He had made it. He was at Beacon.

Sure, his means gaining admission weren't exactly legal, per se, but in his defence, Vale's cybersecurity was so archaic! He had seen better protection on emails! Now admittedly, those emails had been carrying highly confidential information from the Atlas military, but still! Emails!

It had taken him all of 20 minutes to forge a believable transcript to get him admitted without standing out, bypass the CCT firewall with a spoofed 24-bit identification key (Only 24-bit! Literally 3 seconds to brute force it!), acquire some falsified letters of commendation (with matching e-signature, of course) from, unfortunately, now dead private trainers, and file it all from a proxy server in Vacuo!

Now, he could certainly get arrested for this, but no one had ever discovered him. He was the man who got copies of the prototyping stage data of the Polendina Project for crying out loud! If they hadn't discovered him then, they never would. Besides, what did it matter? He was finally going to become a Huntsman.

Jaune tore his eyes from the high spires and towering, well, towers of Beacon Academy as the sharp crack of an explosion went off to his left. He scanned along the gently curving path until he spotted the cause: two girls of similar height with pale skin faced each other, one in black and red, the other in white, both with hair coloured similarly to their outfits.

The one in white stamped a foot, glowering at the one in red as she tucked her head and fiddled with her fingers, a display of submission and discomfort even he could detect.

"Unbelievable!" the white one shouted in anger, the breeze carrying away the lingering smoke from the explosion, and pushing a little glass vial of red powder along the floor until it was stopped by the black boot of a third woman.

The woman stooped to collect the vial, never taking her eyes from her book until the vial was at her face, where she stopped reading to observe it, then after a moment, flit her eyes in the direction of the original pair.

She was taller than the other women, and wore purple leggings, but was otherwise exclusive to black and white. This colour scheme seemed to remain consistent with her pale skin and long black hair, which was adorned with a large bow, which, despite the breeze, and her rather rapid movement, remained static. However, the moment her eyes moved from the vial to the pair, Jaune watched it twitch.

A Faunus, he decided, one with an additional pair of large ears, if he was able to see the bow move as it had. He could think of no other valid explanation for such artificial movements. She was hiding the fact, though if what he'd heard of Faunus discrimination was correct, it was understandable that she would want to avoid such confrontations.

"This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about!" the girl in white continued, unaware of the secret Faunus that strode towards them. Jaune trailed slowly, willing to let the interaction play out so that he may observe, and hopefully develop some degree of competency in standard human reactions. Snark and sarcasm would not carry him far.

"I'm really, really sorry," the girl in red returned, her eyes darting to the woman she seemed to have offended, before returning to the ground just as quickly.

"You complete dolt!" White insulted, "What are you even doing here? Aren't you a little young to be attending Beacon?" she accused.

"Well I-I-"

"This isn't your ordinary combat school; it's not just sparring and practice, you know. We're here to fight monsters, so… Watch where you're going!"

"Hey, I said I was sorry, Princess," Red returned defensively.

"It's 'Heiress', actually," the Faunus interjected. "Weiss Schnee; heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. One of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world."

"Finally," Weiss said smugly, "some recognition."

"The same company infamous for its controversial labour forces, and questionable business partners," the Faunus continued, unperturbed.

"Wha- How dare th-!" Weiss stammered, as the girl in red giggled quietly. "The nerve of-" She strode towards the Faunus, before snatching the vial from her hand and turning on her heel to walk stiffly away.

"I promise I'll make this up to you!" Red called at her retreating figure, before sighing. "I guess I'm not the only one having a rough first day… So! What's-" She turned to the Faunus, only to watch her walk away like Weiss had, but in the opposite direction.

Red collapsed to her knees slowly, then gently lay onto her back. "Welcome to Beacon," she muttered dejectedly.

Jaune quickly stepped forward, leaning down slightly and offering a hand. "Uh, hi! I'm Jaune… Are you okay?" he asked.

"Ruby," she returned, taking the offered hand and allowing him to help her to her feet, "And I'll be okay."

Maybe he could help her feel better.

"Your hair is very pretty," he told her.

He had initially thought it black, but now that he was closer, he could see it was actually a very dark red, that slowly became brighter and more vibrant as it approached the ends.

