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Growing up again was a humiliating experience. I had the consciousness of an adult but not the will to control my body. I couldn't control my bowel movements. I drooled and slobbered myself. I cried a lot so that I could be fed or be comforted. But my cries were usually muffled for as soon as I made noise, it would be quickly silenced by the teats of either a maid or from Mama Friedlich herself.
Eventually, the humiliation of infancy lost its effect on me and I accepted the fact that I would have to dig up dignity from a deep hole to get it back. Babies are supposed to be cute little disgusting gremlins so there is nothing wrong to crap and drool all over the place.
And as I waited for the moment to be given full control of my body, I was busy bombarding my head for solutions regarding my future.
Namely, how exactly was I going to off Sallie and Ozzie?
The first person controls an army of nightmare fuel creatures who could fuck you up to shit-creek in ways you'd never thought possible and is also a powerful sorcerer on her own right. The second one is a Doctor Who regenerating bastard who runs a school of super-powered teenagers. How the flying fuck could I, a scrub from a tropical country now a drooling dawdling infant, even hope to kill those two?
When I eventually reached childhood and had gotten a good grip of things, a solution presented itself to me.
My family, the Friedlichs, were industrialists that made weapons for the Atlesian military. We made everything from the cannons that were attached to Atlas's battleships to the smallest microchips that made its android forces work. Atlas was Remnant's Prussia. It was only inevitable that someone would have to be their Krupps. And very much like the Krupps, my family worked closely with the state.
I had found all of this when I was five and had wandered around our house, a pleasant Victorian-era styled mansion, and found my father's study. I pushed open the door and explored his office. On his desk I found numerous papers bearing the company's seal and the seal of the Atlesian military. I didn't have to be a genius to understand that they were After Action Reports of experimental weapons that Atlas was testing such as a new rifle that had greater punching power towards the Grimm, a tank that was the bastard lovechild of an Overlord Tank and a Bolo, and a new line of androids that would soon replace the scarier looking androids that Atlas currently fielded.
I had plopped myself on my father's chair and had taken the papers in hand to read them closely. So engrossed was I in reading them that I failed to notice the distinct sound of a scroll taking a picture. I looked up and saw my father standing at the doorway with his scroll up in picture mode. Behind him were two men dressed in the white uniforms of the Atlesian military. The first man was an elderly gentleman who let his white hair grow into a un-military like manner and had eyes that twinkled. The second man was pure military, everything from his hair down to his posture. He also had a permanent looking grimace that I could not help but dislike.
"Oho! It looks like your son can no longer wait to take hold of the family business, Gerard!" exclaimed the old man as he gave my father a pat on the back. My cheeks reddened in embarrassment as my father, Gerard Friedlich, beamed at me and had the look of a dad who was about to do something to embarrass his children.
"My little CEO!" he squealed as he walked around the table and towards me. He held both his hands out to pinch my cheeks and ruffle my hair, all the while gushing about my cuteness.
And there I sat, red in the face while the elderly man laughed at me expense and his younger grim looking follower merely shook his head in disbelief.
After a few minutes of embarrassment, my father set me up on his lap while he and his military associates discussed business. Before they started, the black-haired man eyed me with a mix of suspicion and disdain.
"Mr. Friedlich, I do not mean to be rude but is it alright for a child to be sitting here while we discuss matters of the state?" He pointed out all the while giving me that look of his. But before my father could answer, the older gentleman added his two cents.
"Don't be like that, Ironwood." Wait what? "That child is the future heir of this company. Would it not be best for him to start sooner rather than later? The experience would do him good." He turned to my father. "Is that right, Gerard?" My father nodded.
I looked up at the black haired man and scanned him from up and down. So this was Ironwood before he became a General huh? I wonder if he still had his meaty bits on him. As I scanned him, our eyes met. I smiled and waved at him. He raised his eyebrow at me, looking unsure on how to respond to a precocious five year old. After some moments of deliberation, he settled with an awkward wave and a forced smile, no doubt unused to reply to children.
Our interactions stopped when the elderly man clapped his hands that got both our attention. "Well then. Let's start!"
And thus, the discussion started.
