tell she just wanted to be away from that conversation for some reason. I doubted she was just going to remain quiet and ignore the whole thing, so I was careful enough to not be too direct and blunt when it came to the entire situation or else I would have to worry about more than just an awkward conversation with old Rubes.
"That's low… and I tried to write to you but I had to go through missions and… be a teacher. You know, tough stuff."
She should still have the time to write even small letters. I don't see why she is making such a big deal of this.
I think it's tied to her reluctance to open up to others, especially what happened in her timeline. She still thinks that her interactions, that her own exchanges with people would just endanger those.
[And she is doing her best to cut all interactions the shortest possible. Which is only hurting her.]
And thus I knew that trying to get angry at her for too long would only give her reasonable motivations to keep behaving like this. Something that Sienna spotted with ease due to her keen attention to the fellow woman's bodily language. She knew of the situation itself, about the time traveling involved on the matter, so it wasn't difficult for her to draw her own conclusion on this very situation and try to help me get through with this.
"You're an awful liar, Rose," The Tiger Faunus pointed out. "I thought you would have thought of a better excuse than just that."
The comment gained a sigh and a shake of head. "I-It's not like that. I was really busy."
"So you got busy on purpose," I accused calmly, my eyes narrowing at her mask. "I'm quite sure I had a conversation with James a few years ago about you not having a commitment to intense actions. You decided to be busy and I hope it wasn't because of that letter situation."
…
"What if it was? What if I didn't want to contact you because we are not friends? What if I had other and better things to do instead of… wait, why are you laughing?"
I wasn't exactly laughing, but I definitely had a grin on my face and I felt moments away from actually chuckling at this little attempt from the girl. I had heard of 'better' versions of this in the past. To try and seem like she doesn't care about this kind of stuff just highlighted how much she just was reluctant and nothing else. I didn't do anything to deserve that kind of treatment and so I knew that she wasn't meaning it.
"I-It's true!" Ruby lamented quickly. "It's not like we are close friends and-"
"So I guess you don't want the batch of cookies that Sienna and I were planning to get. The shop is just around the corner, but I guess you not being our friends mean that-"
"C-Cruel. You're so cruel," She interrupted, her voice giving out a faux sense of hurt that only got me to let out a snort in response.
"And you are so irritating when you can't be honest," I rebuked firmly. "Just tell us the truth, I will not get angry… I don't think Sienna will but-"
"I will not," My wife confirmed while sighing at the exchange.
It wasn't like we were really trying to intimidate her, but it was clear she just couldn't be left to her own devices. Even though she was a different individual that the young and cheerful Ruby I was more accustomed to both for the original timeline and the one I was living in, I knew some core elements were there and that those were blatantly ignored for the sake of some inner motivation. I could understand if it was just us, all because of the connection I had with her family and her former friends, but I felt myself doubting it was just something she was restraining to this single situation. I would have to ask James more on the circumstance to have a clearer understanding of this situation, but I felt particularly sure of this first assessment so I merely nodded at the young woman.
There was silence from Ruby's part, the young woman thinking about this thoroughly before… groaning.
"Fine, I didn't know what to write and… I kind of pushed the idea away for years. How about that? It's stupid and-"
"Reasonable."
…
"You're just joking now," The masked individual accused. "You mean to tell me, that the fact I couldn't come up with anything legitimate to write down is more reasonable than being busy?"
"Having 'nothing' to write down on a letter means that you have been giving this thought for a long time, only that you didn't find within yourself the… topics to bring up. Which is technically fine-"
"It sounds better than just you being completely busy when both John and I manage to find time for people when we have so much to do with our respective works," Sienna interrupted, adding to the matter herself. "You know, I think we can solve this easily. I don't see why James would hold you before dinnertime. So, would you like to chat more thoroughly for dinner?"
I could hear the metaphorical sound of Ruby's jaw hitting the floor at that development. That wasn't something she had exactly prepared for from the way her body tensed up once more and I could tell that Sienna had predicted this from the mirthful smile on her face.
"I-I don't wish to intrude."
"You wouldn't," The Tiger Faunus replied without hesitation. "Plus, I would really want to know if my cooking skills have improved and are better than Atlas' standards."
Is she referring to the military standards or the societal standards?
For common sense, the former would be more sensible.
...But?
[But considering how much pride she has placed on her skills, those that had been honed and sharpened by her beloved husband, I think it's a little more than just that.]
"I… I don't…" Ruby sighed, shaking her head. "Only if General Ironwood is fine with this."
