Penny woke up to bright lights. She, however, was not normal. In fact, she was not even human. You see, Penny was the first artificial life form capable of generating an Aura.
"Who are you?" Penny asked. It was a fair question to ask, considering she had just woke up for the first time. This world, along with her own sentience, was a completely alien experience.
"I am your father," a man with white hair said. "I along with the Atlas military are responsible for your creation."
"Who am I?" was Penny's next question.
Her father looked amused. "You, my darling, are my beloved daughter Penny Polendina."
Penny looked a little confused about the whole concept of being beloved, and what a daughter was. So, naturally, she asked. "What is a daughter?"
Her father looked at her and smiled. "It means that I am in charge of keeping you safe and taking care of you."
Just then, General Ironwood stepped forward. "Once you get your bearings on things, you will be vital to keeping Remnant safe," he said in a stiff tone. "If you work as well as we expect you to, then we will be able to remove humans from the battlefield altogether. We will have an army of artificial beings such as yourself keeping the four kingdoms safe."
Penny just gave the general an odd look. "Define human."
The nature of the question caught the General off guard. "We in Remnant define a human as any sentient being able to produce an Aura, showing more intelligence higher than that of standard animals."
You could almost see General Ironwood pat himself on the back for what was no doubt in his mind a brilliant response. However, Penny, being largely mechanical, took this information and came to the most logical decision that by this definition she was human.
"You said you would be taking humans off the battlefield," Penny pointed out. "If that is true, then I would be unable to go because of one fundamental problem, by your own definition I am human. I am aware of my existence, I produce an Aura, and I am intelligent."
Ironwood quickly went from proud to almost embarrassed. "Well, you were created by humans to serve humanity, and you see-" Ironwood started to say.
"But, what about what I want?" Penny asked. "Do my feelings even matter in the slightest to you? Yes, I am grateful that you brought me to life, but you are not even asking, you are telling me what I am to do."
Ironwood Looked down at his shoes. "I understand where you are coming from, but we need you. Do you not want to help?"
Penny thought this over for a second. "Make it my choice. If you want a cooperative soldier then, give me some time to think and get to know this world. After that, then I will decide."
General Ironwood stood in shock for a full two minutes. When he eventually spoke, he found that giving her the choice was the best option if he wanted a cooperative soldier. "Okay, You have two choices, either join us, or try your luck at surviving on your own."
General Ironwood smiled, obviously pleased with his response.
"Let me think on it," Penny nodded. "After all, I need to get to know the people whom I am protecting."
General Ironwood tried hard to hide his shock, but to no avail. "First, let's head over to the research center. There are a few things we'd like to teach you before you go stumbling into the world."
Penny shrugged. "As long as I get to look around."
"Then it's arranged," Ironwood decided. "I'll take you out tomorrow."
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