//------------------------------// // How long has it been? // Story: The Conversion Bureau: Fleeing the unknown // by The Psychopath //------------------------------// There are some things in life that you don't want to wake up to. This universe had something called "ponyfication" after Equestria rose up from the depths of the ocean. Since then, the offer of ponyfication to save human-kind has been offered to many, and the same amount plus more have accepted. There are those who resist, and like every resister, there are those who enforce their law on others. Their decision is absolute, and those who resist are just a bump to be flattened. Everyone, or, rather, everypony in the world know about the situation and have gone to centers for ponyfication. Unfortunately, within the depths of an abandoned facility claimed by rust and decay, there remains a man completely unaware of everything that has occurred in the last thirty years. A man that has remained "pure" to the outside rambling. He is the victim of an unfortunate shmel-errr...stasis tube accident. The facility was working on the preservation of human beings and other biological necessities and breakthroughs. They needed some way to test it, and found someone. This man's name was Gill Tammerheight. He was a bit short on money, and he wasn't going to be paid for another week. So, to compensate with that problem, a few of his friends, who just happened to be working there, told him of their new project. He was going to be paid a hefty sum. No one is without their flaws, and Gill's flaw was that he never thought things through and did everything based on impulse. And so it happened. He entered the tube after reaching that backwater facility, and went to sleep. It was supposed to last a day, but error in programming and cabling decided otherwise. He was trapped, and the researchers didn't know for how long. Be that as it may, it was their responsibility, and they watched over Gill during his untimely event. The machine provided the nutrients and helped evacuate anything within his body while using strange methods to keep his cells from deteriorating. One faithful day, however, the machines finally decided to let him go. The beeping of the tube was enough to announce his awakening, although a virtual female voice rung about from the remaining intact loud-speakers on the wall. Alert! Alert! The test subject is being awoken. All lab workers involved in the stasis project must report to chamber 5a immediately! The once white stasis tube rose to the point of stopping at a ninety degree angle, allowing the tube to open up with a massive amount of vapor and steam. Gill fell to the floor as there was no one to aid him. Warning! Personnel is not responding. AI interface enabled. Two mechanical arms sprung forth from the ceiling, throwing about the dust that had accumulated over the years. They took him to the bathroom for the necessary, then helped put on some clothes. A simple grey shirt and brown jacket along with black jeans and black shoes were given to him. He was injected with a circulatory acceleration serum to allow his body to recuperate more easily from the shock. Gill Tammerheight had average length brown hair with matching eyes He had a small scar etched across his left cheek. He also had a little blubber condition, but not something that stuck out immensely. It was something that could easily go away with exercise and workout. A reminder of a little incident during his childhood. He was about one meter eighty-five, and was of British decent, although he grew up in America, so he didn't get the accent. Heck, he never even WENT to the United Kingdom or even JUST England. The problem with his personality was that he was never a rational thinker, as mentioned before. As he began to finally come to, a monitor lowered itself from the ceiling and started a message that was blurred so much it was damaged. "Gill, this is Alison. There was a...problem with the stasis tube. Instead of freezing you for a day, it froze you to an unknown date, and we can't get you out. In-case you get out in the near future, we're doubling the amount of money you are going to obtain. We're watching over your body, so you don't have to worry about a thing." NEXT MESSAGE: "Something incredible happened today. A weird...rose from the...ocean. It has...They've offered..." MESSAGE DAMAGED. ATTEMPTING TO RECOVER DATA. ... ATTEMPT FAILED. ABORTING AND READING NEXT MESSAGE: "Many of us have already gone for ponyfication to try out a new life-style. However, WE are humans and still have things that need to be done. We are still watching over you fervently. We DID exchange your pay for 'bits', so don't worry for when you wake up. I've programmed the AI to help you in waking up if no one comes to help you out, as I fear." READING FINAL MESSAGE: There were massive explosions and sounds of gunfire coming from this one. Gill, despite his dizziness, understood that there was a war going on, and he didn't want to be a part of it. "They found us. The PER are here. Those damnable little shits. *boom* I'm sorry Gill, but I'm sealing the room forever. Only the AI of this chamber will watch over you. The bits are in a brown bag to the right of your capsule. I must bid you farewell. To retain our humanity, some sacrifices must be made." A clicking sound was heard in the background. "As my ancestors used to say: BANZAI!" END OF MESSAGE CYCLE. PREPARING TO UNSEAL THE ROOM. The man wiped his forehead and moaned. The place he was in was dark and dusty. QUITE dusty. Several pieces of equipment had been severely damaged by time or other events and were strewn everywhere. Cobwebs with the corpses of their creators adorned the walls rather horrifically, and the stasis tube itself was barely holding on the gears that pushed it up. "What the fuck? Awwwww....Computer, what is the date?" IT IS MARCH 13, 2045. IS ANY OTHER ASSISTANCE REQUIRED? "Yes. Do you have a backpack or something I can put that money bag in that I can carry on my back?" AFFIRMATIVE. PREVIOUS RESEARCHERS HAD PROVIDED WITH A TRANSPORTATION DEVICE. RETRIEVING AND PROVIDING NOW. The sound of whirring and buzzing ebbed throughout the air until an arm extended from the