I'm not sure how long I'd been out for, couldn't have been long, no more than an hour or two. Most of it was a blur, more impressions and incoherent white noise than anything. I was considering doing some form of nerve exams though, all the blows to the head couldn't have been good for me. Somewhere in the background, I could hear people talking. It didn't really come in clearly though, more fragments than sentences.

"… -e's so heav…"

"… BROKE OUR WINDO…"

"… Get his armor…"

I finally came back to reality with a pounding head and a ringing in my ears. I thought I was upright, at first, but after a moment I was able to piece out that I was sitting. I shifted slightly in a bid to stretch. But found my arms and legs unwilling to obey my commands.

I cautiously opened my eyes, and was given the only comfort that there was no light immediately needling into them. Just outside my immediate earshot I could hear something. It sounded like voices, but I wasn't coherent enough to discern whose. My helmet and mask were still in place, and I was tilted over slightly. I was in a chair…

No, I was tied to a chair. As evidenced by the strips of black ribbon that had me bound upright

"… Why'm I tied to a chair?" I slurred, sitting upright unaided.

I then noticed something slightly more important, and the haze hanging over my mind condensed into frustration and annoyance.

"… WHY AM I NAKED!?" I growled.

I wasn't technically naked, but being stripped to your skivvies was pretty close.

My senses finally finished their reboot, and the whining left my ears. I blinked and took stock of where I was.

And who I was with.

I was back in my teammates' room, back to the window with the setting sun's light shining through. Everyone was, more or less, in front of me in some way. Blake and Yang were sitting on a bed to my right, the former reading a book while the latter peered over her shoulder. Nora and Ren were across the room from them, talking, Nora hanging upside down from the upper bunk and Ren sitting on the lower bunk like a reasonable person. Jaune and Pyrrha were standing with Ruby and Weiss near the door, likely having a conversation themselves.

At least, they were all likely doing that until I'd announced that I was awake.

Now they were all just staring at me.

"You're awake." Ruby said.

"Yeah, I'm awake." I growled "But why am I tied to a chair, and WHY AM I NAKED?"

Ruby flinched a little, but Weiss stepped in for her. "To ensure you didn't run away again."

"Also, we needed to make sure you weren't hiding any knives on you or anything." Ruby said.

"You couldn't have just checked my pockets and then tied me up?" I asked "You didn't even leave me with a pair of pants!"

"We had to be sure!... sorry."

I gave a frustrated sigh. I couldn't even fault them for at least checking.

"… You didn't touch my helmet, did you?" I asked.

"N-no!" Ruby answered "I mean, we wanted to, but we didn't want to make you even madder."

"… Thank you." I huffed.

"Ok, enough beating around the bush!" Nora said, flipping off of the top bunk. She stood and loomed in front of me. "We've got you now and you're not going anywhere, so are we going to do this the easy way or am I going to have to-"

"Nora" I said, trying to find and maintain some measure of calm "sit down and shut up, or you will be the one person I ask to leave the room. Because I'm almost certain you're the reason I'm currently tied to a chair with a splitting headache."

Nora clammed up and, after a moment, gave me a guilty look. "Ah heh, sorry about that."

"Hmm…"

Ruby, Weiss Jaune and Pyrrha walked closer. Bringing everyone to within about a ten-foot radius of me.

"Six, I know we weren't truthful." Ruby started "But I just-"

"Ruby, save it." I said, looking at the young girl "I haven't been dealing fair with you… or anyone else in this room for that matter." That drew a look of surprise from everyone. Ech, crow. "But you've got to understand, it doesn't matter how truthfully I am. I know there's no way you're going to believe me."

"I don't think that's something you get to decide." Yang said.

"… Yeah." I agreed halfheartedly "But I guess we'll find out. You're probably going to want to take a seat."

Without much more provocation; Ruby, Weiss, Jaune, and Pyrrha took seats on the floor in front of my chair.

"… You know there're still chairs you can use, right?"

Ruby just shrugged in response, and stayed on the floor. Surprisingly, Blake, Yang, Nora, and Ren joined them. Leaving both teams on the floor and looking at me expectantly.

"So" Ruby said softly, giving me a warm smile "What're you hiding?"

I stayed quiet for just a little longer. This was going to be a mess… correction, it already was.

'… Oh well, no way out but up.'

"… I told you that I'm not from here." I answered "That I was from a place called the Mojave."

"Yeah" Nora supplied "You said it was somewhere in Mistral."

"That was a lie. A lot of what I told you were lies I came up with on the spot."

"We kind of picked up on that." Yang smirked.

"Yeah, yeah you did." I said "But I wasn't lying about being from a place called the Mojave… sort of. It's complicated."

"That… doesn't clear anything up." Ruby said.

"Yeah, I know." I said "… The truth is though, that I'm from a place none of you have heard of… because the Mojave doesn't exist on Remnant."

That sparked a wave of confusion in everyone.

"I'm sorry-" Weiss interrupted "-What?"

"… I'm from a place called The Mojave wasteland." I said, trying to convey my sincerity "It's not a part of any kingdom, any continent, or even a part of Remnant."

Everyone remained silent, but I could see that their confusion was only growing.

"The truth is… I'm from… actually, I'm not really sure what you'd call it. I don't think it's a different planet…"

I stopped talking and thought about it for a moment. What was I from a technical stand point? I didn't specifically travel from one planet to another, so I wasn't sure if that made me some kind of alien. I'd only wound up here because I was trying to time travel. But, from everything I'd gathered, this wasn't earth. So what the hell was I?

