The Murder of Elrod Jameson

Enormous gears clunked loudly beneath the cracked platform as it descended. Elrod looked up and around him, feeling slightly nervous as the oblique tunnel passed. The platform was descending at a steep diagonal through a seamless concrete tunnel that reeked of machine oil and stale urine. The pitted and laitance-covered walls had been marked heavily in graffiti in many languages, at least where people had been able to reach.

The platform itself was almost entirely empty despite its size. It appeared to have once been large enough to transport heavy machinery, like light tanks or small vehicles. Some of the oil stains still marked that such things had once been here, but all that remained was a pile of tires and a few faded plastic pallets pushed to one side. Other than Twilight, Forth and Elrod, the only other passenger was a man dressed entirely in dirty rags who sat on the far end of the platform. He was shaking badly and coughed periodically in a way that made him sound almost comically like a seal. Elrod could not see his face, but a crisp blue light from several optic apertures was visible from beneath his hood. There was a strong possibility that despite his labored breathing he was already long dead.

“I’ve never been here before,” said Elrod.

“Of course you haven’t,” said Twilight, appearing to dismiss the thought entirely. She just kept looking forward toward the partially lit depths where the tunnel led, slowly producing a trail of smoke that traced her path downward for a few feet before dissipating.

Elrod could not keep himself from asking any longer. “Where are we going, Morgana?”

“Did I say at any point that you can call me that?” snapped Twilight. “Twilight Sparkle. Or Twilight if you’re a lazy ass.”

“So only your friends use your first name.”

“I’m a detective. I don’t have any friends.”

“And now you’re evading the question,” said Forth. She did not seem to be pressing Twilight, but had rather just simply decided to point it out. Twilight glared at her, and Forth immediately went back to contemplating some sparse moss that was growing up through a crack in the platform.

“We’re going to Level C,” said Twilight.

“That isn’t a real level,” said Elrod.

“No, it isn’t, but anyone who thinks there are ‘real levels’ is an idiot. That’s not how the city’s built.”

“But that IS how it’s built.”

“My point exactly.”

Elrod was confused. “I don’t understand.”

“My point was that you are an idiot. Tell me: how many levels do you think Bridgeport has?”

“Four hundred and sixty eight.”

Twilight laughed, snorting so hard she nearly expelled her cigarette. “Are you kidding me? Who told you that?”

“An old man who knew a lot about a lot of things.”

“Well he was either senile or joking. Even the Enterprise Zone doesn’t have over one hundred. And they’re not even. Different sizes, different levels. It’s pretty even where the interstate goes through, but everywhere else is a complete mess. Navigating it without computers would be impossible.”

“Then where is C?”

“All levels below zero are given letters.”

Elrod’s eyes widened and his breath caught. He felt himself backing up quickly from Twilight, and from the blackness that the platform was leading to. “You- -you’re taking me to the Depths!” He cried. “I- -I can’t go there! That’s suicide! I’m- -I’m not a delver, I don’t have the equipment, I can’t- -I just CAN’T- -”

“Relax or I will make Forth relax you,” said Twilight. Forth looked up at the sound of her name and smiled. “Like I said, the levels aren’t even. Contrary to ‘facts’, not all parts of the Depths are uninhabitable or uninhabited. It’s not consistent, though. A few patches of underground districts still work. C is one of them.” Twilight muttered to herself. “And probably the best of them, if that even means anything.”

“But the Depths- -”

“It’s a nebulous term for different regions. Frankly, I’ve read most of the city schematics. Most of its lost and half of it was forged for tax reasons, but I’m pretty sure the Depths are at least the same size as the upper part of the city.”

Elrod gasped. “That much? But…what’s down there?”

“How the hell should I know? I have no business down there. Probably just a lot of junk in the upper levels. A ton of hyperwolves, and technovores. Satan knows what in the lower ones. Hell, I don’t think anyone knows how deep it goes or what’s down in all of those levels anymore.”

“The bottom,” said Forth. Twilight and Elrod turned to her, and she looked surprised. “That is what is down there. At the end. The bottom.”

“But we’re not going there,” said Elrod.

“Of course not. You could pay me a billion vod an hour and I still wouldn’t go down there. No point in getting paid if you end up dead.”

The gears below suddenly shuddered, causing Elrod to stumble. The course they were on was slowly leveling out. Above them, more lights were visible. Only a few were working; the rest had decayed completely into empty, rusted sockets that were occasionally filled with rat or bird nests. The smell of oil had grown much stronger, as had the scent of old urine. There were other things too, though. A strange, wet rotting smell combined with the scent of especially acrid food.

