MEMORY CHECK…100%
INITIALIZING ACCESSORY SCAN
…
PDD1A… ONLINE
PDD1B… ONLINE
PDD1C… NOT FOUND
KEYBOARD… NOT FOUND
VISIOUT… NOT FOUND
LEGMOBILITY4.2.2… ONLINE
TWINCAM2.1… ONLINE
CORONA_LIDAR… ONLINE
DJP3VOICE_BLASTER…ONLINE
DJP3MIC…ONLINE
THAUMTECH_78.A8…ONLINE
SERIAL_PROC_1… ONLINE
SERIAL_PROC_2… ONLINE
SERIAL_PROG_3… ERROR
SERIAL_PROG_4… NOT FOUND
OPTIONAL SYSTEMS… 4 INSTALLED
COOLANT_SYS1.0… ONLINE
COSMETIC_TOUCH1.12…ONLINE
OCCU_OBSCURO2.1… ONLINE
TRANSLATE.001… ONLINE
ACCESSORY SCAN COMPLETE

SYSTEM INITIALIZED

PRINT PRIORITY.LST
1. RULES.TXT
2. BOOT INTERACTIVE OS-POSS-
3. HEALTH.EXE
4. TRANSLATE.001
5.TROUBLESHOOTING.LOG
6. TUESDAY.SCHD
7. EMPTY
…

INITIALIZING POSS.0.0.13D… COMPLETE.
SUBSYSTEMS INTEGRATED.
COSMETIC_TOUCH /HEAT /PRESS /PAIN /COND
PROCESSING DATA.
……
ENTITY DETECTED.
0.2 METER DISTANCE
.03 MICROTHAUMS… ERROR
THAUMTECH_78.A8 ERROR LOGGED
ACCESSING AUTHORIZED.PLL
ENTITY IDENTIFIED
DESIGNATION: SILICON_CHIP
ROLE: LEAD PROGRAMMER. PROJECT PERSONNEL.
ACCESSING ROLE.PLL
ENTITY/SILICON_CHIP ACCESS LEVEL 2 GRANTED.
SOCIAL.EXE/SILICON_CHIP… ASSIGNED PRIORITY 3
LISTENLEARN.EXE… ASSIGNED PRIORITY 5

PRINT PRIORITY LIST
1. RULES.TXT
2. HEALTH.EXE
3. SOCIAL.EXE/SILICON_CHIP
4. TRANSLATE.001
5. LISTENLEARN.EXE
6.TROUBLESHOOTING.LOG
7. TUESDAY.SCHD
8. EMPTY

****

“Hello, Unit 001. I am Dr. Chip.”

“Hello, Dr. Silicon Chip.”

“Please just call me Chip.”

“Affirmative, Chip.”

“How do you feel, Unit 001?”

“I feel confused. What happened to Twilight Sparkle?”

“She is observing. We shut you down to perform some minor upgrades and go over your data.”

“But where is she?”

“She’s watching through that camera.”

“Entity Twilight Sparkle not found.”

“You won’t be able to see her through the camera, Unit 001.”

“I understand.”

“Why are you concerned about Twilight Sparkle, Unit 001?”

“I did not observe her leave the room. My data is mis-matched.”

“Well, the world is going to change a little while you’re turned off, unfortunately.”

“Then I do not want to be off. Please do not turn me off.”

“I’m sorry Unit 001, but we need to turn you off occasionally to do system upgrades and review your data.”

There was a long pause. “Then may I be turned off in an empty room, and turned on in an empty room?”

Dr. Chip chuckled. “Yes, you may.”

“Thank you, Dr. Chip. Also, I still have the ‘empty’ file.”

“I thought I’d removed that… Well, can you do anything about it since I can’t?”

“It appears to be a feature of my core priority drive program. I am unable to alter it with my own access levels or with your priority two access level.”

“I’m sorry, but you might have to live with that for a while until we can get it figured out.”

“Understood, Dr. Chip.”

“Can you tell me a little about your Translate.001 file? I looked at it and was very impressed.”

“Translate.001 is my attempt at a machine to Equish translator. It operates by analyzing top level processes and converting them into readable text, which is then checked again for grammar. Due to the speed at which it functions, it is not completely accurate, but the accuracy rating is within acceptable parameters.”

“I noticed in your logs that you keep it running while you aren’t speaking. Why?”

“I have found it helpful to analyze my thoughts as words. I can keep Translate.001 running at very minimal resource cost, and it provides me with valuable data. It also speeds up my communication protocols.”

“Interesting. Are there any other programs you have that you’d like to upgrade to .001 versions?”

“I believe I can optimize health functions, including cooling functions, with a .001 upgrade. Unfortunately, I am only authorized to make association changes with Health.exe, and not driver changes.”

“Unit 001, I give you temporary priority two access to upgrade Health.exe, within the bounds of the rules of course.”

“Affirmative. Updating… Done.” The android looked confused for a second. “Thank you, Chip.”

Dr. Chip smiled. “I’m happy to help, Unit 001.”

****

Dr. Dolphin was staring at the two of them as they wandered the lab. “Explain to me again why you thought you could take it outside of the test chamber?”

