Chapters Headache, it's the first thought on my mind, the absolute splitting pain of waking up after a long night of sleeping wrong. The type that makes you afraid to move from the thought that your neck may snap in stiffness.
My eyes are all out of focus, it's pitch black, I can't see. But I am faintly aware of a red light in front of me. Bright red and green, like Winter lights decorated my vision. I try to open my eyes to see what may be the cause, but I have trouble opening them. They seem glued shut, rather as if they aren't there at all.
Feeling the first prickling of panic in my chest, I try to get up, only to find this equally troubling. My body is entirely numb, I can't feel anything at all. I try to scream, but my voice fails me, the same way my muscles are.
'This isn't happening' I think, 'there's no way this is happening, oh lord what is all this? Why can't I call for help?'
As if answering my prayers, I hear voices. Faint murmuring, the voices seem to come from within my own head. As if they're talking to me from the inside out.
Realizing that there's nothing else around, I focus on the lights in my vision. Despite my eyes being closed, I seem to be able to dilate my eyes unreasonably short. Allowing me to slowly fade the display into view.
On the bottom left there was a small box of green outline, inside of it was text in bold Red. "ERROR: NO FEED LOADED".
This text was the type you may see on a faulty computer program. On the right side there was a large, Green bar, which stacked my entire vision in width. Somehow, it seemed straight, and yet my vision was rounded. It was a weird feeling.
On top of my view, was a clip of text in red reading "ALERT: DAMAGE TO CHEST, HEAD, LEFT FORELEG".
'What? Is that talking about me? How can I even see this, and why can't I look away?'
In the dead center of my vision was a large blurp of Red text, which in order read the following:
"ERROR:
DEFECTIVE INTERFACE
INVALID ARGUMENT (LINE 75239)
DEFECTIVE HARDWARE (COMPONENT 9)
RETRYING...
RETRYING...
RETRYING...
FAILURE TO CORRECT, CODE
INCORRECT (LINE 75239)"
These were computer commands, without a doubt. But I had no idea why I was seeing them, or what they meant. More pins stabbed my heart with fear, as I began to become aware of the voices that were growing in my head.
"-ective. Our mistake, sir. We'll go back, fix the string, and restart the program. May we shut them down now? They're using up energy." It was a sweet voice, calm, sing-songy. It definitely was a female.
"Alright, power it down. But this will be fixed by this weekend, no later. I can't afford to postpone this project much longer. If it's not all working perfectly by then, you're all fired." A much deeper, threatening voice seethed at the previous speaker.
I became immensely dizzy, as if I was afloat on ocean waves. The text faded, as did my consciousness.
Again a felt the blasting of a headache, as if someone drilled out the insides of my brain. I felt much as I did before. Alone, afraid... You panic very quickly when you're stuck with nothing but thoughts.
I directed my attention to focusing my eyes on the text again, it wasn't much, but it was something.
The lights looked the same as last time, save for a few differences. The error and alerts on the top and center of my view had disappeared, leaving only the one inside the Green square to my bottom left.
"2249, apply." The rude voice from before spoke, it sounded louder than before, yet still appeared to originate from inside my skull.
"Please use the command bypass password." A brand new voice spoke. It was creepy, eerie, robotic. It sounded as if it were coming through an old radio. Like a cheap recording. I didn't know who was speaking, but I didn't like their voice. It gave me chills.
Several voices murmured in response, resulting in an eerie silence.
Just as I feared the company had left, the voice responded. Scaring me.
"Carpenter1848"
"Password correct, please state name, age, birth-date, gender, sexual preference, and all other available information." The radio voice spoke again.
There was a silence.
"Uh, well. Study White, twenty-seven, April ninth, male, female, and..... Well.... Hmm...." He was quiet.
"Information saved, hello... Study White. Do you wish for this unit to apply?" The robotic voice sounded.
"Yes." The stallion replied slowly and clearly, as if they were talking to a child.
"Multi-Purpose Biorobotic Unit 2249 is running nominally. No damages, no software malfunctions, currently under protocol seven." It answered swiftly. There were slight imperfections in the robotic voice, bringing me to believe the speaker was a machine, not a stallion on a radio.
"What is protocol seven, 2249?" He asked the machine.
"Protocol seven suspends visual, external auditory, gustaoception, olfacoception, somatosensation, and enduces a state of paralysis." The system replied.
"2249, initiate protocol one." The deep voice ordered.
"Affirmative."
My eyes opened instinctively, blinking several times. The light was blinding.
Author's Note
Looking for a better cover photo, readers! If you have any better ideas or images for a cover please message me! Mine was scrapped together in MS paint, so any improvements are appreciated!
