Something Alien in Remnant

It was the night of the dance and everyone looked like they were having a good enough time with the music Yang had picked out and the fancy displays that Weiss went to great extents to put together. "I gotta say, Jason…You and your abilities were way more helpful than I would've thought." Yang mentioned to said boy as he stood at the podium; "You sure I can't convince you to use your Semblance to liven things up?"

Jason had changed into a suit with a burnt orange shirt with rolled up sleeves for his watch and the top two buttons undone since he shared Sun's sentiment of not being a stuffy suit and tie kind of person. "Yang, I'm not even sure that Professor Ozpin would be up for something like that in proximity to so many people." He pointed out, while he did have a small part that wanted to make a show for others with the Watch, he also promised to Ozpin that he would be absolutely careful while using it.

"Aw, you're no fun~" Yang pouted as she scribbled a name in the registry, "Still at least you clean up good…You actually pull off the smartly dressed l-Oh you look beautiful!" Yang started to compliment Jason but then began to gush as she saw Ruby hobble up to the dance in her dress and the heels that came in them.

"Okay, can we seriously talk about how Weiss and the other girls fight in these?!" Ruby whined as she was waddling about like she was on a tightwalk.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better; You do look nice." Jason said with a smile to try lifting Ruby up a little while holding his hand out in case she stumbled.

"I…You…Thank you…" Ruby fumbled over her words as she tried to keep steady and headed for the punch bowl, her already staggering embarrassment only grew worse when Jason actually said that it was nice, being thankful that no one else could see her going red.

"Still, have a fun night, Jason…I've got plans for a dance later with a certain someone, anyway~" Yang teased him as she went back to taking names.

"I'm guessing by her grin, she managed to talk to Blake…I should probably check in on her la-"

"Hey, you're Jason, right?" A tall, Atlesian girl with prim and proper teal blue hair, glasses and wearing a silver dress rushed up to him; "I was wondering if you'd like to dance with me?"

"H-Hey! I was going to ask him first! So how about it, Jason?" Emerald who wore a green dress to match her hair asked Jason and touched his arm, unbeknownst to anyone else; Cinder and her group were quietly trying to get their plan off the ground, with the knowledge that there was more to Jason than just his watch, the greenette wanted to ensure she could capitalise on getting closer to him.

"Hold on, I haven't even gotten to ask him yet! So back off and get in line!" A rather indignant looking brunette with a dog tail in an elegant looking blue sari protested as she tried to squirm her way in.

Ren couldn't help but see his new leader getting swarmed and looked over to his other teammate. "Shouldn't we…Go and help him?" He asked as he started to feel a little concerned.

Nora was watching the gaggle of girls in her pink dress and sipping her punch alongside Ren. "We could…OR we could sell tickets to girls here so they can dance with him, our team could make a mint!"

Jason on the other hand wasn't exactly on the same page as Nora as he managed to untangle himself from the group and made his way outside to get some air, "Jeez…Girls are scary sometimes…Then again, before Beacon; The only girl I actually hung out with was Gwen and she…" He thought to himself but then decided to stop that line of thinking before it made him feel worse.

"Jason?" Pyrrha's voice broke his thought bubble as she was also out to get a clearer mind after going stag to the dance, the fact that she saw Jason out of nowhere surprised her more than anything.

"Pyrrha…I uh…I'm surprised that I didn't see you in there with everyone…" Jason mentioned as he wandered to the terrace nearby her.

"Yeah…I ended up arriving late…Though I don't think I saw you since this morning…" Pyrrha mentioned; She and Nora had been out to try for dress fitting but she had honestly hoped to try spending time with the others.

"Well, you can thank Yang for that…I was running errands for them while they helped with Blake." Jason stated honestly but then decided to try his chance since they were the only ones out there. "You uh…You look great…The dress, I mean." He said and then quickly felt himself backpedal out of embarrassment.

Pyrrha felt her own cheeks flush at the compliment though she also found Jason's face turning pink at him flubbing his words to be quite cute for someone who was normally so confident and sure of himself. "Oh, um…Thank you." She remarked with a similarly shy tone as she looked to him since they were alone.

