Don’t listen to people trying to hold you down. You can shine no matter what you’re made of.

I was woken up by Watch around midnight. I don’t know how, but I somehow always knew the time to a certain degree, even in closed spaces. I never really thought about it, but now I had enough time for thinking. I glided up to the roof to have a better view. Somehow I always felt my look pulled towards the factory. It was as if there was something telling me that I had to go there again. Since there was nopony around, I decided to give it another shot. Silently I took off and flew back to the entrance. It was dead silent, except for the distant hum of a still running generator inside the building. I slowly picked a flashlight out of my uniform and tried it. The light flickered heavily, but it was better than the pitch-black darkness without it. Guess I should be thankful that it worked at all after falling out of the clouds with me. I proceeded and it wasn’t long until I found myself in front of the armored door. I somehow got the notion that there was something important behind it. In the flickering light of the flashlight, I could read the writing on the door. It looked like sprayed stencils, obviously it was put on the door after it was built.

PROJECT ARES PROTOTYPE MK. II

I had no idea what Project Ares was supposed to be, but did it matter? I had to get into that room! But how? There was no way I could repair the terminal, and without it, the heavy door would definitely not open. I looked around and found a hatch on the top side of the wall. Maybe there was a ventilation shaft behind it. Pulling out the screwdriver I had taken once again from Watch, I unscrewed the hatch and slipped through. The shaft indeed went right through to the room behind the armored door. Slowly, I crawled through the narrow shaft, my wings closely pressed to my body. The hatch on the other end was screwed in place, too, and there was no way to release it from inside the shaft. I tried bucking it open, but there was barely enough room. After thinking of an alternative, I returned to the corridor and started searching the office at the entrance. In a locked drawer I found a laser pistol. That would do. With the pistol in my mouth, I returned to the air vent and fired a steady beam at the joints. It took a few minutes and several cartridges. I mentally patted my shoulder for having pocketed the ones from the Sentry Bots earlier, as they fit the pistol perfectly. Finally, the hatch clattered to the floor and I waited a few minutes for the metal to cool down, before I slipped through.

I didn’t know what I had expected, but definitely not what I had found. There were dozens of terminals, all connected to a large maneframe in the middle of the large room. Inside it was something that remotely resembled the simulation pods the Enclave used for flight training. And the pod was occupied! It looked almost like a pony, but not exactly. It had matte white armor plates all over its body and its mane and tail were of a red that closely resembled rubies. Was that… a robot? I had never seen anything like it. The screen above the pod showed only scrambled letters and numbers, occasionally interrupted by the word ERROR. What was this? And why was it in an armor factory? It really didn’t matter. Whatever it was, it still seemed to be operational. I approached the closest terminal and activated it. But then I hesitated. What if it was hostile? Still, I felt like I had to do this. The thought that something might control my mind creeped me out, but it felt more like an instinct than anything else, like spreading my wings when falling. I had no choice but try. I was pretty sure I’d be able to deactivate it if I had to.

Hacking the terminal proved as quite a challenge. I had to back out several times to avoid permanent lockdown, but after about ten minutes, I cracked the Password: Infiltration. The irony was strong with this one, considering I had infiltrated the facility, at least kind of. There were only two options: Reactivation and Documentation. I chose Documentation, but the files were damaged and impossible to read, except a recurring phrase: O.I.A. What did that mean? Office of Indifferent Acronyms? Possibly not. Well, there was no way I’d find out here, so I toggled Reactivation.

With an enervating hiss, the pod opened. the room went cold from the heavily cooled air inside it. Then the thing inside moved. It opened its eyes, which actually glowed in an emerald green, and looked directly at me. Then it got to its hooves and climbed out of the pod, several cables disconnecting from its neck. I backed away as it started to approach me, its eyes locked on mine. Then it began to speak.

“Expecting orders”, it said in a neutral, but doubtlessly female voice. Also, I started to notice its features and frame resembled an earth pony mare. “Connection to O.I.A. network failed. Returning to vocal command.” So… It expected me to give orders?

“Erm… Get that door open”, I stammered, fascinated, but also a little afraid of the thing in front of me. It was better than nothing, I guessed. And without wings there was no way it could get to the airshaft.

It… she?... stared at me, her green eyes flickering lightly, before she spoke again. “Voice recognition running... Please be patient… Match found… Dr. Green Leaf, O.I.A. cybernetics expert. Access granted. Will execute.” With these words, she walked up to the terminal next to the door and just put a hoof on it. The screen began to flicker, showing long columns of letters and numbers. It took only a few seconds until the door lifted into the ceiling with a mechanical hum. The robot looked at me, almost expectantly.

