Ghost in the shell: Equestrian architecture

The elevator made a soft humming sound has it traveled swiftly upwards. Looking out the window Twilight could see the giant city brightened by the warm sun. Massive skyscrapers covered the ground with cars moving on the streets between.

As the elevator ascended everything got smaller. Soon Twilight couldn´t see any of the people and the cars looked like small bars. She turned and stared at the floor counter. It was a digital counter with green text.

“Just teen floors left…” Twilight leaned against the railing behind her and looked up the roof. If her body was organic, her heart would be jumping and a cold sweet would be running down her skin. But her artificial heart kept a steady rhythm and skin remained dry. “Hopefully there will be some good news from the others.”

The elevator stopped. The doors parted and twilight walked down the hallway before she got to Celestia´s office. When she entered the rest of section twelve aside from Osborn was inside. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were sharing a couch and both drank steaming coffee from white plastic mugs. Fluttershy was sitting by herself in her usual chair and her little white bunny was sitting in her lap. Celestia was sitting behind her desk reading through the latest reports.

“Good morning, Twilight.” Celestia greeted her.

“Morning.” Twilight responded before sitting down in the cough opposite Applejack and Rainbow Dash. “What´s the latest news?” No reports had been uploaded to the network because Fluttershy was still not sure whether the hack was caused by a worm or not and what she had been sending through her own channels, she hadn´t had any time to read. She had spent the entire last day searching the archives for any hitman that had used the name ´The long death´.

“Nothing.” Celestia said. “And that´s becoming a real big problem. We only have three days before the prime minister has to make his public appearance and if we don´t have an answer for who sabotaged our mission by then we will have problems with the negotiations.”

“So what are we going to do?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Forcefully discharge Osborn from the hospital.” Celestia said.

“Can he still work when he´s wounds are only half healed?” Rainbow Dash raised her brow.

“If he had been shoot with a normal bullet he would have dug it out of his wound and meet us in the entrance to the hotel.” Twilight said. “So, yes. He will be able to work.” She said with a sarcastic tone. But if his wounds open up he could bleed to death.

Rainbow Dash stared at her major with wide eyes. “Okay… so who is going to pick him up?”

“Twilight.” Celestia answered. “You and Osborn will both look into the bullet we found in his wound.” The chief handed Twilight the bullet in a small plastic bag. “Applejack and Rainbow Dash.” She turned to the sergeants. “I want the two of you to look into the possibility of an organized group performing the sabotage and Fluttershy,” The timid woman flinched when the chief met her gaze. “I want to know if the hack was performed by a worm this afternoon. Is that clear?” She said with a hard tone.

Fluttershy nodded.

“You are all dismissed.” Celestia returned to the papers on her desk.

They gathered up in the elevator. It was designed for up six people but in comparison to the ascension it felt crowded.

“Find out anything about ´The long death´?” Applejack asked.

“A few things. For one there wasn´t hundreds of them, according to our archives there has only been sixteen criminals who have gone by that name. Thing is that Dr. Caballeron, who was the last to one to use it, was executed over ten years ago and the name hasn´t ever come up in any investigation since.”

“Umm…” Fluttershy butted in. “Isn´t it possible that there are assassins out there who go by that name but have stayed underground.”

“It is certainly possible.” Twilight leaned against the railing.

“So the ´The long death´ is probably a dead end in that case.” Applejack said. “Whoever got those modifications for the sniper rifle must have used it knowingly to throw us of our scent and make us believe that there were three of them.”
“That does sound pretty likely.” The major said. “But that also means that those who performed the sabotage were smart enough to think about setting up false trails.”

“And” Rainbow Dash added. “they were good enough to hack into our network and stay undetected for weeks if not longer.”

“I think we are dealing with some rather skilled and dangerous individuals here.” Twilight watched over them. “All of you; Be careful.”

“Roger that major.” Applejack said while making a small tip with her hat.

“Affirmative.” Fluttershy pushed a string of her pink away from her eyes and meet Twilight’s gaze.

“Copy that.” Rainbow Dash said.

They went their separate ways a few moments after that. Twilight got in her car alone and drove straight for the hospital Osborn was in. Within an hour she was there.

