It had been some time since Penny Polendina had been able to slip away from her chaperones. General Ironwood had been made to promise her Papa that she would be safe in his care, while abroad. Of course, this meant that her movements and the little freedom she had were to be greatly restricted. Confined to the various battleships and cruisers that floated in the air over Vale. Going through simulations, tests, diagnostics and a battery of other synonyms. Anything to keep her from straying too far from the General and his forces. During the initial stages of her construction and creation, she hadn't minded this. It was expected of her. No one knew what would become of her.

But the longer it went on, the more she longed to see the outside world. Experience different people, witness a world that wasn't sterile, full of calculations and experimentations. All of which she had already met with aplomb. Her Papa had gotten that right in his plans. Whatever metric they set before her, she was determined to exceed it. Even if she was limited by what constructed her.

Needless to say, it left her insurmountably bored.

Unfortunately, the General wouldn't allow her to wander the outside world so freely. Her movements were limited, requiring she be watched and kept close at hand. Even the slightest hint of trouble, and she'd be whisked back into the sky. To the labs and training rooms, surrounded by walls of reinforced steel.

This wouldn't stop her.

The first time she'd been allowed onto the streets of Vale, she'd extricated herself from her chaperones in a matter of moments. They'd spent hours looking for her. She, meanwhile, had gotten to thrust herself into a world she'd only gotten to dream of. Even if only for a brief moment.

And in that brief moment, she'd gained something she'd never imagined she'd have. Not in a million years.

Friends.

With an s!

Of course, the initial meeting was a short lived one, and her attendants were quick to spirit her away. However, they were foolhardy enough to bring her back to Vale once more not long after. Finding her friends once more hadn't been a difficult matter. She merely observed the pattern they'd walked previously, and found them again quickly.

Then they went on an adventure.

It was the first time she'd gotten the chance to really push what she could do, outside of a simulation. General Ironwood commended her efforts after she finally had been corralled.

She'd also been scolded.

Worse, her chaperones had been severely reprimanded for incompetence. Something she knew she was wholly responsible for. She'd been kept from making excursions into Vale for some time after that. Rather, she'd chosen to spend more time aboard the Atlesian fleet. It would be safer that way. She wouldn't have to worry about inconveniencing Lieutenants Mato and Cuke. She wouldn't even have been in Vale this evening either. But the General had a demonstration scheduled for this evening, and had insisted she join him. There wasn't much she could do to argue against a direct order from the general.

So she tried to stay near her chaperones. Sincerely she did…

But there was this really pretty butterfly that caught her eye. She certainly didn't walk away the moment they turned their backs. Anyone who said she did was a liar. Even if those people were her chaperones themselves. Perhaps they shouldn't have been focused on a stall of some sweet she couldn't taste.

She hadn't even wandered far. She was still within both of their lines of sight. She was even within the General's line of sight, should he decide to look their way. Surely that wouldn't be an issue.

Then she'd been walked into as though she were a brick wall, and had quickly turned to apologize. As one should when their physical nature made them far sturdier than most.

And looking back up at her, had been her friend. Her eyes had scanned upward upon seeing her, and saw that her other friend was there as well!

Target Acquired: Ruby Rose, Human

Status: Ally

Target Acquired: Courier Six, Alien (Human(?))

Status: Ally

Under most circumstances this would be a most joyous reunion.

"…Penny?" Ruby asked, from her spot on the ground.

Suggested Action: Engage Familial Subroutine (Extreme Prejudice)

…But these were not joyous circumstances.

Denied

Engaging Avoidance Subroutine 6 (Ignorance Sub-Packet)

"…Uh… I apologize for being in your way," Penny said simply.

As quickly as she had seen her friends, Penny turned away from them. As she began to move however, she heard Ruby pick herself up off the ground and begin to quickly run after her. In the blink of an eye, she rounded in front of Penny, blocking her path.

Ruby's silver eyes swept over her quickly, curious and incredulous. Almost as though she couldn't believe it was actually her. She looked to be in good health. Little change from the last time they had seen each other. Though the outfit she wore was ever so slightly different. She held herself differently as well. A shift in her balance she wasn't even sure Ruby had noticed yet. "Where have you been!?" Ruby exclaimed. "We haven't seen you since the docks!"

