EPony-Me™
MLP: FiM
Adventure
Sci-Fi
Slice of Life
What happens when you realize that your life is a simulation? Well, you put the headset back on.
Alt. Universe
Human
Twilight
Pinkie
Spike
OC
Other
TheMajorTechie · 74k words · 314 15 · 5.9k views

BETTER finished prologue. (NOW WITH THE ACTUAL FREAKIN' THING) · 7:46am Dec 28th, 2018

Kinda realized that it was a bit short, so I added some more so that it'd flow better into the next chapter.
EDIT: Holy crap. Somehow I managed to forget to actually paste the thing in here.

Elizabeth Waters stifled a yawn, glancing up from her computer’s monitor, then at the digital clock hanging on the wall.
“Hm.” She snorted, folding her arms, “Lunch break already.”
She glanced back at the glowing monitor, then again at the clock, which silently presented the day’s weather on a panel below the time. With a grunt, she pushed herself off her chair, supporting herself by the desk as she felt the tension in her back loosening.
“Waters,” Mister Ascher, the company CEO reminded as he walked past, “Don’t forget our meeting later!”
Elizabeth let out a fake groan as she rolled her eyes, smiling as she pushed her chair in. She let out a sigh, turning to catch a glimpse of the morning skyline beaming through the window behind her.
“Hey,” a young man greeted, “You wanna go out for lunch with me and the others?”
“Er…” Elizabeth hesitated, shying away from the teen, “I’m sorry, but… I… uh, well—”
The man nodded his head with a warm smile. “Ah, it’s alright if you don’t want to go with us. It’s just myself and Beck and a few others, anyways. We were just gonna head off to the cafeteria in the company commons.”
“O-okay,” Elizabeth stammered with a shaky wave of her hand, “I guess I’ll see you later then.”
The man continued to smile, staring at Elizabeth for a few more seconds before a twitch of his hand distracted him. “Oh,” he gasped, “Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot that you probably don’t know me yet!”
He held out his hand. “I’m Patrick Walsh. I’m from the R&D department. Mister Beckham Woods is teaching me the ins and outs of the position right now, so I’m still sorta training for the job.”
“Um…”
“Well, see ya ‘round!” Patrick beamed, turning to leave. “If you want some mac ‘n cheese, just ask!”
Elizabeth watched Patrick until he disappeared around a corner. She took another look at the clock.
Dang, is that kid weird… her thoughts echoed as she began to walk to the elevators, then again, he’s never had the chance to go to one of the company’s old camps, so I guess the awkwardness is forgivable…
The elevator doors opened with a tinny ding. Elizabeth stepped in, making a mental note of where to eat today.
Cafeteria isn’t all that bad… she mumbled silently, shifting on her feet as the lift descended. But then I’d have to deal with Patrick again. One teenager is enough already for today…
Her thoughts continued to circle her mind as she stepped out, instinctively turning for the building’s lobby – and the exit.
Maybe I should stop by the café a few blocks down. Mister Ascher’s daughter seems to like the place.
She wandered out the exit, still deep in thought as she paced down the sidewalk, ignoring the passing cars as they zoomed past. Her train of thought broke as a car’s horn sounded beside her. She looked to the side; just another driver waiting on someone to back out of the parking spot.
Elizabeth took a deep breath, clearing her throat for a moment before continuing her walk. The smell of hamburgers wafted across the street, catching her attention.
Then again, maybe some fast food will do for today…
She smiled, jogging to a nearby crosswalk.
The restaurant, of course, was filled to the brim with hungry customers. Elizabeth’s smile faded as she stared down the line at the registers. Letting out a small groan in irritation, she turned instead to the automated ordering stations… of which also happened to have an equally-long line.
Her stomach grumbled.
“Hey,”
Elizabeth glanced up, startled by the voice.
“Hey,” the voice repeated, “over here!”
Her eyes landed on a boy sitting in a nearby booth. She raised a brow, pointing at herself.
“Yeah, who else in here’s wearing a company T-shirt?”
She began to approach the boy, still somewhat hesitant given his age. She stopped in front of his table as he took a long sip of his drink.
“Well?” he continued, setting his cup down, “I’m offering you a seat. You gonna sit or what?”
“I…” Elizabeth trailed off, sitting herself down. “Nevermind. Why are you offering me a seat, anyways?”
The boy shrugged. “’Dunno,” he replied, “I just noticed someone from the company down the road walk in here.”
Elizabeth frowned, tugging lightly at her shirt. “What,” she began, “does this shirt really make me stand out that much?”
“…Yeah?”
Elizabeth groaned.
“H-hey, it’s not like that’s a bad thing or anything,” the boy reassured, reaching over and patting her shoulder, “it’s just—”
Elizabeth yelped, shrinking away from the boy’s touch. “I’m sorry,” she apologized, standing from her chair, “I have to go now.”
She left without another word. Her stomach grumbled again as she stepped outside, oblivious to the young boy who’d followed her out.
She took a quick glance at her watch before looking back up.
The crosswalk was already clear by the time Elizabeth had reached it. A few cars trickled through at the final moments of the yellow light, much to the woman’s annoyance as she waited for them to clear out of the intersection on red.
“Hey, back already?”
Elizabeth looked up, spotting Patrick waving at her with a spoon in his hand. She put up a nervous smile, waving back at the teen.
“So,” Patrick continued between spoonfuls of mac ‘n cheese, “Didja notice the kid who just followed you in?”
A man beside Patrick glanced up for a moment, eyeing the boy before returning to his sandwich.
Elizabeth whirled around, yelping in surprise at the sight of the young teen smiling behind her.
“Um… hi?” he chuckled, waving. “I… kinda followed you here ‘cause I’ve been thinking about internships and stuff. I’m Chad, by the way.”
Chad held out a hand, a nervous smile spread across his face as Elizabeth backed away.
“I’m s-sorry,” she stuttered, taking another step back from Chad, “but you’ll have to talk with the front desk for that.”
The teen watched as Elizabeth took for the elevators. He glanced back to Patrick, who only shrugged in response. Sighing, Chad wandered over to the front desk with a frown.
“Empty?” He grumbled, turning back to the other employees, “Do any of you know when the person working the front desk comes back from break?”
“Yeah, yesterday.” The man sitting with Patrick chided with a roll of his eyes, “Whaddya think? We’re all on lunch break right now, so the kid’s probably still hangin’ out at the café or something.”
“Er…”
The man stood up, placing a hand over his pocket to keep the folded papers from falling out as he did so. “I’m sorry ‘bout that,” he began, walking towards Chad with an outstretched hand, “I sometimes forget that I’m still at work. Gotta treat every day like a Monday, y’know?”
Chad took the man’s hand, shaking it. “Forgiven,” he nodded, “So… when will they be back?”
The man shook his head. “I really don’t know. She’s pretty sporadic when it comes to breaks, but we let her off the hook since she’s practically still a kid.”
“Oh,” Chad frowned, “O-okay then. I guess I’ll just stick with you then until she’s back or something.”
The man shook his head again. “No can do, I’ve gotta get back to finishing my lunch, then it’s off to work for me. If you wanna stick with anyone, go bug Patrick or something. Talk about his mac ‘n cheese obsession or something while you’re waiting.”