Fallout: Equestria - Most Dangerous Game

Chapter One:

Deathly was the best way Jadefire could describe the twisted mass of rubble, earth, and metal. Like a half-rotten corpse, the sickly detritus of the city’s decaying mass had eaten through the floor, crumbling buildings sagged like a wet blanket over the tattered earth. As if melted, rock dribbled down, frozen in a petrified state of decomposition. Rusted metal sprung from cracks and crevasses like the gnarled ribs of a decades-old cadaver, while severed pipes and drains gushed sickly green water as if the world itself were bleeding. Many more tunnels appeared to have been snapped like twigs, as did the corroded bridges that stretched out from their open maws, as if pulled like hot taffy.

A train car, still tethered in several places, drooped from the yawning cavern of a subway tube, carriages swaying in a ghostly wind. The metallic creaking was painful, as was the dull whaling of the monolithic towers looming beyond like faceless goddesses. Their flanks rent and torn as if by a gigantic dragon’s claws, they almost seemed to sway in the turbulent sky below the towering bulk of their tallest neighbors.

The concrete and rocks themselves seemed to crawl, as if looking at it closely revealed it was actually made up of countless fields of grasping hooves. Flashes of lightning made that illusion no easier to ignore, nor did the red bars that made it clear there were a lot of very real threats moving around the blighted pit. All of it stretched above for at least two hundred feet, if not for the sheer girth of the cavern it would have been impossible to see the glowing green sky. Yet it lingered there, taunting her as she sat right at the muddy, waterlogged base of the fissure.

What in Luna’s name happened here? She wasn’t sure if she thought or spoke the words as a hundred ghastly voices echoed on the wind. Mega spell damage is one thing, but this…

It appeared as if the whole city had been plucked from the earth, and twisted like a wet towel. Yet for all of the destruction, there were no bodies, not even bones. She had a sickly feeling that they’d all met the same gooey fate as her sludgy meat suit. With no mechanical mind to save them from melting, she dreaded to think how it had felt.

I was only here for a few seconds, and I felt like I was already drowning. She thought, ducking away from the open sky as lightning flashed and thunder boomed. What kind of sick weapon did they use?

Of all her years of working in intelligence, she’d never heard of a zebra weapon capable of unleashing such devastation, nor one that literally melted ponies into goo. Yet the Ministry District was always known as the toughest egg to crack, surely if they had a weapon that could unleash such devastation, they’d use it here. The shrieking and screams were a testament to that, even now it was as if a million voices lingered like ghosts. Her ears folded at the thought, the cold sensation and mechanical whir, a chilling reminder of how distant from flesh and blood she now was.

I guess I should be thankful for it. She did her best to ignore her pale reflection as she staggered back over the rubble in search of another route out. All those years terrified I’d lose myself and now look, I’m hardly a Kirin anymore.

It was a solemn irony, one she also stashed in the back of her mind, hoping her cybernetic brain was just as good at burying her dread as her previous one. The soft motions of her legs, from the clack of ceramic plates, to the whir of motors and joints, all of it was shoveled away.

For a second she could close her eyes and imagine she was just walking into work, even if the floor of the corridor she now found herself in was twisted at a steep angle. The glow of her new eyes shone on the back of her eyelids like a pale moon, the tap of her metallic hooves on the sleek concrete was the only sound to break up the dull shifting and steady click of her sensors. Then they opened, and as if the world were just as robbed of color as her new body, the ghostly hall ahead was illuminated only by her vision.

“Urg, come on, this thing has better night vision than this, surely?” she muttered aloud, ears twitching in the direction of every scurry and shift in the gloom. “Everything here’s gonna see my eyes shining like a Celestia damn lighthouse!”

She tapped the side of her head, yet aside from a dull metallic thud, and several sensors registering the touch of her forehoof as cold, there was nothing. A tap on the opposite side, resulted in the same thing, as did a furious shake of her head. Warnings of balance modulator and motor function settings flashed in her vision seconds later, and she begged the goddesses she hadn’t just set her body to walk backwards!

“Okay, Jade, think, you know this.” She pressed a forehoof to her chest, slowing breaths that had hardly elevated in the first place.

She ignored that inequine feeling, doing all she could to feel as if she were still natural. “I just have to think, the body is me now… It’s just like old times, only with… Abilities?”

Having never been trained to become a cyborg, she felt oddly like some filly with newfound superpowers. It was like old comic books, that was if the story took place in a dead city rather than a chaotic metropolis filled with space-age tech and wacky supervillains. Either way, she swallowed hard, feeling a lump roll down her silky, synthetic throat, even if she was unsure her artificial innards actually registered anything. Phantom biology or not, however, she calmed her mind, thinking clearly and bluntly about seeing what was ahead of her. Her sight flickered, she blinked, and with a small hum, the lights faded out, leaving her in utter darkness.

What no, that’s not what I wanted, now I can’t see at all! Panic set in far faster than her metallic body seemed able to comprehend, her hooves tapped as she danced on the spot like some terrified filly, before with a few more blinks, she realized she could see.

Unlike before, the world wasn’t cast in a pale, moon-like glow. Now it was a dull green, and slightly fuzzy, as if she was peering out from behind the screen of a terminal. Her enhanced gaze cut all the way down the hall, spying lockers torn from the crumbling walls as the corridor warped and twisted. She blinked again, and the vision remained, calming her nerves as she took another false breath. Glancing left, she found naught but broken pipes, burst from their fastenings on the wall as if intense pressure had popped them long ago.

The rusty metal had been torn free like little more than paper, while she was certain many of the claw marks rent in the cracked concrete hadn’t come from any kind of bomb. Opposite, across a sleek floor marred with a patchwork of cracks and small streams of water, were doorways into the interior of the old labs. It was hard to tell, given the state of things, but she was pretty sure if the crevasse had been above the elevator shaft, then this was the southern side of research and development. Her old department, as secretive and divided as it had been all those years ago.

If I can get through here, and onto the tram lines, maybe I can slip out of the bay. Across to the north end, at least. The calmer she was, the more her logical mind came to life, aided by a series of pings and flashes on her E.F.S. Okay, then that’s the plan, just have to remember my way through.

Broken glass from the many laboratory windows crunched and cracked under her hooves as she made her way down the hall, discovering many of the doorways inward had collapsed. Even the signs that had once guided her around the corridors were weathered and faded, smudged by mold and weeping paint. The walls themselves seemed to bleed vile ichors, as if she really were deep inside a rotting corpse. Yet her new body at least had the decency to project what the signs had once said over the faded imagery her eyes provided.

‘Stealth R&D.’ Her ears perked along with her attention as her eyes passed over the sign, the dull green words flickering into her vision as she did so.

Specter’s lab, surely that paranoid buck had a way through into the back tunnels? She thought, pretty sure he’d had that kind of plan for as long as she’d had her idea of uploading her consciousness into the prototype. Now, I just have to get in.

The automatic doors to the lab were a jar, leaving barely enough space for a foal to squeeze through, let alone an adult mare. For a moment she wondered if shrinking talismans were a part of her new design, but after several attempts to will that reality into existence, it became pretty clear she’d have to think of another way through. That was until her vision flickered, and after a small readout scrolled across her eyes, the door highlighted in her vision seconds before her brain literally provided an answer.

‘Point of intent identified, structural analysis complete... Recommended course of action: sufficient strength to clear passageway.’ She blinked several times, first in confusion, then to clear the words.

What, so I can just yank it open? She looked at both forehooves like they bore the might of a goddess, only realizing she were standing slowly on her back legs when she wobbled back to all fours with a surprised yelp. That’s absurd, it’s an infiltration unit, not an attack bot!

She began to wonder if there were things about the body she now found herself trapped in that she didn’t know, or at least fully understand. But furrowing her brow and stepping up to the door, she shoved against it with her left shoulder. It gave a deep clang, the whole tunnel reverberating as dust trailed from the cracked roof in misty plumes. Wincing at the echoing sound, she made sure none of the red marks around her instantly started beelining her way, before she pressed both forehooves between the door’s two opposing slabs.

“Okay, here goes nothing,” she reassured herself, shoving both left and right with all her might.