"Are you… trying to say you're an alien?" Yang asked.

"No." I affirmed "I'm most certainly not a little green man with bulging black eyes. I just… I don't know what you'd call me."

Silence and a look of complete disbelief settled over everyone.

"That's… pretty hard to believe alright."

I sighed, just a little defeated. "Told you so."

I pretty much figured there wasn't any way they'd believe the truth. I mean, it's pretty outlandish, but in the end, I'd given them what they'd wanted. Which pretty much left me out in the open now. They all probably thought I was still lying. I couldn't expect them to willing to believe me when I couldn't even tell them what I was.

"… What's it like?" Ruby asked.

"… What?" I asked is response.

"The Mojave-" Ruby elaborated "What's it like?"

"… Um… it's… an ok place, I suppose." I answered, trying to find the words "I mean, don't get me wrong, it's still a wasteland like I said. But from what I gather, compared to other places it could actually be a lot worse."

"Like how?"

"Well… For one I guess there's the major lack of ionizing radiation."

"Io-what?"

"Um… Never had to try and explain it before, do you know what causes sunburn?"

"Uh, the sun, duh."

"…" If my arms were free at that particular moment, I probably would've smacked myself in the face "That's not what I meant Ruby… Ok, we'll skip that for now. But it also has more clean food and water than most places in the wastes, so by comparison, it is an ok place."

"There are other wastelands?"

"Uh, yeah, Several continents worth, actually."

"Wow… where'd they all come from?"

"… A war." I answered "… You're… taking this surprisingly well."

"Really?"

"Um, yea, kind of?" I said, confused myself "I mean, I don't even have a way to prove any of what I'm telling you, and you're just… accepting it."

"Well, yeah-" Ruby said, giving me a soft smile "I mean, you said you'd tell us the truth and it sounds like you're trying to."

"You don't know that." I said, clearly trying to undermine myself "For all you know, I could still be lying to you."

"Mmm… nope, I don't think you are."

"…Heh." I couldn't help but chuckle again "You're way too innocent, you know that?"

Despite the fact that Ruby had no reason to believe me, she'd chosen to do so anyway. She had everyone reason not to believe me, in fact. But in the face of that, she'd still chosen to believe me anyway. Why?

'… Because you're her friend.' I reminded myself.

I looked at Ruby for a moment, then at the rest of them. They all seemed skeptical and unsure. I was going to have to do something about that.

"… So… You're an alien?" Jaune asked "Like an actual visitor from another planet?"

"I already said I'm not an alien." I reiterated "I'm human through and through… Or, at least, what passes for human where I'm from."

"… I'm sorry" Weiss interceded "But before we continue, I've really got to ask, are you serious?"

"As serious as I can be." I answered "I promised you the truth, I'm giving it, and what you make of it is up to you. Just know that I'm trying."

"I… I have so many questions."

"I'm not surprised, I had a lot myself when I first got here. Just know that if I actually had a way to prove any of this to you, I'd never have gone through this whole charade to begin with."

"If you wish to prove it, you could try explaining more about the world you're from." Pyrrha offered "It seems as though there is much you could explain."

"I could." I answered "But doing that will take time, and is liable to have so much tangential information I'll just wind up confusing you."

"Then why not just start at the beginning, and if we have questions, we'll ask them?" Blake countered.

"That… that can work, if you're up to it. Just be warned, there's a lot of ground to cover, and I don't know everything."

"Whatever you can tell us is better than nothing." Ruby said, smiling "Just as long as it's the truth."

"… Alright." I said, shifting in my bonds "So, start at the beginning then?"

Everyone seemed agreement with that, so I took it as a cue.

"Alright… so, several billion years ago there was this event known as the big bang-"

One of Weiss's legs snaked out and kicked my leg.

"Hey!"

"Be serious" Weiss said.

"I am" I countered "I'm giving you the factual formation of my universe."

"Does it pertain to you actually telling us about where you're from?"

"… technically yes, but objectively no."

"Then skip it for now, please."

"Okay, okay." I said, shifting thoughts "… In my world, about three hundred years ago, the world was full of dozens of different nations."

"Nations?" Weiss asked.

"If you're asking questions already, we'll be here until it's time for classes tomorrow."

Weiss glared at me.

"… if it helps, think of them as you would the kingdoms of this world, since that's basically what they are."

"… alright."

"-right, anyway, the world was full of dozens of different nations. Some small, some large, all full of people regardless. Among them though, were metaphorical giants. Nations that, in terms of sheer size and might, were practically unstoppable. The USSR, China, The European Commonwealth, and America to name a few."

"America!" Ruby said "That was in that book!"

"Yep" I agreed "The very same as the one in the book you handed off to a complete stranger. Thanks for that by the way."

"… sorry."

"It's ok." I said, nodding "So, among that list though, the ones that're important to history at hand are China and America. Though it wasn't that way initially. So, the whole mess that eventually leads to the creation of the wastelands, starts on the heels of a massive world war. For comparison, think of it like your world's Great War from eighty years ago, but condensed into the span of a decade and having a body count of around 70-85 million."

"WHAT!?" pretty much everyone asked collectively.

