//------------------------------// // The Men of Steel. These Men of Power // Story: Doctor Whooves: The Ultimate Upgrade // by LightOfTriumph //------------------------------// The Cutie Mark crusaders were led into the Daedalus Technologies Daycare Center. It looked nice enough. Plenty of toys and games. There was a nice Minotaur woman who acted as matron. Plenty of Minotaur children to play with... And then something caught Apple Bloom's eye. There was a framed black and white picture of a young Minotaur child holding a Soccer ball. It was carefully preserved, but had obviously been there for quite a while. The adults were going out of their way not to look at it, while some of the children were staring at it intensely, taking the time to whisper at each other every so often. Under the picture was a golden plate that read: IN LOVING MEMORY. Under the words were two years. Some basic arithmetic told Apple Bloom that he couldn't have been nine years old when he died. Not one to wait for information, Apple Bloom walked right past her friends and straight to the Matron. "Miss?" Apple Bloom asked sweetly. "Yes dear?" the Matron asked kindly. "Is there something I can do for you?" "Who's the little boy in the picture?" Apple Bloom asked bluntly. "And... how did he die?" The Matron stopped for a moment, obviously saddened by the question. "Oh," she stalled. "O-oh, I see..." "I'm sorry...," Apple Bloom was regretting her decision to ask. "I just saw the photo and-" "No," the Matron brushed a tear from her eyes. "No. You weren't wrong to ask. We put that up there for people to remember him. It's only right that I tell you..." The Matron knelt to speak to Apple Bloom at eye level. "First of all, his name was Granite," she started. "He was a very nice boy, even if he was a bit spoiled. He had come to this center for years. He was a lot of fun to have around..." She trailed off. "Ma'am?" Apple Bloom asked after a moment. "Yes, of course," she went on reluctantly. "One day, a little over a year ago, his mother came to pick him up... But she wasn't alone. She had brought a friend with her. That "friend" turned out to be a Changeling and.... They didn't make it out. Him or his mother. To top it of, exactly thirty days later, Black Horn Bay...." The Matron brushed more tears from her eyes. "I'm distracting you though! Plenty of new friends for you to meet here!" It was all too familiar. Six feet tall. Pure silver. And, the one piece of good news, a vent on it's chest. "This," Obsidian Daedalus said proudly. "Is the prototype. Cyberform Zero! Good morning." "Good morning, Mister Daedalus." the Cyberman said in a cold monotone voice. "Now, this is a direct order from your commander," Daedalus said to the metal man. "The Doctor and Ms. Marks are going to aak you a few questions. You're going to answer them truthfully. Do you understand?" "Affirmative" Cyberform zero responded. "I'll start," High Marks chimed in. The next half an hour was spent with High Marks asking every question that she could think of. Technical information. Weapons capabilities. Programming info. What the hardware was made out of. With each answer Ms. Marks jotted down a note. Intensely eying the Cyberman as it was talking. That settled it. The Doctor was right. But he would have to deal with that later. The Doctor stepped up. "Alright, my turn," he smiled. "I've only got three questions. We'll go from least important to most important. Starting with: Why the head handles? I never got those..." "Cybermen are made in the image of the Minotaur." the Cyberman explained. "For a Minotaur to lose his horns, even in death is a great dishonor" "Cyberman with a concept of dishonor...," the Doctor muttered. "That's new. Alright! Question two. That vent on your chest. It's to let your organic components breathe, yeah?" "Correct," the Cyberman responded. "Inside it is a filter that removes all pollutants from the air. Only one element can block this filter." "A minor design flaw," Daedalus interrupted. "We're working on it." "Last question," the Doctor said. "To be fair, it's more like two. What was you're name, and why did you choose to do this to yourself." The question left the other three in stunned silence. Even the Cyberman seemed to hesitate. "Flint" he responded finally. "My designation was Flint. I chose to be upgraded because I was dying. My only regret was not being able to serve my country. When I was approached about the Cyberman project I knew it was the only way I would ever fight for Minos." The Doctor listened. Then nodded sadly in respect for the memories and bravery of the now deceased Flint. "I got a question," Applejack said from the back. "How come you gotta use organic stuff at all? Why not just make'em robots?" "I'll take this one Cyberform," Daedalus stepped up. "The brain, Miss Applejack. You can build a computer the size of this tower and it wouldn't have half the processing power the Minotaur mind does. The Cybermen have machine efficiency, with a soldiers instincts. This is the tool I, and my country, will use to crush the Hive." The Doctor almost had it all figured out with those last few words. He just had one more question. "How many Cybermen are up and running?" Daedalus gave a sickening grin. "Over ten thousand. Right here in the basement of this tower." The Doctor, Applejack, and High Marks were led into a refreshment room. Daedalus had a meeting to get to. As soon as they were alone, the Doctor began pacing rapidly back and forth across the room. "Uh, Doctor?" Applejack asked. "Maybe we should be headin' home, I mean everything seems to be alright..." "Really?" the Doctor asked. "Because I counted three things that were very very wrong." "What were they, exactly?" High Marks asked. "Starting from most important, going to least," said the Doctor. "First and foremost, that footage of the attack was wrong." "Somepony messed with the footage?" Applejack asked. "No," the Doctor said. "The attack was wrong. A race of shapeshifters don't resort to open warfare unless absolutely necessary. If they were going to attack a military base they would blow it up, they'd try to take it over from within. Just like the Zygons." "What're Zygons?" Applejack asked. "Hopefully you never find out," the Doctor continued pacing. "Number two. The words 'to crush the hive.' Those aren't the words of someone who wants to serve his country, that's a man with a personal vendetta." "And the third?" High Marks asked. "Yes the third," the Doctor turned on the mare. "You would be the one to ask about the third wouldn't you. You ask so many questions, you get so specific. You pay such close attention. For quite a while I've been noticing things. When I was sure that this 'war' was started the way I was first told, I thought of exposing you right away. But then Wrong Things one and two crept along and all of a sudden, that changed. Under the circumstances-" The Doctor raised the screwdriver to High Marks's head. The Mare was enveloped in green magic flame. When the flame died down, her disguise was gone. She could be seen for what she was. "I'm tempted to hear your side of the story. Remember that you've gone from spy to ambassador. So be careful what you say," the Doctor said firmly. High Marks looked around her. Applejack could barely keep from screaming. "I guess I have no choice. I'll have to try to tell you the truth, not that you'll listen... "First off, we never attacked Black Horn Bay," hissed the Changeling.