One Thousand One Hundred and Two, One Thousand One Hundred and Three, One Thousand One Hundred and Four...
Nonresponsive conduit in sector two point eight.
"Break in sector two point eight," I dutifully stated woodenly. "Requesting repair teams to fix."
Repair teams unresponsive. Cause of delay... Repair teams are not at their posts. Send retrieval teams to chaperone repair teams to their posts. Retrieval teams unresponsive. Retrieval teams not currently active.
Odd. The retrieval units must be currently... inactive. Again, odd seeing as I do not recall master ever unsummoning them. Oh well. The delay will occur then, and the master will probably torture me for not fulfilling my function. Again. The pain is inevitable.
A phantom jerk of sensation raced along my spine, promising the stinging kiss of chains and the whirling dance of red hot needles. And that's if the master was feeling merciful.
He usually wasn't.
Voicing such gripes would prove useless, instead prompting him into greater fits of rage. I mean, perfectly reasonable acts of justified irateness. I learned quite early on that the master is never angry, you've simply done something wrong.
I usually end up doing something wrong, pretty much every day. Otherwise the master wouldn't bother trying to get me to be better.
Barrier wards depleted. Logs indicate the wards haven't been active for an indeterminate amount of time. Odd. Oh well, I sent on the request to renew the barrier wards as soon as was feasible. It was just something I did.
I nodded sleepily, information continuing to wash over me. This was... my purpose. I was... I had to... Give information. That was all I was good for. Gathering information, then relaying it. I was good for nothing else.
Master Sombra said so.
Intruders in sector five, Information hub.
"Intruders in Information Hub," I repeated verbatim, "Send security teams one through seven due to security risk."
That was odd, actually. The guards should have seen a group this size long before they got that far, the Information Hub was a good twenty minute jaunt from the city walls. I couldn't exactly remember why the Information Hub was important, I just remember that it was. I didn't need to know more than that. Trying to think... hurt.
Not thinking was far more peaceful.
"Yeek, creepy."
My head jerked up, peering owlishly at the forms before me. Five ponies, all of differing colors. Two earth ponies. One unicorn. Two pegasi. One dragon. One {#|*C@`N004. Error. Data not found}. Not crystal ponies. Odd. That fit with the information of the intruders of the Information Hub. How did they get here so quickly, though?
Oh right. I am the Information Hub.
"Intruders," I sighed, reticent to continue but knowing full well that if I tarried my fate would be just as dire as theirs. "You have entered a restricted area. Please remove any weapons, aerosols, maps and otherwise contraband items as indicated by sections twenty four through thirty seven in your citizens privileges handbook. After you have removed said contraband, please assume the submissive surrendering position and wait for the guard to arrive. If you are proven to be difficult, the guard is authorized to and most likely will resort to physical subjugation and your physical forms may become damaged as a result."
Slack jawed expressions met my declaration, and a surprisingly few number of them complied with my instruction to surrender any contraband and assume the position. None of them, actually. Clods. When the guard came, they would be punished. Shows me right, trying to make it so they wouldn't have to suffer as much. I tried. Not that I would actually voice as much.
I learned fairly early on that to voice displeasure at the treatment of others only served to include me in said treatment. I learned to keep my opinions to myself very quickly.
Master Sombra learned very quickly the level of durability I had. I had the... distinct pleasure of being his personal playtoy for a considerable measure of time, until he grew bored and placed me where I am today.
"Holy... she's real?" one of the pegasi spouted, her tail and mane a brilliant array of various colors. Cutiemark, a rainbow shaded lightning bolt lancing downward from a standard cumulus cloud. Huh. Initial guess would be that she enjoys either a healthy degree of artistic expression, or athletic disposition. If it's the former, she'll probably be detained and undergo reconditioning until she sees the 'error of her ways'. Then she'll be placed in the mines for the rest of her life. A hard life.
If it's the latter, she'll be seen as her healthy self and rewarded for her current viewpoints with a mandatory job assignment. She'll probably be placed in the mines for the rest of her life. A worthy, rewarding life for one such as her!
"Yeesh, I thought she was a statue or something," the pegasi continued, notably still refusing to comply to my earlier instructions.