ceiling and held a rather sized backpack. "Huh. Thank you." YOU'RE WELCOME. ALERT! THE ROOM HAS BEEN UNLOCKED. THE SUBJECT MAY NOW EXIT. With that message, Gill left his chamber of awakening and got out to see that the humongous facility of three stories was now nothing but rubble. He was on the second floor, so this surprised him as to why this floor seemed to have been pieced together to make something manageable. It was like a frankenstein patchwork. There were old fences and other piles of metal scrap placed onto the walls. Every few steps or so, there would be a blue "PER" tattooed onto the sections. Gill leaned forward, squinting his eyes and humming in a thoughtful tone. "Hmmm. *gasp* PER? People's escape of ragnarok? NOOOOOOOOO!!! I'm reliving twenty-eight days later in real life! Such a classic, but so horrifying! I'm that British dude who's half-naked and...oh. Well at least I have clothes." Gill readjusted his jacket, before falling onto the floor and slamming his fist onto it. "Damn you! Damn you all to hell!" A male AI voice started to ring throughout the facility in a horrid manner and with a deafening siren. ALERT! ALERT! HUMAN DETECTED ON SECOND FLOOR NEAR THE IMPENETRABLE CHAMBER. ALL PONIES REPORT THERE IMMEDIATELY! Gill became confused at what the voice said. "Ponies? The hell?" Suddenly, two colorful ponies appeared in front of him with clubs. These were the quick-thinkers. One was yellow with a scruffy green mane while the other was orange with a curly pink mane. This one was a mare. "What in Equestria? How did a human get up he-" "AAAAAH! DEMON PONIES! KILL THE IMPURE!" "What?" Without warning, Gill charged in front of the two guards and kicked them against a wall, knocking them out. He started to panic and ran downstairs, where an entire cohort of these ponies, this time, armed with guns, stopped their activities and stared a him in surprise and disbelief. The man shut up and tapped his fingers together while trying his best poker face. A blue stallion with his turquoise mane brushed in half walked up gently to the human and tried to reason with him. "I see that you are in a state of panic. Where did you come from." "What that male...AI voice called the 'impenetrable chamber'." The face of the stallion turned to shock before returning to normal despite the mumbling going on behind him. "I see. So you do not know that the remaining humans are now toxic to the future of Earth?" "Pfff." Gill threw his arms forward. "So? I already knew that. It is just a painful truth of life. Besides, I'm disturbed enough that you are all talking." The human's voice was cracking as he pointed towards the one in front of him. "Well, fear no more, as we have the solution." The pegasus took a cup with a weird, purple, bubbling substance in it and put it up to Gill's nose. "Here. Drink ths." "And what'll it do? It smells like ass covered in rotten eggs." the human responded while pushing it away. "You'll become a pure race. One of us." "So I'll become a nazi? Because that's what you're soundin' like. Ach! We are ze arian race. We shall let no other human other than the Germans to procreate upon ze planet. HEIL HITLER!" Gill threw his arm out at the end. "No. You'll become a pony." "And why the hell would I want that?" "Grrdedsh. TO BECOME CLEAN!" the stallion's cork was about to pop. "I stayed in a tube for thirty years, but I was cleaned by the AI in there. So I'm good. I'll just leave now and go home." Gill tried to move forward, but the pegasus stopped him by pushing the glass further into his face. "Drink this." "No." "I told you to drink this." (Escape time!) "How about you go drink a 'Go fuck yourself'. Courtesy of my ass. Trust me. he uses special nuts for his drinks." "That's it. I'm not dealing with this. OPEN FIRE!" "OH SHI-!" The man ran back upstairs as the bullets slammed against the damaged staircase and oozed a purple substance that Gill saw. "Holy fucking shit! Now I'm being chased by evil ponies who are trying to turn me into them! Get the hell away from me!" "Get him, brothers and sisters!" "FUUUUUUU-" The bullets continued to whizz through the air right next to the man's head and close to his body. He finally saw a non-destroyed window with a rather relieving rubble slide outside. He jumped through it like he was in an action movie and slid down the ramp. The facility was completely destroyed and those things were inhabiting it. There was a truck still intact further away, but it was being guarded what seemed to be unicorns. "The hell? In what bizarre and horrid wasteland have I come across? Let's see...aha!" The test subject picked two large planks of wood and used them as shields as he ran towards the small truck. The unicorns seemed confused at what was going on, allowing Gill ample time to smash them against the truck and stun them. He broke through he window and went into the truck and started to fiddle with the cables underneath. "It's a good thing I learned this shit...THERE!" The truck made a loud roaring noise and, by the looks of it, was at full tank. "YES! What? OH NO!" he semi-cryed. Those psychos were there and they started to run towards him. What'd he do? What any sane man being chased by psychos would do. He ran over them with a *thump*! His truck went on the road adorned with nothing but plains as far as the eye could see. He turned around to see if anyone was following him, and sighed in relief to see none, only to panic when he saw two pegasi armed with machine guns aiming at him. The human, made a sharp u-turn, to punch the pegasi into the nearby grass with the back of the vehicle, only to turn back around and continue in the initial direction he was going. Gill sighed and wiped his forehead after seeing such horrors. "Oh good god. How long hs it been? I thought the AI said ten years? I need to find a city or town. Damn you California and your weird sausage shape. I just hope there is a city close enough to here where there are people. Gotta get clear of those fuckers." And thus, the most unknowing of humans returned to the real world in a single movement and fashion akin to nightmares. The truck roared across the street as the cloudy, gray sky above threw its dull light upon the world below.