Hey. Buddy. You should really shouldn't change to that format. I need to fix this weird space self-delete thing that keeps happening whenever I go in to save and edit the work. I also keep track of retcons this way (only for this chapter, swearsies). Otherwise, if you don't mind the random white text they'll be appearing in this story, enjoy! ;P
It's an accident.
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The Faculty
Fall
88 Seconds Before the Great War
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When Venus detected both the undeniable force and the radiation spike of a Mega-spell class bale-fire bomb dropped only several miles away, she knew she had little options. The Great War had begun.
The AI had no choice but to activate the Faculty’s radiation barriers and lock-down all entrances. She knew better than anyone in that moment that there was not enough time to recall all of the ponies working outside or to offer assistance to nearby families. With calculations of cold logic and hardwired efficiency, Venus had decided in those leading moments who to save and who to abandon.
The easiest part about it all was that if Venus wanted to, she could force deactivate the main components of her core personality disk. Morality, opinion, judgement, identity- all could be dropped in an instant if the situation called for it. And it did.
There was no offered opinion when it came to saving lives, only that saving lives mattered.
Venus saw pre-recordings of past impact sites and other information at incredible speeds; Info charts and test detonations data filtered into her calculations as she determined the distance of the bomb. Within those few precious seconds, the AI deemed the distance potentially survivable within the confines of the Faculty. She had roughly 90 seconds to act before the physical blast wave hits, but she needed at least a full minute to power up the barrier generator to full strength. As soon as the generator was in its activation stage, no pony could be allowed to cross the forming barriers or else it would have to be recalibrated, causing more time to be added to her already limited clock.
And then Venus knew that no matter what she did, even if she managed to save both herself and others from the direct physical wave, the blast was still going to cover miles and miles of land in all directions with fatal levels of radiation. They will be unable to safely leave for potentially years.
Venus’ had no true understanding of the moral implications her actions would take, lacking the time. With the small presence of awareness, Venus’ personality disk simply observed as her automated subroutines took charge of the situation.
The first automatic process was a simple one. In the event of an attack, all government funded and independent companies were to play an evacuation message on loudspeaker, both to warn workers and close bystanders.
“Attention all employees!” Venus’ own pre-recorded message played out, “Cease all work production! Drill procedures are active! Selected employees are to evacuate to your nearby fallout Stable!”
The pre-recording continued to play and repeat as outdoor workers collectively began to stop and slowly head toward the Faculty entrances. A number of them instead walked away from the Faculty, going to either their homes or in the direction of the shelter. Ponies from across the street did the same, similarly without urgency.
'Too slow. They’re moving too slow.' Venus couldn't help but think.
Oh don't mind me, I'm just a future retcon.
She even saw one young pegasi tackling another pegasus, as if this were an early lunch break instead of an impending attack. Irritated, the AI was about look up their IDs and call them out by name to stop messing around.
Before she could do anything, Venus suddenly picked up on the subtle rumbling tremor of the earth. It felt only a few miles away this time. She knew that the second bomb had landed, this one however dropped far closer than the first.
The dull chill from her distant, deactivated personality disk seeped into the rest of her being, until Venus’ metaphorical blood ran cold. The AI didn’t have 90 seconds of preparation anymore.
Fun Fact: This prologue chapter used to be about 20% bigger before I removed some words around.
How much time was left? How long before the blast hits? Venus fumbled some small calculations. It was enough time, but only barely.
With the quick decision making of a machine in action, Venus immediately flowed electricity into the generators located a few floors down in the basement. The machine whirled to life, readying its internal arcane crystal. Once complete, it would be ready to set up its radiation barrier. Would she have the 60 seconds until then? She didn’t know.
Sensor modules on the interiors and exterior of the building (visual cameras, life aura detectors, and motion detectors), scanned their surroundings. Of the 247 individuals detected, only 22 were within the vicinity of the Faculty, not including the ones already inside.
The nearly town, with its mostly wooden structures and lack of radiation defense, would be decimated, that much was certain. But there was still some hope for those who could make it into the steel and brick fortifications that the Faculty provided. Even if one could make it directly to the side of the building, then they would have at least some chance of survival as they would still be in the radius of the Faculty’s barrier.
One exterior camera focused on the two pegasi from before, their faces stricken with fear and dismay as they, and many other ponies (including a few griffons and a minotaur), stared off into the distance. Venus’ camera swirled on its joint to look in their direction.
For the first time, Venus got to experience the true sight of a Mega-spell weapon in effect with her own mechanical eyes. A massive pillar of purple smoke and dust had risen thousands of feet into the air, while it reigned nuclear devastation on the world below.
