I shot up faster than I could open my eyes, it felt as if my head had struck the floor seconds ago. And yet, somehow I knew it had been much longer than so. I hesitated to look up from the smooth, metallic floor. Silently praying that there would be freedom in front of me. I couldn't... Remember what I was doing before my entrapment, or how it happened to me. I continued to race for my memory, procrastinating the need to look up and realize I was still imprisoned.

I was broken from thought with the sound of hoofsteps to my left, they stopped short of a small, chrome door that split down the middle.

Realizing that I was about to receive more company, I began searching the room for exits, escape routes. Getting my first view of the chamber, this one was simply a metal box with no windows and a small camera dome on the far side of the room (from the door) and to the right. I was currently sprawled out carelessly on the other end of the room opposite of the door. Somehow, I could feel them watching me. Their eyes were scraping away at my confidence, I tried not to think about it too hard.

The door opened with a smooth, blowing sound. Gentle, yet eerie. I knew that if I was being held captive, whoever would come creeping through that opening would likely not be in on good intentions.

"2268, status?" The Unicorn mare stared in my direction. She was a grayish tone, yet she seemed to give off a very faint glow of purple. Her mane was unreasonably pink, it was the most unique thing about her. She cocked her head, attracting my attention to her face. She had bright blue eyes. They seemed to shine independently of the light in the room. She was calming, for a strange reason. Her face was stoic, her intentions were questionable, but for unexplainable reasons, she powered me.

"Pink, that one's 2249. 2268's still concept." The intercom sounded clearly, proving the origin to be the Study White character from my previous awakening.

"Right, 2249, status?" She asked me, slowly inching her way closer.

"Systems are running modified software, no traceable origin. Suspected firewall breach. Vital hardware is under stress." Came the response in that horrible robotic tone. I cringed internally at the sound. The words sounded as if they were in my head.

"What's that mean?" Study White asked over the intercom built somewhere out of my view.

"He knows the program is being modified somehow. His hardware is also running faster than it should be. The CPU is supposed to run at no more than six percent. It's at eighty. Something isn't running the way it should be, I'm worried he'll crash. Or heat up." She replied, turning her head to the ceiling for the moment.

She turned back to me, taking several more steps closer. I didn't move, she didn't seem the hostile type.

"How are you feeling, 2249?" She asked suddenly, now only one large step away. With her this close, I captured a better look at her face. Her eyes carried purple beneath them, evidently from lack of sleep.

I closed my eyes, waiting for the automated speech that the term '2249' usually initiates, but none came. After several awkward moments of silence, I decided to speak out on my own accord. But when I tried to speak, I felt no movement. What I heard, however, told a different, horrible story.

"Are you talking to me? Who are you?" My heart dropped totally, I hadn't said anything. I didn't feel movement, and I wasn't able to stop talking once I had started. It was, however, what I intended to say. But it wasn't my voice. Far from it. The sound was atrocious, yet it echoed in my ears. It sounded like a bad speaker, the voice digitized and distorted.

"My name is Painted Pink. Please, tell me what you're thinking." She levitated a clipboard from the open doorway, and revealed a blue pen from under the rusted metal of the clip.

"I..." I searched for words, still experimenting from the strange voice that mimicked my own. Nothing intelligent came to mind. "...I can't explain it. Why do I sound so, strange? Is that my voice? Speaking now, is this my voice? I just want to go home, I'm afraid of this place." I began rambling the rest of my sentence, almost incoherently, as I reduced to sobbing. The speaker reduced to near total static, producing strange frequencies masked by the white noise. I reached a hoof up to my face, wiping beneath my eye. It hit my head hard, and produced a 'tap' noise. Looking down at it, my hoof was entirely metal. A thin framework supported the shiny instrument. No tears stained its surface.

She wrote almost as fast as I could speak, as soon as I stopped speaking she spoke again.

"Are you afraid, or are you sad?" Painted Pink asked as she took another half step towards me. She squatted down, lowering her face to my level.

"I'm... Alot of things right now. I'm sad, afraid, and angry. What's wrong with my hoof?" I thought for sure tears would be welling out of my eyes by now. My voice was trembling beyond control. But I felt no tears stain my face.

"I'll answer your questions, but first you must answer mine. You mentioned home? Where is home?" She asked, turning her head. Even in her low position, she was still able to write notes behind her head.

