//------------------------------// // Labs // Story: Mass Effect: Element of Kindness // by CommanderApplejack //------------------------------// Chapter 141 Labs Check out the laboratories. 44% “We’ll head down first, the laboratories do sound like someplace interesting to check out,” Fluttershy decided, looking for a way down, finding it in an elevator further up. “Alright, Sugarcube, you’re the boss here,” Applejack sighed, following the pegasus as she lead them into the elevator and rode down into the dark depths below. The elevator moved at ludicrous speed, moving all the way down to the bottom in less than a minute before opening back up again. The hallways ahead stretched on and on while branching off to the left and right, clinical lights sitting in the ceiling which brightly lit up the clinical white walls. “It's… so clean,” Rarity said in awe as not even the smallest bit of dust had accumulated anywhere. “There are probably systems maintaining this place, not like it would've lasted this long if there weren't,” Fluttershy guessed, checking the chambers to see if there was anything interesting in them. The first set of rooms they checked were empty, not even a single loose item on the desks. Though that started to change the deeper they headed, eventually they found a massive chamber at the end of the massive hallway filled with equipment. “Whoa, these ponies were not messin' around…” Applejack said in awe as the center of the room was taken up by a huge humming machine that was surrounded by sections of workspaces. “They sure weren't,” Rarity agreed, staring up as the central machine reached high up into the ceiling above. “Oohh, this doesn't look good!” Pinkie called out, having somehow already reached the other end of the machine.  “Sweet Luna, that's a lot of damage,” Rarity gasped as she reached the side Pinkie was on. A good portion of the machine chunk of the machine had blown outwards and debris was scattered over the floor. “Let’s hope that ain’t important,” Applejack whistled. Pinkie, meanwhile, already moved on to the next piece of equipment that caught her eyes. “Ah’ll go make sure she doesn’t hurt herself,” the farm pony called out as she chased after the pink ball of renewed energy. “Oh dear, let’s hope she doesn’t hurt herself,” Rarity sighed as she prodded the main machine. “It’s Pinkie, I’d be more worried about AJ,” Fluttershy said, shaking her head as she looked around to see if there was a terminal attached to the machine somewhere. “What made you think I was talking about Pinkie in the first pla- AAH!” Rarity jumped back as a large holographic appeared out of nowhere, error messages flashing all over it. “Huh, that’s useful...” Fluttershy started reading all the status updates that had appeared on the machine. Array System Status: > Spacetime veil: Inoperable - Critical system failure, contact Manufactorum for replacement parts… - Damage report filed to main AI core… Error no AI detected in the system > Planetary shield: Active -Current power draw: 346 GW/h - Estimated fuel reserves: 6430 Planetary Cycles “...I’ll be damned. This must be one of the things those heretics were trying to get to.” Fluttershy gasped as she closed the hologram and stepped back. “Shy, Rares! Pinkie found something Ah think y’all want to see,” Applejack called out from the direction Pinkie had shot off. Rarity and Fluttershy glanced at each other before heading over to their other two friends. When they arrived they found a large row of transparent tanks, Pinkie and Applejack standing near the end of the row. “Oh my…” Fluttershy's eyes widened as she noticed the contents of the tanks. Pony embryos floated in them, locked in fluid and stasis fields. Shy walked past and read the readouts on the tanks. Subject #24 Status: deceased Fluttershy shivered as she walked along the tubes, the embryos increasingly getting larger as they got later into development, Rarity sticking close behind. Subject #41 Status: deceased Reason: Rapid neutral decay. See notes. “This is totally not creepy at all,” Rarity muttered as she read the notes as well. By this point the creatures started to resemble real ponies and Fluttershy noticed something remarkable about them. “Rarity, these are alicorns...” Subject #52 Status: deceased Reason: Neural imprint rejection. See notes. “That just makes it creepier...” The two arrived at the three tubes Applejack and Pinkie were looking at, two of them empty... Subject #55 ‘Celestia’ Status: Released Neural imprint pattern: Protection. See notes for details. Subject #57 ‘Luna’ Status: Released Neural imprint pattern: Exploration. See notes for details. Both Fluttershy’s and Rarity’s jaws dropped open as they read the terminals. “No way...” Fluttershy whispered, though the next tube was the real shock. A fully grown pink alicorn peacefully floated in the tank, unmoving as the stasis field still held strong. Subject #58 ‘Cadance’ Status: Alive Neural imprint pattern: Empathy. See notes for details. Additional Neural imprint: ER̮̰̖̘̗̪R̳͕͈̪̦̯͎O͓̥͖Ṟ̳̜̱̼̩̝!̭̞ C̰o̴̼̩̹͔r̠̱͔r̹̮͓̰͔͠u̱̬̻͜p͔t̛̫͈̠e̲d̨̹̮̭̹ ̹̬͎͍̣̣̘̀d̖̜̯̳a͈̭͡t͔̥̟̺a̪̤̲̺̳̳ “She looks so lonely in there...” Pinkie said saddened leaning on the glass and pressing her nose against the glass. “Can we maybe get her out?” Pinkie gave the others the biggest puppy eyes while Fluttershy browsed the tube’s menus. “Ah’m not sure... We don’t know anything ‘bout this here alicorn...” “I’m not sure either, Pinkie, I agree with Applejack here...” Pinkie, Rarity, and Applejack all looked over to Fluttershy for her opinion as the pegasus hadn’t said anything yet and just stared at the alicorn. These pods have some internal backups for moving them, we could just take her and ask the others for advice… or prepare to shoot her in case she goes haywire... 1. Release her. 2. Find a way to detach the pod and take it. 3. Leave her for now. [Vote link]