Steel’s pickup was by no means a vehicle known for it’s off road qualities but it somehow managed to hold together despite the rough ride, and the uneven sands of the Badlands were more than a challenge for the pickup’s utterly mangled suspension. Matterhorn and Lucky were just fine up front, but when Access’ expletive ridden rants made their way, albeit muffled, through the rear window, the three allowed themselves a chuckle at his expense.
“By the way, Matterhorn, did Golden ask you for a favor by chance?”
“Of course she did, that was part of the deal, though she didn’t say what it was.”
“Check the chip.” Steel remarked. “Golden has a strange way of going about things, those things aren’t just keys, they’re how you’ll know what the favor is.”
“Couldn’t she have just told me?”
Steel shook his head. “Nah, that would have been way too simple, it’s not her style to be forthright. Especially since she doesn’t really know who you are. Slot in the chip and you’ll see what I mean.”
Matterhorn removed the chip from his coat and as Steel had instructed, inserted it into the chip reader embedded in his skull. Static filled his vision for a moment before a file listing appeared in the corner of his eye. He counted at least four files just at a cursory glance, all very small, almost too small to have bothered writing to a chip.
He opened the first, which turned out to be a message from Golden with attached instructions for the rest of the files.
===
Hey Matterhorn, assuming you’re the one that slotted this thing in, if not, hello whoever you are. I didn’t want to say what your favor to me would be in front of the others, but suffice it to say we have had ponies of our own go missing in proximity to the Arcology.
What I want you to do is to find these ponies, rescue them from whatever trouble they’ve dropped themselves in, and show them the door. Don’t worry about protecting them, once they’re free they can do that on their own.
I’ve attached their names and descriptions to one of the files you’ve no doubt seen, there’s also a software key that SHOULD open a door or two unless they’ve patched their system, and a little present for you to leave on your target’s network courtesy of Cogwheel, no need to thank me.
Just don’t run it on yourself by accident, you’ll have a bad time if you do, okay?
===
“Yep, definitely a message.” Matterhorn stated. “She really, REALLY, could’ve just told me outright, but I suppose I can understand that missing ponies are a sensitive matter.”
Steel nodded. “For what it’s worth, I hope whatever corp you two belong to don’t bring hell down on us. It doesn’t look like it, but we’re very vulnerable right now.”
“We just want our target pony and nothing else, once he’s been dealt with we’ll vanish. You have our word.”
“Director, the synthetic shell you ask to be assembled is proceeding well, as instructed. We’re just waiting on the final word from the AI, as there are some issues that need to be worked out.” a lab coat clad pony said.
“Thank you, I will be with you in a moment. I trust it has been assembled to the AI’s specifications?”
“We did what we could with what parts we had to hoof. It isn’t easy to build a shell from scratch like this, let alone in hours.”
“Call Rain Noir down to Manufacturing while I head down there myself, wont you? He’ll want to put his approval to the project, not that he has much choice in the matter.”
“Very good.”
Luna got up from her desk and brushed her holographic mane out of her face. X9 had really twisted her leg when it came to giving it a body, if only so it could carry out its unknowable plan with those two Netrunners at the core.
She ran through what she already knew in her head, X9 and its hardware were being used as a test bed for a Project that only she and a select few within EQUI-TECH knew about, and now they were trying to continue the project.
But for what purpose? EQUI-TECH had Netwatch in their back pockets, who already had the capability to monitor net traffic as well as communications as a whole anyway. It was their job after all, so what did they know that she didn’t?
Nothing about the situation made sense at all, but it wasn’t as if she could just walk up to them and ask them what they were up to. They kept very tight lipped about their business practices as well as their operations for a good reason.
Luna dismissed the thought from her head as she walked into the hallway beyond her office. It wasn’t worth wracking her brain over it when she lacked all the pertinent details.
“Director.” Rain Noir said, bowing respectively from a nearby Elevator. “I hear you require my assistance?”
“Yes, with regards to the shell I commissioned.” Luna said. “I need you to put your signature to its final approval, as this is your area of expertise.”
Rain Noir stepped aside so that Luna could join him in the elevator, and hit the button to take them to the manufacturing sector of the base.
“As I see it, the shell’s specifications were the choice of that AI, unit X9 was it?” he remarked off-hoof. “I don’t see why you need my approval, it seems to know what it wants.”
“Be that as it may, I would much prefer someone qualified look it over. I’m not terribly certain X9 is functioning correctly and I would hate for it to cause more trouble.”
“Very well, Director, as you command.”
The elevator came to an abrupt stop at the lowest levels of the base and the doors slid open to a large industrial floor, where the sound of machines, tools, and production lines echoed from within its depths.
In the center of the largest room just off the bank of elevators was a bright yellow mechanical shell, like that of an industrial synthetic, built to the exacting specifications of its soon to be inhabitant. Upon seeing the shell, Rain Noir hurried over to inspect it, eager to see how a completely artificial mind tackled such a design.
Most of the shells hydraulic movement systems were exposed, yet the limbs were heavily armored and reinforced. He deduced that the hydraulics had becomea mostly supplemental system, and served to increase the shell’s stability and strength. Unsurprisingly, the AI seemed to have opted for a more robotic look overall, and little of the shell’s body structure resembled that of a pony apart from its quadrupedal nature.
“I’m actually pretty impressed, it did this all on its own without any help at all?” Rain Noir said, a hint of surprise on his voice. “It seems that it took inspiration from an industrial synthetic, with some rather unorthodox and intense modifications.”
Suddenly, a robotic voice echoed throughout the space, causing both Luna and Rain Noir to jump a little in surprise. “I required a body, one that would be able to take a beating in the days and weeks to come. Your engineers were very helpful when it came to parts and systems that I had overlooked, you should be proud of them.”
“Are you expecting trouble or something? This shell has more physical strength and resiliency than any other synthetic in our production pipeline does.”
“Noir. This is Canterlot, there is always trouble to consider.” Luna pointed out “I wont allow it to actually use this body until you give your approval.”
Rain Noir sighed in exasperation. “Fine. For a start, X9, your design for the limbs is way out. If you get knocked over, that’s basically going to be the end of you.”
Luna allowed herself a small chuckle, knowing what was coming. “Can I trust you to have it ready in a few hours? Matterhorn should be well on his way by now, and he’ll need support when it comes time to evacuate.”
“We’ll see what we can do, Director.”