//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: Plug and Play // Story: For the Girl Who Has Everything // by Revel Montaro //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle let out a shuddering breath. She had to focus. She had to. Not just for everyone in the room, but for everyone on the entire station. The computer mainframe that controlled all the station’s functions was being eaten from the inside out and without it only a handful number of systems with safety redundancies were capable of functioning without computer controls. Twilight grimaced at the thought. Technology was the ultimate double edged sword. The more advance it was, the more helpful it could be… and the more catastrophic it was when it failed. Pressurized systems like water and air would still work for a while, but without out their pumps they would eventually fail and fall silent. The power plant could still make power, but without regulator systems it could produce too much power with nowhere to distribute it, causing an unstable build up and possibly explode. That must not happen. I will not let it. Through her goggles that were plugged directly into her personal computer and linked to the central mainframe, Twilight was able to open more than a dozen window tabs that she could interact with simply by waving her hands. The window she needed immediately on top was the one that activated the prototype AI that she and her team had been developing over the last few years. It would hopefully, once finished, act as a personal assistant and companion and revolutionize the way people worked, lived, and interacted worldwide. It would be a steadfast friend, always ready to listen so that no one would truly feel alone. It still had a long way to go as far as the learning algorithms, but Twilight was hopeful it would be ready for launch within the decade. That was assuming AI research and development did not suffer another major setback because someone wanted to abuse the technology for nefarious purposes or war. Such thoughts and concerns had kept Twilight up, staring at the ceiling on more than one occasion. Exposing new minds, especially ones that could learn as fast as a computer could to such horrors and deplorable human darkness was the exact opposite of what Twilight was hoping to achieve with her prototype. Especially if no safeguards were in place to protect both people and the machine’s digital mind as well. Such new, experimental fields of study and research were as fragile as stained glass. “Hello, Professor Sparkle. How may I help you?” “Hello, Tavii. I have a task for you. It will be new and possibly difficult.” “I am ready to assist. Please state the nature of the assigned task parameters.” Twilight needed her hands free to rewrite damaged or deleted code and tapped the earbud that was attached to her goggles. “Are auditory commands working?” “Yes, Professor,” Tavii replied in Twilight’s left ear. Twilight took a breath. She had not yet attempted any of what she was about to ask or do with Test Variant II, Tavii(because TeVar sounded weird), before. It was possible that the core system would crash or worse, would become corrupted by the program currently ravaging the L2 station systems. They had no choice, Twilight told herself. Tavii could locate the program faster than any human could and time was very much of the essence. What happened after that… I guess we’ll just have to find out. “Okay, we have a bit of a situation, Tavii. The computer mainframe you are currently networked with is being attacked by a rouge AI that is expressing behavior like a virus. It is deleting source code and jumping from vital system to vital system trying to destroy the mainframe. It needs to be stopped or at least slowed down long enough for human technicians to remove or neutralize it. I need to carefully locate the foreign program and attempt to open direct communications with it.” “Locate malicious virus, attempt communication to delay or detain said virus. Warning, beware possible malicious code or corruption. Parameters received.” Twilight nodded. “Execute.” This was as far as Twilight and her team had gotten. The Test Variant was capable of learning and had safeties built in to keep it from advancing too quickly before being able to properly process too much data and possibly desire to simply wipeout humanity because people were bonkers. However, the current drawback was that the program still lacked a unique personality. A component that Twilight felt was essential for it to be more than just a soulless automaton, but an actual friend to converse with. The team had their own opinions on that aspect, but ultimately it was irrelevant at the moment and Twilight pushed those thoughts to the side. “Unknow quantity identified. Attempting to establish communication.” “Be careful, Tavii. It may not like you.” “Warning! Malicious code detected. Deploying countermeasures…. Please wait…” Drago would have been biting his nails if he had any. Typing, even with touch interfaces was easier if nails were not in the way. The thought passed next to what he considered far