Chapters The mare looked back at her existence. How she got to this point. Ah yes it was one night back at her old home.
* * * * * * * *
Care Sager played her flute in her apartment facing the night sky. She played a tune she made while staring at the stars one night. It was a calming tune and she needed it tonight. Tomorrow was a big day. She paused her playing and looked out the window to the night sky.
Two centuries ago we learned that their world was changing for the worse. The deserts encroaching on habitual lands. Pegasi have done their best but honestly they have only been buying time. The various nations of our world started looking for solutions but when one of your satellites picked up a massive metal object in the Great Desert gave us renewed hope. A sizable portion of the ponies of Mareland thought all of us equines didn’t originate from Nod but from elsewhere.
My grandmother was part of the expedition to see if that belief was true. It was not remotely easy. While Mareland formed a coalition with several nations many other decided war was the option to take what resources were left. The base that launched the expedition actually fell. Then they faced the Tribe of the Desert, a group of cultist horses that lived in that desert and saw what we were doing as heresy. Forget our world is dying they would not let us try to save us all But what her grandma’s biggest obstacle was the betrayal of Maregypt forces. Original sent from their own base to assist grandma and for a while they did. Heck our forces helped them out of a jam against the Tribe of the Desert and they repaid us by sabotaging our resupply efforts to they could claim the prize solely for them. They paid for that and we defeated the tribe claiming the site.
I walk to the window and pit my hand on the glass and looked to the sky. What grandma found was a wrecked starship. It was true, out there somewhere was Equis….our home. Our world changed when the word got out of our origins. The coalition grew and the bulk of our focus on studying the wreck and using the technology inside to build a ship to get us off this dying planet. Right now in space the Hope of Marack is being built. The construction was going well, however the same could not be said for their systems.
I moved away from the window to my work desk. Oh simple systems were being installed and working fine. The issue was the core. As we searched the wrecked ship called the Applejack we found deep with in a sphere. It was clearly the core of the old wreck. She studied it cracked it open and looked inside. It was hallow minus a ring floating in it. We found cables seemingly to connect to something but what we didn’t really know. We assume a processing core of some kind. But all our attempts to out one in has failed. The data stored in the core is massive and every processor we tried got fried trying to handle the load. I looked at diagrams of the core and my latest processor to handle it.
“Please work.” I asked the processor and headed to bed.
I awoke the next morning with a yawn and got out of bed. A quick sonic shower and I went to the mirror to do up my mane. Probably like most that like on Marack I slept in the nude. Buck, with the way things are we barely wear anything anymore. I have seen the records. What’s standard ware today was risqué two hundred years ago. I wearing basically a bra and a loincloth. Anything more would to hot. Putting on my hat to protect my brain from the sun’s heat. Grabbing my things I headed to the lab.
Taking the cab I observed the capital. Most buildings were domes of apartments, each filled with hundreds of families and a communal area that contained the bulk of the last green of the planet. Them the green houses and water contain the last vestiges of life on the planet. Besides our cities the world was just rock and sand. Despite the bleakness I saw pegasi flying in the air. Some kids having fun playing with each other. It made me smile. Though a unicorn I did have relatives who were pegasi. There was life there was always hope.
My cab pulled into the lab and tipped the driver. Showing my ID to the guard. We still had some opposition to security was needed. I walked through the lobby, my breasts doing a slight bounce. I smirked. I was a damn sexy unicorn mare. Sky blue fur and butter mane. I would be a catch. Well maybe when we have a new home I will start looking. Why start a family now anyway, we are trying to leave the planet. Afterwards when we are on Equis or a more habitable world. That is the time to start a family.
I entered the lab and my coworkers saw me. “Hey Care, you ready for today?”
“As much as I can be.” I look over the screens. “How are things looking?” The mare an earth pony Sand Dune looked back at her screen.
“We have your processor in the core and checking the connections now.”
“Good.” I said with a nod. The various screens showed either data, graphs, or video of the core. Soon she saw the technicians leave the core.
“Techs reported in. We are all hooked up and ready to go.” I put my arms on my hips.
“Then let’s get started. Activate the processor.” I replied as Sand types the commands in. And soon the temperature rose a tad as the processor took power. But it held at that temperature. “Alright let’s lower the firewall and let it communicate with the core.” More typing. And I watched the screens and soon the temperature was rising. “Need more coolant.”
“Injecting coolant.” The temps stopped rising for a couple seconds before it rose again.
