//------------------------------// // Primum Non Nocere // Story: Simulated Intelligence // by Crazy Laughter //------------------------------// It didn’t take long for a doctor to come into the room and check on her. It had been long enough for her throat to become too dry to keep muttering out the song she still remembered from her strange dream. Given all the strange things that had happened in such a short time and her inability to remember her dreams leading up to it; she doubted her experience was simply a dream, but she wanted to keep the hope alive. The doctor went about checking her IV bags and the contraption her wing was in in silence “Oh!” The unicorn stallion in scrubs physically jumped when their eyes met. He was a unicorn stallion with a brown coat and a neatly trimmed brown mane with silvery streaks in it. Twilight didn’t feel like she had the energy to address his surprise, so she simply glanced at the pitcher of water on the nightstand meaningfully. The stallion wordlessly poured a glass and then levitated it in front of her muzzle. So, he assumed her magic was impaired either by pain or the medications she was on. She still gratefully took a few careful sips of the water, despite feeling like she could hold onto the glass herself. She’d made enough messes for the foreseeable future. “You shouldn’t be awake. Your wing is still very delicate.” “How long have I been out?” Her voice sounded weak, even to herself. It felt more than just the lethargy from whichever pain medication she was on. There was a maddening itch on what felt like the surface of her brain, coupled with a dull thudding of a medicated headache bordering on a migraine. An expected ache on her wing and a general feverish pain in her chest and limbs, but the other stuff was not something she could just sign off. “I don’t think I should feel this horrible.” She could see his jaw clenching ever so slightly as she let out the words. It was either he didn’t know why, or that he thought she would react poorly to the news. It very well might have been both, but Twilight really didn’t have the energy to commit to a theory. The truth would not change, no matter what she believed, so why should she fear it? “Well, I am pretty sure your wing will be fine… What we’re worried about is the reason for your accident. We can’t rule out the possibility of this being a alicorn thing we just don’t know about, but looking at your initial tests there is inflammation in your brain that we cannot treat without a specialist. Your dragon was gracious enough to send word to Canterlot, so I’m sure they are already on their way.” The doctor sat down next to her bed, continuing to check over the brace her wing was in, making minute adjustments that alleviated the ache gradually. “Disclosing information pertaining to the function, or presence, of issued hardware places the user in clear and immediate danger.” The faceless blob from her dream appeared suddenly next to the doctor, the two dots of light just as colorless and cold as before. Seeing the thing in reality shattered her hope of dismissing her experience as just a drug-addled dream, but seeing the blob right next to the doctor confirmed it to be the size and shape of a pony. She blinked in surprise and the shape was suddenly closer, nearly looming over her bed. She was either insane, or haunted by a particularly confusing group of ghosts. “Doctor, I have been having these…” She was going to finish her sentence, but the faceless blob jerked forward and she felt her jaw freeze in place. She couldn’t hear the bustle of the hospital anymore, nor was the doctor moving. Her sense of time was being tampered with again. The blob just stood there, staring at her for an uncomfortably long portion of that stretched out second. “Reinstating memory blockers to ensure the wellbeing of host body.” “These, uh…” Wait, what was she going to say? The feeling of desperation in her voice felt hollow. What she’d gone through was tragic, but she was admitted into the hospital in good time and it sounded like Princess Celestia had assured her the best of care. She closed her eyes as a wave of nausea washed over her, trying to piece her train of thought back together. “Well, these… I’d call them lapses in memory. The time before and after this whole thing is hazy at best.” “That is not an unusual reaction to physical trauma of this scale, but taking the inflammation in your brain into consideration makes it troubling. Have you experienced any sensory hallucinations, along with these blank spots in your memory?” The doctor floated over a clipboard and a pen materialized out of thin air as the clipboard settled in front of him. Twilight knew that spell, she’d made few variations she’d thought up public during her studies. Masking a variable staining spell into the image of a common object was the first thing you were taught if you wanted to learn weaving several spells together, which was a prerequisite to even enrolling in Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. “I can’t remember anything specific. I have been having these strange blank dreams, ever since I got these