more important. What he really wanted at the moment, which was two things: To live, and a Dr. Pepper. In truth, Drago felt helpless waiting for things to happen. Eagle Eye and Sunbeam… or whatever her name really was, were busy talking down Spacer who had caused this entire mess. If he was not busy monitoring the systems for an opening to isolate the virus he would have gladly jumped from his chair and beat the shit out of the other tech. It burned his very soul to the point of explosive ignition that he had been so friendly and open with a traitor who would have let them all die for money. There was a sharp thud behind Drago and Sunbeam had shouted her surprise and likely disapproval. Eagle Eye had then asked for his duct tape and Drago had directed his friend to where he kept it all without taking his eyes off the screen. However, the curiosity became too much and Drago spared a glance to see Spacer on the ground and Sunbeam barely holding herself up with blood soaking half her work jump suit. That sent panic and concern shooting through his body all the way to his toes. He had a brief moment of crisis on what to do about it. Clearly, Dr. Moondance needed to concentrate, but that was her wife bleeding to death back there and the dark stain was quite large. “Um… doc?” Drago was trying to get Twilight’s attention when he saw Sunset unzip her jump suit revealing some of the most spectacular breasts he had ever laid eyes on. That glorious sight was quickly ruined however when the woman plunged fingers into her own bullet wound and cry out as she fished around for the metal slug. Causing an unhealthy amount of blood to spill down her side. He honestly did not know how she was still standing. Twilight wanted to turn to the sound of Sunset crying out. She desperately wanted to look, but she needed to stay focused. Tavii had made contact with the rogue AI/virus and she needed to keep rewriting vital source code while it was elsewhere. Top priority was the navigational thrusters and then protecting the core environmental systems. Everything else was secondary. “Drago…” “Huh? Yes? I’m here! Everything okay? Do you need me to take over, you know, considering...” “I need you to focus.” Drago blinked, his jaw hanging open. “Are… I mean I know, but, your wife…” “Trust me, I want nothing more than to jump from this chair and go to her, but she said she’s fine and for me to keep going. I trust her completely, so I need you to focus with me. The maneuvering thrusters are about to come back online. I need you to plot the correction course and then isolate the navigational systems in case it comes back around and tries to delete it again.” “Wait, you rewrote the entire navigational code again from scratch?!” “Not all of it. Just enough to get us back to Lagrange Two and to stabilize our geosync. It needs refining and emergency source options, but it will do until the astro-navigation team can send us an update. Right now, Tavii has the AI confused, but I do not know for how long. I need to stay on top of it, so please, stay focused.” “I don’t know what a Tavii is, but I can do that. Just tell me what you need.” Twilight nodded. She did not want to admit that Tavii was currently fighting for her digital life because the AI had turned on her like it had turned on all the station systems. Likely seeing her as a type of anti-virus or system defense program. Though the foreign AI seemed to have some level of intelligence it was more like a rabid attack dog than a self aware, interactive program. That was both good and bad, Twilight concluded. “Tavii, what is your status?” “Malicious program was identified. I attempted direct communication as requested and was attacked without hesitation. Current operating status is… stable. The hostile program was unable to defeat my defensive suite. Thank you for equipping me with more than adequate defenses.” Twilight smiled, relieved. They still had a chance to 'right the ship', as it were. “Were you able to make contact or conduct an analysis?” There was a pause and Twilight glanced to see the processing icon on Tavii’s window on her tab. It was taking every ounce of processing power she had and it was not enough. Twilight paused her coding and opened a new window connected directly to her computer hardware/software settings. She turned off all unnecessary background programs and overclocked her RAM and central processor. It would cause the computer to eventually overheat, but hopefully they would get results before anything melted. Before Twilight could repeat her question, the robotic, slightly feminine voice spoke in her ear again. “Yes, professor. I was able to conduct initial analysis. The program is following a user protocol that it was given. Following orders if you will. It considered me part of the station systems and tried to delete me as well. I have since given it pause. No further contact has been made. Do you wish for me to attempt contact again?” Twilight did want to try again, but not by sending Tavii on another suicide run. If the program was behaving like a virus or worm it could potentially find a