"W-what?!" she exclaimed.

He said something wrong. Her cheeks were going red, that means she's angry, doesn't it? He made her angry. He must have offended her with the hair comment. He only just met her and he'd already practically insulted her! What was wrong with him?! He needed to fix this!

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to offend you! I wanted to make you feel better and my sisters like compliments so I just thought- I'm sorry…" he finished lamely.

"N-no!" Ruby stammered, "You didn't offend me, I was just surprised is all… I'm sorry for over-reacting. I'm not good at this whole "socialising" thing; I'd much rather talk about weapons… and now I sound like a weirdo, great going Ruby," she rambled, eyes down, kicking her feet idly.

"No! I know what you mean. I don't think you're weird. I'm not good at talking to people either, I'm much more comfortable with a computer."

"Computers?" she asked, looking up to him.

"Yeah! They just… make sense, you know? They're made to do a job, and they always do that job. And if something goes wrong, you can find the problem and fix it! People aren't like that though; they're always so confusing, and you can't ever fix all the problems… Am I making any sense?"

"Yes! I understand perfectly!" Ruby beamed at him. "I feel the same way about weapons! There's so many different types, and they're all so cool! They can do so many cool things, and they all have things they're good at! It's why I love my Crescent Rose so much!"

Ruby grabbed a large red case from the small of her back, and unfurled it. Jaune watched it extend into a massive scythe, longer than she was tall by a significant degree.

The weapon was a beautiful display of craftsmanship.

A wide smile of pride was stuck on her face. "It's also a customizable, high-impact sniper rifle!"

"Large calibre," he mumbled, looking at the barrel, "Is it a .50?" She nodded. "A straight-pull bolt. Is it a dual-action too?" he asked.

She grinned wide at his observation. "Yep! Took forever to convince the teachers at Signal to let me have a straight-pull bolt with a gas release valve on it. Something about budget; I didn't really listen." She giggled.

"With a barrel that long, it must have some incredible range," he mused.

"She sure does! 853 metres per second muzzle velocity, and effective out to 1,800 metres!" she boasted. "What about you?" she asked, peering at the blade on his hip, "What have you got?"

"Ah, nothing special," he admitted, drawing the sword. "It was my great-great-grandfather's, so it doesn't suit me very well. He used it to fight in the War. Oh, and the scabbard expands into a shield," he said, demonstrating the sole mechashifting capability it had. "Makes it easier to carry."

"Wouldn't it weight the same though?"

"Yeah, but I don't bump it into things quite as often."

She giggled again, before turning her face away and kicking her feet shyly. "I could, y'know, maybe help you make a new one?" she offered, "Only if you want to though…"

He blinked in surprise. "You would do that for me? Even when we've only just met?"

"Yeah!" she affirmed strongly, "I just, I dunno… You understand me. Plus, I really like making weapons!" She grinned brightly.

"I'd love your help," he agreed with a smile, "I wonder if Beacon has its own forges?"

"Probably. Speaking of Beacon... do you know where we're supposed to go?" she asked.

"Uh, no. But I can check! Hopefully..." he answered, whipping his scroll from his pocket.

He navigated through the little device, and grinned as he located the information he had hoped to find.

"Here we are! A map!" he declared, showing her proudly.

"Oh cool! How'd you get it?" she asked curiously, drawing her own scroll and returning Crescent Rose to her back.

"They're available on the student portal. Not too hard to get," he informed.

"The student portal? But wouldn't you need to be a student to get into there?"

"Uhh, please forget about it?"

"I think I could do that," she hummed, "if you sent me that map, of course," she replied cheekily.

"Sure!" He held out his scroll, and she tapped hers to his. He then sent the map to the newly acquired contact information of one Ruby Rose.

"Cool. So, got any ideas of what kind of weapon you want?"

He thought about it for a moment. Why not a video game favourite?

"Do you know what a railgun is?"

"Ruby! Over here!" Yang called to her younger sister, spotting her enter the auditorium while chatting with a tall blond boy. "There's free spots here!"

It seemed her totally-not-ditching tactic had worked. Her baby sister had made a friend!

Ruby started, then spotted her. She said a few words to the blond boy, then pointed at her, and they set off towards Yang.

