//------------------------------// // The Secrets II // Story: Consequences // by GJT_Productions //------------------------------// "With all due respect, Captain, I'd just as soon not go into that 'trophy room' again." "Noted, Guard. Now let's see if your comrade's stomach has settled and move on..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Returning to the main corridor of the underground level from the trophy room, Captain of the Guard Gibraltar and a pegasus Guard Upper Class acting as escort turned to see another pegasus Upper Class, who was supposed to be the second escort in searching the caverns, smiling sheepishly near a yellow-green puddle on the rocky floor. Considering the array of detached unicorn horns on display in the "trophy room" and the odor of decay perfuming the air in the corridor, it was hardly surprising one of the Guards had lost his breakfast. "If you say nothing about it in your report Guard, I won't contradict you." Gibraltar reassuringly states, in referencing the puddle of puke on the floor. "Yes sir, thank you sir." the pegasus escort wearily replies, still looking a bit green around the edges. "Save your thanks for later. If you're done, we're moving on to the next branch to check out." Gibraltar comments, pointing to the other tunnel leading opposite the one leading to the 'trophy room'. "Understood, sir." the escort replies, cautiously moving to beside the Captain as the latter and other pegasus escort begin to move down that other tunnel. A short slope down, a turn and then the passage opens up into a large oblong cavern. The three Guards can see a carved-out shelf along the rightside wall which seemed to have been used as a desk, and the Captain proceeds immediately toward it. "Check down the other end of the cavern, I'll look over what's on here." Gibraltar orders, staring down at the rock shelf in lantern light. The guards reply in affirmative, and their hoofsteps echo in the cavern as Gibraltar begins analyzing what he sees. Several scrolls, including a numbered list, are spread open on the shelf. Beside those scrolls is a typing machine, similar to the ones used in Royal Guard service for official records. Beside it was a short list that, upon reading, reveals to Captain Gibraltar how the Agents of Chaos had ciphered their secret messages: "Shift word pattern: Chaos Number 1 forward, Chaos Number 2 backward, Chaos Number 3 forward, Chaos Number 1 backward, etc..." Gibraltar already knew, thanks to information previously provided by Lieutenant Stratocumulus, the "Chaos Numbers" were what a human would call "pi", "tau" (two times pi) and "e". But this pattern showed how the numbers would be used to cipher the message - a cipher that without benefit of computer technology would've been very difficult to crack indeed. The Guard Captain was impressed with the cleverness of the entire ciphering system. "Sir, I think you should see this!" Gibraltar hears one of the escorts call out behind him, from the other side of the "office cavern". The old unicorn turns around and sees the lanterns of his escorts faintly in the darkness. "Coming!" Gibraltar replies, his hooves clip-clopping on the stone floor away from the desk. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When he arrives at the other end of the cavern, he immediately sees, illuminated in lantern light, the objects that had drawn the attention of the other stallions. To the left was a machine that resembled an operating room table, tilted partly upright and with a giant saw positioned on an arm over it. To the right was a rectangular machine with two openings in the middle, one with a red spot above it and the other a green spot above it. In front of the latter machine a pegasus stallion, dressed in an Equestrian Intelligence Agency uniform, lay motionless on the rocky floor. Gibraltar could guess the purpose of the machine to the left - horn amputation. But it was the machine on the right that shocked him the most - because it wasn't supposed to exist at all! He rushes over to the motionless pegasus and gives him a quick look over, finding his fears confirmed. "This stallion is dead, probably suicide." Captain Gibraltar states as he looks back at the escorts. "An EIA agent, acting directly on Aten's secret orders. Probably disabled the machine and committed suicide when the rebellion fell apart." "Not the source of the odor, though, sir." one of the escorts grimly replies, giving a scrunched-snout sniff afterward. "Were 'Mr. Hoofer' and the EIA really involved in supporting the Agents of Chaos? And what is with this machine he's in front of, sir? I've never seen anything like it!" "I'll explain in a minute. I noticed a numbered list on that desk shelf at the other end of the cavern, could one of you bring it please?" "Yes, sir." one of the escorts replies, not tarrying in bringing over a long trailing piece of parchment. Gibraltar takes it with unicorn magic and begins looking down the list. After a moment's pause, he starts to give his explanation: "On this list seems to be the civilian identity of every Agent of Chaos, starting with Aten as number one. Most of the names on this list we've already accounted for. 'Mr. Hoofer' IS listed on here, but at number 42 - he was apparently more valuable for the services he could provide, such as intelligence and equipment, than anything else." "Such as this machine, sir?" an escort speculates, pointing toward the rectangular machine the three stallions were standing in front of. "Yes." Captain Gibraltar grimly replies. "The only place a machine like this is supposed to exist is at EIA headquarters. It's function is perfect duplication by magic - not even Princess Celestia herself would be able to tell the original from a duplicate this machine creates. This is how the Agents hid themselves so long - they could duplicate whatever they wanted, as long as it fit inside the machine anyways, then change the duplicate however they wanted and put it in place of the original without anypony being the wiser. Most of the paperwork forgery must've been done with this machine..." "What powers the machine though, sir? Some kind of spell?" one of the escorts naturally asks. "Yes, a spell cast by a unicorn. Which again proves Aten's hypocrisy - exploiting the talents of unicorns for his own ends in private while running them down in public. Ponies such as that one well deserve the suffering and punishment he has already and will in the future receive!" Gibraltar answers, contemptously spitting on the rocky floor afterward. "What do we do with this equipment though? It's too big to get it through the tunnels!" the escort asks again. "We'll need to secure this area first, then the Mechanic Corp. can come down here and disassemble the machines later." Gibraltar answers. "Besides, we're not done yet here, the presence of that smell means there's still more secrets to be found yet in these caverns..." All three stallions look back toward the entrance of the cavern, the chill and nauseating smell around them finally taking hold and beginning to break through the professional attitude. They all sensed even darker secrets had yet to be found...