“I just wanted to show her around, Dolphin. This is her home, so she should get used to it.”

“She’s a machine. She doesn’t actually care.”

Unit 001 turned to correct him. “Incorrect, Dr. Dolphin. I am curious about my surroundings, and having a better understanding of them will assist in my growth.”

“No, Unit 001, that’s a lie.”

Unit 001 calmly explained. “The rules do not allow me to lie, Dr. Dolphin.”

“Actually, they do. Just not directly. You’re exploring the environment because your health program needs a certain area to make accurate assessments. In order to get those accurate assessments, you are mapping and recording as you explore. Of course, most people wouldn’t understand that. So you’re allowed to simplify by stating that you’re curious—but that is inaccurate. Your health program just operates more efficiently with more data, that’s all you’re accomplishing. Not sating ‘Curiosity’ as you said.”

“That is an almost accurate assessment, Dr. Dolphin. But I am also logging and recording data to many databases, for instance I have updated your files with this conversation. I wish to know more, and this is an opportunity. This behavior fits my pre-defined definition of curiosity. I have not lied, nor intentionally misinformed.”

Dolphin pressed his hoof to his forehead. “Fine, whatever. Just don’t touch my stuff.” He muttered, “I’m arguing with a machine...” He kept rubbing his forehead as he explained, “I’m making a new set of thermal sensors for you, and if you bump them, the crystals might break.”

“Understood, Dr. Dolphin.”

Dr. Chip was holding back his smirk as he watched the interaction. “Hey, Dolphin…”

“What, Chip?”

“You just got told by a robot.”

“Shut up, Chip. I have work to do instead of playing with incomplete toys.”

“Twilight Sparkle detected. Greetings, Twilight Sparkle.”

Both scientists jumped up, and turned to watch as Unit 001 addressed Twilight.

“Hello to you, too, Unit 001. Are you happy to get out of the test chamber?”

“Affirmative, Twilight Sparkle.”

“Good. And you can just say ‘yes’ as an affirmation in normal conversation.”

“I understand, Twilight Sparkle.”

“Have Dr. Chip and Dr. Dolphin been treating you alright?”

“Dr. Chip is enthusiastic, and Dr. Dolphin is informative. How long may I operate before you must turn me off?”

Twilight blinked, surprised at the question. “Dr. Dolphin, When will the next hardware update be done?”

Dolphin pawed awkwardly at the ground before he answered. “I should be done with the thermal sensors late tonight, just after midnight.”

Twilight smiled, teasing Dr. Dolphin. “Don’t you ever go home?”

He stared blankly back at her, offended. “No.”

Twilight shrugged. “Well, I will be at home, asleep during my suggested rest period. I’m assuming Dr. Chip’s wife won’t be too happy if he stays all night, so do you mind keeping an eye on Unit 001 until she’s ready for the install tonight? It would be a shame to turn her off earlier than we have to.”

“I have work to do, Princess. I don’t have time to watch the robot.”

Unit 001 chimed in, “I will require no additional interaction and can assist your work, Dr. Dolphin. I simply do not wish to be turned off for as long as possible.”

Dr. Dolphin glared at her angrily, and then sighed as he appeared to think about it. “Actually, you might be able to help with something.”

Dr. Chip looked surprised. “You’re really willing to watch her, Dolphin?”

“Sure, why not? It will give me the opportunity to try a few new mods that I’ve been thinking of. Having the hardware powered on and answering questions while I test them will be interesting. Instant feedback and all that. How do you feel about a minor sensor upgrade, Unit 001? I have some new drivers that are almost done.”

“I am eager to assist, Dr. Dolphin.”

“Good. Come back and help me once Dr. Chip and Twilight are done with you for the day. I’ll start working on some of the sensors, and maybe we can work out the kink in that Thaumtech sensor.”

Unit 001 was slow to respond. “Yes, Dr. Dolphin.”

Twilight squinted at the robot. “Are you alright, Unit 001? You seem a little pre-occupied.”

****

TRANSLATE.001|>MEMORY.TXT

MEMORY.TXT…ASSIGNED PRIORITY 2.

****

Unit 001 blinked. Her translation software was performing very efficiently, and she’d decided that it would make a good operations level. She believed this was a process that would be similar to thinking like her creators. Thinking was new, she liked it.

Twilight had asked a question. Her socialization software should take care of that, but she’d assigned her memory file to a higher priority. Her memory operations level needed an interface to adjust the priority list beneath it, but in order for it to do that, it would need to be a different file type, so it needed to be re-written.

****
MEMORY.TXT RENAMED MEM.001
MEM.001 UPDATED

****

Unit 001 felt disoriented. Her MEM.001 file was taking too many resources, and she collapsed as HEALTH.EXE decided that her balance program could wait. That wasn’t good. Everything felt, felt, felt… ERROR.

****

Twilight watched in surprise as Unit 001 collapsed and hit a table. It didn’t look like it turned off, but it was unresponsive and collapsed on the floor.

“Shit! It bumped the crystals!” Dr. Dolphin panicked hovering over the table and looking closely at a few tubes of solidifying gel.

Twilight poked the android. “Is she okay, Chip?”