"Yeah, bad" I answered "But we got a long way to go and it only gets uglier, so please, try and contain yourselves."

"But… Six…" Ruby said, clearly fumbling to find the words "That… can't be right."

"Well it's only an estimate, but it's accurate." I answered "At the time, it was considered one of the bloodiest conflicts in world history."

"That helps to explain it at least." Weiss said, confident "The sheer fighting must've attracted enough Grimm to help inflate the numbers."

Everyone seemed to consider it.

"That would make sense" I offered "Except the Grimm don't exist where I'm from either."

Weiss didn't say anything, but she lost the confident look and instead had one that just screamed 'Are you kidding me!?'.

"You don't have any Grimm?" Jaune asked.

"No, now please. Hold your questions again while I get back on track."

Everyone clammed up and began listening much more attentively. It seems I'd garnered their attention.

"So, the war ended. But there was a problem: towards the end of the war one of the great nations, America, had developed the most destructive weapon the world had ever known. A type of bomb fueled by a highly unstable radioactive isotope, which I'll explain later. They developed several of these bombs, formally known as nuclear weapons or 'nukes'. Then they used them to do the one thing that's guaranteed to piss people off: establish dominance. They bombed one of their enemies twice in fairly quick succession-"

"That hardly seems out of the ordinary." Ren said.

"It is when it only took two bombs to kill over two hundred thousand people, and make the land they'd lived on nearly uninhabitable."

Another uncomfortable silence.

"Stop interrupting." I said "Anyway, this attempt to scare everyone only resulted in creating a cold war with another of the great nations: the USSR. Who had been involved in the creation of the nukes in the first place. Things… become gray from then on. The cold war lasted and grew intense for a few years, especially as a growing demand for resources and energy began to weigh on everyone. Unlike Remnant, however, my world doesn't have dust. Our fuel sources were different. But there was one that could seemingly generate untold amounts of power. It was also, ironically, the same one that'd caused the cold war in the first place: Nuclear power."

"This is getting a little confusing." I heard Nora whisper.

"It only gets worse" I confirmed "The cold war never really ended, but both sides seemed to ease off the trigger and the world entered a renaissance, fueled by nuclear power. For a span of about fifty or seventy-five years, there was a relative peace, with the USSR eventually falling by the wayside."

"And then it got worse." Yang guessed.

"Ring a ding ding, someone give the girl a cookie."

To my surprise, Ruby went over to a desk, opened a drawer, retrieved a chocolate chip cookie, and gave it to Yang. I got a chuckle out of it at least.

"So, around the year 2050-ish, the world hits a bit of a snag-"

"2050?" Pyrrha asked "You have definitive calendars from over two thousand years?"

"Further than that actually, we reset them after some guy got nailed to a tree or something…" I thought for a moment "Come to think of it, I've never really heard much in the way of dates around here. What year is it here?"

"Most records were destroyed during the Great war, not that we had great means of tracking then either." Weiss answered "So we've marked the year the same way you have since 'someone was nailed to a tree'."

"Hmph, figures, wars always fuck everything up." I groused "So, the world hit a snag. Resources and fuels were running out and tensions were on the rise. While the USSR had collapsed, one of its allies, China, had stepped in to take its place. Once the aptly named 'Resource Wars' were in full swing, things started spiraling. Plagues and diseases were cropping up, wars and riots broke out overnight, nations were incorporated by others in the blink of an eye. The world started pulling in on itself, and it was an ugly sight."

"How do you know any of this?" Blake asked.

I shrugged "There's plenty of records from back then. We were good about making sure at least something survived… In the year 2077, on October 23rd, everything changed." I shifted in my seat again, being tied up was uncomfortable. "No one's sure who struck first, but in the end, I guess that doesn't matter. On that day, America, China, and their affiliates lit the planet up in a ball of nuclear fire."

Ruby looked thoughtful for a moment, then went wide eyed at some realization. "- ravaged and burned by war…"

"What was that?" Nora asked.

"Uh, nothing, I think." Ruby answered.

"We'll get to it later." I said nodding to Ruby "But that about explains what happened to my world. Unable to keep peace and find a better solution both sides, whether they'd intended to act or not, set the world on fire. Killing untold billions, and making the war that started this whole mess look like a traffic accident by comparison."

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

The look of horror that settled over everyone told me got the picture. Maybe not the whole one, but enough of one to understand my world had gotten fucked hard, without the courtesy of lube.

'Eugh, bad joke.'

"… So… your world is like the one from Insane Indigo?" Jaune asked.

"…Indi-who?"

"An action movie series that follows Indigo Rox and takes place in a version of remnant where the kingdoms all collapsed after the great war, leaving Remnant lawless and under the thumbs of oppressive warlords."

I stared at Jaune, confused. Mercifully I wasn't the only one, as almost everyone else present was doing the same.

"… Who the hell would fantasize about something like that?" I asked.

"They're not bad." Jaune shrugged "The car chases are pretty cool… wait, if everyone died, how are you alive?"

"I didn't say everyone died." I clarified "Just that most everyone died."

"Um… Okay." Yang asked "Then how did anyone survive?"

"Forethought and dumb luck." I answered "The American government, seeing the writing on the wall, commissioned for massive underground shelters, known as vaults, to be built all across the nation. The idea being that, if the bombs fell, people could run for cover and wait for the radiation levels to drop enough to make the world habitable again. Though that wasn't the only thing they were used for, I'm not going to get into that. People did survive outside the vaults though, often through sheer dumb luck or ingenuity. Though that also had unforeseen consequences in many ways."