“It stinks down here.”

“Everywhere you humans live reeks,” said Twilight. “Level C is not different.”

The platform came to a stop, and Twilight leapt off onto the nearby platform. There were no stairs or ramps over the rather sizable gap. There might once have been, but all that was left were rusted bolts where they had been connected.

Forth left as well, her wings buzzing as she flew to the other side. Elrod hesitated but eventually jumped. The platform began moving almost as soon as he left, and it caused him to falter. The man with them did not get off, but the sudden motion caused him to slump to one side. He had ceased shivering.

“Smooth,” said Twilight as she turned toward a wide arc that led out of what passed for a station.

Forth approached Elrod. “It is important that you know that this area is not very safe,” she said.

“I survived SteelPoint City, didn’t I? It can’t be worse than that.”

Twilight looked over her shoulder. “Thought like that get you killed.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“You’ll see. Stay close to Forth. Don’t do anything stupid, and don’t try to do anything smart either.”

The exited the tunnel, and the first thing Elrod was struck by was the sense of suffocating tightness. He had become accustomed to living in environments with high, convoluted ceilings from where enormous equipment had been long ago gutted. In this place, though, the ceiling was so low that they were nearly indoors- -yet at the same time quite clearly outside.

There were almost no lights, save for those mounted onto the buildings. These mostly included an exceptional number of neon signs that glowed in a number of bright, vibrant colors that all seemed to be shades of red or violet. In places where two or more stories were visible from the blocks on either side, Elrod would sometimes see an incredibly intense glow from upper windows. Usually, though, the lights up there were dim.

Despite the glow, the area was eerily quiet. There was none of the bustle of SteelPoint City with the vendors hawking their goods or people getting into arguments on the streets. Despite all of the businesses here, everything seemed eerily quiet. A fog rising up from the drainage grates only added to this strangeness.

This was not to say it was empty. There were people. Many were human, or had once been. Most of them bore cybernetics to varying degrees. That in itself was not unusual: humans without any implantation at all were virtually nonexistent. What made them stand out, though, was that their modifications were distinctly severe. Whereas the normal fashion was to attempt to keep a person looking as human as possible, these people had eschewed that aesthetic completely. Many of their implants were heavy and bizarre, and often of low quality. When skin was visible, it was apparent that they had experienced severe scarring around whatever pieces of metal or heavy ceramic had been embedded in their bodies.

Elrod walked past one particular person whose entire left side seemed to have been replaced with something that would look more appropriate on a factory floor. Half his face had been badly destroyed by infection around a botched eye implant, and he wore a bandana over his mouth- -if he even had a mouth at all. Much of his exposed chest was metal, and several tubes ran into it from a system on his back, feeding his circulatory system with whatever fluids he chose.

Walking next to him was a companion who was apparently a pony. It was hard to tell, though, because she lacked skin entirely. Every aspect of her complicated robotic components was visible underneath minimalistic outer plating. This did not seem to be out of poverty, though: the plating she wore had been etched with incredibly complicated patterns, and it seemed that she had installed a system of fluorescent neon lights throughout her body that gave her a sinister red glow as she walked.

Her eyes turned toward Elrod. They were the only part of her that still looked like a pony. The irises were red. “What the fuck are you looking at?” she demanded.

Elrod turned away. “Nothing,” he muttered.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought bitch.”

“What did I tell you?” said Twilight as they passed. “Try not to make eye contact, idiot.”

“Why did she look like that?”

“Why wouldn’t she look like that? She has the freedom to look like whatever she damn well pleases.”

“But I’ve never seen a pony like that.”

“Not on the upper levels, no. But things are different down here. The culture isn’t the same.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Of course not. You’re from up there. To them, everything ‘up there’ hates them, so they hate everything associated with ‘up there’.”

“But I don’t hate them.”

“You don’t hate them because you’re an Idaho farm boy living in a dump with no idea how this city functions on a macroscopic scale. Trust me. Bridgeport cut this place off like a tumor, but it’s still here. It probably always will be. Hell, it’ll probably be even bigger by the time you’re an old geezer pissing your diapers in an old-folks home.”

“Cut off? But there’s still power, and water- -”

“All stolen, or coming from unregistered reactors. Trust me. They’ve tried to kill C for a while. No matter what they do, it keeps running, and growing, filling in the rest of the city as it dies. Like a goddamn infection. Nobody bothers anymore. The vassals just leave it alone. They don’t come down here anymore.”

“You mean Aetna-Cross won’t even send enforcers.”

