Terrabelle smiled, and said "this way, please." I didn't even have time to hug Summer before Terrabelle led me off. But I didn't think I would be gone a long time. Terrabelle led us through a busy, large circular room towards the center of this strange tower called central, and we were soon stepping into what Terrabelle called the "v-tran", short for vertical transport. Elevator is what I thought, but I guess I wanted to avoid injecting some Equestria Girls(1) world terminology into their perspective. The v-tran took us slowly down the tower. Even beyond where I was sure the ground floor was, we kept going. This v-tran seemed like it was moving pretty slow, however. I suspected that it was magic that was operating this device. I didn't say anything though. In fact, I had to work hard to avoid saying anything that wasn't about Philadelphi, from Philadelphi. I realized I would try and help of course. But any sort of technology transfer could, would probably be very dangerous in a place where magic and technology must carefully and continuously balance.
So, in search of a safer topic, I asked Terrabelle about what she called her cap, the white thing with gizmoes on her head, with holes for her ears. "So, I don't notice many other minis up here wearing a cap like yours."
Terrabelle laughed. "That is probably because..." She stopped and thought briefly, then asked timidly "Shysage, does it look like I made it?" I smiled, but didn't answer. Terrabelle laughed, then jumped into a long explanation. "Well, I did make it! Of course I needed a few other U-type techs to help with the actual building of it. Hooves don't work so well for that!" We both laughed. "And, building my cap did take a while, take them a while... I even had a U-Type add my number to it. Wow, I can't write!" Terrabelle paused again, looked down, and sounded just a little disappointed. "I don't know why she made the letter 'e' so small though. I clearly explained that I wanted it full size, just like the numbers... But she..."
The v-tran door opened, and Terabelle led us down a long, very long hall. We kept talking. Well, I was beginning to realize... "So you are the only one with a cap like that because you designed and built it, just like you wanted it?"
Terabelle explained a little more. "Well, yes. I found I was spending so much time looking at docs, tech specs, troubleshooting guides and such... But when I walked away from the viewer, I... Well, I couldn't take it with me. I found I really needed that ability, to be able to view docs while I worked on the machinery. Well, all our U-type techs have their small panels, and they can use their magic to hold them, carry them, view them, press buttons and such..." What followed next sounded like Terrabelle sinking slowly into a bad dream... "In tech school... I would ask a U-type if I could see their viewer panel, to refresh my memory. At first they helped me, but then... Smile, then turn away... I graduated tech easy; I caught onto that stuff so fast. But surrounded by other U-types... that could..." Terrabelle shook her head, shaking that nightmare away, I think. "But I got to thinking..." Terrabelle stopped in thought here again, then went on. "At the bottom of the v-tran travel is a huge storage area. Broken or non-functional tech modules are neatly stored there. We have a repair process, docs help us fix them. But after a certain point, we store them down there, since repairing them would take a while, and we usually have plenty of spare modules. And, for the record, it is really cold down there! ...Well, I..." Terrabelle stopped and smiled with contentment... "Well, I pulled pieces and parts from those relegated modules... The repair docs, as they explain test signals and such, paint a pretty clear picture about interface details, and sub-module functionals. I... It was pretty easy to pull out the visual channel, in-coming especially, but image capture too, and the audio channel, the local sun power sub-system, even the RF interface to the tech doc repository. Well, all I had to do was pull the modules carefully out of relegates, connect the modules all together, and... Well, like I said, a few U-type techs helped me, pulling the sub modules from freezing cold stuff, then they built it for me. They laughed and said it would never work. But they said it gave them something to do, anyway. Still, they built it according to the docs they helped me write. I think it was just a big joke for them. Don't tell anyone, but I checked their work! When they were done, I thanked them of course. There is a switch on the back. When I turned it on, everything worked just like it should." Terrabelle was smiling when she was done with this explanation. "I don't even need their panels now!"
Well, I was amazed. It sounded like the other U techs up here just worked on and fixed the tech side of the devices they wanted to repair, and that was it. Terrabelle had used troubleshooting scripts and other stuff to climb deep inside enough different tech modules to find the sub-modules she needed, characterize how they needed to interact, in order to design and build a completely new module. I was pretty sure that, up here in Philadelphi... I said slowly, what I felt. "Wow... That is amazing!"