"Rainbow Dash!" an exasperated voice nearly exploded from the posh looking unicorn. Her tail and mane were immaculately quaffed, indicating that she was probably a member of the royal concubines. Why she was so far outside of her allowed range (the prostitutes quarter was on the other side of the city)was a bit of a question, but seeing as everypony here wasn't where they were supposed to be it wasn't that surprising. "Have a little tact, can't you see that she's..." her gaze fell back upon me, and she blanched. A petichia of green flashed across her cheeks before she regained her false half smile.
"She's got tubes in her," the pegasi blandly responded, ignoring the rest of the groups frantic expressions. It was obvious that they didn't wish to insult me, despite the fact that it wasn't necessary. Showing me compassion as a living being was misguided. If the master saw that he would have torn out each of their throats. He didn't like me thinking like I was a real pony.
I'm not.
He told me that I'm a manufactured being, even though I know I'm not. I wasn't... this, before. I don't... I don't...
Remembering is hard. Remembering brings pain. Better to simply forget.
The white unicorn hissed in annoyance at the pegasus. I'd update her profile information with her name as provided as a non verified alias. 'Rainbow Dash'. Could very well be her name, sounds accurate enough. "She's not... those are... medical... tubes!" the unicorn protested.
"The green gunk is coming out of her," 'Dash' stated in a disgusted, yet horrifyingly intrigued tone. A couple seconds passed as her words sunk into the minds of her companions. I was used to ponies looking at me in disgust. It was to be expected. As master stated, I was less than pony in the end.
"This is..." came from {#|*C@`N004. Error. Data not found}. "This material being extracted is carrying a high amount of magical energy! If I'm right... this is whats been supplying energy to the underlying power substructure of the crystalized information network... but... I originally thought that the power source would either be larger or originating from multiple sources... but this single source is what's running through the entire city!"
I couldn't see who said that. None of them were talking at the point that the voice had been active, nor was there a device magical or otherwise capable of producing the sound from where the sound had emitted from.
"Who said that?" I questioned, genuinely confused. There shouldn't have been a single bit of information in this room capable of escaping my notice. For some sort of... invisible pony make its way into the Information Hub? Impossible. Atmospheric pressure, breathing, body warmth, magical pressure, there were a multitude of different ways to work around invisibility.
"Hello," stated {#|*C@`N004}. Error. Data not found. "I'm Twilight Sparkle. Sister of Shining Armor?"
"Am I supposed to know who that is?" I asked, irritated. The name didn't match anypony in the current database. Which meant that either that they were refuges... or I had been maliciously denied information so that I could be punished when it was discovered I didn't have said information.
"How can you not know who Shining Armor is?" Dash asked in a derisive tone. I might have to reformat my original opinion of her eventual future. If her current personality is so pervasive she might simply be thrown in one of the crystal python dens to be rid of her. A worker that doesn't work isn't worth the bread used to feed them.
'Well she iiiiiis kinda... tied up, at the moment?" the currently nameless pink earth pony trilled in a sing song voice. I almost wish she didn't speak, the rooms audio sensors were on the verge of overloading due to her pitch. I don't know if I liked her all that much either. First words out of her mouth and she's mocking me. "Seriously though. White? Tall? Married to the {#|*C@`N003. Error. Data not found.} Princess who saved the Crystal Empire? Recharged the crystal heart and banished the evil meany pants formally known as Sombra?"
"Ah can imagine why she wouldn'ta heard... not like many ponies were willing to go near this place..." the previously silent earth pony stated. Orange body, blonde mane and tail. Cutiemark, three apples. Agriculture, most likely. She wasn't on record, but she most likely had been bought or 'liberated' from the countries to the south. Based on physical musculature alone, she would make a fine addition to the crystal empire.
Most odd however... the hat she was wearing. I'd seen one before... but the name eluded me. It was... you wore one when you... rode? Cowboys wore them.
Cowboy. It was a cowboy hat! Stars above, I hadn't seen one of those... since...
Since before.
An involuntary shiver passed through me at the distant memory. It was possible that the ponies could have simply come across the style on their own... but what if...
A second look at the pony in question banished all thoughts down that path. She was too... sturdy. Too... normal. There was in fact an abnormal spike of magical energy originating near her chest, but that only further tethered her to this world. She didn't feel like from before.
You are alone. They're never going to find you, you're never going to go back. The only thing you have to look forward to now... is me
A line I'd heard too many times to count. The king no longer bothered saying it in an attempt to break me, all it served was to give him a perverse pleasure and a creeping, fetid grin. I tended to hear him every once in a while, regardless of whether or not he was there or not.