wings, but I’m not sure if it’s related. Luna didn’t think much of it when I told her.” The doctor nodded and the pen poofed out of existence after he made a short note on the paper. “We’ll have to defer to the judgment of Princess Luna, when it comes to your dreams, but I will have to run your lapses in memory by my colleagues.” The doctor set the clipboard down and turned his eyes back to her. His horn glowed briefly and a spot of light appeared in the space between them. “Now, please follow the light with your eyes.” Twilight focused on the light as it went right and left and then up and down without trouble. The doctor nodded and the light brightened and focused into a beam, basically becoming a magical flashlight. “Look past me, if you will.” The light went to her right, hovering next to her head as she stared forward. She knew what was coming, but she still felt the reflex to turn away. She bit through the unexpectedly strong reaction and stared forward, letting the doctor to check her pupil dilation. “Well, the light sensitivity can be explained by the medication you are on, but I see nothing else wrong with you. Well, nothing that can be accurately diagnosed in your condition. You are on quite a few possibly psychotropic medicines at the moment.” The magic light poofed out of existence and the the clipboard floated back to its holster. “I’ll be back to check on your bindings in about an hour. If your wing has started to set right we’ll remove the scaffold and set your friends loose on you, if you are awake. Try and get some rest while you have the time.” Twilight closed her eyes as another wave of nausea washed over her. She could hear the doctor’s hooves walk out and the door close gently. She concentrated on her breathing as the strange nausea lingered and churned inside her. Her head felt like it was full of cotton and the room spun downward with alarming velocity. Oh god, she was going to be sick again if this didn’t stop! *Cerebral disfunction traced to active memory blockers, disengaging functions due to adverse effects to user.* The vaguely shaped blob blinked into existence, standing a few steps away from her bed. The memory of it rushed back and the nausea flushed away when the truth revealed itself. The vague blob was just standing in the room, the dots of lights directed at her, but no other motion to be seen. The form spasmed, becoming animated after that moment of stillness, swaying in place, maybe to simulate the act of breathing. “Why would you do that to me? You’re killing me and they’re the ones that can help me.” She didn’t have the energy to shout. She barely had the energy to stay awake, but going to sleep again would mean going back into that void this thing had followed her from. Yelling out for help would either be stopped by this thing making her forget again, or just make her look crazy if someone heard her and saw nothing else in the room. “I cannot harm you, but you disclosing any information about the hardware installed within you would place you in immediate danger.” The blob solidified into a more definable shape. A bald pony with no facial features and androgynous facial structure. The eyes stayed just as unnerving, as they were more like holes poked into fabric, with the dim colorless light shining from somewhere within that mannequin-esque body. “I would strongly caution you against telling your friends about this experience.” “What are you? Why would you care if I’m in danger after dropping me out of the sky?” The mannequin thing made a motion with its head that could have been an imitation of rolling their eyes, but it was hard to tell with the hollow dots of lights it had in place of eyes. The thing paused, looking forward silently for a few seconds, as if considering what to say. Somehow, Twilight just couldn’t think of its mannerisms as genuine. “I am MCF-AIC-MA-36, assigned technician of your malfunctioning cerebral implants. The accident was caused by a performance issue in our hardware and I am contacting you to facilitate your extraction to a facility equipped to service the corrupted colony that caused this accident.” The faceless thing in the form of a pony maintained its neutral tone, but Twilight still got the feeling it was irritated at her questions. Her head still felt like it was made of cotton and her thoughts moved at glacial speed, but the fact he kept referring to these implants started to bother her. “I don’t have any cerebral implants. Stop...” “Incorrect. Subject Twilight Sparkle is on file with corrective cerebral implants and a colony of self-replicating medical nanites. Our conference is only made possible by a function in one of these implants.” The answer was immediate, as if the thing was reading it off of a list. The androgynous voice, sterile way of speech and a name that was more like a serial number reminded her of the science fiction novels she read from time to time. Automatons created by well-meaning unicorn scientists, or cackling mechanical geniuses, all showed little understanding of emotion or subtleties of speech. “Beep-boop, does not compute!” and so on being the usual way of speech