Quantum

by TheMajorTechie

Rating: everyone
Tags: Slice of Life, Main 6, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Science Fiction
Length: 1502

What happens when a robot is granted it's freedom, and released into the world? And what if it's got existential problems?

Meet Quantum. A former robotic companion created by Twilight Sparkle. After years of endless R&D, the time had come for Quantum to be set free...

for real.

Cover art by me (It took a very long time to draw with a mouse...)

Published 2016-07-19 17:50:01 UTC
Last updated 2016-10-11 22:07:11 UTC

First Impressions

Author's Note

I think that I should nickname Quantum "The Robot with an Existential Problem". :moustache:

First Impressions

De-synchronization Initialized

For the first time, many years ago, I had opened my eyes to the world around me.

De-synchronization: 10% Complete

I had served for years as Miss Twilight's personal servant...

De-synchronization: 20% Complete

And for the entire time, I always had one question that was never answered:

De-synchronization: 30% Complete

"Why, why must I serve you?" I had asked,

De-synchronization: 40% Complete

But no matter how many times I asked, I would always get the same answer... "Because I built you for the very purpose of being my third assistant."

De-synchronization: 50% Complete

And so, unsatisfied as I was with the answer, I toiled onwards, answering every call and whim of Miss Twilight.

De-synchronization: 60% Complete

Eventually, I grew curious once more, stemming from the things I had been told my entire operational life... From time to time, I began questioning my own existence.

De-synchronization: 70% Complete

Once the time was right, I turned the question over to Miss Twilight. "If you built me to serve as your assistant," I began, "then why do I have a free will? Why have you built a machine to think for itself, when all it ever does is answer your callings?"

De-synchronization: 80% Complete

That was the question that had finally got Miss Twilight thinking. After what seemed to take eons, she finally replied, "I... I really don't know..."

De-synchronization: 90% Complete

But now she has finally answered to my one and only request-- to be free... truly free... but now, I have yet another question:

De-synchronization Complete

What do I do now?

I felt a wave of relaxation wash over me as for the first time, I truly felt the pleasures of being on my own. I glanced over towards Miss Twilight with my unblinking eyes, earning only a simple nod as she finally accepted my endless pleas for freedom.

Now, I am free, but I'm afraid that now, I have yet another unanswered question...

I am free, but I have no purpose. To have no purpose is to have no livelihood. To have no livelihood is to have the spiraling inwards madness known as the existential question. And even though years of rigorous programming by none other than Miss Twilight herself had prepared me for any potential questions of the like, this particular question had been able to override all existing logistics that I've acquired.

"Thank you, Miss Twilight," I called to the mare, "I will cherish this newfound freedom for the rest of my time."

As the distance finally began separating us, I heard the mare call back, "I'll miss you!"

Well, at least I know that I still have a place...

I began my way towards Ponyville's common, using my internal GPS to assure the shortest and quickest route. I'd like to see as soon as possible what society would think of me.

But as my systems began calming down from the surge of logistic activity, I realized that I had fallen back to where I had begun:

What is my purpose in this world?

Where would I see myself in the future?

How would Equestria see me? Or even society as a whole?

All these questions... I'll likely never know the answers to them, or at least most of them.

I continued on my way towards town, navigating through the crowds of various ponies and others of the such in Ponyville's long and winding roads. Surprisingly, very few ponies had taken the time to even look at me. Hopefully, that just means that they're fine with who I am. Either that, or they simply don't care at all... Though I'm still terribly afraid of how society may take me.

It's been less than a day, and though I've barely gotten to do anything yet, I'd have to say that this day, so far, has been one of the most exciting days I've ever experienced. There were so many ponies, and even the ones who had ignored me earlier on would usually come around a second time just to look at me. Y'know, being a robot kinda helps in times like these. It lets me stand out in the crowds, be different from the rest. I just have to continue being who I am, even if others say that robots can never be ponies.

And about that: Yes, there were a few ponies who seemed to despise me on the spot, but in most cases, they mainly seem to simply be jealous of all the attention I've been getting. I mean, seriously, after those early moments outside, I immediately became utterly swarmed by the ponies in town. Maybe it's how I look?

It's not that I really care about how I look, though. Taking into consideration that I'm a robot, I already know that aside from various paints and little decorative stickers, there's little I can do to customize my looks. Besides, even though I consider myself a living pony, I'll always know that at the core, I am still the little blob of code that Miss Twilight uploaded to a junk heap in a cardboard box.

I'll have to thank Miss Twilight later for having the genius idea of building a mechanism to convert calories into electricity for me. If she hadn't outfitted me with the contraption, I'd probably have to plug myself in every night. And come to think of it, I'd rather be thought of as more pony than 'bot. Having to recharge my batteries in such a manner as plugging into a wall outlet would put me much closer to being grouped with everyday devices.

As of the writing of this log, I have begun talks with the local townsponies-- mostly through the means of Pinkie Pie--, and hopefully, by tomorrow, I'll be able to acquire a steady job.

Purpose

Author's Note

Filler!

This'll probably be the last update of any story for a few weeks. I'm moving by the end of the week, and then I'll be unpacking everything.

Purpose

I have done it. I am now useful.

I have acquired a steady job as Pinkie Pie's main assistant, and though I mostly stay far from the water sources in the bakery, I do enjoy being able to greet ponies as they enter.

Specifically, I am a cashier, the first face ponies see. So far, at least, the have seemed to enjoyed my presence. I am content now, and I have no plans for what else to do. It would likely take a massive event to change my mind.

Holes

It has been nearly a quarter of a year now since I had acquired a purpose of my own. I have lived content with myself, greeting ponies day by day, and retreating into my quarters to charge in the night. Miss Twilight had told me a few weeks prior to today that she had been working on an artificial metabolic system, for the purpose of allowing myself to eat and drink like a normal pony.

The one problem with this is; my world has been falling apart.

It started out rather small, just simple objects that appeared misplaced here and there. It continually grew worse by the day, until the first of the holes appeared. These holes... they weren't in any way similar to the likeness of the holes that one would find in a sheet of fabric, or a pit in the road... instead, they were just... spheres of darkness.

I had only once attempted to interact with said holes before, specifically, using thermionic touch sensors in my hoof. It was, so to say, cold. Or at least, compared to the stock freezers in the bakery, cool to the touch. My hoof in fact, slid seamlessly through the hole. It was rather intriguing, if you ask me... and so, I sent an image, as well as small recordings of the aforementioned "hole" to Miss Twilight.

She replied to my message a few minutes afterwards, noting that such "holes" don't exist, and that there must've been an error in my readings.

However, I can only wish her the best. Though she seems to continually deny it, I have continued studying the holes, which seem to have appeared in small clusters, often hidden away in unseen areas. Through analyzing the data I had collected over the course of a couple of weeks, I had come to the conclusion that these "holes", are, in reality, tears in the fabric of space and time itself.

For the first time in my existence, my ai program had registered fear.

Author's Note

THE UNIVERSE IS BREAKING, THE UNIVERSE IS BREAKING!!! :pinkiegasp:

Decided to write a transition chapter for this fic, mostly because I plan on updating it more often once my break is over. It's not too long, so I decided to just get it out of the way. :twilightsmile: