[Mantle – Health Center]
Inside Mantle's health center, a father and daughter work tirelessly in the way they know best to help the people of the city.
"Screwdriver," the man requests, completely focused on his task.
"Yes!" responds a cheerful and enthusiastic female voice before placing the tool in his hand.
"Pliers," he asks again without taking his eyes off his work.
"Yes!" the same voice repeats, immediately handing him the pliers.
Of course, this duo is none other than Pietro and Penny Polendina, working diligently to repair a mechanical prosthetic for a patient.
"Just a little more…" Pietro murmurs as he makes the final adjustments to the young woman's mechanical arm, seated on the operating table. A few seconds later, he sets the screwdriver aside and smiles with satisfaction. "And done!"
The girl blinks in surprise before slowly moving her fingers, testing the mobility of the arm. Then she flexes her wrist and raises her arm above her head. It works perfectly. Excitement shines on her face.
"Thanks, Doc!" she exclaims happily before hopping off the table.
"And don't go lifting anything too heavy again," Pietro warns, looking at her with a mix of amusement and resignation.
The young woman shrugs, slightly embarrassed, but nods with a smile. "I'll try," she says before leaving the office.
"Goodbye, citizen! I hope to see you soon, but not because I want you to get hurt again!" Penny waves enthusiastically as she watches the girl leave.
Pietro watches her fondly. He's happy to be able to help more people, but what makes him happiest is seeing Penny enjoy the experience. It's not that he really needs her assistance to repair prosthetics, but these interactions help her integrate better with people.
"Penny, how are you feeling?" he asks curiously.
"I love helping improve people's lives!" she responds with a beaming smile.
Pietro can't help but smile as well. "I'm glad to hear that," he murmurs before pointing to the tool-covered table. "Could you put them away, please?"
"Right away!" Penny replies, gathering everything in an instant and darting out of the room at an impressive speed. Pietro barely has time to open his mouth to remind her that there's no need to rush when, suddenly, the sound of the doorbell interrupts him.
A new female voice is heard from the entrance.
I'm sure I can get you a better contact than anything available in this place," a low but clear voice says, making sure he hears her
The comment doesn't offend Pietro in the slightest. He's well aware of the conditions of the aid center in Mantle and knows it's far from being in its best shape.
"I say we give it a chance," responds a male voice accompanying her. "You can't judge a book by its cover."
No sooner does he finish speaking than a piece of the ceiling crumbles and falls right in front of them.
The girl frowns at the scene, while her companion merely shrugs.
"We're already here anyway," the young man comments nonchalantly before continuing forward.
As they finally cross the doorway, their appearances become fully visible. Both have white hair and blue eyes, though in different shades. The girl has noticeably paler skin than the boy, making Pietro wonder if they're related. However, what catches his attention the most isn't their resemblance but rather the fact that the young man carries what appears to be a pistol shrimp on his shoulder and holds a white cube with yellow details under his arm.
"Welcome!" Pietro exclaims enthusiastically as his mechanical chair moves forward to greet the newcomers.
The girl looks like she wants to speak, but the boy steps forward first, confidently extending his hand.
"It's a pleasure," he says with a smile.
Pietro gladly accepts the handshake.
"My name is Daniel Hawk," he introduces himself. Then he gestures toward the peculiar pistol shrimp on his shoulder. "This little guy is Aegis," and immediately after, he lifts the white cube with yellow details. "And this here is GLaDOS."
Finally, he tilts his head slightly toward the girl. "Oh, and this is Weiss Schnee."
Weiss narrows her eyes, visibly annoyed. "Why did you introduce me last?"
Pietro can't help but chuckle at her reaction. For a moment, he had assumed the two young people were siblings, but now it's clear they are not. What does surprise him, however, is that she's a Schnee. Not that it matters much to him, but it's certainly striking to find one of them in Mantle, especially in a health center like this.
"I am Doctor Pietro Polendina," he finally responds with a smile. It takes him a second to realize he's still holding Daniel's hand, so he releases it with a lighthearted laugh. "My manners… Pardon me!"
Then, with a gesture, he invites them inside. "Please, have a seat."
His mechanical chair moves smoothly as he guides them further into the room.
"So, tell me, how can I help you?" Pietro asks curiously.
"Oh, actually, we came for my design schematics," Daniel replies.
Pietro blinks, clearly confused.
"My weapon designs," Daniel clarifies upon noticing his expression.
Even so, Pietro still doesn't fully understand.
"The Adel family put me in contact with you," adds with more emphasis. "You were supposed to review my designs."
Suddenly, Pietro's expression changes entirely.