I smiled. "Then I guess we will have to make space for a guest for dinner."
I could just 'feel' Ruby's own body betraying her current efforts to hide away her reluctance and annoyance at being treated this way. At the same time, it was amusing and she was legitimately fine with it if she wasn't snapping back at it. The teasing was just part of the bond we had, and I knew that she really wanted to remember that element that had driven so many good memories in the past.
With the situation with old Ruby solved as the girl had to leave to get prepared for the Vytal Festival, it was time for me to personally see how the situation with the rest of the suite's occupants was. I spotted Blake holding a sleeping Damian in her arms silently walking to the kitchen, perhaps getting a snack for both, and I left the two to Sienna's care while I decided to check on Nora. Much to my instantaneous amusement, the girl was actually waiting by the hall that led to the bathroom and the bedrooms. Back pressing on the wall, the girl had a distracted and thoughtful look on her face as she seemed lost on some pondering.
"Wanna talk about it?"
A simple question that still gained a little jump from the girl. Her panicked look was temporary as she gave me a sudden pout once she realized that it was just me. "D-Dad, that wasn't nice."
"It wasn't? And here I thought I just wanted to help you through your procrastination."
She huffed. "I wasn't procrastinating."
"Brooding?"
"No," Nora said, this time cracking a smile. "And I'm not telling you."
I allowed a fake pout out. "And here I thought I could have told you something about it now. Well, I guess you will never know."
…
"Wait, you mean it? You would tell me about-"
"Rosie is a friend your mother and I made during our first visit to Atlas. She was one of the soldiers that was sent to retrieve the bad guy that hurt Sienna while we were visiting Auntie Willow's house," I started to narrate, interrupting her and quickly gaining Nora's attention with my words. "We had the chance to speak with each other and… I learned a fair lot about her. The reason why we are this… pushy about interactions is tied to the fact she, well, she had lost many friends in the past. And that left her hurting a lot."
"So… that's why you want to talk with her about what happened in the last years?"
I nodded. "As you know talking is a good way to solve issues like the one you had when it comes to not knowing something. In this case, the talk is to… help her let out some steam. Some fights, some trains, others have to talk because the frustration is more emotional than physical."
"I see… but how nice is she."
"She is a cookie-monster. In fact, if I have to be quite honest, she is really similar to little Ruby. Only older and grumpier."
The girl thought about that interesting correlation and giggled at it. "That means she whines a lot too?"
"At times. I think you heard her doing that during our conversation."
Nora nodded in agreement and then… I decided to also bring up something else she might be interested in.
"Also, I had the chance to speak with someone that would be interested in sparring with you. It doesn't have to be the one with Weiss but… I think you two could become good friends," I suggested. "It's a student from Atlas Academy that I met a few years ago. And trust me, you will like her."
Despite an early reluctance to accept this, the girl's eyes widened. "Oh? How is she like?"
"I would say you share the love for big explosions and flashy abilities in combat. She is a speedster, but I think you will do just fine in a fight."
"...Dad, you can't just tell me so little! Tell me more about her! What are her skills?"
I chuckled. "Now, isn't that a little cheeky of you? Trying to get your old man to give you important info for that spar?"
"Ugh, I'm fighting a student from Atlas which is older than me. Can you just give me something to work with?"
…
"Fine. But… you're joining me and your mother in preparing dinner tonight."
Nora blinked, taking a moment to think about this deal and… she nodded. "Fine!"
I chuckled, deciding to spare her just a few more details about Harriet's combat style and leaving the rest for the girl to work out when the spar would really happen. Right now I had a lot to think about, especially with what I discovered from my visit with Pietro.
Hopefully this time around, a certain cute bot wasn't going to die to some silly mastermind…
"So, what do we draw today, kids?" I asked while quietly sitting by the couch together with Damian and Blake. Since it was going to take a while for dinnertime, I decided to take this pleasant few hours to have some relaxation with them. Nora was using her ASHE device to study some more about Atlas Academy's training workout, trying to understand what she could work on against Harriet from the public archive. I told her that wasn't going to give her that much of an advantage, but she still stubbornly latched on that idea.
So, instead of annoying her for too long, I gave some attention to my little cub and my adorable cat-eared niece. The child was smiling happily while holding his empty piece of paper, Blake had hers in one hand and a pencil already prepared in the other. I was planning to give pastel to draw with, keeping most of the attention on him to avoid any attempt to eat those during the drawing process.