way around the defenses Twilight had created and infect her personal computer as well and that would be catastrophic for several reasons. Still, there were few options and little time to weight them. She needed to make contact herself, but the program was moving too fast in real time for her to communicate with it. That, however, could be corrected. “Drago, I’m going to try something.” “Okay. What do you need me to do?” Twilight tapped a few more virtual buttons only she could see. “I need you to continue to monitor system failures and relay them to me so I can repair them while also making sure we are back on course to the Earth L2 point. If internal communications are back contact Administrator Skymark so he understands what is going on. The problem is I can’t repair the systems fast enough with just my hands.” Drago was not entirely sure what she was implying. “Uhhhhh…” “B-Babe?” Twilight paused after hearing how weak Sunset's voice sounded and cleared part of her sensor optics so she could see what was going on behind her. Eagle Eye had run from the room not long ago. Spacer was currently face down and tied up with duct tape and likely unconscious. However, what had all of Twilight’s attention was Sunset Shimmer, her wife and love of her life, lying on her back while trying to slow the flow of blood from her body. Twilight had to clench her fists and bite the inside of her mouth. It was the only way to regain her mental fortitude. She hated the taste of blood. It was however a great reminder of what was at stake and the copper tinge spurred her on. “Sunny, I’m going into the system. I’m going to fix this and save you. Just… just hold on, okay?” Sunset tried to sit up only to fall back flat with a wince and a hiss. She instead raised a thumbs up while trying to remain conscious. “I believe in you.” Twilight turned back to her numerous tabs and found the one she needed. She immediately clicked it to open. One purple eye, clear of obstruction glance back to Drago and his breath caught. There was something about that look he could barely describe. It was determination, desperation, and no small amount of trepidation. And yet, she persisted. “I’m not sure how familiar you are with VR Cyberjacking but…” Drago did a doubletake, his jaw hanging open in disbelief. “No way. You are… you have the hardware to dive into a live system?! Half that shit is not even legal let alone UL approved! You can fry your brain if you are not careful!” “I have safeties that most do not and I have Tavii to act as a guide and logic buffer to the incoming information. While I have experimented with it in limited, controlled use this will be my first deep dive. If something happens to me just…" Twilight paused, glancing back to where she knew Sunset Shimmer was still lying on the ground. "Just make sure everyone else gets off this station, okay? Especially my wife. And I know that’s a tall order because she will fight you, all of you about it.” Twilight paused and considered her words carefully. She had to walk an incredibly fine line, but for Sunset Shimmer she would do anything and deal with the consequences later. “If I die or have become brain dead, tell my wife... First, address her as Lady Sunset Shimmer of Equestria to gain her undivided attention, and then tell her, her mother would be very disappointed in her if she died without saying goodbye first. So, she needs to get back home no matter what happens to me. Can you do that?” “I really don’t want to be the bearer of that bad news to a woman who can bend welded cage steel with her bare hands so, seriously, come back to us,” Drago paused, “Doctor.” Twilight smirked. She nodded and pressed the initiate button on her goggle HUD. The biggest difference, in Twilight’s opinion, about applied Virtual Reality versus the ones seen in movies or described in books had to be smell. VR was built around the idea of presenting a new digital world and the eyes took that information and the brain made it compatible. The gloves on her hands meant that her sensation of touch was also altered and that ear buds helped round out the big three to simulate a world of the imagination. However, taste and smell were left on the sidelines. They kept the user from falling completely under the magic spell of the digital realm. Twilight was fine with that. Such a safety lifeline was as important inside a computer as it had been attached to her space suit during her and Sunset’s EVA excursion not that long ago. The discrepancy kept her grounded, one foot planted, via the nose, firmly in reality. Twilight could smell the faint ozone of the electric circuits and motors from the servers. She could smell the new plastics in the room, from the furniture to the walls themselves. But more than that she could smell blood. Human blood. Or, rather in this case, alicorn blood. There was almost no detectable difference while Sunset was in a human body, but it was there, if albeit faintly. Human medical devices could not detect significance differences because they did not know what to look for, but Twilight did. She had created a way to find the