//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 // Story: BEDLAM II: Heart of Glass // by Gormless Wheaton //------------------------------// I leaned back and watched my screen, waiting for a reply. When none came after a moment, my eyes drifted to the endless storm pattering against my window. Then, a ping chimed. My screen now read [>LOL. She has you pegged! Shoulda killed her then and there. *condescending whip noise*.] Rolling my eyes, I sighed and clacked a response on my keyboard. "That's not the reason I hit you up," I quietly said aloud. "I've got decent people I can talk emotions with. I need answers on who's hacking my systems. While we were gone, they slipped in twice and we never even got an alert." I folded my arms and scowled before the communications panel on my seat flickered. Hitting a switch, a projection of Jury-rig popped up. I quickly twisted the projector so she couldn't see my screen. "What's up?" I asked. "The Crystal Mind's running real hot right now," she replied with a frown. "I think our hacker's pulling something, but they're using your zero priority and I can't see it." I shook my head. "Nah, that's just me. I'm running some priority zero diagnostics. Don't worry." My screen pinged again. "What was that?" "Nothing, it's just about done, is all. Are the Sisters ready?" I didn't bother checking the message and gave Jury my full attention. She hummed and nodded. "Yep. S'part of why I called you actually, they're set for briefing," she smiled and tilted her head. "I'm gonna go snuggle with Sandy if you don't need anything else." I snorted. "Nope, just put the Sisters on. Have fun." She beamed and trotted off-screen. The message was visible in my peripheral, though I couldn't make out what it said. After just a moment, the Killer Sisters came clanking into view. [Greetings, Bedlam,] KSUN, the Celestia replica greeted. "Hello, you," I smiled at her and the Luna duplicate before stretching with a sigh. "Alright, you two are on your way to Abyssinia. Panthera's having issues keeping the populace under control and this has led to at least one of my machines getting trashed." [This will not stand,] KMOON, the Luna replica declared. "No, it will not," I folded my arms with a nod. "You are to report to and obey Panthera. However, you are to use the satellite array to bypass his jurisdiction and send minute-by-minute reports of everything that takes place after you cross the border." [Understood,] they said in unison. I smiled and continued. "Additionally, if any more animunculi are destroyed, you are to use any means necessary to capture the offender. Lethal force is permitted as a last resort if no other convenient options present themselves. If Panthera objects or obstructs you, he is to be arrested." [Understood.] "What else, lemme think," I hummed and rolled my head around. As I did, my eyes inadvertently fell on my screen and the message it presented. The message read [>When was the last time you checked how many consoles are linked to the Mind?] I paused and read it a few more times. My jaw opened then shut and I groaned a sigh while failing to hold back a smirk. [Is everything alright, sir?] KSUN asked. "Yep. Just a sec," I said and reached over to type my response. "You are a genius. Fuck you," I quietly replied. A ping immediately followed before I cut the link. [> ;)] "The OLD Citadel?!" Jury screamed, leaping to her hooves and causing Sandy to tumble off the sofa. "How the heck?!" "Great question," I replied as I adjusted my boots. "More concerning is the console registry matched that of the old Crystal Mind." Jury's eyes widened. "That thing melted down," she quietly gasped. "Yup," I chirped, tightening my gloves and snapping my coat. "Kind of a big issue if whoever this is has it back online." She clenched her teeth and scanned the room as Sandy grumpily climbed back next to her. "They could start turning the animunculi against us." "Which is why this is a mission for flesh and blood," I declared. "Tempest and I are going to take one of the old manual airships up there along with some of our boys out of the Klugetown outpost." She whimpered. "Eddy.." I crept to her and knelt on one knee, pushing Sandy back so I could rest my hands on Jury's shoulders. "We're just going to take a peek. The second I notice any machines up and mobile, we're retreating, I promise," I smiled and tilted my head to her. "And we're bringing a hovercraft that isn't linked to the network just in case." She fixed me with a sad frown that cut deeper than I think she realized. Keeping my eyes locked with hers, I reached over and gently pulled a grumbling Sandy back over and nestled her against Jury. The maid scowled at me before slapping my hand away and nuzzling Jury. Jury held her frown for a moment before nodding with a sigh. "You're not worth the damage you'd cause otherwise." I grimaced as the words rang in my mind again and set my thoughts on a cruise through my entire confrontation with Twilight. Trying to keep my eyes fixed on the ruins miles ahead of us that were slowly creeping into view didn't help. In fact, the sight of where my first defeat took place exacerbated the problem, and I tightened my grip on the airship railing. Now, I was thinking about her last words to me before I was locked away in Tartarus. "Maybe if I tried a little harder, none of this would have happened. I hope one day I can make it up to you." Which pushed forth other memories. "You've proved you can make wonderful things happen." "Things don't have to stay like this Eddy." "I'll help you demonstrate, but I want you to be center stage." "You used to be my friend." I let out a low groan and rested my head on my folded arms. "What's troubling you?" Then I peeked back at Tempest, who stood stoically at my side. I shrugged with a grunt. "Just some things Twilight said." "Ah, I see," she replied with a hum. " I guess that makes sense. The Princess of Friendship would certainly be the mare to know exactly what to say to eat at somepony. Wanna talk about it?" I grunted with a shrug and she nodded. "Wanna go inside and snuggle, instead?" I jolted and whipped my head around to look at her in bewilderment. She shrugged. "Seems to help Jury when she's stressed." I blinked and chuckled, but before I could retort, the head of our company of minotaurs and beastmen came stomping up. "Sir!" The heavily armed minotaur called. "How close do you need us to be?" I raised an eyebrow and looked over at the old Citadel. Drumming the rail with one hand, I nodded. "One mile out." The ringed wall around the place still stood tall, but the gates had all been battered in, granting us easy access to the city structure. The imposing central tower sat dark and silent in the mid-day sun, a veritable microcosm of the whole complex. All my old foundries, assembly halls, processing plants, and barracks lay quiet and seemingly vacant, and the streets were littered with the partial remains of old animunculi that the Equestrians must have left behind when they captured me. We marched as one unit down the main road towards the central tower, where the old Crystal Mind had been. I ignored the murmuring and whispers from my soldiers, some of whom loudly proclaimed the place to be abandoned, as with a simple scan of my mana-sensitive glasses, I could see the faint pulses of magic racing through the tower itself. I shared a look with Tempest, whose gemstone eye granted her a similar perception before turning to the troop. "Someone's definitely inside and has the power going," I declared. They recoiled and looked amongst themselves. "Just at a glance, it doesn't seem like they've generated enough to be a major threat, but still, there's no telling what they could be using that power for." Tempest turned with a nod. "It's obvious that the Equestrians left plenty of material behind, so the chances of whoever's in there having thrown together some defense or trap are very high," she pointed her hoof at the tower. "Many of you were transferred from Klugetown or Minos long after this place was overthrown, so listen carefully. The Citadel extends upwards as you can see, but we're heading below ground. Underneath these streets is where most of Bedlam's operations took place." She paused to let the troops consider her words before continuing. "We won't be splitting up unless absolutely pressed, but on that off chance, I want you all to immediately divide yourselves into groups of three and share a password between only your group. Go." She finished her order with a stomp. The gaggle of creatures hesitated for just a moment before turning and doing as commanded. As they did, I turned and continued studying the tower. As I did, I suddenly spotted a single line of energy that flashed to life before racing down to the ground and spreading down the power lines of the road we were standing on. At levels blatantly too high for the lines in the road. Tempest noticed it too, and whirled around to face the soldiers. "Fall back to the gate!" But it was too late. Before we could properly respond, the power in the ground exploded, causing the street to cave in as more power arced through the air.