"S-sorry, I think you are… confus- *HICCUP*- sed." Penny blinked briefly as she found herself inadvertently pulling air into her system. Odd, she wasn't built to do that. Must have been a hiccup in her programming. She'd let Papa know. "I- uh… I've got to go."

Without waiting, Penny began to move past Ruby once again, attempting to weave past her, shoulder-first. As she did however, another hand landed on her opposite shoulder. She registered the added resistance, and turned to look back. Spying the hand, she traced it up the arm it was attached to, and found herself staring into crimson-colored lenses.

He didn't outwardly appear any different than he had the last time they had met. But Penny could tell Courier Six had changed a lot since the last they'd seen of each other. For one, his aura was active, and she could almost register the way it seemed to pulse and ebb around him. Green and flickering, glowing in the dim twilight sun. He also appeared to have gotten physically larger as well. A result of a strenuous training regimen she deduced, studying his posture and the way he was carrying himself.

One of his hands was holding a cup of some beverage. The other gripped her shoulder loosely. Enough she could break free, should she decide to continue moving. However, she concluded that he hadn't grabbed her shoulder with the intent to completely restrain her.

"… Yep, definitely seems like a Penny." The Courier said, his voice sounding amused and peaceful. "Been a while, girl."

"There seems to have been a misunderstand-" Penny began.

"Definitely got the look right." The Courier mused, looking her up and down. "Right outfit, bit of an odd air, something of a curious expression…" He leaned in. "Is Blake secretly a man?"

Penny's head tilted to one side. "No, she's a faunus…" She blinked. "Wait- I mean, who?"

"Nah, it's definitely Penny." The Courier said, chuckling as he stepped back, unhanding her.

"I'm afraid you have me confused with someone else." Penny continued to push, brushing the Courier's hand off of her. She turned back around and attempted to weave past Ruby once more. Unfortunately, as she did so, her path was once more impeded by Ruby.

"Penny, please, stop." Ruby intoned. "We haven't seen you in weeks-"

One month, one week, and nine days to be specific, Penny noted.

"- is everything ok?" she asked. "What happened at the docks- it was a lot bigger than we thought it would be."

An accurate assessment. Penny had been kept up-to-date with the goings-on of Vale, in the time between excursions. An uptick in criminal activity, the sudden appearance of a masked vigilante, growing civil unrest, and a general disquiet among the kingdom's citizens. She was also able to correlate that it tied back to their collective actions.

For a long moment, Penny remained quiet, continuing to execute the appropriate subroutine. It did not, however, have the intended effect. Ruby's expression only grew more concerned as she looked at Penny.

"I don't know what happened to you that night, after all the fighting." Ruby said, voice gentle and searching. "But if something's wrong, or you're in trouble you need to tell me. We're friends, remember?"

Of course she remembered, how could she forget?

She had it saved under the heading 'Precious Memories'. Next to the recording of when her Papa first let her explore Mantle.

"She speaks the truth." The Courier said, coming around in front of her, both he and Ruby unintentionally forming a barrier between her and her chaperones. "If you're in trouble Penny, you need to tell us. Otherwise we can't help."

Penny remained silent, but she could feel her face contorting into an expression. Guilt? For making them worry? Sadness? For causing trouble? She couldn't tell.

Terminating Avoidance Subroutine 6

Initiating Familial Engagement Packet…

"… It isn't safe to talk here." Penny said, looking between the two of them. Then looking past them. Her chaperones were still preoccupied. "I can't go far either."

Paying mind to the surrounding foot traffic, and vehicle traffic, Penny led them across the street, and a small distance away. Not too far, she felt she wouldn't be breaking the rules if she didn't go far. Just far enough for their conversation to be private, but close enough that her chaperones could see her if they so felt inclined. She led them, turning back occasionally, double checking that she was indeed still within sight of them, before finally stopping. Ruby and The Courier still between her and her chaperones.

"…you being held against your will?" The Courier asked, pausing for a moment, checking quickly over his shoulder.

"No!" Penny answered quickly. "… But I'm required to be with an escort after last time."

Her two friends looked at her curiously, before the Courier began to scan the area once more. Ruby meanwhile asked, "Did we get you in trouble for helping us?"

"No more than I got for sneaking out the first time." Penny answered, giving her a sheepish smile. Penny looked past them once more, eyeing her chaperones as they haggled and argued. They wouldn't have long to speak. "… I wish I could help you both, I really do. But I know nothing beyond what we saw that night."

