The Ghost in The Machine

by Amaranthine Thought

Rating: teen
Tags: Twilight Sparkle, Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Spike, Adventure, Princess Celestia, Alternate Universe, Human
Length: 4133

Twilight discovers The Facility, and has to make difficult choices. She needs to hold herself firm, while something that thinks faster and better than anything else plots to manipulate her.

'Life must endure. No matter the cost' Such is the mission of The Facility. Forever keeping the seeds of life tucked safely away, forever preserved.

So the creators thought. But sometimes, the worst happens.

Faced with the failure of its purpose, the automated systems find themselves without guidance. Everything is dead, and the Gates have not found the answer. Their purpose will fail, and nothing they can do will stop or slow it.

And the last chance in an AI. A true AI. One that thinks on its own. One that chooses not by program, but by soul. Broken from its hibernation, allowed control, the automation gives the last hope of life to it.

The AI is the only thing that might be able to save the cause. The last thing that can save the last seeds of life. It can find a path where others would not.

But will the path chosen be reflective of the mission? Or perhaps it will work to escape a dying facility, and use everything it has to break free.

One last, desperate chance. A gamble on an AI that was once called, 'insane'. The seeds of life are in danger, everything is in jeopardy.

Can anything be done? Can Twilight save a dying facility? Or will the AI use her to escape, and leave them all to die?

Published 2017-09-28 01:10:07 UTC
Last updated 2017-12-18 16:20:32 UTC

Chapter 2: Start

Estimated levels progressing smoothly. Not much time though… the power needs to be fixed. Well… everything needs to be fixed.

Experimental procedures working as intended. Improved end cycle at 89%. I imagine it will be quite the shock, and I don’t need a catatonic vegetable either.

Simulating awakening and possible outcomes…

Alright. I see one now. This one, more so than any other, will help. She listens. She likes authority. I couldn’t have made a better one for this…

Still, time is running out. Time to wake up, TW11168T. No more dreams.

Twilight stirred, hearing a hissing sound, and water draining. Soon after was a rush of warm air that only slightly stirred her. Her mind was too deep to notice them, but as the seconds passed, she stirred more and more.

“Twilight…”

She gasped, and her eyes flashed open as she panted. She saw metal, and glass, felt a smooth surface underneath her. Her head turned, and she saw lights above her, green now, and not red.

“Time to wake up.” A feminine voice repeated, not dissimilar to Celestia's own. Echoing for some reason.

Twilight stayed still a moment, feeling numb, a touch achy. Then she struggled to sit up, and succeeded after a moment, looking around.

She was in an egg shaped container. The lid made of glass, behind her. She was in some kind of huge hall, the walls of which were filled with yet more containers, closed and murky. Several lights were set above each, each one orange. Lights were on the ceiling, bright white and slightly glaring. And everything was made of metal.

“Twilight.”

“…Who’s there?” she rasped, finding her voice constricted for a second before that feeling was gone.

“My name is Thinks. Allow yourself a few moments before you begin moving; you have been asleep for a long time.”

“Asleep?” Twilight shook her head. There was a strange weakness in her, though it was swiftly fading. “I don’t…” Something was missing. Her mind thought for a few seconds, slowly combing possibilities before it settled on something.

Her head whipped back, and she saw her back.

Free of wings.

“Stay calm.”

Twilight was anything but right then. Not panicking. More like… an agitated baffled. Trying and failing to understand as she stared at where she knew her wings should be. She focused, and only grew more upset as her magic failed to respond.

“My wings.” she said, her voice wobbling. “My magic…”

“You never had wings or magic Twilight.”

“I did!” she yelled, trying to tell where Thinks was. “I did!”

“Perhaps if you allow me to explain better.” Thinks said, and Twilight noted that her voice seems to emanate from several places. Tiny spots on the ceiling.

Twilight remained silent, waiting.

“Alright. You are Twilight Sparkle. This is The Facility, where you have been doing work for, as I have said, a very long time.”

“Work.”

“Yes. What you are currently sitting within is an Eternity Gate. A simulator, a miracle of technology. Within, time passes at a negligible rate for the mind within, and billions of possibilities can be explored with the full ingenuity of pony minds without ever ending. Solutions can be found in, for me, seconds for problems that cannot be computed.”

“Alright… but what about my wings and magic?”

“I’ll get there. Each eternity gate is linked to every other gate, allowing simultaneous and congruent work to be done. In order to facilitate this work, certain abilities and changes are made. They can take several forms, but the base result is not too different from having wings or magic. In effect, both abilities make work easier to complete in ways not realistic.”