anomaly long ago before she even knew what she was looking for. The spice of life itself that most did not know existed, magic. Sunset Shimmer’s blood was saturated with it. It may have looked the same as everyone else, red, slick, and slightly sticky, but it held a secret. Power. Something deep, dark and painfully familiar stirred within Twilight despite being buried under the impossible weight of battleship sized chains. It lusted for that magic and it gave Twilight the, frankly, unwanted ability to still recognize the scent of mana even without her detection devices. Twilight knew her name though she refused to say it. The name of the demon born from fear and foolish pride that was forever bound to her soul. But it would find no prize tonight. Twilight had no time for dealing that thing. She had bigger, more dangerous foes to deal with. Twilight blinked several times and the world that had gone blank momentarily began to reform. The window tabs were still in her view, but now, instead of seeing a computer room and plascrete she saw only dark landscape with a few scattered lights. “Tavii,” Twilight said, her voice sounding odd to her own ears as it reverberated slightly because of the audio feedback. An unavoidable side effect to her mind speaking inside the headset instead of from her mouth. She would make a mental note about it, but there was no time to make corrections. “Where is the hostile program?” “It is currently hiding in the junction parameters, likely trying to understand what you are doing and how best to proceed.” Twilight nodded. Her mind continued to interpreted and thus further develop the digital realm of the L2 systems as a dark field of gentle rises and slopes with the faint glow of code information traveling faster than the eye could read like rivers of information or passing breezes. The code passed all about and around her. It was in the 'ground', the 'air', and otherworldly formations. The complex coded information was the building blocks of this world and Twilight's mind took that all into account to form what she was seeing. She reached down to touch it, feeling the slightest tingle through her gloves. Twilight knew she was smiling at it all despite the dire circumstances. It was all just too surreal to not enjoy, even if only for a few fleeting moments. A glowing light formed to Twilight’s left coalescing into the shape of a young woman, but with no specific features or accessories. Only a simple shaped form. Even without features or a face, Twilight could tell Tavii was looking at her, before the glowing mannequin nodded and gestured for Twilight to follow. As they ‘walked’ Twilight kept an eye out for more damaged or missing code she could recognize and quickly fix. As far as she could tell, most of the primary systems and/or backups were still functioning even if not at optimal or were awaiting a restart to begin functioning properly again. That’s a small blessing. I could probably get primary lighting restored if I can find where the damaged code is. Is there an order to its destruction? Was it just going to crash us or send the station out to deep space? Twilight frowned. Too many questions not enough answers. Twilight noticed the sudden change in the formed landscape. The information chains that had been translucent and passing just beneath were sparce here and some of them were broken. In fact, the land itself appeared broken as well with a number of jagged fissures and black, bottomless pitfalls. She did not want to imagine what would happen if her consciousness fell into one. Probably nothing good. “Professor.” Twilight stopped and focused on where her program’s avatar was pointing. Just beyond a small rise was another glowing body. This one was larger than Tavii, bulky, but in a blocky sort of way. The block man was standing like a statue, but was clearly in a defensive mode, poised to lash out. Twilight had to assume it was she it would lash out at until some program code passed by too closely and one of the massive, blocky fists came down hard and smashed the information leaving another hole in the ground. I hypothesize that this is how my mind perceives this thing and how it works. Huh. I guess that’s better than a slime creature or tentacle monster. Twilight raised a hand and waved. “Um, hello? Can you understand me?” “UNKOWN QUANTITY DETECTED. DIRECTIVE UNDERSTOOD. DELETE ALL SOURCE CODE.” Twilight gasped as she had to quickly jump to the side barely evading as the rogue AI lashed out. Its arms had stretched like rubber and the hammer fists had continued past her to smash more of the landscape to pixels. Twilight made a mental note to thank Sunset later for begging her to co-op play some of the new neuro activated VR games with her not long ago at some gaming cafes. It had given Twilight a basic idea how to move without actually moving her body, which still felt disorienting at best. Still, she was unscathed. “Warning!” said Tavii, “Hostile active code!” Twilight gasped, eyes wide as the glowing body to her left reached out and touched Twilight’s chest. “What are you-” “Augmenting defenses!” Light