"So what brings you out here alone? I'm surprised you're not in there dancing with your date." Jason said lightly as he saw Penny doing her best at dancing.

"I…Haven't come with a date…I went by myself." Pyrrha admitted, she had been used to the concept for a while and she certainly wasn't upset but it did still ache to talk about.

"Wait…But you're one of the nicest and most talented girls at Beacon, I'd have thought everyone here would've fought each other just to get a smile from you." Jason mentioned as he was honestly surprised that Pyrrha of all people didn't have a date to this dance.

"That's…kind of why." Pyrrha said with an almost sad sounding laugh. "I've been blessed with ability and skills that put me in the eyes of so many people around me, while that has ensured I got all the praise and support that I could ever want…It's gotten to the point where it's hard for friends OR for people that I want to form meaningful relationships with." She started to almost rant as she had kept something like this bottled up for a while.

"You get stuck on that pedestal for so long that people forget you're a person too." Jason decided to finish it for her, though he did see a look of surprise and questioning which made him think that she was seeing him boast. "I don't know firsthand…But my teacher did mobbed a few times."

Pyrrha however saw that he was genuine about his statement, "Yeah…That's exactly it…Which is why I'm thankful that I've met you…You know who I was but you still treated me like anyone else…Both you AND Jaune, it's thanks to you two that I was able to make friends and form bonds that I will cherish for a long time….If I did have someone that I wanted to ask to the dance….I would have wanted it to be you." She would say, the last part being quieter than everything else she said.

"Then why don't we?" Jason asked after a few seconds, choosing to muster up the courage to ask something that he couldn't ask before. "I know it's not exactly the perfect way to do it but…Pyrrha Nikos…I want to enjoy the dance with you, only you…Would it be okay if I can be your date for it?" he blurted and decided to come out and say it.

Pyrrha felt her cheeks turn from pink to red as she finally got the question to her that she had wanted to hear from the one person that she actively hoped would ask her. "I would love to…But I'll need to get some punch first…See you in there." She said with more positivity as she headed inside and fought the urge to squee.

Jason nodded and felt a smile grow on his face once she left for the dance floor; However that genuinely happy moment quickly dimmed down when a nagging thought got louder in his head. "Why am I getting attached? Like that weird voice said; I ended up here by accident and told to try helping the people in MY world that needed me…Or…Rather the Omnitrix…Yet here I am trying to play around …But is that really so wrong? To want some time for relative normalcy...To just be-"

"Hey, uh…Jason, right?" Neptune asked as he stepped outside on seeing the other boy out and joined him.

"Yeah…Neptune, isn't it?" Jason asked curiously though slightly downtrodden thanks to the mood drop he felt earlier; He had heard about the bluenette through Sun and from what he noticed, Weiss had been rather flustered around him since he turned on the charm but when the Dance was underway, she had a mood like a deflated balloon.

"You got it…Taking a break out here too? I saw you getting mobbed back in there…Gotta say, most guys'd probably envy you for the attention." Neptune mentioned to try lightening the mood since he noticed how stiff Jason was.

"It's not as fun as people think, I'm just…Not really used to that kind of attention all that much." Jason admitted; Even back home he wasn't really the most popular guy around, it was only after he started getting trained by Ben that he was noticed by other people.

"Even so, you gotta admit…Getting crowded by cute girls is pretty cool feeling…" Neptune quipped offhandedly and then felt a little unnerved when he saw Jason staring through him with an icy look.

"Didn't Weiss ask you to the dance? I'm not really sure that she'd appreciate you taking a side-eye to other girls after you turn her down…" Jason pointed out with a rather serious tone. "Because there's one thing I learned, it's to consider feelings for people you've let down…"

"Whoa, hold on! Where's this coming from?" Neptune asked as Jason was practically pulling this from nowhere and seemed a little more invested than someone who was just a friend.

"Weiss is one of my friends and I care about her so what exactly is it? Too cool for one girl? Or maybe you just like stringing girls along." Jason interrogated him, making sure that he wasn't going completely off the handle since he didn't want to cause a scene too much.