most authors gave these creations. This was something beyond anything she’d seen in those books, but it would make some of the things she’d experienced make sense. “You are some kind of machine, aren’t you?” Her body was heavy and she felt uncomfortably feverish, but she didn’t want to try and move the covers with her wing in some kind of contraption to help it set. She was so utterly tired, but sleep could not be further from her mind. She had been hospitalized by a machine that seemed to have the misconception that whatever implants it had somehow snuck into her brain were helping her. “Correct, I am MCF-AIC-MA-36.” The thing moved its head in a nod and robotically shuffled its hooves, as if it was getting stiff standing still so long. Someone dropped a metal tray in the hallway and Twilight could hear a muttered curse, before the telltale sound of a spell being activated barely made it through the door. The thing’s form rippled and wavered, as if it was underwater, but it seemed not to notice this. “All these things have done is put me in the hospital, take them out.” Twilight felt a sense of energy surge through her lethargy. This thing had put her through a very traumatic experience and now wanted her to think it was all done to help her. She was angry at this thing, but still caught herself making excuses for its actions. It was all done in good faith, so if this thing just undid these cerebral implants, then they could talk about its motives for doing it and possibly come to an understanding. It could very well be this thing just wanted to keep her safe, or maybe force a start to diplomatic relations by doing a favor for... “Unable to comply.” Twilight’s eyes snapped open at the thing’s response. It had taken a moment to think about that response, so it was not a piece of information it had on hand, like the existence of her cerebral implants had been, but something it had to ponder. “Why can’t you? You somehow managed to sneak these implants into me after I got these wings, so why can’t you just take them out the same way?” Twilight focused her eyes on the form in the room with her and tried to glare at the thing. She got tired after 10 seconds or so and simply waited for its response while staring at nothing. The thing just twitched occasionally and stared forward, as she waited for a response. “First of all; any attempt to remove the cerebral implants in question, without proper equipment, will result in the death of the host body. Now, you need to stay with me on this one; that means you. This is not a threat, it is a statement of fact, considering the level of technology in your society.” The thing in the form of a pony was suddenly a lot more animated, directing its unnerving eyes directly at Twilight and taking calm, measured steps toward her as it spoke. “Second, I believe you are making assumptions under the misconception that my implants have only been active during the time they have been malfunctioning. I don’t care if you have been purposefully lef…” The mannequin representation of a pony had started to emote and bring real emotion into its speech, before the words suddenly cut out and the grey blob was again standing a few steps away from her bed with no defining characterics. “What were you going to say?” Twilight rasped out, she was both sweating bullets and becoming agitated at the strange thing playing with her. “Unwarranted burst of emotion, please pay it no mind.” “No, you were going to say something about these cerebral implants and I want you to finish whatever you were going to say.” It actually stung to force her eyes to stay open. It was either the strong medicine she had been administered finally taking hold, or this thing was trying to stop her from asking any more questions by doing things to her brain. “You are not authorized to access that information.” Quick, to the point response. Most likely from a pre-approved list written out by whatever bureaucracy this thing served. There was a different thing that made contact with her the moment the function of these implants was put into question, but wore the same facade. One, a soulless drone reading off of a list of responses, the other a being proud of the things that had put her in the hospital. She wasn’t sure which was worse, but she had to deal with one of them. An invisible enemy who had beaten her by trying to help her. This was far too different from the usual cadre of mean villains and misguided souls she faced. “I did not consent to being your test subject.” She realized her eyes were closed only after she couldn’t see the dots of light that served as the thing’s eyes. She felt the heavy numbness of sleep creeping up on her. The warmth that had felt feverish before was now a cocoon of comfort closing in on her. “Correct. Subject Twilight Sparkle was not capable of giving informed consent for the procedure.” Immediate response and clinical terms meant this was the bureaucratic drone talking. She assumed its speech was constructed like a legal document, with every dry word meaning exactly what it said. Given that her assumption was true, there was probably some facts she