“Might I make a suggestion?” Star asked. “I know things seem dire, but we need to remember that we’re not alone, there must be someone out there who can help us!”
“All in favor to shelve this until we can mount a proper offense?” Access said sternly, raising a chromed hoof.
Everyone in the room raised a hoof in agreement, all except Starry Night who stood in the middle of the room indignantly, red with fury. She of all ponies wasn’t willing to let this go, but her silent bravado was quickly shut down by a stern look from everyone else in the room.
“Wipe that look off your face, Star. I know you’re upset, I know it’s unfair, but every time we dig the hole gets deeper and none of us are willing to put our lives on the line taking on every problem that heads our way.” Sheet Rock barked.
“How can you say that, ponies stand to-”
“Get hurt, we know, but none of us are heroes. We’re all as upset about it as you are but we can’t stand up to them with just us, we need resources and powerful allies of which we have few.”
“So what do you intend to do then, ignore it?” Star shrugged.
“Nope. You said you wanted to help us, so let’s do that. You’re coming with us to a mutual friend’s place, and hopefully by the end you’ll understand why you shouldn’t make rash decisions.”
Star opened her mouth to protest but a sharp glare from Sheet took all the wind out of her sails and she hardly had the energy she had left to argue after their previous escapades, so in defeat, she threw up her hooves and dropped the subject.
“A little bit harsh there, Access.” Bulwark scolded.
“Maybe, I don’t think it is considering Darkspace cut Star loose after she said ONE thing out of turn. Now she’s down here with us, without a job, without a future.”
“Yeesh, that’s rough.”
Sheet Rock nodded. “Harsh lesson for anyone to learn, but she’ll make it through one way or another.”
“Bit too much of a harsh lesson if you ask me.” Scarlet mumbled under her breath.
“Enough of that though. We’re heading out to Cider Jack’s place, you two coming too?”
Bulwark smiled with a slight nod. “These old bones aren't much for rough and tumble jobs anymore, but I’m sure I can manage.”
Scarlet shrugged. “Sure. Beats sitting around all day.”
Sheet Rock looked at Star, who silently fumed in the corner of the room. She gently approached her and set a hoof on her shoulder.
“What about you?”
She nodded. “Yeah. Sure.”
They gathered in the lobby, umbrellas and raincoats at the ready. The mood was jovial despite the recent spat, but Snowy had a worried look on his face, one far more noticeable than usual.
“Something wrong, Snowy?” she asked, producing a small umbrella.
“Dreadfully dreary evening, miss. I would prefer if we could do this some other time, preferably never if I am being honest.”
“I’d rather be doing something rather than nothing. Even if that something does put our lives on the line, but it doesn’t seem our companions share that sentiment.”
“I worry that’ll we’ll get into a situation without an escape, that we’ll lose one of our own some day.” the synthetic worried, fear evident on its synthesized voice.
“On that note, first things first, Cider Jack’s bar. She’ll have something simple for you to do, in and out, quick and simple.” Access promised, trotting to Star’s side. “Perfectly safe and risk free, for the most part.”
“Apt name for a bartender. Any more conveniently named proprietors I should know about?” Star joked.
“Well there’s Chilled Coffee, Spark Plug and of course you know Ammo Can…” Access said, trailing off as he noticed Star’s tired frown.
“I wasn’t exactly being serious.” she remarked.
One by one, umbrellas opened and the group trudged out into the deluge of rain that threatened to flood the streets. The weather had shifted suddenly and without warning and few seemed to want to be out on the streets tonight, only a few ponies could be seen walking the normally busy and packed sidewalks and paths.
An unusual synthetic stood in the corner of an entirely glass-walled room and looked out onto the rainy city landscape silently, she looked down at herself and then around the room, letting out a small sigh she returned to her silent vigil.
From her opaque black glass door at the rear of the room, came a small knock. At first the synthetic thought she was mistaken but when another came she opened the door remotely, and as it swung open it revealed the quaking form of a stallion.
“Ma’am?”
The tall, navy blue synthetic turned to face the source of the voice, its face twisted into the forced attempt of a smile.
“Yes, my little pony. What troubles you?”
“R&D was wondering how you were finding the new platform. Is it to your liking?”
The synthetic approached the trembling pony at her hooves and gently pat him on the head. “There’s no need to be frightened, you’ve done good work. It’s not my real body, but it’s far and away your best work yet, Noir!”
“And the wingspan? And the horn? It’s all okay?”
“Don’t worry so much, if anything needs adjusting I know who to call on.” the synthetic soothed. “Now I don’t think that’s all you came here to fret about, no?”
The atmosphere calmed some as the pony spoke again. “There’s the matter of that AI core from EQUI-TECH as well, core serial number X9-01-A.”
“And? Go on.”
“It seems they’ve been having issues with it and have sent it back to us, apparently they think it’s faulty.”
The plates that made up the navy blue synthetic’s face shifted in a frown. “What was wrong with it, we programmed it with the proper protocols, yes?”
“They weren’t being specific about why, but it ran amok through their systems after some sort of disagreement between it and its operators. It ended up contacting someone on the outside for help at least a dozen times, so the reports say.”
The synthetic looked surprised. “For help? For what reason? The project was going as planned, yes?”
“As far as we can tell, yes. EQUI-TECH didn’t seem that willing to go into specifics. In fact, they were outright dismissive of our attempts at getting more detail from them.”
The synthetic’s face turned stern. “Fine. If they aren’t willing to disclose what they did to make an AI go rogue then I suppose we’ll just ask the AI itself. I think it’ll be willing to talk if we can help it succeed at whatever it wanted to do.”
“And the ponies it contacted, ma’am?”
“We’ll treat them with caution, as we always do with unknown variables. Are you able to keep tabs on them?”
Noir nodded. “Indeed. We have their Cyberdeck signatures and a couple of known entry points, we managed to extract them from X9’s databanks when we ran some offline diagnostics. If they log onto the net or so much as make a move, we’ll know.”
“Out of interest, do we still have agents in the city?
“Many. Do you expect a confrontation between us and them?”
“No, I expect EQUI-TECH to move against them in some form. If they’re involved in the slightest we need to make sure they don’t wind up dead.”
“Understood. We’ll keep an eye on them, if needs must, we can simply evacuate them and see if they can shed any additional light on things.”
“Very good. You’re dismissed, Rain Noir.”
“Yes, director.”
The gang approached a nondescript corner of the now empty and quiet marketplace and came to a set of rusty metal steps that led down into a small, unassuming, and rather flooded alleyway, at the end was a disheveled wooden door only just attached to the wall.
Star looked unimpressed but remained silent as they stepped silently down the allyway with only the sound of rain and their own wet hoofsteps in the background.
Above the door sat a neon sign that flickered and buzzed randomly which spelled out the words ‘Sugarcube Cornerclub’ along with a message that declared free entry for anyone and everyone, no matter their social standing.
Bulwark pushed open the rickety and rotted door. He gestured for everyone to enter, standing aside to let everyone pass him.
Inside the cramped space stood an orange coated, forest green maned mare, who cleaned and stacked glasses by the dozen with a bored look on her face. Upon the group’s entrance she leapt into her greeting, utterly ecstatic that someone had shown up in such a downpour.
“Welcome to the Sugarcube Cornerclub! I’m Cider Jack but you can call me Jackie! How can I assist you this fine evening!”