Edit 11/03/2019: Fixed some grammatical mistakes and made some general edits to make the writing more concise.

"Doctor."

The Mad Genius of Atlas did not even acknowledge the man addressing him, instead choosing to continue watching his screen like it held the answer to all of life's questions and none of them were to his liking.

Most people might be put off by how distracted Dr. Marion Polendina seemed. General James Ironwood was thankfully a patient man, contrary to what some might insist. He didn't need to take in the scientist's wrinkled lab coat and disheveled greasy hair to know that he was upset. Nor did he need to look at the scientist's computer screen to know what he was upset about. Because while he didn't show it outright, General Ironwood was deeply saddened by the very same thing.

"General," Dr. Polendina finally responded. He gave a small, humorless laugh. "Just need a priest and we can walk into a bar."

They remained still for some time, the only sound being the clashing of metal coming from the video on the computer.

Dr. Polendina paused the video and turned around in his chair. Now that they were facing each other, Ironwood was able to see more details that announced Marion's misery to the world. His green eyes were reddened from a combination of tears and forcing himself to stay awake. His beard was scraggly and unkempt. His hair stuck to his balding head and Ironwood was willing to bet that were he a little closer, the man would smell almost as bad as he looked.

"Beacon has fallen," Marion said, his voice rough and dry. It was an affirmation of fact, not a question.

"That's putting it mildly," Ironwood replied. In his mind, he could still hear the cacophony of that night like it was happening that very second. The howls and snarls of various Grimm. The gunfire from both students and his own rogue machines. As a military man, Ironwood had become accustomed to such noises, but that didn't mean he wasn't haunted by them from time to time.

One sound in particular was at the forefront of his mind at the moment: the screams of horror after a girl was ripped apart by the strings of her own weapons.

"I thought you should know that I'm closing Atlas's borders effective immediately," Ironwood continued. "It will take some time, but as soon as the rest of our fleet returns from other parts of the world, nothing will get in or out without my say-so."

"Do you think that wise?" Marion asked. "Suspicions are high enough as it is. Shutting ourselves away from the rest of the world will only make them hate us more." It didn't matter that the strange woman had lied to the whole world about Atlas's attempts to infiltrate Vale. When forced to bear witness to a tragedy, the scientist mused, anyone could be made to believe anything. And that was all his daughter's death had been: a prop to be used to make a political statement that meant nothing.

"The enemy infiltrated Vale from within," Ironwood said. "They won't be able to do the same to Atlas if they can't get past the border."

Marion nodded absently. It didn't really matter if he agreed with the general or not. Once James Ironwood set his mind to something, it was damn near impossible to get him to change his course.

Ironwood steeled himself for what he was about to say next. "There's… no easy way to put this, Doctor." He paused, making sure he had the scientist's undivided attention. "We brought her remains back with us."

Once again, they remained in silence. Then Marion turned back around and stared at the computer screen.

"Doctor, I know this can't be easy for you," Ironwood said.

"You seem to be taking Ozpin's death remarkably well," Marion said.

Ironwood's frown deepened. "Don't change the subject."

"You two were close friends and yet you barely seem affected by his passing," Marion said. "Sometimes I wonder if you even have a heart."

"Don't you want to see her?" Ironwood asked. "She's your daughter."

"My daughter is dead!" shouted Marion, followed by loud coughing. He took a deep breath and continued in barely a whisper. "What you brought back is nothing but a pile of scrap metal wearing her face."

Ironwood stared at the back of Marion's chair, noticing how the man was shaking like a leaf. Deciding that being polite was getting him nowhere, the general stepped forward and turned the scientist's chair to face him. Dr. Polendina would not even meet his eyes.

"Marion," Ironwood said. "You are in a unique position. You have an opportunity that few people have: you can salvage something from all this." He paused, unsure if he should voice what he was thinking. "There's a chance you can salvage her."

Marion slowly raised his gaze to meet Ironwood's. "You attribute divine power to me, General. You're asking me to bring the dead back to life."

"Penny Polendina is unique," Ironwood reasoned, intentionally speaking of the girl in the present tense. "It is no exaggeration to say that there is nothing in the world like her. She's only in pieces. You might be able to put her back together. And if there is even a one percent chance you can bring her back, then you owe it to yourself to try."

And there it was. Just as Ironwood predicted, a spark of hope had emerged in his friend's eyes. It did little to help the man's disheveled appearance, but it was a start.

Marion turned his chair back around. "I only promise to try, James. Nothing more."

"That's all I ask for," Ironwood replied, turning around and leaving. "I expect to see you working in your lab by tomorrow morning."

Dr. Polendina waited five seconds after the door closed, staring at his screen all the while. He unpaused the video.

Pyrrha watched, wide-eyed, as Penny's swords seemed to multiply a hundred fold in seconds. Like bacteria splitting apart endlessly, the short blades began to fill the entire arena, and all the while the orange-haired girl was giving her a very unnerving grin.

When the swords flew at her, Pyrrha panicked. Throwing caution to the wind, she thrust her arms out, exerting her Semblance as far as it would go.

Three seconds passed over what felt like the course of an eternity.

After one second, Pyrrha noticed the multitude of swords had been reduced to just eight the moment she threw her arms out. Penny felt her entire body seize up, held completely still by some invisible force.