The Cat Faunus was going to just take the chance to find a subject to draw and then try her own hand at it. Much to my surprise, Blake had some impressive precision when it came to drawing. Similarly to Ilia with her writing, the dark-haired girl was a prodigy with anything that required a drawing. There was even one time where Zardulla received a portrait from her, all colored and well-done. It was still exposed at the entrance of his house, regarded as one of the greatest gifts he had received. It was a good sign that in case the girl wanted to have a career beyond the White Fang, she could have given some attention to painting and professional drawing.
[Everyone has multiple chances at life. It's only that most of those are either unattainable since birth or they are just received negatively from personal and/or second-hand experience.]
Could it be that Blake was never given the chance to explore the idea due to her never-ending trouble back in the original timeline?
It's possible. She might have put interest in her studies, but her focus was aimed at making sure the White Fang wasn't lost to the corrupt ways that Adam Taurus was pushing for together with Sienna.
Things are different now.
They are. You still shook the board and you might have created new pieces that we have yet to notice.
Fair enough.
[You still helped and saved so many people. This isn't an admonishment, rather a… reminder. We will have to face more threats.]
I know.
I decided to hum quietly as we ultimately settled to draw a little bunny. Sticking by simple proportions and to a cute style, I calmly started to whisper to the listening child the various bits I was going through. I could say for sure that I was far from being Bob Ross with my own skills, but I knew the basics and I could get something pleasant out of something so little and cute. Blake decided to take extra steps in her own planning. More proportions were taken into account and I could see she was planning to also take time drawing details for the eyes and the long ears.
The bunny I drew with Damian's help was small, adorable, and with a lovely brown coat. The ears were laying flat, the cute thing trying to be the cutest possible. Its eyes were given a flat black tonality with a few spots of white to highlight the illumination of the scene that was being portrayed. Some grass was colored by the child, carefully making sure none of the green ruined the bunny itself, adding two red flowers and a blue one, before ultimately getting the dark green and other darker colors out to get the shading done.
By the time we were done with both drawing and coloring, Blake had taken the last few steps for the drawing process. Her bunny was standing on its hind paws, its posture highlighting a sense of tension and alert as its right ear was stretched more than its flatter left one. It was trying to listen to something, maybe a continuation of a noise it had heard moments earlier. On the ground just below it a few carrots that it had retrieved previously. From the color palette she stuck with, the girl was planning to give it a sandy-blond coat with a few light-brown spots by the ears and a couple more by the flank and the paws.
It was an impressive piece, and I ended up spending the rest of the time Blake was using to start coloring the piece, humming quietly while holding Damian closer. The cub nuzzled at the contact, the child endeared by the drawing too, but understanding that it wasn't still done. Ever since he started to be interested in drawing, the child just liked to keep around Blake.
And Blake loved the little boy's company since she could spoil him with cuddles and have someone to watch her drawing. There was just a sense of judgment whenever it was an adult, and that didn't seem to happen when it was Damian. I could only assume it was because the child saw the process and was in love with it regardless of the few flaws on it. Even now as I held him tightly, the child was purring at the mixture of warmth and delight coming from watching the circumstance unfold before his own eyes. Still, the girl concluded with a little signature on the bottom of the paper and I could say she rocked it once again. Really well-made.
As soon as we were done with this, I had plans to take a moment to spend some time with Sienna as she was checking on the paperwork she had brought here in Atlas. Nothing too serious or too troublesome, but still I knew how nice it would have been to help her free some time up and got us a little less than an hour of snuggling by the couch.
That was the plan… until I received a message from someone I had visited earlier than earlier.
What does Pietro need?
Could be tied to the project you commissioned him for.
And Ozma was actually right. The content of the pictures he sent me were actually schematics and blueprints regarding the construction of a special suit similar to the one I have worn during the situation where I had to hunt down Hazel and Tyrian. The main element of this suit was the capacity to self-improve and adapt through some AI that could process situations and create responses on the outward aspect of the suit itself. I thought about going full Crysis suit, but I realized how the nanosuit was something that was meant to also influence the user and sometimes could be more dangerous than not.
If a strong enough virus was implanted within the suit, it would kill off the user. I've read the Civil War Comics with Iron Man using Extremis in his suit. I knew how sucky it really was to go for something that troublesome. Which is why my interest was in something that wasn't symbiotically attached to me and that was removed whenever I wished for it. Something that could even be weaker than the example I've brought up, or even more similar to Samus Aran's Power Suit when it came to acquiring new abilities.
