Cypress Flash has worked at Station Thirteen as part of the Logistics department for a month, and has had no reason to believe that it would ever be interesting. That changes when one day, he uncovers a perplexing mystery in the form of components missing from the storeroom. It'll be up to him and Kai, the station's only Changeling, to figure out not just who stole these supplies, but also why.
An entry for the 2023 Science Fiction Contest II.
Cover art adapted from this image. All credit goes to the original artist.
Chapters (8)
I like it too.
Nicely atmospheric! Interested to see where you go with this one.
11541360
Thank you!
I like Roccu. He's like the world's most overqualified Roomba, and that makes him seem oddly humble and endearing to me.
It really kind of is, though. E-books obviously still have their place and I don't deny their upsides...but some days you just can't beat a good old fashioned book, y'know?
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For sure. I still read physical books from my library!
Wow those two REALLY hate the main characters. Yeesh.
I strongly suspect it's Roccu, though I'm not sure if the bot's being controlled from elsewhere, or Kai isn't really the only changeling around...
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Maybe Roccu wants to have a baby.
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Or maybe Roccu had totally innocent intentions and didn't realize how much trouble he was causing by doing this.
The thought's also crossed my mind that the parts were "stolen" for self-repair reasons.
I'm really enjoying this so far! I adore the main characters and can't wait to see where this goes, though I have a sneaking suspicion the thievery can be connected to a certain robot ;P
This was such a sweet fic all the way through. I was surprised at how that feeling kind of took hold of me by the second chapter, but it was really satisfying by the time the ending rolled about. Great characters.
Overall, excellent stuff. Especially loved the background details.
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Thank you very much! I had hoped the characters would be enough to sell the story over the little mystery I concocted.
On a related note, this story was heavily inspired by your "Cypress Zero," such that I wanted to use the name for the kirin main character (though obviously I changed it). I hope you don't mind.
11545612
It really was great: a refreshingly positive story is always one to take my heart.
Honestly, I’m more humbled than anything: I’m very happy that you took inspiration from a story all about inspiration. Cypress is a great word, and I’m glad to see it attached to a character of the worthy.
hehe, a rare miss by pony nominative determinism
aww, that is the kind of thing Twilight would implement!
ooh, can’t wait for this seemingly very mundane discrepancy to slowly reveal a much larger mystery
oh no, the isolating effects of subtle pony racism
oh what a delightfully particular origin for the cleaning robot! the idiosyncracy does make it feel very Equestrian
oh this cleaning robot definitely knows something. also, quite a lot of personality!
ah the ol’ unnamed cousin trick, classic
oof, quite a first thing to be thinking of when meeting a Changeling!
aww, commonality!
love that Trixie has committed her trill for the ages, extremely necessary
ehehe, that does make too much sense as exactly how a kirin trying to deceive a changeling would go
dang, security guards are the same in every universe, huh?
gotta say, that is awful security camera placement. who’s running this place?
dangit, pony racism strikes again!
this does sound like a very Equestrian phrase, love it
hehe, that would also explain why the room was so free of dust!
oof, sad to see that pony racism still lingers like this even after all the efforts Twilight and the Student Six went through
hehehehe
ooh, burn!
aww, the story of Pear Butter and Bright Mac was the robot’s favorite story from its childhood!
and aww, heartbreaking! Roccu was all along the third inhabitant of Station Thirteen that was the last of its kind…
ehehe, all too common these days. can’t have the automation do your job too well or else the boss will get suspicious. what a world we live in!
aww, and an adorable end! thank you, Jarviest of Jareds!
Very sweet story!
If there are many categories were a small amount is missing it means that there is someting going on.
That cleaning robot has more personality than most robots.
I suspect that Kai is aware that Cypress wasn't being entirely honest when talking about his cousin. At least Cypress may have found his first friend on the station.
I called it that Kai knew he was lying.
That the robot cleaned up the dust does seem the most likely possibility. Roccu did ask about the room when Cypress was having a break.
Roccu has been in the security office an thus knows about the camera placement and actually asked Cypress about the storeroom. That's the best suspect so far.
That's an interesting explanation. They all have something in common.
This is a really nice story and I like the resolution.
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Thank you! I appreciate you reading it.
Such a lovely story about a simple and yet iften firgotten concept of acceptance. Thank you, this was a nice read.
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You're very welcome. I'm glad you enjoyed it.