"Look…Weiss is cute and all but…I-uh…It's complicated okay?" Neptune tried to deflect but he noticed that Jason's watch was glowing like it was ready to go off.

"Then simplify it! What exactly is your angle and what could make you turn her down a-"

"I can't dance, okay?!" Neptune came out with it as he backed off a little.

This threw Jason something fierce as he blinked in confusion. "Hold on…What?"

"I'm serious, I just...can't dance!" Neptune groaned as he then rested his head in his palms.

"So let me get this right…You did all this just because you don't want to admit to a girl that you can't dance with them?" Jason reiterated since he was still unsure that he heard Neptune right.

"I-uh…Yeah that's pretty much it."

"You know…Out of all the things that you could have come out with and you say that…Why couldn't you just admit that to her?" Jason mentioned as he looked at Neptune, sure on the outside he looked like the image of cool but after hearing this made him feel a little better about himself.

"Well…How else do you tell a girl like that? Just roll up and say "Hey Weiss, I know you asked me to the dance but I can't go with you because I can't move to music."…People'd think I'm a weenie." Neptune questioned as he felt a little better with this secret out in the open.

"You ARE a weenie." Jason said bluntly. "The fact that you couldn't even have the guts to be honest with someone and let them down gently instead of this whole image thing…Weiss might be cold to people but despite that: She is a kind, supportive and understanding person. If you looked at her for more than just her looks then you'd get that!" He snapped as he wasn't eager to let one of his friends get hurt over something so superficial.

"Look, I'm sorry…If you want then I'll back off…She's all your's, man." Neptune apologised and tried to help things move on. "I think she's still in there if you wanted to ask her…"

"I'm already with someone at this dance…I'm not the kind of guy to two time." Jason mentioned with a rather no nonsense tone. "It wouldn't be right for either girl."

"Well, you could always double up…I'm not sure how it is in Vale but Mistral and from what Sun told me about Vacuo…They aren't strictly monogamous places so…You could always give it a try, pretty sure if you said something, it'd at least be considered…" Neptune suggested and decided to try salvaging something.

"You're serious about this? Because this isn't something I heard about before…" Jason asked with a raised eyebrow, surprised that someone was open about it and even more so when he noticed that Neptune wasn't kidding. "I guess that explains a lot about those two…"

"Look, I might've messed up but I don't lie…I at least wouldn't lie to you now anyway." Neptune mentioned honestly; "I'm gonna go see how Sun's doing…Think about it okay? You're a pretty cool guy so don't sell yourself short." He said as he headed back inside.

He took a few momentary breaths of fresh air to clear his head. "Polyamory? That's seriously a thing on this world?! I get why people would want to…Considering what Neptune said and the way things are with the others…I can't say I haven't been curious…Maybe I should think it over…Or at least ask Blake about it later, considering those books she reads…Maybe she can help." He thought to himself but remembered that he had a promise to keep and headed inside to go find Pyrrha.

When Pyrrha turned to see him, she felt her whole soul light up and fill to the brim with energy as he held his hand out to dance and took her onto the dance floor.

Jason on the other hand felt far more at ease than he had ever felt before, any tension that he had earlier had all but washed away while his and Pyrrha's hands interlocked in the dance across the floor.

Though surprisingly enough; Despite the wholesomeness that came from seeing Pyrrha being as happy as she had ever been, there were plenty of less than pleased faces among the crowd: Weiss was ultimately happy that both Jason and Pyrrha could dance and enjoy themselves but she couldn't help feeling jealous either way, Emerald was feeling pangs of envy as she saw how close the two got and felt drawn to the watch (Green was her colour after all), Penny was curiously eyeing the two since she saw plenty of people dancing solo but this made a difference…A difference that made her want to try it without the looming guards behind her.

As the music died down and let everyone rest for a moment after the song ended; Something else seemed to go on behind the scenes, something that left both Cinder and Ruby nowhere to be seen. Jason seemed to notice Ruby being gone but then felt a buzz in his pocket and pulled out his Scroll; Seeing that Ruby had left multiple messages in emojis, it was something that she did when she was short on time or when she wanted to make sure no one could get it.

