Duet in the Dust

by David Silver


16 - Exposition

Once Bullette Belle was set down beside the computer, she reached out, her wires reaching into the spaces between the keys and her strange protrusions striking the keys rapidly. "Initiating exposition dump!" she eagerly cried, gesturing with her head at the screen that responded to her near-silent commands.

"Here at Trans-Tech," spoke a voice as the words appeared on the bottom in common. "--we search for a better world, literally!" A spinning sphere appeared, though it undulated and stretched in odd ways. "While war ravages dear Everglow, we realize that the future is in cooperation. Started by ponykind--"

The image on the screen shifted to three ponies of the primary tribes, earth-bound, pegasus, and unicorn. "Trans-Tech was overwhelmed by the moving warfront." The ponies displayed ran off the screen with panicked expressions, little primitive explosions following them. "This was not the end! Human engineers took interest in the facility."

Cute little human icons came in from the right side of the screen, wearing labcoats and goggles. "They became so enamoured with what was already done, they even secured some of the old staff from the internment camps and secured their freedom." Two of the ponies that had run away were brought back onto the screen in chains. The humans bounced over and wiggled. The chains vanished and everyone, human and pony, did a little happy dance. "Work resumed!"

"Even as word of incoming calamity frightened others into wild actions, we at Trans-Tech pushed on with our project. We would find another world, a better world, to call our own." The image of Everglow returned, and another sphere appeared beside it, though it did not bend and pull, it was nicely spherical and calm. "We would bring our technology and seed a new civilization free of the flaws that is bringing our current one to an end."

Vinyl shook her head slowly. "Woulda been better with some popcorn. Kinda cliche don't you think?"

Octavia rolled her eyes. "They were living it, Vinyl. I don't think they were too worried about seeming 'played out' in any literary sense."

No Name leaned towards the screen, peering at the two worlds. "If they detected you-vibes, doesn't that mean that--" He pointed at the second nicely-round world. "--is your world?"

"Partially correct," chimed in Bullette as she stopped the video display. "Records indicate they located several possible choices. Odds of retreat: 65%. Unable to locate records." She lifted her shoulders. "Network compromised, information not present." She suddenly grinned all too wide. "Good news!"

Vinyl tilted her head at the eager filly-boy. "What's the good news?"

"Location of equipment!" The screen flickered, bringing up a map of the building they were in. It zoomed in, breaking through the floor several times. "Basement level 4, room b422" The map showed basement 4 and the spoken of room glowed softly. It was one of the larger ones on that level. "Location of Trans-Tech inter-plane-a-tary device."

Octavia pointed at the glowing room. "Well then, shall we be off? The sooner we reach it, the sooner--"

"Caution," spoke Bullette sternly. "Elevator shaft damaged, unsafe for use. Recommended Detour: stairs." While the room glowed green, the stairs began to glow yellow.

Vinyl shrugged. "Well, alright. Four flights of stairs is hardly the end of the world." She hopped down from the desk to the floor with a light clop. "No reason to wait."

No Name nudged Bullette gently. "If you're done, go ahead and pull all your parts back inside."

"System explored," sang out Bullette triumphantly as the wires began to draw back into her and her hooves pulled back together in eery sync, closing up the very instant each cord had pulled back far enough to not be caught in the motions. Soon her hooves were complete and whole. "They did not construct the defenses." She pointed at the non-functional defense robot that had attacked them.

Octavia raised a brow at it. "Did they... buy it? Were those things just sitting in windows?"

Vinyl burst into giggles. "I can imagine that. Act now and we'll throw in a custom coloring job at no additional cost! Buy two and the third death machine is free!"

Bullette did not rise to the humor. She slid back into combat mode, armor and weapons deploying as she sat beside No Name.

Octavia paused, watching No Name pick her up. A wince overtook her features. "We're being jerks. Sorry, Bullette. You're not... that."

"Friendship tally adjusted," spoke Bullette in a trembling sad warble.

Vinyl pushed up her goggles. "Wait, what? I didn't mean anything!" She threw herself at No Name's hooves. "That thing wasn't an awesome little robot I want to be friends with!"

No Name casually stepped over her. "We should get going. Which way were the stairs from here?" Bullette pointed the way with her flamethrower-equipped hoof and he started off at a light walk, navigating the eerily intact hallways.