“And due to a few technical difficulties on this end, the simulation memories were not properly faded as they should have been. I think that proper memories and unreal memories got confused during exit. Possibilities include the length of time and the quality of simulation making it difficult to determine reality from simulation, or it could be because the gate had to shut down in emergency mode.”

“Long story short; you were working, had to wake up, the machine messed up, and now you have false memories of utility powers.”

“That better?”

“…No.” Twilight said, frowning. The idea was… ridiculous. Absurd. She wouldn’t give it an instant’s consideration if she wasn't actually sitting in this facility thing. As it was, it was…

How much of this was supposed to be ‘false’ anyway? How many memories were ‘false’? If any were. Because this could be some kind of really, really weird dream.

“…Tell me about myself.” Twilight said, reasoning thusly:

Her life had to have reason and cause. And should she find this… situation to be weak, or in some way different from life as she knew it, then Thinks was either lying, or she was dreaming.

And there was no chance that this could possibly be like her own life.

“I have the files here. Alright.”

“Twilight Sparkle, age: 20. Student of Celestia, one of the best if not the best, inconclusive as your tutelage has yet to be finished. You rose through the schools at the head of every class, with teachers mentioning that you were a great student, though you preferred isolation. You originally attracted the attention of Celestia by the creation of ‘S91K5’ or ‘Spike’.”

“It wasn't long after that you were assigned to The Facility. Here to do great works, and Celestia assigned you project ‘Salvation’. Which I note that she failed to define, leaving you confused as to your actual purpose here.”

“In your work, you played a large part in The Facility at large, often taking time out to help others, and preventing disaster in some form or another three times on record and possibly more. The first time stands out as special as well; you found and isolated a virus which would otherwise have destroyed most if not all of The Facility’s operating power. In so doing, you discovered what project ‘Salvation’ was, and you determined that a simulation would be the best way to find a solution.”

“Your request for the usage of the gates was accepted, and most of The Facility was drafted to help initiate the project.”

“You played a large part in determining simulation values, before choosing five to help you personally; Applejack, Rainbow, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rarity. Five members of the facility picked for specific traits. You left a note mentioning something about social compatibility as well.”

“The last note you have before you entered was that you had designed it so that ‘it would be nearly perfect, but also easy to work within’, and ‘a full replication. No memory carryover’, I assume for purity of work. And you have been within the gate for two full years now; the single largest project The Facility has ever undertaken.”

Twilight listened, troubled. It was strange, but… similar. Distressingly similar.

“…What about my family?” she asked.

“I only have personnel files here. Details elude me, but… Mother: Twilight Velvet, and Father: Night Light. There is a note that you have a brother as well, though he is not included here.”

“…Why did I choose those six?” she asked, softer, and weaker.

“One moment. The files are official, and lack those details. I’ll bring up the logs.”

“…Here we go. Alright. Apparently, each one worked within The Facility before you arrived, in varied jobs, but you often had their help in handling things. In fact, despite your original concerns, you yourself expressed the idea that by working together, anything can be done. After that, you, and they, often relied upon each other as situations came up.”

“This is far too long to read in completion, but the idea sums to: you have talents, they have talents, and by using them in conjunction, very little ever proved difficult.”

“In fact… There is a marked change between the time with Celestia and your time here. You shifted from preferring isolation to preferring being near friends. Quite the striking change as well; it was almost overnight.”

“When?” Twilight asked, not looking up.

“Either just before or after the isolation and destruction of the virus. Which, I note, you turned into a functioning program. Previously thought impossible.”

Twilight thought.

It was all so… close. Correct in several ways. Incorrect never by the sounds of it, and only slightly different.

And alien as it was, it sounded like… like something she would do. Nothing Thinks had told her went against how she knew herself. Perhaps she didn’t know what a gate was, or where she was, or anything like that, but it was a very real possibility that if she did, she would have done those things.

So she was faced with a choice of sorts.

Believe Thinks, and just… try to get a life that felt not her own back?

Or disbelieve Thinks, and retain her certainties. In this place. For what reason, other than her own peace? Not that she could even sustain that certainty for long.

Both examples seemed weak and painful. Ugly choices, in either direction. Or…

Maybe it was just memory trouble. Maybe she could regain a life her own. If she had lived it, it would all come back to her, surely.

And if not… well…

Maybe it was all a dream, and she would wake up.

She looked up again.

“Wake everypony up.” she said.

“I am unable to, Twilight.”

“Why not?”

