//------------------------------// // Dangerously Close // Story: Synthetic but living // by Dark Nightshade //------------------------------// The next day went by as Raw Data would've suspected. Nobody still really asked about the glasses and pieces, and lunch went by as it did normally, except for Pinkie showing up to ask about the extent of the organic repurposing machine. "Yes, Pinkie, it can add to an existing body," Raw Data said. "Why?" Really? Ultrabyte asked. You really don't know why? "Oh, no reason in particular," Pinkie said. "By the way, would the muscles be working?" Yes, but they will need a little retraining, Ultrabyte said. Repeat that to her. He did. "That's good," Pinkie said. "Hopefully, it'll go quickly." I do too, Ultrabyte said. But the first day or two will be very awkward. "I'd imagine so," Raw Data said. Suddenly the intercom crackled to life and Principal Celestia started talking. "Raw Data, please come to the front office. Raw Data, please come to the front office," she said. "Oh, you're in trouble!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Go to her." Raw Data frowned confusedly. "Ok," he said. He stood up, dumped the rest of the stuff he wasn't going to eat, and started towards the front office. You aren't actually in trouble, are you? Ultrabyte asked. "I shouldn't be," Raw Data muttered. As he turned the corner to Principal Celestia's office, he immediately saw two men standing outside the door, dressed in military outfits and standing still, like the guards at Buckingham Palace. As he walked in front of them, one of them spoke. "Are you Raw Data?" he asked. Raw Data nodded. "What's happening?" he asked. "Enter the room. Our superior needs to talk to you," the soldier said as he opened the door. Raw Data nervously entered the room and stared at who he assumed was the general. You remember what we practiced? Ultrabyte asked. "What's happening?" Raw Data asked the general. "A few days ago, you picked up a phone," the general said. Raw Data's blood chilled, by he showed no difference. "Yes, it was broken and looks advanced," Raw Data said. The general looked slightly surprised that Raw Data had said that."That wasn't some kind of weapon, was it?" "Not directly, no," the general said. "But it contained something that is very dangerous. What did you find on that phone?" Raw Data shrugged. "It was empty. No favorites, no history, nothing," he said. "Although, there was a picture of this girl as the home screens screensaver." The general smiled. "And what did this girl look like?" he asked. Raw Data lightly blushed. "I...don't actually remember," he said. "You see, the girl in the picture was completely naked, and I wanted to skip over that." The general frowned. "Strange. Most boys your age are very interested in those kind of pictures," he said. "But this important. What do you remember about her?" "The girl in the picture?" Raw Data asked. "Uh, I think her skin was purple. Sorry, but I don't really see what this has to do with a military project." "That's not important right now," the general said. "Now, anything else about the girl?" Raw Data paused "She was beautiful," he said. "I think she also had green hair." The general hummed. "What are those for?" he asked, pointing at the glasses and earpieces. "These are some recent projects of mine," Raw Data said proudly. "The glasses are supposed to translate any language to subtitles, and the earpieces do the same verbally." The generals eyes narrowed. "Is that all?" he asked. "I'm planing on doing some updates in the future," Raw Data said. "Why?" "It's just very interesting," the general said. "What kind if updates?" "I've been thinking of adding x-ray vision, heat detectors and a far viewer in the glasses and long ranged hearing, lie detection and speech pattern detectors in the earpieces," Raw Data said. "And then I'll probably start selling them to the government." The general grinned. "Ok, what languages do you not speak?" he asked. "The only languages I speak are English and Spanish," Raw Data said. The general nodded and started speaking in what Raw Data thought was Russian. As he spoke, an automated voice started translating and subtitles started crawling across the glasses. "I don't think you are telling the truth," the general was saying. "Frankly, this technology would be a miracle if you got it to work." Raw Data smiled. "I assure you, I'm telling the truth," he said. The general's jaw dropped and his eyes widened. "You actually understood that?" he asked still in Russian. "Yes," Raw Data said. "Like you said, it would be a miracle if I got it to work. And I have gotten it to work." The general looked at the door and called out in English "Stroker! Come in here!" The door opened and the soldier that had spoken to Raw Data walked in. "Yes, sir?" he asked. "You know Vietnamese, right?" the general asked. "Yes, sir!" Stroker said. "Say something in it," the general said. Speaking in Vietnamese, Stroker said "Something." The general turned to Raw Data. "What did he say?" the general asked. "Something," Raw Data said. The general rolled his eyes. "I know that, but what was it?" he asked. "The word something," Raw Data said. Stoker looked horrified. The general turned to him and said "Smartass." "How did you know that?" Stroker asked. "Do you also know Vietnamese?" "Nope," the general said. "It's those things he's wearing." "The glasses and earpieces?" Stoker asked. "Yes," the general said. "You want to explain them?" And Raw Data did. Stroker looked amazed. "Wow, your parents taught you a lot," he said. "This technology could revolutionize the world!" Raw Data blushed. "Ah, it's still in its beta testing stages," he said. "Still, that's really impressive!" the general said. "Can I see them?" Raw Data's blood chilled again. But despite that, he started slipping them off and handed them to the general. "Uh, the subtitles will start appearing when another language starts talking, directed towards you," Raw Data said. Stoker started talking in Vietnamese again. The general's jaw was gapping in an O, and was clearly impressed. He slipped them off, and Stroker stopped talking. The general turned to Raw Data and handed the glasses back. "You need to make more of these," he said. "These would make billions!" Raw Data grinned. "Thanks, but I need to work on the updates before I start making more," he said. "By the way, this military project thing you were talking about? Honestly, there is a definite chance that it made its way over to Crystal Prep. Their principal has a tendency to make questionable decisions." The general nodded. "Well, thank you for your time," he said. "And don't be surprised if you see us again, by the way. We really need to find this program." As Raw Data exited the room, he turned a corner and started walking towards his next class, his mind abuzz with what had just happened and how close they had come to danger. That was awesome! Ultrabyte said. You kept your cool, even when you had to hand me off to Burrows! "That's his name?" Raw Data asked, his voice quiet. Yeah, that's his name, Ultrabyte said. It's a good thing we installed that language thing this morning. "Yeah it is," Raw Data muttered. "Now, we may seem them later, so they might come by the house." Aw, don't worry, I've been working a type of hologram that could cover up anything that we don't want them to see, Ultrabyte said. And hopefully, it won't come to that. Still, you should build it when we get home. "I guess it's a good thing Pinkie and Rarity are coming over tonight," Raw Data said as he entered the classroom.