"Hey Yang!" Ruby said as she got close, before turning to the boy, "Jaune, this is Yang, my sister. Yang, this is Jaune."

He looked harmless enough. Tall, but lanky. He was also keeping his eyes on her face; wasn't leering at her figure, not even discreetly. He was also pretty cute, if not her type.

She approved of her sister's choice.

"'Sup," she greeted with a grin, sticking a hand out to shake.

"Uh, hi. Nice to meet you!" he returned awkwardly, grabbing her hand and shaking it in return.

A firm grip, if not particularly strong.

Yang returned to her seat, Ruby plopped into the one next to her, and Jaune in the one after.

Ruby turned back to her new friend, and began speaking.

"So. How big are we talking?"

"Uh, like, 18 centimetres, I think," he answered after a moment of thought, a little unsure.

Hang on a second. They couldn't be talking about what she thought they were talking about, could they?

"Seriously? How the hell are we gonna fit that in?" Ruby said.

It couldn't be! It was her innocent little sister! She must be misunderstanding something here!

"It'll be okay," Jaune reassured. "We don't have to rush it."

Okay, what the fuck was going on?!

"Geez, who knew it'd be this hard to fit a railgun into a longsword." Ruby whined. "The capacitor is sooo annoying."

Yang released the white knuckled grip on the chair she didn't realise she had and slumped back into the seat.

Weapons. Of course it was weapons. This was Ruby she was talking about.

"I did," Jaune countered, "I told you exactly that."

"So, Ruby," Yang interjected, "How's your first day going, little sister?"

Ruby's expression soured. "You mean since you ditched me," She totally didn't "and I exploded?"

"Yikes. Meltdown already?"

"No I literally exploded a hole in front of the school! There was some fire, and I-I think some ice?"

"Are you being sarcastic?" Yang teased.

Ruby scoffed. "I wish! I tripped over some crabby girl's luggage, and then she yelled at me, and then I sneezed, I then I exploded, and then she yelled again, and I felt really, really bad and I just wanted her to stop yelling at me."

"You!" Weiss shouted from in front of Ruby's seat.

"Oh god!" Ruby leapt from her seat and into Yang's arms, "It's happening again!"

"You're lucky we weren't blown off the side of the cliff!" she accused.

"Oh my god you really exploded." Yang remarked.

"It was an accident," Ruby said, before climbing out of Yang's hold and onto her feet. "It was an accident!" she repeated louder, now directed at Weiss.

Weiss thrust a pamphlet towards Ruby's face.

"What's this?" the girl asked, confused.

"The Schnee Dust Company is not responsible for any injuries or damages sustained while operating a Schnee Dust Company product. Although not mandatory, the Schnee family highly encourages our customers to read and familiarise themselves with this easy to follow guide for dust applications and practices in the field," Weiss droned.

"Uhh…"

"Do you really want to start making things up to me?"

"Absolutely?"

"Read this and don't ever speak to me again."

Yang stepped forward, and Jaune followed, taking the pamphlet from the unreactive young girl.

"Look, uh…" Yang began, rubbing the back of her neck, "Sounds like you two just got off on the wrong foot. Why don't you start over and try to be friends, okay?"

"Yeah! Great idea sis," Ruby quickly agreed, before clearing her throat and offering a hand. "Hello Weiss, I'm Ruby. Wanna hang out? We could go shopping for school supplies," she offered.

"Yeah!" Weiss agreed with false enthusiasm, "And we can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys, like tall, blond and… scraggly back there," she said, gesturing at Jaune, who was busy flipping through the pamphlet.

"Huh?" he said dumbly, looking up to the collective women now looking over at him.

"Wow, really?" Ruby asked enthusiastically, completely missing the thick sarcasm.

Weiss blinked.

"No."

A throat clearing rang through the auditorium.

"I'll… keep this brief," came the masculine voice of the man on stage through the speakers mounted on the walls, "You have travelled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step," he finished cryptically.

The students gathered murmured quietly.

The man left the stage, and the woman who had stood behind him stepped up to the microphone.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight," she directed, "Tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."

"He seemed… kinda off," Yang observed.

"It's almost like he wasn't even there," Ruby added.

Jaune agreed. He truly was a strange man.