Terrabelle blushed, then explained some more. "Well, I did have to add a completely different module once everything came up. I forgot that I needed some means to interact with my cap... Wow... I didn't have any sort of control, and again, my hoof wouldn't work well for that..."
I only had to think briefly. "Small head movements..." I said quietly.
"Yup, I had to add--" Terrabelle stopped abruptly, looked at me... "Hey, how did you know?" She asked quickly.
I smiled. "Lucky guess..."
Terrabelle finished. "Well, ya the micro-movement module was the last sub-module I had to add. It took some getting used to, but I can sift through docs pretty fast now. That was the main reason I built my cap anyway, so I could view docs while I worked. It works amazing for that. And I added video capture so I can even take pictures too. I don't think the panels can even... But that has come in very handy. While I am working, I can send image details to my supervisor, and..." Terrabelle stopped and sighed... "I get coms, tasks from central now too, and... Well, my cap works very well."
I didn't say anything. But Fall Star sent a very talented E tech out to walk Summer and I in from the transjector, and now walking me to U392... The transjector maybe I could understand, maybe Terrabelle operated it, but still... This wasn't my battle. I just sighed...
Terrabelle stopped us in front of a door. I said quietly "Terrabelle, I doubt anypony up here even cares, but that process... You building that cap... Not just repairing, but analyzing, then designing... That really is an amazing accomplishment!"
Terrabelle blushed, sighed, then shook her head side to side briefly. "You are right... You are right about all of that..." I shook my head side to side too... What a pity... Terrabelle was one talented tech!
Still, I added quietly "Terrabelle, before we leave, take me to where the paint is, and I will fix that "e".
Terrabelle smiled, then motioned me through the door, and she trotted quickly back down that long hall.
I pushed the door open, and walked through. The door wasn't thick or well sealed; I was sure the lone Unicorn stallion in the big room, probably U392, he must have heard us. He was still facing away, I don't know. I walked in, and was most of the way to him, and only then did he turn. "Ah yes, Shysage, it is? Glad you could come down here for a few minutes. We don't get many visitors." He was clearly an older Unicorn, and just a little gruff as he spoke. Well, I wasn't a Unicorn, so...
"I know it is a little dark and dusty down here, but somemini needs to do this" he said, then he laughed. It was awkwardly quiet briefly, then he said "Well, I need to get back to work. Follow the long hall..." He got this far, and his voice trailed off as he turned and was back to looking into the 2 large panels in front of him up on a table.
But I didn't come to visit. If something was shaking the whole of Philadelphi, that needed to be fixed. I wanted to try and see what I could do to help, anyway. I wasted no time. "So have you come up with any theories as to why all of Philadelphi shakes so violently?"
Well, he puffed, or something like that. And he didn't even turn away from his panels. "Well, I wouldn't call it violent, but it does shake a bit. We have worked through a careful analysis, reviewing all the relevent docs, and have not yet isolated the cause. We will some day, I think." He offered nothing more than that, and it was quiet. I think he really wanted me to leave so he could get back to whatever he was doing.
"So, when did this minor shaking issue begin?" I asked carefully and calmly.
He used his magic, and slowly pulled out a smaller panel from his back, and read, looked, slowly. After minutes... "It looks like approximately 200 days ago, this issue surfaced. Whether or not it started smaller, and slowly grew... We don't have any data on that." That was all he said, and his magic returned his smaller panel to a spot on his back and he returned his attention to the two panels on the table in front of him. He had some sort of holder that held both up, and at an angle.
Well, it seemed clear to me that he didn't feel very cooperative at the moment. Still, I tried. "Can you trace any other substantial changes in some operational aspect of Philadelphi that might coincide with the point in time the shaking started?"
"Of course... We carefully checked all of that as a part of our analysis." U392 said this slowly, rolling his eyes just a little too, I think. Then he turned and stared at me for, maybe half a minute. I am not sure why he did that, but... Well, condescending was the word that came to mind. Saying anything about that would not be helpful.