It felt like an instinct to grunt as she exerted herself, even as force and pressure readings in her vision assured her she was working well within limitations. Her forelegs whirred, plates clicking together to form solid walls of metal as her back legs planted to the floor, digging at the broken concrete. She closed her eyes, muzzle wrinkling into a snarl as she felt the door slip, and grind into either side like a heavy slab of stone. Her vision was filled with information about her pace and exertion level, assuring both were minimal, before the reluctant slabs would move no further.

The ghost of her biology returned as she fell back, rump hitting the concrete with a clank as her back slumped against the burst pipes opposite. She huffed and panted on air that she was sure she didn’t need, while phantom limbs ached, were mechanical ones remained stronger than ever. The door was wide open, within she could see the long aisles of the labs stretching away, sloping downward into a diluted pool of green goo. She hoped it was water, radioactive or not, rather than what was left of Spectre’s staff as she picked herself up and trotted to the newly opened passageway.

The room was dark, save for the flickering sparks from exposed roof cables and dull emergency lights. Yet her enhanced gaze cut a swath through the sea of toppled tables, shattered glass, and broken equipment. It plotted a path to the far side of the room, beyond that making out the core of south R&D, before a route through the stealth suit testing area. She felt a wash of relief pass through her. Past that, she could surely get out, and hope that there were places beyond the city to have survived.

Yet the moment of triumph was short-lived. The room shook, the whole corridor rumbling as she staggered back and glanced right. Back the way she’d come, something moved, something so big it appeared as little more than a wall of flesh shifting beyond the cracked concrete. A red mark corresponded with the thing, as she imagined a huge snake of writhing flesh and bone. That heated feeling of panic returned, and without a second thought, she darted into the labs. The roof bulged under the weight of whatever it was as the sound of it moving rumbled like a huge ball of sticky meat rolling just out of sight.

Moving as fast as her legs could carry her, she floundered her way through the slanted lab, passing old prototypes and decayed stealth bucks, before flopping against the opposite door. Thankfully avoiding most of the former-pony sludge. Whatever hulking monster had come upon her stopped too, all she could see was viscous black slime dripping from the lull in the roof, as if the thing were seeping through. Yet there was no sound, no movement, and no red bar, as if it had simply vanished or died.

Okay, not waiting around to find out what that is. She thought, making her way deeper before the thing could rot its way through the roof. Okay, south R&D core, so the test areas are to the left.

She read the sign from another helpful prompt in her vision as she came upon the ruined atrium at the center of the stealth labs. The room was round, with steep walls lined by balconies. Each floor was made from glass, marred by a web of cracks, and faded by centuries of grime. She was at least thankful to be on the bottommost floor, so as not to have to navigate her way over the treacherous surface.

Talk about walking on thin ice. She thought, seeing the irony of how she’d used this place before the war, along with every other head of department. Yet it looks like I’m the only one who made it.

What did make the ghost of her stomach churn was the writhing mass of flesh and bone she saw drag itself across the glass two floors up. Thankful for the clear surface’s strength, she watched in cold dread as the thing's foot heaved, and pulsated, quivering like the underside of a giant slug. Not one to have the thing fall down on her as the glass creaked and the bubbling mass moaned with a thousand horrified voices, she swiftly ducked into the test labs, pressing her back to the walls as she calmed herself.

Please, please don’t tell me that’s what I think it is. The image of a thousand ponies all fused into one bubbling mass was hard to shake, yet another glance revealed the thing was gone. Just get out of here before it gets to you, Jade, by Luna!

Taking that to heart, she glanced about, before cautiously creeping her way deeper into the labs. Much like her own facility, the testing area consisted of a long bulwark, overlooking a series of environments below. From a maze cornered off by flickering shield talismans, to an artificial desert that was no more than a field of dust, the underbelly of the city had it all. The snowy environment had melted long ago, leaving a sludge-filled pool filled with molds and slime. While the jungle environment was naught but withered frames of old vegetation clinging to rusty trellises and pipes. Hydration systems still weeping sickly fluids.