"Stickman…House…Burglar mask….Ah, the hell with it." He thought to himself before calling Ruby on her Scroll. "Ruby, this message better mean that a Grimm possessed man has a missile launcher because I swear…"

"I'm sorry! I'll apologise more later but I need you to meet me at the CCT Tower quickly, I wouldn't ask you if it didn't feel important but I'll explain when you get here!" Ruby urged him before hanging up.

From the sounds of the call, she was outside and booking it to what Jason assumed was the Tower. Knowing that Ruby wasn't the type to joke about and not when she sounded that urgent. "I can't catch a break…" He thought to himself as he headed to the terrace and jumped over the side in a flash of green, transforming himself into Sludgewasp and took to the skies to make it easier.

Emerald however noticed something was up as she danced with someone and decided to send Cinder a message. "It looks like someone's getting out of the party, they might be heading your way."

"Fine…Do you know who it is?"

"It looks like it's that Moss kid...If what our friend said about him is true then you need to hurry it up." Mercury agreed as he along with Emerald knew that Jason had a lot more to him than what Torchwick relayed to them.

Cinder succeeded in navigating past security though she was a bit more hasty with beating down the guards now that she knew that someone as skilfully unpredictable as Jason was on his way, "The only reason I can operate like I can now is that no one has figured out our plans yet…If someone like him starts sniffing around then our work here will fail before it even starts!" Cinder though to herself then placed the infected Scroll into the console to let the virus upload itself into the system and then paused for a little when she came up with an idea of her own. "Of course...Knowing our friend hiding in the wings spilled Ironwood's secret regarding his Semblance...I think we can use that to our advantage~"

"Hey, I don't know what you're doing in here but it's not Halloween, so take off the mask an-" Ruby warned them as she had her scythe at the ready but was forced to duck as several shards of black glass embedded them in the wall behind her.

Cinder knew that time was of the essence and she understood that her task was now done so she used her Semblance to blast the floor in front of her like a smokescreen to escape, though she had been too hasty and worried about anyone else showing up that she missed her mark and ended up blasting Ruby against the wall, knocking her out when she got taken by surprise.

"-uby?! Ruby!"

Ruby groaned as she came to and saw Jason over her; "Jason? Wh…What happened?" She asked him in confusion while trying to remember what happened.

"I don't know, I heard the explosion and when I got here, you were knocked out and the room was blasted." Jason explained as he helped her sit up.

"I got to the tower and saw the collapsed guards but when I made it here, someone was….THE CONSOLE!" Ruby recollected everything from the beginning but then realised in shock. "She must've done something to one of the consoles!"

Jason looked to the main computers and began to piece it together; "If it's a hacking job…Then I'll need to do a full sweep, fast." He said while transforming into Patch and then latched onto the computer that Cinder was tapping on, he began to check through it as a start to what was essentially a deep scrub of the console.

Ruby watched as Jason got into action and saw him mumbling to himself as various parts of the console beeped and flashed. "So it's not just weapons he can enhance like that…"

It was there that the door quickly opened as Ironwood showed up soon after; Much like Ruby and Jason, the general had suspected something and only became more tense once he saw what happened outside. "Miss Rose, what is.." He quizzed Ruby when he saw the girl to the side and then noticed the console flashing in blacks, greens and oranges as Jason did his work, realising that this was one of the forms that Ozpin showed him before. He however overheard hacking from Jason as he got to the door and assumed the worst as he rushed over, grabbing at the console and began to pull Patch off of it like he was a piece of duct tape without hesitating or listening to both of their protests.

The night soon rolled into morning as Ironwood came back to Ozpin and Goodwitch with new information at hand. "They're here…Ozpin, I told you countless times that you needed to keep an eye on that boy because now I have more than enough reason to suspect him and whoever else was there!"

"James, we have told you time and time again that Jason is a student from our school! You jumping in and making accusations like this don't help the situation at all!" Glynda snapped at him as she was firmly believing that Jason was not "Colluding with the enemy" as the Atlas General seemed to paint him as doing.