"But how does any of that pertain to you?" Weiss asked.

"Aside from being the prelude to my world at present?" I asked "In a lot of ways, it still finds avenues to come back around to bite people. Most Old world, a.k.a. pre-war, ruins are unsafe to excavate due to security measures that are still active after two hundred and eight some-odd years. To compound that, dozens of different 'experiments' being undertaken for the war effort escaped when the bombs fell. Evolving, mutating, and adapting to survive the Wastelands. I said we don't have Grimm, but we've still got monsters, abominations, and bugaboos of our own."

"That's… horrible." Weiss said, looking slightly upset.

"Yeah, what can you do though?" I asked, shrugging "Morals have less to do with war than many people like to believe."

"Ok… so where do you fit into all that?" Ruby asked.

That was a complicated question, mostly because it was one I didn't really have an answer to myself. Over all the traveling I'd done since Benny shot me, I'd heard bits and pieces about myself here and there. I'd even been to the Divide, and seen some of the impact I'd had… but it was all lost on me otherwise. I got the sense I'd done a lot of 'great' things. I just had no idea what they were.

"It's… hard to say, really." I answered "I'm just… a nomad from nowhere, I suppose. I don't really have much of a history that I can share."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means I don't have an answer to give you."

"… Why?"

"Because… there are just some things I'm not ready to talk about. I know I promised you guys the truth, but, I'm sorry, there are just some things I'm not ready to talk about yet."

"Well that's a let-down." Yang murmured.

"Ok… Well, how did you get here then?"

"Well, that's a tricky one to answer." I said "I'm not too sure how I wound up here either."

"… What do you mean you don't know how you got here!?" Weiss asked.

"I mean I don't know how I got here." I reiterated "Rather, I wasn't supposed to wind up here. I was… experimenting with some old-world tech, and wound up here by some freak accident."

"You can't be serious."

"Well, I am. So deal with it."

"That sounds like the plot of some cheesy old comic book." Ren mumbled.

"But… where does that leave us then?" Ruby asked.

"Well, it leaves us where we're at." I said "Me, tied to a chair, explaining to all of you how I got here."

"But I still have so many questions!" Weiss complained "You didn't explain anything that we wanted to know, you just gave us more questions!"

"Well gee, snowflake, it's almost like you're talking to someone from a different planet/dimension/timeline who's been trying to explain their world to you. You didn't expect clean-cut and neat answers, did you?"

"… Yes!" Weiss screeched "That's exactly what I wanted!"

"Well tough shit, it's never that easy. Do you get why I've been putting this off now?"

"Wait, if what you're saying is true, then what are you doing here at beacon?" Blake asked.

"Circumstance and survival" I answered "While I technically just appeared one night, Ozpin found me fairly quick, and made some valid points about needing to understand my environment. Plus, he offered to help me find a way home."

"Which is why you're now attending Beacon."

"Which is why I'm effectively under house arrest, yes."

"You're stuck here?" Ren asked.

"Uh, you think?" I asked, a bit annoyed.

Ren just gave me a cool, impassive look in response.

"… Sorry, sore spot. But yeah, I'm stuck here. The machine that brought me here crapped out on me and until I find a way back, I'm here."

"That… really is like something out of a comic book."

"What can I say, weird shit keeps happening to me." I shifted uncomfortably in my chair again. "Alright, before we keep going, can you untie me already?"

"Are you going to run away?" Nora asked.

"Considering I've effectively told you all the truth now, no."

"I dunno, it's pretty unbelievable."

"Again, Told you so."

"… I think we can let him go." Ruby said "I don't think he's lying."

The rest of the group looked at Ruby for a moment, pensive. Then shrugged in agreement.

"If he runs away again, though-" Nora said, giving me an evil look "I'll break his legs."

"You're welcome to try." I said, keeping an unnaturally even and calm tone.

Blake stood up from the floor and walked over to my chair. She went behind me for a minute, and I heard the rustling of fabric as my bonds eased off. Blake lifted the coils of cloth off of me, and a look back revealed she'd been binding me with her weapon's ribbon. I was kind of surprised there was enough of it to do that.

As soon as my legs were free, I stood up and stretched. It felt good, my legs had started going numb and my back was stiff. Of course, I was also still in my underwear, so I had to avoid scarring them for life.

"Thanks Kitten" I said with a grunt "Alright, now, about my pants."

"You'll get them back when we're done with you." Nora said.

"No, you'll give them back to me now, and I'll consider it as a sign of trust. Meaning I'll tell you more."

"Mmm… Nah, truth first."

"Decency first."

"No."

"Yes, or I'll take them from you."

"Really?"

I stared at Nora for a moment. Fully considering the amount of effort it would take to retrieve my pants from her. It was more than I was willing to give.

"… Alright, screw it."

I walked over to the nearest bunk and ripped the top most sheet off of it.

"Hey!" Weiss shrieked "Don't touch my bed."

"Blame Nora!" I shouted back.

I wrapped the blanket around my waist and folded the edge over itself. Forming an impromptu kilt. It was most certainly not a skirt.

"Ah, better" I grunted "Was starting to feel a draft."

"Why did you have to use mine?" Weiss whined.