"The new battle rifle we are designing, its name still pending, has achieved satisfactory results." started my father. "The new rounds we have also designed have proved to be quite effective on smaller and medium sized grimm." As proof, he produced his scroll and sent Ironwood short videos of said squads engaging grimm. One of the videos was of a squad of Atlesian soldiers in a forest eliminating a pack of beowolves. The black-haired man received it and leaned forward to show his superior the videos. I watched in fascination as the rifles tore through the grimm like a fist tearing through paper. I looked at them and saw them mumbling amongst themselves, their mumblings I could not hear, as they watched every single video that had been sent. Upon finishing the last one, they turned to my father and urged him to continue.
He cleared his throat. "The soldiers that tested the rifle have been receptive so far. They say that is lighter and could be relied upon to dispatch grimm. The only complaint they have is that it overheats rather easily due to the dust rounds and have proven difficult to maintain." The two military men sent him concerned looks but father simply smiled. "But don't worry gentleman! My researchers will be working night and day to address its problems! I assure you of that!"
The men nodded. My father continued.
"I am also proud to say that our proposed Defender tank is coming on nicely!" declared Gerard. Schematics appeared on Ironwood's scroll that showed an oversized tank that had a large turret that had two massive cannons. It also had four smaller bubble turrets on each side that could protect the vehicle on all flanks. It had a small tower on the middle of the turret and also had openings in which its defenders could open fire "It will be armed with two 125 mm Friedlich cannons and will be complimented with four 50 mm dual-mounted cannons, one at each side of the tank. It will also be a mobile field command vehicle, a transport vehicle, and a support vehicle!" He then pointed at the tower that was on the tank. "It will also have an in-built mini-CCT tower that can command android units independently within at least within a 8 km radius! Perfectly useful and reliable! And the only thing that it really needs is for the Design Committee to approve of it so that my factories can start production!"
"You seem to put much faith in your design, Gerard. Especially in this...tank." the old man noted. Father huffed and crossed his arms.
"Of course! Tanks are big, manly, heavily armored and heavily armed!"
"The Paladin design that is being forwarded by the Schnee Dust Company is also, as you have said; big, manly, heavily armored and heavily armed." said Irownwood. "And unlike your Defender tank, it can easily be transported around."
"If I were the design committee, I would give Gerard's design a chance, Ironwood." remarked the old man. "Speaking from a military point of view and not as his friend, the Defender tank is moderately cheaper than the Paladin. And judging from the schematics, quite simpler to maintain and guzzles on dust less. Let us also not forget that we will be sending these machines against the Grimm. When the time calls for it, every single equipment we will have must be used to its fullest extent." he reasoned. I looked up at Father and noted the uncomfortable look on his face.
"Jacques Schnee is a colleague and a fellow industrial magnate but with all due respect, he knows nothing about weapons design. His little 'Paladin' will just be an ugly, over-engineered, dust-guzzler that will probably be stolen as soon as it leaves the production line!" He crossed his arms. "If I were him, I'd rather stick to dust mining and leave weapons manufacturing to those that know how." grumbled Gerard. I could see a certain look on his face. A look of frustration and of a man who was feeling threatened.
An awkward silence fell in the room as the three men and one boy sat on their seats. There was something amiss here, I could see, judging from the knowing looks Ironwood's superior sent my father. Luckily, Ironwood leaned forward and cleared his throat. "You said you had the last report, Mr. Friedlich?"
That knocked father from his thoughts and he cleared his own throat before continuing. "O-of course." He took the paper featuring the new Atlesian android and read aloud. "The Atlesian Knight-200 design is going smoothly. It is performing remarkably better than its predecessor in terms of dust usage, combat performance, and durability. The test groups we hired to rate the design have been favorable to it, calling it more 'friendly' and less 'scary'. My head scientist, Geppetto Polendina..." My eyebrows raised in recognition. "...has also devised a system that would make dust consumption even more efficient in the long run. His upgrades can be fitted into the final design without further changes. We can begin production as soon as the Design Committee gives us their approval."
So Penny's dad is working for my father? That's rather exciting. So in the far future, I'd be able to meet RWBY's resident android girl far earlier than anyone huh? I unconsciously smiled, the words "I am combat ready!" echoing in my head.
"So far, that is all that I have to report, gentlemen." my father suddenly said, knocking me from my thoughts. The two men nodded and rose from their seats. "It was a productive meeting, Gerard." the older gentleman remarked. "I shall inform the Committee regarding your results." His gaze then turned to me. "And it was also an honor to meet you, young man. I look forward in seeing you outdo your father." I smiled at his compliment. "Thank you, Mr. General!" I exclaimed, my tone high and childish. The man chuckled as he looked at my father.