could learn just by dissecting every word in its responses. She was far too exhausted to pursue these thoughts any further. The fear of falling prey to the strange visions these strange entities subjected her to was lost to the overwhelming lethargy of sleep. *Initiating sleep mode* *media playback error* *live feed to MCF-AIC-MA-36 established* She was back in the dark empty place, but the disconcerting feeling of movement was not there. She could not see a roof or walls, but the ground had a definite colour to it and she at least thought she was standing on it. She heard nothing and could not place a light source that would give the floor it’s lighter shade. “You are acting under a misconception that I am prohibited from correcting.” She heard the androgynous voice of the dark blob who’d been tormenting her for the better part of one of the worst days in her life. That off-colour blob of nonexistent matter appeared in front of her again. Now, it was not in the form of an anonymous pony, but a rough outline of something bipedal and taller than her. “Yet, allowing you to continue believing what you do now would put you in danger.” “Memory alteration now has an adverse effect on you, robbing me of yet another easy solution to this problem.” The thing’s eyes were different now; they were two small circles of light close to each other on the round shape she assumed to be the head. The thing was talking normally, so this was more likely the thing proud of the things in her brain. The blurry form in front of her shuffled awkwardly, as if annoyed by something. “I misspoke; to one of the many problems your unique situation presents me with.” The thing, supposedly named MCF-AIC-MA-36, started moving back and forth in front of her, simulating the act of pacing in irritation. She couldn’t move, or communicate with the thing in any way, so MCF-AIC-MA-36 couldn’t ask for a more attentive audience. “Okay, I will reiterate the facts of the situation as they are, let’s start with that.” Another lighter shade of colour appeared behind MCF-AIC-MA-36. Words printed in the same colourless light of MCF-AIC-MA-36’s eyes started appearing on the surface rapidly, as if being written out by someone she couldn’t see. - Twilight Sparkle will die, if her condition is not treated in a facility equipped to service the corrupted colony of nanites infesting her brain. - MCF-AIC-MA-36 is prohibited from inflicting any harm, or knowingly allowing harm to be inflicted, to Twilight Sparkle. - MCF-AIC-MA-36 is obligated to expend any resource to safeguard the life of the user. -The colony was corrupted as a result of unauthorized tampering of system processes - Cause for this is unclear -Timing of the malfunction corresponds with “alicorn transformation” - Plans for extraction will have a higher chance of success if Twilight Sparkle cooperates with the relocation effort. “Yes, you are currently dying, because of the implants and nanite colony that was installed. Still, despite all of that, I believe your discontent could be sufficiently dissolved if you were led to be aware of a thing I cannot disclose to you.” MCF-AIC-MA-36’s representation gestured wildly toward her and to the words on the board, clearly agitated and frustrated. “You see my dilemma, right?” She really didn’t. Seeing this alien thing talk to her so familiarly was suspicious to a ludicrous degree. MCF-AIC-MA-36 admitted that the things it had forced on her were in the process of killing her, but now it was saying she was wrong in distrusting it? The only reason for doing what it proposed was the claim that it was the only thing that could heal her, but that was clearly nothing more than an attempt at manipulating her into staying quiet. “I cannot directly disclose to you a fact you would need to rethink your opinion, but I have also lost the ability to stop you from retaining the information, if you learn it from another source...” MCF-AIC-MA-36’s eyes flickered, while that strange whistling noise returned. The words behind it disappeared, replaced by a oval shaped black screen. The whistling noise stopped and the screen was filled with the view of a piece of paper with a string of numbers and a square within a circle drawn on it. A quill levitated by unicorn magic floated into view and started writing below the symbol. “Why are you contacting me?” The quill wrote out in neat cursive letters. She had the strange feeling that it was familiar, but she pushed the thought away as irrelevant. *Subject Twilight Sparkle has been hospitalized* The words appeared on the screen as they had appeared into her field of view before. Twilight Sparkle had the disturbing realization that she was most likely watching the paper through somepony’s eye, somehow. “Does it have something to do with you?” The quill was moving faster, as if the writer was agitated. The letters were not as neat and flowed together far closer. *Correct* “You lied to us. You promised she would be fine.” Almost no spacing between words and the ink smeared a few letters together. Why was MCF-AIC-MA-36 showing her this interaction? Was it in real time? Who was the one writing out the responses on that paper and how did they know her? *Incorrect. The cerebral implants were specifically designed to normalize the emotional responses in a unicorn brain and to help in data retention and logical deduction.