//------------------------------// // Chapter 11 // Story: Near Human // by Element of Power //------------------------------// Cherry Wings hovered down the hall, held aloft by the red feathered appendages she was named for. In her hooves she held a large bucket with various cleaning supplies. She was happy with her job as a maid, despite the stigma attached to it. Keeping the rooms clean was satisfying, and the decent amount of bits she was paid certainly helped. Celestia seemed to see keeping the castle clean as a very important job, and made sure the cleaning crew didn't have money problems. Her job was usually very relaxing, humming as she made a quick round through the halls. There wasn't usually much to clean besides dust, and the many guest rooms that littered the castle were rarely used. That meant that the last task on her list was cleaning Celestia's room. Ponies didn't clean Luna's room though, not because they were afraid to, but because Luna didn't trust ponies not to snoop around or break something. Cherry dropped to the floor in front of the door to the Princess's room. Grabbing the bucket's handle with her mouth, she went in, looking around for something to clean. The room was spotless, as always, but she remembered what had happened a few days ago. Everyone in the castle had heard about the creature that had escaped the guard after being found in Princess Celestia's room by the Princess herself. They had all been instructed to not let it become public, but that didn't stop ponies from gossiping to other castle workers. She was about to turn around and leave, but she felt something off about the room. Since most things in the castle were always clean, the staff seemed to always sense when something was amiss, even noticing things other ponies in the castle don't see. Cherry could smell something different in the room, so she followed the direction of the smell. It grew stronger until she stopped in front of a bookshelf. Tucked between the shelf and a dresser was a strange metal sphere. "Who cleaned this room? How could they miss this thing?!" She was shocked at the rare oversight displayed by the cleaning staff. She shuffled through her bucket and grabbed two latex hoof coverings, hovering in the air as she put them on. Cherry grabbed the object, pulling it into the air with her. It was heavy, but nothing she couldn't handle. The maid transferred the object into a special bag and secured it inside her bucket. When cleaning the Princess's room, it was protocol to report anything unusual directly to the Princess, just to make sure it was supposed to be there. Cherry quickly gathered her supplies and flew down the halls, of course, not fast enough to be inappropriate within the castle. There were many turns and long stretches before she arrived at her destination. In front of the throne room doors, she placed her bucket down next to one of the guard ponies and grabbed the bag. She looked at the one on the left and said "Protocol 86." The guard nodded and opened the door, letting her fly through. Celestia was sitting in her throne as usual, reading a scroll held up by her magic. Cherry landed at the bottom of the stairs, quickly bowing before her ruler. Celestia noticed her and put down the scroll. "Is there a problem?" Cherry promptly stated "Protocol 86" before opening her bag and revealing the round object. A gold aura enveloped the sphere as it was brought up to the Princess. She inspected in as Cherry continued. "I found it between bookshelf and dresser on the right side of your room." Celestia put the object to the side. "Thank you for notifying me." That was a clear sign of dismissal, but Cherry wanted to know more. "If I may ask, your Highness, what is it?" Celestia looked at the object before speaking. "I would keep it secret, but I'm sure everypony in the castle would know anyway. Information tends to pass rather quickly here." She said with a smirk. Her expression darkened as she said "I believe it has something to do with the incident from a few days ago. I cannot think of any other explanation at the moment. I am very glad that you brought this to my attention." Cherry's eyes widened at the discovery. "Of course, your Highness." She bowed once again before leaving the throne room. Outside the doors, she picked up her bucket, making her way back to her own room. That's why she liked her job. Despite making a huge discovery for the Princess, she didn't need to get involved with it beyond reporting it. She continued her humming as she slowly hovered down the hall. ................................................................................................................................ It was surprising how long it had evaded them. The solution was so simple. The entire reason they had used E-30 for the test was because he could potentially survive any unknown variables. This made Dr. Jovan clearly see what they had to do. The team of researchers quickly prepared a different test subject they had in storage. This one wasn't nearly as advanced as E-30, but he was still durable. The cyborg was strapped to a table, while certain systems were forced to be nonfunctional. The man tried to talk, but no sound came out. Dr. Jovan loomed over him, his eyes glittering with malevolence. "You may not be able to speak, but you can hear, so listen to me. You are going to be sent away. You will report what you see, and come back immediately." The man looked at his captor in confusion, but Dr. Jovan refused to elaborate on the instructions further. "Of course, I'm not going to make the same mistake twice." He looked at the cyborgs legs. "You won't be needing those for this task. Can't have you running, now can we?" He turned and walked away as a group of mechanical apparatuses descended upon the helpless cyborg, buzz saws whirring while they began cutting into his metal waist as his augmented legs were torn off. He screamed into the void, soundless in his agony. An hour later, the teleport room was ready. In the center, the upper half of the cyborg was propped up, holding a new spherical replica of the teleport device. His face was unmoving as everything was prepared around him. Finally, Dr. Jovan entered the control room, standing in front of the glass looking into the room. He bent down to speak into a microphone. "I trust that you remember your instructions." The broken man slowly nodded. "Good. Begin." The man looked down at the device in his grasp, and activated it. The space rippled as he and the device was pulled into a point, and disappeared. The scientists had to wait 5 minutes before the cyborg came back, undamaged by the trip. He was promptly dragged back to a table to be strapped down, while wires were connected to his head. Dr. Jovan once again stood over him, while he stared up at the ceiling. "You were supposed to come back much earlier. Why did you defy me?" The cyborg's eyes widened as he shook his head. Before Dr. Jovan could speak, a screen activated on the wall. It had downloaded the recorded memories of the currently helpless cyborg, so they could see where they had been sending things. The recording started when the device activated, and the screen showed nothing but bright light and static after the subject and the device disappeared. It cleared up moments later, revealing the new location to be a small, dark room. A broom closet. The recording followed the cyborgs gaze as he looked at his surroundings. Then, slowly, he pushed open the door a crack, peeing through the small opening. Dr. Jovan squinted at the screen as he saw two small, oddly colored horses walking down the hallway. They seemed to be talking to each other, waving hooves and moving their heads in ways commonly associated with speech. 10 seconds after the cyborg had arrived, he activated the object in his hands, sending himself back to his captors. At that moment, the screen turned off. Dr. Jovan turned to think to himself. 'He had only been in that place for 10 seconds, and yet 5 minutes had passed for us. That means there is a 30 second time dilation between here and there, with us moving faster. E-30 has only been there for a few days, while months passed for us...' He turned back to the legless cyborg, who stared at him hopefully. "Perhaps you do know how to listen. You know what, I'm feeling generous. You can have your voice back, for following instructions." His voice was returned remotely, and his voice synthesizer glitched in and out as he said, "W-What about my le-egs?" Dr. Jovan said nothing before leaving. In the distance, the metallic grinding could be heard once again. This time, it was accompanied by the electronic screams of the subject, as his body was torn apart to be recycled for parts. Dr. Jovan returned to the control room, addressing everyone in the room. He had a plan, and he was determined to see it happen. He explained what had happened on the other side, describing the creatures and making the time dilation issue known. "This project has brought forth unexpected rewards, and I intend to reap every single bit of it. The only way something can go through is for it to be living, but strong enough to survive the journey. I intend to be the forefront of this expedition, so I will augment myself. Prepare me for rapid augmentation. Now." Everyone in the room scrambled to get up, quickly leading him to the designated room. He was strapped down to a similar table as the now deceased cyborg, before most of the people vacated the area. Menacing tools deployed from the ceiling, and began their work. However, the rapid augmentation process required that the body be conscious, to make sure the artificial nerves were working as intended. His body was kept awake with stimulants as pain erupted all over.