Vinyl and Octavia hurried to keep up. Octavia tugged at her bowtie gently. "We really didn't mean to offend. We don't see Bullette as--"

"She isn't even close to the same thing," cut in Vinyl. "Besides, how can she be? They aren't fillies, and they aren't our friends."

Bullette looked down from her lofty perch. "You were quite insistent on my being a robot," she spoke in a petulant reverb. "Only now do you claim there is a significant difference. Your logical is as faulty as your emotional indicators!"

Octavia perked an ear. "Your logic?"

Bullette threw up her forehooves wide. "Do not correct my distressed speech!" Her voice modulated wildly in emphasis. "Besides... you wouldn't buy me." She sank down on No Name.

Vinyl blinked softly at that. "Are you joking? If I saw you in a storefront, I'd go broke making sure I gave you a great home." She sprang forward. "But it wouldn't be the same."

Bullette quirked an ear at that. "What would the difference be?"

"It'd be some robot that looked kinda like you, not you you. You're special. They can't make another you." Vinyl nodded confidently. "Not in a million years. While another sorta-you would be... alright, the real-you is the best you."

Octavia smiled gently at that. "Vinyl is speaking sensibly there. You are a unique combination of everything you've experienced from the moment you were even started to be assembled to this very instant. This conversation is part of what you are, and any copy would be missing those things."

"Awesome things," threw in Vinyl with a grin. "And don't you go thinkin' that's a 'robot' thing, because it's true for any of us. A copy of me without the important bits wouldn't be half as fun." She cocked a brow. "She may decide her calling in life was... I dunno, bungie jumping or something and never get into music."

"Heaven forfend," agreed Octavia with a small smile. Her eyes swept over the cubicle maze they were navigating. "It's like a museum..." She could see faded hints of the life that was being led before the end of things rendered the place silent. In one cube, a horseshoe hung on the wall, while a pair of shoes dangled in the next in a strange showing of solidarity between the bipeds and quadrupeds.

Bullette sat up on No Name. "This is where they kept their accountants and HR."

"HR?" Vinyl looked up at Bullette.

"Humanoid Resources." Bullette nodded in a rapid bobbing, her voice recovering from her previous distress. "They did not rename it after the addition of ponykind employees."

No Name snorted at that. "Doubt they were much worried about it." He pointed up ahead as they drew close to the end of the room. "Stair's just up ahead." He led the way as he already had been, Bullette riding high on his back. "Don't hear no more trouble..." With an extended hoof, he nudged the door open with a creak, allowing sight of the fire stairs that led up and down through the building. "Don't look too bad..."

They descended the cement stairs, a riot of clips and clops created in the motion. There simply wasn't a way to avoid it that didn't involve proceeding at a snail's pace, and none of them even suggested the idea. As they passed the first door, Bullette rang like a bell before speaking. "Basement 1, cafeteria, lounge, and leisure activities. 20% of exercise machines are still operational. Soda fountain operational."

Vinyl perked at that. "Hey, can we--"

"--No," cut in Octavia, pointing down the stairs. "Let us proceed. Besides, can you imagine the state of whatever is inside the fountain?"

No Name softly chuckled at that as they pressed on. "Doubt it'd be worth callin' soda in the end. Wouldn't mind a sip though..."

Octavia turned an ear towards him. "Have you tried soda before?"

No Name fell silent.

Octavia shook her head a little. "We are in no position to cast judgements on--"

"--Cease!" interrupted Bullette suddenly. "Do not continue. You are losing friendship points with him."

No Name softly snorted. "Yer a good filly, you know that..."

"I endeavor to be," agreed Bullette with a smile.

"But it's alright... She ain't no idiot." He shook his head as he rounded the corner, descending the next flight. "And she already knows things I ain't used to hearing talked about."

Octavia looked up at his stoic face. "Tell me... Were you there? I mean... it seems fanciful, but then, here we are, in another world, it would hardly top that. Did... you see it?"

Vinyl perked up, picking up what was being hinted at. "Wait, what?! You saw the big boom everyone's talking about?! Hey, good going, you barely look a day over, uh, do ponies age the same in this world?" She looked suddenly unsure, her joke awkwardly aborted.