"What exactly did you ask him when you confronted him for questioning?" Ozpin asked as he was equally unhappy about Jason being detained and questioned without both sides of the story. "Did you at least find out what he was doing?"

"He said that he was checking it for bugs and that was it." Ironwood explained bluntly; "He couldn't tell me why and he didn't tell me what made him think that it was something more than that."

Glynda was about to lash at him again but they were cut off by the sound of the elevator notifying them that someone had arrived at Ozpin's office. "Come in."

Ruby was the one to walk through the doors since Ironwood had the idea of keeping Jason confined in his room while they decide what happens to him; One of the rare things that the teachers could compromise on. "Sorry I'm late! Someone managed to press every one of the buttons in the elevator…." She said apologetically but then noticed everyone's confused looks directed at her. "It wasn't me!"

"I want to thank you for showing up this morning, Ruby. I know it's a little too soon to start asking you questions but I was wondering if you can give your side about the events that occurred last night at the Tower." Ozpin explained and offered Ruby a seat while Ironwood sidled up to the girl.

"Miss Rose, I just wanted to let you know that the actions you took that night was exactly what a Huntress should do; You saw a threat, you took action and you did the very best you could." Ironwood explained genuinely as he looked to the smaller girl.

Ruby however still had a sore spot regarding Ironwood and his rather harsh treatment of Jason. "So you'll praise me for taking action but when Jason does it, he gets a black eye and thrown at a wall hard enough to crack it?" She asked him with a skeptical glance, though she quickly stopped talking when she felt the room get colder very quickly.

"General…." Ozpin started with a rather severe tone as his gaze stayed firmly on the Atlas headmaster.

"You're going to explain this and you better have a VERY good reason why!" Glynda added on with a growl in her tone as she gripped her crop tighter.

"When I saw Moss tampering with the console, I tried to pull him off and ask what happened…But when I did, I felt him latching onto my arm and….It was a reflex." Ironwood elaborated with the same degree of seriousness; "If he could meld with the console in the tower then I didn't want to run the risk of him doing anything to my arm…or my Scroll."

"He's a Technopath in that form! Naturally he's going to analyse any kind of machinery on reflex when he's like that!" Ruby protested as she was probably the only one out of the group who knew about his other forms' abilities to a similar degree as Ozpin does.

"And that warrants you giving my student a black eye?" Ozpin asked Ironwood with a raised eyebrow; "I can understand the worry regarding your own well-being but we need to discuss this later before you end up with the wrong idea about my students…Or vice versa." He then looked to Ruby as they started to discuss the events of the Tower, leading to Ruby letting the information about the South-East slip and encouraging the young girl to remain discrete.

Ironwood crossed his arms as he sighed when the elevator closed behind the leaving Ruby; "Alright…Say that I'm willing to show trust in both you and this student…But I believe I warrant a good reason to trust him and his control over his abilities."

Glynda scoffed as she narrowed her eyes at him; "After what happened at the tower and injuring one of my students in a panic, you are the absolutely LAST person to be asking f-"

"Glynda…If the General wishes to start extending his trust then we need to show him that Jason is at least capable of being trusted to act...as well as his ability to control his other selves." Ozpin explained as he looked through his tablet; "Perhaps these batches of missions of Huntsman shadowing can demonstrate this."

"He slammed you into a wall?!" Nora asked with shock as a black eye sporting Jason told them the story about what happened in the tower. "All because you were trying to find out what that weirdo was trying to do at the Tower?"

"I used Patch to try checking the system to see if anything was out of place…Next thing I know, the guy was peeling me off of the circuit board like duct tape." Jason admitted as he then looked to the others. "He asked me what I was doing and to tell him now; I told him that I was scanning for anything that was planted…He didn't exactly believe me, especially after Patch's reflex to grab onto his arm freaked him out."

"I guess that explains why I couldn't find you at the dance for a while." Pyrrha mentioned as she lightly touched Jason's cheek where he was still bruised. "But how come you never said anything when you left?"