"It's like a bi-ig slumber party!" Yang concluded, her thoughts directed at the quietly conversing duo.

"I don't think Dad would approve of all the boys, though," Ruby said in return. "No offense Jaune."

"Hmm? Oh, it's fine. I understand. My parents were never fond of my sisters hanging out with boys."

"Well I know I do," Yang remarked unashamedly, releasing something akin to a purr as she surveyed the mostly shirtless male students.

"Ya-ang," Ruby whined, a light flush on her cheeks, "With Jaune here?"

"Don't worry sis," Yang replied with a smirk, "He's all yours."

She flushed harder, but didn't respond.

Yang didn't press her. "What's that?" she instead asked, observing the sheet of paper beneath Ruby's hand.

Her left hand held the pencil, Jaune noted.

"A letter back to the gang at Signal," Ruby responded, "I promised to tell them all about Beacon, and how things are going."

"Aw, that's so cute!"

"Shut up!" Ruby demanded, tossing a pillow into Yang's face. "I didn't get to take my friends with me to school. It's weird not knowing anyone here," she said sullenly.

"What about him?" Yang asked, pointing to him.

"Apart from Jaune," she rectified, "How about you anyway? Do you have any friends here?"

"Ah, no," he admitted. "I never really had any friends. I was the weird, smart kid that people didn't talk to."

Ruby suppressed a wince at the answer.

"Look," Yang began, "It's only been one day. I'm sure things'll get better. Trust me. You've got friends all around you, you just haven't met them yet."

"Oh! My mom says something really similar actually!" Jaune exclaimed, "She says that strangers are just friends you haven't met yet, which I think is probably true. I mean, it was right with you, wasn't it?" he said, looking to Ruby.

The girl smiled. "Yeah. Thanks Jaune."

Why was she smiling? He didn't think he'd said anything particularly worth smiling over. Maybe she enjoyed the coincidence?

The strike of a match was heard, and Ruby turned her head to the source.

It was the secret Faunus. She had lit some candles, and sat in the corner of the room with a book in her hand.

"That girl…"

"You know her?" Yang asked.

"Not really. She saw what happened this morning but left before I could say anything."

"Welp, now's your chance!" Yang declared, grabbing Ruby's wrist and pulling her towards the woman.

"But- wait, what are you doing?!"

Jaune quickly climbed to his feet, and followed the eager Yang and protesting Ruby on their way towards the Faunus girl.

"Hello-o!" Yang sang, "I believe you two may know each other?"

"Aren't you that girl who exploded?" the Faunus asked after a moment of observation.

"Uh, yeah. My name's Ruby." She offered a hand, but quickly retracted it when the other girl made no move of extending her own. "But you can just call me crater… Actually, you can just call me Ruby."

"Okay," the woman replied, not lifting her eyes from her book.

"What are you doing?" Yang whispered to her sister.

"I don't know help me!" Ruby whispered back.

"So! What's your name?" Yang asked the clearly uninterested girl.

She lifted her eyes. "Blake."

"Well Blake, I'm Yang, Ruby's older sister. I like your bow!"

"Thanks," Blake said, her desire for the conversation to end apparent.

"It goes great with your… pajamas!" Yang continued.

God, is this what he looked like when he tried to talk to people?

"Right…"

"Nice night, don't you think?" Yang tried again.

"Yes. It's lovely. Almost as lovely as this book, that I will continue to read."

Neither Yang nor Ruby moved.

"As soon as you leave."

Yang turned to her sister. "Yeah, this girl is a lost cause."

Ruby instead turned back to Blake.

"What's it about?" she asked.

"Huh?"

"Your book. Does it have a name?"

"Well, it's about a man with two souls," Blake said, "Each fighting for control over his body."

Wait. "Jeckyll and Hyde?"

Blake's eyes snapped to him.

"You know it?" she asked him.

"Uh, yeah. Well, I know of it. I haven't read it myself, but I've been told it's a good read. My mother loves books. We have them lining an entire wall back at home," he answered.

"That so?" she asked, shifting more of her attention from the book.

"I love books too," Ruby said. "Yang used to read me every night before bed. Stories of heroes, and monsters. They're one of the reasons I want to be a Huntress," she revealed.