"Then what happened to you?" Ruby asked. "You disappeared when we got taken back to Beacon…" Ruby looked Penny in the eye for a moment, then turned tracing her gaze. After a moment, she turned back to Penny. "Did those guys in the armor take you away?"

"Atlas soldiers by the look." The Courier noted. "You said you were here to fight in the tournament… Babysitters?"

"Why would you sit on babies?" Penny asked, before disregarding the question. "They're meant to watch me, yes. My father had asked me not to venture out too far, but I'd never been to another kingdom before."

"So those guys were supposed to keep tabs on you, and you went a little overboard." The Courier surmised, still eyeing her chaperones. "A bit overprotective, but I can't fault someone for wanting to make sure their kid was safe in a foreign land."

"My father loves me very much." Penny agreed. "But he worries a lot."

"Can't say I blame him much, given recent and current events." The Courier agreed.

"Believe me, I know the feeling." Ruby said, rolling her eyes, giving Penny a knowing smirk. "… But why not reach out? You could've let us know things were alright."

Penny pursed her lips. "I was… asked not to talk to you." She answered. "Or Weiss, or Blake, or Yang, or Six, or anyone for that matter."

"…" The Courier's head craned back around to her. "That sounds a skosh more than overprotective."

Penny shook her head. "It wasn't my father... it was-"

"The General?" The Courier asked.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Penny blinked, looking at the Courier, curious how he'd deduced that.

"You're being body guarded by military personnel, and the General is supposedly traveling with the fleet for the Festival." The Courier answered, swirling his drink. "If your dad's not the one telling you to not talk to strangers, it'd be the guy ordering armed soldiers to be your escorts."

Penny paused for a moment, before nodding in agreement. It was an accurate assumption.

"Well, that would make it difficult." Ruby agreed, eyeing Penny. "I mean it's cool that you're here with the General, but that does make it harder to talk with you. You know I was worried that something had happened to you."

"I'm fine, really." Penny reassured them.

"What're you doing down here now, then?" The Courier asked. "If the General doesn't want you straying far, then why let you down here?"

"Well, that's-" Penny started to say.

Then a loud voice began to echo through the streets. She hadn't realized how close she'd put them to the park. She could see the way Ruby and jolted with a start. The Courier as well, seemed surprised, but he didn't jolt or tense the way Ruby had. His head instead, seemed to trace back where the sound came from, further ahead of them, behind Penny. She'd been hoping that they'd be far enough away not to overhear it, once it started.

The General's presentation.

He wasn't actually present for it. They'd actually requested multiple locations to be set-up around Vale. The General was actually being broadcast via hologram from a room in the CCT tower. Although not the same as if he were doing the display in person, it allowed them to do all of the locations simultaneously.

Penny didn't try to stop Ruby or the Courier, as they ushered her further along. Far enough that they could come into sight of the small park this particular stage was set within. She could see he'd already attracted a small crowd to the stage. He handled his speech impeccably, perfectly metered, his tone one of excited determination. She wasn't surprised, He'd been practicing it for several days. Finding just the right words to explain how they were intending to scrap the Knight-130s.

Then within the next breath, he had the Knight-200s reveal themselves. Kicking down a line of their predecessors like they were little more than dead weight. The 200s posed for the crowd, a fusion of Atlesian Military technology and SDC research. They received cheers that Penny didn't quite understand the reasoning of. Was it really so impressive to see them simply take on a more human shape?-

"Whoa~" Ruby squeaked. "I didn't know they were rolling out a new model!"

The Courier gave a whistle, but wasn't as easily impressed. "They've probably got some technical oversights still. Bet you five lien that posing was all they could manage for today."

Curious, she had been aware they'd had some technical difficulties preparing for today. Mostly stemming from them trying to maintain balance during the opening kick.

The General continued with his display, promising how the 200s would be smarter, sleeker, and more approachable than their predecessors. Giving a vague introduction date of sometime later in the year. But she knew this was not the end of the presentation, and the general continued. The 200s wouldn't be the only new introduction to be released within the current year. Citing the major removal of men from the battlefield, but providing that those who would remain, would be far safer.