Ren had finished putting away the medical kit to help Jason get cleaned up as he then stood up; "Pyrrha's right, if you had told us then we could have come to help." He pointed out as he looked rather confused why Jason went solo rather then getting back up. "Or at least stop you from getting brutalised."

"I wanted to…But Ruby sprang the whole thing on me like an emergency and I didn't have the time to get in contact." Jason explained as he gazed down at the watch; "She said she saw someone messing with the computers at the CCT Tower but she was unconscious when I got there…I literally had time being of the essence."

"Speaking of…We should probably go down to look at the missions that they've got on offer…Goodwitch is going to need us to choose one before everyone gets shipped out." Pyrrha pointed out as Jason got up and stretched.

"Probably a good idea…I want something we can bash in good!" Nora cheered energetically as Team JNPR headed out and toward the courtyard where all of the mission boards were, just in enough time to hear barking from RWBY's dorm and the sound of abnormally happy Weiss.

"Man…A lot of stuff is reserved already?" Nora asked with a groan as a lot of the basic missions were already taken and she was practically itching to smash Grimm into puffs of smoke. "There has to be something we can do."

"What about this one?" Ren asked as he looked at a mission mean for the forest outskirts; "It might not be where the action is but it might be able to get some good experience for hunting actual Grimm."

"It's run by Professor Peach though…She doesn't really do a whole lot of class work outside of gathering things…Can we really do a mission with her?" Jason asked as he scratched his head with some mild skepticism.

"I believe the better question is whether YOU can conduct a mission and stay out of trouble." Ozpin mentioned with a slight chuckle as he approached the four. "In fact, I believe that in terms of your team; Something less action oriented might help to demonstrate your skills…Both your investigative skills and your…creativity." The headmaster stated to them with his normally cryptic words.

"What do you mean?" Pyrrha asked him curiously as she certainly picked up on his double meanings.

"Well, being a Huntsman and Huntress isn't all about slaying Grimm and basking in heroics…Sometimes it is about finding out how said monsters can congregate and what to do in the case that it is preventable…Granted I would like to find out how one of you found out about the docks like Team RWBY did last semester...and how you ended up at the tower…But I suppose those answers can evade me for now." Ozpin said rhetorically as he then tapped on his tablet; "I believe that Mr. Ren has the right idea, a lot of your focus has been singular…Conducting a mission like this will help to show how well your teamwork is synchronising."

"We work great as a team!" Nora tried to assure him as she put her arms around Ren and Jason; "These two are AWESOME and Pyrrha can kick more butt barehanded than anyone else."

Ozpin chuckled; The sight of such faith made it a little reassuring but for the sake of things regarding Ironwood, he needed to make sure these four could operate before inputting Team JNPR's name on the mission. "We shall certainly see…But I must warn you this: You four are students…Promising ones but students nonetheless, anyone outside of these school walls will not care so stay close together AND to your Huntress."

Pyrrha and Jason nodded as they listened to Ozpin's words. "We won't let you down, sir." The taller redhead promised as she got serious.

"I know you won't, just keep in mind that you and your Team are shadowing a professional Huntress first and foremost, they will monitor you and if they find your performances lacking…You will all be sent back to Beacon without hesitation." Ozpin mentioned to reiterate their terms before starting to walk away but then stopped partway. "Oh…And good luck, I have every faith in you to do well."

After the four got outside and towards the airfield, they could overhear a certain group getting hyped up as well; "Well, alrighty! Looks like we get to go save the world with Doctor…Oo…Bleck, okay if we put it like that, it sounds bad…" Ruby tapered off as she felt a little off put by the words that she had said.

"Save the world?! Oh, do you hear this? They're going on world saving missions without us?!" Nora proclaimed dramatically as she rushed over to mingle with Team RWBY. "I'm hurt! Sad!" She cried out while leaning against Yang before her stomach grumbled; "Maybe a tad hungry…Though that one's not your fault…Ren…Jason…" She said with a pout-laden grimace at the two boys.

"You already eat up most of our food." Ren pointed out; "Jason at least has the excuse with how much energy he burns normally."