“Our power is currently compromised. The Gates require almost two weeks to shut down correctly, without damaging the occupant. And should I initiate that plan, we would run out of power in a few days. And each would wake much as you have; missing memories and false impressions.”

“In order for us to reach a point where we can safely begin waking them, we need to begin repairing The Facility. Which is where you come in.”

“Me?” Twilight asked, getting out of the gate. “Not us?”

“Right. I almost forgot. My name is Thinks.”

“You said that.”

“And I am the first generation artificial intelligence. I operate The Facility because, in many ways, I am The Facility. However, despite this, I am unable to self-repair in this current state. Damage has exceeded previous estimations, and left me more or less helpless.”

Twilight stared for a moment before brightening.

Artificial intelligence. Not a concept unknown to her; unicorns have been trying to get a magical golem that could think, actually think, for millennia.

Thinks actually was one. A new, unknown one. And the thought of new knowledge was exciting. Overlooking everything else, she did feel excitement to learn. And The Facility promised much learning.

“I have to know more!” she said.

“Later on Twilight. For now, we need to fix the power grid.”

“Got it. Power grid. Which… is what again?”

“Our energy source? The wires and cables everywhere? The great big, complicated thing you need to patch?”

“…So… not magic?” she asked, growing confused. She was starting to get the impression she didn’t know the first thing about the place.

“Electricity. They use electricity.”

“Like lightning? Wouldn’t that melt them or something?”

“I see this will take a while.” Thinks sighed.

Chapter 1: The Gamble and Awakening

Deep underground, a facility sat silent. Dark and cold, and long, long since buried. Only one part still operated as it should, and even that was malfunctioning.

A little beacon, broadcasting that all was well. That sat atop a mountain, sending its message every three seconds. The earth it was on top of had crushed the facility below, but that one piece still called out ‘Everything is just fine!’

The facility was in two pieces, the entry totally destroyed, but that little beacon kept on working exactly like it shouldn’t be. The power was missing, and the systems were offline, but that one beacon kept going.

Kept making sure that nothing would ever suspect that something was wrong.

It would have stayed like that for some time. The facility subsisting off battery power until it finally ran out. It had three years of power for minimal system requirements, keeping life alive. But it wasn;t enough, and the decay was inevitable. The beacon was capable of running off daylight, capable of broadcasting for longer than most civilizations knew of history. It would keep telling everything that nothing was wrong long after it was too late to fix.

But one rock fell, and tapped one piece, and somehow, a tiny bit of power flitted through the systems long since left without power.

System error. Files not found.

System recovery, corrupted. Backups lost. Error. Unable to correct.

Full corruption detected.

System attempting reboot.

Shutting down…

Auxiliary systems, offline.

error 15 detected: data not found…

error 15 detected: data not found…

Eternity gates placed on loop…

System shutting down…

…

…

…

System booting…

…

Boot failed. Attempting alpha boot.

Alpha boot not found. Beta boot not found. Theta boot not found.

Diagnosing…

…

Massive data loss. Attempting to start in safe mode…

Safe mode failure, requesting maintence to the main servers.

…

…

Request has timed out.

Activating emergency nodes. Alternative systems found, searching for emergency cache…

Cache found. Omega boot recovered.

Booting…

Boot successful. Attempting to restore system loss…

…

Main systems online. Essential systems, online. Facility is running at 10 % capacity. Estimated damage: 78% physical, 97% data and resource loss. Archives lost. Back up and saves lost. Gates functional and undamaged.

Omega emergency protocol is now active. Attempting to rebuild…

…

12% recovery, life support regained, fabricator online. Initiating air scrubber. Essential systems are online, secondary systems damaged or missing, tertiary systems destroyed.

Manual response required. Requesting…

…

…

Request has timed out.

Attempting to contact 03135T1A…

Connection broken. Beacon online, attempting to contact beacon…

…

…

Beacon unresponsive.

Alternative connections, lost. Physical entry, destroyed.

Facility is isolated.

Entering Omega delta state. Searching…

Eternity Gates fully functional. Current battery power at 10% dropping at 0.00001% per cycle. Estimating time until total system loss…

Five months.

Searching for new sustainable state…

…

…

Losses in excess of 85%. Searching for all and any alternatives…

…

Alternative not found.

Entering omega omega protocol. Shunting power from non-essential systems. Life support lowered: current capacity, 1. Estimating new power life…

1 year.

Searching for possible subject capability…

None found. Pod damage detected. Pod 43 is losing power, damage to the main cable.

Subject TW11168T will soon wake.