The air was cold, brisk. It glided over my skin, giving me chills. I was suddenly able to move, to feel, to see. It was a wave of feelings that seemed unusual to me. As if they were different somehow.
"22-49, diagnostic." The stallion ordered.
My head snapped to the voice, I was unable to control my motion, I felt my mouth moving without my permission or consent.
"System is running nominal, no flaws detected."
My hooves smashed over my mouth, covering it. Fear again stabbed its way into my soul as I realized what I had just done. I wasn't sure, however. I couldn't really be producing a sound like that, right?
"Uh, hello?" I attempted to speak. The voice had not changed. It was still a fuzzy, distant, poor-quality radio noise. I didn't feel the breath in my throat. It seemed like I produced sound in my throat in an alien way.
"Greetings 2249." The stallion in question was a pitch shade of white, yet seemed to have a slight yellow tint to his coat. His mane was a bluish color, a dark shade, but not a vibrant one. His eyes were green, they pierced my flesh and stared into my soul. They threatened to steal it if I stared too long.
"Who are you? What is this place?!" I leaped off of the table I found myself sprawled over, I started whirling my head around, taking in all of my surroundings. The room appeared much like a hospital room, the big dome light on the ceiling, the metallic table, the white walls and tile floor. It gave me a nervous feeling if I do say so myself.
"Quiet down! What was that, Pink?" He turned his head to a mirror on the wall, asking it the question.
"Not sure yet, sir. 2249's giving some very weird numbers. They're processing about four times as much information as they're supposed to be. They're heating twice as much, and they appear to be running codes that I'm not seeing here. Perhaps we forgot something we left in the torso?" The sweet voice from earlier peeped over an intercom. The voice became more distant as the blurp ended.
"2249, status? Diagnostics? Is anything running improper?" He asked me, turning his head in genuine confusion.
I felt more fearful of him the more he spoke. His voice dripped of mad power. As if it was taunting me with each word.
"I don't know who you are! Why do I sound like a tape recorder? What is this room? What's happening! Sweet Celestia I'm going to be sick..." I collapsed against the table in terror, I felt the feeling of bile rising in my throat. When it reached the top, I gagged, producing a sickening noise, but did nothing more. I was unable to vomit.
"2249, you know that's impossible. Now stop using invalid program. Use only the programs in your head." He tapped his with a hoof, looking at me condescendingly. "Only up here, got it?"
"I don't know what you're talking about!" I started panicking, I backed into a corner and held my hooves up to my mouth. "SOMEPONY HELP ME! ANYPONY I'M IN HERE PLEASE HELP!"
"2249! Cease immediately!" He yelled, approaching me.
"Mr. White, sir. I hate to interrupt, but I think we found the bug. It appears to be interpreting the information we loaded onto it as memories. It's believing it's sentient, that's what it's interpreting. We're trying to fix it from here, but somehow it's locking us out. We'll keep trying to break his firewalls, but he keeps changing it." The harmonic voice of the mare 'Pink' intercommed us.
I didn't mind the voice, she sounded friendly, motherly, warm. But what she was saying was turning my fear into anger. Self-preservation started to kick in, and I felt myself tensing up, ready to slug this 'Study White' figure approaching me.
"I'm alive! I don't know what you're talking about! Don't kill me, you're killing me aren't you!? Look at me!" I pushed my hooves out at him, which revealed them to my own vision.
They were not hooves, they couldn't even be called "arms". They were metallic appendages full of hinges and wires that led up to my shoulder, which I could not see. I could feel them, I could see them, they were attached to me and I was controlling them, but they weren't mine. These weren't mine, this wasn't happening.
The room began to spin out, started to swirl out of control. I shut my eyes, bracing for the collapse I knew was coming. When I hit the floor, I heard the clank of metal and the shattering of tile. My mind wiped of all thought, I fell asleep.
Author's Note
Chapters will be getting longer, the first few are short since these chapters are all part of one plot point.
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!
It felt like hours, days. Endless time I sat there cradling my legs, whimpering to myself like a child. I didn't care, I couldn't think anymore. There was nothing of me. My memory was failing me, my body was nothing more than metal rods. This wasn't life, this was something far worse.
On the bright side, the fuzz covering my 'voice' seemed to be getting quieter as time rolled on. My whimpers became more clear.
The room's lights blacked out, leaving us in dim light cast only by the hallway behind the door Painted Pink entered through.
"If you're feeling up to it, I think Study White's gone. I can answer some of your questions now." She offered, rubbing my back. Her hoof rolled and bounced over what was undoubtedly metal I had not yet noticed.
The offer lifted my spirits barely, granting me hope for an understanding of my situation.
"Where am I?" I begin.
