Chapter 17: Inprocessing

The party disembarked from the Gators in front of the tallest building on the campus. Jeff led Celestia and her wide-eyed entourage through the front door and to the desk. Mouths dropped and eyes bugged as they looked around, taking in the enormous interior, the trees, the artificial waterfall, and the floors reaching up above their heads to the distant skylight.

"This is the main administrative building of the campus as well," Jeff informed them. "There is much more underground on this installation, also there are surface processing plants, warehouses, and such. Now, if you all would be so kind as to congregate in this area, I will brief you momentarily."

The Equestrians gathered around quickly while several ProteC employees approached carrying boxes.

"Ah, thank you." Jeff reached into one of the boxes, then held out a device for everyone to see. "This is a combined communicator and identification badge. It fits around your wrist like this." He held it up his hand then trailed off, looking at Celestia's hoofs awkwardly.

She blinked back at him, then smiled. "Oh I see, well, I think it will fit me fine. May I?"

"Yes, uh, here." Jeff held the band out.

Celestia took it from him telekinetically and easily wrapped it around her foreleg. It activated, and Jeff handed her a headset as well.

"This is your hands-free... uh, your audio/video interface. The wristband contains a computer that can provide you with information from both our databases and the Web over a secure network..." He trailed off again at Celestia's blank expression. "Well, just ask it questions. It will respond to your voice commands."

Celestia smiled again. "Thank you." She put on the headset as well, which included transparent glasses.

Jeff raised his voice so everyone could hear. "You will notice that the headset includes a visor. This visor serves two purposes. On one hand, er, hoof, it is made out of a blast-resistant synthetic polymer capable of deflecting a direct impact from a bullet, so it can function as high-end safety glasses. On the other, it provides your holographic Augmented Reality Heads-Up Display, or ARHUD, interface. The ARHUD will change the way you see the world, providing overlays and context-sensitive information in real time. It will require proximity to your wristband to function. Oh, and it can polarize in bright light to function as sunglasses, or to protect you from damaging, unnatural light levels as well as UV radiation."

He held up a headset. Assistants handed out wristbands and headsets to all the other Equestrians.

Jeff continued. "For your safety, please wear these wristbands at all times. They will track your location and provide you with relevant information about this facility. You can ask directions and it will guide you. Call anyone and each other, whatever. Call me up anytime of the day or night. Oh, and if you have an emergency, just call for help and Security Control will respond. Most importantly, the wristband contains a digitally imprinted token that allows security drones and systems to recognize you in the event biometrics fails. This can be the difference between being safe and being shot dead should problems arise, so again, please do not wander the grounds without wearing your band!"

Jeff watched as the Equestrians pressed their holographic wristbands and adjusted the ARHUD displays. "Any questions?"

Marky held up his wrist. "Do I need to charge it?"

"ProteC vehicles and facilities include advanced long-range pulse field inductive charging systems that keep the headsets and wristbands, as well as many other mobile devices, charged as long as you are within range, which is anywhere inside one of said buildings or vehicles, for the most part. There's a small charge icon on the upper right of your vision, as you can see right now it shows charging. The internal batteries can last up to a week in the field before running out of juice."

"I see it. That's a pretty impressive system. What's the range like?"

"Using ProteC and civilian infrastructure, it will connect most places in the world. On the rare occasion you are out of range, there's a good chance you will connect via satellite."

There was plenty of low volume chatter and headset adjusting. Holographic displays blinked on and off.

"You can also use them play music and watch movies or games, if you want," Sanchez added.

"Or read books," Hamilton added, looking pointedly at Twilight.

Her ears pricked up. "Books?"

"Yes, there are hundreds of thousands of books available on the library app."

"Library," Twilight said softly. A search function appeared floating in front of her vision, and numerous suggested titles scrolled by. "Oh my goodness. This is amazing."

"Well, this is the last time we hear from her for the duration of this trip," Rainbow Dash sighed.

"Oh no, I was just looking. I'll definitely try it more later though! Thank you, Hamilton."

"Anytime, Twilight."

She looked around. "These glasses look really cool on everypony, though. Especially you, Rainbow Dash."