“More Coolant!” Again a slight pause but again rose. I slam my hands on the desk in front of me. “WE NEED TO GET THE TEMP DOWN!” More typing but it was a losing battle. Soon feeds from the processor died. I sigh as Sand gave me the news I already knew.
“The processor fried doctor.” I nodded.
“Gather what data you can. Debrief in an hour.”
“Got it doctor.” I gave her a nod and headed to my office and deal with the fact.
We had failed again.
I was back in my apartment looking over the data from the latest failure in the nude with flute playing in the background. Trying to de stress a bit. In my hand was a tablet as I try to come up with a far better processor. My favorite music playing in the background. I was fiddling with the design when I heard my doorbell chime.
“Who is it?”
“Hey cus, can I come in?” I recognized the voice of my cousin Cloud Seeker.
“You can come in.” my door opens and a pegasus mare with grey fur with sky blue mane and tail walked in and took a look at me.
“Wow, that bad huh?”
“It barely lasted a minute before frying.” Cloud winced.
“Ouch, that is bad. And you worked weeks on that design.”
“I know the only silver lining is that copies of it can be used on other projects and ships.” I sighed and looked at my tablet. “The core is just so complex nothing we have made can handle it. Not sure of we can in time.”
“That is a pickle…hhhmmmm.” I tapped away at my next design as my cousin thought. After a few minutes Cloud spoke up again. “Now I may not be a genius..”
“That doesn’t make you dumb.” I interject.
“Buuuuuut I remember school said we only use a fraction of our brains potential, so what if you base your processor off a brain?” I open my mouth to comment but then I thought about what she said. Could it be possible? I switched over to a scan of the core. Ever since it was discovered we have been studying it and scanning it with all the tools we have. While some things are beyond our understanding we have learned a lot. I closely look at the scans and things she had missed before were becoming clear. I had a lot of work to do. They proposal was finally finished who knows how many hours later.
* * * * * * * * *
I sighed as my cousin got lost in her work. It happens on occasion when she gets an idea in her head. I have learn that you can’t do anything to get her out of it. So I will come back later and make sure she eats something.
* * * * * * * * *
I worked on my plans double and triple checking my math. Everything was lining up to work. It will mean great sacrifice but it would be for the future of them all. I nibbled on the food Cloud made for me. Learned long ago that of I just eat they will not bother me as much then if I outright refuse it. I had to organize my findings to present to my boss. Got up grabbing my tablet and started heading for the door. Then I realize was still nude so I quickly threw an outfit on and headed to work.
When my boss allowed me into his office the pegasus stallion took one look at me and said. “Care, you look horrible. Did you get any sleep?”
“Not recently, but thanks to my cousin I think I found the solution to the core problem.” I handed over tablet to him and looked it over. At first his face was neutral then as he read on his eyes got bigger his eyes got. He then looked up at me.
“You’re serious about this?” I nodded in reply. “okay, let me get this straight. You think a pony connecting directly to the core?”
“Yes, it’s the only solution I can think of and scans of the core show that may have been the intent all along. The latest processor barely lasted a minute. By the time we could make one to take the load it be way too late for us. This is the only solution I see for us.” My boss sighed and looked at my tablet again.
“You do know that any pony asked to do this may be stuck in the core permanently.”
“I know thus it will be me.”
“You?”
“Yes I can’t ask anypony else to make that kind of sacrifice.” He sighed and copied my data to his own tablet.
“I will run it by medical before taking it to the council. Till I hear back go home and rest. You have done your part for now. Let me do mine.”
“Got it.” I said with a nod and headed home.
* * * * * * * * *
Two days later I was summoned to the council chambers. I put on my best dress and did up my mane and headed out. The council chambers were semi dark since only small slits of windows were allowed. The rays of light silhouetted the rulers of the various nations that form our alliance. My boss was next to me as we stood before them.
“So Dr. Sager, you have proposed a solution to the problem with the core.” My country’s leader said.
“Yes ma’am I have. I believe to be the only practical solution we have.”
“And have the doctors looked over the data?” The zebra councilor asked. My boss answered for me.
“I had them look it over. Everything checks out. They found some gel when it was first discovered and they ran checks over it. That gel can sustain organic life as far as we can tell.”
“As you can tell?” Another council member spoke up.
“Councilor, were dealing with technology far more advance then ours so a lot of what we do is guesswork.” My boss replied.
“And frankly we don’t Have time to be completely cautious. Our world is becoming less hospitable as time goes on. We have to take risks.” The councilors looked at each other.
“So we should start looking for someone to sacrifice for all of us.” I stepped forward.