Opposite, were the offices and field labs, as well as the locker room and gym for the operatives chosen to undertake testing. A large hole in the roof and floor cut off the walkway ahead, a sleek deluge of muddy water and green slime streaming down in a toxic cascade she did her best to avoid. Any thought that the hulking mass that stalked her could be up there, and she doubled back, spying that the far side of the chamber had sunken in and collapsed on itself.

There has to be an emergency escape from the operatives’ quarters, that’s standard procedure. She really hoped her knowledge of structural protocol still held true even after the city had been put through a blender, as she crossed a rusty gantry into the rear of the locker room.

The walls were a creamy-pale color under the centuries of grime and mold that mottled them. From the endless rows of rusty lockers, to the vast Shadow Bolt mural chipped away on the far wall, it was in no better state than anywhere else. The dull hum of flickering electrical lights, as well as the gurgle of drains in the ceramic tile floor, caused her ears to perk. It was oddly devoid of screams, yet sounds like faulty plumbing shifting in the thick walls had her on edge.

I am not going to end up inside a mass of pony flesh, no way. She told herself, seeing empty operative uniforms laying in heaps where those who’d once worn them must have melted. Nor am I going to end up down the drain!

Every shudder or creek had her on edge, while she was sure the walls bulged in places, as if some great mass were heaving through the tight space just beyond. Like the dead scales of a molting dragon, tiles popped free of the concrete, yet every time her eyes would shoot to the warped mass, any movement ceased. She swallowed hard again, feeling panic stir in her unnervingly calm innards. She almost wanted her steadfast mechanical body to be the one in charge, not her still very much flesh and blood mind. Yet with a tapping of hooves, she pressed on, before coming upon an ill-lit exit.

The green sign above the rusty bulkhead door was unmistakable, even flickering and splattered with crimson as it was. The blood appeared oddly fresh, but having seen many experiments before, it wasn’t new.

How bad a day has it gotta be if blood’s the last thing to phase me? She thought, seeing more sprawled on the walls, as if ponies had bled out before melting. Either way, if I’m right, the back of the department should lead to the tracks.

The very same line she’d rode in on what felt like only hours ago, if she was lucky it would still be intact, there may even be a service carriage. That idea spurred her on, hooves tapping on a floor they once again registered as cold as she crept towards the door, away from the bulging walls and bubbling drains. At least before something caught her eye, the bright flicker of light, and the gleam of sleek black in the stark glow. To the right of the exit, down a squat set of steps was a series of glassy pods. Not too dissimilar to the one she’d awoken in, the sleek cylinders were suddenly blasted with light as those above them flickered to life, several unceremoniously popping.

She hopped back with a shrill yelp, wincing as the sound echoed through the dead facility and glassy shards scattered about her. What met her eyes when she dared look back, beyond her stunned reflection in the glass, was a sleek, skin-tight, black suit. Marked by a neat pattern of hexagonal panels and a narrow visor, the thing was potted with metallic wires and piping. The chest was fitted with a small dashboard of buttons, as was there a narrow pipbuck-like device built into the left foreleg. Yet they were the only true break in its otherwise uniform appearance. Jade knew the sight almost instantly, her rival department’s prize project.

“The X-23, by the goddesses, they left this here!?” She could hardly hold back the words, overcome by excitement. “It’ll be a piece of cake getting out of here if this thing still works!”

Prototype or not, she’d seen the specs on the equipment, and it was not uncommon for leaks between rival departments to happen for more than simply academic purposes. Data’s project had been the favorite child of the Ministry anyway, a few more weeks and the body she was in now could have had the stealth tech built in, outclassing Specter’s department by years. Yet as she went to test the identification tab, it was her body that proved to be the biggest issue.

The identity readings of the prototype were not registered, and the second she pressed a forehoof to the panel and her eyes to the screen, there was a whir. If not for centuries of rust and grime, the two turrets that noisily ground down from the roof would have cut her to ribbons.

Instead, she ducked, flinging her forehooves over her head as the first turret clattered to the floor in a rusty heap. The second whirred, took aim, then sparked out as a deluge of black slime and oil flushed from the mechanism above it. She had to leap away from the toxic sludge as it sent her rad-meter into a frenzy, staining the floor like a vile flower as it blossomed from the impact. The turret’s rusty skeleton soon followed, clattering down just as its companion did before finally, she dared peek up at the glass.