"Home? Home is..." I thought, searching my memory. I felt every crevice of my brain as if my thoughts were physical objects in the way. "I don't know where my home is. I can't remember. Oh sweet Celestia I can't even remember my own home. My parents! Why can't I remember their faces?!" My whole body began to shiver, I felt bile rising in my throat. Panic set in to my heart.

"He's giving some really high numbers, these aren't dangerous to the hardware, are they?" The terrible voice of Study White announced, interrupting the conversation.

Her ears raised as he spoke, but dropped immediately after the broadcast ended. She continued, ignoring him.

"What are some of your favorite things? Foods? Color? Ponies? Sounds? Anything you enjoy." She smiled at me, granting me the confidence to continue.

"Favorite things? Well. I can't pick a favorite food, I don't feel like I've eaten in a while. My favorite color is probably green. Actually, Blue. Dark Blue. Ponies? I can't remember any of my friends or family. I'm only remembering you and Study White." I leaned in a little closer, looking at the camera. "But I prefer you over him for sure." I whispered, earning a smirk from her. "Sounds? I dunno really. The door opening sounded pretty cool, I suppose. You know, for a door." I joked unintentionally, raising my own spirits slightly.

She smiled, satisfied with my sense of humor.

"Your feelings? Describe them. Not what your thinking, but what it feels like."

"Ooy vey, that'll be a hard one." My own sarcasm surprised me, despite my despair, I spoke as if nothing was wrong at all. It seemed natural to me. And it made me feel better. "Uh, It's too white everywhere in here. Sort of bothers my eyes. I hear this faint ringing in my ears that's pissing me off. There's no smell whatsoever in this room, which seems really unnatural. And it feels so hot in here I'm going to melt..." I hadn't been aware of the heat before, but suddenly felt the stinging on my skin. Or, where I assumed it was. After seeing my arm, I was afraid a horrible accident could have left little skin left period.

She slowly nodded, staring only at the clipboard as she scribbled with impressive speed.

"Could somebody get the temperature of the room for me? Along with his CPU temperature?" She asked the air.

She looked at me, eyebrows raised as she waited. It was a little cute to me, but it hardly worked to raise my spirits.

"Room is 10 degrees Celcius. His CPU is at 38 Celcius. I say we shut him down." Study White obnoxiously asserted.

"Thank you Study White, I'll keep it in mind." She rolled her eyes, and looked back at me. Turning her head slightly with a smile. "I meant emotions, but that was some interesting renovation advice for Study White." She turned her eyes to the camera.

"The paint will come out of your pay." He intercommed.

"I'm sure it will, Mr. White." She grinned in amusement, turning back to me.

"So, what do your emotions feel like?"

"Well, that's even more tricky. My heart feels like it's full of pins, striking it whenever I think too hard about my situation. And I keep shivering. It's the fear, I can't sit still. I saw my arm, and I can't look back. Just thinking about it makes me feel like heaving." I look down at my legs, which was not a wise move.

My torso was a metal frame which contained several large components inside, most of which were box-shaped and had chips exposed. I could only see my lower half. I could see through my own body through holes in the framework. My legs were equally wrong. Metal rods connected with rotating joints. Wires strung up them where veins were supposed to run. Several cables pumped a fluid that was invisible to me.

"Oh all that is holy what is that. What am I? WHAT THE FUCK IS ALL OF THIS?!" I screamed as loud as my voice could muster, collapsing onto the floor breathing frantically.

"Okay I'm done with this. Shut him down! He's going to fry the damn CPUs!" Study White intercommed over the radio.

"Wait! Stop! Mr. White don't! If you terminate him now you could kill him permanently!" She yelled at the camera.

"It's a machine, it won't know the difference. I watched it being built, it's trying to convince you it's sentient so it can free itself. Things like this happen normally! It's a side-effect of the amicale program." He answered coldly.

"We spent years on him! If you shut him down and he breaks, we'll lose millions with no results! We can still salvage this test! It's the most promising model yet!" She screamed.

There was a silence.

"Fine, keep it on until it fries itself out. You won't be paid for months." He broadcasted coldly.

I stroked my legs, there was no flesh, no organ, no tissue. There was only metal grinding over metal. My vision slowly tunneled as my heart threatened to explode. The room was getting so hot, it felt like I was boiling. This was beyond heat stroke, I worried about death from the temperature.

Author's Note

A jump-up in word count if I do say so myself! Any pointers? Please leave a comment!