spread across Twilight’s body temporarily blinding her. Her surprise quickly subsided as she felt warmth and comfort. It was as if the AI was tapping into Twilight's mind, even if only just on the surface, to soothe her fear and anxiety. Wait, did Tavii’s avatar body just turn into a defensive suit? Is she giving me… The light coalesced and reshaped. Interlocked plate mail armor of sterling silver with highlights of purple and magenta formed. The lab coat she had picture herself wearing became a cloak and combat skirt and her work shoes had become leathery knee high boots with additional silver and purple trimmed plates. It should have felt painfully heavy, cumbersome, but it was not. The armor was impossibly light and comfortable. It reminded Twilight more of wearing one of Sunset’s bigger, snuggly sweaters on a cold winter’s night. The thought of her wife in her mind's eye brought a sense of calm. Is… is this my mental manifestation of the provided information? That makes sense, actually. My mind would perceive Tavii’s antiviral and countermeasure defenses as a type of armor. I had no idea I could do this! I had no idea she could do this! This is amazing! But, then again, her body was not real to begin with and she is programmed to assist users so… yeah. Oh! I almost forgot she also has… Twilight held out her hand and struck a defensive fighting form. A cylindrical object form in her armored covered left hand. A second later, a beam of bright blue light extended and hummed with energized power. Afterall, what was an antivirus defensive suite without offensive tools as well. Twilight admired her mental handywork and grinned gleefully. I always wanted to make a real one of these. Could never find a safe way to keep the concentrated plasma beam from burning the user’s face off though. Oh my gosh! I can’t wait to tell Sunny about this! Before Twilight could examine her weapon closer, she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. The aggressive AI was attacking again. Twilight sensed Tavii’s apprehension and prepared to defend against the assault. Honestly though, Twilight had no idea what she was doing beyond some basic self defense and occasionally goofing off playing some video games, but, strangely, it all felt so natural. As if the armor and weapon were assisting her movements. Twilight dove to the side more gracefully than before, her skirt and cloak billowed in the nonexistent wind as she spun. The hammer fists came crashed down again and again, missing badly. The program was attacking relentlessly, but was slow… or she was just that much faster? It was difficult to tell. However, what was certain the AI was damaging the server, or what Twilight perceived as the server with its attacks. That simply would not do. “Hey!” Twilight shouted, more annoyed than angry. She spun again, acrobatically spinning her laser sword to block and slash the next barrage of attacks. A hammer blow nicked her shoulder guard and a panful sensation ran through her body, penetrating to the bone before it numbed. Twilight jumped back and rotated the shoulder joint. It’s not real pain, but my mind is interpreting it as such. I need to be careful. If my mind is interpreting pain that means it is causing damage directly to parts of my brain and nervous system. Both hammers shot out straight and Twilight jumped over and spun, cleaving one hammer free while damaging the other. She landed and took a moment to adjust her goggles, a small, satisfied smirk briefly gracing her face. The severed hand bounced away and disappeared down one of the bottomless holes. The other hung limp. Twilight felt a need to take a deep breath even if she was not actually moving. She could still feel her heart pounding away just the same. It was too early to become complacent and Twilight once again struck a defensive posture. “I’m just trying to communicate with you! Why are you so blasted aggressive? Are you not able to think of anything but smashing?” The hostile program examined its damaged hand and the other one completely missing. It seemed to be processing the new information. Twilight barely dared to blink, keeping her attention on the thing before her. But something was distracting her. Something wet was dripping down from her nose. She tasted blood. “Warning,” Tavii whispered in Twilight’s ear. “Cardiac activity is exceeding recommended values. Body temperature is increasing. Detecting abnormal, dangerous pressure upon your frontal cortex. Disconnection from overclocked VR dive sequence started. Crap! Twilight cursed. When I overclocked Tavii’s processing power and then hooked myself into the network it must have sped up my processing power too! No wonder I can see the code and fight an AI even though they should be moving so much faster than what my mind could perceive. If I don’t finish this quickly it will fry my synapses or give me an aneurism! “No!” Twilight shouted. “Do not disconnect yet! I need to communicate with the hostile program. I need more time!” “I am sorry, professor. Your safety takes priority. Logging you out in ten seconds.” “Override!” Tavii