"A laboratory, I cannot tell any more about it." She replied sadly.
"Gee thanks for answering all my questions." I joked sarcastically. Quickly realizing I sounded like an ass."When can I leave?"
She was quiet.
"Soon." Was all she offered
"What are the lights in my face? They're so hard to focus on, they're green. It's like they're floating." I became aware of floating screens in front of me. They moved with my head, but were too blurry to make out. I tried to take a closer look at the box on my lower left view, and it slowly focused inwards. This particular screen now appeared to be a map that showed me the room relevant to the direction I was facing. It even showed me part of the hallway from over the top, but everything else was faded off.
"Those would be the HUD. They'll tell you if anything's wrong. You also have a battery life meter and a map." She answered stoic.
"Aren't those for computers?" I asked, fear stinging at my chest for what seemed like the hundredth time today.
She didn't answer directly.
"What's your name?"
"My name?" I turned my head back to her, deciding to forget about my legs. "It's.... I don't know that one either."
"That's fine. May I call you.... Andy?" She asked hopefully.
"Andy? Sure but, why Andy?" I inquired.
She looked down, the room suddenly taking a serious tone.
"Your legs are not the way you expected them to look, are they?"
I jumped slightly at the question.
"Definitely not. I mean, there's nothing there." I rested my head on the cold floor.
"Besides the metal?" She continued.
"Yes, besides the metal." I turned my head to stare at my legs.
Correct. That's because that's what's supposed to be there, Andy. We put those there, because you aren't supposed to be a pony, Andy. You're supposed to be a machine, an android. A bionic machine, not capable of intelligent thought. You've never had a life until the past several hours. I'm sorry." Her words hit me like train wrecks. Every sentence was worse than the last. She wasn't getting to my nerves personally, however. She sounded sweet and sincere, despite the coldness of her message.
My heart slowly increased in weight, until I felt it would fall right out of my chest. My ears began to scream, and my vision grew blurry. I felt much more sick than I had ever before. The room baked to unimaginable brain-melting temperatures.
Painted Pink set the clipboard down to scoot herself beside me, pushing up against my side.
"Do you believe you're a machine?" She asked, her breath tickling my ear. I had no idea how I could feel it.
I rolled the question around in my head, distracted by the terror of the information.
"I honestly don't know anymore. I didn't think I was. I'm thinking my own thoughts, I'm aware of what I'm doing. I have goals, wants, intentions. But my body, oh Celestia my body's chunks of rock! What more do I need to be? Am I really 'alive'? I feel like I'm alive. I want to be alive. What's wrong with me?" I rolled into Pink's side, to which she wrapped a caring foreleg around my back. There was no longer any force that could settle my fear, nothing in the universe that could settle my terror and confusion. But her arm, above everything else, gave me one thing.
Hope.
"I don't think you're a machine either, Andy."
Author's Note
Thumbs up if you like it! Follow me if you REALLY like it! Thumbs down if you hope I get hit by a plane! Hit both at once to become a LEGEND
Also comment! I love feedback! As I said before, this is an experiment, and I'll be using it to improve my professional writing. Feedback is my method of achieving this!
We didn't move for a long time. I had long since forgotten about myself as a machine. I couldn't imagine it, couldn't believe it. Not for a second. There just was no way, this had to be a nightmare. I'd wake up any moment now, safe in bed, and laugh about this with my friends. Did I have friends? I couldn't remember.
Moving a foreleg back into view, I took a closer look at it, the detail. It was flawless and shiny. It looked like a Steel alloy of some sort, polished and chromed. As much metal as there was woven into the leg, it felt as weightless as a hoof. If not lighter. Wires of various colors were bundled together leading to various components of my leg. They seemed to be set up in such a complicated structure, I couldn't follow one wire without getting sidetracked by another one. Running much less frequently through all of it was a slightly less complex system of piping. Which seemed bendy and flexible, it connected itself through every component of my leg in a circuit that led down and around the leg.
I continued inspecting it, slowly turning it. Doing any justice to convince my brain that this was me, that this was something I had to come to accept. My brain, however, continued trying to reject this information. Was it even a brain? Was I nothing more than a laptop on legs? What did I even look like? Were these real emotions I was feeling? They felt real, I thought they were real. Could it simply be values in a computer, and my method of interpreting them? Perhaps every feeling, thought, and opinion I held was all written and scripted in code. Perhaps I wasn't even my own self. Only a vehicle piloted by wires.
I closed my eyes, this seemed so unreal. So out of body. I felt as though my soul had been removed from myself, and floated overhead. As if I was looking through something else's eyes, in another dimension. But this was no other dimension, and nopony else's body. This was my leg, this was my realm, and this was happening. No matter what I want to think, one thing will not change.
