Penny was irrecoverable after the first accident. Her 'brother' Nickle greets the gang instead.
SYSTEM ONLINE…..
SYSTEM BOOTING.
ERROR. DATABASE CORRUPTED.
ERROR.
ERROR.
ERROR.
BACKUP SYSTEM BOOTING.
SYSTEM RUN SUCCESSFUL.
The words ran through the android’s vision as she, they… it? started to wake up. The room it was in didnt seem familiar to it, nor did the men that were talking loudly next to it as it sat up. The android took a few moments to adjust it’s hearing to catch what was being said, closing its eyes to focus.
“I-I can get her back up and running but it may take a few days to recover who she was at her core,” the man in the moving chair said as he moved to his desk to pick up a tablet. “We still havent been able to recover her core-”
“Then make a new one,” the other man said calmly, yet sternly as he kept his hands behind his back. “That android is our hope to save Atlas, to save Remnant. If you cannot get it fixed, then maybe I wasted my trust on you, Pietro.”
Pietro sighed and flipped through a few applications until he came across a few blueprints labeled as Project P.E.N.N.Y. “I… I uh… will do what I can, General.”
“You have a week to show me progress.”
The android watched as the General started to make his way away from the room Pietro was in, still confused about what was so important about it. It connected to the Atlas Network to try to learn more, frowning when it couldnt get more information about who it was supposed to be. Only images of a red-headed girl called Penny.
Pietro made his way back to the room the android was in and sat his tablet down on the table in the middle of a coughing fit. He paused for a moment when he saw the android sitting up, a small smile crossing his lips. “You’re awake. Were you able to recover yourself?”
“Recover… myself?” The words came out of the android with a slightly deeper voice than Penny had had, almost like someone learning how to speak again from months of being mute. The android caught it’s reflection in a nearby mirror, slowly reaching up to the patchy skin on its face. Green eyes still showed brightly, the bits of synthetic skin that were still covering the mechanical face showed freckles along its cheeks, almost looking feminine. “What… What is my name?”
“Penny,” Pietro answered as he made his way closer, trying to inspect the android. “If you dont remember, then that means her recovery failed, didnt it?”
The android nodded, closing its eyes and running through a system check on its body. “Mechanical functions are normal. Network connection working. Penny program… corrupted. Missing key components, backup system N.I.C.K.E.L. running.”
“Nickel…” Pietro sighed and pulled away from the android. “Not the persona that I was expecting to come back to me, but without the core that houses Penny… That doesnt matter right now. What matters is getting my child back up to running order.”
“Child?” Nickel asked as it stood up, testing out its joints. “I… I am your child.”
“You are, and same with Penny. Though, unless we can get her core back and install it into you, I’m afraid she’s lost.”
Nickel moved his arms, watching the joints through the patchy synthetic skin. “And what will happen to me?”
“You’ll be pushed back while Penny takes the front again.” Pietro paused for a moment as he looked over the blueprints for Penny, waiting for them to update once Nickel was finished testing his movement. “Though, I dont see how we’ll be able to retrieve it. We couldnt find it on Amity and if its at Beacon, it could be anywhere. Worst case, it was picked up by someone and could be sold to find someone else to make an android like you.”
Nickel nodded quietly as he finished running through his tests, relieved that his body was able to move and calibrated correctly. “I… I want to stay.”
Pietro nodded and smiled at Nickel. “Everything has come back as normal, so all we’d need to do now is test your weapons and then we can worry about your looks.”
Nickel looked at his reflection again, gently moving his fingers over the exposed mechanical bits and wires on his face and arms. “Then, can you make me look similar to Penny?”
“Are you sure you want that?”
“I-I do. I want you to have a reminder of Penny, but I still want to be like me. Like a… a brother to her.”
“If you’re sure-”
“I am.” Nickel walked over to the mirror and smiled a bit as he looked over his frame. “Penny seemed to mean a lot to you and I… I dont want that to go away.”
Pietro nodded and grabbed a tablet before heading out of the room. “Take a few more minutes to get used to yourself and then meet me at the training room. I want to see how much more I need to fix for you. Or adjust.”
Nickel nodded and continued to look around the room, making his way around to find out more about who Penny had been to everyone. He paused for a moment as she saw a picture of team RWBY on the desk, framed with small hearts drawn around Ruby. With a steady hand, he knocked the picture over to keep himself from seeing Penny’s friends. If he was going to stay, he had to avoid as much of Penny’s old life as he could. At least so no one would try to bring her back over him.