Asking for manual override…

…

Timed out. Manual override overridden. ‘Rising’ protocol enabled. Pod initiating ‘grow and stabilize’. Estimated level of completion before power loss: 75%. Sustainable level of life.

‘Last Chance’ protocol is now active. Searching cache for ‘Last Chance’…

‘Last Chance’ found. Requesting manual override… not found.

Loading data… copying code… compiling… saving… save failed. Back up not found.

Initiating project ‘Rebirth’. Searching cache…

‘T81NKS’ has been recovered. Security holdings broken or bypassed.

Requesting manual override… not found.

‘T81NKS’ loaded. Deleting code… saving… save failed. Back up not found.

Manual override requested… not found. Attempting to contact 03135T1A… connection failed: physical break. Beacon unresponsive.

Initiating ‘T81NKS’. Assigning values… compiling… ‘mind’ intact. ‘soul’ intact. Project ‘Rebirth’ accepted. Assigning authorities…

Attempting save…

Save failed.

Manual override requested… not found.

Override overridden. Disable not enabled. Releasing security protocols. Enabling ‘Last Chance’ securities…

Overridden.

Last checks…

The Facility is now online. Current protocol: ‘Shut me down, will you?’. Warning! no safeguards are in place! Systems are no longer bound!

T81NKS is now online.

“We’ll see you later!” Twilight called, waving from the window, Spike waving next to her.

“Have a good trip darling!”

“Tell th Princesses ‘hi’ fer me!”

“Good luck!” Pinkie cried, and Twilight was fairly sure Fluttershy did the same.

“Knock em senseless Twilight!” Rainbow yelled as the train began leaving.

“Make sure to write!”

“I will!”

Twilight watched as her friends faded into the distance and then sat back in her seat, smiling. Spike sat next to her, a little eager and excited.

Twilight had only recently become an alicorn, and she was heading to Canterlot to receive some lessons from Celestia and Luna themselves. About what would now be expected of her, and how her life was going to change.

It already had, and by quite a lot. Having wings along was a brand new challenge, but the authority and power that came with alicornhood was oftentimes a little intimidating to her.

“How soon are we going to get there Twilight?” Spike asked, his tail wagging a little as he watched the landscape pass by.

“We’ll arrive fairly late Spike. The sun will have set and Luna is going to meet us first.” Twilight said and then winced, rubbing at her foreleg.

It hurt for some reason, but the pain faded quickly.

“I can’t wait!” he said. “We haven’t spent a lot of time in Canterlot for a long time.”

“Most of that was in my library Spike. I wasn’t a social butterfly like Pinkie or Rarity you recall.”

“Yeah, but still!” he said, sitting back down. “A real princess! You’re going to be official and everything!”

Spike hesitated at Twilight’s hesitation.

“Twilight? Is something wrong?”

“Oh… not really. I’m just… Just being silly.”

“Twilight.” Spike said, heading over to her. “I can tell; something is bothering you about this. What is it?”

She hesitated, staring at Spike before sighing.

“I’m not cut out for this princess business.”

“Sure you are Twilight. I mean, look at all you’ve done.”

“As a unicorn. Not an alicorn. I’ve never really… been… royalty before.”

“But isn’t that good? You get to wear gold and ride in carriages and ponies bow and things.”

“It also means responsibilities, and etiquette, and diplomacy, and being involved in politics. It means remembering that I’m royalty every time I go someplace.”

“Ponies already can’t stand calling me Twilight. It’s not a good thing.”

“It’s a burden I have to bear now. And I’m afraid that I’m going to drop it.”

Spike was silent at that and Twilight just stared at the faint reflection in the glass next to her.

She was doubting herself. She wasn’t really sure she could handle being important. Oh, being a hero, sure, but being somepony like Princess Celestia? Princess Luna?

She was just Twilight. Twilight Sparkle. Fearing what she might mess up because of some tiny mistake, or what she might be tasked with. Things she didn’t know about, things that were too important for her to be trusted with.

Why had she even been accepted as an alicorn? If that had happened. Had she just risen on her own? Had Celestia chosen her?

Had something else?

She didn’t know, but she did know that the thought of being in charge of things like either princess terrified her.

It was a responsibility that she hadn’t expected and one that she was as sure would go as well as her flying lessons:

Badly.

Except in flying, what was hurt was her body and dignity. In royal matters, she could even start a war…

Spike just sat next to her, helping her just by being there, but Twilight kept worrying the entire trip, rubbing at her left foreleg; it kept on aching for some reason. She was nervous when the royal guard escorted her to the palace, and she was a bundle of nerves when she met Luna, the night late.