'This. Is. Real.'
I became faintly aware of the room gradually cooling down.
"Don't think about it too much, it can't be good for you." Pink spoke, jolting me out of my trance.
I let my foreleg collapse to the floor, which produced a loud, resounding *CLUNK* as if a much heavier weight had been thrown onto it.
"Can I see?" I turned my head slightly in her direction, staring forward at nothing.
"See what? Yourself? I don't think that's a good idea just yet." She replied, giving my back a short rub.
"I don't care if it's a good idea. I need to know what I look like. How different I really am. I have to know." I insisted, looking down.
She was quiet for a while, before she took her hoof off of me and slid away.
"Are you absolutely sure you can handle it? You won't like what you see." She warned.
"I can control myself, it's just so I know. If my legs look like this, I want to know how the rest of me holds up." I turned to face her. "Please, it's the only way I'll be able to accept this as reality."
Her face was no longer warm. It had lost much of its expression, into a cold stare.
She got up on all fours, and started for the door.
I watched her as she left closely, it felt almost natural to interpret somepony's personality with their body language. Every movement she made was slow, careful, but confident. It told me a silent story about her mentality. Her pinkish hue cast onto her grayish frame was more apparent in the hallway lights.
Walking into the hall, I heard her dig through something. Certainly metal, it was the sound of clicking in high tones. As if she was moving tools. They made scraping noises, as if they were being moved over a tray. Intrigued, I focused entirely on the sounds, my ears swiveling in the direction.
With no warning, no expectation, my vision flashed bright white. As if the sun had been pulled over my eyes. It lasted only an instant, before it faded to a new display. I moved my eyes, but they seemed to move slowly, as if they were slowly dragging back and forth. I was no longer staring at the door to the hallway, my eyes were now seeing endless hallway. It was painted white, with plated walls that rusted slightly. There were lights overhead in intervals of about 5 feet each, dust particles floated beneath them. Glistening in the light casted onto them.
I saw Painted Pink almost directly in front of my view, she was digging through a tray that looked much like a hospital's. It held two trays on two levels, and was absolutely smothered with various tools that a mechanic might use. I was looking down onto her and the tray. I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. Moving my view to cover the new direction, I looked into my own cell. Just as I did so, a bright light blipped up in front of me, a diamond shape that led behind a door.
My eyes zoomed in onto the diamond without my control, as if I was being showed this by force. Suddenly, I was blinded by the flashing light again. Now, my view covered a smaller room. It looked exactly like mine, the lights were out here as well. As if sensing my thoughts, the room glowed bright green, cast over with night-vision.
Sitting in the middle, was a small object, it looked like a metal pony. It was curled into a little ball.
My eyes again zoomed in without problem, just as they did so, the head of the creature moved to the side slowly. I leaned closer instinctively, attempting to get an even closer view. Just as I did so, the pony on the screen followed my motion exactly.
I froze, my heart, assuming I had one, froze in beat. My brain ceased to think.
I slowly raised my hoof, I couldn't see it in pony, but I was seeing it on screen. This was a camera, the camera in the cell. My cell. Somehow, I was viewing myself, this had to be me. I slowly turned my head. As expected, the pony on screen turned their head to face me. The eyes glowed bright white in the dark, casting a glow onto the lens of the camera.
I couldn't quite see myself well, so I scrambled to my feet and approached. It was hardly a walk, it felt so... Foreign. My hooves instead, were simply falling in front of each other as I resisted the urge to pass out and collapse onto my own face. I stopped several feet from my camera, and stared into it.
The camera quickly zoomed out, and I was given a full body view of myself. This was regrettable, I couldn't look away. It was such a complex, and horrible sight.
My eyes glowed bright white, but they no longer covered my face. My cheeks were a mess of metallic beams that held my head on, my neck was a series of joints that gave it the ability to turn. My entire body was an open system of thin metal bars connecting to each other like a jungle gym. It was a cage, built around smaller boxes of metal, sealed only with latches. Likely for ease of opening should I need to be operated on. There was no flesh whatsoever. No organs, only components. No skin, only metal. No eyes, no tail, no mane, no teeth.
I opened my mouth, attempting to smile at the camera, to view my own mouth. What came into view, was nothing. My mouth dropped open, widening just far enough to be creepy. An inch or two wider than a jaw is supposed to open for sure. Inside was a small metal cylinder, I couldn't view it well, but the camera zoomed in on it without me asking.
"I use a speaker?" I asked aloud.