I searched my brain for something to say. How was I supposed to call it? Or her? Could a robot be a Her? “Erm… What is your purpose?”, I asked, unsure if these were the correct words to say.

“Access restricted. Hoofprint, retina scan or password required”, came the answer, in the same neutral tone. I shook a hoof to dismiss the question.

“Do you have a specific designation?”, I tried instead. That should work, I guessed.

“My official designation is Ares MK. II”, she answered without hesitation. Well, that should at least be something. Now I knew how to call my new… friend?

“Is there anything you can tell me about you without requiring additional authorization?”, I continued. Then I stopped. Had it just referred to itself as “I”? Don’t tell me it was…

“I am an experimental AI, developed for testing interaction with ponies and personal defense.” Oh, cool. That seemed almost too good to be true. With a nod, I trotted up to the door and looked at the terminal next to it. It was just as scorched that the one outside and didn’t work. How’d she get it to work? Well, advanced robotics, I guessed. Did it really matter? Anyways, I had been in here way too long. Hopefully Watch was okay. I went through the door.

“So, Ares… How long have you been in that pod?”, I asked casually. Her answer didn’t really surprise me.

“My last activation has been 203 years, 4 months and 7 minutes ago”, she answered, still in that creepily neutral tone. But somehow it felt as if she wasn’t exactly happy with neither that fact nor with her voice. Her next statement surprised me. “You are not Dr. Green Leaf, right? He was an earth pony, not a pegasus. Who are you?”

Well, that sure was one smart robot. The first one to notice the difference between then and now in fact. “My name is Cloud Striker. I am a military recruit and loyal to the equestrian empire.” That was true as long as you don’t think about what part of the empire I was talking of. My answer seemed to suffice, as she didn’t instantly attack me. “The Ponies who built you are most likely all dead by now”, I added, “Ponies don’t tend to get that old.”

She trotted up next to me, nodding. “That seems plausible. I will keep you company until I find somepony who has the right to execute orders. Is that acceptable?” Wow, she’d actually asked a question instead of just stating that she’d stay with me. She sure wasn’t your everyday Spritebot. Well, it’d be definitely not the worst thing to have some more company.

“Uh, sure”, I answered, “But I’ll have to ask my friend if he agrees with this.” Truth was I had no idea if it was a good idea to keep her around. Watch would have more of a clue. He’d spent his whole life on the surface. Yeah, He’d know what to do.

“Friend? You mean your squad member?”, she asked. I just shook my head. There’d be enough time to talk when we’d get to where Watch was. I didn’t want to explain everything twice.

I wasn’t far from the factory to the abandoned house. I could hear hoofsteps inside. Either Watch had woken up or there was somepony else inside. I lifted a hoof to make Ares stop. “That’s not good”, I said, “Maybe there’s somepony in the house. I’ll go in first, you wait here.” Silently I proceeded inside, the rifle under my wing so I could move easier inside the building. I crouched around a corner…just to run into Watch. He looked at me in surprise, just as tense as I was.

“Cloud! Where have you been? I thought somepony had found you!” I looked at him sheepishly. Why hadn’t I woken him up?

“I somehow had the feeling that there was something important behind this door in the factory. And I was right! Come, I’ll show you!” Without waiting for an answer I trotted outside and noded in the direction of Ares, to show both her that Watch was my partner and Watch that she didn’t pose an immediate threat. At least I hoped so.

He looked at her blankly, like he couldn’t process what he was seeing. I smiled a little despite not knowing how I managed so well. Maybe it was sometimes not the worst thing to not know what one had to expect. This way, it was a lot harder to actually be surprised, I guessed. But did it matter?

“Let’s get some rest until the sun rises”, I suggested, yawning. It had been a long night and an exhausting trip. But definitely worth the effort, considering what I had found. Or should I say who I had found? Urgh, thinking about if Ares was a person or not made my head hurt. I’d let her decide herself. Yeah, that should work. Let a machine make decisions. What could possibly go wrong? Urgh, I was too tired for thinking. I needed some sleep. Yes, sleep…

Footnote: 25% to next level
Perk added: Low Profile: It is now easier for you to maneuver in small areas.

Author's Note

Imagine Ares like this:

Sorry that this chapter is so short. I somehow didn't feel like anything more would have really added to it.