After two seconds, Penny's blades flew past her, then looped back around as the near-invisible wires connecting them to her backpack were tangled around her midsection and her left arm. They began tightening painfully.

After three seconds, the looped string sliced through her body, cleanly severing her legs and left arm. She fell to the ground in a heap.

Silence dominated the arena. Penny's weapons were scattered everywhere, one buried in the ground point-first. Sparks leapt out of the torn pieces of her body like people jumping out of a house as it burned to the ground.

If one looked close enough, one might have seen the light leave Penny's eyes in one agonizing instant.

As the video ended, Marion clenched his fist. He had lost count of how many times he had witnessed his daughter's final moments, but he still felt as if he were the one being sliced in two.

The door to Dr. Polendina's lab slid open. The Mad Genius of Atlas looked much better than he did yesterday. He had on a fresh lab coat, his hair was frizzled but clean, and his beard was full and neatly trimmed.

There was still pain in his eyes, though, pain that only seemed to double as he looked at the collection of body parts on a long table that dominated the center of the room. The room itself was almost stereotypical for a mad scientist's workspace. Tools of varying sizes and shapes hung from hooks on the wall, their functions a mystery to everyone other than Marion. The room was lit by fluorescent lights. Half-finished projects and blueprints littered some smaller worktables in the corners of the room.

Marion walked up to the table and somehow stopped himself from doubling over and sobbing right then and there. It was one thing to watch your own family be ripped apart on a computer screen. It was another to see the aftermath of the event right before your eyes.

Penny Polendina looked the same as she did at the Fall of Beacon. Same plain-looking gray blouse, same black leggings with green lines. Not a hair out of place. Surprisingly, it was not the fact that she had been reduced to a pile of limbs that nearly caused the scientist to succumb to his sorrow. It was her eyes. Wide open. Pupils dilated to the point where there was no trace of her green irises. There was only one word to describe her expression: empty.

Dr. Polendina quickly pulled himself together. Now was not the time to mourn. Ironwood had all but ordered him to inspect the girl's remains. The General expected him to be productive. Marion donned a pair of goggles hanging off the wall closest to him. He gathered a collection of cutting tools and screwdrivers.

Then he set to work.

Two hours later, Dr. Polendina wiped sweat off his brow. Where there had once been the body of Penny Polendina, there was now a collection of servos, gears, wires, and various other metal pieces that had once made the inner workings of the android.

The first thing Marion had done was dispose of the artificial skin that covered Penny's endoskeleton. The purpose for this was twofold: he wouldn't get much done if it got in the way of her metal parts and he would have an easier time working if he wasn't staring into the face of his dead daughter. Much of the rest of the frame he kept. The damage, for the most part, had been localized only to the points where she had been sliced. Other than the servos that facilitated movement in those parts of her body, everything could conceivably be salvaged for later use.

The "skull" that contained Penny's CPU was plugged into a screen on another worktable. Unfortunately, much of her memory had been irreparably corrupted, a consequence of her sudden and unexpected shutdown. Frankly, it was a miracle that her basic protocols were still intact. Those would be useful when working on repairing her software.

With one last twist of the wrist, Dr. Polendina removed the final screw. There was an audible click, and a panel on the torso piece lifted slightly. Dr. Polendina picked up the panel and laid it aside. What lay underneath looked like a mess of electronic parts that did who knows what. But Marion's expert eye was able to pick out each part individually and know their functions immediately.

And then he stopped. His gaze was locked on one specific part in almost the exact center. He quickly picked his screwdriver back up, barely noticing his shaking hands. In seconds he had detached the part of interest and held it high in his hands.

It was a sphere of black metal almost the size of a human head. Short tubes stuck out of the sphere at seemingly random intervals, but close inspection would show that there were points where the tubes connected to the rest of the body if the sphere was placed inside at just the right angle. Marion Polendina let out a joyous and triumphant yell. He seemed to age backwards by decades as he grinned at the spherical lump of metal in his hands.

It was Penny's Aura Furnace. It had gone dark, but it was undamaged. In a way, Marion was holding his daughter's heart in his hands.

He rushed over to his computer, the Aura Furnace still in one hand. He minimized the program he was using to analyze the contents of Penny's CPU. He opened a tab for recording video and waited until he saw his own face staring back at him.

"Project P.E.N.N.Y., Day 1 of Revitalization," he said breathlessly. "Aura Furnace is intact but has gone dark. Relighting it will not be a simple task, but it is a task I will accomplish…"

A/N: Thus begins my first attempt at a RWBY fic. Anyone who follows my other stories, don't worry. I haven't abandoned them, I'm just taking a short break. We'll see if this thing pans out or not, but I just had to get my ideas out there after finally getting around to watching Volume 6.

This chapter was short, as it is only a prologue. A mere introduction. I'm sorry if General Ironwood seemed a bit out of character, but I needed someone to get Dr. Polendina back on his feet. Speaking of Penny's father, I really wish I could think of a more creative name for him than Marion (short for Marionette in case you didn't get it). I tried thinking of some clever pun on Geppetto, but to no avail. Next chapter will chronicle the almost year that it takes to rebuild Penny... but she may not be quite as you remember her.