“What can I help you with?” The receptionist asked her when she entered.

“I´ve come to discharge Osborn.” She showed the receptionist her badge.

“I see.” His tone was somewhat bitter. He pressed a few keys on the keyboard in front of him. “He will be with you momentarily.”

Twilight sat down in the lobby and waited for about half a minute before Osborn showed up. He was wearing a red t-shirt with a brown leather jacket over it. His heavy boots made loud echoing thuds in the otherwise quite lobby.

“Hey, Twilight.” He waved his hand when he saw her. “Come to set me free from this prison?”

Twilight gave of a small chuckle. “Not exactly. We need to talk to some of your contacts.”

“Now?”

“Now. Follow me to the car and I will tell you the details.”

“Alright.”

They walked out of the hospital. While Osborn did his best to hide it Twilight managed to pick up small sings in his way of walking that he was limping and heard small grunts over his breaths.

“Wouldn´t happened to be about the assassination, would it?” He asked when they had climbed into the car.

“How did you figure that?”

“Well, they weren’t giving me enough painkillers to make I think my bed was made of water, I spend most of my time watching the news and trying to piece what you were doing. Didn´t result in much but since you came to discharge me early I figured that you still don´t know who shot me or why and time is starting to press.”

“You´re right.” Twilight reached inside her pocket and gave Osborn the bullet. “It´s the bullet they pulled out of your wound. Know of anyone who might have made it?” She handed him his badge and gun.

Osborn put the badge in his pocket, holstered the gun and studied the bullet for a moment before answering. “I think so.”

“Not what I want to hear now, Osborn.”

“You can never guarantee anything, Twilight.” Osborn put the bullet in his jacket. “But I know of a factory where they specialize in making illegal bullets. The problem is that I´ve never been there myself, so they might not want to talk to me at all.”

“Fine.” It’s at least something. Twilight started the car. “Where to?”

Osborn marked a place on the cars GPS and Twilight started driving there. On their way there, Twilight filled Osborn in on what had happened during the time he was in the hospital.

“So you suspect that more than one person is responsible for the sabotage?” Osborn asked when she finished.
“From the traces and clues we have gathered it certainly seems that way. But most of it is just hunches at this point and we don´t have any clear evidence to prove that was an organized attack.”

“Well who can hack into a government database, build a remote controlled sniper rifle shoot it with enough precision to hit me through an ascending elevator if not an organized group?” Osborn looked out the window as Twilight drove towards the edge of the city. He rubbed his chin and the stub covering his jaw produced a grating sound.

Following the GPS, Twilight turned off the main road and headed out of the city.

Within a few minutes the giant, metallic skyscrapers got replaced with significantly shorter, green trees. Twilight threw a glance into the rearview mirror and could see some of the higher buildings at the lower edge of the mirror. “Is the place far off?” She asked Osborn.

“It will probably take another ten minutes before we get there.”

“I´m guessing these black market manufacturers don´t like the thought of being close to a police force.”

“Half right.” Osborn said when Twilight turned off the freeway, onto a smaller road. “They’re also afraid of other mobsters. When you produce a unique product like outlawed bullets you become far more attractive to the crime bosses.”

“Oh, yeah. If you want to survive in the mafia, it´s better to stay under the radar and don´t be remarkable.”

“Exactly.”

A few minutes later Osborn asked Twilight to stop the car on a place where the road broadened somewhat. “The factory probably has a fence around it so I´ll go first and let them know I am here. If they let me in just sneak in behind me.”

I could probably jump over the fence. Twilight was about to say when she considered that the impact would produce a lot of noise. “Alright. Let´s just hope they don´t mind talking to a cop.” She turned on her thermoptic camouflage.

“I´ve never meet a criminal who does.” Osborn took his gun out of the holster and checked the magazine.
They walked on the gravel covered road for just a few minutes before Twilight saw the factory. It looked as ordinary as any other storage that she had seen, with a grey metal roof being hold up by white concrete walls. A fence surrounded the facility with a gate where the road meet the fence.

Osborn raised his arms with his badge in one hand as he walked towards the gate. “I´m an officer of section twelve.” He said. “I´m only hear to ask some questions.”

