I should have just told the town.
The research consisted of nothing more than questions at the moment, but the sheer number of them was unbelievable. At the moment, she was going over her notes again to confirm everything.
"So, this same antenna is what you used on the radio here?"
"Pretty much."
"And it gets controlled by the processor..."
"Yes..."
"Which gets controlled by those electrodes in your head."
"Exactly."
Twilight looked through her notes a bit.
"And the process does only work that one way right? It can't be used to control you, can it?"
Shadowpiercer did not like where the answer to that question would lead, but since admitting he was designed for espionage seemed to result in gaining her trust, perhaps answering the question would help matters as well.
"Actually, it can."
Twilight looked up from her notes.
"What?"
"Those nodes don't just read what I see and hear, they can write information there too."
Shadowpiercer was suddenly a lot more uncomfortable.
"When it's active, I can see things that don't come from my eyes. I see extra information about what's in front of me. I've seen and heard things from cameras and microphones placed in other rooms. I've felt magnetic fields and radiation." He held out his hooves as if feeling something intangible.
"Normally I use it to my advantage, but yes, if someone breaks through the security settings I've got, they can implant false images and use them to manipulate me."
Twilight thought a moment about everything he had just told her. After about a minute of flipping back and forth through her notes, she looked up and asked, "so, in that case, how would you know for sure that if you're really here, or if you're really talking to me?"
Shadowpiercer didn't answer. He stared at her instead, tilting his head and swiveling it around as if trying to analyze her face from every side he could reach. After about a minute, he sat back down and mumbled something barely audible.
"Technically, I don't."
He looked back at her and continued, "I'm pretty sure you're real. There haven't been any glitches or mistakes yet. Those would be a dead giveaway if you weren't real, but technically, the lack of them can't prove anything. Of course, I have shut my processor down a few times, but that can be simulated too, especially by those who know me well enough to try something like a simulation in the first place."
He thought a moment. "I think you're real. I don't know how or why, but I'm fairly certain you're real."
Summit Creek shook his head. Disappointments, all of them. Too many powerful weapons were unusable because they were designed for claws, tentacles, and who knows what else. Too many potential allies either couldn't cope with the side effects of the portal or were too weak to be of any use.
Then, of course, there were the ones that were too strong. He lost count of how many he had to send back before they could kill him and his brother.
Perhaps, he should try a new approach. He needed something strong, but loyal. Besides that, he needed something that could use its own weapons so that compatibility wouldn't be an issue. Tough, loyal, well-armed — certainly there had to be something out there he could use.
Just as he was about to turn back to his house, an idea struck him. This might work. They didn't exist, of course, but then again, wasn't that the point of the ring? Instead of summoning things that might possibly exist in this world, could he summon something that couldn't possibly exist? He hurried back to the cave. There was work to do.
"So, if somepony does start controlling you, are there any warning signs we should look for?"
"If it's anything like what I described earlier, just look for any remarks that don't match reality. Basically if I start lying to myself."
This was going to get uncomfortable.
"There is another way to control me," he admitted. "I have certain... protocols... that I haven't been able to fully remove."
Upon noticing the look on Twilight's face, he felt it would be necessary to reassure her. To be honest, he needed to reassure himself as well.
"I promise, you won't see any of my direct control protocols. I don't think anyone around here even has the tech to run those anyway, besides me at least, and I'm certainly not going to use them myself.
"Besides, they're all encrypted. Even if someone does develop the tech, they'll have to break the code to use it."
Twilight, however, still looked worried.
"You do realize codes can be broken, right? Especially with the right spells to assist the process."
The comment about spells made Shadowpiercer particularly glad that there was no magic in his own world.
"Don't worry, not even my programmers could break the code I'm using. It's one I learned from an old friend. I mean, he's nuts, but most of the time, he knows what he's doing."
Twilight became even more worried.
Maybe I shouldn't have specified "most of the time."
At this point, he decided not to tell her about that one time someone did break his code. Besides the ever increasing likelihood that it would only make her even more anxious, the story was, quite frankly, embarrassing. He never did look at doorknobs the same way since.
Twilight spent about a minute flipping through her notes again. At the end, she looked up. "So, are there any warning signs for those?"
Shadowpiercer shook his head. "There are, but they're all different for each protocol, and so many of those are locked behind firewalls that I'm not even sure how many there are. On the off-chance it does happen, you'll know it when you see it."
He sighed, "I wish they weren't so deeply ingrained in my system. Then they could all be deleted."
He made a sweeping gesture with his hoof. "Clean slate, no control systems. I don't want to not be a cyborg; I grew up one, so removing everything now would be like cutting off an arm. Still, I don't like the thought that I was designed to be controlled like a puppet."
Twilight looked back at her notes. For once, she has not written down what he just said.
After a few minutes, Twilight said said something that was a relief to them both.
"Let's move to a different topic..."