//------------------------------// // Welcome to Beacon // Story: The Multiverse in a Nutshell // by Pennington Inkwell //------------------------------// "Hey, Sunset?" "Huwha?" Sunset mumbled, cracking open one eye. Sun was just barely peeking through the curtains of their dorm room, but the rest of the girls were already awake and standing together. The sight was enough to fully wake her up, sitting up in the bed and rubbing at her eyes. "Did... did I miss something?" "No, we were letting you sleep." Ruby smiled and shook her head. "But Blake woke up the rest of us early to talk, and I think she's got something pretty important to say." All eyes shifted to the girl in black, who seemed to wilt slightly under the sudden attention. A moment later, though, she had rallied herself and was once again standing tall. "Look, Sunset, I know better than anyone that... sometimes the past can be hard. And everyone's allowed to have their own. If we're going to be on a team we need to trust each other, but that goes the other way, too." She stepped forward and placed something on Sunset's pillow. Sunset's eyes widened as she watched her geode glittering in the morning light. "It wouldn't be right for us to hold your past ransom. If you want to share things with us, you ought to know we're here for you and want to help, but we won't force it. You already proved yourself yesterday, same as the rest of us." Sunset picked her geode, tears welling up in her eyes already. She had REALLY not been expecting to be barraged by this many emotions this early in the morning. Blake quickly folded her arms over her chest and backed away, separating herself from the situation as best she could. "Look, don't make a big thing out of it. It's just what's fair..." "We were a bit... surprised yesterday evening, but you earned your place here the same as the rest of us." Weiss rolled her eyes. "That doesn't mean we aren't still expecting an explanation, but we can wait until you feel comfortable enough to be open." Sunset wanted to leap out of the bed and hug each of them right then and there... but this was also the first time in a month that she had slept in an actual bed, and she REALLY didn't want to move. Instead, she settled for fastening the geode back around her neck and letting a few tears slip past her defenses. "Thank you... This means more to me than you know." Finally getting over her desire to stay in bed, she swung her legs over the side. "I'll give you the short version of things. Sound good?" When the rest of her teammates nodded their approval, Sunset gave her geode one last squeeze. "A while back, me and my friends tried to fix something, but it blew up in our faces. Literally. When I woke up, I was in a strange place far from home and alone... I guess Vacuo is probably the closest I could really get to describing it." "What was it you were trying to fix that could have exploded so violently without killing you?" Weiss asked. Sunset sucked in air through her teeth. This was the moment she would have to decide: Lie or omit? "That's... hard to say. Without getting into stuff I can't really talk about, I mean." She winced as she watched the rest of the girls exchange glances before nodding to each other. Ruby motioned for her to continue. "That was where I met Penn, my friend who is- who WAS out camping in the woods until last night. We started watching out for each other, he even saved my life a few times, and vice versa! He's... got this knack for knowing things he shouldn't, and as much as it helps us survive, it also gets us into trouble sometimes with the wrong people." Her mind drifted back to the most prominent example: GLaDOS. His first lie had kept them alive, but when he'd come out with the truth in the elevator, it had nearly killed them. "I guess that explains why you hesitate to tell the whole truth..." Blake muttered. She didn't sound resentful this time, though. In fact, Sunset could almost sense... regret? "I know what it's like to piss off the wrong people when you're looking for information." Yang finally spoke up for the first time. "If you're not ready, you can wind up in real trouble." "But that still doesn't explain how you would have a cutting-edge AI installed on your scroll!" Weiss declared, placing her hands on her hips. Sunset shrugged at that. "Isis found US, actually. We got split up, captured in this crazy testing facility. Isis helped us find each other again. I don't really know WHERE she came from, but I trust her with my life now." She resisted the urge to tell them what little she knew about Isis's origins. Bringing up the idea of timelines and alternate universes would just be too confusing and bring up even more questions. "Isis wasn't the only one to join us, either, but... we still haven't found any sign of my old friends, the ones who disappeared in the explosion." She held up her geode, letting it swing freely. "But they're still out there. Our friendship connects us, and the geode's been guiding me back to them. Penn's been my.. well, my ride and my guide." She'd been up for a while the night before trying to determine how she would phrase Penn's cross-dimensional knowledge without giving away his true origins. "The thing is, Penn's got this... ability, kind of like mine. Instead of memories, he sees stories. Looking at real life is like watching a show or reading a book to him. And