//------------------------------// // Origin // Story: Data Lost // by CommanderApplejack //------------------------------// +------------------------------------------+ >Personality matrix reconstruction... Estimated time of completion: 10 seconds >...99% >...99% >...100% >Personality matrix fully restored. +------------------------------------------+ Sweetie sat in the basement of the library surrounded by raw materials, Twilight was there too in a pile of her own notes. The unicorn had bombarded the small filly with questions while Sweetie was digging up as many answers as she could from her memory banks. She was pretty sure she and Twilight had advanced fields like physics significantly in the two days they had been talking. It was strange for Sweetie, she had never had access to herself like this before, able to pull information up she had no right to know. Of course she'd had schooling but that all seemed trivial right now: she was able to do any math in almost a split second, languages she could learn after hearing them once now she could effectively save them, and any other topics she could save away instantly too. The biggest hurdle she'd have was keeping her file system managed in the most efficient way possible. The code that had kept all of this hidden from her had been shoddy at best, the reset after the extreme damage she had taken having disabled it all and after some deliberation Sweetie had taken it out of her runtime entirely and saved it for later examination. Besides sharing the things she knew with Twilight, Sweetie's exoskeleton had also gotten major repairs. All the holes her body had been filled up, making her look like a normal filly again... Mostly. Her previously destroyed left eye had been replaced with a clearly robotic eye, the iris working in sections. If it is who I am, why should I have to hide it? Sweetie stood up and stretched—not that she needed to but she felt compelled after sitting still so long. “Twilight, I want to go home.” Rarity had already gone to her boutique earlier, having trusted Twilight with Sweetie for the night while she got in some sleep. Rarity had promised to return but Sweetie had talked plenty with the unicorn already in her own opinion. “But we have so much to discuss!” Twilight complained, looking up from her notes, her hair frazzled and a slightly crazed look on her face. It probably unnerved Sweetie before but she felt awfully calm in the situation. “We've been talking a night, a day, and another night. You can already rewrite an entire field of science with what I've given you,” she pointed out bluntly. “I am going.” “B-But!...” Twilight had to restrain herself, visibly struggling to not keep Sweetie there by force. Not that she could have managed, Sweetie had found that now she had discovered what she was she could supercharge pretty much all of her systems. I'm probably just as strong as Supermare when I want to... “...Fine, I guess you're right,” Twilight sighed, finding some restraint within herself. “I should start cataloguing all this anyhow and verify these notes with experiments.” “Or you should find some time to sleep. You're not exactly thinking straight anymore, Twilight,” Sweetie pointed out bluntly. “You didn't sleep either!” Twilight exclaimed before she realized how dumb that idea even was. “Oh, right.” “I can go without for a bit, but even I need to shut down to catalogue so every now and then,” Sweetie said. Twilight, hearing this, put down another quick note. The mechanical filly rolled her eyes and turned for the stairs out of the basement. “Talk to you later, Twilight, get some sleep!” Sweetie made her way out of the basement and stepped out of the library, taking a deep breath from the morning air. Breathing was one of those things she knew she really didn't need to do unless she required oxygen for her internal processes, but the habit along with the fact she could appreciate the smells her olfactory picked up made her keep doing it. As Sweetie walked to Carrousel Boutique she looked around in wonder as her systems were analysing all sorts of phenomena, from weather patterns to structural data of the town's buildings. I wonder what could have made me... A terrifying realisation hit her as she put some real thought into it. Every civilization on Equis was mostly based around magic, not technology. Griffons were the most technologically savvy but they wouldn't be building fusion plants like the one powering Sweetie anytime soon. No pony, or other creature, could have made me, couldn't they? That means... “I'm an alien,” Sweetie whispered as that was the only logical conclusion she could come to. Her system pinged as she was reminded of the files that were data-stamped before she was found by her parents in their grandfather's attic. >Decompressing... >Audio log retrieved. Video too corrupted to fully recover. >Play recording? >Yes. +------------------------------------------+ Ping. >Footsteps 1: "Is it done?" 2: "The new AI is in but still need to fix up its parameters." Ping 1: “How smart is it?” >Tapping on a metal surface. 