The further along the demonstration went, the less comfortable Penny felt. She wished very much to leave, to return the small distance back to her chaperones. However, she found it hard to voice her desire to do so. She could just as easily see the wonder on Ruby's face, as she watched the demonstration. The Courier regarded her briefly, perhaps seeing her discomfort, but observed all the same.

Then the hologram of the General traded places for the crown jewel of today's demonstration. The Atlesian Paladin. A towering behemoth of machinery and military might. Impressive, even for only a hologram. They'd intended to have a prototype available for several of the demonstrations. However, they'd never arrived. The General had been reticent to say why.

However, the effect it had was obvious, just by observing her friends' reactions.

"Oh. My. Gosh!" Ruby breathed. "It's huge!"

"Meh, I've seen bigger." The Courier shrugged. "Looks a bit clunky."

"… Do you just hate fun?" Ruby asked, turning to him.

"I just call it like I see it." The Courier answered. "There's nothing that impressive about a bunch of machines that don't have an iota of self-articulating thought in their head."

"…" Penny could not voice how crestfallen such a sentiment made her feel.

Ruby wheeled around to look at the Courier, but stopped short, looking at Penny, her expression turning to one of concern. "Is everything ok, Penny?"

"… Maybe we should go somewhere else." Penny answered sadly, so far this reunion had become quite-

"Hey!" A voice called from back down the street. Penny's gaze immediately snapped up to it-

"Oh no," she muttered.

It would appear chaperones had finally taken it upon themselves to notice her absence. They were running towards her now, and she got the distinct urge that she should run. Though she knew it would ultimately prove a futile gesture. She'd just be bringing trouble to Ruby and the Courier. Last thing she wanted was for them to be punished for the crime of merely associating with her.

Seeing the direction of Penny's gaze, Ruby and the Courier turned to face the approaching soldiers. She could also observe the subtle way the Courier shifted his weight, immediately ready to fight.

"They gonna be trouble?" the Courier asked.

"No, they shouldn't be." Penny said, reluctantly.

"... hm." the Courier grunted. She couldn't tell if it was meant for himself or her. But neither he nor Ruby stepped away from her. Still acting as a barrier between her and her chaperones. It wasn't hard for her to calculate a forty-seven percent chance this would only escalate matters.

Her chaperones slowed in their approach, as they drew closer, but they didn't stop.

"You're interfering with official Atlas military business." One of the chaperones, Lt. Mato, ordered. "Step aside and away from Ms. Polendina."

Ruby briefly cast a look at the Courier, before looking back towards the soldiers. "We're just talking with her." Ruby said. "There's no law against that, right?"

"That wasn't a request." Lt. Mato answered. "Step aside. Now."

"Couple guys with guns come running up to a young girl is a bad look." The Courier said. "Especially acting the way you are. Be reasonable, boys."

Lt. Mato, however, wasn't. Without any hesitation, hand fell to a communicator at his side and brought it up. "Command we've got a pair of locals attempting to interfere with official business, please acknowledge."

Immediately, Penny knew that things were about to get quite bad. She was fully aware of the measures Ironwood had set in place for her safety. The last thing she wanted was for her friends to bear the brunt of it for the crime of associating with her. The forty-seven percent odds of escalation had increased to an unfortunate sixty-three. It was as she was registering this increase, that the Courier turned back towards her.

"Do you want to go with these guys, Penny?" he asked.

Penny looked up at him curiously. He was bothering to ask her what she wanted?

"You'll refrain from speaking to Ms. Polendina-" Lt. Cuke broke in.

The Courier rounded on him without hesitation. "I wasn't talking to you, dickhead, wait your turn."

Sixty-three to eighty-seven.

Cuke glowered at the Courier. "Watch your mouth, boy."

"Watch your tone." Ruby said, putting her hands on her hip, emboldened.

Without turning back to her again, the Courier spoke. "If you want to go with these guys, I'll get out of your way. Don't want to cause you any trouble either. But I'm not going to let a couple of jackbooted morons go making decisions for you."

Her chaperones drew a step closer.

"I… I don't wish to make trouble for either of you." Penny answered solemnly.

"And that's good." The Courier answered. "But not what I asked you."

"She said she wants you to leave. Now." Mato said. Penny calculated a fifty-six percent chance he would lunge at The Courier.

"No, she said she doesn't want to make trouble for us." The Courier answered.

