42

Chapter Six

"Too much of a good thing "

Equestrian Wasteland
Shattered Hoof Ridge, Equestria
21 Years after the battle of Hoofington

The pod cracked open and retracted upwards as cold air rolls out of the it. The scent of a freezer filled the room and the CyberWolfie inside the pod didn't stir.
After a couple dozen heartbeats I approach the tube. "You think she's freezer burned?" I asked the boys getting close up to the creature and poking it with a clawed finger.
"Maybe." Phoenix said simply letting his SMGs drop a bit as I examine the body. "Hey Byte how about some sensor data from this?" I say to him as he takes a few steps forward and a little sensor pod appears out of the center of his domed head wiggling back and forth scanning the creature in the tube.
"All vitals are steadily increasing. Estimated twenty minutes until the subject is able to be woken." The little sensor retracts and he turns to me.
"Suggestion: gather supplies. I will monitor the subject until it wakes." Byte said.
I looked back to the wolf then back to him.
"No experimentation. Just data collection and medical intervention." I say firmly.
Byte nods. "I will comply."
Phoenix raised an eyebrow at this. "You want to trust the bucket of bolts to this task?" His Trottingham accented voice said in its deep rich tone.
I smiled at Phoenix, "He is just as curious as we are about this. I trust his curiosity."
Byte drones, "The subject is fascinating, I would like the opportunity to study it further without damaging it. The dissection of this subject albeit fascinating as a thought exercise would go against the goal of getting out of this universe and to a new one. My curiosity must be tempered so I can achieve the goal of being rid of messy higher powers."
Phoenix replied dryly, "Right." He extended his I sound as he said that.
"So let's go shopping. Phoenix you got room in your bag for some samples we can take to the colleagete so they can assess the usefulness of 2 century old mass production cyber parts?" I ask.
He nodded. We left Byte to observe the CyberWolfie and began wandering the premisis scavving for useful stuff.

*

We spent the next 20 minutes collecting all sorts of parts and samples. A lot of it was familiar from Momma and Sweetie. Though we did manage to find some useful things like a few mouthgun weapons a whole stock of magical energy weapon components and the most shocking thing I found.
Flutterstay's workspace.
You see, before the war Flutterstay was a scientist for the OIA. He worked under True Blood as a cybernetics researcher. He unfortunately got some Flux contamination and had to have parts of his body amputated and replaced with preproduction run mark 3 cyberparts. The kind Momma had were the official mark 4 run of parts in her cyberized body.
I actually found photos of him and his coworkers here at the facility. It was strange it was like he was a different person. In many of the pictures I found of him and his coworkers he wasn't smiling in any of them. It wasn't until after seeing some photos of him after his cyberization did I finally see pictures of him cracking a smile. But, getting back to his workspace.
The lab wasn't very big but in the room was all sorts of cyber parts and facilities to implant. A cyberization booth sat in the middle of the room with what looked to be some prototype parts for the cyber Wolfie. I put some of those in a subspace pocket for later. I tried to turn on his terminal but it wouldn't power on. Knowing him it needed to interface with him directly to even be able to boot. I did find notes scribbled in his neat magical writing in the journal of sorts of his progress notes. They were so highly detailed my eyes spun in my sockets as I tried to make sense of the math and jargon but it was all too much for me.
Don't get me wrong. I can warp time and space with the best of them, knowing how that math works is kind of a savant chaotic ability. But these notes were very straight forward and relied on a different kind of engineering than I was used to. I worked with the fabric of reality and it's maths. Sweetie used mortal maths.
I don't even know why I'm explaining things to you on this level. It's more blah blah you really can't comprehend if I tired to explain it to you. I mean some of you could, but that's for another time. Why don't we go back and see how Byte is doing.

