Release the Hound (Open!)

As he slid across the tiny steel floor he was provided, Dr. Newman began seriously reconsidering the decisions he had made to get himself in this position.  As of this moment, he was being wheeled through Bellmuse in a large metal box as to not reveal himself to civilians, or anybody for that matter, until he arrived at the academy.  The plan was to arrive at the academy and introduce himself to the school, the staff members, and the students within as to prevent any confusion regarding his... unusual appearance.  However, the box he was provided with was uncomfortably small, and he found himself bumping into the walls over and over again, irritating him more and more as time went on.  After what felt like an hour of torture, the man wheeling him around, a friend of a friend, knocked on the top of the box and said, "Hey, wake up, Doc.  We're here."

Hearing this, Newman excitedly tore open the front of the box and leaped out of the box, his claws grinding against the ground to bring him to a halt.  He assumed that what the man meant was that they were at the office they were instructed to meet in, not that he was at the academy.  A simple mistake, of course, but a very severe one at the same time.  Immediately, he caught the attention of every student that wasn't looking away and/or deaf, and their eyes felt like they were going to tear a hole through him.  "It's quite rude to stare, I must say."  After Benedict finished speaking, the man that had been transporting him began to approach him cautiously, as if he looked and behaved like an animal would.  "Hey, we gotta get you back in the box, my man."  The doctor quickly backed away from him.  "I would think not!  I can't imagine a second more in that dreadful thing!  Be on your way, I can find my way to the office and I no longer require your assistance."

With that, he quickly trotted off towards one of the larger buildings before noticing the behavior of those around him.  It was important to 'read the room' to make sure one is acting in an appropriate manner when with strangers, and right now, it seemed that he wasn't acting the way he should.  If he were a simple minded person, he may have forgotten for a moment that he looked like a robotic dog, and he might even question why he was being eyed so strangely.  Of course, he was perfectly aware of what the problem was, and he aimed to correct it.  He casually moved himself towards another student to introduce himself, sitting near them like a dog normally would.  "Hello, there.  I'm Doctor Benedict Newman, it's a pleasure to meet you.  Would you happen to know... the nerve!  Quite a shame, quite a shame."

Newman continued to attempt to introduce himself to the people around him, failing each time but refusing to give up so easily.  A real gentleman wasn't discouraged or swayed by any amount of rude individuals.  Time and time again, he would try and meet someone that could help him out, failing each time.  "Right, right... You there! Dr. Newman, a pleasure to... worthless cur."

The day had been boring. Boring, boring boring boring….

Rika had arrived in the academy days ago, though her first classes hadn’t started. From what she had heard however those would prove to be just as dull. Heck, it would probably be just like one of Siegfried’s meditation sessions. Still the school thing wasn’t completely bad, some of her classes might be interesting, especially those surrounding her major.

She’d decided to leave her dorm to explore after a bit, ideas of how to make things more interesting at the school already flooding her mind as she’d done so before being forgotten as her attention was diverted to by a new idea.

Still she was bored. Very, very, bored. She turned her head when she heard something, and what she saw caused the pigtailed girl to pause. A crate burst open to let in the middle of the common, and a shiny metal thing leapt out of the box. It addressed the crowd at large, apparently offended by something they were doing or something. The dog told off the guy who had been moving the crate before trotting off.

Rika however thought this was way too interesting NOT to follow the weird talking robot dog.

Was it normal for a Robot dog to appear? Was it normal for them to talk?  She didn’t know these things, being rather ignorant about what was and wasn’t normal due to her relatively isolated background.

She walked over to the dog before leaning down, inspecting it for a moment and coming to a remarkable conclusion which she verbalized intelligently.

“You’re a weird looking one aintcha?”

It was another perfect morning at Syne Academy. Nyx was in pretty good spirits despite of the fact she wasn't showing it. It had been a day or so when she encountered the silver haired man in the Preparation Area of the Shooting Range of the Training Arena. Since then, she had been using her vast network of informants to track down all information in the man. It didn't take long before they came back with a whole file and tons of photos of the man. This was a godsend to Nyx as she planned to show the man the info she acquired when she saw his face again at the address he left her. She was going to make the game they were playing a little bit interesting.

As she made her way to the Administrative Building of Syne Academy, Nyx saw a red haired girl who was dressed in some type of two-piece outfit. Nyx was not 100% sure but the outfit looked Asian-inspired. Standing across from her was a robotic dog. The color scheme and design of the robotic dog reminded Nyx of combat cyber hounds that Atlach-Nacha used as scouts. The most unusual thing about this particular robotic dog was that is spoke perfect english. Nyx listened in for a bit. The robotic dog introduced himself as Dr. Benedict Newman. After listening for a bit, Nyx decided to walk up to the two and say hello.

"Good Morning to you, Dr. Newman. It is a pleasure to meet you." Nyx greeted with a cold yet somewhat welcoming smile.