"What we're asking-" Ruby said, sparing Penny a smile, "is if you want to keep hanging out with us. We'll leave if you want us to, but-"

The world slowed to a crawl.

Lt. Cuke thrust forward, a claw reaching out towards Ruby. Penny watched it happening in a span of frames that almost no other mind could observe.

A different situation had occurred from her predictions.

Hostile movement detected

Deploying interception protocol-

Time snapped back into focus as the Courier slipped between Cuke and Ruby. The latter of whom snapped back around in time to witness the Courier plant an open palm into Cuke's chest, sending one of her chaperones flying backwards by several dozen yards.

"Wrong move, jackass." The Courier growled. "That's a court marshal right there, trying to lay hands on a foreign civvy."

Mato wheeled, trying to keep up with what had just transpired. Penny would likely have struggled as well, had she not been equipped with one of the most overdeveloped processing cores Atlas ever produced. As it was she was very quickly calculating the odds of salvaging this situation without it getting any further out of hand. There was a seventy-two-

"Oh you sonnuv-" Mato started.

Whatever he said was cutoff, however, when the Courier popped the top off his coffee cup. He promptly threw its contents, and the cup, in her chaperone's face. Her sensors indicated it was approximately a scalding one hundred and thirty-eight degrees. How he carried it left Penny puzzled about the laws of thermodynamics, and how a paper cup could circumvent them.

Right as Mato began to scream, however, the Courier's leg came up. It landed squarely between her Chaperone's legs, with an astonishing ninety-six percent accuracy. It caused her chaperone to double over on himself.

Unsurprisingly, the odds of peaceful resolution plummeted to thirty-one percent.

The Courier promptly turned towards her and Ruby, who also looked as surprised as someone who'd gotten a faceful of near boiling coffee. "Six why!?"

Then the Courier's hand clamped onto Penny's shoulder.

"Cheese it!" He hissed, pushing them both around and into motion. A remarkable feat, as Penny knew she was quite dense due to her mechanical nature.

Without pause, Ruby turned and grabbed Penny by the shoulder, spinning her around. She began to lead Penny away from her chaperones. She could vaguely register Ruby apologizing profusely as they began to flee from the scene.

Was she being kidnapped? Did it count as kidnapping if you didn't mind who was taking you? She would need to review the legal definitions later. This was almost certainly against the law in some fashion. Which made her quite uneasy.

Yet she was quietly, exceedingly happy that it was. What a strange confluence of emotion.

They bolted down the street, passing the park and its military display, following the sidewalk briefly. Then Ruby grabbed Penny, and led the trio down an alleyway. At the far end of which, they crossed over a street, bolted down another alley, then hooked right. They continued down this new avenue, Seagram's if her internal map was still accurate, for a few minutes. Then they cut across the street again and continued down another alley. Penny was beginning to feel that she should warn her friends they should look both ways before crossing the street. They'd only narrowly missed catching a cab.

"Why!?" Ruby said, between breaths. "I thought you said we weren't supposed to be drawing attention!?"

"That was before I saw how they were treating Penny." The Courier shot back.

"I was quite alright." Penny answered. "Though I do appreciate being able to hang out with my friends!"

"... Good enough!" Ruby chirped.

They burst from the mouth of the alley once more and hooked another left. This time they were on Sycamore st. and- was that Pyrrha Nikos?

The trio reached the end of the street, jaywalked across the intersection and cut down another alley. As they did, the Courier briefly broke off from them, going for the nearby dumpsters. Penny briefly observed him scraping them across the ground, barring the path they'd come down.

Then Ruby hooked an arm around Penny, using her free one to flourish her weapon out, pointing the muzzle behind them. She looked back to the Courier. "We'll meet you up ahead!"

The Courier began to speak, but it was drowned out by the sound of Ruby's weapon. A burst of sound, and a flash of purple from a 'force' cartridge, providing them with enough impetus to clear more than half the alley in a single bound. The moment Ruby's foot touched the ground once more, Penny could sense the way she pushed her aura into it. It wasn't easy, she could feel the way Ruby strained against Penny's weight to push the both of them. Despite that though, she still managed it, the both of them shooting forward.

As they did, Ruby's body began to disintegrate into a cloud of red petals.

Penny's went with it.

Her body began to disperse into a cloud of tiny green leaves as they propelled forward. She was easily able to register what was happening, determine its source.

