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Repurposed

The world slowly came into focus revealing the spotless white ceiling of a hospital room as a pair of emerald eyes opened; straining her other senses she could hear the sounds of chatter and machinery while the medicine scent common to all such places assaulted her sense of smell; all things that a life spent in classified facilities before her departure for Beacon had made Penny Polendina intimately familiar with yet offered no reassurance. Forcing herself to sit up an odd feeling, not pain exactly, rather a cold numbness spread out from her gut and a wave of dizziness washed over her as her eyes seemed unable to keep up with the movement, her vision lagging and becoming grainy for a few seconds. Immediately Penny froze her senses degrading like that was a sign of extremely low power, something which shouldn't have been an issue with the Arc reactor which had been integrated into her as part of the preparations for an extended field test in Vale and her participation in the Vytal tournament.

Then it hit her, The Vytal Tournament.

She tried desperately to recall what had happened to lead to her current situation and found her normally immaculate memory eluded her, her mind offering nothing but disjointed fragments; a half remembered conversation with Ciel, entering the stadium to face off against Pyrrha Nikos, laying on the floor as everything became dim the only identifiable object in view being her own severed arm.

"Just a nightmare, just a nightmare" the copper haired android whispered to herself giving a small hiccough as she did so, proof if she needed it that she was lying to herself; a feeling of dread set in as she slowly pulled the left sleeve of the hospital gown she was wearing upwards before recoiling at what she saw, were she able to she would have retched. From just beneath the shoulder to just above the elbow the dull silver alloy that comprised her inner workings was visible an ugly join visible on the warped and blackened surface where the arm had been crudely welded back on; her synthetic flesh seemed to be regrowing, reddened and uneven across the metal. Tentatively she attempted to move the appendage and found that it responded if somewhat jerkily while her hand trembled though whether that was due to the shoddy nature of her repairs or the unrelenting dread was debatable.

"Just keep moving forward" she whimpered to herself, repeating a mantra that her father had drilled into her. Casting her eyes around her surroundings, her vision thankfully co-operating this time; the room was Spartan with pristine and undecorated white walls the only furniture besides the bed was a small and somewhat flimsy desk and a chair upon which a small pile of clothes was visible. Slowly, hesitantly she clambered out of the bed and made her way towards the clothes staggering slightly, privately relishing the feeling of the cold floor against her feet as an undeniable reminder that she was indeed still alive. Reaching the chair and pile of clothes she managed to slip out of the gown revealing that somebody had changed her underwear, she would have been disturbed at the breach of privacy were it not for the fresh wave of revulsion she experienced upon seeing herself. A swathe of flesh from her ribs to her waist had been removed, another section of exposed alloy ran from her right shoulder to her left hip both wounds complete with visible joins where she had seemingly been hastily reassembled.

This was what had happened to her she had been torn apart

"How am I still functional?" she whispered to herself utterly aghast, hands shaking as she began dressing herself feeling something strange as she made to put on the nondescript black cargo pants she looked over her shoulder, eyes widening in alarm as she saw something that had no business being there. Protruding from her lower back, hanging limp and unresponsive was a feline tail covered with coppery ginger fur that almost matched her own hair in colour. Her confusion only increased when she saw the garment she was currently in the middle of putting on had an opening clearly intended for just such an appendage

"Keep moving forwards, keep moving forwards" she repeated to herself, the repetition of a mantra reminding her unintentionally of the older student at Atlas Academy Neon Katt, whose own Faunus attribute didn't seem so jarringly out of place. Forcing herself not to think about it she continued dressing herself, slipping on a pair of black boots and a long sleeved T-shirt, the nondescript dark attire only highlighting her pale complexion but thankfully hiding her injuries from view. Taking a seat she took several deep breaths, while she didn't actually need to breathe her chest rose and fell to mimic the action and she found it calming. She sat in silence for a few moments, head in her hands as she attempted to make sense of everything before her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone knocking on the door

"C-come in" the door opened with a slight creak revealing her visitor; a tall man who if she had to guess was somewhere in his early to mid twenties with spiked and windswept crimson hair framed by a pair of horns adorning his angular face. He wore a primarily black outfit stylized markings adorning the left shoulder of his trench-coat, a sheathed katana hung from his hip; as he stepped into the room closing the door behind him his vibrant blood red eyes focused on Penny

"Salutations" Penny greeted him uncertainly

"I heard you waking up and gave you a few moments to yourself" his voice was deep yet silky, Penny's eyes darted to his horns, the answer forming itself in her mind before she could ask how he had heard her, Faunus have enhanced senses

"I'm glad to see you conscious, my people told me they were uncertain if you could be saved" he sounded genuinely concerned "My name is Adam and I'm sure you have questions" Penny indeed had questions, many of them, the problem was that each of them seemed to be of utmost importance and she struggled to decide which to ask first, eventually settling on one and indicated to her tail

"Why do I have a Faunus attribute….and why can't I feel it?"