Bullette leaned forward and to the side dangerously. "You are not required to answer," she reminded with an out-thrust hoof. "Octavia is classified 'Responsible Adult'. She will accept a negative reply."

No Name glanced between Bullette dangling on one side, and Octavia looking at him inquisitively on the other side. "I'm sure she would, yeah... Yer gonna be gone soon... Guess it ain't hurtin' no one for you ta know." He drew a deep breath through his nostrils.

"Basement 2," interrupted Bullette as they passed the second door. "Storage of hazardous materials. Office of chief executive officer. Child care facility."

No Name went right past it without delay. "Don't like to think about it..." He sank down to the next step with a huff. "That's when I was born. The old... He died, wiped out with all the other good people. I shook out of the ash... didn't even have the decency to sit down and die like most of the others." He drove a hoof down on the next step, the sound echoing around them. "Let's stop talkin' 'bout it."

Bullette hugged him tightly from above and behind, her unwieldy weaponized arms wrapping around his neck. "You are a good pony," she sang eagerly. "Better than most. Number one friend located!"

Octavia reached an uncertain hoof, patting him on his great side. "I'm sorry you had to go through... that. It must have been quite difficult, and even that feels hardly sufficient to describe it."

"Basement 3, Classified," suddenly announced Bullette as the door out of the stairway passed them by on their descent.

No Name seemed to lift from his funk. "Classified? I thought you learned everything there is to learn?"

Bullette shook her head quickly. "The information was not present."

"Huh..." He pointed ahead as they descended the last flight. "There it is, the way to your home. Since the power's working, we shouldn't have any problems."

"This is not entirely accurate," admitted Bullette like a child caught with their hoof in a cookie jar.

Vinyl quirked an unseen brow. "Yeah, what's in the way now?"

"Full status of Trans-Tech portal unable to be verified. Visual confirmation required before we proceed." She suddenly sat up. "Will ponies from your world greet me like Vinyl?" She pointed at Vinyl.

Octavia suddenly stopped. "Wait, when were you coming?"

Bullette pointed to herself. "When I decided," she spoke as if it were obvious. "No Name and Bullette will accompany you to your world and explore it. The friendship adventure never has to end!" she concluded her statement with a joyful song of modulation, a smile on her face. "Your safe arrival in your world means that all current obligations are complete. We will then, responsibly, exit Everglow."

No Name stepped towards the door that led towards what they wanted. "Put that thought aside. There are problems with it, but we'll go over that later."

"Thoughts stored for later processing," agreed Bullette as she raised her hooves, directing both weapons ahead. "Basement 4. Security online. Danger Level: Purple."

Octavia shrank back at that. "I thought red was the top level."

Vinyl clopped her hooves together before hopping forward. "As if! Let's show them a thing or two." Her gun lifted into view, held in her horn's magic. She cocked the revolver, ready to begin a battle. "Let me get my music going and we'll blow through that door."

No Name took a slow breath as he leaned in for the door's handle. "Everyone ready?"

"Affirmative." "Yeah!" "No..."

He took firm hold of the handle and twisted his head.

The light beyond the door was red rather than the off-yellow shade the rest of the facility had. "UNAUTHORIZED ENTRY," noted a booming voice. "SECURITY DEPLOYED. ERROR: UNITS UNRESPONSIVE. 23% ACTIVE."

Vinyl's headphones were already flipped around, filling the air with deep metal thumps. "As they march forth," she began. "Baddest mothers from south to north." She shouted the last word as she jumped through the doorway after No Name.

Trouble did not wait for them. With the sound of mechanical movement, a turret that hung on the ceiling swiveled towards No Name and began to disgorge an entirely unhealthy volume of bullets at him in a cacophony of gunpowder, smoke tinting the red air. He dove for cover, a darker spray of blood arcing up from where he failed to move quite fast enough.

"Target Acquired." Bullette pivoted despite the movements of her mount, leveling her own firearm at the turret and returning fire. The bullets crashed in the air between them, hot shrapnel deflected out in wild directions, leaving holes in the ceiling, walls, and everywhere else. The turret lurched, some of the bullets finding true. Bullette was not immune to the same treatment, her flamethrowing hoof jerking back, sparks escaping from where a bullet had penetrated her metallic hide.