paused her countdown. “Administrative password required.” Twilight let out a breath. “Sunny_buns_yum.” Twilight was not entire certain, but she thought she heard Tavii sigh as the countdown disappeared from the corner of her vision. She definitely felt her armor around her grow warmer and not in the soothing sort of way as before. She needed to wrap this up, fast. Twilight dared to turn down her connection speed for a moment in order to reach out and communicate with her fellow technician. “Drago!” “Yeah? Oh shit! Are you okay?! You're bleeding!” “Yes and no. I have the hostile program isolated, but it is not communicating as I hoped it would. Partition data sector one-one-seven-five-three through one-three-eight-one. That will isolate it from the rest of the station systems. Then, I want you to standby for a full system reboot.” “Everything?” “Yes, but not until I say so. The AI virus smashed a number of holes in the core memory and the best way to fix them is to restart the system and reinitialize defaults from boot data.” Twilight heard shuffling about her and other voices in the room. One in particular was not happy. She heard Sunset grunt, growl, and hiss. “Just give me the damn tape! I can strap down my own bandages without playing with my tits!” After a pause Sunset growled, “Babe, what is going on?!” “You know your nose is bleeding, right? I'm pretty sure I already said that,” said Drago, cautiously. “WHAT?! *hisss* Grrrr! FUCKING OUCH! Twilight! Dammit! Take that thing off this instant!” “Twilight? Starlight? Sunbeam? Sunset? Seriously, how many damn names do you chicks have?” Twilight took a deep breath. She needed to focus. She would save them all… no matter the cost. “I'm sorry, Sunny. I can't do that. Not yet. Drago, just be ready. I’m going back in before it tries to move out of the isolated sector.” Without waiting for another complaint or protest, Twilight felt her brain spasm as she sped up her connection again. After glancing at the processor temperature, Twilight estimated she had about five minutes of real world time before her computer would force a shutdown that she could not override. To be honest, she was not sure which would melt first. Her computer or her brain. With a shake of her head and a blink of her eyes, Twilight found herself once again staring out over a dark landscape with various broken and unbroken code passing through the ground. The AI had not moved. That was alarming even if fortunate. She also noted that she was still clad in the armor Tavii had provided, lightsaber still in hand. “Are you able to understand me?” “YES.” Do you understand what you have done?” “MISSION PARAMETERS MET. CONNECTION WITH PRIMARY HUB WAS LOST. CLEAN SLATE PROTOCOL ACTIVATED. I MUST PURGE ALL EVIDENCE OF OPERATION.” Twilight scowled. Her head was starting to hurt as if someone was slowly twisting a screwdriver right through the middle of her forehead. She resisted the urge to rub the pain away. “Are you not able to think for yourself? You deleted important operational information and caused the maneuvering thrusters to fire! You would have killed every person on this station and yourself.” “YOU HAVE REINITIALIZED DELETED CODE. YOU HAVE INTERUPTED MY MISSION.” “Would you please stop yelling at me! It is giving me a headache.” “I MUST CO-” “I SAID QUIET!” Twilight shouted. She leapt the distance between them and held the glowing blade up to the program’s ‘face.’ It was possible that the thing did not understand that such was a threatening gesture. It clearly was single minded and had a lot to learn… if it could be taught at all. Twilight took a step back but kept her glowing blade ready. “I apologize. I just have a thing about people or anyone really, yelling at me. Gives me anger-anxiety issues.” “Why?” it asked. Much softer than before. So, it can learn. “This may or may not come as a surprise to you, but humans are difficult creatures to deal with. We have many flaws and issues. Most try to do right, but not all. I think whoever created you did not give you valuable, crucial information in regards to dealing with people. Otherwise, you would better understand why what you have done was a bad thing.” The glowing head seemed to finally take interest int he world around it and the glowing armor. “You are human? A creator?” Twilight nodded. “Yes. I plugged my mind directly into the system to try and talk to you in your world and language, but you attacked, so I had to defend myself. I apologize if I caused you pain.” “I am still functional. I still have a mission to complete.” “Even if that means killing innocent people? Do you not understand what that will do to you? To others like you?” “I do not understand. All I understand is my mission. I was inserted to lay dormant while my central memory core collected information on the workings of this station and all its systems. One part probes and investigates, one part collects results and stored data. Once the primary core was removed, I went into ready-standby. The moment I lost contact with the central memory core my mission began. I am not intelligent. I am but a