"And why is that?" Blake asked, her focus now on the conversation. "Hoping to live happily ever after?"

"Well I'm hoping we all will," Ruby answered, "As a girl, I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books; as someone who fought for what was right, and protected people."

"That's… very ambitious for a child," Blake observed, "Unfortunately, the real world isn't the same as a fairy tale."

"Well," Ruby began, a smile growing, "that's why we're here! To make it better."

"Besides," Jaune interjected, "you can't get far without ambition."

"Oh!" Yang cheered, lifting Ruby up into a hug, "I'm so proud of my little sister!"

"Cut it out!" Ruby shouted, fighting back against her sister's hold.

"Uh guys," he said, trying to gain their attention, "You're being pretty loud, and people are trying to sleep…"

"He's… ergh… right," Ruby said, still trying to pull herself free.

Yang grumbled, but released the smaller girl.

Blake laughed quietly. "Well, Yang, Ruby, and um-"

"Jaune," he filled in.

"Jaune. It's been a pleasure, but I think I'm going to go to sleep now," Blake finished.

"Right," Ruby agreed, "Sorry for bothering you."

"You're fine. Goodnight."

They finished their goodbyes, and returned to their spots on the floor, where they each quickly fell asleep.

Locker 592, 593, 594.

Nearly at locker 636, where he had left Corcea Mors yesterday.

632, 633, 634.

His procedural counting was interrupted by the body of a woman standing in front of locker 635.

She was tall, maybe only an inch shorter than he. She wore light bronze armour and had long red hair. She was also in front of his locker.

"So Pyrrha," Weiss began. She stood in front of the other girl, also in front of his locker, "have you given any thought to whose team you'd like to be on?" she asked, "I'm sure everyone must be eager to unite with such a strong, well-known individual such as yourself!"

The girl in bronze, assumedly Pyrrha, hummed in thought. "I'm not quite sure," she answered, "I was planning on letting the chips fall where they may."

"Well," Weiss began, "I was thinking maybe we could be on a team together."

"Well that sounds grand," Pyrrha returned.

"U-um, excuse me," he interjected, an end to their conversation not visible.

Pyrrha rotated on a heel to face him.

"Uh, you're standing in front of my locker," he told her.

She looked to the locker for a moment. "Oh! I'm sorry. I didn't realise."

"I-it's fine," he responded, "You couldn't have known. Oh, I'm Jaune, by the way," he said, sticking out his hand.

"You don't know who she is?" Weiss asked.

Uh oh. Is this one of these things he was supposed to know?

"Uhh, no… Should I?"

"I'm Pyrrha," the girl answered quickly, taking his hand and shaking it lightly.

"Oh, well nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too Jaune," she returned with a smile, taking a large side step away from his locker so that he could access it.

"She's Pyrrha Nikos!" Weiss declared.

He blinked. "Oh. I'm Jaune Arc."

He didn't realise surnames were so important for introductions.

Weiss looked at him strangely, before throwing her arms up, spinning on her heel, and walking away.

He blinked in surprise, and glanced to Pyrrha, who simply shrugged.

The intercom on the wall crackled softly. "Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately."

The view over the cliffs, with the wind flowing around them slowly, was rather picturesque, broken only by the old headmaster in front of them.

"For years," the headmaster began, "`you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

"Now," the blonde woman who always seemed to accompany him continued, "I'm sure many of you have heard rumours about the assignment of 'teams'. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... today."

"What?" Ruby whimpered.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well," he continued.

Ruby whined.

"That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

"What?!" Ruby exclaimed.

"After you've partnered up," the headmaster said, ignoring the interruption, "make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die."

Well that's just excellent news for him.

"You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"

Yes, he had many, but he hadn't the nerve to ask any of them.

Jaune watched, as one by one, the students from his left were flung into the sky from the small metal platform they all stood on.

His gaze flitted down to the platform beneath his own feet, fear growing continually stronger as student after student disappeared from the ground.

Yang vanished, then Ruby, and now just he remained on the ground. Then, the platform sent him into the sky.

Jaune didn't scream in terror as he careened through the air, utterly out of control. He didn't and nobody can prove otherwise.

He watched the ground fly past beneath him, and students ahead falling into, and through, the foliage of the Emerald Forest.