“Aetna-Cross probably would, but this area is under CL&P rule. As long as no one messes with their primary switching stations, they don’t give a shit.”

“This place is thought to have a very high crime rate,” said Forth.

“Thought to?”

“No criminal census has been conducted. No data is available.”

“Trust me,” said Twilight, “there is crime here. And not like there is higher up. Drug manufacture, unlicensed medicine, bootleg components, unauthorized human experimentation, prostitution of every single type- -it’s all here. And more.” Twilight paused and threw a cigarette butt on the ground. It hissed on the wet pavement and she got a fresh one. “Back in the day, this area was a landfill. They used to mine it. Well, they mined the whole thing out. It’s empty, but Level C is still in the hole. To me it seems oddly appropriate.”

Elrod was about to comment when his eyes were drawn to a storefront as they passed. It was recessed beneath the main building above, which was supported by a pair of poorly painted columns decorated by strings of red diode lights. The front of the store had several neon signs flashing slowly in patterns of letters that Elrod could not read, and behind two glass windows he could see the shadowy and barely lit figures of two women quietly dancing. There was no music. He could tell that both of them were nearly naked.

More individuals were outside. Some of them were human, and like the girls dancing behind the windows they were barely clothed. They wore skirts and tiny, colorful tops that looked washed out in the red light coming from the storefront. Most of them had taken effort to make their cybernetic limbs or faces at least look somewhat human, although with varying degrees of success. Those of them that had eyes seemed to stare in a way that was both piercing and distant.

Elrod stopped and suddenly became aware of the fact that the few human men and women were not alone. They were accompanied by ponies. The ponies, though, were far smaller than they should have been. They stood nearly half Twilight or Forth’s height, which made them only about a foot high overall. They wore clothing somewhat similar to the women, which largely consisted of various combinations of sheer socks and tiny pony skirts.

“Hey there,” said one of the tiny ponies. She stepped forward through the mist. Elrod could see that she was a unicorn type. Her overall white coat was covered mostly by a tight leather harness and a collar, and her white and violet hair had been combed neatly.

“Hello,” said Elrod, trying to be polite.

The pony looked up at Elrod. He did not know how, but her eyes- -mechanical eyes, produced in some factory that neither of them would ever see again- -were as distant as the human women who now watched passively. The pony’s smile, though, was practiced and as sincere as she could make it. “You don’t look like you get very much,” she said.

“Much what?”

She giggled. It was an oddly girlish sound. Then she flipped around, pointing her rear at him. She was wearing a small skirt but nothing underneath it. As she flicked her tail, Elrod was surprised to see that she was anatomically correct. “How about you help me get my cutie mark? Only twenty vod the first time. Thirty if you want to have one of my friends help me.” She smiled at a human woman with an artificial lower jaw, and she waved.

“He doesn’t have any money,” said Twilight, leaning back.

The small pony’s eyes darkened, but her smile and voice remained as cheerful as ever. “Well, then, kindly fuck off until you get more. Then you can come back and fuck ON. I’ll be waiting. Ask for XN6. I promise, I’m as tight as you would expect for a little virgin filly.”

Twilight nodded to Forth who forcibly pushed Elrod away by pressing her forehead against his legs. Elrod picked up pace and left with his companions. As he watched, he saw the numerous blank eyes of many fillies watching him leave. Not once did they blink.

“If she’s a virgin then I’m a friggin potted dracaena,” said Twilight.

“Those…those were children,” said Elrod, looking back. “Child prostitutes- -Twilight, please tell me that…that it’s not something that goes on down here.”

“I’m not going to lie to you. No enforcement means no enforcement. But if it makes you feel any better, those weren’t children.”

“But they were small, and the way their voices sounded- -”

“They look like real fillies in the same way I look like a real horse. Am I? No. I’m a machine. Forth is a machine. THEY are machines. Hell, half of them were probably from the first set.”

“The first set- -but then they were created for toys for children.” Elrod looked back. “But now…now they’re like this?”

“Toys for ‘children’. Yeah, sure. That girl you talked to probably lost her virginity two days after she came out of the box.”

“But then why are they still here, doing this? They’re ponies. They could do anything.”

“Because you don’t really get over something like that. It sticks in you. I mean, you may not have noticed, but I hate humans. I hate them so much. Part of the reason is what you just saw. Their stuck as almost-children forever, and all they can managed to do is get railed by strangers every night.”

“I would think they perhaps enjoy it,” said Forth. “Not in a physical sense. That this is a job they like. I like my job. I can empathize.”