"Oh! Of course!" he exclaims enthusiastically.
Now he remembers. The Adel family had told him about a young man with exceptional talent in engineering. At the time, they had asked for a favor to connect him with Atlas. Pietro, of course, didn't hesitate to accept, though truthfully, he would have been delighted to help without the Adels' intervention.
"Yes, yes, the Adel family mentioned a young inventor with brilliant ideas," he says, recalling the conversation.
His face lights up with excitement. For him, there is nothing more gratifying than seeing the new generation of inventors develop their potential.
"I'm always happy to help a fellow inventor," he adds with a sincere smile. "I'm eager to see what you've created!"
Before Daniel can even take out his scroll with the blueprints, a familiar voice interrupts the scene.
"Everything is ready and put away!" Penny announces enthusiastically as she enters the room. She stands up straight and brings a hand to her forehead in a military salute. Not because she thinks it's necessary, but because she found it fun—like she had just successfully completed a mission.
Just at that moment, the cube Daniel is holding emits some indecipherable sounds, as if trying to communicate. At the same time, the pistol shrimp on his shoulder lets out short, soft chirps. Pietro frowns with curiosity at the noises, but his attention quickly returns to Penny.
He smiles and extends a hand in his daughter's direction.
"Let me introduce you to…" he begins to say, but Daniel interrupts before he can finish.
"A robot…" Daniel murmurs as he stands from his seat and begins circling Penny, observing her closely.
Penny jolts. "N-no! I'm not a robot! I'm human, just like you! A normal girl, just like you, human companion!"
Pietro tenses up. "Y-yes, of course, she's just a normal girl," he adds with a nervous laugh. His ability to lie is just as terrible as his daughter's.
Daniel shoots them a skeptical look. "Uh-huh… yeah, sure," he says, making no effort to hide his disbelief.
But instead of pressing the issue, he steps closer to Penny, his expression filled with genuine curiosity.
"I hope you don't mind," he comments as he gently lifts one of her arms. Penny hesitates but doesn't move.
"Covered in synthetic skin…" he murmurs, running his fingers lightly along her arm. "Soft and human to the touch." Then, he lifts her limb slightly, evaluating its weight.
"Her internal structure isn't entirely metallic," he adds after a moment of analysis. "She has a reinforced skeleton… but her weight is greater than that of a normal person." Finally, he lets go of her arm and takes a step back.
Pietro and Penny remain completely still—Penny desperately searching for a convincing excuse, while Pietro can only watch in shock as his greatest creation is uncovered with unsettling ease.
"Wait…" Weiss, who had remained silent until now, notices the drop of sweat on Pietro's forehead. No one is denying Daniel's deductions. And if they aren't refuting them… that means they must be true.
"Are you seriously a robot?" she asks incredulously.
Daniel crosses his arms and places a hand on his chin. "I'd say she's more of an artificial lifeform."
Weiss frowns. "What do you mean by 'life'?"
"Well…" Daniel pauses, choosing his words carefully. "She has an Aura. And Aura is the manifestation of living beings. If she has Aura… I'd say that means she's alive."
Pietro remains completely lost in thought.
Meanwhile, Penny takes a step back, putting some distance between herself and Daniel, and moves closer to Pietro. She leans in slightly toward him and whispers softly—though not quietly enough to go unnoticed.
"He seems to know too much," she murmurs with concern. "Under Atlas law, shouldn't you take him into custody and interrogate him?"
She vividly remembers General Ironwood's orders—the Penny Project had to remain an absolute secret.
Pietro hears Penny's words, but he'd rather figure things out for himself.
"How do you even know that?" asks curiously.
As soon as he asks the question, the white cube Daniel brought lets out a brief beep! [GLaDOS explanation].
"Ahem," Daniel clears his throat to regain Pietro's attention. "Well, it's not that complicated," he responds calmly. "Her movements are too perfect. The artificial muscles are well-made, but they don't have the natural tension of a human body."
Pietro listens carefully. Nothing Daniel says is false, but these are details no one should be able to notice at a glance.
"Her eyes have a constant glow—it doesn't fluctuate like a normal person's," he adds, staring directly into Penny's eyes. "I think I can even make out the sensors."
Penny blinks, uncomfortable under his scrutiny.
"Her breathing too… it's consistent, but there's no natural variation," he continues analyzing. He pauses, thinking before adding, "Her hair looks normal, but if you look closely, it's too uniform. The fibers are synthetic—there are no natural variations."
[If it's unclear, GLaDOS told him.]
Then, he shrugs. "But in every other way, she seems like a normal girl."
