Bridlewood: the Cost of Lies

Robots

Bridlewood Town

Within the city limits of Bridlewood itself, the evacuation was currently underway. The authorities had vehicles travelling around the city, distributing personnel and staff into location to allow for any potential questions and information to be answered and distributed, and this was good to prevent panic and hopefully keep calm, allowing proceedings to proceed smoothly as the process got underway.

Most notably, they had vehicles fitted with speakers driving about the city, playing a single message on constant loop for all to hear, and take heed of, for it would have a very big impact on the rest of their lives.

"Attention! Attention! Please listen closely. Owing to a technical fault with the power station at Bridlewood, the city is being temporarily evacuated. Please only bring absolute neccesities with you, and ensure that you do not overburdern yourselves. The buses that are coming to collect you can convey you all, so only bring one bag each to avoid using up seats that can be used by another pony. Thank you for your cooperation. Only with the work and sacrifice of our generation can we build a brighter tomorrow."

Ponies were dashing out of their houses carrying only one back loaded with essentials, with everything else being left more or less where it was. The buses that were sat outside groaned under the weight as huge numbers of people got on board, ready to abandon their homes for what they thought was a short spell.

Amber Gem simply wanted to smash one of those speakers. That announcement had been going nonstop for hours now, and as she boarded the bus she suspected something wasn't right. Her husband hadn't come home from fighting the fire two days ago, and nobody had any explanation as to where he was.

"Have you seen my husband anywhere?" she asked a fellow passenger.

"Rapid Shadow?" the passenger replied. "No, I'm afraid I haven't seen him anywhere. But I imagine he's safe."

Amber Gem looked behind her as Bridlewood grew smaller and smaller in the distance. Within hours, a once vibrant and bustling city had been reduced to a ghost town.

Bridlewood Spectra Power Station, Robotics Command Trailer

General Rider and Argyle had, by this point, decamped to another trailer which had been dropped off in the area by a helicopter. Inside it were numerous displays and monitors containing useful information about the operation, such as readings and control panels for operating heavy machinery.

In the centre of the trailer sat an interactive model of the damaged Building IV, with positions of concern clearly marked on the display.

Argyle, at that moment, was explaining the situation to General Rider. Both of them were now equipped with HAZMAT suits, although it was safe inside the trailer to remove their gas masks thanks to the pressurised air. "As you're probably aware, General, the floor and the ground all around the site are littered with graphite blocks. Much of it is currently sitting in piles around the building, but the greatest concentration is currently on the roof of Building IV, here."

The display zoomed in on the roof, showing digital representations of graphite blocks. "These blocks are still giving off massive radiation readings, and for the purposes of cleanup need to be pushed back into the reactor core so that we can seal the roof off and keep it secure."

"You're the expert on radiation levels," the General replied. "What sort of equipment do you suggest we use to clear the roof?"

Argyle switched to a different display. "I noticed that you brought a robotics trailer with you. I was going to suggest that we use the robots of that unit to clear the roof. What attachments can they be fitted with?"

General Rider looked at the mission parameters again, and then to another monitor. "The robots would best be fitted with dozer blades for this mission, and operated as bulldozers. The challenge will be getting them onto the roof, as they are quite heavy and will need a lot of ponies to carry them along."

"Couldn't we drop them into place with a remote control helicopter?"

"We could give that a try," General Rider responded. "We do have a robotics expert on staff." He switched on a radio. "Thunder Charge?"

"Yes sir?"

"Report to the Robotics Command Trailer immediately. We have an important mission for you."

"On my way sir!"

The line clicked shut as General Rider glanced back to the model. "What sort of radiation levels are we dealing with up there?"

"Based on my preliminary scans, about 10,000 Starswirl. That should be well within your robots capabilities and endurance range. I suggest fitting them with dosimeters to be absolutely safe, though."

Thunder Charge then arrived. "Reporting for duty, sir!"

General Rider turned around. "Prepare two armoured bulldozers for service. We'll need them to clear the roof. Once they are ready, return here and prepare to take control of the helicopters to drop them onto the roof."

An hour later...

Thunder Charge had completed setting the robots up, and both of them had been dropped on the roof of the building. The remote control helicopters had retreated to a safe distance, although the operator had his concerns.

"The choppers were struggling to maintain a signal over the roof," he explained. "There was some sort of interference, like something was jamming them. Our equipment is hardened to take this level of radiation, right?"

"Yes," Argyle said. "They should be able to withstand this level of radiation comfortably. Are we ready to start?"

"Yes sir," Thunder Charge said.

"Fire up the robots and switch on the cameras. Power up the dosimeters and prepare to move. Handles off."

Thunder Charge threw some switches, and brought the machines into life. "Engines running. Cameras on- Tartarus almighty, those screens are blurry. Look at all the white particles!"

"Those aren't particles. That's the film picking up radiation," Argyle explained.

Thunder Charge nodded, and moved the last switch. "Dosimeters on. Readings coming through now- what the?"

The dosimeters briefly squealed, then stopped broadcasting just as suddenly. As the robots moved forward, their heavy dozer blades hitting the graphite rubble, they just as suddenly ground to a complete stop, their engines spluttering and dying as they stopped, unable to move an inch.

Then the camera feed cut out.

"Shit!" Thunder Charge exclaimed. "Visual feed lost, robots are dead. Nothing I can do will get them to respond."

General Rider glanced at the display. "What was the final reading on the dosimeters?"

Thunder Charge quickly flicked between the displays before him. "Just a second... the final reading that the dosimeter gave was 20,000 Starswirl, sir."

Argyle looked pale. "It's worse than even I could have imagined," he said. "That high a reading makes the roof essentially inaccessible."

"That's 5,000 more than my run collected," General Rider said. "How bad is 20,000?"

"That's high enough to give a pony fatal radiation poisoning in 2 minutes."

General Rider looked concerned. "That's also far higher than any of our robots can handle. I don't think clearing the roof using them is going to be a practical option, and that's before we need to deal with the other problem of the leaky core."

Just then, Alphabittle arrived. "They've finally finished evacuating Bridlewood. The wounded have been moved to a secure location elsewhere. Any news from the roof?"

"Robots we just tried broke down almost the instant we turned them on," Argyle replied. "Our readings were out by about 10,000 Starswirl. Clearing the roof by other means will be fatal to anypony even in a HAZMAT suit that stays up there for two minutes."

This gave Alphabittle an idea. "Why not have them fit led to their HAZMAT suits, and work in shifts of 90 seconds?" he suggested. "This would limit the radiation exposure they would get, and would also clear the roof."

"It looks to be the only option we have," General Rider said sadly. "I'll brief Steel Mustang immediately."

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