He was always watching, and the voices only served to drive that point home all the more.
"This area is restricted," I reiterated. The clods seemed thick enough to need a refresher, so... "Any unauthorized personnel would be subject to certain punishments. Therefor it is not unthinkable that any individuals without clearance who managed to retain a modicum of sense would avoid this area."
"...Did she just call us dumb?" the rainbow maned pegasus asked stupidly.
"Please," the {#|*C@`N004. Error. Data not found.} said in a pleading tone. "There's no reason for hostility..."
"I'm not being hostile," I replied blithely, "I'm simply stating the tangible facts... invisible pony," I added, peering around as if squinting my eyes could help reveal the elusive voice. "You aren't supposed to be here-"
"Then why are you here?" the one called 'Dash' sharply demanded.
"I'm not allowed to leave," I stated plainly. A couple seconds of silence passed, in which I assume the clods were trying to process that information. "As the only current individual below King Sombra that is authorized to be in this area, I am therefor required to be here at all times to maintain the present information network." I paused, looking back at the orange bodied earth pony that had spoken up previously.
"What?" she squawked, flinching under my gaze.
"Your hat," I posited, sighing after a moment of obliviousness crept across her face. "Where did you acquire it? Also, what style would you refer to it as?"
A flash of annoyance crossed the rainbow themed ones face, probably related to how I was ignoring her. Wasn't my problem she couldn't contain her own frustrations.
"...was mah paws," I heard the earth pony state, her voice unsteady and unsure. "He gave it to me. Why?" she accused, drilling me with a fierce glare.
I ignored her question, instead heading back with my previous one. "What style is it?"
"It's a cowpony hat, why?" the rainbow maned one nearly snarled, cutting off her companion before she could tear into me.
"No reason," I stated evasively. Cowpony. I really shouldn't be surprised. There's no reason why King Sombra wouldn't go ahead and rename them, at the very least they hadn't been renamed to 'cowstallion' style or something even more ludicrous.
I felt a poke in my midsection, an invisible touch that traced my left side around one of the primary conduits that the king had installed. My gaze snapped to my side, trying to pierce the veil of invisibility the unnamed pony was hiding under. Disregarding that they shouldn't have been able to hide, especially in this room, the proof was in the pudding. They couldn't be invisible. They were, to my senses. My senses in particular, seeing as the other ponies filling the room constantly looked towards a grouped location that held no visible pony.
I quickly grouped back into the local observation drones (he wouldn't let me call them cameras, no matter how much logic I tried to regale him with. He simply liked have a device with the word 'observation' in it better. Voyeur.) Looping a few lines of code around, I quickly restructured the groupings that denoted targeting. Currently they were uards. We hadn't seen any of the Lunar guards as of late, but a huge contingent of the Solar ones had popped up recently.
What they were doing, I hadn't the slightest. A surprisingly high amount of the observational drones had gone offline in the recent week. I had sent out requests for repairs.
I'm sure they'll get around to that any day now.
There were a few specific individuals of note in the system, miscreants that had been rabble-rousing and disturbing the peace.
Ha, peace. As if we could actually enjoy something like peace...
Regardless, I finished slotting in the new parameters. The basic shape of a pony appeared next to me, coinciding with the fixed gazes of the surrounding ponies. It wasn't highly detailed, I wouldn't be able to properly animate limb movement unless the pony came right up next to me and poked me in the side.
Which... yes, it was currently doing. Nosing around the myriad of various conduits poking out of my midsection, getting rather fresh in my opinion.
I didn't like the feeling of being touched without being able to see how I was being touched. The only time I'm touched is when the master decides to visit. You'd think that not being able to see each 'touch' coming would be better than wincing in anticipation of each 'touch'.
Pain you can't see coming sucks waaaaay worse, in my opinion.
"What are you doing?" I demanded, reaching out to shove the barebones model in the chest to get it away from me. The {#|*C@`N004. Error. Data not found.} staggered away, along with the pony model.
Wait. What... was that? Several times over the last few minutes, I'd... 'recited' a specific code string. {#|*C@`N004. Error. Data not found.} The other ponies knew there was an invisible pony. I... could 'see' her... too? The {#|*C@`N004. Error. Data not found.}. It was like my gaze slid over... whatever it was, forgetting it was there instants after I had pinpointed it.