He turns his gaze back to Pietro and gives him a thumbs-up with a smile. "Really good work. I'm sure she could fool just about anyone."
Silence takes over the room. Neither Pietro, Weiss, nor Penny say a word. Intrigued, Penny glances at a nearby mirror, evaluating her reflection.
Suddenly, a small chuckle escapes Pietro. Then, it turns into joyful laughter.
"Ha, ha, ha, ha!"
With a wide smile, he wipes away a small tear that had started to form. "I see the Adel family wasn't wrong about you. You really are interesting."
After catching his breath, he looks at Daniel with renewed curiosity. "Yes, everything you said is true… well, to be honest, I'm already working on those improvements—and a few more." He stops trying to deny it; being discovered so quickly, continuing the charade would be insulting.
But then, he raises an eyebrow, intrigued. "Even so, there's something I don't understand. How did you know she has an Aura?"
Daniel grins confidently, takes Aegis from his shoulder, and presents him in front of Pietro.
"Aegis told me!" he announces proudly.
Paf!
The sound of a palm striking a forehead echoes through the room. Weiss, of course, has immediately facepalmed after hearing Daniel's absurd response.
"I believe Subject Daniel suffers from some kind of mental disorder," Penny comments with complete seriousness, with no intention of hiding it.
"I knew I wasn't the only one who thought you were crazy!" Weiss adds, crossing her arms as she looks at him incredulously.
Daniel narrows his eyes, pretending to be offended, but Pietro simply lets out a light chuckle.
"The best scientists are crazy," he says amusedly.
Daniel places Aegis back on his shoulder. "I'm not crazy. Is it really that hard to understand?" He waves a hand and explains in more detail, "Aegis is a species with a trichromatic system and multiple photoreceptor cells, capable of perceiving different wavelengths—including the aura trail left by people who have awakened it, even if it's not active. He reacted when Penny appeared, which confirmed she has an aura."
A moment of silence.
"Oh, now it makes sense," Penny immediately comments, breaking the tension. To her, the explanation is completely logical and not far-fetched at all.
[A/N: Trust me, don't look this up.]
Daniel grins and turns toward Weiss, pointing at her. "See? I'm not that crazy!"
Weiss just rolls her eyes. "I stand by my words," she replies flatly.
"Penny, why don't you introduce yourself properly?" Pietro suggests.
Penny listens and searches his gaze, waiting for confirmation that she heard correctly. Seeing Pietro nod with a gentle smile, she gathers confidence and steps forward.
"I am Penny Polendina, the first synthetic person capable of generating aura," she declares proudly. Then, she gestures toward Pietro, who stands beside her. "I was created thanks to my father, Pietro Polendina, with the collaboration of Atlas under the supervision of General Ironwood, using the most advanced technology in the kingdom."
Weiss, who has remained relatively reserved until now, suddenly reacts with shock.
"Robot soldiers powered by aura?!" she exclaims, astonished. "How is this not headline news?!"
Her mind begins to race. Penny's existence isn't just a groundbreaking innovation because of her appearance or independent thought. Why aren't there more like her? If they've managed to create androids with aura, why hasn't mass production started?
She presses her lips together, feeling like she needs a moment to process everything. In the past few days, she's witnessed inventions that could change the world—advanced armor, revolutionary tools, miraculous medicine, energy reactors… even improvements to her own glyphs.
And now, androids with aura.
What the hell is happening to the world?
Pietro calmly wipes his glasses before responding.
"Well," he says with a smile, "it's not as simple as saying, 'Let's create a platoon of new Pennys.'" He lets out a light chuckle. "Although… I admit, a squad of them would be something I'd love to see."
Weiss frowns. "If the problem isn't the materials, then… what is it?"
Before Pietro can answer, Daniel speaks up.
"It's the aura, isn't it?"
Pietro looks at him with slight surprise but eventually nods. "Very observant."
For Daniel, it wasn't hard to figure out. With Aegis's shared vision, he can see that Pietro's aura is incomplete, as if a part of it is missing. Even more than that, Penny's aura is incredibly similar to his. He doesn't need to be a genius to put two and two together. Still, he decides to hold back. There's no need to mention that he already knows the truth. He'd rather let Pietro say it himself.
Pietro sighs and leans slightly back in his chair.
"Penny's aura… isn't entirely synthetic."
Weiss blinks, confused. "But… you said it was synthetic."
Noticing her bewilderment, Pietro quickly clarifies.
"Don't get me wrong. She generates her own aura, but to do so, she first needs a soul to originate it. And artificial souls…" He pauses for a moment and lets out a soft chuckle. "Well, they can't be created."