A security guard walked out of the factory holding an assault rifle. She could see a wire leading from the rifle to the back of his head and that he had metallic arms. The guard walked up to the gate, the rifle pointing squarely at Osborn´s head.

“What´s the password?” He asked.

“Radiance.” Osborn answered.

The guard adjusted his sight and shifted the stock against his shoulder, but kept the aiming for Osborn.

Osborn kept his gaze locked at the guard. Twilight could hear Osborn´s heart beating faster. A few slow, stiff breaths escaped through his nostrils.

The guard lowered his rifle. “You can come in.” He said and the gate opened. As Osborn passed the fence line the guard stopped him. “Drop your weapon.”

Osborn did as he was told and dropped the gun on the ground.

“Put these on.” The guard took a pair of handcuffs out of his belt and threw them at Osborn´s feet.

Without objecting, Osborn picked the cuffs up and attached them to his wrists.

“Move along now.” The guard placed himself behind Osborn and pushed him with the rifle.

“I´m not getting any signal out here.” Twilight noted as they walked across the field. “We can´t call for backup if something happens.”

“We´re on our own then, huh? Just like old times.” Osborn was pushed by the guard through a sliding door and Twilight only just managed to make it through before it closed. “Major?”

“I´m still here.”

“Get going.” The guard pushed Osborn with his rifle.

Twilight followed closely behind them. The guard stopped Osborn on a square of the floor.

“Why did you stop?” Osborn asked.

“Stay there.” The guard walked over to the wall and opened a panel. He pressed a few buttons before inserting a cord into his neck. A moment later he removed the wire, closed the panel and walked back to Osborn. The plate they stood on made a small jump before it descended into the ground. It kept going for a moment before it slowed down and stopped completely. The wall in front of Osborn parted and a pillar of dim light entered. Once the doors parted she saw five people sitting in front of desks with bright lamps aimed towards the collections of copper shelfs and metallic bullets they were putting together with black gunpowder.

“Is he the cop?” One of the workers asked. He was similar in height to Osborn but was noticeably thinner and his complexion looked pale in comparison to Osborn´s dark skin. He also had narrow green eyes and black hair that reached down to his shoulders.

“Yes.” The guard answered.

The worker turned to Osborn. He inhaled and rubbed his nose. “What exactly do you want?”

“I want to ask some questions about a bullet I think you sold or made. Once you answer what I want know I´ll be out of your hair.”

“Did he come here alone?” He turned back to the guard.

“Yes.”

The worker stared silently at Osborn. His green eyes sharpened and he rubbed his nose once more. “Do you have the bullet?”

Osborn reached into his jacket and held out the bullet. “Recognize it?”

“I do.” He picked the bullet out of Osborn hand. “Know what it is?”

“A drill bullet.” Osborn answered.

“Correct. Designed to not make it clean through the target, instead stopping halfway through and cause the target to bleed to death or tear the inner organs apart. It proved quite effective when stronger body armor was starting to become deployed during the last war, but it quickly became outlawed because it was considered inhuman.” The worker turned and led Osborn to his working desk. He turned on his lamp and put the bullet under a magnifying glass.

“Did you make it?” Osborn asked after a moment.

“I don´t know.” He turned to Osborn with a coy smirk on his thin lips.

“What do you want?” Osborn frowned.

“A favor.” He replied.

“What kind of favor?”

“I don´t know.” He shrugged and started playing with a shelf he picked up from the desk. “I want to savor it.” He began to spin the shelf around with his fingers.

“Because I am a cop?”

“Not just any cop.” He put the shelf down and leaned forward. “But a member of section Twelve, a government employed police unit. A normal cop I would have just dismissed or settled for money. But I know what section twelve can do and having one of their officers in my debt could come in handy.”

“Major?”

“I don´t like it, but we have don´t have any other leads and we can´t let the trail run dry.”

Osborn sighed. “You´re a sly businessman and I think I´m starting to hate your guts, but you´ve got yourself a deal.” Osborn held out his hand.

“Excellent.” He shook it. “When I want that favor called back I´ll contact you on this.” He handed Osborn a small device.

“Will you answer my questions now?”

“Yes.”