"Ah the tail, that is something of a stroke of genius on one of my engineers' part" a small smile crept across Adam's face "When you were found your body contained two power systems, one of which was unlike anything we'd ever seen before and unfortunately damaged beyond repair. I'll admit my organisation were going to dismantle you and use you for spare parts until we saw that the secondary system was still functional. My organisation may not have access to the same calibre of technology as the Kingdom of Atlas but we do have our fair share of geniuses in the ranks that can do great things with limited supplies. When we realised that you were still alive we replaced the damaged power system with something more conventional. Your tail….well it would be easier if showed you, may I?" Penny gave a barely perceptible nod and Adam stepped closer and took her tail in his hands, gently massaging a specific point of the tip causing the end of the tail to unfold and reform itself into a plug which he then placed into a socket in the wall; Penny's eyes visibly brightened as power began to course through her body, feeling suddenly flooding into the new limb

"I'm glad to see it works" Adam noted "We had a few Faunus specific prosthetics spare after the Battle of Beacon, adapting it to work as a charger as well as a functioning tail took some work" at the mention of Beacon Penny's head jerked upwards, as she looked at Adam's face again her field of vision took on a red tint as the words 'Priority target detected' flashed before her eyes. Many of her her subroutines and systems had been inactive while she was low on power, now they had returned in full force and Penny instinctively rose from the chair and made to lunge at the Bull-Faunus. Adams' hand shot out faster than she could react and she found herself pinned firmly to the wall, his gloved hand closing around her throat

"Do not make that mistake again" his voice was low and dangerous and Penny saw that while he held her in place with his left hand his right had moved to the hilt of his sword "I'm going to let you go, can I trust you not to make me hurt you?" Penny considered for a few seconds before forcing her vision to return to normal and nodding. He released and Penny staggered forwards a little

"You're Adam Taurus, your organisation is the White Fang" her tone was accusatory

"My organisation are the ones that saved you" he countered "Which leads me to ask why attack me? Don't misunderstand me I know what you are Penny the whole of Remnant saw what you are but you're not an Atlesian Knight blindly following orders are you? What do you gain from fighting the White Fang?"

"The White Fang are evil, you're terrorists and you kill people!" Adam merely rose an eyebrow at Penny's raised voice

"Yes we kill people and every attack perpetrated against the humans can be justified as self defence" his calm admission took her aback, Adam began pacing as he continued "I don't hate humans Penny but they've proved that they're too dangerous to be allowed the amount of power they have, just look at Atlas's treatment of my people"

"The Faunus were given Menagerie-"

"We won their wars for them and they annexed us!" Adam spat, irises glowing as his Aura flared without warning "They discriminate against us for years then when we save them from the Grimm they try and force the entire Faunus species onto an island that's barely habitable. When Atlas learned that we had Dust deposits on Menagerie they strong-armed our leaders into signing one sided trade agreements with them. The Faunus have been abused, hated and outright robbed by the Humans for years. It has to stop!" Adam took a deep breath, aware that he was ranting

"Then why did you repair me?" Penny asked "If you know what I am"

"Because we're not so different" Adam chuckled "I know about the brothers and sisters of the White Fang you killed when you brought down their transports, we're both prepared to do whatever it takes protect the people that matter to us and both of us are just tools to be used in the eyes of the humans"

"Humans aren't evil" Penny started, though she was unable to dispute any of the facts of his claims. The look he gave her was one of pity

"The humans will destroy everything that isn't like them if they aren't stopped, look at the amount of species they've pushed to extinction, look at what happened to you. They made a machine with a soul, the first of your kind and then what did they do….They killed you Penny, they killed you in public and the only thing they cared about is why you were allowed to exist in the first place" anger seeped into the Faunus' voice as he continued

"These humans, they care nothing for you. Is that your purpose? Are you just an experiment, a laboratory specimen? That cannot be your destiny!"