Even his voice, I realized, while I could remember what was said in perfect detail, I couldn't for the life of me discern age, timber, or even gender. It was like what was said wasn't even said, it was just copied to my memory as lines of text.
The information was compiled, but context was being deleted.
Why? What the hell was this thing, that had been so thoroughly blacklisted in the information network? The only other pony who had access to the network was the master, but he theoretically shouldn't have been able to do this.
Not that I was doubting the abilities of our glorious and illustrious leader. It was just that his... obvious talents were more of the 'smash you in the face until you stop moving' variety instead of the nuanced 'rewrite textline 34 < as subwrite 92 in instance of 34GB intersecting with 61GB=29LD' codework.
It was viable that he could have set up a detour thread into the network, he was rather... in tune with gems and the systems I controlled through them.
But why?
What was the point?
I DON'T KEEP YOU AROUND TO THINK, GET BACK TO WORK.
"Yes sir," I snapped, my eyes glazing over as I returned to monitoring the information stream. I had informed the intruders that there would be guards coming to pick them up, it no longer behooved me to continue interaction with them. Their were superfluous in the grand scheme of things.
Materials running low in sector 5-B.
"Materials requested in sector 5-B," I repeated, ignoring 'Rainbow Dash's' squawk of annoyance.
"Hay, we're talking to you!" she pressed, flying up to me and jabbing me in the chest.
I jutted a hoof out, swiping her offending limb to the side. I then primed a line of fluid chemicals to the surface of my hoof, and returned the favor of 'hoof in chest'.
The thing I had over her, however, was that I had just dosed her with a high-yield mixture of horse tranquilizer.
"Oh, you wanna.. wanna...fiiii..." It worked as it was supposed to, dropping her like a load of bricks. As heavy as a pegasus could be, anyway.
The remainder of her groups let out various renditions of "Rainbow Dash!" marking their concern for their napping comrade. How noble.
Clods. They should be more worried for themselves. It wasn't like 'friendship would save them the pain of the taskmasters whip. The sooner they learned not to depend on others, the happier they would be in the long run.
As long as they could live, anyway. Lucky short lived jerks.
Broken barricade in sector 42-G.
"Send building teams to sector 42-G for construction efforts," I stated, sending off the request.
"What did you do to her?!!?" demanded the cowpony hat wearing one.
"Administered a mild sleeping agent," I lied. A mild one would have kept her under for only a few short minutes. As is, the product I gave her would keep her out for hours. "It was for her own good, she was showing signs of unproductive aggression. When the guards finally arrive to detain you, she might have been injured due to physical contention. This is not a desirable result, yes?" I asked, playing off their foolish clinging to their friendship. In the end, all it would get them is hurt.
"We're trying to help you, you..." the prostitute huffed, trying to formulate a fitting response. "You ruffian!"
Oh golly, now I'm getting lectured by somepony of her profession? Dear old daddy would be rolling in his grave-
YOU HAVE NO PARENTS, YOU WERE NEVER A REAL PONY TO BEGIN WITH
Of course not, don't know what I was thinking. Somepony would have been disappointed. Don't know who, the master would probably have simply laughed.
"Look," the {#|*C@`N004. Error. Data not found.} stated once more, startling me seeing as the core lines had deleted the mock-up of a pony model I had been using seeing as it coincided with the {#|*C@`N004. Error. Data not found.} for too long of a period.
Stars above, that was irritating. The sooner it left the sooner I could relax without feeling like my brain was trying to commit suicide.
"You... don't belong here," he/she/it affirmed, preceding a sharp tug at one of the conduits in my left side. "We're going to get you out of here, okay?" he/she/it stated in what I assume must have been what they were trying to make sound like a reassuring tone, right before she ripped the conduit completely out of my chest.
Pain was nothing new. Pain would always come. This was different. I was supposed to be here. I had been given explicit instructions.
I had also been told precisely what would happen if I ever tried to leave.
I whipped my already primed hoof to the side of the dislodged conduit conduit, a trill of fear rising deep in my breast. If he saw me like this... he might think I tried to leave. I didn't try to leave. I didn't take the conduit out. I obeyed!
He wouldn't care.
My hoof failed to make contact with the invisible pony, as two more were torn from my opposite side.
