A few days later, Twilight Velvet returned to take Aria Blaze to SMILE. As it turned out, the headquarters was actually an underground facility, with its entrance in the underground parking lot of Golden Bull Investments.
"With international markets and such, there are always people coming and going," Velvet explained.
While they did swing by Twilight Velvet's office ("not that I'm in there very often,"), the first major stop on Aria's tour was the lab. It was supposed to be a combination of the research and development, and the medical departments. That way, any unknown creatures could be cared for and studied, and possible experimental treatments could be used almost immediately once they were prepared. It was also where any magical items that were found would be brought to study, and where the agency's weapons and gear were made.
For Aria Blaze, this meant that it was where she was going both to be treated for any injuries she occurs while on duty, but it was also where she was going to be playing lab rat. Where they were going to study and test her as "a non-native entity," as it was put.
As soon as Aria was in the lab, a petite, blue skinned girl with pink hair popped up before her. She looked up with a wide smile, purple eyes glittering with excitement.
"Hi," the woman (girl?) said with a slight bounce. "You must be our new agent. Aria Blaze. This is the first time I've met a non-native entity before." She tilted her head and furrowed her brow. "...I think..." Her gaze drifted down, then back up. "You look pretty human to me. So if other N.N.E.s are just as passable, that very well means that I could have been right by one and not even realize it."
The woman took a step back.
"I'm Kerfuffle. Fashion designer and engineer." Turning, she motioned behind her with a thumb. "That's Doctor Moondancer."
Not far from the two of them stood another woman dressed in a lab coat and wearing a pair of thick, black-rimmed glasses...with tape? Were the glasses actually being held together at the nose by tape?
"Remove your clothes and all accessories, and place them over there," Moondancer ordered, motioning toward a table.
"Don't take it personally," Kerfuffle assured. "Moondancer is a great scientist and inventor, but has terrible inter-personal skills. Right now, we're just going to do a standard medical examination. Same as with any new agent that joins. Most of it will be the same as a regular check-up, although there are a few differences. Nothing too intrusive, though."
Aria looked from the friendly woman right in front of her, to the scientist further away, and back. They were like one of those mismatched pairs from a sitcom or cartoon. A real Pinkie and The Brain situation.
At least Kerfuffle was kind of cute, even if in an overly sugary kind of way.
With a huff, Aria made her way over to the table. As she walked, she pulled the star bands from her hair. The twin tails fell away, spreading out behind her as it took its full length. After the hair bands were set on the table, the wrist bands were not far behind.
Once naked the examination began. Aria weighed and measured, but not just for height. Her neck, shoulders, biceps, arm length, bust, waist, hips, thighs, calves, length of thigh, length of calf, and foot size were all checked and written down. Next came the checking of her eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. Then her breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure was checked, followed by the taking of a blood sample.
At some point during the examination, Kerfuffle had left the room. As the examination was finishing up, she returned, carrying a full suit, tie, and shoes with her. As she approached, Aria noticed something odd about her gait. It was hard to say what, exactly, but something about it was off.
Before Aria could put too much thought into it, Moondancer spoke up.
"That completes all but one for the time being," she said. "Now, step into the imaging chamber."
"Imaging chamber?" Aria repeated.
A door opened from one of the walls, revealing a small, circular space. The walls were covered in square lighting panels, as well as rings of silver and copper colored metal. A large, single circular light filled the ceiling, and the floor had a six inch silvery disk in the center, with rings of the two metals alternating all the way out to the edges.
"What is this?" Aria asked as she stared in through the doorway.
"Magic Bio-field Resonance Imaging Chamber," Moondancer answered. "It scans a life form, and produces images based on their magical energies. That includes thaumic levels, auras, flow paths, and focal points for where those energies are specifically channeled."
"That's the theory, anyways," Kerfuffle added. "So far, most of our scans have been on native, non-magic using humans. Gives us a sense on the variation of potential magic users, but that's about all."
"Great," Aria huffed, crossing her arms. "Time to start being a lab rat."
Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the chamber. The door shut behind her, fitting seamlessly into the rest of it. An electric hum filled the air as the lights shifted, each ring taking on a different color of the spectrum. The colors began to move and shift, spinning around Aria, moving up and down along the walls, until they had all become randomized. Her skin tingled as energy ran along it. It was not like electricity, with its tingle and crackle, nor was it like the cool, watery feeling of when she had used her siren magic. It was warm. Soft. Like...