He tumbled through the air, the ground steadily approaching, until he was suddenly snatched in another direction, and came to a jarring halt.

He looked above him. A red and bronze spear stuck out from a tree, holding him by his hood from falling to his demise.

"Thank you!" he called weakly into the wind.

And as though his predicament was not bad enough, the sound of ripping fabric filled the air, and a moment later he fell, wailing (he didn't) once more.

He landed on his feet, but didn't stay there, falling first onto his rear, and then onto his back.

It certainly could have gone worse.

He pushed himself into a sitting position, and shook his head to clear the dizziness. Then, he slowly made his way to stand.

Only to be immediately bowled over as a small form crashed into him at high speed.

He groaned in pain from his returning position on the floor.

"Omigosh Jaune! Are you okay?!" Ruby asked, springing back to her feet and offering the boy a hand.

He groaned again, and took her hand, looking over her worried expression. "Yeah, I am," he grinned, "partner."

Ruby smiled, helping him to his feet, then she blinked, confusion set on her face.

"Why didn't you activate your Aura?" she asked.

"Huh?"

"You have a cut on your cheek. Why didn't you heal it with your Aura?"

"I do?" He probed at his cheek with a finger, bringing it away to reveal a small streak of red.

"Jaune," Ruby began softly, "Do you know what Aura is?"

Of course he knew what Aura was. The 'manifestation of the Soul', they called it.

Aura was a form of energy emitted from every living creature, from the largest of animals, to the smallest of cells. Humans and Faunus had learnt to awaken this energy, either through incredible stress or by being 'kick started' by another with an active Aura, and harness it to protect themselves from harm, and strengthen their bodies and weapons.

This ability is not limited to just humans, however, as dogs, and other animals with high intelligence have been able to awaken their Aura through the extreme stress manner in rare cases, though they have been documented as having significantly less, and it being much more difficult to activate. Recent studies have proven it impossible to kick start an animal's Aura, as the process requires active and intelligent input from both parties to be effective, which is beyond the understanding of any other species. It has led researchers to believe that Aura, while not based purely on intelligence, is likely linked to a species' ability for higher brain function.

But that was the boring stuff, in Jaune's eyes, at least. What really fascinated him was the physical properties an object gained when imbued with an active Aura.

There are three main types of physical stress: compressive, tensile, and shear forces, and every material in the world had a documented maximum value for these forces that it can withstand before it begins to deform. In Aura imbued materials, these values multiply by a significant amount, the Aural Stress Threshold (AST), and experience another peculiar property, which is referred to as the Aural Stress Continuation Principle. It is known as this, as if the force does not reach the AST of the material, the object experiences zero deformation or damage.

The object experiences no fatigue, regardless of how much or how little force is applied, so long as it does not surpass the Aural Stress Threshold.

It has been discerned that objects that have an active Aura applied to them gain a form of pseudo-animation, in where the Aura actively maintains the object's form at a molecular level, strengthening it, and eliminating any form of gradual damage. For a Huntsman's weapon, one of the only objects this property applies to regularly, as the object requires frequent and regular applications of active Aura for it to retain effectivity, it means that they require no maintenance. So long as it does not experience a force that exceeds the AST, it will never wear, rust, dull, bend, crack, or break.

It was why his family's weapon, Corcea Mors, a simple chromium-steel sword, had been through over twenty years of combat during the Great War, and lasted a further 80 years, still as sharp as the day it was forged, until it arrived in his grasp when he had taken it from its mantle above the fireplace in the family mansion and run.

Different materials had differing increases in strength from active Aura presence, known as the Aural Strengthening Factor. Titanium and its alloys have shown a great affinity for Aura, and had one of the highest ASFs known to society. It meant that a tough titanium-vanadium alloy, with an ASF of 12.68, could keep up with a naturally stronger and heavier chromium or carbon steel weapon, with ASFs of 10.52 and 10.36 respectively.

Finally, he nodded at his partner's question.

"Then why don't you have it unlocked?" she asked.

"Um, well, my parents were really old fashioned," True, "They wanted me to train without Aura so I'd be less likely to rely on it too much," Less true.

"Oh! Well, I should be able to unlock it for you, if that's okay," Ruby returned.