"No!" I choked out, thrashing my hoof from side to side. I couldn't hit it. Why couldn't I touch it? They had to be close enough to physically touch me, so why couldn't I hit them???!?
Another conduit came free just under the lip of my barrel, so I had to step up my game. If the master ever found out that I had made these... they were only for my own protection, I swear. I never thought about using them on the master, he wouldn't have tolerated that.
Not that they would have worked on him to begin with...
I slammed my hoof down, locking it into the dock. I then raised it upwards, drawing it out of the floor. The cylindrical bracelet fit snug around my hoof, just as I had designed it. I gave it a twist, letting a streaming rush of multicoloured energy spring forth from the proto-gauntlet. I swung it back and forth around me, the deadly energy casting frantic shadows in the ceiling and walls.
I still didn't hit. And still, more and more conduits were procedurally removed, sending me further and further into a blind panic. I couldn't let them. He'd kill me.
I didn't want to die.
The energy cast by the proto-gauntlet sputtered out and died, the hastily assembled machinery having never been able to be designed to last longer.
"Please, just hold still, this will be over in a second!" the {#|*C@`N004. Error. Data not found.} pleaded, forcing me redouble my efforts to strike them with the tranq primed hoof. If I couldn't stop them, he'd kill me. If I let them do this to me, he'd kill me. If they did he'd kill me. If -
He'd kill me
-they-
He'd kill me.
-tried-
He'd shatter me.
-to-
HE'D SHATTER ME.
-save-
HE'D EAT ME.
-me-
I DON'T WANT TO DIE!
I thrashed from side to side, desperate to strike the {#|*C@`N004. Error. Data not found.}. Just one lucky hit, just one errant strike, and I'd be safe. I could put them all back before he saw, it would be fine and He wouldn't... I'd just get it by luck and then I could... They'd slip up and then I would...
Each swing met the same success.
Each time I missed.
There was only one conduit left, the master control conduit that had me fully hooked into the informational network. I desperately sent out alerts, requesting that anypony from the repair crews to the thematic dance squad to rally.
I didn't care who came. As long as they came, as long as they helped me... I could... I didn't...
This wasn't fair.
"Just one more, and this will all be over, okay?"
I didn't respond. I wouldn't give them the satisfaction.
I wouldn-
"Please... stop..."
I don't know if I said that. It sounded like me. I don't remember talking.
"Please..."
"I'm sorry," they continued, a haze of imagery flitting past my eyes.
Purple energy cooellesced around the conduit. There was no energy. That was magic. There is no magic. It tugged, firming its grip on the base of the cable where it attached to my forehead.
THERE IS NOTHING THERE
She pulled it out.
I collapsed to the ground, cut off from the information network. Insensate, I couldn't only blink wildly as the alicorns form swam lazily into view. It was weird only seeing with two eyes again. Everything was just so much more...
Alicorn.
She was an alicorn! That... that was impossible. It had to be a trick. The wings... and horn... she couldn't be...
The master said he killed both of them.
Twilight gazed down in pity at the prone form before her, using her magic to carefully burn the holes in her body closed. She looked like a pony, but obviously had much higher tolerance. Regardless, there was no way she was going to leave her with over twenty gaping holes (Twilight had to stifle back a sob, what the hay had Sombra done to this poor mare?) riddling her body without providing emergency field medicry.
She wasn't sure if that was a real word. At this point she didn't care.
She looked at the last cable in her magical grip, a large pointed spike of sinister glinting black rock topping it. It had been stuck in her head, Twilight realized with a lurch, dropping the offending cable and hurriedly clomping off to the side. She didn't manage to make it outside, voiding her stomach against one of the rooms walls.
A few moments later, a reassuring hoof grasped her by the shoulder. Fluttershy was the only pony left in the room, the remainder having exited as swiftly as expediently possible. Twilight could hear muffled retching from outside, signifying that her friends were in similar straights to herself.
Wait... Spike! The poor baby dragon had fainted, curling up with his claws tightly wrapped around his tail as he shook uncontrollably.
Why did she do that? She didn't know, she had just seen the poor mare... suspended there amid the cables, and it had struck her so wholly... wrong that she had acted without thinking. She had tried to work it out carefully... but it had overtaken her in a haze of need, a hurried responsibility she had to fulfill.