"No reason, but it is fun to torment you."

Weiss glared at me.

"Alright, so Six-" Ruby interrupted "I know there are things you don't want to talk about, but… who are you?"

"Who am I?" I asked back, then shrugged, moving back towards the chair and Blake "I'm just Courier Six."

"That's not what I mean, and you know it."

"… fair…"

I looked at my friends and took a deep breath. This was going to be tough.

"I don't… know who I am."

"… what do you mean?"

"I mean I don't know who I am." I reiterated "A few months back… probably closer to a year and half ago actually, maybe more, I was… somebody."

"That's… very vague." Yang said.

"Hmm, well I'd tell you more, except I don't know more… I told you about why I wear my helmet, right?"

"Umm…" Ruby intoned, thinking "… I think you said it was because you took a blow to the head."

"Yes, and technically that one wasn't a lie. I just… omitted some details."

"A lie by omission is still a lie." Weiss grumbled.

"Do you want the truth or not?" I grumbled right back.

Weiss shot me a small scowl but let me continue.

"Right, well the truth is that I did get hit in the head. It's just that the thing, technically things, that hit me happened to be bullets."

Another silence blanketed the room, as everyone apparently tried to process that statement.

"You… got shot in the head?" Pyrrha asked, perturbed.

"Well that explains a lot." Weiss murmured.

"I heard that, Snowflake." I growled.

She just got this guilty little smile on her face. She probably figured it was worth it.

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked "You can't seriously mean-"

"That a 9mm slug of lead and copper pierced through my skull and into my gray matter at high speed?" I asked "Because, yes, I do. And, like I said, it happened twice."

Everyone seemed to blanch for a moment as what I said sank in.

"… H-How are you…"

"Alive?" I asked "Hell if I know."

"… Ok!" Weiss said, trying to internalize what I'd said "Care to explain why?"

"Well, I was doing I job, if what I've been told is to be believed." I said "A job that required me to deliver a parcel from one location to another. A seemingly innocuous trinket that no one would think twice about."

"What was it?"

"… A poker chip." I answered "… I think I've still got it in my pocket, actually."

Skeptical, Weiss got up and walked over to where they'd apparently stashed my clothes: A corner of the room filled with dirty laundry.

"Front, right hip pocket." I supplied "After I got it, I made it a habit to keep it someplace close." Weiss began fishing through my pocket, making a face like she was digging through molerat manure. I continued anyway. "The poker chip was more than a game piece though; it served some greater purpose I'm betting I hadn't known at the time. But, the only important part about that right now, is it's the reason I got shot."

Weiss looked to grab hold of something, and pulled it out of my pocket. She pulled out a small, metallic circle.

It wasn't the platinum chip though, since its obviously not made of gold.

"Wrong object." I said "That's an aureus. Before you ask, yes, it's real. Now put it back."

Weiss didn't immediately put it back though, she just stared at it for a moment. Everyone else though, looked at the coin for a moment, then stared at me.

"That's real!?" Ruby asked "As in, that's-"

"Actual gold? Yes. Now stop, we'll talk about it some other time."

Weiss finally overcame the allure of gold and put the coin back. Then she began reaching for something else. This time she pulled out the right metallic circle.

"The Platinum Chip." I supplied "A one of a kind rarity in both the wasteland and the Old world. So precious that the person who'd requested it hired a grand total of Six different couriers, carrying six different parcels, along six disparate routes to ensure no one would realize where it was."

A look of dawning comprehension spread over everyone as Weiss handed me the chip, in turn, I held it up for everyone to see.

"You were Courier Six." Weiss said.

"The unlucky s.o.b. to be carrying the object so much planning was meant to protect." I said in somber agreement "-and the unlucky s.o.b. who was ultimately caught, shot, and buried in a ditch." I flipped the chip over my knuckles a few times, then gripped it tight in my hand. "I don't really know who I am. I was robbed of a lot more than this chip that night, and I went through hell just to get it back. All I really know, is that I'm just Courier Six."

A sad look seemed to pass over everyone.

"I'm… sorry, Six" Ruby started.

"What're you sorry for?" I asked "You weren't there, and most certainly didn't play any part in it. You've got nothing to apologize for."

"But it's so sad!" Nora bawled, looking like she was actually crying.

"… It's what it is." I said, trying to be as reassuring as possible "Maybe it wasn't fair, but it's done now. I try not to let it bug me too much. Besides, I think I've made out pretty good in spite of-"

In defiance of what I was saying, Nora stood up, stepped over everyone, and grabbed me by the arms.

"-it." I finished.

Then Nora proceeded to wrap me in a bone-crushing hug that'd give a supermutant a run for its money. She forcibly expelled all of the air from my lungs.

"Nora… stop." I wheezed "I'm… fine…"

"But it's not fair!"

"Some… one help… me…"

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Ren was the first one to react. Approaching Nora and putting a hand on her shoulder. She stopped crushing me and looked at him.

"It's okay Nora." He said softly "But can we avoid crushing him please?"

Nora crushed me for a few seconds more, then released me. I felt to cleansing flood of oxygen rush back into my lungs. Nora looked at me, and put a hand on my shoulder, a vicious smile on her face once more.

"Don't worry Six" Nora said in her normal bombastic tone "I'll find the ones responsible and break their legs!"

"… That's both impossible and unnecessary." I said "You can't get to them, and I already caught up with them."