The AI had the speed of the dust and debris mapped from observing testing films. She knew just how great the speeds the clouds were actually traveling. She knew what the mushroom-shape cloud was comprised of, its effects on the environment, and what it could do over time. But truly, what interested her most about the sight was just how vivid its colors were. From purple, she could see where it began to change color, turning from purple to blue to a slight green closer to the bottom.
She couldn’t determine what type of bomb this one was.
The bomb would actually be a neutron bomb IRL, however since these are ponies it's probably something else. Here's an easy answer for you though, Venus: It's a magical bomb.
‘Now’s not the time for this.’ Venus reminded herself.
Venus snapped herself away from her own musings, tightening the grip of the deactivation codes on her personality disk. Her curiousness lessened.
As soon as the generator status indicator flashed the ready, Venus immediately got it started on setting up the radiation barrier. A wave of ocean blue started to rise out of the ground in a circle outside along the perimeters of the building. It formed the impressions of a small, inward shaped wall. The wall gradually rose further and further until it created a ceiling, then into the shape of a bubble over the entire Faculty. The bubble was a translucent blue, but was still far from completion.
Time to full barrier power: 60 seconds.
Now that that was working, Venus needed to get these ponies moving. Although some of them began to more hastily make their way into the building, others were just staring at the atomic cloud as if they couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Some of them, in their shock, even stopped moving entirely.
Venus knew then that they would have to be forcibly moved if they can’t make it to safety on their own.
A quick look at her options gave her the solution that she needed: 5 Telekinesis Arms attached to ceiling ports.
The Telekinesis Arm’s function is to lift heavy objects that earth ponies, pegasi, and some unicorns are unable to do. The Arms imitate the telekinetic spell that unicorns use, amplify it, and allow the operator to move a 500-pound object easily. It’s a very useful tool for industrial work, and almost completely necessary for managing the Faculty’s heavy productions.
Normally, there is a safety enchantment that disallows its use on living beings, as it is by law standard protection. Fortunately, it was within Venus’ power to deactivate that particular safety feature, which meant she could effectively use the Arms or her own purposes.
How was your day, reader?
Runes glowed red on each of the 5 Telekinesis Arms’ chassis and turned dull grey, marking the successful silencing of their enchanted protections. The Arms aimed out of windows or lowered closer to the ground to reach through the opening warehouse door.
Their mechanical graspers glowed a light orange as they began to pull stationary targets into the Faculty with their telekinesis. One by one, ponies flew through the air, barreling through entrances in droves. The Arms continued to grasp out for every single being that had not yet made it within running distance, and then unceremoniously dropped their targets into heaps on the warehouse floor.
Oh don't mind me, I'm just a future retcon. I wonder if that future minotaur is future Iron Will? If it is, then will I become future useless?! D:
Venus made sure that the two pegasi were some of the first to be grasped, as well as the minotaur and few griffons. She saved more ponies than she originally predicted was in her reach, the AI even managed to grab a nearby zebra as well.
Upon telekinetically pulling in the 50th individual, Venus deemed the lives saved enough and closed all entrances and exits. Some of the ones now in her care were a little roughed up, maybe even a few bruises, but in the end everypony inside safely.
Time to full barrier power: 14 seconds.
Through her external sensors, Venus could only watch as the second bomb’s blast wave washed over the countryside. Trees, homes, farms, all was consumed by the mass of purple and green. Anything in its path was either irradiated or killed the instant they were touched. The blast wave appeared to picking up speed as it grew closer and closer.
Time to full power: 12 seconds.
Venus estimated by the speed of the blast that it was traveling too quickly. The bubble wouldn’t reach full power in time, but it was most of the way there already, at over 80% completion. It might be enough to protect them from the coming storm.
Time to full: 11 seconds.
Venus questioned how she could have misjudged the time predictions, trying to figure out what error could have caused such a time lapse.
It hit her. The barrier. She didn’t input the time factor of the barrier’s recalibration, and with the number of times she used the Arms to-
Oh don't mind me, I'm just pointing out that Fallout 3 reference below this line. :)
Time: 11.1 seconds.
The blast wave made contact with the barrier, and for a brief moment of calm, it seemed that the barrier would hold. Then the barrier came tumbling down.
The shields meant to protect against the radiation storm instead cracked open like an egg against the tempest. All of Venus’ sensors were thrown into darkness, as irradiated dust and shrapnel flooded against the Faculty walls. She heard the screams from inside, her ponies were being fried alive.