Chapter 1 - Locked Inside
Name: Watts
Eye Colour: Green
Species: Pegasus
Gender: Female
Age: 22
Cutie Mark: Twin silver cogs
Coat Colour: Beige
Primary Mane Colour: Dark Brown
Secondary Mane Colour: Light Brown
Tertiary Mane Colour (if applicable): Blonde
Tail Colour (if different from Mane Colour): N/A
Special Attire: Goggles on Forehead
Other: Three Metal Piercings on Left Ear
“Mmm,” the receptionist hummed, a burly, strong chested stallion of blue coat and white mane, sat behind the steel desk and looked over the application before directing his stern look to the mare before him.
“I have a question about one of the form’s questions,” Watts smiled nervously, looking from left to right and back again as if to say that something shady was going on. The office behind her was empty and devoid of all pony life. In fact, the only evidence of life at all were the two rows of hard plastic benches, and a water cooler in a corner. Watts was shifting from hoof to hoof, waiting for this receptionist to answer.
“Which one?” the receptionist asked boredly. His name was displayed on the desk in holographic lettering, and were coloured a deep black. A stark contrast to the polished blue steel of the desk.
“Hoe … res … Hores? No … rus? As in rust? Horust? No, there’s no ‘t’ … Horus,” Watts sounded out, peering closely at the name and lifted her hoof to wave at the lettering. She had only heard of these advanced projections, and seeing it in front of her now? Watts was unimpressed. The lettering and strange font hurt her eyes so much she was was having trouble reading the pony’s name. Unable to make out the rest of it, she shook her head and closed her eyes to get rid of the sick feeling rising from the pit of her stomach.
“Which one?” Horus repeated monotonously with a slow blink. He did not seem phased by what Watts had just experienced at all.
“The … guh,” Watts mumbled and used one of her hooves to rub her eyes. Maybe some dirt had gotten stuck in it or it could be a delayed effect of the hologram. “The last one.”
“Disabilities?” Horus said, quirking a brow and showing a tiny bit of emotion.
“No, the one after that,” Watts waved, breathing in relief at having her vision back and the sick feeling receding.
“‘What kind of creature do you have as a pet?’?” Horus read out and Watts nodded. The receptionist scoffed and continued on. “Ha! You’re kidding me, right? This is an easy question. What pet do you have, if any?”
“No, I got that part. I’m having trouble with the examples listed. I’ve never heard of some of these,” Watts shook her head and stepped forward, being sure to avoid looking at the hologram. Maybe holograms still needed to be in the testing phase. She stepped around the desk after looking at Horus silently and after a few moments, found the right question. “Psychoslammer. Stimucrosis. Hechan. These are unknown to ponies so why are they listed?”
“It’s not my job, and I don’t know the answer. Just put 'not applicable', and move on,” Horus sighed and before I could move, did it himself. “Through the door on the right, marked ‘Engineer’. It’s what you’re good at, right?”
“Y-Yeah,” Watts replied and looked at the sheet she had passed to him. It was a form to get into SicoFilant, Equestria’s largest manufacturer of top of the range technology and other goods and services, and was located in San Franceisco. They had posted engineering jobs in the local newspapers and sent emails out to prospective interviewees too so Watts was expecting at least a few other ponies to show up. It was just her. Which she found extremely odd and worrisome. Was the job so hard to get into that most ponies just gave up?
“Oi! Get over here!” a pony called out to Watts. She flinched and spun on the spot to find a pony in a synthetic outfit. One made of fibre weaving and extremely light mesh. These were commonplace in the military because it provided them maximum mobility but were as strong as spider’s silk, perhaps stronger with today’s technology. The pony itself? It was wearing a sleek white helmet that covered its face entirely and the synthesized suit covered any and all parts of a pony that made it unique. Be it the mane, tail, and even cutie mark, it was all covered up by this suit.
“You called?” Watts said with a small smirk. It fell when she was greeted with silence and was directed to head through the door marked ‘Engineering’. “Quit being cryptic, I know I have to go here,” she huffed and walked through the door. Soon as her tail was through, the door slid shut with a loud clang, making her jump at the sudden noise. She turned and regarded the door, it’s red light in the slit fading in and out. On either side of the door were panels, and one word kept repeating over them in large blocky letters. ‘LOCKED’. She took a step towards the door but jumped back, cursing at having felt an invisible electric fence. The noise of the door slamming echoed in the hallway, making one thing noticeable to Watts. “Where’s all the noise?”
There was no answer. Watts stood where she was for a time, adjusting her goggles until they covered her eyes. Everything was now tinted green but various tidbits of information popped up in front of her eyes. The walls were made of a folded steel, giving the place a cold and detached feeling. There were no windows along the walls, only doors and various signs helping any lost ponies.
She waved her hoof to try and alleviate the pain and turned. Her wings flapped nervously and taking a breath, walked down the lifeless hallway. Her hooves echoed as she walked, wondering just what was going on. When Watts stopped at a junction to read a sign, she heard running hooves. Looking to the north, she saw nothing. To the right, nothing. Left? A shadow moved and Watts definitely knew nothing was behind her.
She focused her attention on the corridor and found a faded, light blue pony running towards her. The information on her goggles immediately classed the pony as a Unicorn but no other information was given. It was obvious they were running from something but when they got to Watts’ location, the pony passed right through her.
“Holographic pony?” Watts guessed, looking behind her to see the pony fade into the wall at the far end of the east hallway. A sick feeling overcame her but she managed to keep her lunch down. “Probably an - urp - delayed reaction,” Watts groaned and kept her mouth closed for a few minutes, breathing only through her nose to keep herself in check. Once she was sure she had done so, and thinking that there was nothing else to see, Watts made her way down the hallway the run off hologram came from.
“Hello!?” Watts called out once she figured she had gotten herself lost. Her goggles were back on her forehead and she was now walking towards a double door at the end of another steel hallway. Watts huffed at not getting a straight answer and went towards the door. “Anyone here!?” The doors slid open and once she was through, slid shut. Watts turned to look at it, and saw that it had a green word repeated throughout the two panels on the doors. ‘UNLOCKED’.
“That’s different. There’s been nothing but locked doors so far,” Watts said appreciatively.
“Watts,” a crackly voice droned out from behind the Pegasus. Watts turned and cocked her head to the side. The room before her was an office type room with a desk, chair, and a couple seats for guests or visitors. A window was covered with blinds on the far wall and in the middle of the room, stood a light hologram of a pony dressed in a stylish tuxedo.
“How do you know my name?” Watts asked. Despite feeling relief at seeing something address her, something told her that this company was more than it appeared to be.
“This is a recorded message. My name is --- and I am glad to wel- welcome you to the fazzzz-” the hologram cut short before starting up again, looping the message over. Watts scoffed at the message and sat on her haunches, leaning against the desk.
“Maybe I should’ve checked the date on that job listing,” Watts sighed.