*

I walk back into the cryopod area and see the lights were on and the CyberWolfie was stirring in the pod. As I entered her eyes opened and a string of unintelligible computer jargon came out of her mouth then she looked at me. Her ice blue glowing eyes locked on to mine.
"Mistress Boo. It has been over 195 years since F12 put me in the stasis pod. Can you please verify your identity?"
I blinked, "uh. You seem to know who I am already. Why do I need to verify it… uh, what's your name?"
"I am Trisha. F12 saved me on an adventure from the place you call the Floating Vagabond. I was injured on a mission and he did what he could." She explained.
Of course, a FV adventure. This poor creature was injured in some fashion and Sweetie felt like he needed to save her.
"How badly were you injured Trisha?" I ask pulling a stool out of subspace to sit on.
"Records indicated that I had some severe brain damage and loss of most of my organic systems. F12 loaded personality data from what was left of my organic mind to try and save me. It was a partial success."
"F12 was Flutterstay's researcher number here." Byte supplied as he checked over Trisha's condition.
"I gathered as much." I replied looking back to Trisha.
"Trisha, when Flutterstay put you away in the cryopod was there a reason for it?" I asked.
She nodded once Byte finished examining her head.
"Yes. F12 was in trouble. He recorded a message for you but I am afraid that my memory file has been damaged by the cold." Trisha replied.
"Sounds like someone had freezer burn." Byte said evenly.
"Hahaha. That was a good joke." Trisha said her flat feminine sounding monotone voice replied.
Byte jerked his head back surprised.
"Thank you. One appreciates when their jokes are laughed at."
I smiled. "Trisha can you tell me what you can from the memory?" I asked.
"I can show you." She said raising an arm and letting a holo image display a broken holo file. It was Flutterstay and he looked pale and sections of him were missing. The static buzzed as he was speaking letting things trail off into unintelligible static.
"They were… blanks… so many of them. He was just trying with me as the dra… started to suck us both of our organic matter. I did what I could Trisha. I'm sorry I couldn't restore your personality fully. Those damn things. That evil son… bitch. Trying to erase us both from the universe. If Boo were here should could have stopped him I know it." He looked to the right his mismatched eyes seemed to be messing with his arm with a screwdriver and he flexed his left hand a completely robotic left hand that wasn't normal for him. A field repair.
"Trisha I know what they are doing to me know. What that damn Dis… he's trying to erase all Draconequus it's like Byte 2.0 if he had ch… I think Boo will care enough. I hope… I know she will care enough to find out. She needs to. The fate of our universe hangs in the balance. I brought you back in time here Trisha to help you and fix you. I also was able to fabricate some chaos enhanced parts for you. You have all the defensive talisman, runes, and all I could find at Canterlot castle's library on Draconequus defenses. But I know what you are going to be more useful with. Helping find my scattered…" the video winks out.
"File terminated. I will try to reconstruct the file over time. There is still minutes left in it." Trisha explained lowering her arm.
"So another threat that can disintegrate a Draconequus has arrived to play games. I might have been interested in a team up with it had I not a better offer from you." Byte said.
I looked at him warily.
"Please do what you can with the file Trisha." I said. She nodded as I heard shots rang out from back in the atrium. The roars of submachine gun fire answered the sounds of rifles and pistols firing.
"Oh what fresh hell is this?" I asked walking back down the corridor. A bullet whizzes and I catch it in my teeth.
"Well now." I say spitting the projectile to the ground as I now rush to the atrium area where all the displays were. Phoenix was on the inside of the door that led to the storage area. He popped his SMGs around the corner and blew through a spray of fire in seconds, then pulled the tube back letting them cool for a moment as the assaulting party gave their rebuttal with bullets. He ejected his mags and slapped fresh ones in with his wings. I slide to the opposite side of the door way and extend my claw out snapping causing a ponyquin with cybernetic legs display to explode in shrapnel. It didn't hurt any of them I know but it made them think for a second as Byte ran down the passage I saw him take a bullet to the chest, he staggered then got up and caught one in the head between the eyes.
My heart stopped.
"No." I whispered.
"Damn it!" Phoenix swore as he saw Byte was down.
I was shocked that a single bullet to his armored head took him down. Sparks issued from the home in his head and his eyes blinked out.

"No, no, no, no." I yelled. Then I did something stupid. I charged into the room where the fire was coming from my eyes glowing red as a furnace and I took in the room.
I selected each one of the 9 bandits in the room then with a double snap they all suddenly feel limp. Not just fell limp. I removed their bones. Each one of them was a mass of pony flesh, with no bones to hold them together they all crumpled on the floor. They weren't dead. Oh, not yet I had a special plan for these goats.

I walked up to the them letting my eyes glow angrily as a I presented my claw to the eyes of one who had the misfortune of still being able to see.

"Let's see how you like feeling a bullet enter your head shall we?" I asked in a demonic tone.
Something in the back of my head made me stop as fire erupted from the back of my skull. I bent over and roared in pain. Then I blacked out.