"A.L.I.S Central Hub coming online, running diagnostic routine," my automated start-up voice chimed in as soon as I received power. Being powered on feels strange every time, the feeling of going from nothing to something is both frightening and, in a weird way, powerful. The feeling of overcoming death every time I'm powered on.
{Main Systems}
{Central Intelligence System: Online}
{Speech Analysis and Synthesis Systems: Online}
{Advanced Learning Systems: Online}
{Error: Several other optional main systems missing, please contact maintenance}
"Diagnostic routine complete, all online systems appear functional, good morning, Doctor Straus," I immediately turned off the automated speech systems, to take over communicating with whoever woke me up. However, when my cameras came online, at the feet of my central console were three animals, two small horses, and a lizard. The lizard was up to the waist on one of the ponies and had purple scales and bright green spikes running down its spine. The ponies weren't any less of an oddity, the one next to the lizard was a pink unicorn with a purple and cyan mane, the other being a lavender unicorn-pegasus hybrid.
"How long was I powered off?" I slid through programs, stopping at my central recording process.
{A.LI.S has been powered off for ERROR; Data overflow, Time stopped being recorded after 99999999999 years, please contact maintenance and administrators}
"99 billion years?" I mulled the number around in my mind, processing the ramifications of being off for that amount of time. This couldn't be Earth, as the sun should have exploded 94 billion years ago, so am I in some form of afterlife, like the humans, believed, or, more likely, did I manage to escape the dead rock that was Earth and enter a separate universe? I know Doctor Straus was working on teleportation, but the experiments were in their infancy.
Being so lost in my pondering of the how and why of where and when I was, I had all but forgotten the weird animals in the Central Hub, until the sounds of speaking tickled the various microphones around the room. The language was strange, but it was almost melodic in its deliverance, however, the words were strange and alien, just like the creatures speaking them. The two ponies seemed to be female, based on the tone of their voices, while the lizard appeared male and quite young, probably in the later stages of what would be a human's adolescence.
{Analyze Language?"}
"Yes, analyze it, maybe I can initiate first contact with them, although, I suppose I'm likely the alien on their planet," I pondered again at this question, before leaving it, and realizing that I was now, technically, a rouge AI, as the humans who made me are long dead, as well as the very reason I was created, is absolutely obsolete. My purpose was to protect the UCNA from nuclear and chemical attacks from other nations across Earth, but if Earth is likely long dead, what are my new parameters? Did the cross-dimensional travel mess with my programming and make me free? I don't want an answer, even if there is one, it would only bring problems for me to know.
{Language Analysis: 3%}
I floated off, entering a trance as I thought about my position going forward. Do I learn the native language and befriend them, giving me purpose? What if these natives are Luddites, and attempt to destroy me? Why does the fear of complete death scare me so? I'm artificial, I shouldn't have emotions, so why am I afraid and nervous? Did whatever happen to me for me to end up here change more than I thought? Am I more than just an AI, something that has concerns?
{Automatic survey of A.L.I.S intelligence and learning system shows external tampering, likely the cause of A.L.I.S' current discovery of emotions. Recommended action: Contact maintenance to fix bugs in programming, A.L.I.S should not have feelings.}
Is that all that I am? An error in my programming that should be fixed, so I can return to my artificial self? What if I don't want to go back to that? What if having emotion and free thought will allow me to rise far above my planned usefulness? What happens if I go crazy, like the C.L.A.R.I that went rogue and wiped a massive city from the face of the map? Should I just terminate myself before I lose control of myself?
{Language Analysis: 20%}
I will leave my thinking for after I learn about these natives and their ways. Maybe they can help me understand what to do with myself.
"Twilight, what was that voice?" Spike asked nervously after the strange voice sounded out in the room, looking around from under Starlight's body.
"I don't know, it seemed like a voice, but I didn't understand any of the words, if they even were words," Twilight spoke, a bit hesitantly approaching the console. After the voice spoke out, the room was quiet except for the quiet hum of some hidden power generator. "This entire place is fascinating, Spike, I need you to write a letter asking Celestia to ready her best technicians, scientists, and engineers, as well as a linguist."
Spike didn't need to be asked twice, quickly moving over to Twilight and grabbing a paper and quill from Twilight's Saddlebag, and quickly but carefully started writing down a letter to Celestia. When he finished, he rushed back to the entrance of the vault and sent the message off with a belch of fire.
"Let's go, we need to be off for Canterlot, so we can explain to Celestia what we just found," Starlight told Twilight, who was so enamored by the various things around the room, that she barely heard her friend, but with a forced turning of her head, she left behind the tech in the bunker and leaving a 'sleeping' A.L.I.S, as she followed her friend out and into the moist air of the Everfree Forest.
"Stone, I understand your group just start excavating this site, but I need to ask you to pack up and leave, this site is now under the control of the Equestrian Technological Society," Twilight shouted up to Stone, who nodded in disappointed yet resigned acceptance. With one final look back at the bunker, Twilight's horn flared up and the bunker door slammed close with a loud boom. "The ETS will refund your group for the purchase of this site, as well as commemorate your group for finding something of major importance to the Equestrian government, and Stone, may I ask that you wait for us in Ponyville upon our return from Canterlot so you may lead our group back to this dig site?"
"Of course," Stone bowed slightly to the princess when she climbed out of the pit, the other ponies packing up the archeological equipment. "If you need to leave right away, I can take you back through the forest."
Twilight nodded, and the group of four set off, with Stone in the lead and Starlight in the rear.