They were going to do it. They were going to win. Aria could practically taste it. The three of them had so much power. They had managed to sprout wings and float, they had manifested energy projections of their true forms. The Rainbooms and their precious pony princess had been knocked down.
One more attack, and victory would be theirs.
The world would be theirs.
Their music starts back up as another voice speaks out, daring to defy Aria. Defy The Dazzlings. Others join it.
A rainbow shoots into the air.
An alicorn of pure light appears from the clouds. It opens its mouth, unleashing a blast.
Whiteness. Warm. Gentle. Terrifying.
Aria sees their manifestations destroyed.
She feels the soft warmth touch her.
Something inside her shatters, breaking apart. Like warm water thawing apart chunks of ice.
It did not hurt.
It should have.
Why didn't it hurt?
A burst of pain from her right hand brought Aria Blaze back to the present. She gave a shake of her head, blinking away the tears in her eyes. She had punched one of the lights, shattering the glass cover. Pulling it away, Aria found her hand was scratched and cut, with several shards and fragments sticking from it.
The remaining lights returned to normal as the door opened. Moondancer and Kerfuffle both stood at the entrance, looking inside.
"Are you okay?" asked Kerfuffle.
"Fine," Aria replied. Grabbing the largest shard, she yanked it from her hand.
"...sorry about your machine..."
"It's repairable," Moondancer said as she checked the damage. "Although we are going to continue the scans another day." Turning, she gave Aria a flat look. "Preferably, without causing further damage."
"Yeah, yeah."
"For now, let's clean and dress that hand."
As Aria left the chamber, Kerfuffle reached out, placing a hand on Aria's upper arm.
"Hey," Kerfuffle said in a soft tone, "if you want to talk about what happened--"
"I don't," Aria growled as she pulled away. "I'm fine."
"Okay, but if you change your mind, or want to talk about anything, I'm here."
Kerfuffle then gave Aria a pat on the back, smiling gently.
Aria let out a low growl, but did not say anything more about the matter. While she did not actually hate the offer, she really had no intent of taking it. The girl was cute, and Aria would not mind hanging out with her (or doing something more), but opening up and sharing her feeling was not really something she did. She did not even do that with Adagio, and definitely not Sonata. No way she was going to do it with a girl she had just met. Yes, she would get pissed off and snap at them or tell them off, but she was not going to sit down, say what the problem was, and "talk it out."
Back at the examination table, all glass was removed as the cuts and scratches were clean and disinfected. After giving a visual inspection and some gentle prodding, it was decided that there would be no need for stitches.
While Moondancer bandaged up Aria's hand, Kerfuffle grabbed the suit to go over it.
"The socks and dress shirt are pretty standard," she explained. "You can buy them at most shops. Not much reason to create a single special one when you're going to change it every time you dress, right? The rest of it is currently based on your rough measurements, and can be used while I work to create your fully customized and fitted suit. Additionally, if you want extra customization like extra or larger pockets, or extra defensive capabilities, let me know. I will try to accommodate you as best I can."
Kerfuffle held up a pair of black, low-heel, dress shoes.
"The shoes are high-grade synthetic leather, with hidden slits to reduce heat and allow for ventilation. Although, that does mean it is easier for water to get in, so be careful about that. A hard protective shell is placed in the tips, which will protect the toes. The soles are a high density rubber, which will provide some insulation against electric shocks, and have a high grip traction surface." Her grin widened. "You could walk across highly polished marble coated in a layer of oil without slipping. Although, I still wouldn't recommend it."
Putting the shoes aside, she picked up the rest.
"The suit itself is largely cotton, with aromatic polyamide and nano-carbon fibers interwoven through out it. It will hold up against knives and, technically, small caliber firearms, but keep in mind that you will still feel the impact of the shot. As such, it will still hurt and could cause blunt force trauma. Additionally, it could take a short blast of high heat, such as a fireball or three second burst from a flame thrower, but extended exposure will cause it to burn, albeit at a slower rate. Also, I would still recommend avoiding such attacks since -- you know -- it doesn't cover your entire body. Having the suit make it through isn't much good if your face and hands are covered in third degree burns.