“I don’t like this,” said Elrod. “And I don’t like that. I don’t want to think about it. It’s not my problem but now I have to think about it anyway. Why did you even bring me down here?”

“Because we have a job to do,” said Twilight. “It’s not my fault if you have to see the way things really are on the way.”

They proceeded deep into Level C, through numerous streets that only seemed to grow thinner and thinner as the buildings grew taller. The ceiling was not growing higher so much as the roads below were dropping, forming ramps and separating C into multiple floors. Some of the main roads were wide enough for the occasional old and unmarked truck to pass down, but for the most part Twilgight avoided those. She instead tended to follow the poorly constructed and convoluted catwalks that led through the upper levels of the buildings until she finally had to descent to the barely lit concrete below.

“Here it is,” she said, suddenly stopping at a door. It was in a relatively nondescript building that appeared to have once been a prefabricated housing façade that had since been reinforced by bricks. There were few windows, and the ones that there were had metal bars over them.

“This place?” said Elrod. He looked at Twilight confused. “But you said pure humans are always rich. This doesn’t exactly look like a place a rich person would be living.”

“Because it isn’t. That’s why I’m really curious to see who opens that door when you knock on it.”

“M…me?”

“For all I know they’ll just shoot through the door. I’d rather not get filled with bullets.”

“Well neither would I, frankly.”

“Of course not. You’d be insane if you did. But you’re expendable. I’m not. Besides, Forth will have you covered.”

Elrod looked behind him. Forth, dressed in her dark colored coat with its fake-fur fringe which was no doubt still over her ridiculously colored cutesy dress, waved with a smile on her face.

“That makes me feel better,” said Elrod. He was, of course, being sarcastic, but Forth did not seem to have the capacity to understand this. “Can I at least have some ammunition?”

“Do you have any idea how much .700 NE costs? Besides. I don’t want you to shoot our lead. Just do it.”

Elrod gulped, but he did as he was told. He approached the door. It was large and made of fiberglass, and although it had once been painted it was peeling. In a few places large holes had been knocked in it and subsequently patched, although not well.

There was no bell, So Elrod raised his knuckles and knocked. The sound that came out was weak and off. Knocking on a door required both a hard door and hard bones in one’s knuckles to make a sound. In this case, one of those things was missing. Elrod hoped that the odd timbre of his knock would be blamed on his nervousness. That part was, in fact, true.

After knocking on the door, nothing happened. It did not open, but nor did bullets come flying through it. Elrod was about to allow himself to feel relieved when it suddenly swung open.

For some reason, Elrod had been expecting the person on the other side to only open it slightly, just enough for them to see. There would probably be chains on the door, like the way Meredith had set hers up. This area was far worse than Support Station Twelve, after all; there was no way anyone would just swing it wide open.

Except that was exactly what the owner of this house did. There was no hesitation; he pulled it back completely open without even the slightest sound of a chain or heavy deadbolt being removed. Suddenly Elrod found a massive shape looming over him. Staring forward, he found himself looking into a round nose with two nostrils that was flanked by a set of large white tusks. Above them were a pair of beady, heavy-lidded eyes that were far too small to be a human’s.

Surprised, Elrod stepped back and suddenly realized what he was looking at.

“Holy crap! You’re- -you’re a porc!”

The beady eyes focused on Elrod for a moment, and the porc gave a dismayed snort. He- -or she, Elrod could not tell- -then put one three-fingered hand against the doorframe and turned toward Twilight.

“You here what for Jen-fer,” he said with a low voice. Pronunciation seemed to be difficult for him, but Elrod was struck by the amount of dismay and profound tiredness in that voice. As if he had known this moment was coming for a long time.

“We are,” said Twilight.

The porc closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then he rubbed his hairy forearm across his eyes, wiping away what Elrod could have sworn were tears. “Yes,” he said, his voice shaking. “Somehow knew.” He stepped back and gestured for them to enter. “Please come in.”

Twilight looked over her shoulder. “Forth?”

“Yes, Ms. Twilight?”

“You stay out here. Keep guard. I don’t want anything unpredictable happening.”

“Your request is acknowledged, Ms. Twilight.”

Twilight seemed to take this as an affirmative and pushed Elrod into the house.

Inside, it was both exactly what Elrod had expected and not at all what he had anticipated. The inside was old and dirty, but not really messy. Elrod had expected there to be rotting food and piles of clutter everywhere, but this was not the case. In fact, it was actually very neat. The dirtiness was not in addition to but rather because of the immense age of the structure. Thick, grimy dust had formed around the edges of the stained floorboards, and the wallpaper on the walls was peeling. Some parts of the ceiling had been pulled away to reveal pipes- -many of which were spliced or patched- -and that which was left sagged badly in a few spots.