“Hello, my bad… The system didn’t recognize you.” It was the first voice she’d heard in two hundred years.

A young mare’s, maybe even a filly, tinny and robotic, it didn’t sound like that of anypony. Even so, she twirled on the spot, searching for the one who could have spoken, while it added.

“Oh my. I’m such an idiot! I didn’t mean to alarm you!” The mare said again, a flash of stark silver lancing across the black suit's surface like some kind of terrified chameleon.

“What, who said that, who’s there?” she asked, glancing back at the cylinder as her eyes darted to every shadow. “What’s going on down here?”

“I–I don’t know… One minute I was… Arg… It’s so fuzzy,” buzzed the voice, sounding far more confused than anything so robotic had the right to be. “But records show maintenance is almost two hundred years overdue… Is that a problem? Oh, by Luna, I’m not used to this!”

Jade froze, ears tall as she realized. Neck feeling stiff as ice she slowly shifted round to look at the suit, seeing the series of flickering buttons that had come to life on its chest, as well as a soft flutter of pink across its chameleonic surface.

I thought all that talk of internal suit personality was a joke. She recalled all she knew of the thing before the war. My department had it outclassed, we could copy consciousness…

She had to wonder if her team were the only ones down here to make such a breakthrough as she tentatively moved right up to the glass and finally spoke to the thing.

“You can talk?” she asked, a small part of her feeling stupid, as if she’d already cracked up, and talking to a suit seemed like the most reasonable thing in the world.

As if taunting her, the thing remained silent for a second, save for the blinking lights that pulsated and flickered like some kind of odd, digital heartbeat. Her ears folded, and her face sank, all fuzzily mirrored by her reflection in the glass as she sighed and pressed a forehoof to the smooth surface. For a moment there had been a flicker of hope, the emboldening thought that she was not alone down here. Now it felt as if it had all been snatched away, she really was going insane. Her mind could have just been tapping into the echoes of radio waves for all she knew.

Talking suits, yeah right, like they got that far. It was a strange feeling of superiority she almost wished she didn’t bear, if only so she’d not be alone. Funny, I never wanted them to get that far with their department before, but now…

With a deep sigh, she turned away, head held low as the ambient din of creaking metal and warping concrete droned around her. Yet the second her eyes were averted, there was a dull chime.

“Y–yes… Yes, I can…” Her ears perked, head spinning back to the suit before she could even register its voice, yet like some shy foal, its lights flickered and a timid eep sounded from its voice box. “Gah, sorry, sorry!”

What in Celestia's name? She cocked her head, one ear flopping over her mane like a lost puppy as she crept back. What kind of personality did they upload into this thing?

“Are you…” She could hardly believe what she was asking as the words formulated in her mechanical throat. “Are you shy, really?”

She looked the sleek thing up and down, studying the countless cords and talismans in more detail and realizing that she had no idea what some of the arcane machinery was. At least half of it was not of Equestrian make, yet reverse engineering foreign technologies was not abnormal for the Ministry.

“I… I… No, I just… Don’t like ponies looking at me!” The suit suddenly exclaimed, sounding more like some pouty foal than ever. “But I’ve been down here for so long I… Can’t say I’m not happy to see somepony.”

By Luna, did they really model this thing’s personality on a timid filly or what? She really had to wonder, but once again pressing a forehoof to her chest in another pointless breathing exercise, she asked.

“And how long is that?” The lights on the suit pulsed out for a second, as if it were trying to hide the fact that anypony was home, and after a moment she added. “Well, I guess if you don’t want to talk, I can just…”

“What, no!” The display flickered back to life as the suit called out, before blinking away softly again. “I–I… I mean, please don’t go, I don’t want to be left down here again.”

Okay, so shy and lonely, what a combo. She was sure even her analytical servos were buzzing with irritation at that. Still, if she wants out of here, maybe we can help each other.

She said as much, and the suit’s lights blinked as if she were contemplating the idea. Evidently, her internal processing was slower than Jade’s own, as it took a few minutes for her to finally respond.