"He'll grow into a fine recruit when he'll be older, Gerard. He has shown some skill in infiltrating your office. Why don't you send him to Ironwood here." Said man cringed at the attention and had a horrified look on his face. "And have him trained to be a Specialist?" He said half-jokingly, half-serious. My father grimaced as he rubbed the back of his head. "If I agreed to that, general. My wife would have my head."
It was then that a new voice came in. A female one.
"What's this I hear about recruiting?" Our attention turned to the doorway to see a blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman standing at the door way with her arms crossed. Father turned white while the general began to laugh nervously. Irownwood simply looked lost as to what was happening.
Alena Friedlich nee Petain was a formidable woman. A huntress turned accountant. She handled the finances of the company while Gerard Friedlich handled the business. She and my father met when she was assigned to protect him back in their youth. Their relationship at first was icy, Alena being a commoner from Vale while Gerard was the son of a rich Atlesian arms manufacturer. But after years of being together and after one night they just referred to as 'The greatest time of our lives.'. They fell in love and eventually married.
She fought off grimm, terrorists, and rogue hunstmen. And when she settled in, she fought Atlesian businessmen, socialites and military officers who thought of her as a high-reaching, Valean gold-digger. She had seen the worst the world had to offer and beat them back.
A formidable lady indeed.
"Ah, Madam Friedlich." greeted the General. "I was merely complimenting your son's infiltration skills for managing to sneak in through his father's office and I thought he would make a fine Atlesian Specialist."
She looked at me, blue eyes flashing. She then smirked as she entered the room, her expression pleased. "Of course. I could not expect anything less from my own son." She looked at me. I gulped. I recognized it as the 'You''ll have a spanking later if you don't do what I say!" look. "Alexander Friedlich, your piano tutor spent 20 minutes walking around our house looking for you. Would you kindly explain why you hid from the poor lady?"
Oh shit. "I forgot?" I offered. Chuckling erupted right around the room as my mother walked over towards me with a sweet smile. "Attend to your lessons, young man." The iron in her voice was motivation enough for me to scamper from my Father's feet and run out of the room. From behind me, I could hear mother yelling. "And give her an apology for misbehaving! If I ask her later and she tells me that you didn't apologize, no chocolate pudding for one month!"
At that, I ran as fast as my little legs could carry me. If there was one thing I feared other than my mother's wrath, it was the withholding of chocolate pudding.
And I loved my chocolate pudding
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Alena Friedlich turned her attention to the man who joked about taking away her baby boy from her and gave him a sweet smile. He was still chuckling when sent him said smile. "General. When you said that you wanted to recruit my only son to your army, it was nothing more than a joke, wasn't it?"
The man smiled nervously as he saw her attention on him. "Of course, madam. Nothing more than humour!" he agreed. The ice that formed in the room was quickly thawed when the general glanced at his wristwatch and exclaimed. "Well, would you look at the time! I still have to report your husband's data to the design committee!" He turned back to her husband. "It was a pleasure to hear from you, Gerard! I shall be hearing from you soon!" With that, he turned from him, but not before giving her one last goodbye, and left, his underling Ironwood trailing behind him.
With a sigh, she turned back to her husband and walked over towards him. She leaned over and gave him a rather unchaste kiss. After a few minutes of de-stressing, she pulled back and sighed again. "He needs better jokes." she said. Gerard turned to look at the doorway and squinted. "And I need better doors." He remarked. He clicked his tongue as he stood from his seat and stared at the door. "Looks like I need to stop buying doorknobs from Vacuo now."
"Jokes aside Gerard, I think you need to see this." said Alena as she took an envelope she had hidden and presented it to him. He scanned it briefly then looked up at her, his expression neutral.
"Please tell me that this is a small joke from a prankster who has too much time with his hands." he pleaded. Alena shook her head.
"It is not a joke, I'm afraid. This invitation came from her own personal butler." At that, Gerard deflated as he glanced at his wristwatch.
"Very well. What would Willow Schnee's soon to be five year old daughter want as a present? What was her name again?"
"Weiss Schnee."
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A/N: And here's the second update! I'll leave the next few updates as the lighthearted episodes to prep ya'll for A ROLLER-COASTER RIDE OF FUN AND ENJOYMENT!