“I will be the one to enter the core. I can’t ask anyone else to do this without offering myself.” They looked surprised at my response.
“Doctor, you do vital work for the planet.” One councilor started but I interrupted them.
“Which can be done by others. I hope with my knowledge of computer systems I can merge easier then anyone else.” The Councilors looked at each other.
“The council will consider this, you may go.”
* * * * * * * * *
Days later we got the approval and I hosted a party with my family to let them know my choice. Using a communal party area in my dome they heard my choice. Some were very angry at my choice, some sad, and some supportive. My cousin sat next to me.
“Care, you better keep in contact with me. I don’t care you are part of a machine you are still my cousin.”
“Will try. Not sure how it will be when I am part of it.”
“Fair enough.” I gave her a friendly nudge. And she smiled back at me. I looked away and saw my brother speaking with one of my sisters. They were smiling talking about their respective families.
They both had two kids between them while my other sister had one. Said kids were in the play area. My parents were enjoying some snacks. They had a big talk earlier in the party. They asked why I was doing this and was I sure of this choice. I told them why and yes I was. There was sadness in their features which was understandable. My life as we knew it was going to end. So they hugged me and let me spend time with the rest of the family. Through out the night I chatted with my family. It was a happy memory I treasure.
Today was the day. I left my bed for the last time and cleaned up before heading for the door. I look behind me at the apartment I called home for years. If things go well I will be among the last to use this place. At least that was my hope. With a final nod I closed the door and headed for the cab. As the cab drove to my destination I looked out the window watching those outside. Most were walking from one location to another. A couple of pegasi flying together chatting. Just a normal day for them but the last such day for me. At least that was the likely outcome. For the good of everyone this had to be my last normal day. Soon I was in the building and headed straight for the medical lab. There the staff prepped me for what I was about to do. First I was stripped naked so to get all my vitals and likely easier to connect to the core. Then I saw the laser shavers. “What are those for?” I asked.
“We want to be sure of connection so no fur.” I sighed and let them strip me of my fur. After a few minutes I had no fur or even mane left. For the first time in my life I shivered. Soon I was walking the hallways trying to not cover myself. Many beings I know will soon see me in my birthday suit so better not get embarrassed. Soon I was in the core’s room with the core itself was open and waiting for me. I looked up at the control room and some looked down at me. Some quickly turned away while others blush. Well, at least I am sexy. I step into the core and walked to the center. As we prepared for this day we believe we found the program to get this all started.
“Let’s do this.” I said aloud since I know they could hear me.
“Activating.” Soon the core closed and I saw the core begin fill with the gel. Where the gel comes from? Magic. No seriously, the core had magic in it so likely a pocket dimension that stores the stuff. Then I felt sharp pain on my neck and back. In front of me the screen lit up. Assimilation commencing. And the next thing I knew I was seeing data fly in front of my eyes. Or at least that what it felt like. So much data entering my mind….it was so much. So much. Then everything went black.
When I came to I was floating in the gel. It felt warm and inviting.
“Assimilation complete.” A female voice said in her mind. “Hello organic processor.”
“Uh, hello. Um status?”
“The merging of this core and you organic processor has completed its early phase. Connections stable and we are ready for insertion into a ship.”
“Well we don’t really have a ship for us right now. Can I speak to the control room.”
“One moment…….Yes you can speak to them.”
“Then let me.”
“Done.”
“Hey guys, I am awake.”
“CARE!? By Celestia you has us worried. Are you okay?”
“So far Sand, I need to check things out but I figured let you know I am awake. I will get back to you after I check things out.”
“Got, good luck Care.” With a nod the core ended the connection for me.
“Now then, first question. Can I separate of I wanted to?”
“As of right now, yes. However the more time connected to the core the more your body becomes reliant on the core’s systems to function. In time separating would be fatal for you.” I looked down..well that was it then.
“Understood. The core’s status?”
“Fully operational, minus some memory files. Those are corrupted beyond repair.”
“Anything critical missing as a result?”
“Negative, seems likely the corrupted files were records this core personally recorded then any key operating files.”
“alright let me look over your files.”
“Granted.” Soon screens appeared before me and I started my work.
* * * * *
A day later I called a meeting of the staff to the conference room. When the staff arrived I made an image of myself on the screen. “Hello all.”
“Dr. Sager, how did you access this screen?” My boss asked. I smirked at him.
“You never revoked my clearance and the core is connected to our systems so it was easy. And don’t worry I have control of the core so no virus. I am still me at the end.”