Weiss feels a chill run down her spine.
"Then…" she murmurs, beginning to grasp the implication.
"Exactly," Pietro continues. "To give her a soul, you need one from a person… or at least a part of one."
He takes a moment before continuing, carefully considering his words.
"Breaking someone's soul has consequences."
Slowly, he gestures toward his legs. No further explanation is needed.
The wheelchair is answer enough.
As soon as he finishes speaking, Daniel steps forward with a smile and places a hand on his shoulder.
"I understand, Doctor Polendina." As he says this, he raises his hand, revealing that he's missing a finger. "Science has its dangers."
He lets out a light laugh, but his expression quickly tenses when Weiss elbows him in the ribs.
"Ow!" he complains, clutching his side.
"I don't think it's funny to joke about that," Weiss says disapprovingly.
Pietro gives a gentle smile. "It's unfortunate, losing a finger," he comments, though he can tell that the loss doesn't seem to affect Daniel much.
"If I may ask… how did it happen?" he inquires, visibly intrigued.
Daniel immediately brightens up. "Well, you see…!" he begins enthusiastically, but just as he starts telling his story, Weiss interrupts with an exaggerated cough.
"Cough, cough…"
He shoots him a meaningful look, making it clear that certain information is best left a mystery. He wouldn't want people to start questioning his mental health too much.
Daniel nods slowly, understanding the hint. "Let's just say… I won't go into details. But it happened on the same day this beauty was born."
He takes a few steps toward the white cube, which occasionally emits a small noise, lifting it up toward them as if expecting something to happen.
Both Pietro and Penny watch with curiosity. They exchange glances, and finally, Penny is the one to break the silence.
"It's a cute cube!" she exclaims enthusiastically. "And what does it do?" she asks with a curious smile.
"Just a moment," Daniel replies as he approaches the cube and begins speaking to it in a strange language.
"𝖘𝖏𝖎𝖓𝖟𝖞𝖝𝖌𝖞𝖛𝖊𝖖𝖑𝖙𝖗𝖆𝖘𝖍𝖔𝖗."
(Approximate translation: "Make me look good, I need to build a reputation.")
Everyone stares at him in confusion. No one knows what he just said or what those sounds were. Pietro opens his mouth, curious to ask what that was, but before he can say a word, a female voice fills the room.
"It's a pleasure to meet you…"
The tone is soft, but there is a slight hint of sarcasm.
Pietro jumps in surprise. It's the cube. The cube just spoke.
It doesn't take long for him to put the pieces together and burst into laughter.
"Ha ha ha! So that's why you introduced it with a name when you arrived." Now he understands.
He smiles with fascination. He never imagined they would have so much in common.
"It's GLaDOS, right?" he asks, recalling how Daniel called it upon arriving.
"That's a curious name," Penny comments.
"It stands for Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System, or GLaDOS for short," she explains proudly.
"I was created with the purpose of facilitating research and conducting tests that advance science and technology, thus contributing to progress," she continues, her voice clear and precise. "But don't be mistaken. Just because my body is small doesn't mean my thinking is limited. I am free to reason and make my own decisions."
Pietro is in awe. An advanced artificial intelligence, another true artificial lifeform.
But if Pietro was impressed, Penny was on a whole other level.
"AHHH!!!"
She screams with pure joy and, in the blink of an eye, launches herself at Daniel, snatches the cube from his hands, and hugs it tightly against her chest in excitement.
"It's incredible! I can't believe it! Another artificial life! Someone like me!"
She starts spinning around the room with GLaDOS in her arms, beaming with happiness. Although she has never truly felt alone thanks to her father, there has always been a distance between her and humans.
But now, in front of her, there was another life like hers.
Someone who could understand her.
"We'll be best friends!" she declares enthusiastically, spinning around. "We can talk about boys, have sleepovers, self-diagnose our hardware, try on clothes…!"
Then, she pauses and looks at her thoughtfully.
"Well, I can try on clothes, but… maybe we can paint you in different colors."
With a little jump, she lifts her into the air with joy.
"We'll be best friends forever!"
A deep silence fills the room.
Until a voice, filled with resignation, breaks the calm.
"…Kill me," GLaDOS murmurs with utter dismay.
/-/
Author's Note:
I'm bored... I need to make him fight something soon.
This would be like the first half of the chapter. I'll upload the other part sometime during the week, I think… It's already written, but I still need to edit it, and that's what takes me the most time. Anyway, leave a comment if you want me to hurry up or if you have any ideas.
Let me know if something doesn't make sense.
Kisses and hugs.