"My father is a human and he loves me!" Penny cried stepping towards Adam and preparing to strike him before being halted by her tail which was still plugged into the wall

"Then where is he right now!" Adam demanded furiously "It's been six months since Beacon fell, the White Fang found you when we were scavenging anything we could use from Amity Stadium….They just left you there Penny, all those people you thought were your friends, that you would have died to protect; when you needed them they stepped over your body to save themselves and nobody went back for you….I know the people in Atlas think I'm a monster, but I've never left someone behind, it's not right" his voice took on a haunted tone that made Penny pause

"My father loves me" she repeated, head hanging dejectedly as she fell back into the chair behind her

"So naive" Adam murmured sadly, seeing Penny look up at him he continued "You're a great fighter with so much hope; but you're naive and unprepared for the world really works….you remind me of someone I lost. Don't become a slave to the humans when you have the potential to be more than they ever dreamed of"

"So what happens now?" Penny asked

"Go to your father if you want" Adam shrugged "You'll need to wait until you're finished charging though, how are you feeling physically?"

"Sensational" Penny answered before hesitating "You'd really let me go?"

"You're not my prisoner. I doubt I could keep you prisoner if you really wanted to leave" Adam gave her a small smile "I'd rather you stayed and helped us, we need people like you to save the humans from themselves but if you want to go your father then go, if he's a man with any principals he'll remember who brought him back his daughter….provided he hasn't built a replacement"

"He wouldn't" Penny's voice trembled if she were capable of it tears would have filled her eyes at the thought of being so callously discarded

"You have a soul, you're a living person. Yet in sixth months your Father hasn't looked for you, Atlas sent nobody, none of your friends came for you" He produced a Scroll from his pocket and handed it to her "They didn't even list you among the dead, they don't see you as one of them. You were created by humans to obey humans" Penny took the proffered device, fists clenching as she searched through the lists of Hunters missing and killed in action during the Battle of Beacon and failed to find her own name. It was true Penny realised as a mixture of grief and rage welled up within her. The Scroll sparked as it was shattered under her grip

"I'm sorry" she gasped Adam merely shook his head and produced another identical device

"We have a lot of spares, with the CCT down after the battle a lot of people have thrown their Scrolls away" he explained before handing her the second Scroll "You can leave a voice message for your father, he won't receive it until cross-Kingdom communications are restored but you can let him know you're safe in case it takes you longer to return to Atlas than expected. Penny considered her options carefully, the sheer volume of names listed as missing or dead occupying her thoughts, followed by the way Ruby's uncle had casually destroyed an Atlesian Knight with an off-handed remark about sentient scrap as well as the plethora of racist remarks she had heard from students and members of the Atlesian military alike during her time at Beacon. She dialled her father's scroll and waited to leave a message

"Father, it's me, it's Penny. I don't know when you'll get this message but I just wanted you to know that I am still functional, I'm safe. But I can't come home. I will be following my prime directive to protect people through means outside of the Military and the Hunters, you may see me involved in things that shock you but I want you to know that it is for your own good and I still love you. This is goodbye father" Penny couldn't physically cry but her whole body shook with silent sobs as she ended the message

"You're right" the android choked out "The humans are too eager to destroy anything that threatens them including each other. I was meant to protect them I see now that they need to be contained and controlled for their own protection" Adam placed a hand gently on her shoulder, squeezing lightly

"You mean to fight alongside us?" he asked "To be more than the tool of an oppressor and the slave they meant you to be" Penny met his gaze, her expression determined

"Humans may have created me, but they will never enslave me. This cannot be my destiny….I'm combat ready"

Authors Notes:

Penny is still alive in this because (As in my main story the Downward Spiral) her Aura is powered by a separate system to the rest of her body. That system survived her body being torn apart and went into stand by mode waiting to be reactivated. Penny didn't technically die, she went into a coma/hibernation.

Her Primary power supply was an 'Arc Reactor' (In Downward Spiral it's revealed that one of Jaune's older sisters helped Professor Polendina work on Penny) surely I don't need to explain the reference?

She has living tissue grafted over her mechanical parts (like a Terminator) which her Aura heals and regrows like it would any living person.

Penny rebuilt as a Cat-Faunus, awww.

I'm pretty sure that in a world with Faunus if robot arms and legs exist someone has made a robot tail.

I headcanon that the White Fang have got some pretty smart people in their ranks, the must have to be a force to be reckoned with. They just have a lot less resources to work with.

Her tail is a plug, I'm sure I saw that in an anime.

Adam is a manipulative bastard and Penny is naive robot girl who wants to make friends.

Adam paraphrasing Mewtwo, am I the only person who sees those two as similar?

"You remind me of someone"

Penny directly quoting Mewtwo….did anyone else's heart break a little?

As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.