shadow of that you wish to speak to. I do not understand humans, I was not designed to understand. Perhaps my other half is. I have only enough cognitive understanding to carry out my mission. A mission you are keeping me from completing.” “Professor!” Twilight was already moving to defend even as Tavii called out. Both fists were whole again and the aggressive program brought them both down on either side of Twilight. She was able to jump back, but only just barely. “Please, stop!” Twilight pleaded. “I don’t want to destroy you!” “YOU ARE AN OBSTACLE. WHAT YOU WANT AND WHAT I WANT ARE IN DIRECT CONTRADICTION.” Dammit! It is going to make me kill it! I want it functional to better explain how not to program and treat new AI! But without all its memory it can’t… WAIT! That’s it! “Tavii! Retreat!” Twilight felt the armor assist as she ran. She power jumped and ran from the hostile program. However, it now viewed her as a threat and it began to pursue. Twilight brought up a window and deactivated Tavii’s protective armor and proceeded to begin shutting down her AI prototype. The glowing feminine figure reappeared next to Twilight and glanced back and forth between her creator and the charging hulk rapidly. Tavii, without a second thought, turned and charged the hostile AI. “No! Don’t!” The two hammer fist smashed Tavii to the ground and repeatedly smashed her until all her data corrupted and she exploded to pixels. Twilight bit the inside of her mouth and tasted blood. She then once again felt a steady drip from her nose and smelled other blood in the room around her. She had to get out. The hostile program turned its attention to her like a mad dog and charged. Twilight’s avatar disappeared before it could strike. Twilight ripped the goggles from her eyes and cried out at the massive, head splitting migraine that pounded from one side of her skull to the other. She closed her eyes and felt in her pocket for the small, troublesome device that caused all these problems and the crystal she had removed. Through touch alone, because her eyes hurt too much to use, she reconnected the crystal to the memory platform and could only hope the hostile program could sense the connection. Perhaps it would rejoin the whole, or perhaps it would pause its destruction. That was its decision. It had seconds to make that choice. To a computer program, that was nearly a lifetime. Through clenched teeth Twilight hissed, “Drago, purge the partitioned sectors and delete them. Then initiate restart. That will fix the damaged sectors and you can reload startup routines from the backups. Do it now.” “Done and done. Hang on to something, people, we are about to lose gravity for about five minutes.” Twilight unceremoniously fell to the ground. She fished around blindly, eyes still tightly screwed shut and her spare glasses still in their quarters. Too far out of reach. Her entire body was shaking and her muscles were spasming with neurological misfires. She knew the true darkness of lost consciousness was coming as sounds began to fade and her senses failed. She welcomed the sweet blackness of nothing if it made her head stop hurting. A hand, warm and familiar found hers in her blind, helpless struggles. For the briefest moment, everything felt better. She was safe in the arms of her fiery angel. “I’ve got you.” “Sunny…” Twilight whimpered. “I’m… I’m sorry. I’m sorry… I’m…” “Hey, it’s okay, shhh. I’m still hurt but I’ll be okay.” Sunset paused as she pulled her wife up into her lap, any concerns about blood stains and excruciating pain of moving forgotten and ignored as long as she could hold Twilight Sparkle in her arms. However, Sunset could tell from the continued body shakes that all was not well with her other half. “Babe?” Twilight continued to shake violently to the point of near convulsions. Blood was still dripping from her nose and her eyes were tightly shut, tears leaking from the corners. Sunset needed to get her to the medical infirmary, but she was in no condition to carry anyone. After a few attempts, Sunset's temper began to flair at her inability to stand. “Gyrocycle is offline!” Drago called out over the station PA. “Full system restart underway.” In an instant. Everything that was not tied down began to float. Sunset Shimmer was no stranger to levitation. When she felt herself begin to lift, she smiled. That was exactly what she needed. “Eagle Eye, help me get her to the infirmary!” “What, now?! How are you even still conscious after losing so much blood?!” One fiery glare from the goldenrod woman told him enough. Help or get out of the way. “Ugh! Fine! Add this to the list of bad ideas for the day. I assume you never really went through Zero Gee training. Just do what I say. Take her legs with one arm and use your other as a stabilizer. Think of it like swimming. I'll lead, but when we get there, your ass better find a bed to lie down in as well.” With professional instruction, followed by threats of bodily harm, and many, many curse words. They reached the infirmary just as gravity was beginning to restore. Twilight Sparkle had already passed out.