A shot rang out from their side of things. Vinyl popped a shot at one of the guard beasts that had just turned the corner in its rush at them. It snarled, looking ready to charge its attacker when a second bullet knocked its robotic tongue free. Octavia smiled around the gun that filled her mouth.

"Red in the air, death giving a stare," sang on Vinyl. "Blood pumping, combat thumping!"

Bullette's attention seemed to be entirely on the turret, but despite not looking towards the beast, her body suddenly flashed brightly, electricity jumping from her in a crack-thoom of thunder. The dazzling arc struck the beast. It staggered mid-step before stumbling forward, smoke rising from it and its fried electronics. "Recharging, 5%"

Metallic scuttling caught Vinyl and Octavia's attention. Coming down another path through the cubicles was a small swarm of rushing spider-like robots. Each had a menacing red eye, peering at them as they hurried on razor-sharp talons.

No Name twisted on himself, plunging his snout into his bag and coming out with some small object he held in his mouth. One of his snakes grabbed the pin and tossed it as another pulled tight, activating the grenade. With a mighty heave, he threw it ahead, not at the spiders, but at the troublesome turett.

Octavia lined up her shot, which was harder than she had hoped with their erratic scuttling motions. She pushed her tongue forward and missed the spider, but struck one behind it right where one of its legs met its torso. It staggered and slowed a moment, but seemed to rapidly adjust to its new gait.

"Metal above as there is below. Only thought allowed is do we have ammo." Vinyl shot wildly at the oncoming spiders, suddenly wobbling as an explosion erupted from the thrown grenade. The spiders burst out of the corridor of cubicles, springing in their stride with no seeming effort.

Octavia backed away, fanning her trigger wildly and running out of bullets with the loud click of her gun failing to fire. One landed on her back and dug a sharp leg into her side like an angry surgeon making an incision. Her gun dropped free of her mouth, giving room for a pained shriek to escape her.

With the sound of metal on metal, No Name brought down the flat end of the sign, crushing several spiders into spasming robotic pieces. "Bloody hell, get it off of her," he grunted as he pulled the sign back, ready to press his assault.

Vinyl was on it, throwing herself at Octavia and crashing into the metal spider. Both of them fell free of her, crashing to the ground, hooves and talons flailing in the impact.

"Unable to safely fire." Bullette directed her gun-arm at the less entangled spiders, her near-silent ammunition shredding another where it had been leaping at Vinyl's back.

"Third time's the charm." Octavia closed her eyes. "Please, help us!"

Space and time warped as that pony stepped free of it, the same that had been destroyed by a grenade and had been torn limb from limb by an angered robot minutes before. It snorted, glaring at Octavia with what could have been annoyance. Without delay, it neighed wildly and two more distortions formed, two other ponies stepping free, one with wings and another with a horn. The three greeted one another with an energetic meeting of hooves.

"ADDITIONAL INTRUDERS DETECTED. TARGETS IDENTIFIED." It was only at that instant that the spiders seemed to notice the three ponies that had joined the fight. Their little visual stalked turned to regard the animals in time for the CHILDREN AT PLAY sign to sweep across them, catching four and crushing them against the wall that had been behind the pony combatants.

"Clippety-Clop, when will it stop?" Vinyl kicked powerfully, sending the spider she was wrapped up with flying away. "One two three." She squeezed the trigger of her gun, taking out the eye of the thing with a spray of shattered glass and metal. "Won't you dance with me?" She smiled victoriously, despite the many gashes she had received from her brief wrestling match.

The pony stomped down on one of the spiders just in time for its winged friend to kick it vigorously away. The unicorn lashed out its hindlegs, catching the thing as it flew past and sending it bouncing off a wall, wobbling as if dizzy. "Target Acquired." Bullette calmly dispatched the dazed spider in the moment of its stillness in a hail of bullets.

"DEFENSES EXHAUSTED. SEALING AND BEGINNING TERMINAL SOLUTION." The door they had come through slammed shut, crushing the last twitching spider along the way. A loud hissing sounded from the ceiling.

Bullette's eyes flickered from red to their normal expressiveness. "Danger! Danger danger! Please place me within operational distance of a terminal!" Her armor and armaments were withdrawing rapidly as she exited combat mode.