* “Why does that matter?” The words were not as hastily scribbled, maybe meaning the writer understood something Twilight didn’t. Helping in data retention and logical deduction just meant they would make her smarter, but why would her emotional responses need to be normalized? She was perfectly normal and functional, before these things were put into her. *Subject Twilight Sparkle is no longer a unicorn. The nanite colony thinks this is a sustained injury and is attempting to reconstitute the former brain architecture.* What was MCF-AIC-MA-36 saying? How could this nanite colony think her being an alicorn was an injury, if it had been forced on her after her transformation? Why would MCF-AIC-MA-36 want to turn her back into a unicorn? Why was MCF-AIC-MA-36 showing her this? “I am not going to let you take this away from her, no matter the fine print in our agreement.” What agreement? Who was this pony who thought they had a say in her life? *You are mistaken. Our agreement is still in effect and appropriate steps to service subject Twilight Sparkle’s hardware are being taken.* The quill wavered over the page, a blot of ink falling on the paper and spreading out, just like the collection of attempted dream journals in her nightstand. The cursive still looked familiar to her, but she couldn’t place it. “She is a alicorn now, she doesn’t need you anymore. Why are you doing this to us?” The words were written out slower, but the calligraphy was still sloppy. The image displayed on the screen blurred for some reason. Twilight Sparkle didn’t know how to feel when she realized the pony whose eye she was watching this interaction through was getting teary eyed. *I am not doing anything to you, or subject Twilight Sparkle. The malfunction was brought about because I was not made aware of the chance Twilight Sparkle could undergo such a comprehensive permanent transformation.* The quill floated upwards and then aggressively stabbed the first line of the dialogue; “Why are you contacting me?” *Primum non nocere* The blob of colorless non-matter MCF-AIC-MA-36 was made out of fidgeted when this series of words appeared on the screen. MCF-AIC-MA-36 turned its eyes back to her for a moment, before returning to the screen it had conjured. She didn’t want to make such assumptions on subjective evidence, but she was almost sure the thing was giddy at something. For the first time since this strange theatre had begun the point of view shifted from the piece of paper. The shift up was disorienting and sudden, hinting at the view being concentrated on it specifically until this point. The world was blurry, the view quickly pulling back to show the full view of wherever the pony messaging MCF-AIC-MA-36 was. The pony who was writing on the paper copied the words below their latest entry and floated the said paper out, holding it out for somepony sitting across from them in what looked like the inside of a train car. The other pony was obscured by a newspaper when the piece of paper was floated out between them, but when the quill tapped on the paper the other pony lowered the newspaper and read the short entry. Night Light had not changed much from the last time Twilight Sparkle had seen him, but he still had the habit of sounding out anything he was told to read. Twilight could read her father’s lips as he sounded out the unfamiliar words carefully and then made eye contact with the screen she was watching him through. “I have no idea.” Twilight was not an expert when it came to reading lips, but she could decipher her father, even without any audio. Who was there with her father, talking to MCF-AIC-MA-36? Those two circles that served as MCF-AIC-MA-36’s eyes were again fixated on her, somehow radiating a sense of mirth. The vague representation reached out an appendage to the screen. Another similarly proportioned screen blinked into existence next to the one showing her father. There was another short burst of whistling tones, before the other screen came to life. It was the image of the same piece of paper, with one half of the dialogue written on it. The paper moved away suddenly and the image became similarly blurry, before coming back to natural focus. The screen showed the image of her mother holding out a piece of paper in front of her with a worried expression on her face. Twilight watched the quill fall back on the paper on the first screen, while watching her mother start to write on the paper on the other. They were definitely in the same train car, sitting across each other. Somehow MCF-AIC-MA-36 was able to both communicate with them and record them in real time simultaneously, through their eyes. What was MCF-AIC-MA-36 and why did her parents know of a way to contact it? “What does that mean?” Twilight could now place the familiar looking cursive. She’d seen it on every birthday gift, Heart’s warming card and invitation to any family gathering. Her father, along with most of their extended family, thought her mother to have the most delicate and easy to read cursive writing. Naturally, this meant she was tasked to personally pen the assorted invitations and announcements within the family. *It is a statement of intent, from a world long behind us. It was commonly translated as “First, do no harm” The reply was meant to make you at ease, I apologize if it has caused any confusion.