2: “Well, it's hard to say. We based the central matrix on brain scans, it's pathways resemble ours, but her processing speed is vastly higher than ours.” >Shuffling Ping 1: “And you gave it a body?!” 2: “She's totally inert right now and I've been working on a way to teach her like a child.” Ping 1: “And you're absolutely sure this plan of yours will work?” 2: “I'm only in the initial stages of creating the code but I've been getting good help and feedback from my colleagues. She'll be-” Ping 1: “What in the world are those pings, doctor?” 2: “Just important status updates on my upload progress. Here look at-” ... 1: “Doctor, talk to me.” 2: “She's listening.” ... 1: “Excuse me, what?!” >Hurried footsteps. 1: “What do you mean 'she's listening'?! 2: “The AI matrix is lit up like a Christmas tree!” 1: “Fuck. Shut it down, doctor!” >Rapid typing. 2: “I can't she's not responding... She's pulling blueprints from the mainframe!” 1: “Which ones?!” 2: “All of them! Cutting the connection!” >Alert! Download interrupted. >Activating systems 2: “She's powering her reactor up!” 1: “VENT THE ROBOTICS LAB!” 2: “WHAT?! WE'RE STILL HERE!” 1: “I'm not letting that thing run rampant! Blow her out of the station!” >System update complete. >Sounds of paper fluttering through the air and shrieking metal. >Vacuum detected. +------------------------------------------+ The recording stopped abruptly as temperature sensors went through the roof. Sweetie had come to a halt in front of the boutique, having to take a few cycles to process it properly. My makers... Sweetie pulled some of the important bits out, mainly that she had been constructed on a station. Was it still up around Equis, orbiting in secret? Were ponies bing watched? Was she being watched? Sweetie shivered involuntarily. I need to ask Twilight to ask the princesses about this. The robotic filly ran over the message again as she stepped up to the door to the boutique. I really am an alien then... Does it matter? Sweetie pushed open the door to Rarity's boutique and looked around at all the creations her sister had made and put up for sale. A flood of memory files of her parents, sister and all other ponies she loved and was loved by in return poured through her. A warm smile forming on her face. No... No, it really doesn't. Regardless of who made me and whatever they wanted me to do, they didn't raise me like their own. "Sweetie!" The little bot was scooped up by her big sister as she had emerged from her kitchen... at least, she tried. "Darling, how can you be so heavy?!" Sweetie blushed a little. "I reinforced my superstructure and am stocked on a few raw materials," she replied sheepishly. "I wanted to make sure I wouldn't be so damaged ever again." "Well, I guess I can hardly fault you for that," Rarity admitted, stopping her attempt to lift up Sweetie. "I was about to head over to Twilight's but with you here... well, do you need anything to eat?" Sweetie smiled gently and stepped forward. "I'd love something to eat from you." As Rarity got her food Sweetie sat and had her thoughts wander to her origin again. She may be a pony to her core she couldn't just ignore that someone made her. A plan started being formed by her subroutines, Sweetie forming all the suggestions into a coherent thought. I'm going to find them. I'm going to help Equestria build up the technology, find my way into space, and find whoever put me down here. Her system gave a high-priority ping. >File created. >WARNING: Updating core system! Do you wish to proceed? ... Yes. >Confirmed. Updating. >... >Rebooting. >Prime directive established. Rarity was looking at her wide-eyed after she finished her reboot, food having fallen from her telekinesis, "S-Sweetie! Your cutie mark!" Sweetie looked back at her flank, finding a gear overlayed by a telescope on there. Sweetie did a quick system check but found that her repair routines didn't have any alterations to her flank logged nor where there any materials missing from her reserves... there was a registered arcana spike while rebooting. A real cutie mark! Looking back at Rarity, A wide smile found herself on Sweetie's face. "I know what I am going to do."