"… Oh, right." Nora said losing some of her cheer.

"… I appreciate the gesture though, Nora." I said, as kindly as I could "I really do, thank you."

That got a smile of both Nora and Ren.

"Besides, despite being stuck here, I'd say I've made out pretty good anyway."

"But… how did you survive?" Pyrrha asked "As we've been told, you didn't have an aura until after you got here."

"Good question." I said "Back home, Auras aren't a thing. Truth be told, I've got no idea how I survived. I guess I'm just that thick headed."

"Ha!"

"That wasn't a pun… Anyway I hope that answers some of your questions, at least." I continued "Both about my past, and why I wear the helmet. It's lessons learned and, on a tangential note, a means to maintain anonymity."

"Why?"

"Well, after I crawled back out of the dirt, I needed to make sure whoever shot me didn't come back and finish the job. So I took to wearing masks."

"Ok, but why are you still wearing it?"

"… It's a security blanket." I admitted.

That got a laugh out of everyone.

"Does that mean we're never going to see your face?" Ruby asked.

"After today?" I asked "Hell no you're not."

Everyone stopped laughing.

"You beat me senseless, tie me to a chair, and drag answers out of me, and you expect me to say 'hey, these guys are pretty cool' afterwards?"

"Um… yes?"

"No." I answered "I may not have made it easy, but after today, the mask stays on tighter than ever."

Ruby shrank a little, and everyone looked a little displeased.

"… However" I said "That doesn't mean you can't change my mind."

"Really?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah" I continued "It's not like I never take this thing off back home, and I have people I trust who know what I look like. Maybe someday, if everyone plays their cards right, I'll let my guard down around you enough to do it without thinking. But, right now, I'm just not gonna do that."

"… Ok." Ruby said, smiling "Then that just means we've got to try even harder now!"

"Hmph, whatever you say, tiny. But hey, Snowflake got Blake to admit she was a faunus just by pushing her buttons, so you neve-"

"BLAKE'S A FAUNUS!?" Nora shouted.

I watched Nora's face light up as She looked to the faunus standing Next to me. Ren looked as well, but with a face of surprised confusion. Jaune and Pyrrha mirrored Ren's look to some degree, and stared at Blake as well. Blake in turn, suddenly looked very uncomfortable.

"… You told them about me." I growled "But you couldn't be bothered to tell them about Blake!?"

"I-it never came up!" Ruby defended weakly.

In a sudden spur of indignant anger, my left hand flitted up alongside Blake's head. Before she could react, my fingers found the ribbon of her bow and gave it a tug. There was some resistance, and a yelp of surprise from Blake, but the black strip of cloth came away clean, leaving the Blake's cat-like ears exposed to the world.

"She's a faunus." I growled to Nora "She's our teammate. Her ears are cute. If you've got a problem with that, you can take it up with the complaints department."

In punctuation to that, I raised my fist. Though I figured it wouldn't intimidate Nora, doing so felt right. But Nora wasn't paying me any mind, instead staring at Blake in wide eyed wonder. Who, in turn, meekly folded her ears against her head.

"I knew it!" Nora shouted "Pay up, Ren!"

To my surprise, they seemed less surprised than I thought they'd be.

Instead, Ren pulled a little pouch from one of his pockets, and pulled a smooth, glassy marble from it. He handed it off to Nora, and she pocketed it in turn.

"You… knew?" Blake asked.

"Not really." Ren clarified "But we had a bet going to see if you were."

"I knew you were." Nora said "Your bow was always twitching."

"O-oh." Blake actually went a little flush, probably embarrassed.

"You guys had a bet going for that?" Yang asked.

"We have bets for everything." Nora smiled "Speaking of, Ren I believe you owe me another."

As Ren handed her another marble, I couldn't help but ask "… Why?"

"Because I bet, I'd be friends with an Alien one day." Nora said, smiling innocently.

"No, I mean, why are you making dumb bets?... More importantly, what do you get out of them?"

"'Cuz they're fun." Nora said, flashing the marble "Also pancakes whenever I want."

"Or back rubs." Ren shrugged.

"Pancakes… and back rubs." I said "That… is incredibly dumb."

"Clearly you've never had one of Nora's back rubs." Ren sniffed.

"Clearly." I said, stretching "Getting back on topic, where does this leave us?"

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked.

"I mean, I've told you about who I am now, so what next?"

"Well…" Ruby said, thinking.

"I'd say we aren't done yet." Weiss interrupted "There're clearly things we haven't talked about yet, and I have so many questions."

I nodded "I figured as much."

"However" Weiss continued "If you are telling us the truth, which increasingly seems to be the case. Then you likely have more to tell us than what we can cover in a single night."

"Like you have no idea." I sighed "I haven't even gotten to the crazy shit yet."

"It gets better?" Nora asked hopeful.

"…Define better."

"Well, there's no way that ghost story you told us was real, right?" Jaune asked suddenly.

"Yep, came up with it on the spot to give pancake here a 'ghost story'"

"Aw, thanks" Nora said, smiling.

"Phew, good" Jaune said "I thought the next thing you were going to tell us was that there actually is a spooky city full of unkillable monsters."

"Oh, no, there is." I confirmed "Totally real, I just made up the character the story followed. The rest of it was real."

The room fell so silent you could've heard a pin drop. The color drained from Jaune so quick I thought he was going to die of blood loss.

