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Fifty-two hours.
That's how long Jaune Arc had been crouched over the table. Every blink stung his eyes. Every yawn grew longer and wider. In the past ten minutes, he jolted awake at least six times.
He looked to the screen next to him, bleary eyes blinking one at a time. The empty bar that was there three days ago was no longer empty. There was only a six percent difference between now and the biggest change of his life. Next to the screen was a mirror. He chuckled at his ugly visage. To say he looked like a zombie was an understatement.
"Jaune?" He looked to his other side, seeing the perfect opposite of his current state. Penny Polendina, his android lover and close friend, carried a worried look on her perfect face. "Are you feeling well?"
"I'm fine, Penny." He lied. "Just a little tired."
Penny nodded. "That is to be expected. You have not slept in two days, four hours, sixteen minutes, and twenty-three seconds." She placed a comforting hand on the exposed part of his arm. "If you need to sleep, the process can be placed on hold until-"
"I can't, Penny." Jaune shook his head. "Because of Jacques Schnee, Mantle is being hit with rolling blackouts every other night for the past two weeks."
"It is not Councilman Schnee's fault, Jaune." Penny fidgeted, before hiccupping. "The city is facing an issue with budget cuts, and some funding had to be redirected to the new safety and security grid currently in production."
"And when is that supposed to be finished, Penny?" Jaune asked, giving her a long blink with his deadpan expression. "Was there another delay?"
Penny looked away. "The workers are threatening to strike again."
Jaune sighed. For a moment, he thought about giving up. Just a moment, then he refocused and squeezed harder. The large cylindrical cuff-like tubes absorbed his aura from all sides. He watched as the aura flow inside the tubes increase momentum greatly as he expended himself again. He huffed, relaxing and nearly collapsing, before steadying himself and regaining his grip. He looked to Penny, her face more worried than before.
"You are unwell." Penny pointed out. "Your aura recovery is getting slower. If this continues, you'll-"
"I'll make it." Jaune cut her off, facing the table where the tubes ended.
Laying flat on its back was a small android, about half of Penny's size. Its eyes were closed, but they knew it was designed with blue eyes. Its crown was designed with a function to alter its "hairstyle," should it feel the need to.
Jaune kicked himself. He was describing his own child as an it. His son or daughter was going to be brought to life, and he refused to ever make them to ever feel like an object. A tool. A machine. Not human.
"Jaune?" Penny asked, her worried tone worsened. "Why did you kick yourself?"
Jaune noticed the dull pain in his heel at last. He hissed and winced as he shook his foot. With one last shake, he answered.
"Sorry, Penny. I just wasn't thinking right."
"Then, please, get some rest!" She pleaded.
Before Jaune could answer, the lights went out. His heart sank as dim, red lights illuminated the room. Penny rushed out the door, leaving Jaune and their child alone as he pushed himself deeper into the cuffs. With a grunt, he pushed everything he had left into his child.
His body grew colder as he felt his aura escape from his arms. He willed his semblance to life as he forced his body to fight itself, draining himself while also replenishing his continuously dwindling reserve. Sweat beaded and fell from his face, but he continued undeterred.
'Just a little longer!' Jaune screamed at himself, squeezing his eyes shut. Much like his aura, the feeling of closing his eyes was contradictory, as the comfort of resting his eyes battled the pain of forcing his eyes shut with all his might.
The room hummed to life, and Jaune opened his eyes to the blinding light. He winced and pulled away, only to shake his head and push forward into the cuffs again. After blinking, his eyes adjusted to the light again. He looked to the screen again, and his heart sank. The aura transfer had dropped from 94% to 80%.
Jaune wanted to scream. He wanted to rip his arms away and find Jacques Schnee and murder him like he almost murdered his child. But Jaune just sighed, accepting his fate, and continued as he was. He blinked, and then relaxed.
He saw Penny, sitting at the table, coloring with their child, both laughing at the mix matched colors they made with green skies and blue grass. He saw his child run up to him, excited after his first day of school. They watched as their child accepted their license as a Huntsman. They approached him, offering their hand, as an adult, and calling him by his first name. 'Jaune.'
'Jaune.'
"Jaune!" He jolted forward, panting as he realized he nodded off again. He looked to the screen, panting, and groaned. Ninety-two percent. He looked to his left, where Penny had the most worried face he had ever seen. "Jaune, please, get some sleep!" She gripped his arm, threatening to tear his sleeves with her strength. He shook his head. "Please!" She sobbed into his arm. "Please, if not for me, then do it for P!"
"I am doing this for P." Jaune replied. "We lost fourteen percent in that blackout, and I was giving it my all the whole time." He looked to her. "What if I wasn't here? What if we left him in stasis like you suggested." She bit her lip, looking up at him. "Your heart's in the right place, Penny, and I love you for that." He leaned down as best as he could, and kissed her forehead. "But this is the only way. Okay?"
She wrapped her arms around his body, squeezing gently. "I... I understand, Jaune. But I do not wish for you to expire before our child is activated."
"I won't." Jaune replied, looking to the screen. He was back at ninety-four percent. "I won't."
Then an idea came to mind. He looked to his child on the table and gave a smile. He chuckled a bit as he spoke his mind.
"What if he had a pirate accent?" Jaune asked.
"Hm?" Penny blinked. "A... pirate accent?"
"Yeah, you know?" Jaune closed one eye and a curved snarl. "Yarr! Surrender yer booty, ye hornswaggle!" Penny covered his mouth to hold in her laugh. "Gimmee yer doubloons, or I'll send ye to Davy Jones' locker!" Penny let out a laugh, comfort returning to her face.
"That would be ridiculous."
"Well, he could also have a cowboy accent." He furrowed his brow and pushed his bottom lip out a little, pursing them as if he held something in between. He gave a nod. "Ma'am."
"Huh?" Penny gave a confused look. "I do not understand."
"Daggum it, missy." Jaune faked spitting to the side. "Ya mind rustlin' up some grub? I'm hungrier than a cow with eight stomachs!" Penny gave another laugh, this time holding her sides. Jaune seemed to relax a little more every time she did.
BEEP!
They both looked to the screen on the right. One hundred percent. Penny rushed past Jaune to the computer, typing furiously into the keyboard. Jaune didn't remove his hands. Not when he was so close.
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Ruby Rose woke up to the sound of her scroll buzzing. Answering it, she groggily rose from her bed. "Hello?" She looked at the clock. It was three in the morning. The next two words got her out the door.
"It's time."
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Ruby and Pietro Polendina looked over their android creation again, lifting his arms, inspecting his joints, verifying his aura flow. They mumbled mechanical jargon back and forth, and Jaune knew better than to ask. He just looked to Penny for her reaction. She was a terrible liar, and he was grateful for that.
"Well?" Jaune said, anxious and impatient.
Ruby sighed. "Everything looks good, but we won't know until we turn him on."
"What will that require?" Penny asked.
"Same as with you, Penny." Pietro gestured to a small circle on his grandchild's chest. "Just a push of a button."
Jaune and Penny looked at each other, then nodded. They slowly moved forward, Jaune still groggy from his two-hour nap, and approached the table. Jaune reached forward, with Penny's hand underneath.
Just like that, the android's eyes opened, a blinding, blue light shining across the room before dimming to a more bearable brightness. Their fingers twitched, quietly whirring so deftly that only Penny could hear. Their form rose, turning their head towards the humans and other android in the room. And with a single word, their lives changed forever.
"Salutations!"