I tried a different tack. "Has your analysis turned up any areas of Philadelphi that seem to shake more violently? I guess it would be interesting to see if the intensity of the shaking varied from location to location. This might enable you to map--"
U392 interrupted me right then. "Shysage, come with me. We will go to the lower core of Philadelphi and see if any shaking happens." He wasn't angry, but he sounded preturbed. I think he resented a P-type pony asking so many questions... He led, I followed. Leaving his big room, our path down another long hall took us further away from central, or where central was up top. Then we walked up to a door to another hall. U392 said matter of factly "It is either very cold, or very hot past this door. Follow me please." The hall was very cold. I guessed our direction was radially, around a perimeter of Philadelphi. We were both quickly shivering. He said nothing, I said nothing and followed. The hall curved slowly both downward, and around to lead us back towards the center of Philadelphi. I was pretty sure we were pretty far below the oat meadows above. It got even colder as we went. We turned through another door, and walked into and through a cavernous room with large machinery on either side, fairly far apart. We headed towards a door at the far end of this huge room. It was absolutely freezing where we were... That smaller room was probably the lower core that U392 had mentioned. He wanted us to wait there, well maybe until we felt some shaking... From Fall Star's comments, that could be a day, at least, maybe days... I think his real goal was to put me off, make me want to give up and go back up top.
Well, we never made it to the lower core room. One of the huge pieces of equipment nearby burst out into the most horrendous banging sound. Whatever it was trying to do, well, the metal floor below us was buckling so bad, inches really, we couldn't walk. U392 fell to the floor and was as white as a ghost. I guess he had never seen... Well, I recognized some sort of large contactor, control or something on the side of this shaking machine; recognized the big lever anyway. It was hard to get over to it with the floor heaving, but even as a pony, it was easy for me to pull the lever down. The huge machine stopped... The shaking stopped... I didn't wait for U392 to recover. "What are these things?"
Still trying to get a hold of himself, he answered without thinking "refuse pumps..."
I just sighed... "U392 how cold is it down here?" U392 slowly pulled out the panel on his back, stared... I didn't wait for him to answer, because I had no idea how their thermal scale worked. I sighed again, then said quietly "You can't start these pumps when they are full of frozen refuse..."
U392 got slowly up, then just stared off into the distance for minutes. I just stood there and said nothing. Then, well, maybe U392 was back to normal. He said "This way, please" and he led me forward to the lower core room, which evidently had some means to stay tolerably warm. The room wasn't huge. In fact it was quite small. U392 quickly had his small panel out again, and was barking orders... He wanted half a dozen U techs down here immediately, and then he added Terrabelle's number at the end of the list. U392 didn't say anything more to me, and was busy with his panel, talking non-stop... I didn't mind. I think that observation would resolve the shaking issue, and that was my goal. I doubt there would be much mention of a P-type in the report of this incedent, but that didn't bother me either; that's not why I wanted to help. After a little while, a bunch of other U techs squeezed into this lower core room, and Terrabelle poked her head through the door, last of course. "Terrabelle, please escort Shysage back to Fall Star and thanks" U392 said curtly, then jumped immediately into talking about something else with the rest of the techs...
Well, I didn't know who was getting thanked, but that didn't matter to me either. I squeezed past other Unicorns, sensed just a little of their aloof, then headed out the door with Terrabelle. We were walking quickly to the other end of the huge, freezing equipment room. Terrabelle smiled, then said quietly "Refuse Pump power control down... Freezing room..." Terrabelle sighed. Then she said slowly "Nomini listens to me..."
"You are not a Unicorn..." I didn't say this, but I thought it, trying to control my disgust. Well, I was pretty sure Terrabelle would know... This was a question, and Terrabelle understood right away. "200 days ago?"
Terrabelle sighed, then answered without even thinking as we trotted to the door at the other end of the freezing equipment room. "Refuse pump timer reprog at that point to keep the refuse reservoirs in central closer to empty..."
As we went through the door at the far end of the pump room, I smiled at Terrabelle, and said quietly "You are amazing..."