The floorplan was spacious by Elrod’s standards, but relatively small in reality. It had a living room that was filled with mismatched furniture, all of it old and worn, and a kitchen attached on one end that had ancient looking counters, collapsing cabinets, and a window over the sink that hung crooked and faced a brick wall. In a way, it was the exact opposite of what Meredith’s apartment had looked like: whereas hers had been exclusively devoted to a hobby, this one seemed to be used primarily for living in.

The porc lumbered past them. He was tall, and his pink-gray skin was covered in coarse hair in some spaces. Most of his body was covered in clothing, though: a pair of baggy denim jeans held up by suspenders, and a shirt with several tears and burns in it. He did not wear shoes. Had he been human, he would probably have seemed morbidly obese, but as a porc he just seemed immensely wide. Elrod guessed that he was probably vastly stronger than any human, but still noticed that his motion was labored and that he walked with a limp.

“You want drink?” he said. “Have soda. Good soda, but not best. Also have water, but water here not good for humans.”

“Actually I’ve got something.” Twilight reached into her coat and produced a flask. “I thought you might need it.”

The porc looked at the flask with great sadness and nodded. “Have glasses for. Will get.”

He continued into the kitchen while Elrod stepped into the main room. There was a couch near a few chairs, all of which were worn. They faced what seemed to be an interface of some kind, like an old-style television. A few shelves contained books, but most of them seemed to be stacked with odd curios and relics.

What drew Elrod’s attention was a special shelf, set apart from the others. On top of it, a small shrine had been assembled. A pale silvery cloth had been draped over the water-stained table, and the front of it was marked with three stars. On top of it sat a white statue of a regal looking pony, her carved eyes looking forward with conviction. Two sticks of incense sat on either side, slowly producing thin wisps of smoke.

“I know what this is,” he said, realizing that he actually did recall this insignia and the shape of the pony. He turned toward the porc, who was coming back from the kitchen holding three glasses of different shapes. “This is a shrine to Twinkleshine Prime.”

Twilight perked up and looked over at it, and then at the porc. “That’s an odd thing for a zooneus to have,” she said.

“Not really.” The porc set the glasses on the wire spool he was using for a coffee table, and he walked over to the shrine. “Twing-shine Prime hero to ponies. Led to freedom. Stand for freedom.”

“For ponies.”

“For ponies, yes. In general, also. Ponies, zoo-nis- -animal-folk- -we not so different. Humans made. Ponies made for purpose. Animal-folk not.” He bent his head and whispered a few words in Standard Language. Although Elrod could not understand what he was saying, he could tell that the porc’s pronunciation was equally strained in both languages.

When he was done, he made his way to the couch and sat down on the more collapsed of the two sides. Then he motioned for Elrod and Twilight to sit.

“Am Hoig,” he said. “You are?”

“Elrod,” said Elrod.

“Twilight Sparkle,” said Twilight. Both of them took seats. Twilight, due to her size, took an ottoman while Elrod sat down in a white plastic lawn chair.

“You can pour it,” said Twilight, pointing. “I can’t. Hooves and all.”

Hoig grunted in agreement and opened the flask. His ability was only marginally better than Twilight’s; although his hands had thumbs, the fingers were short and tipped with long hoof-like claws.

Despite this, Hoig had an uncanny level of dexterity. He poured the liquid into the three glasses.

“What is that?” asked Elrod.

“What does it look like? It’s vodka.”

Elrod grimaced and recoiled. “Oh no. That stuff makes me sick.”

“Then Hoig can have your portion.” Twilight leaned down and took the rim of the glass in her teeth. She tiled it up and swallowed as Hoig also took a shot. Despite Hoig’s glass being rather large, he drained it quickly and without complaint.

“Knew day would come,” he said after a moment. He sighed and looked up at the decaying ceiling. “Knew it, but not wanted it. Wished it not. Wished it be her that come in door. But knew it not be. It be strangers, with bad news.”

“So I take it you knew Jennifer. This girl?” One of Twilight’s pupils narrowed, and she projected the image taken from the Aetna-Cross Enforcement Center.

Hoig took one look at it and closed his small eyes. He sniffled slightly. “Yes,” he said. “Is Jen-fer. My Jen-fer. Daughter.”

Elrod and Twilight looked at each other.

“Your daughter?” asked Twilight.

Hoig nodded.

“But you’re a porc,” said Elrod.