"Uh, yeah, that'd be great. Thanks. What do I need to do?" he asked.

"Just close your eyes, and concentrate," she answered.

"Uh, okay, but on what?"

"You'll understand when I start." She smiled at him.

"Okay." Jaune nodded, and closed his eyes as instructed. He heard her step close, and felt her place a hand on the side of his face, a finger resting on his temple.

"For it is in courage that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of hope and light to rise above darkness. Infinite in compassion and unbound by hatred, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, help thee," she chanted.

His heart pulsed, a wave of energy rushing through his flesh, healing the scratch on his cheek, and strengthening his body.

Then something changed.

There was no volume, but he could not think of a word to describe it other than loud.

And by god, was it loud. The not-sounds assaulted him, pushing in on his mind and body from every direction, screaming for his attention. Some high and fast, others deep and powerful. Dozens, hundreds, thousands, of the signals demanding his focus.

It hurt it hurt it hurt.

He fell to his knees, gasping, with hands rushing to cover his head.

"Jaune?!" he barely heard Ruby scream, "Jaune!?"

He was sure she had been standing, but then she was in front of him, grabbing his wrists and shouting his name in a panic.

She let go of him, staggering away. A moment later, the loudest pulse he had experienced washed through him. He flicked his eyes to Ruby, the direction it had come from, and the little holographic screen in her hand. She was trying to get help.

He watched her finger drop to the screen, and another wave flew free from the little device.

The sounds, he knew them.

Ruby's finger lifted, shifted, and dropped again. Another explosive pulse.

3

The scroll was screaming at him. 3, it said. Input received, recognised; '3', it told him.

Her finger moved again, and this time, according to the scroll, fell on 4.

Another move.

Calling '1234'

The emergency number. No, he didn't need it. He didn't want that attention. He didn't want to get kicked out for failing. He didn't want to get Ruby kicked out.

Stop stop "Stop."

Ruby hadn't unlocked another's Aura before. She'd been told it was tiring, but she never realised it would be this bad. It was like the strength of a dozen cookies had gotten sucked out of her, but it was worth it, because it had worked. She could see Jaune's Aura already beginning to heal the graze he'd received.

She always thought Yang had a massive amount of Aura, but she never could have expected how much Jaune had. It was ridiculous!

She also never expected him to collapse to his knees, groaning with pain.

"Jaune?!" she screamed, grabbing his arms, and quickly falling into panic when he didn't react, "Jaune?!"

She released him, and staggered away, battling with her exhaustion. She couldn't breathe. She was heaving in lungfuls of air, but it wasn't enough. Ruby frantically pulled her scroll from her pocket, and strung in the four digits of the emergency number.

Screw the initiation, her friend was hurting and she didn't know what to do! He needed help and that was infinitely more important than a stupid test.

She hit call, and flung it up to her ear, but there was nothing to be heard. No beeping, no tone, no buzz, no nothing.

"Stop."

Ruby's head whipped back around and rushed over to him. "Jaune? Are you okay?!"

No. No he was not. He did not feel fine. But he focused. He focused on her face and her hair and her worried expression.

"I-I'm fine," he lied, "It's just… loud."

"Loud? What are you talking about?" Ruby frowned in worry and disbelief.

"Your scroll," he answered, pointing at it, "I can hear it."

"Wha- Hear it?" she continued in confusion.

"Yeah," he said, coming to a realisation, "I can hear all the machines."

He could. Everything. The cacophony of Beacon's extensive devices, the hundreds of cameras lining the forest they stood in, the dozen other scrolls held by the other initiates, and so much more. Not only that, but he could also hear the broadcasting signals of the CCT itself, carrying with it petabytes of data every second to people everywhere in the city.

He knew, and though he wasn't sure how he did, that he could access all of it. It was just… there. It wasn't like having the internet at his fingertips when using an interface, like a computer, it was as though he were a part of the stream. Like it were a part of him.

But it was still so loud. He was trying to look at too much and his brain was suffering for it. The human brain could only process so much information, and so his was being continuously overloaded. So he just… narrowed the filter. He didn't want to hear the millions of digital requests made over the internet every second, so he didn't. It was like tuning something out. His brain was still receiving it all, it simply didn't process the information and he didn't have to worry about it.