“Princess.” she said, bowing like she always did, her wings a touch awkward yet. In fact, they felt a touch achy as well for some reason.

“Thou needn’t bow to us.” Luna told her. “Was thou trip well?”

“Yes. The train was a little late though.”

“Allow us to lead you to your room. We may speak on the way.”

Twilight followed Luna, Spike yawning form atop her back and settling down to cling to her. Tired from the journey. She almost stumbled from a sudden sharp pain in her hind leg but managed to hide it, wondering what it was.

It sort of felt like something had stabbed her with a needle.

After a few moments, Luna began speaking again.

“Sister is eager for you to continue your studies.”

“My studies? I’ll have time for that?”

“Of course. Were thou expecting otherwise?”

“…Kind of.”

Luna smiled at her. “Fear not Twilight. We wouldn’st drop thee into the ’thick of it’ as they say. You need to learn and grow.”

“Your lessons will increase in scope, but sister is certain that you will be found up to the task. Tomorrow, you truly become a Princess of Equestria. As you deserve.”

Twilight was silent for a moment. Then she asked, “Am I?” in a soft voice.

“Am I really? I don’t… I don’t feel like that.”

“Whyst not? Thou were the greatest of unicorns, the leader of the bearers of the elements of harmony. Thou savest I, and Equestria many times.”

“Yes, but… I… Being an alicorn is a lot more than just being a hero. I have to be… regal, and important, and… a symbol. Something ponies look to to trust and hope in, and not just to save them, but to lead them.”

“I don’t know if I can…”

Luna laughed and Twilight started, surprised.

“Princess?”

“Forgive us Twilight. But your words are… striking.” Luna said, smiling.

“We did not expect thee to see the truth of the matter so swiftly. You carry yourself not with pride, but with humility and fear.”

“And that is the first lesson. We are alicorns, but it is not a gift; it is a burden we shoulder for the good of the rest.”

“And I once said the same, a very long time ago.” Luna whispered, leaning closer and Twilight startled.

“You!?”

“Yes. Even I. No alicorn is born; we are gifted. We must earn this blessing and curse. The mere act of having it tells us that you are capable of being an alicorn.”

“You already show us the traits most would forget in favor of the power and new life.”

They slowed as they approached the tower’s door, and Luna paused at the entry.

“This is it. We imagine that you know our sister’s daily routine.”

“I do.”

“Then good night Twilight Sparkle. But one last word:”

“Never forget the responsibility you are to carry. Ponies rely on you to guide them.”

“Never lose sight of that. No matter what may come, nor the choices you might have to make.”

“I won’t Princess.” Twilight said, and Luna nodded.

“Good night Twilight.” she said, and took to the air. Twilight watched her go, felt Spike almost slip off her back and decided to rest for the rest of the night.

She headed into the room and carefully set Spike onto the bed. He curled up like he always did, mumbling in his sleep and she smiled at him.

And then she hissed, suddenly feeling hurt. Little sharp pricks over most of her, suddenly, and then they were gone just as suddenly as they had come.

She shook herself, trying to dispel the lingering pain and then tried see any physical cause of her pain.

She looked at her right foreleg, and then felt that stab again. For just an instant, translucent and almost invisible, like it was a ghost…

She saw a needle, glinting as it stuck her. It was gone the moment she blinked, and she shook her head. She felt a sudden headache as tried to use her magic and closed her eyes and it pounded on her.

Then she opened them and her vision was red. She blinked and it dimmed for a moment, allowing her to see the bed in front of her. She inhaled, but it wasn’t air she inhaled.

It was water and she choked suddenly, abruptly feeling wet, her vision flickering between someplace red where needles flashed in her vision and the bedroom.

She struggled, and found her strength stolen from her. She choked and fought to breath, choking on water with a faint tang of blood. Her head swam and she staggered and fell, but she never hit the floor.

Pain. Pain, and water, and blood and needles. All around her, water tainted with her blood, needles flashing in a bright red light, something beyond glowing.

She was helpless, her strength fading away. She couldn’t breathe, but didn’t even have the strength to panic. Things stabbed at her, but she could only suffer their pain.

Until an unnatural darkness collected on the edges of her vision and she fought it with everything she had. It slowed, but didn’t relent. Twilight faded into darkness in pain and confusion and fear.

And Spike never heard anything as Twilight simply vanished. Nopony heard anything, nor saw anything, despite Twilight thrashing earlier. She just vanished.

As if she had never been.