"What can I say. Everything that touches me, becomes awesome."

Jeff cleared his throat. "Alright, if everyone is comfortable with their issued materials, I need you to form a line in front of the machines at the front of the room. Biometric data will be logged from each of you, including a retinal scan and a blood sample. This is required to verify your access to specific areas, and for an alternate form of recognition in addition to your bands. If anyone is unwilling to complete this process, or has a fear of needles, please let myself or an attendant know, and we will find an acceptable solution. Again, this is for your safety at this facility."

He watched as lines formed. No-one seemed to have a problem with the process. There was some delay at the first retinal scan, however. The machine didn't recognize the huge Equestrian orbs as an eye at all. It took several minutes to get the handheld scanner to accept the out-of-tolerance readings. However, once the problem was solved and the central database was updated, all the scanners functioned properly.

Marky walked towards the attendants and calmly held out his leg while they took a blood sample. He waited for a prick, but felt only slight pressure. "You're good, thank you," the human said. "Have a nice day."

He paused for a moment to watch a frustrated human trying to get a sample from Pinkie. She wouldn't stay still for a second, and it finally took two people, one gesticulating wildly, to distract her enough to finish the procedure.

Marky shook his head and smiled to himself. "What a goof. I'm glad she's here."

"Okay everyone!" Jeff said. The room grew quiet. "Follow the attendants to your lodging quarters, please. If there are any problems or special requests, feel free to bring it up and we will do our best to accommodate you!"

***

"Here is your room." Jeff showed her how to touch the holographic button to open the door, and it slid open. Celestia walked forward into the spacious area, marveling at the view through the huge windows, the luxurious furniture, and the devices scattered around.

"What do all these things do?" she asked.

"Well, this here is actually a coffee machine. And that, well you probably won't need that, it's for clothes. By the way, if you don't' know what to do with anything in here, your ARHUD can provide instructions."

He showed her how to use the interface to access information on equipment.

"Thank you, I think I get it now."

"If you don't mind, I will go check on Twilight," Jeff said. "I imagine you must be hungry. We were planning to take you all to lunch, if you would like."

"That sounds very pleasant."

"Great then, I will be back in a few minutes. Everything here is free game for you, by the way. Touch anything and everything."

"Thank you. It's lovely here."

Jeff smiled and headed to the door, giving Celestia a few minutes of privacy to look around.

The room was beautiful in a way Celestia was not used to. Instead of tapestries and gold curtains on the walls, flat panels on the walls showed various images. A holographic projection of a globe hung above the table, rotating slowly. Celestia turned slowly in a circle, taking in the unfamiliar technology.

"It's like magic that works when nopony is around," she said to herself, softly. "Fascinating."

She moved around the room, investigating. Most things were familiar to her, although obviously more advanced than the devices she was used to back in Equestria. The sink, for instance. It did not have knobs, but when she swept a hoof under it, the water came on. She noticed that her wristband reacted to the environment, offering various controls for the lights and other nearby equipment.

She was sweeping her hoof in front of one of the wall posters, watching different vibrant paintings and pictures change before her, when she felt a twinge at the edge of her consciousness.

The hair on her spine prickled.

"What the...?"

Another soft, vile touch, as if something evil somewhere in her memories stirred, wanting to be remembered, to live again.

She gasped slightly and swayed, the feeling of slimy tendrils pulling at her thoughts making her nauseous. Her eyes widened. "Oh my. Oh my."

She staggered to the couch and sat down heavily, holding her head in her forehooves and rocking forward. "What's happening to me?"

There was a beep at her door, then it opened softly.

The disorienting sensation left as quickly as it had began, and she looked up to see Jeff returning through the doorway.

His face grew concerned when he saw how she was sitting. "Celestia! Are you feeling okay?"

She smiled weakly. "I'm fine, now. I was a bit dizzy, I guess. I think I'm just a little hungry."

Jeff smiled, relieved. "Well, good. I was actually coming to ask you if you'd like to go downtown and eat some lunch."

Celestia stood. "That sounds like an excellent idea."

"If you're ready, come with me, I'll walk you to the bus."

Celestia smiled warmly. "Thank you, Jeff."