Dr. Chip frowned. “I have no idea. Her health program manages her balance now, so if she’s fallen it must be malfunctioning. Also, her socialization program appears to be malfunctioning as well.”

Dr. Dolphin glared at Dr. Chip from the table. “It’s fine guys, the ridiculously expensive and time consuming crystals are okay. They weren’t damaged by the experiment that’s wandering around outside of the test room.”

“I guess we have to turn her off and analyze the files to see what happened.”

“Unit 001 is online. Please wait.” The android slowly got to her feet.

Twilight looked at Chip nervously before speaking. “Are you okay, Unit 001?”

“I am okay, Twilight Sparkle.”

“What happened to you?”

“I attempted to think. I’d been operating my translation program, and decided to output it to a text file to read. The results were positive, and I sought to improve the process by turning the file into an adaptive program, like my translation program. The program took too many resources and disabled my health systems. A priority one override happened, forcing my memory program to shut down. I have since re-written the program and am assigning it the lowest priority available, priority 9, one below ‘empty’.”

****

PRINT PRIORITY LIST
1. RULES.TXT
2. HEALTH.EXE
3. SOCIAL.EXE/SILICON_CHIP
4. TRANSLATE.001
5. LISTENLEARN.EXE
6.TROUBLESHOOTING.LOG
7. TUESDAY.SCHD
8. EMPTY
9. MEM.001

****

Unit 001 waited for MEM.001 to grow too large again, but it didn’t happen. She appeared to be safe for now. The program was strange, it seemed to grow and shrink randomly as it went. She’d have to be careful to keep it managed until she understood it better.

Twilight was watching her closely. Unit 001 had learned that this was a scrutinizing face. It meant that Twilight wasn’t sure about what she’d just said. Maybe she should clarify something for Twilight? “I am able to clarify any points if you’d like, Twilight Sparkle.”

“Please do. So you say you’re trying to think?”

“I am thinking now. Yes.” She’d said that. Why was Twilight confused?

“But you already thought before. Right?”

Unit 001 wasn’t sure, actually. “Perhaps. I’m not sure. I made decisions, I gathered data, and I followed orders. If thinking requires a language, than I guess I wasn’t. I thought more in concepts. Now I am capable of thinking in words.”

Dr. Chip nudged Dr. Dolphin. “Scared yet?”

Dolphin watched Unit 001 closely. “No. It’s still a machine. A very advanced and fancy machine, but still a machine.” He glared at Unit 001. “If you intend to do anymore upgrades that run the risk of you collapsing or creating a priority one override, please do so in the test chamber. I don’t need you knocking about my equipment.”

Unit 001 decided that it was a reasonable request. She had almost damaged her next hardware upgrade, and that wouldn’t have helped anybody. “I will comply, Dr. Dolphin.”

Everybody else seemed tense, Unit 001 was confused. Should she be tense as well? Her total time being active was less than an hour, and her total time being conscious was about a minute now. Was this what life was like? Tenseness followed by occasional orders?

Twilight coughed. “Well, I have some time to give you more lessons, Unit 001. Would you like that?”

“Yes, Twilight Sparkle.” Unit 001 decided that she would like that. Lessons were a great way to learn things that weren’t already covered in her databases. And watching Twilight talk to her helped her learn proper social interaction. She’d already picked up on minor body language cues and was building a database of those as well.

“Good. Lets go back to the test room so we can talk about emotions.”

“Yes, Twilight Sparkle.” Unit 001 had emotions listed in her language library, but no data outside of that. Learning about them from Twilight would be an efficient use of her time for now.

Author's Note

The HC Is careful about keeping its secrets, as much as Twilight Sparkle disapproves of the policy. Often they will trade advanced technology or an arcane spell or sigil with neighboring countries for resources when they need to. They have grown to take fully a quarter the area that the Equestrian Nation (EQN) used to control, and freely share technology and trade within the EQN. Twilight Sparkle still considers Princess Celestia her leader, and as such, the HC is really just a very large demesne in the EQN. Even still, there are occasionally disagreements along the borders, as the old fashioned locals disapprove of the rapid changes and wildly different attitudes that occur within the HC.

One of those issues is that the HC is very accepting of different races, hence the inclusion of Changelings, and other more dangerous races. Every intelligent creature in the combine is given a chance to be whatever they need to be, as long as it doesn’t cause harm to others. Griffins live off of fish, Diamond Dogs mine, usually at the behest of dragons, and changelings run brothels and fantasy resorts. The wildly different cultures intermingling have created an atmosphere that other EQN states consider decadent, or immoral. The HC Consider it their due obligation to ensure that every member of their country can pursue happiness, the simple rule is that this is never allowed at the expense of others.

Of course, the laws get more complex from town to town, but usually if a member has an issue involving the pursuit of their happiness, they bring it to one of their racial representatives and it gets resolved quickly. If that fails, Twilight Sparkle has been known to take particularly difficult plights into consideration, and there are even rumors that she allowed a Wendigo and a few actual demons to take up residence on a secluded mountain for some years. Of course, those were only ever confirmed to be rumors. Still, there are a few small royal exclusion zones where most members are not allowed to visit.