Octavia looked around wildly. "Where is one of those?" She looked to her new pony friends. "Do you know where a terminal is?"

They snorted at her softly and faded away in reply, offering no solutions.

Viny thrust a hoof down the corridor between cubicles the spiders had come from. "Two bits says it's that way. Go... get em." She flopped over, huffing for breath. Her injuries were catching up with her.

Octavia hurried to her side. "Go! Go go, I have her. Vinyl, you big dummy, heal yourself! Rock magic!"

"Rock... magic? Oh yeah!" Her ears perked with memory. "This isn't a cool enough way to buy it. By the power of rock, I demand I die in a way more dramatic way." She crashed her hooves together, healing energy surging from them into herself with a jerk, the worst of her wounds sealing over. "That still... hurts."

"It's alright..." Octavia curled with Vinyl in the redness, trusting in No Name and Bullette to find the terminal, or they'd at least die together.

No Name surged forward despite the fatigue that pulled at him. Coming down from Vinyl's inspiring songs was a tough crash, but they had no time to wait it out. He shoved cubicle panels aside as he lumbered into motion. "If you see it, tell me." He thundered into the space between the cubicle rows, charging in the direction the spiders had come from.

"PURGE INITIATED. ESTIMATED TIME UNTIL COMPLETION, 45 SECONDS."

No Name frowned at the directionless voice. "Oh, sure, give me plenty of time." He skidded around a corner and saw it, a door that hung open. Was that where the spiders had come from? There was no time to second guess himself. He lumbered forward like an out of control train, shouting without even realizing it as he went. He crashed through the half-open door, slamming it open with his weight. It was a closet. He could see a mop and a broom. He had chosen incorrectly. "Damn it... Bull--" He turned his head and stopped, realizing she wasn't there anymore. "Bullette! Belle! Where are you!?"

"INTRUSION ATTEMPT DETECTED. C-C-- 20 SECONDS."

No Name threw himself out of the closet, almost falling over in his hurry. "Bullette!" He awkwardly climbed back to his hooves and staggered back where he had come from. Everything was getting hard to see. His legs didn't want to work. He tried to walk despite it, but collapsed, dizzy. "Bell..." He lost consciousness.

Seated quietly a few cubicles away was a small filly robot. She had leaped free of No Name when she spotted the terminal and plugged herself in directly. She was no longer aware of the world around herself.

She was in the world of machines. Though she appeared as one of them, her heart, her soul, was not that. In the electronic world, it was clearer than usual. She appeared as a smiling tree, her branches holding all manners of tools and weapons. "Cease purge," she demanded.

"NEGATIVE." A pony appeared before her, made of chrome with eyes of red glaring at her. "INTRUDER."

"The power of friendship demands your defeat," argued Belle as the largest gun began to spin its barrels. "Friendship cannon activated!" A bright rainbow engulfed her cybernetic foe. It jumped free of her attack, even if it was sparking from contact with her assault.

"COUNTERMEASURES ONLINE." Guns popped out of it from impossible angles, all directed at Bullette Tree. "INITIATE." A riot of lights and beams fired from it towards Bullette, but she wasn't there anymore, simply ceasing to be and appearing several feet to the left. As it swept its armaments at her, she kept jumping and her gun span back up, forcing it to jump and duck to avoid the return fire.

They were both moving with dizzying speed, trying to catch the other off guard, but neither were gaining ground, only managing glancing blows that hurt but did not disable.

"Initiate Program No Name." The tree that was Bullette Belle suddenly charged at the defensive AI. The lasers did not stop, biting into her bark and stripping great bits of it clean. Blood, sap, and sparks few in equal abundance, but it did not stop her.

She crashed into it, grabbing with her branches, taking hold of the metal pony's hooves and wrenching apart in four directions at once. "CEASE OPERATION! IT IS NOT TOO LATE TO--" It was too late. Bullette was not listening and kept savagely pulling, tearing apart the enemy machine until it gave away, quartered into four uneven parts that she threw into the cyberspace as they fell apart into the 1s and 0s they had formed from.

"Cease purge," she panted out, shuddering with pain. She faded away, the damage she had received too great to hold onto her connection.