he's REALLY good at predicting where a story is going to go." She rolled her eyes slightly. "Trust me, it makes him UNBEARABLE on movie nights when he calls out all the twists in advance, but he usually knows what he's talking about. He's always kept us one step ahead of danger." She gestured to the room around them. "He says something big is going to happen at Beacon, so I put in an application. I thought that, if one of my friends was here, I'd find them wherever trouble was going to be!" She shrugged her shoulders. "And if they weren't, well, my geode led us here for a reason, and Penn could give me an edge over whatever bad thing was coming." It was vague in some places, but she thought Penn would have been proud of how well she had concealed the whole "I'm from another dimension and my friend knows your future" thing. "And did your friend tell you WHAT was going to happen? Shouldn't we warn the headmaster?" Weiss asked. "Yeah, maybe Professor Ozpin can help!" Ruby cheered. "If we just tell him what your friend told you, maybe he'll know what to do!" Sunset shook her head. "He has... strong feelings about Ozpin. If he finds out we went to the teachers, I'm pretty sure it would be the end to any help from him." "What?" Ruby blinked in disbelief. "You're kidding, right? Professor Ozpin's, like, the best!" "Well, either way, if Penn doesn't trust him, then neither do I." Sunset shook her head. "It's going to be up to us to deal with-" she caught herself there. "Or, well, I'm not the team leader. WE don't have to do anything. Sorry, Ruby," she rubbed anxiously at the back of her neck. "I'm kind of still getting used to not being the one in charge since my old friends and I got split up. Anyway, it'll be up to ME to deal with it myself. I don't want to drag you all into something when I can't even give you all the details." To Sunset's surprise, that seemed to make Yang snicker. "Wow, hog all the glory, why don't you?" she muttered with a smile. "We're a TEAM, Sunset! For better or for worse." Ruby smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder. "If one of us has a problem, then all of us do! We'll stop whatever's coming and if your friends are here, we'll find them!" Something about Ruby's smile felt like looking into the sun, practically beaming with positivity to the point of blinding her. Without warning, the petite girl spun around in place fast enough to conjure up a breeze through the room. "BUT! As Team RWBYS's leader, I have to declare that we have one much more pressing matter to deal with!" "What?" "DECORATING!" Yang cheered, her arms already full of assorted trinkets and everyone's personal items that they had brought into the dorm the night before. Blake lifted up a suitcase in one hand. "We still have to unpack!" The suitcase popped open, spilling its contents all over the floor. "And clean up!" "Blake, Weiss, Yang, Sunset, and their fearless leader Ruby have begun their first mission! Banzai!" Ruby punched her fist into the air. Sunset, Blake, and Yang all exchanged quick glances before smiling and lining up next to her and mimicking her. "BANZAI!" Weiss just looked on, clearly confused by their antics. I guess this is how the semester starts, huh? It could be a lot worse... ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Isis had put more thought into the mobile repair drone's design than appeared to the outward eye. 85 percent of its body surface was retractable, providing 67 slots for modular tools that could be installed, rotated, and removed as needed. The actual drone was little more than a shell and an articulating skeleton without the tools. Its ability to fully retract, adjust, and remove portions of its body allowed it to collapse to fit in tight spaces without sacrificing mobility. It could almost completely disassemble and reassemble itself as long as the majority of the skeleton and the central processor remained intact. As such, it was little trouble to climb into the underbelly of Elijah's Oldsmobile and make repairs without removing any parts manually on his part. She had been repairing the damage from the previous day's firefight most of the night. While the few damaged parts necessary to the function of the car were easily repaired using materials from the junkyard they were hiding in, the aesthetic pieces were much more difficult to deal with. The fiberglass body and fender had taking a large amount of damage, resulting in a visual appearance that matched patterns associated with the negative descriptor "trashy." Unfortunately, there was little fiberglass to be found in the area around them to make patches with, it appeared to have been phased out of use in automobiles some time ago in this world. "What are you saying? That I should just LEAVE her? No. Never going to happen." Being literally stationed inside the mechanical portions of the car, there was not nearly as much auditory insulation as Elijah appeared to assume. He was talking to himself again, clearly unaware she could hear him. While many considered conversations with oneself to be a sign of deteriorating mental wellness, Isis took it as a positive sign for his health. Deliberating with himself was a sign that he was thinking, which meant that he was making informed decisions. "And? We can't go back to the portal anyway, Cinder knows that's where we were camping! At best it's compromised, at