“Okay, what do you have to report?” I gave him a smile.
“I managed to do a quick scan of the core’s files and while some are damaged beyond repair and those were mainly ship logs. So we don’t why we ended up on this planet. However many files are completely intact. Including these.” I adjusted the image so my avatar shrank and moved to the side to reveal blue prints. “These are blueprints for various ship systems. With these we can cut down on R&D and build our own ships sooner.” I saw smiles all around the table.
“So we can just build a fleet and explore.” I frowned.
“Not quite that easy I am afraid.” They looked at me curiously as I continued. “The reason the core and others like it were built is that standard computers take a long time to calculate a small jump for just one ship. While a fully functioning core which we now have can do it in fraction of the time and more energy efficiency.”
“So we can't have an escort fleet for the Mothership.” One of staff members commented. I shook my head.
“Not correct. As a core I can do calculations for a whole fleet its a big reason why we only found one in the wreckage. You only needed one and likely the cost of having one is high. It cost you a ponies life. But heck a trade off right?” They all looked around sad. What this cost me was now in their minds. “But moving on with this and other tech we can have a fleet done earlier then expect giving us more time to find Equus or a more suitable home for us all.” They cheered up a tad and I shared the knowledge I have gained from the core.
* * * * * *
That night I called my cousin. In a couple minutes she answered in her pjs.
“Care?”
“Hey Cloud.” I replied smiling with my avatar. “Told you I would keep in contact if I could.”
“So I guess it worked.”
“Better then we thought. It was all worth Cloud. It has cut time by years.”
“I guess that is good.”
“Please don’t be sad Cloud. I am saving our family by doing this. As long as our family survives the price is worth it.”
“If you are sure?” I nodded.
“I am, so tell me about your day?” The next two hours we chatted about her day. It was good.
* * * * *
It's been five years since I merged with the core. It was now my home since I could no longer leave the core without dying. Its been….interesting. I discovered I didn’t need to sleep. I tried a couple of times but was in the end useless. I just wasn’t mentally tired anymore. So I worked on things. Adapting the plans stored in my core, oversee the construction of our scout fleet and the construction of the Hope of Marack . And today was a big day the Hope was completed enough that my core can be installed. Right now I was on a shuttle to my new home. With the wireless connection I had I could view the approach to the Hope from the various sensors or cameras. The Hope of Marack was in the shape of a horseshoe with two engine banks on the arms. Most of the arms was engineering and factory sectors. With the main curve housing the cryo areas, crew quarters and of course me. Right now only the crew area was nearly complete thus my move in so I can oversee the rest of the construction of what will be in essence my body. As we approached I played the latest addition of my song.
“I still don’t understand your fascination with this music.” The core commented.
“Because I like it and it fits the mood.” I swear I could feel an eye roll from the core. I watched on with my music play. The shuttle approaches a special docking port. One made solely for my core. The shuttle shifted and the cargo area where I was contained was opened. On the other side I saw the docking area open and I saw the inside of my ship for the first time. Granted it was only the corridor filled blast doors to protect me from potential fire. Two soldiers in space suits directed my core through the corridor. As we pass by a door it closed and sealed behind us. After a few minutes of this the last blast door sealed behind me and they connected large thick cables to my core and soon display screen appeared around her organic body. Many displayed no signal screens which was expected. But several did have signals And I checked their readings before I was ready to talked to the captain. This will be the first time I use the new hologram emitters. One was by the captain. I soon activated it and looked at him. He was a pegasus stallion. “Hello Captain.” He glanced my way and had a shocked look.
“Doctor Sager! What is this!?” I tilted my head which was mimicked by my avatar.
“What is it captain?”
“You’re naked!”
“I am always naked now. Your point?”
“Why is your avatar naked?” I sighed and glared at him.
“Oh I don’t know. Maybe it’s the fact that I am permanently merged with an ancient object. That my only interactions with anyone is through screens or holograms. That maybe I like to have some choice in my life since I am now more or less your main computer. Tartarus, I will never touch another being again or be touched by them so excuse me that I might want to choose my appearance!” He at least looked uncomfortable after my rant. I kept glaring at him for a bit. Admittedly it might be the influence of the core but I just don’t see the use of clothes, especially for me.
“System status?” He asked. I dropped since he seemed to.
“All completed systems are fully operational and running smoothly. And will be more efficient under my care.”
“Understood doctor.”
And thus my life began its next stage.
Author's Note
and here's the musichttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCHWZ8LviWs