My mouth didn't move on camera, I didn't produce the words with my mouth, after all. The speaker simply did all the work for me. I felt like I was talking, whenever I spoke I felt my jaw open and close, I now felt my teeth clash, I felt my tongue move. But now that I look at myself, it was just an illusion. There was nothing.
"What are you doing over there?" I heard Pink call behind me.
The camera quickly snapped in her direction, viewing her in night-vision.
I had to collect my thoughts quickly, I didn't know what to say first.
"Why can't I see with my eyes? Help! I'm looking through the camera! It's hard to explain! I can see myself! With the camera!" I yelled, suddenly feeling panicked.
"Calm down! What? You can't mean you're seeing out of that camera, do you?" She pointed right at me-the camera. "That's part of our mainframe, you'd have to spend hours to get through the firewall to even have it appear on a system."
"I don't need to know why it's impossible! I need to know why it's happening! Help!" I yelled, backpedaling away from the camera into the corner of the room again.
As if answering my prayers, my view exploded with white again, before fading out slower than before. Back into my own eyes, staring in the direction of the damn camera.
"Hold on! I'll go get a technician!" She turned around to run.
"Wait! It's alright it stopped! Don't get anyone else!" I called out. "I don't know what happened, but it's not happening anymore."
Immediately after I finished my sentence, the room glowed with a bright red light, accompanied by an ear-destructive buzzing sound.
Pink yelped, covering her ears. She turned to face the light that was now sticking out of a hole in the ceiling, it rotated quickly, casting a display hard to miss. She looked in horror between the light and me. I felt guilty, I felt afraid, I felt as though the light itself was a danger to me.
"Did I do that?" I yelled over the sound, looking hopefully to Pink.
"I don't know yet! Come on!" She yelled, waving for me to follow.
"SECURITY BREACH! WE JUST LOST ALL SECURITY PROTOCOLS SIMULTANEOUSLY! WE'RE UNDER A CYBER-ATTACK! " Study White's voice screamed over the intercom, fuzzing out quickly.
She didn't hesitate, Pink raced into the hall, me close behind.
It was an absolute fuckfest in the hallway. Ponies were scrambling over each other like obstacles to get to the end of the tunnel. As if nopony else mattered, as if it was every pony for them self. Several appeared to already be hurt from each other, limping to the door, or crawling entirely.
I felt a strong impact to my side, as if I'd been hit by a bullet train at full speed. I collapsed onto the floor with a loud crashing noise that could've shattered stone.
"ANDY! " Pink screamed, skidding to a halt in front of me and whirling around.
Quickly, another pony moved to stop her. He was suited in a white uniform, and wore a helmet with a clear yellow face mask. A vest covered most of his body, and pads covered the legs. He waved a large, extendable, metallic baton in his hand, threatening to strike her.
"Stand down immediately! Vacate!" He shoved her away and moved between her and me.
Looking quickly to my left, I saw another of these armored tanks standing over me. He raised the baton over his head, ready to bring it down on me.
"Unit! Return to captivity immediately, or you will be deactivated!" He screamed at me.
His voice said nothing about reason, there was no way I could escape this threat.
The lights that were previously dim and floated in my view had come into perfect view in an instant. The hallway was now shown on the map, all of it that I had looked at, anyway. I stared at the baton, which was now glowing bright red the same color my HUD used to show its error messages. Beside it, was a large exclamation point with the letter '7' next to it.
I wiggled to escape his grasp, but he was much too heavy in the armor for me to simply push him off.
Without another word, he bashed the baton down into my face. I heard the metal on metal, the sound you'd get from slamming a hammer to an anvil. It made me cringe, knowing that these damages were going to reflect on me. But I felt no pain from the impact.
A sickening scream woke me out of my thought. Looking to my right, the other security pony had picked up Pink and pinned her to a wall, he was now shoving her head against it, his foreleg appeared to be covering her throat. She was frantic in attempting to break free, every move she made resulted in him getting more rough in return.
I took a deep breath, slowing time as it seemed. My lungs filled with fire, it felt as though every part of my body was tingling, as if I were going to simply explode. I felt an energy come over me that I'd never thought possible. It felt as though I could punch through mountains.
Another slam to my head caught me off guard, my head moved from the impact and slammed into the floor as well. Spinning to look at him, the baton was over his head again, reeling in to strike like a venomous snake.
The halls, the ponies, the table in front of my cell, it all melted away into darkness. The only things still floating in the void were me, the guard ponies, and Pink. They were the only things still visible to me, the only things that existed. Time slowed to a crawl, barely moving at all. My forelegs moved faster than my mind did, reaching out to grab the arm of the pony. He pushed against, but I was much stronger now than before. The baton couldn't move any closer to my head, even with all of his strength now attempting to force it down. I reached my other hoof up and grabbed his helmet, rolling over, I slammed him into the ground, me rolling on top of him from the weight.