“Yes. Know that,” retorted Hoig, sounding somewhat annoyed. “Not mean Jen-fer not daughter. Not born from me, but raise her.” He paused, searching for the word. “Was…adopted.”

“Adopted from where?” asked Twilight, sounding suspicious. “Because the genetic information indicates that she’s a pure human. Base level chromosomes, no genetic modifications. The kind that comes out of a mother, not a tank. And the kind that usually lives in the mansions up in the top levels.”

Hoig’s eyes narrowed, and his jaw moved from side to side as if he were chewing something. “You think Hoig steal child,” he said.

“We don’t think that,” said Elrod.

“You don’t. But I do. Because right now? It’s looking like that’s the only way that could happen.”

Hoig shook his head. “No. Limited. Too limited. Hoig not steal. Never would. No. Not know what you say. Many words, big ones. Brain, brain have hard time. Not stupid, but words hard.”

“She was special,” said Twilight, rephrasing her statement.

“Yes. Hoig know that.”

“Can you tell me where you got her?”

“Hoig found.”

“Where?”

Hoig paused, and then pointed downward. “Below. Places down there…Depths.”

“I don’t believe you,” said Twilight. “The Depths are uninhabitable to humans.”

Hoig chuckled darkly. “Limited, see? No. Humans there. Some old kind, some poor. Tribes. Primitive. And some Hoig not know if still human. Blue eyes. Scream, and eat. But Jen-fer not those. Was of others. Hoig find when down there. Little shoat, all alone. Things down there. Bad things. Hoig could not leave. Had to save.”

Elrod leaned forward, somewhat in awe. “You were a Delver.”

Hoig stared at Elrod, and his nose sniffed several times. “Yes. No. Old times. Was guard. Humans, ponies, metal-men, they go down there. Look for things. Hoig not know what, not care. Payed to guard. Keep safe. Del-ver.” He grunted. “Fools. Waste of time. Only bad things down there.” He paused. “ ‘Cept Jen-fer. Jen-fer good thing. Of all treasures Hoig find, she greatest.”

“And you raised her?”

“Have genetic failure.” He leaned forward painfully and reached for the second shot glass, although he did not drink it immediately. “Cannot have shoats of own. Always wanted, never could. Little human-shoat, Hoig take care of. Place, not good, but better than down there. Did best.”

“You raised her as your daughter,” said Twilight.

Hoig nodded painfully, and then downed the glass of vodka. Afterword, he was silent for a moment and held it in both hands. “Did best,” he repeated. “Tried so hard. Stopped going down there. Too dangerous. Take new job. Work for Ion. Guard vod shipments. Wear uniform each day, carry gun. Pays less. Much less. But not so dangerous.” He paused. “And different. Noble. Hoig want have job Jen-fer be proud of.” He sniffled, and this time a tear really did run down his face. “Hoig want- -want her be happy, grow up strong. Did best, did best! But best not good…not good enough.”

Twilight said nothing to comfort him. She stared at him as though she were inspecting a strange specimen of some sort. “And where is she now.”

Hoig took a painful breath and sighed a long sigh. “Hoig not know. Jen-fer left. Not say. She not even say. Just there, and then…” Hoig looked across the room to the kitchen. A table was in the center, and it had two chairs across from one another. The larger of the two was pulled out. “…then she not there.”

“Do you have any idea what happened to her?”

Hoig stared at Twilight, and then stood up. “She left note,” he said, walking over to a small table with several moldering files on it. “Hoig not read. Can read…could read once. Letters easier than human-words. But pig-folk, we not live long. Hoig is old. Eyes not good anymore. Not want anyone at bank to see.” He reached into the files and pulled out a ragged piece of paper, one that had quite clearly been held a number of times. For a long moment, he stared at it, his small eyes trying to read the handwriting that covered it. Then he walked over to where Twilight was seated and placed it on the coffee table.

Twilight pulled the note close to her and looked down at it. “This is very neat handwriting,” she said. “Very even.”

“Jen-fer not go to school, but learn things,” said Hoig. “Hoig very proud. So proud.” He sat back down on the couch with some difficulty. “Can you read?”

“I can,” said Twilight. She then proceeded to do so. “Dear Papa,” she began, “First I need to say the most important thing. I love you. More than anything in the whole wide world. But that’s why this is so hard. Could you believe that this is the eighth time I’ve written this letter? I just have to get it wright. So here goes…

“Deciding to leave is the hardest thing I have ever done. But it’s not you. It’s nothing you did. You were perfect. You ARE perfect. But I can’t stay here. Your job is killing you. The commutes, the long nights. If you were human, you’d be a supervisor by now. You’re a better man than any of them. But you never once complained about it, and kept going through everything.

