135

Chapter 135

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

"How are you feeling, darling? Are you alright? Can you move?" 

Consciousness came back to Penny slowly, her systems settling into a new body with far less efficiency than she normally woke up with. It was… slow. Muggy. Her core and memory banks came online at the same time, synchronized as always by the extensive network of cables and structures designed to prevent any chance of catastrophic failure behind the armor plating and reinforcements. Idly, as her Aura began to pulse stronger (and… did she detect the faintest scent of rose petals?) and stronger as it flowed through the wires and panels that made up her new body, the circuits and components within her form activating with the subtlest whirrs and hums, Penny thought of Ruby. That flash of silver, the castle, her dearest beloved's body so close and yet so far… they'd been all but one for a brief, brief moment. Where Ruby's matter mingled with her metal, where they'd touched on a level so deep that their Auras came together nearly as one…

She was thankful for Ruby, thankful that the armor plating around her heart and mind were replaced with the mixture of metals that Ruby had made specifically for her- the strongest, toughest, most durable mix yet. Enough that she could armor her core and memory banks and still have enough left over to enhance the durability of key parts of her body in the new design. Her new body… She'd worked on it some with Ruby, as part of some plans for maybe third year, when Penny would need to visibly seem older- her old body had some systems in place to allow for a slight modicum of simulated growth, but the new body was designed such that it was appropriate for a slightly older build- somewhere between seventeen and twenty, ambiguously. She'd be taller, stronger, faster. Her systems would be more robust, her sensors more capable of detecting everything around her with specific overrides for Ruby's presence instead of the adhoc ones she'd made for herself. A new hairstyle, a new set of functionality… The jet boots she'd mentioned to Ruby once upon a time, with extra plasma repulsors in her palms for flight control. Extra swords with the updated firmware that her father had worked on- he'd taken Ruby's rewritten code and made it more robust, helped add in a low profile, nearly invisible anti-grav system for each section of Floating Array such that the cables were no longer necessary for full motion control, just for delivering power and data, as well as channeling her Aura.

She was at least twice as strong as before, maybe even three times stronger. Upgraded servos and muscle fibers, enhanced battery lifespan with built in kinetic, thermal, and solar recharging arrays so she could eke out more power as long as she was still functional…

She had a more sensitive tongue now, it seemed. Her systems checks flashed across her view as she continued to wake up bit by bit over the course of many moments, eyes flashing beneath closed lids as she performed diagnostics on every part of her body. Oh! Her eyes had laser emitters now! That meant they must look different from before! She hoped it wasn't too noticeable or strange looking- after all, she wanted to make sure she looked her best for Ruby's inevitable awakening! Hmm… enhanced muscle fibers, check. Extra strength servos, check. Hydraulics at full capacity, check. Jet boosters, check. Repulsors, check. Micro missiles- micro missiles? When did she get micro missiles? Oh, they were installed into the auxiliary units currently attached to her legs. Interesting. Her actual legs had jump boosters, but the auxiliary units allowed for true flight and faster aerial maneuvering… very nice. It also meant that she could try on different shoes during her downtime! How cute! 

Oh! Floating Array was still there as well! Wonderful- and the form factors of the backpack had been slimmed down slightly as well, to be slightly more in line with the revised shells that she and Ruby had worked on before! And the new metals and armor in her body conducted her Aura so well- that was interesting too! Even though most of her body was the same, she had a lot of constructed material stock from when she was in Beacon, and much of it seemed to have been integrated into critical functions that made sure she was as durable and functional as possible- how fun! A net thirty percent increase in Aura efficiency and longevity, or so her documentation files stated. Doping the materials she'd made with Ruby with a combination of their Auras really did seem to have a wonderful effect. Hmm… she'd registered it earlier, but her tongue really did have more sensors in it- better ones too! Oh, and her sense of touch was enhanced as well! 

"Penny darling? Are you awake? You're taking quite a moment to wake up- easy now, don't disorient yourself," came the sound of her father- crystal clear in her ears as her eyes ever so slowly opened and took in the ceiling of the laboratory in higher fidelity than her last set of eyes. Ah, they must have upgraded her visual systems too! How wonderful!

"I am…" Penny started, waiting just a moment as her diagnostics finished and everything compiled into a nice, neat package of bright ruby red in her HUD. Some people might have thought that seeing a translucent red HUD over their vision would be a bad thing or indicative of problems, but for Penny it was a reminder of her beloved, who she had to return to as soon as possible once everything in Atlas was settled. After she blinked a few times, she finished her sentence by popping up from the assembly table and hopping down to the floor in a single smooth motion, throwing her hands into the air with a cry of, "Combat Ready!"

Pietro chuckled lightly as Penny fully awoke, watching the now older form of his daughter move about to test her new center of balance and adjust to the increased dexterity, strength, and general physicality she was now capable of. The engineering team had outdone themselves with the hardware upgrades, and the minor software upgrades he'd added in with the aid of Ruby's notes and files were simple and largely consisted of security patches and optimizations that made Penny's mechanical systems function with less packet loss and with faster responses overall. "Glad to see you awake again, darling. How do you feel? Any machining errors I should take care of? Nothing pinching or catching?"

"I feel sensational! Closer to my beloved than ever before with the new materials, and with the extra joints and padding, as well as the cosmetic upgrades, I will be able to give her better kissies and hugs than ever before!" Penny exclaimed happily, hugging herself and wiggling back and forth with a wide grin as she imagined being back in the arms of her dearest wishing star, giggling and blushing with beautifully twinkling emerald lights hidden beneath the synthetic skin of her face. "I'm so excited! I only wish that she would wake up soon, but that will not be for some time yet. But I have so much to do before I return to her anyway!"

Pietro blinked slowly, tilting his head ever so slightly with a raised eyebrow. "Darling, I don't mean to doubt you, but how do you know when Ruby will wake up? I can't imagine it'd be easy to tell just from the grimm activity sensors in that area- and besides, I don't think you've even had the time to check those yet."

Penny shook her head, holding her hand close to her heart as her Aura pulsed and a tiny speck of red bloomed against her chest. "No, no… I… have a feeling. Ruby's love and soul are with me- a small part of her Aura, at least. Crescent Rose's residual Aura signature, the love and care she put into helping me grow, the leftover remnants of her soul mingling with mine as we struck down the Wyvern… we are connected now, I think. I can… feel her. And she's tired. She is very tired, but she is growing stronger again. She just needs to sleep it off for a while, to heal from the exhaustion and return to herself. It won't be soon… but… I will be ready for her, even if the General wishes for me to stay and protect Mantle and Atlas instead."

"I see. Well. I'm glad Ruby is in good hands. Now… speaking of the General," Pietro started, sighing heavily as he leaned back in his chair and a pair of robotic arms descended bearing a tray containing the auxiliary containers for all of Floating array's swords. "I'm afraid he wants you to report to his office as soon as possible for a debriefing, plus a new assignment- temporary, he said, but… you know how the military is about temporary postings."

Penny sighed as well, equipping her containers in their new slots and frowning as she mentally mapped out the path to the General's office based on the map of the Atlesian Military HQ that she had in her memory banks. "Of course, dad. I…"

She paused, then shook her head and gave Pietro a hug, nuzzling into him for a moment before pulling away after far too short of a time. "I'll go now. But I will be sure to tell him that I will not be stuck here when my beloved is still back in Vale!"

Pietro laughed, patting Penny on the shoulder. "Atta girl. Go on now- I'm sure James will be mighty surprised to hear you say that."

"I am sure he will."

Notes:

I uh... don't have any upgraded Penny art. I've been.... unable to schedule drawing for this fic lately.