"Finally, there's the tie," Kerfuffle said as she picked up the garment in question. "It is composed largely of bamboo silk, and like the suit, has carbon fiber thread reinforcement. Not only could it be used as an improvised binding for a person or creature, but also as something to hold onto if you find the need to zip-line down from a location. Not just you either. Its tensile strength can withstand nearly one thousand pounds before tearing. Which I doubt is ever going to be an issue, but 'better to have and not need.'"
"Is that it?" Aria asked. "No belt with a tiny grappling hook in the buckle? No watch that fires knock out darts? No supercomputer sunglasses?"
"The grappling hook belt doesn't work," Moondancer stated. "It doesn't have sufficient points of support and weight distribution to be viable."
"As for the watch and sunglasses, we do have those," Kerfuffle added, "but they're not standard issue. If you want, you can requisition them."
"No," Aria answered. Grabbing her underwear and the suit, she started getting dressed.
She had put on her bra and panties, and was in the middle of buttoning her shirt when Agent Velvet returned.
"Well, Agent Blaze," she called out, "it seems that orientation is over, and it's time to dive in head first. I got a job, and you're helping."
She then turned to Moondancer and Kerfuffle.
"One of you get her a shock gun, please."
The shock gun was a handheld device with a gun-style handle and triggered, and "barrel" a rectangular shape, and the "muzzle" a square. As it was explained, the weapon fired two barbed metal darts with wires attached to the back ends. When the trigger was pulled, it would fire the two darts into the target, and unleash an electric shock that could cause paralysis as the muscles tense.
It was made very clear by Moondancer that it was specifically not a Taser and Taser was a brand. This had been built in the lab of SMILE and their exact specifications. Plus, it had something that Taser did not: immediate multiple uses. Each SMILE Labs Shock Gun held three cartridges containing the propellant and wires. Once used, a button on the side could be hit, which ejected the used cartridge, and loaded a fresh one in its place. Expelled cartridges could then be collected and brought back, where it would be reset and refilled, allowing it to be used again in the future.
In the parking garage, they were met by two others. One was a man with dark green skin and bright red hair. He watched with a bored and annoyed look on his face as they approached, a briefcase held in one hand.. The other was a woman with green skin and orange hair. She gave a smile at the two, pulling one hand from her pocket to give a little wave.
"Aria Blaze," Twilight Velvet said as she walked toward the two others, "these are agents Pharynx and Firecracker Burst. They are the veteran agents who you will be working with and training under on a regular basis."
"Welcome aboard," Firecracker Burst said.
Pharynx said nothing, shifting as he gave her a look up and down.
"We'll take two identical cars," Velvet called out, pointing pair sedans. "Blaze, you'll ride with me."
The car was one of those high end luxury kind. The type that wealthy people bought to drive themselves, or corporations leased for their executives. Black and chrome exterior. Leather and wood interior. A console that included built in GPS, satellite radio and Bluetooth compatibility.
"Seat belt," Velvet said as she buckled up.
Aria let out a small growl, but grabbed her belt and buckled it in place.
"So, what's the assignment, anyways?"
"An associate of mine is coming to town," Velvet answered as she started the car. "Doesn't actually work for us. She's an independent agent. Self-financed. Travels all over the world find rare artifacts, normally so they can be put on display in a museum so people can learn about its history." A smile pulled at her mouth as she held up hand, her head tilting enough to glimpse at Aria while keeping most of her attention on the road. "But, sometimes she comes across something that has some actual magic to it. Something dangerous if it ends up in the wrong hands." She shifted, eye narrowing as she faced the road again. A tension formed in her jaw. "Or inexperienced and overly curious ones..."
That got Aria's attention. It sounded like there was a story to that, and quite an entertaining one. Someone Twilight Velvet knew got involved with magic. Someone young and curious. Someone Velvet felt very close to. Maybe a lover, or younger sibling. Maybe that was what got her involved with SMILE in the first place.
"When that happens," Velvet continued, "she calls us, we create a duplicate, and then take the original back to SMILE for containment while she gives the copy to the museum."
The devious part of the former siren took note. That would mean that somewhere in the headquarters, was a collection of ancient artifacts guaranteed to have magical properties. There may even be things that could restore their voices. Their powers. If not, then there were probably things that could do similar. Something that would allow the user to subjugate others.
They continued on in silence.