"I need the energy for keeping mobile…Plus trying to maintain stamina as Titan or someone like that is harder than it looks." Jason added as he saw Oobleck yelling that the girls were behind schedule; "Sounds like you guys are set."

Ruby nodded; "Wish us luck…You'll nail it with your's!" She said cheerfully while leading her team onto Oobleck's airship.

"So then that just leaves…" Pyrrha started as she looked around but then saw a tall but skinny woman rushing over to them with an energetic wave.

This was Professor Thumbelina Peach; A woman who stood roughly as tall as Ozpin but with caramel coloured hair in a pixie cut, chocolate brown eyes and wearing leather armour in a mix of deep pinks and whites as well as a deep blue headband with goggle attachments.

"Stu-dents! Right this way please~!" Peach called out as she waved over Team JNPR. "You must be the team that Professor Ozpin told me about…You certainly look ready." She said with a bubbly tone as she picked up a hefty duffel bag but it vanished as quickly as she touched it.

"We are, ma'am…Are we…not taking our bags?" Pyrrha asked as she and Jason both noticed the bag vanishing in her hands.

"Good observations, Ms Nikos; Since we are going on an exploration mission instead of Search and Destroy, we will be based in several places to both monitor the security system in it's maintenance AND to see if any Grimm have been congregating in the area." Professor Peach explained as she ushered everyone on board.

"So where will we be doing this….Maintaining?" Ren asked curiously as he felt the airship lift off with all of them on it.

"Beacon's Security Network which happens to be coincided with Vale's Network needs to be watched and checked on frequently due to the numbers of Grimm that show up and when you have a network like that in the Emerald Forest…Grimm will most likely damage it due to their natures for destruction or inadvertently out of their territorial habits."

"I know a lot about tech…Do you mind if I take a look at it?" Jason asked curiously as he saw the canopy of red leaves where the forest was.

Peach nodded; "So long as you can ensure you are protected, I am willing to accommodate you in helping, it should help me see just how capable you are at working as a team." She said and accepted; "Professor Ozpin informed me about your abilities, Mr. Moss…I can permit you to use them as you see fit so long as you remain reasonable."

"Hold on…I thought Vale had natural defenses to help shield itself…Why would it need a security network?" Nora asked curiously as she began putting things together.

"The mountain ranges and the shallow waters that surround Vale make it difficult to navigate but I personally don't see much wrong with having a little extra security should anything happen…In personal experience, Grimm aren't the only enemies to worry about." Peach mentioned as they landed in a clearing and hopped off. "Alright, you four are now underway with your mission; I want you to assist me in fixing up the towers; Whether that's basic maintenance if you can or help act as guards in case any Grimm get close by."

"I think I see the first Tower ahead." Pyrrha mentioned as she saw a rather damaged looking pylon with plates and torn scrap dotted around. "Nora can keep guard on the ground while Ren can watch from the trees, I'll stay nearby Jason while he works in case anything should happen."

"Yeesh…whatever found this thing REALLY does not like security." Jason muttered; "I'm gonna put my suspicions on raiders trying to strip it or a pack of Grimm found a chew toy." He mentioned as he then realised that he rattled it off rather casually once he turned himself into Lil Brain and jumped into the tower. "It's not that uncommon anyway."

"Raiders? This is the Emerald Forest, there's no way that there'd be bandit camps around here without getting someone's attention." Ren pointed out as he kept an eye out in the treeline while Nora watched from the ground.

"Realistically, Whoever did this should have triggered some kind of alarm whether it's proximity or a camera's surveillance…Unless they directly know how to sidestep the monitoring process." Lil Brain elaborated but then used their dextrous fingers to pull an embedded chip out of the tower's array. "…Or they used something to block the transmission so they could disassemble what they could."

"Jason?" Pyrrha asked as she noticed that Jason/Lil Brain was looking a little more serious than normal as he turned over the chip in his hand, which oddly enough looked funny since said chip was the size of his torso before he turned back into Jason.

"Get Professor Peach…I think someone's been tampering with their security." Jason mentioned as he held the lone chip in his hand; It looked fairly unremarkable but it had a logo of the letter M inside of a hexagon.