As Newman's search for someone's assistance continued, two ladies seemed to be walking his way instead of avoiding him, much to his relief.  The first one he noticed seemed normal enough, maybe her attire was a little strange but not much else, though he couldn't help but feel uncomfortable as she observed him.  He was about to ask if there was something he could assist with, when she rudely mentioned his appearance.  His body tensed up slightly in annoyance, but just for a second or two before he answered her.  "While there is indeed a more... graceful way you could have asked this, I cannot fault you for being candid with me."

He then turned to the other woman who spoke to him, happy that she seemed to be making an effort to be polite.  That, or she was polite naturally, which would be even more pleasing to Benedict.  "Likewise, and good morning to you.  I see you've already caught my name.  We may skip that formality, then."  He turned back to the first person.  "Ah, but I haven't introduced myself to you, have I?  I am Doctor Benedict Newman."  He sat down and extended his front foreleg towards the red haired one, giving his hand in greeting.  "Forgive me, but I seem to be having some trouble finding my way around.  Where might I find the main office?" Although he didn't notice, his tail began to move about very slowly, as he was content with how his situation turned out. He might be able to find his way around the academy without having to call his friends for help.

The Robo-dog’s fancy talk confused Rika a bit for a moment, as the redhead wasn’t used to formal interaction at all. Rika understood what he was saying, but the manner of speech was a bit strange to the Faunus-girl having grown up in the wood with few interactions with other people outside of those with her guardian. She’d never really had to interact with anyone formally and so any understanding of such matters was lost on her. While Siegfried had tried early on to teach her etiquette, he’d given up due to the amount of effort it took, and the fact it so rarely came into play for the redheaded Faunus anyways.

“Er…I guess, ya like your fancy talk, dontcha?” Rika furrowed her brow as she tried to figure out what exactly she’d done wrong. The more polite, formal talk the other two engaged in wasn’t completely lost on her, so much as she didn’t see the point, even if she knew exactly why they were talking that way. It seemed pointless to her, shouldn’t people just talk the way they wanted?

She stared at the robot dog’s paw for a moment before one of the few lessons on formality her mentor had given her cliqued into her head. The realization evident by her expression, before she shook the dog’s paw. She had the sense to understand she was likely supposed to introduce herself to the hound, taking her cues from his behavior. “nice to meetcha, I’m Rika Titania.” She responded in kind, though it felt weird to give her full name.

Something stood out to the pigtailed girl about the dog’s introduction and it took her a second to figure out exactly what it was that was bugging her. She didn’t know much about dogs, didn’t really like them much as a given because of her status as a cat Faunus but something else was wrong with the robot aside from that. “um…dogs ain’t usually docs…” She looked over to the blonde girl, who was probably much more aware of these things. “Are they?”

"Well, Doctor Newman. My name is Anastasia T. Solanaceae." Nyx replied in a friendly manner as she let out a smile. Nyx was it a rather good mood today so she decided to relax her extremely cold demeanor somewhat and be nicer for a change. Nyx listened to Doctor Newman as he explained his plight. Doctor Newman was new to Syne Academy and he was currently looking for the "Main Office". Nyx interpreted this to mean that he was looking for the Administration Office. If Nyx's interpretation was true, than Doctor Newman's destination was about 5 meters behind her.

"Actually, Doctor Newman. You are actually very close to the Administration Office. It is just about 5 meters behind where we are currently standing. All you need to is head straight down the pathway and voila, you are at your destination." Nyx explained as she pointed to the Administration Office which was located 5 meters behind her.

Newman's tail movements ceased upon Rika's mentioning of his appearance and his title, reminding him of his unfortunate story. Not only was he now saddened by this reminder, but the way it was spoken also caused some discomfort. It seemed that the only one who seemed to be polite in any way was Anastasia, but he found it hard to be too upset with Rika's thoughts. Sure she was being a bit rude at the moment, but he couldn't think of a more honest reaction than her's. "I would prefer you didn't describe me as a dog. I didn't enter this body by choice, and I am still the man who worked for my title." He did his best not to show it in his voice, but his tail fell to the ground, showing his sadness.

Still in a bit of a bad mood and dwelling on some thoughts for a moment, he barely noticed that Anastasia gave him the information he requested. "Thank you, Ms. Solanaceae. I will head there momentarily." A thought occurred to Newman, and he began looking between the two women in front of him curiously. "I must ask. Why is it that only you two had no qualms about speaking with me? Although I dislike the way I am viewed by others, I understand that the body I occupy is a military grade machine, and it's only logical to avoid something so dangerous." He sat down, just as any dog would, and began to think through all the possible answers. The simplest answer would be that they are both just brave, but that seemed too boring of an answer. Maybe it was... "Forgive me if I offend either of you, but you two aren't... damaged, correct?"

Rika blinked at the doc’s sudden change of mood, realizing she’d probably hit a sore spot. How he’d ended up in a robo-dog body was lost on her. Probably some sciency mumbo-jumbo she wouldn't really understand anyway. The other girl answered the robotic canine’s question, which was good considering Rika wasn't really sure where the building had been either. She'd only really been there once when she'd first shown up at the academy.