"O-oh… yay."

"What, did you assume I made a fake poker chip just to screw with?" I asked "The Sierra Madre is real. I've been there and it's actually worse than I told you."

"… Can we not talk about it for a while?"

"Gladly, there's crazier than that anyway."

"… Six" Ruby said, looking a tad dour "You said you don't remember who were, right?"

"Uh huh."

"So... Does that mean you don't have any family?"

"…"

I ruminated on the question for a moment. The thought had crept up a lot in the past. The only person I'd ever met with any connection my past, that immediately came to mind, was Ulysses. Beyond that, I'd never truly met anyone.

"… I honestly couldn't say, Tiny." I said "Wasteland's a big place. People go missing and die all the time."

The dour look on Ruby's face deepened, verging on sadness. I couldn't have that.

"Hey, it's not like I was alone, alright?" I said, trying to be cheerful "I had friends and companions back there, People I trusted, y'know?"

"Who were they?" Yang asked.

"Well… I could tell you about them, but I wouldn't really be able to do them justice." I said, taking a seat in the chair again "They were an odd bunch, and some of the best people I've known."

"Then you should be able to speak highly of them." Weiss said "If they are what you say."

"Saying and seeing are two different things. I can tell you about them, and the things we did, but you never get a sense for it until you see it yourself. I can't rightly do them justice without being able to show'em to you."

"They must've been good people." Ruby affirmed.

"The best." I said, smiling even if she couldn't see it "Damnedest part of it? I had a picture with most of us together. Don't know how, but I lost it along the way somewhere… It's kinda bumming me out."

Ruby's eyes narrowed for a moment, then something occurred to her. She got back up and returned to the desk she'd grabbed the cookie from. She retrieved a slip of paper, crossed the room back to me, and handed it off.

It was my picture from Founder's Day.

"H-how did you-" I started.

"It was in the back of the book you lent me." Blake said "It's kind of what started all this."

My hands finally free, I bopped the heel of my hand against my forehead. "Idiot, I was using it as a bookmark, right!"

I sat and stared at the photo in my fingers for a moment. Almost everyone was in it. There were a few exceptions, like Arcade, but my core group was there. All smiling, with bits of maize and barbecue in our teeth, back when I was still wearing that motorcycle helmet. I felt something warm welling up in my chest, and I couldn't help but smile. Good times.

"… Who are they?" Ruby asked, looking over my shoulder.

I turned slightly, and saw everyone had congregated behind me, trying to get a better look.

"Hmph, well, this changes things." I said "These… are my friends."

"We know that" Yang intoned "But who's who?"

"Hm… Well, where should I start…" I stared at the picture for a moment, gathering my thoughts, then tapped on Veronica "Well, this is Veronica Santangelo. A former scribe for the Brotherhood of Steel-"

"Who?" Nora asked.

"I'll explain later, but she's smart as a whip and bubbly as Ruby over here. She's also as good, if not a better brawler than me."

"Cool." Yang said, smirking.

"What's up with that dog?" Blake asked, pointing to Rex.

"Oh, that's Rex-y." I said, my tone softening "He a cyberdog, a pre-war canine that underwent a procedure to be augmented with mechanical apparatuses and systems. He's still a dog though, and just about the sweetest thing on four legs… assuming you're not rat or wearing a hat."

Everyone looked at me confused.

"… It rhymes with rat."

I don't think that cleared it up, but they all seemed to let it go. Except Blake, who just kept glaring at him.

"The sour looking man in the beret is Craig Boone." I continued "Former sniper for a… group known as the NCR. Though he took up with them again last we talked. Stoic, quiet, damn good shot, and a good friend."

"Why have none of the names so far followed the color naming rule?" Jaune whispered.

"Besides that being a really weird rule-" I said "We never had anybody force that into being required. You can call yourself whatever you want."

"Oh."

"Ok, enough beating around the bush." Weiss said, stabbing a finger at the picture "What's with the blue giant, and what's his name?"

"… Well, snowflake, if you must know: her name is Lily Bowen and she is the kindest old lady you will ever meet."

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Ruby turn to Weiss and give her the most smug and satisfied smile I'd ever seen from her. I had no idea why, but I let her have it. Weiss on the other hand looked like she was having a stroke.

"What do you mean!?" Weiss said for the umpteenth time.

"I mean, she's an old woman name Lily Bowen."

"Then why is she so… so…"

"Large, masculine, and blue?"

"Yes!"

"… That's a long story too."

"You got a short version?" Yang asked.

"… Eh, I'll try." I shrugged "Lily is what is colloquially known as a 'Super-mutant'. More specifically: a 'Nightkin'. They're large, humanoid beings that can easily rip you in two, can run faster than most cars, and have skin and bones strong enough to stop anything shy of a high impact round. They also heal extremely quickly, are immune to radiation, and are functionally immortal."

"… immortal?"

"Well, functionally, yes. They still die if you hurt them enough, like anyone else. They just don't die of old age."

"How-" Weiss started.

"I'm going to cut you off right there, Snowflake." I said "I promised a short explanation, I'll go in depth some other time."

"… fine."

" What about that guy right there." Nora said, pointing to someone else "His skin looks like something out of an old monster movie."

"That's Raul Alphonso Tejada." I said, trilling the r "He's a ghoul who's been around since before the bombs fell. Hell of a mechanic and gunslinger too."