“O–okay, but… You’ll have to help me out… I…” As if blushing the hexagonal mesh of the suit flickered red, then a soft pink. “I can’t really walk.”

Well, isn’t she a master of the obvious? Jade did all she could not to roll her eyes at that, holding back the witty comment and nodding. Why do I feel this is going to be more awkward than it already is?

“And how do I go about doing that?” she asked, tapping on the glass, before looking over the blinking dashboard of buttons below the cylinder. “I almost got shot just looking at you!”

“Don’t worry, I’ve cataloged your scans… Though, I have to say your analytics are odd… Are you sure you’re well?” the suit asked as the dashboard started to blink and flicker.

Am I? Jade looked herself over, testing each robotic leg in turn. She was hardly a step above the suit itself, and that feeling of cold beyond her phantom biology simmered in the back of her mind.

“I’m healthy enough to get us both out of here, I can promise you that,” she assured, pressing a forehoof to the scanner when prompted, and wincing as machinery growled in the walls.

“Your readings are cold… And… Is that a trademark?” Jade felt the ghost of a blush in her cheeks as her burning ears folded, she didn’t need any more reminders of how inequine she really was.

“Are you coming out of there or not?” she asked, and the suit's lights flickered, while a series of blues and greens floundered across its surface.

“Yes, yes, sorry, sorry!” she declared, voice rushed as if she really were typing out commands at an impossible rate. “Okay, just stand on the plate in front of the pod and stay perfectly still. Here’s hoping the dresser still works.”

“The what?” Jade asked, doing as instructed, only to have the floor under her hooves slide away, and her legs locked in place. “Hey, what is this!?”

She tugged and struggled, yet it was as if her body interfaced with the facility’s internal workings in a far deeper manner than just a simple impeding of mobility. She swore she heard the echoing ghosts of static recordings, and glimpsed blurred images of long-lost camera feeds. In the same instance, two withered arms of metal rose on either side of her, sharp beams of blue light lancing from their tips, scanning over her. Through the mess of technical data scrolling across her vision, she saw a screen in front of the suit pod flare to life, listing her proportions and statistics as if the two devices had always been intended to interface.

“Oh… That feels funny… Ah, be gentle!” The suit called, voice a muffled blur as she was slowly sucked down below the pod.

Just then the arms that had been scanning Jade’s frame retracted with a rusty squeal, and four more sprang up in their place. Part by part, plates were fitted to her metallic frame. Like some kind of undercarapace, they were drilled into her ceramic hide like they’d always been intended to fit. Seconds later the arms pulled back, replaced by a magical shimmer as she slowly became cocooned in a growing field of blue telekinesis.

“By Luna, what is…” Her voice was cut off with a digital buzz as the blue hue enveloped her head, silencing all save for the thoughts inside her head.

Feeling as if only half of her mind were here in the moment, while the other was set adrift on centuries’ worth of lost data, she heaved and tugged at her restraints. Yet more came, clamping her upper legs, then her midriff with steel rings that drilled into her sides. She wanted to scream, felt flares of pain that were not registered by her mechanical body. She had to wonder why the two interfaced so well, what she and her companions had really been building for the Ministry. Finally, there was an electrical jolt, so strong she was sure it would have popped her flesh and blood body like a static balloon.

All it did to her now was freeze her solid, and for several long moments, she was terrified the machinery would go the way of the turrets, pinning her in the dark tomb forever in a cocoon of crackling magic. Seconds later, there was a hard shunt as more of the tiles under her parted, and like a vacuum in reverse, the stealth suit was sucked over her bit by bit, hexagonal tiles layered like a set of sleek scales over her hide. Stunned as she was, it felt tight, hugging every curve of her slender frame, until it rolled up her neck. All she could do was close her eyes tightly as the nano weave of arcane technology grew over her face like a web of tiny black wires, and her vision faded out with the simple words.

‘X-23 interface complete… System fully interfaced and operational.’

Footnote - Level up.

New perk activated: Stealth Buddies - The base software patch for the Stealth Suit Mk XXIII, that was easy! Gain the following attributes while the Stealth Suit Mk XXIII is equipped:

Prototype Dampening Sensors (+5 Sneak)