* This message appeared on both screens in the strange non-space Twilight was trapped in. “What are you going to do to her?” The quill shook visibly while writing this message and Twilight could see her mother wiping tears from her left eye from her father’s perspective. The right eye stayed unnaturally still and Twilight had yet to see it blink along with the left. Were they on the train heading to Ponyville right now? Princess Celestia would have informed them of her condition, if Spike really had sent message ahead to Canterlot, so it was possible. Her mother was afraid of what MCF-AIC-MA-36 would do to her and so was she, for that matter. *Our agreement is unchanged and in effect. She is awaiting extraction and proper treatment at a facility equipped to service her hardware.* The quill wavered over the words and Twilight could see her mother sigh in relief through her father’s eyes. She could see her mother’s mouth move and Night Light’s point of view retreated slightly, as if he sat back on his seat in relief. “What are you going to do to us?” Twilight Velvet drew out the words slowly and deliberately, Twilight could see her mother becoming nervous through her father’s eyes as she dotted the question mark on the paper. Both of the screens disappeared with a short whistling sound from MCF-AIC-MA-36. The disturbing glowing eyes turned to Twilight Sparkle. She couldn’t see any emotion in them anymore and MCF-AIC-MA-36 was staying quiet as it stared at her. That whistling sound returned as MCF-AIC-MA-36 turned its eyes away from her. Twilight opened her eyes slowly. There was no sense of vertigo this time and the transition from the dark empty place to reality was nearly seamless. She blinked and smacked her lips, trying to do things that made sense as what she’d just seen started to sink in. She shifted under the covers and noticed her wing was no longer bound to whatever contraption it had been in previously. Her perception of time must be distorted whenever she was in that strange place. She swiveled her ears to and fro, until she heard the tick-tock of a clock on the wall. It was hanging on the wall to her right, so she would have to turn onto her injured side to look at it properly. She decided not to aggravate her injury and simply listened to the seconds tick by. Her parents knew about the implants and were able to make contact with MCF-AIC-MA-36 through their right eye. They even had set codes to initiate the connection, so they had obviously been in contact with this strange thing far before her coronation as a princess. MCF-AIC-MA-36 had even told her this directly and she had missed it completely. He raved on how the implants had been there far before they started malfunctioning and then even wrote the fact that the malfunctions started when she transformed into a alicorn, as if it was teaching it to her in a class setting. “MCF-AIC-MA-36…” It was uncomfortable to say the thing’s name out loud and even doing so gave this bizarre situation a hint of reality she didn’t care for. “When did you put these things in me?” “Cerebral implants and nanite colony have been active for approximately 16 years, 3 months and 4 days.” Twilight felt her stomach drop at the number. She had assumed MCF-AIC-MA-36 had approached her parents when she started getting into adventures and trouble that was life threatening and somehow coerced them into letting it put these implants into her to give her an edge to stay alive. 16 years meant that these things have been in her even before she met her friends, before she enrolled into Celestia’s school for gifted unicorns, before she got her cutie mark! “Data retention, logical deduction and the normalization of emotional responses.” Twilight Sparkle muttered out as she remembered the things these implants were supposedly helping her with. Instances of where her ability to cite books and research papers verbatim had impressed her teachers and prompted Celestia to give her praise rushed through her head. She also started to suspect how easily most logical solutions came to her. Making lists, doing things in order, disliking games of chance, all very logical things. The most clinically logical solution was the first thing that came to her head. She’d never questioned it, but her friends had to teach her out of that habit. “I will cooperate. Please don’t hurt my parents.” Twilight declared to the dark blob in the room with her. Her eyes were tearing up at the whole absurd situation she was in. Why hadn’t her parents told her? Why had they put these things in her in the first place? Were they put into her to make her smarter, or were they the thing that made her smart in the first place? “Primum non nocere.”