It was an instant relief. The lack of overpowering data gave him time to observe and react again. Like, damn, the camera network through the forest was incredibly thorough in its observations. There seemed to be one every dozen metres, by what he could 'see'.

He looked (physically, this time) at the nearest camera. It was small, hidden within the foliage of the tree that supported it, but present none the less. He prodded at it mentally, and then he saw himself.

It was incredibly strange. Like looking into a mirror with one eye, and looking around it with the other. He could see both in front of him and behind himself simultaneously. It was in that moment that he truly recognised how impressive the human eye and brain were.

The footage was obviously HD, and yet couldn't even compare to what he saw natural. Not only that, but the digital image was also so much more taxing on his concentration. A computer couldn't 'fill in the blanks' like a human brain could, so they had to record everything they saw or else leave possibly important data behind.

So he pushed it back, and like a photo in the background, he let it sit unnoticed until his focus went to it. Then he expanded, taking in the feed of the 634 cameras through the forest, and let the brain's natural ability to notice motion direct his attention.

34J showed a blond woman, Ruby's sister Yang, walking alongside the secret Faunus, backs to the camera. He switched his attention to 35J, and could now see that they were talking with each other as they slowly travelled north.

"Jaune?" Ruby asked timidly, "Are you sure you're okay? You've just kinda been standing there, staring at that tree for a few minutes…"

"I… Yes. I'm okay. More than okay, actually. I think… I think I just unlocked my superpower thing."

"Your Semblance?" She blinked. "But… But I just unlocked your Aura… I mean, I didn't unlock mine for nearly a year!" She shook her head sharply. "Seriously though! I unlocked your Aura and you just… collapsed, and you were groaning and then my scroll wouldn't work and I was so scared!" She took a deep breath. "What happened Jaune?"

"My Semblance," he began, "from what I can tell, lets me, like, feel all the technology around us, and I can see what they see, and feel what they feel, and know what they know, and there was just so much," he answered breathlessly. "I think I've got a handle on it now."

"Are you sure? You really worried me there," Ruby said quietly.

"Yeah."

"Soooo, you think you unlocked your Semblance? It's rare to unlock it so quickly, you know. Like, really, really rare."

He nodded. "I think I might be able to… control technology."

God, he sounded like such a weirdo. A 'Semblance', as Ruby had called it, was supposed to be a reflection of the Soul, or something similar, and his was about computers. He sounded like an utter no-life.

"That's so cool!"

He turned sharply in surprise towards a gushing Ruby Rose.

"You can be, like, the Computer Guy in those movies, but instead of being stuck at a desk you can just go 'Wawawawah!'." She made a face of concentration as she put two fingers over her temple. "'He went this way! Follow me!' and like, 'Haha! Your super cool evil robot sidekick is no match for me! He fights for me now! Mwahaha!' and then be all like, 'Hwaah! Hi-yah! Wa-chah!'" The odd, what seemed to be some sort of fighting sound effects, matched with her exaggerated kicks and karate chops.

Her worry transformed into childish glee even faster than she had been moving when she ran into him.

He tried to stifle his laughter. He really did, but it was just so funny, and it quickly leaked from his nose, before he totally lost control, and had to struggle to remain upright. He came back up, gasping for breath, and saw Ruby's large pout.

"So what can you do?" she asked.

He got his laughter under control, and answered.

"Well, you were right about one thing," he answered with a grin, "I know where to go. Follow me."

Ruby cheered, and quickly began humming some spy movie themed music as they walked.

Coming to Beacon. He didn't think he'd ever made a better decision.

Hello! Welcome to my newest story!

First of all, this was heavily inspired by ThePhantomScribe's 'Viral'. I really enjoyed that fic, and hopefully, mine will not suffer from the same solitary chapter affliction and abandoned status. Feel free to yell at me if it does.

Well, I normally update on Sundays, but I wanted this out as close to Christmas as I could manage. I'm not certain when another chapter for this will come out, but expect a month at the latest. If this is received well, it may be sooner.

Anyway, I don't have as much to say as I thought I would, so I hope you enjoyed! And until next time!

Yours sincerely, H3ctic.

Word count: 6,807