She blinked at the hound’s question, looking over the hound a second before responding. “hehe...I kinda didn’t think about it….” It took a moment for the Doctor’s question to truly register to the redhead, but when it did  She frowned, crossing her arms over her chest. “Hey I ain't stupid or nothin’!”  She remarked defensively scowling at the insinuation that there was something wrong with her.

The fact she had walked up to a potentially deadly war machine was irrelevant, nope didn’t matter, nope not at all.  Though the cat faunus hadn’t been completely without caution as she had used some degree of knowledge in order to determine if the doctor had been approachable, simply not knowledge of any form of machine.

“ an' I Don’t know nothin’ about machines, but I know animals, You weren't acting like a wild one does.” She paused, thinking for a moment before continuing as a side note.  “Most beasts don’t try introducin’ themselves to people before attackin' them.”

Soon after, Nyx heard Doctor Newman ask her and the red haired girl next to her two questions that she didn't expect. The first question that Doctor Newman asked was "Why is it that only you two had no qualms about speaking with me?" and the second question was asking her if she and the girl who was standing next to her if they were damaged? Nyx was caught somewhat off guard by this question. However, Nyx didn't let this show on her face. She soon regain her composure.

On the other hand, the read haired girl stand next took a few seconds to register the question in her head. After a few seconds, the girl frowned before crossing her arms before saying "“Hey I ain't stupid or nothin’!” is a slightly angry tone. Nyx wasn't surprised by this outburst.

"Well, Doctor Newman. I have been around robotic dogs/cyber dogs a lot when I was younger. They weren't as advanced as the models that are produced nowadays. The place were I grew up often gave them out to kids as pets." Nyx explained in a rather calm fashion. Nyx had had a robotic dog as a Guard Dog during her time at the Atlach-Nacha facility.

A laugh came from Newman before he spoke. "My apologies.  It wasn't my intent to offend you, although your response amused me.  I suppose your logic makes perfect sense."  He would then turn to Anastasia, his mood having been dampened by her response.  "I can't think of a logical or excusable reason to expose young people to the instruments of war.  Although, this is useful in this very moment."

Sensing that this probably wasn't the best direction to be steering this conversation towards, Benedict did his best to change the subject.  "Well, as you may or may not have assumed, I have been enrolled in this academy already.  May I know your majors?  I chose the academic major in hopes that it may help further my studies."  He sat patiently to listen intently to what the two people in front of him would say, unsure if he would have the privilege of meeting and working with them in the future.

Rika held her glare for a few minutes after receiving the robotic hound’s apology before softening her gaze. She didn’t really get much about the other girl’s explanation, or Newman’s apparent dislike of the fact she’d been around other cyber dogs before. She didn’t think robotic dogs were a normal thing, let alone used as pets of all things. But then maybe they were normal in the city after all.

She blinked at learning the dog was another student but shrugged it off just as quickly. After all this place seemed to be filled with weird people. She’d seen a few weirdoes walking around that morning alone, though the Cat Faunus didn’t think of herself as being in that category. Nope not at all.

Her eyes lit up a little when she was asked about her own major, a slight grin forming on her face as she answered the question. “Dust, ya can do lotsa cool stuff with it ya know, it’s great.” That and she apparently had some talent with the stuff, according to Siegfried.

"That is a rather interesting choice, Miss..." Nyx replied in a rather formal tone as she smiled slightly at the red haired girl standing next to her. Nyx was somewhat surprised by this. From what she seen of the girl's interactions, Nyx couldn't help but think that the girl was not used to formal conversations. Nyx couldn't help but be reminded of someone from her past. To be exact, Nyx was totally reminded of a girl who she looked up to as an older sister figure during her time at the facility. Soon after, Nyx began thinking of how long she had been trying to track down her friend.

"Well, Doctor Newman. I am a Combat Major. My father was a hunter, so I decided to follow in his footsteps." Nyx replied with a smile as she looked at Doctor Newman and answered his question. Nyx was not all that surprised that Doctor Newman was an Academic major. Nyx knew how much work it takes to earn a Medical Degree or a Doctor of Philosophy Degree. Nyx was not going to question him all that hard on the matter.

Benedict nodded a few times while the others spoke in an attempt to look like he was listening. He didn't want to be rude, but at the moment he wasn't feeling very interested in the conversation anymore, and was really searching for a way out. And there it was. Further behind the two ladies speaking to him, some other students were talking, one of them asking for the time. Luckily for him, it was time for him to leave, and he wasn't late yet. Newman stood up on all fours again and nodded his head once to each person speaking to him.

"Well, it was quite a pleasure meeting you two, but it seems that it's time for me to leave. Pity we don't have the same majors, but I'm certain we'll encounter each other again in time. Now then, I must be off." The doctor proceeded to walk towards the main office behind them and towards the room he was supposed to meet his friend Mark in later, successfully escaping a conversation that he didn't expect to last very long.