This did not, however, keep Ruby from being surprised. The moment she saw what was happening to the two of them, Ruby lost the intensity in her movement, her aura fading from both of them.

"Huh?" she gasped.

Then she lost her balance, the two of them tumbling through the air, before skidding across the ground after a rough landing. Penny's map indicated they'd landed in the middle of Nordiskt lane. Ruby hissed as they both came to a stop, confused by so many things.

"Ow- ow- ow." Ruby grunted, trying to take in their surroundings. Her eyes flashed to Penny. "Sorry, are you-"

She wasn't paying attention to her surroundings.

Behind her, flying down the road they were on, was a delivery truck.

Its horn blared.

Ruby twisted to see it.

Aura redistribution complete

Executing

Before Ruby could register what happened, Penny had sprung to her feet, planting them into the pavement. Her balance adjusting, aura allocating, arms stretching out-

The truck impacted them. Its momentum and force instantly transferred into Penny. Her aura deflected it, guiding it away as she refused to budge. The hood and grille of the truck crumpled around her arms as she held her ground, which itself shattered and cratered beneath her, sending shards of stone and asphalt skyward in large craggy fragments. Her systems registered the force and momentum as it ripped into her.

Sudden impact detected. Running flash diagnostics.

The truck bucked briefly forward. Penny could see the shock on the driver's face as it arced slightly over her. But as she refused to move, the momentum faded, and gravity resumed its course. The truck slammed back into the damaged roadway, bouncing and trembling as its shocks tried to absorb the sudden force.

Penny's arms shook slightly. Not from the impact, though it would be an easy mistake. The diagnostics were still operating.

Diagnostics complete: Epidermal damage detected. Subdermal systems may require further inspection.

Penny quickly reviewed the data collected by the scan, recognizing where the damage was located.

"P-Penny?" Ruby stuttered, after a moment.

Penny looked down at Ruby, still seeing her friend on the ground. Clearly in shock, but otherwise unscathed.

It would seem her secret had been unveiled.

terminated

As her body released its stance, Penny bent forward and hauled Ruby to her feet. Now it was her turn to lead her friend down an alleyway. Which she did, with rather unrestrained speed and force.

As soon as they were out of sight of the delivery truck, Ruby came back to herself, and pulled back.

"Penny- stop!" Ruby snapped, planting her feet, skidding as Penny slowed down.

As she complied, she looked down the alleyway. Scanning it, she found no evidence that they were being observed by non-allies.

"What… what was that!" Ruby gasped, wide eyed and bewildered. "What just happened!?"

"I-I don't-" Penny tried to speak, only to be cut off by a hiccup.

Ruby stopped, right before she was going to say something. She thought on it for a moment, then said, "Is something wrong? If there is, just tell me. Me, Six, we just want to help."

"I-I *hiccup*... I don't think you would understand." Penny answered, curling inward.

There was a moment, where Penny wasn't sure what Ruby would do next. Her ability to calculate the odds was running overtime, trying to determine what would happen next. Too many odds. Too many variables. Too much. Too much.

But then, Ruby took a deep breath. Calming herself, trying not to rush. She approached Penny, slowly, soothingly. Gently, as though she were reaching out to a lost child, she put a hand softly on Penny's shoulder. "Try me?"

Penny paused for a moment, calculating the odds once more. She could lie, but found it only had a forty-forty percent chance at success. The odds of it weren't enough in her favor.

And… she didn't want to lie to her friend.

"... do you really want to know?" Penny asked, voice soft, slightly fearful. She didn't want to lose one of the few friends she had made. "You're my friend, right? You and Six both?"

"Yes." Ruby said, smiling, calmly gripping her shoulder. "We're your friends, Penny. It's ok. We're not going to hurt you."

She wondered if this was supposed to be an attempt at humor. It wasn't a matter of hurting each other… Was this empathy?

Penny looked down, scanning her clenched hands. Her diagnostics indicated this was where the worst of the damage had transpired. She would need to visit the technicians aboard the Fleet, if she were to have it repaired. She could see her endo skeleton just beneath the surface.

With great hesitance, she unfurled her palms, showing them to Ruby.

"Ruby… I'm not a real girl." Penny said, slowly, softly.

She watched as her friend's gaze lit up in shock. Right as the Courier came barreling around the corner after them.

"...Oh."