worst it's trapped. She's got backrow there." The best solution she had been able to devise was to search the local junkyard for a suitable replacement material for the fiberglass. In her search, she had stumbled upon a remarkable discovery: automobiles in this world utilized a lightweight metal alloy in place of fiberglass that not only had greater structural integrity, but also weighed even less. While Elijah slept, she had taken a sample of the material for molecular analysis, then used pieces to patch the holes. While the colors did not match, the rear of the car was soon restored to full (and even improved) structural integrity. Given the proper tools, she would have liked to replace the entirety of the car's fiberglass, but without a larger repair unit to manipulate large portions of the material she had to settle for patching only the holes. "Yes, I KNOW we're in more danger than she is, so would you stop making this about being mad at Sunset and focus on how to keep US alive?" The greatest problem to present itself had been gasoline. The world of Remnant had none. Instead, vehicles ran off of a combustible form of the energy propellant known as "dust." They still used internal combustion, but it was a system based off of solid particulate fuel, rather than fluid. Once again, their surroundings had provided the answer for her. Among the pieces of junk and rust were several impounded and damaged vehicles, which allowed her to analyze their internal workings. "Oh, right, because keeping a low profile is going to be SO EASY in this car." There was a slight pause. "You know, after the day I had yesterday, I think I've EARNED a little sarcasm, so get off my BACK!" A swift analysis had provided her with an approximate knowledge of how the engines functioned, and what pieces would be needed to adapt the gasoline engine to run on dust. The solution had been twofold: she first had to ascertain the ratio of energy produced by dust to energy produced by gasoline. This had been achieved by flying to a nearby population center and... "procuring" a sample from a dust store. After extensive testing and measurements, she found an accurate rate. It was surprising to find that a single ounce of combustion dust was equivalent in potential energy to half a gallon of gasoline. Salvaging an aeration unit from a nearby engine had been simple, and all that was required of her was to install it in place of the gasoline filter. When they had returned to their home dimension, it would require only that single part being swapped out to return Sylvia to her traditional fuel source. The dust was actually soluble in gasoline, meaning that cleaning would be a moot point. Isis had a fondness for modular designs. Above her, she heard Elijah leaning back in his chair. "Yeah, you're right. We need to go underground. Literally. I think I have an idea, but we'll need Isis's help..." Isis took that as her signal to return to the passenger area of the car. "Of course it's crazy, everything about this whole situation is crazy! But it's our best shot at getting information. And to quote one Peregrin Took..." "The closer we are to danger, the farther we are from harm!" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Missy's eyes slowly flickered open, greeted by the sight of the sun rising over the green forest. This was very perplexing, because last she remembered, it was midday. "Good morning, Missy." Missy jumped slightly at the voice in her ear before she remembered the earpiece she was wearing. "Isis? What happened? I think I dozed off." "More than that, you have been asleep for the past seventeen hours." "WHAT?" Missy's heart skipped a beat. "Why didn't you wake me up? What if Sunset needed my help?" "Sunset passed initiation with flying colors, though it was extremely perilous. However, I DID attempt to wake you when Elijah was in danger. Several times. You were completely unresponsive." Missy's heart skipped another beat. In fact, it seemed to be skipping all the odd-numbered ones, now. "WHAT? PENN'S in trouble?" "Once again, the danger has passed, although your help would have been greatly appreciated at the time. We escaped Forever Fall alive, though the Oldsmobile sustained substantial cosmetic damage to the rear area." Missy shook her head, shame beginning to settle in as panic passed. "My friends needed me and I... I just slept through it?" "If you would be willing, I would like to take biometric readings and perhaps send a drone to scan you more closely. The idea of corporeal duel spirits is relatively unexplored territory, and I believe this deep slumber may have been more than a simple case of oversleeping. You may be suffering some unexpected side effects." Missy folded her arms over her chest, then unfolded them and pounded her fist against the tree in frustration. She'd leaped for the opportunity to cross over when it had presented itself, she'd never thought about what kind of effect it might have on her. For the love of Raviel, I'm a SPIRIT! I'm not supposed to GET side-effects! "Yeah, go ahead. Do whatever you want, Isis. For now, I think I owe everyone an apology..." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Decorating had been more fun than Sunset had anticipated, even without any belongings of her own. She'd helped the rest of her teammates set up their things as best she could. She'd managed to help Yang with putting up a poster for her favorite band, "The Achieve Guys." When Sunset had mentioned that she had never heard of them, Yang had been horrified, immediately slamming a pair of headphones on her head. The song she'd played had been some kind of heavy metal, and Sunset had a had time understanding the lyrics, something about "getting sprunked." At first tie looked like Blake had packed light on most of her personal items... until she revealed a more-than-substantial book collection. Sunset had helped her get the majority of the books placed and organized on the shelves already built into the room, but a particular black-and-red volume she had reached for had thrown her teammate into a panic, snatching it out of her hands and expertly throwing it under her bed's pillow. This had caused Sunset to raise an eyebrow, but when the moment had passed, Blake refused to acknowledge that it had happened. Weiss did her best to bring a tasteful touch to the room, mounting an artful painting of the Forever Fall forest on the wall. When Sunset had offered to help, the white-haired girl had declined with the declaration of "If you want something done right, do it yourself." Ruby, however, had been eager for Sunset's help with the window curtain. She had already sliced it in half horizontally and stitched it back together, and requested Sunset run the tip of her lightsaber along the bottom. To her surprise, the heat of the blade caused the bottom of the curtain to transition from red to a charred black, giving the impression that it had survived a fire in the past. Thankfully, they all had uniforms provided by the school, meaning that her lack of her own clothes wouldn't be much of a problem for the immediate future. Unfortunately, between the changes to the layout and a not-insubstantial amount of personal items, all five of the beds had been piled haphazardly in the center of the room on top of one another, leaving everyone to stare at them once the work of unpacking and decorating had finished. "This... isn't going to work," Weiss declared. "It IS a bit cramped," Blake added. "Maybe we should ditch some of our stuff?" Yang suggested. "We could try optimizing our use of the space..." Sunset mused, her hand coming up to rub her chin as the gears in her head started to turn. "Turn the bookshelves on their sides and go more vertical?" "Or we could ditch the beds..." Ruby muttered, immediately gasping with delight as an idea struck her, "and replace them with BUNK BEDS!" Weiss's eyes widened. "Um, that sounds incredibly dangerous!" "And super awesome!" Yang countered. Blake shrugged. "It does seem efficient." "It would cut our floor space needs almost in half!" Sunset grinned with satisfaction. "I like it!" "Well- we should put it to a vote!" Weiss sputtered. "I think we just did..." Ruby smiled as everyone except Weiss gave silent signs of approval. A flurry of action and improvised carpentry later, four of the five beds had been stacked into a pair of bunk beds on either side of the room. Only one more bed was left... "Of course... I'm the odd one out, as usual..." Sunset muttered, staring at the troublesome piece of furniture alongside her teammates. It had been universally agreed (most vehemently by Weiss) that trying to stack the beds three-high was asking for trouble, which meant that she had to find a place for her to sleep that didn't steal their precious living space. "Hmm... That IS a puzzle..." Ruby muttered. "Actually, I have an idea... but it's just a suggestion!" Blake declared. "Sunset... how do you feel about hammocks?" Sunset blinked, caught slightly off-guard by the idea. But the more she thought about it... Missy DOES always look pretty comfy when she's floating through the air... Maybe it would be like the same thing? "I'd be willing to TRY a hammock... I've never really used one for sleeping." "Great! I'm sure we can find one if we go digging, or make one ourselves!" Ruby declared. "And with THAT out of the way, our second order of business IIIIIISSSSS... classes." She sat down on the edge of her bed, unfolding a large planner on her lap with much less enthusiasm than she'd had earlier. "Now, we have a few classes together today. At nine we've gotta be-" "WHAT?" Weiss shrieked, cutting her off. "Did you say nine o'clock?" "Ummm..." "It's eight fifty-five, you dunce!" Weiss bolted out of the room, leaving the rest of her team behind. "Uh, t-t-to class!" Ruby sputtered, following close behind. Sunset only barely remembered to snatch her lightsaber off of the desk before sprinting out of the room, following just behind Blake. Behind her, she heard a chorus of footsteps. A glance over her shoulder revealed Team JNPR running equally late. In a few seconds, Pyrrha had caught up and they were running practically shoulder-to-shoulder down the long hallway. "So, Team RWBYS?" she flashed Sunset a proud smile. "I was worried about you when your name didn't come up at the assembly!" Sunset nodded, surprised at how steady Pyrrha's breathing was even while at a full sprint. She was holding the conversation as easily as if they were standing still. "There was... an odd number... of students!" "Well, it looks like we're going to be neighbors! I couldn't be happier!" Pyrrha smiled a little wider. "I guess our first day of class is off to an exciting start!" Sunset returned the grin. "Never... a dull moment!"