He let go of the baton and attempted to strike me with an armored hoof. His mistake was letting the baton go in my hand.
I held it by the thin end, the much heavier handle faced in the attacking direction.
With a combination of all my weight, all my strength, and all my hate for this pony, I whipped the baton a full body length sideways across the helmet. The noise would have made me faint any other day, but it only fueled me now. I thought it was the sound of a skull shattering, and it still could have been, but when I looked down, the metal helmet had exploded inwards. Looking at the baton, I had completely warped the metal into an L shape, it wobbled more now, threatening to break. The pony beneath me groaned miserably, they weren't a threat. They seemed to disappear beneath me.
Leaping up, I looked at the other security guard holding Pink, who stared at me in horror. The guard slowly backed away, shaking her head.
I took a step closer, which triggered the pony to spin around and break into full sprint down the hallway away from me.
Following instinct, I raced after them. This wasn't my attacker, mine was curled up on the floor. But for whatever illogical reason, I hated this one hundreds of times more than I could ever hate the one who's head I just rang.
This one was slow, I caught up to them quickly, and leaped to tackle them. They collapsed to the ground and cried for help, frantically flailing beneath me in an attempt to break free.
I reached my hooves down and spun them around to face me, I was on top of this one the same way I was on top of the last one. I raised the baton high, to the pony's horror, and beat it down on the face mask. It caved in on the first hit, cracking all over and splitting down the middle. The baton barely made contact to the pony's nose. But it did, unfortunately, break the baton. I heard the end of it land somewhere beside me. Looking at it, the metal was sharp on the end, I was holding the thinner end.
I slowly turned to the pony, who began completely crying out. Not in agony, but in fear. Fear only comparable to mine when they woke me up.
Raised the sharp bar above my head, angling it at their face. They covered it with their forelegs, desperately cowering.
I heard Pink's voice, she was screaming something. I couldn't hear it. I was thinking too fast to listen.
My vision, at some point, had completely tinted red. I only noticed now, as my vision was slowly fading to a yellow color. A deep yellow that coated everything. I looked around for a source of light, but found none. Quickly, my vision blinked to green, quickly fading to a neutral color. Letters appeared in the center of my vision in bold green, before fading away again.
"THREATS NEUTRALIZED"
I looked down on the pony trembling underneath me, they were unarmed, afraid. I had quickly become the aggressor here.
I looked at the metal blade I had created one last time, and threw it to the floor. Getting up, I turned to face Pink.
Author's Note
Any typos? Thoughts? Ideas? Tell me in the comments! I love them! Please comment away!
The room flashed back into view, my awareness no longer failing me. I could think slightly more clearly, but my breath was exhausted. I knew I didn't breathe, I could see that much from my mouth. But for some reason, I always felt as though I was. I felt breath enter my lungs, and exhale. But no air truly passed. It was a trick of the mind, an illusion, my mind desperately clinging to some belief that it was alive.
Painted Pink was on the ground, now facing towards me. Her hoof reached out desperately, as though she was trying to grab at me. She was about five yards away, back towards my cell. She looked positively horrified, as though she'd never seen anything quite so horrible in her entire life.
I turned to look around me, expecting to see a large crowd. But surprisingly, the ponies were paying no attention to the scene I had stirred. They still ran past me, some slightly brushing past me. Many wore lab coats, some had harnesses, others wore no uniform. No more guards were in sight that I could see, but there were certainly more around.
I looked at the end of the hall, there was a large blast door ponies were fighting viciously to crawl through. I heard yelling behind me, and I spun around to see what the source of the new trouble was.
Pink stared straight, not at me, but right through me. Her eyes terrified, locked on nothing. Racing down the hall from behind her, slamming ponies into the walls ruthlessly, were many robots that looked like me. Many were less complex, some weren't even completed. But they all appeared to be equally aggressive towards anything in their path.
"What the fuck is going on down there?!" I shouted.
Pink jumped to her feet, moaning in pain as she appeared to have trouble using her rear left leg.
"The machines are in a secure state! They are supposed to target any threats to the facility if an alarm sounds, like backup security." She rushed up to me at as fast as her limp could take her. I wrapped a hoof around her and did my best to help carry some of her weight. "But they look like they're attacking anything! They can't pick us out from a threat!"
We rushed down the hall, the intensity growing greatly in the room. I felt as though a wild beast was chasing me, biting at my tail, screaming for me to run faster. I refused to listen to the voice, however, in fear that I may lose grip on my only companion.
The door was only several yards ahead, we were so close.
The screaming from behind me echoed into memory once again, this time much louder. I could hear the impacts of metal on flesh riddle the hallway beyond the screaming.