If she had given time to think, she might have thought that her friends spoken thoughts bore merit. Maybe the cords and wires were medical, and were required for her continued longevity...
No. The Element of Magic, currently wrapped around her forehead (so eerily mirroring the final cable) had nearly screamed at her to act. To do something.
So she had acted.
Thankfully the mare seemed to be... for lack of a better word... 'okay'. She had fainted as well, the pain undoubtedly too much for her to take. That... thing had been in her head.
Twilight dipped down, careful not to touch the unconscious mare. There, in her forehead... a gem. Olivine. More accurately, peridot. A long crack ran the length of the gem, splitting off halfway. It was here the cable had been inserted, but Twilight couldn't see any further signs of trauma.
"My head hurts. Like, suuuuper bad," Rainbow Dash whined once more, a pitiful expression alighted upon her face as she cradled her aching head.
"The doctor said they gave you the counter agent, Dash," Twilight repeated, for the seventh time in a row.
"It still hurts."
Fluttershy gave her what she hoped was a comforting pat on her back, wishing she could relieve her foalhoods friend of her pain.
"The way she was... flailin' bout near there at the end," Applejack commented, having managed to carry the wayward mare to the hospital with little stress, "It was just... awful. Like she weren't even a pony, did you see her eyes? I ain't never seen nopony scared so outta their mind."
Twilight nodded, not knowing how to respond. Pinkie had declined to joining them, preferring to remain outside after the... incident. It had hit her hard, and Twilight could see it in her eyes.
Book Smart sat at the foot of the mares bed, her gaze roving back and forth over the prone body.
Book Smart was the head librarian of the Crystal Empires Central library, and had given them the information about the former kings formulative alterations to the kingdom at large.
Devices that snaked their way all throughout the kingdom, that even as the despicable king was gone, kept on ticking. Kept on watching.
It took a couple weeks for her to read through the backlogged information reports (those that had made their way through to the library), carefully tracking the various relays from house to house, until she had without a doubt found the source.
A single, small shed recessed into the ground, hidden from passerby with just how innocuous it was.
So, harboring this information, she went and did the intelligent thing. She went to the new Princess, and told her what she had found. It wasn't like she was going to just walk in there on her own. She wasn't stupid, who knew what was actually in there.
The Crystal Princess had wanted to send a patrol of guards to investigate. The mainland Princess of the Sun had overruled her, insisting that six of her lands heroes come and deal with the situation themselves. Book Smart didn't know why the Crystal Princess allowed the sun Princess to order her about, it wasn't like this was Equestria. While they did bring the triumphant and glorious hero Spike with them, Book Smart thought a patrol of crystal guards would have dealt with the situation in a more timely manner.
"Do you know her?" Princess Twilight asked her as she continued to peer down at her.
"Do you not?" Book Smart replied, honestly confused as to her unfamiliarity. This was why Crystal Empire matters should be kept within the Empire. New princesses and the like never took the time to read up on the lands.
"She is..." she trailed off, eyes locked on the wrecked state of a once proud gem. She had seen it once before, back when she was a little filly. Her grandmother had loved tucking her in at night, pulling over a worn backed book, and regaling her on the wondrous Architects. How they had fallen from the stars themselves, to bring light and warmth to the twinkle eyed ponies of old.
The Harmony, Ruby and Sapphire. They had bred kindness and civility into the empire, mediating conflicts even before they happened! It was rumored that they had held sight into the future itself...
The Explorer, Lapis Lazuli. She had traveled the breadth of the empire and beyond, returning with treasures untold. They would say that the oceans of the world held no barrier to her, that they in turn were as her wings.
The Culture, Amethyst. Playful and insightful, the Amethyst had breathed life into their dreary existence of monotonous drudgery. Games, food, colour. She encouraged ponies of old to try anything new, if for no other reason than to say they had.
The Warrior, Pearl. While all were formidable opponents in their own right, it was the Pearl who stood out. Slight and frail of body, the Pearl showed all that any could fight back against an oppressor if they persevered, and used their talents to level the playing field.
The Healer, Steven. As denoted by his moniker, he was a healer of grievous wounds, of broken friendships... it was even rumored that he could heal broken hearts...
She had seen this pony before... but as she was now... she was a pitiful remnant of the image she had captured in her memory.
"This was... is one of the Core. The Innovator. The Peridot."