Magic was nice and all, but I doubted I was going to harness it to the fullest in a short amount of time, especially with how slow my process had been in the last few years. A suit like that wasn't overkill as it was more of an addition, something that I could use if things got serious enough to be in a tier above normal huntsmen's situation. I was going to be prepared when the real trouble started. And I wasn't planning to give the Queen any advantage after what happened last time.
The schematics looked fairly advanced, but there were a few other pictures attached to those that highlighted what each numbered element represented within the scheme. Estimated production was a full year, which was nice considering that Arthur had expected two to three years at best. He had been interested in this project too, but he had been too busy with other things and the requirements of this project would just take a toll on what little free time he had… and more. Pietro Polendina had a team that helped him, Atlas was the main producer of the materials required for the project so it curbed most of the costs behind sending it all to Menagerie, and finally he had more experience in this kind of business. While Watts had worked in part on something tied to this kind of topic, it was Pietro the one that had worked the most in developing exo-skeletons and battlesuits for the Atlesian Army.
So asking him to go through this task was a must if I wanted this project to actually succeed and that's why I got the chance to actually find out about his latest big masterpiece. Hidden away from Ironwood until it was properly completed, or at least brought out to Beta patches, Penny was already being worked on. Right now there are two processes unfolding at the same time. First was the creation of an AI whose purpose was to learn and improve on its own. Through Asimov, I knew that would have normally raised a couple of eyebrows as that was a risky bit to go through. The second part was the necessity to create a body which could be used to house the AI, create natural Aura through an injection of his own, and be able to function properly as a human being.
[That, I think, he will have to give up to others.]
Not that he could have done much about it. Penny was supposed to be a girl that was close to adulthood through her mindset, something that he couldn't have personally instructed without creating misunderstandings. The fact she managed to find someone like Ruby was good enough to establish a solid basis where to develop social skills. Not the best due to how Ruby was socially awkward but still good enough to develop something about it.
And both Ruby and Penny learned to appreciate each other and grow out of their respective flaws. That was an interesting friendship for sure and, sadly, one that was struck down by some unfortunate event.
Thinking about it, it was kind of sad. Penny hadn't deserved that death. They could have done it differently, maybe have her hurt mortally instead of pulling that stunt. In a show where death had been shown so rarely shown, Volume 3 really went ham with the murdering. Then again, it was supposed to be the closure to Beacon Arc. Or something like that.
I wonder how the show progressed after the group reached Atlas. I could imagine James being a little tense, but still trusting of Ozpin and the rest of the kids. They had all reasons to be friendly with him and kind of understanding, especially with how the guy helped Weiss. And gave Yang a new arm. I also imagined Harriet being somewhere there to help Ruby. She was a speedster like her, so the two could bond over it.
Speaking of the girl, I remembered how she behaved when she took the role of guide while we were wandering Atlas. Really energetic, fairly mirthful, and definitely happy I was around. I expected her to not be this happy, at least not from just that only interaction we shared. Then I realized something very complicated that opened up quite the can of worms.
I was fairly sure Harriet never mentioned anything about her parents. The easiest reason I could think of was that she just didn't have a good relationship with them. The worst possible scenario? She was an orphan and I hadn't noticed her situation when I first met her like that.
You should really stop adopting people. One thing is to be legitimately connected to them, but I can say you have other reasons beyond that.
[There is nothing wrong in wanting a big family. I reckon you wanted six children or more.]
But adopting is different than just making more than one.
I know and… I wasn't planning to do anything now. Maybe if I had learned of this before I would have given a serious look at the situation, but now it would just be odd. For both her and me. She is on her way to adulthood, it would just feel incredibly silly and dumb to act now that she was preparing to enter the world of work, annoyance, and daily irritation with lifestyles.
… I suppose you're right with that assessment.
With that conversation over, I sighed and made my way to Sienna, the woman almost done with her paperwork and happily conceding to me the rest so we could start some cuddling sessions before having to prepare dinner. Things sure were shaping up interestingly now that I had to keep track of so many different things. Especially when tomorrow was going to be a tough day while trying to handle a possibly-nervous Weiss trying to be extra-awkward in asking my daughter out with my permission. I expected that to happen and… yeah, it was going to be deeply amusing.
If only I knew that I would soon have to worry about something more than just emotions, growing-up situations, and other feeling-driven ordeals. For Salem had made her move and… I was soon going to face an opponent I was completely unprepared about.
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