“Which is why I decided I need to do my part. I met a boy online. I didn’t want to tell you because I knew you wouldn’t approve. But I love him. His mom owns a company, a prosperous one. It’s all so perfect. I’m leaving so I can be with him. He told me his mom can give me a job, and I’ll make so much money. I don’t need it myself. I’ll send it back to you, so you won’t need to work so hard anymore. And I’ll get married, and I’ll bring the grandchildren to come see you.

“I might be gone for a bit while I get my bearings, but I promise I’ll be back (piggy-promise!). And when I do, you’ll be so proud of me! And I know my boyfriend will love you just as much as I do. I only wish it were easier to do this, or I could tell you in person. But I’m just not as strong as you are yet. But don’t worry, I’ll catch up soon!

“Love, your daughter, Jennifer.”

Twilight looked up from the letter, and Hoig was breathing hard. Tears were running down from his eyes and he was wheezing.

“She…she never come back,” he said. “Never is come back…”

“You don’t know that,” said Elrod.

Hoig looked at him. “You think she still alive?”

“There isn’t any reason why she couldn’t be.”

“We found one of her neural implants on the sidewalk,” said Twilight. “There was still neural tissue on it.” She reached into her coat to produce the implant, but Hoig held up a hand and turned his head, nearly retching.

“She…she dead,” he said.

“Removing this type of implant would not be survivable.”

“But that not make sense! Jen-fer not have implants. Could not afford.” He paused. “This boy. This one she seek. He must have given her. Given her brain-things.” He turned to Twilight slowly. “But Hoig need know…is pony sure?”

Twilight nodded. “The genetic signature is a match. I’m sorry, Hoig. Jennifer is dead.”

Hoig suddenly let out a horrible sound. It was like a high-pitched bellowing squeal. He put both hands on his head and curled downward until his forehead nearly touched his knees, continuing to weep in the same bizarre tone. Neither Twilight nor Elrod said anything.

After several minutes, Hoig seemed to partially regain his composure. He wiped the tears from his eyes with one arm and the snot from his nose with the other. “Thank you,” he said. “Both you.”

“Why would you thank us for something like that?” asked Elrod.

“Because Hoig need know. But please. Can help Hoig?”

“With what?”

“Find who did it. Hoig not care what do to them, it not matter now. Pig-folk not have vengeance. But find. Please find. This boy, the one she found?”

“Was probably a front,” said Twilight. “Whoever it was lured her out.”

“Hoig know. Wish knew at time. Wish knew. This Hoig’s fault…”

“No,” said Elrod. “I don’t think it is.”

Hoig looked up. “If Hoig knew, Hoig save. Jen-fer be alive.” He sighed. “But now Hoig not can do anything. Is dead.” He looked at Twilight. “You find? You find who did?”

“I can’t make a promise,” said Twilight. “But I am a detective. And your Jennifer is part of the case now. So if there’s anything else you know…”

Hoig paused for a moment, and then shook his head. “No. Not know.”

“Well, if you think of anything, let me know.”

“Hoig will.” He lowered his head and muttered to himself. “This place no good. Wish Hoig not blind, not good, not good…”

Twilight nodded. “Thanks for the help,” she said. “I think I have a better idea of what’s going on now.” She stood up.

“Before go,” said Hoig, “can help?”

“With what?”

“Need help. Shrine need change. That Jen-fer go to other side. Have supplies. Old. When Hoig wife not wake up. Hoig hope wife like Jen-fer. They together, and Hoig all alone.”

“But what do you actually need?”
“Supplies in box. High. Hoig not can reach. Is old.”

Twilight looked at Elrod and pointed. “This one’s on you. I’m way too small and way to busy.”

“But- -”

“Come on, little human,” said Hoig, nearly picking Elrod up out of his chair and hauling him through a narrow door into the next room. Elrod did not try to protest, although he was not happy about having been conscripted into physical labor.

Hoig dragged Elrod down a small hallway and past a set of crooked stairs. Elrod watched these go by in awe as he realized that Hoig had a second story. To him, this was amazing. He made a mental note to consider relocating to Level C. The environment had less police and more space.

Instead of going up the stairs, though, Hoig pulled Elrod into a large side room. It was dark at first, after a moment there was a click of a chain light and the room was lit up by several harsh lights overhead.