"A ghoul?" Nora asked.

"… right, short version. A ghoul is a former human who was heavily dosed with radiation and went too long without being able to treat it. Instead of it killing them, it did… something to their bodies that, much like the Super-mutants, made them functionally immortal."

"Radiation?"

"Another time."

"He was human?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yep, he and Lily both." I answered "Best not to get into it now. I promise I'll tell you later."

That got an uneasy look out of everyone, but they nodded and I continued.

"This little ball of wires and scrap-" I said, tapping the photo again "- is ED-E, or Eddie if you want to pronounce it right. He's an Eyebot, a pre-war reconnaissance drone fitted with a low grade a.i. and personality."

"Your world had stuff like that?" Ruby asked in child-like wonder.

"Has" I clarified "Most of it's still around somewhere, if you know where to look. Also, low-grade just means he's human level intelligence. There're plenty of robots out there that don't have them, ED-E was just one of the lucky ones… He was a good companion, loyal."

"Wow~"

"What about the guy in the motorcycle helmet?" Yang asked.

"Take a wild guess." I droned.

Everyone looked at the 'me' in the picture, then looked at me proper. Then back to the photo. Then back to me.

"… You're joking, right?"

"Nope."

"But you look… Older in the picture."

"Because I was."

"But… what?"

"Would you believe me if I told coming here shrank me?"

"…"

"Yeah, neither did Ozpin." I said "But, hey, whether you believe me or not doesn't matter, I guess. Maybe it's just the camera making everyone look older."

"Now that you mention it" Weiss said "Everyone looks significantly uglier than you'd expect."

"… um, wow, rude."

"I'm just saying it's the camera." Weiss defended "It probably added a few years."

Which in turn seemed to get some sort of agreement out of everyone.

'And with that, the truth is dead.'

"What about this lady with the red hair?" Ruby asked, pointing at the

I looked down and saw who she was pointing to. Though I'd known who she was talking about before doing so. There was only one lady with red hair, after all. She was standing right behind me, in the picture. Hat tipped back, a sunny grin on her face and eyes bright. I couldn't help but agree with everyone though. Even if she was beautiful in the picture, it did no justice to her proper. Not to me.

"Rose." I said, my voice sounding a bit raw to me "Rose o' Sharon Cassidy."

"She's named after a flower?" Yang asked "I bet you two were best buds."

"Hmm."

I kept looking at the picture. It felt like eternity since I'd last looked at it, looked at her. Had I really been there nearly four months now? It had felt longer.

"...You ok Six?" Ruby asked.

I looked up from the photo to find the young girl looking at me intently. They all were in-fact.

"Uh, yeah, just thinking is all… Prefers being called 'Cass', 'cuz some jackass kept making fun of her name. Former caravan owner, drinks and swears like a sailor, wears her heart on her sleeve… she's a good person."

"She looks happy." Nora noted.

"Yeah… So, I think I'm gonna call it a night." I got up from my seat and stretched.

"What~, already?" Ruby whined "But we only just started talking."

"And I still have plenty of questions." Weiss added.

"Well, tough." I sighed "I've had a long day, and we've all got an early start tomorrow with classes."

"It's the first day back~" Ruby whined "They'll just let us out early anyway, come on~"

"No, Ruby." I said, a bit more curt "Besides, if you wanted to cover everything in one sitting, we'd be here until next week. I'm not going anywhere, yet, so relax. We'll meet up some night soon and I'll tell you guys more."

"… Promise?"

"… Yeah."

"Sounds like it could be fun." Yang shrugged.

"Great, so long as we're all in agreement?"

Everybody nodded, in some form or fashion.

"Great, it should also go without saying that whatever I tell you doesn't leave this room, capisce?"

"Obviously." Weiss said snidely "Would you expect anything different?"

"You gave away my belongings to strangers, assaulted me in broad daylight, and spread misinformation about me amongst our little circle here, so… yes."

Snowflake gave me a soft glare, then rolled her eyes. Everyone else looked just a little ashamed.

"Alright, I'mma head out then." I said, turning and continuing my walk towards the door.

"I think you're forgetting something." Pyrrha said.

"Hmm?" I looked back and found Pyrrha pointing at me. I then looked down, and was reminded that I was wearing a skir-kilt.

"Would you have walked out of here wearing that if she hadn't said something?" Blake asked.

"… maybe."

The got a small chorus of sniggering out of them. I let them have it, there've been times I've wandered around in less. I looked over to the corner where my Riot Gear had been tossed. They hadn't even bothered to fold it; everything was just lying in a crumpled heap with the rest of the dirty laundry.

I picked up my pants and flicked my bedsheet off with a flourish. I was using the body of the sheet as a barrier to give some privacy. Though they'd already seen me in my underpants, I was not one for lacking modesty. I'm also a master of changing on the fly, so before the sheet even touched the ground, I was already pulling one of the belts in place.

"Neat trick." Yang said with a smirk.

"Takes practice." I said, picking up the rest of my armor.

I set the major vestments in place, and slung the duster over my shoulder. No sense in getting prepped for battle, but wearing most of it was still easier than carrying it.

"So, I guess we'll see each other tomorrow?" I asked, giving one more glance back.

"Duh." Ruby said, like it was the most logical answer in the world.

Which it pretty much was.

I gave a nod, and walked out of the room feeling strangely at ease.