Terabelle laughed, then added "Well, this is the first time they ever let me down here, in case that matters. And I wrote the frozen pump scenario up at the time too, pointing out that only pumps in the direct sunlight side of Philadelphi should be operated, but... U392 said flatly I was wrong, and that was that."
"Well, hopefully, they will go back to the old timer schedule" I said quietly. "And also hopefully, one of those pumps won't break loose..." I... That was my biggest concern. I didn't think Philadelphi had the ability to deal with something like that.
Terrabelle... "Nah, they will tinker with it 200 more days, just so a few more shakings occur, then they will do that..." Terrabelle smiled, chuckled, then frowned. "Shysage, please don't tell anymini I said that..."
I just had to say it again. "I still want to fix your 'E', Terrabelle..."
Terrabelle smiled, then lead us back up to the circular hall, then back to the v-tran. "This way to the paint shop!" she said, then she laughed. The paint shop was a part of another large room under the oat meadows above. There were a number of other U-techs down here, in this big room, but everypony absolutely ignored Terrabelle. Well, they ignored me too, for that matter, but I wasn't bothered. I was just some random P-type, probably lost... Still, Terrabelle was a tech, with their training, and far more in touch with the tech side of Philadelphi. I was absolutely amazed that she was able to survive in such an environment.
The paint shop was a corner of a large lab or something. "I would like some white paint first to cover up that tiny 'e' " I said quietly. Then I added "Well, and I need a brush or something to put the paint on." Terrabelle led me to a nearby shelf with containers of paint. Opening the containers as a people would be easy.
Then Terrabelle frowned. "They cut hairs from my tail for the brushes last time..."
"Well, forget that" I thought to myself. I would use my fingers for the white, then maybe part of my own tail for adding the correctly sized 'E'." Then I smiled. I doubted anypony else in this lab had ever seen... I threw myself back on my hind legs, turned into a people, then stood up. Terrabelle smiled right away. She had seen this before. The rest of the U techs in the lab stopped whatever they were doing, didn't move, and just stared. I was fine with that; they could watch me fix Terrabelle's number on her cap. Terrabelle nodded her head slightly forward, and I carefully removed her cap and set it down on a nearby table. Their tables were a little low for me, but that didn't matter either. And, covering the rediculously small 'e' with white paint was easy. I used one of my fingers to do the paint, then wiped my finger on my jeans when I was done. Terrabelle said it was the same jar they used for painting the outside of her cap anyway, so it matched fine. Then we waited a little while so the paint could dry. Philadelphi had good paint; it dried pretty fast. And while the paint dried, Terrabelle showed me which jar to use for the new 'E', and I pulled that one down, and put it on the table.
I decided to use some of my hair for the brush for the new 'E', so I asked Terrabelle "I need something really sharp that I can use to cut some of my hair off to use as a brush. Do you have anything like that here?" Terrabelle grinned, then trotted off around the lab. And as she did, the U techs just ignored her, and kept staring at me. She did find a sharp metal blade, but I had to go get it, pick it up. One of the U techs had to move so I could reach it. I said quietly "I won't hurt you." Maybe they were all scared, I don't know. Well, maybe they would have a little more respect for Terrabelle, anyway, after we were done. I could hope... Carefully pulling together some of my hair (after I cut a chunk off) made for a nice, small brush. Adding the bright red 'E' didn't take long, and I tried to match the style of the numbers already there, Terrabelle's number. But I intentionally made the 'E' even bigger than the numbers. In my mind, Terrabelle deserved that. Then I walked calmly over, said "excuse me" and put the metal blade exactly where I had found it, then put the two paint jars away too. We waited for the red 'E' to dry, too. That took a little longer. When the paint was tacky, I picked Terrabelle's cap up and gently guided it down over her ears, back down on her head. Then I had her hold still while I straightened the antenna thing. It was bent. I backed away to look at our work, and noticed that Terrabelle had tears in her eyes. Still a people, I kneeled in front of her and hugged her neck with my arms briefly. "You are amazing, Terrabelle..." I said with a smile. Then I got up, backed up, threw myself forward, and turned back into that useless P-type mini, lost in the tech lab... Then I chuckled.
Terrabelle said "This way please", and we headed back to the v-tran, hopefully back to Summer...