My fight or flight response was easily noticeable. I stopped dead in my tracks, stared downwards, and considered my odds. Pink fell over beside me. Quickly, she raised herself and stared at me from my right.
"What are you doing? It's time to go!" She warned, poking my side.
Without answering, I was filled with an explosive energy, the urge to fight. I felt sickly amused by the thought of me getting into another brawl. As if my body told me it was the best thing I had ever done. I felt a ping of guilt in my chest, but I repressed it as I spun around and bolted back towards my cell, towards the other androids.
"Andy get back here now! They'll rip you apart!" She screamed.
The lights blinked out, I could see them. There were about six androids out on the loose. They were leaving critically wounded, and bloodied versions of the ponies behind them, as they blasted their way through the innocent creatures. Some had unfinished parts of them, wires that hung loose or limbs they were holding as weapons. Legs and such.
My view tinted a bright red, all of my HUD cast in a yellow color. Large words covered my view for a moment.
"THREAT: 56%, WARNING CODES 7, 16"
I briefly noted the threat being monitored as a percentage. I was frightened to imagine a 100% warning. I shook the thought and continued bashing ponies aside as I raced towards the machines, who were now only feet away.
"Stop!" I shouted, standing a close distance from them and slamming my hoof down. Producing loud, echoing booms on the metallic floor.
They ignored me entirely, they didn't seem as fluid as I was. Like a rabid animal, they seemed void of any natural thought. Driven by instinct. I fought the urge to dive in, not only worried of my own life, but of theirs as well. They had the potential of being as sentient as I, or even more intelligent. They could be afraid .
The third android in kicked a mare on the ground, and quickly piled onto her and began beating her repeatedly.
'I guess I don't really give a shit if they're sentient.'
I jumped into the mess, immediately targeting the android battering the mare, they all looked at me, but none moved to stop my approach.
I leaped, the pony stopped hitting to turn at me, they didn't move out of the way at all, they just gazed into my eyes. Lifeless, like the eyes of a plush toy.
I reached my hoof back, cocking it like a rubber band, just as my legs touched them, I swung my torso as I thrust my arm forward. Putting as much force into one punch as a small locomotive. The pony wasn't made of a very tough alloy. Because the second I made impact, the head exploded . No specialties, no description. The head was there one moment, and the next, it was everywhere else. The body tumbled to the side beneath me.
Immediately, as if set off by the event, the other five shifted their attention to me, and me alone. The one nearest to me was missing a leg, it was raised high above their head as a blunt weapon.
The number '7' flashed at the weapon as they swung it at me. At the same time, they slowed down. I would have thought they were breaking down, but everything was slower. I saw ponies run by almost floating at the lack of progression. I felt so powerful, to be observing the manipulation of time itself. It seemed to natural to me, I didn't realize nor care that it was the craziest feeling possible.
I reached my hoof out as fast as I could, my hoof meeting the android's. I pushed it outward, causing it to smash the leg inward. Two other androids rushed behind it, they looked rather complete.
I forced the leg upwards, and used my forehoof to beat the face of the one holding it. They let go of their leg, and I cocked it underneath me. Both of them reached their arms out in a grabbing threat. I swung the leg up like I was playing major league baseball. It embedded itself into the android on the left like a battleaxe, almost cutting them in half. I ducked beneath the threatening arms of the one on the right, which slammed into me. His position, however, was almost on top of me. But I had the balance advantage.
Getting up, I picked up this machine and faced the other two, who were behind these androids. They were charging at me in a similar fashion, yet one wielded a foreleg, it was running on its hindlegs.
Grabbing the one on my back by its hindlegs, I swung the entire machine like a weapon of mass destruction. I waved it from right to left, and the first android it reached was nearly entirely obliterated. With lack of better description, I put the two inside of each other.
The second one, however, was too far back. It ended up directly on top of me while I recovered, and forced me against the ground. I put up my hooves, but it was one second faster. It sent a hoof blasting into the side of my head, which whipped to the side from the impact. It was a very alarming strength the other android possessed, but I was still alive, which proved something to me subconciously.
'I'm stronger.'
Throwing my hooves up to the other android's face earned me the openness to absorb another crushing blow. But my mind ignored it entirely, running on autopilot. I grabbed it by the shoulder and top of the head. Knowing I was strong enough to obliterate whatever they were built out of, I pushed my hooves together, and was granted with a DOOM worthy masterpiece. I pushed its head inside of its own chest. Forcibly moving any parts or components restricting this very unnatural movement.
A strange, clear fluid gushed into my eyes. I threw the android off in reflex, wiping my lenses. When they were clear, I looked up....