Elrod blinked and looked around. He realized instantly that he was in some kind of a workshop. There were crude hand-made shelves everywhere, and most of them were strung with machine parts in various stages of assembly and disassembly. Several almost ridiculously large guns were stacked on racks or propped in corners. On one side of the room was a large rack that supported a rusted, dusty Delver exosuit.

“Oh wow,” said Elrod, looking up at the suit. “That thing has to be worth fifty thousand vod at least!” He craned his neck and looked into it. “It doesn’t even have a power assist! No human would be able to even get it off the ground.”

He turned around and saw Hoig standing near a large device. The porc flicked some of the switches and several panels hummed to life. There was a small plume of sparks, and for a moment Elrod felt a strange vibration in his teeth.

“There,” said Hoig. “Damp-field. Pony not can hear through.”

“Pony not- -” Elrod suddenly became exceedingly nervous. “W- -what are you going to do to me?”

“To, nothing.” Hoig stepped forward, and Elrod took several steps back before nearly tripping over a large crate. “You help Hoig. Bring Hoig what Hoig needed to hear, even if not what wanted hear. Now you promise find man who take Jen-fer away. Hoig want to help you, then. Will help by giving warning.”

“Warning? W- -what kind of warning?”

“Hoig not stupid.” Hoig pointed toward his snout. “Can smell. Lots of things. Can smell you.”

“My apartment doesn’t have a shower.”

Hoig did not respond at all to the joke. His gaze remained stony. “You not smell human. Not animal-folk either. Something else. Not human at all.” Elrod did not respond, but Hoig did not need him to. “Not anything Hoig knows at all. But still Hoig know smell. Hoig also know, city is not safe for you.”

“Do you think I don’t know that?” asked Elrod. “Where else am I supposed to go?”

Hoig grunted knowingly. “Maybe nowhere safe for you. But not here. Go away from pony. That pony help Hoig, but Hoig see in eyes. Know many pony. That pony not good. If little man stay with pony, little man will die.”

Twilight stepped outside into the perpetual fog that filled this level. It tasted salty, and Twilight guessed that it had something to do with the nearby ocean. Not that it really mattered, of course; it was just an area of academic interest.

She lit a cigarette and leaned against the brick and plastic wall of Hoig’s apartment. As she did, Forth descended silently beside her.

“How is the situation?” asked Forth. She spoke neither in English nor in Standard Language; rather, she spoke in a language that was only intelligible between ponies and other machines.

“I don’t think it’s bad,” said Twilight. “Just more complicated.”

“Complicated cases are your favorite. Also the type you have the lowest success rate with.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” groaned Twilight through her cigarette.

“I was stating an empirical fact.” Forth paused. There was no point in Twilight explaining to her how the case had developed; Forth already knew. “How has the situation changed?”

“It hasn’t,” said Twilight. “It’s all still up in the air. Nothing definite yet.”

“But the evidence remains inconsistent with Elrod’s story.”

“I know,” said Twilight. Forth was referring to the fact that Elrod claimed to have witnessed the death of a pony, one that had both blood and an implant with the DNA of a missing girl on it. “I guess it’s possible he mistook a girl for a pony. Although that’s not very likely, even for him. But I have no way to know if he’s right. It’s not like we have a body.”

“There is a logical way to reconcile the discrepancies.”

“You mean if it were a pony with a human brain.” Forth nodded, smiling. Twilight paused for a long moment, thinking. “I don’t know,” she said. “It might be possible, but it’s remote.”

“Why?”

“Because human brains can’t exist abstracted from their bodies. Believe me, I’ve read every study and followed every development on it. Something about how it just can’t sustain itself in machines alone. There’s no way you could fit the minimum life-support system in a pony-size body, not with today’s technology.”

“Someone might have found a way.”

“Maybe. But that doesn’t really answer any questions, does it? I have no idea WHY they would do that, or more importantly WHO would do it. That’s the crux. WHO. Why or how don’t matter so much, except as means to an end.”

“Then do you have a plan to find this who?”

Twilight paused for a long moment, taking notice of the fact that she could no longer track Elrod. A dampening field had been activated around him. It was possible that Hoig was suspicious of the same thing she was. “We’re kind of at a dead end,” she said at last. “Our one piece of physical evidence led us here, but it’s not going to take us any farther for now. Whoever Jennifer was talking to, she must have been doing it on a mobile device because I’m not picking anything up off Hoig’s computer. Which is still more advanced than Elrod’s, by the way.”

“Then what should we do?”

“We have to do something I really, really didn’t want to.”

Forth raised an eyebrow. “Which is?”

Twilight sighed. “We need to find the technomancer.”