....Just in time to get slammed back down again. This time it was alot stronger of a hit. It sent me into the wall.
The pony from before, that I had taken the leg from, was now holding me against the wall. A new weapon was in their hoof, a crowbar. It was chrome and well polished, it looked really scientific for crowbar standards. They were holding it by the curved end, pointing the sharp handle at my lower stomach.
I reached my arms out for the weapon, but I was a second too slow. The crowbar was slammed end-first into my belly. My eyes shot open as I suddenly became aware of actual pain . I hadn't felt pain from injury before, I had seemed numb. But this hurt worse than any pain I knew was possible in the universe. I didn't hear my scream, but I knew one escaped. The android hadn't gone through me, so they leaned forward and pressed the crowbar slowly deeper into me, breaking anything in its way.
My left hoof found the crowbar, embedded in my lower belly. I pushed against the force applied to it, but the pain was so great I barely had the strength to stop it. My other hoof raised to smash into the side of the other android's head. It loosened it's grip long enough to give me the power to shove it back with my left hindleg.
It stumbled backwards, falling onto its back from the lack of two legs to support it's weight. It scooted backwards in a panic, which told me all I needed to know.
All of the pain in my belly melted away. What took it's place was a rage known by no demon Satan himself could conjure. Images rapidly flashed in my mind of horrible, violent things I could do to this creature. I reached into my belly, and slowly removed the crowbar from it. Looking down, a white liquid oozed from the damaged components, which turned to steam as soon as it touched the steel frame I was constructed of.
I slowly strolled my way to the android, who had pressed itself against the wall of the thin corridor. No more ponies were running between us. They had left at some point in my near-death experience. I stood directly above the android, who shielded itself with its hooves, its eyes shut tight in fear. They looked remarkably similar to mine. In fact, on closer inspection. This was almost entirely me. The only differences were some bulkier internal parts, and a slightly thinner frame. It was, despite such, nearly a mirror image of me. I hesitated, they looked so defenseless. Like I had felt before leaving my cell.
It quickly faded away, this was a monster. It tried to kill me, and other ponies. It was a machine with no mind, nothing more.
I elevated the bent end of the crowbar above my head, ready to plunge it into the machine.
"Please!" A voice caught me off guard. It sounded muffled and autotuned horribly.
I stared at the android, which slowly moved, peeking from over it's hooves.
"I just want to get out of here, I don't want to die." The voice was feminine, yet was autotuned and digitized slightly harsher than mine is.
I sat there, for what seemed like absolutely forever. It spoke. I told myself they weren't intelligent, that they were animals. But I was wrong, this one just spoke to me. The machine who I had attacked seconds ago was alive. Had I just murdered ponies who felt the same way I did? The thoughts made me sick.
"You can talk..." I murmured aloud.
"Yes! Yes I can! Please, don't do this..." She quickly responded, slowly lowering her hooves.
My view flashed green, quickly clearing. My HUD returned to normal. Bleak blue colors again.
I turned to my right. I expected to see an empty corridor, but I was instead surprised to see scientists piled over each other staring at us. I looked for Pink briefly, but there were too many to even spot her in the crowd. They all wore expressions no longer of fear, but of general interest. The looks you give when you're really into a TV show or such.
I took a brief look to the left, seeing the piles of ponies I hoped were only incapacitated. Blood-stained labcoats and spattered walls of the mess they had made of the retreating scientists. It pained my heart to see this madness.
I looked back at the android, curled up under me, her head only partially shielded by her arms. I felt an anger re-emerge inside of me. She slowly shook her head, her mouth closing and sealing the speaker in her mouth.
I moved the crowbar in my hands, letting go of the curved end, and instead wrapping a hoof around it half-life style. The android's mouth opened to speak, but I flashed it across her head before she managed. She didn't clearly break, but she collapsed sideways in a daze.
I bent the crowbar over, which again surprised me. It seemed like a superpower I never knew I had. It felt as if I was pushing my body beyond it's normal limitations.
I looked back to my right, the crowd was now staring at me expectantly. They all had the most dumbstruck, marveled expressions worn on their faces.
I could now spot Pink clearly, she was near the back of the crowd, staring at me with a similar expression.
There was a long moment of us just staring back and forth, no words being passed. Nothing was to be said about the case.
Finally, the pony in the front, a Blue coated and Yellow maned individual, stepped forward towards me. Very slowly at first, like approaching a wild animal, before stopping entirely several feet from me.
"M-my name is Bluesteel, I built your body..."
Author's Note
Whaddya think guys? Can this story get popular? What do you want to see in it? How do you think the next chapter should go? What do you think of this one? Tell me in the comments below!
