//------------------------------// // Chapter 10 // Story: BEDLAM II: Heart of Glass // by Gormless Wheaton //------------------------------// The next thing I knew, I was on my back staring at a faint blue light above me. The pain had vanished, and after reflexively bracing against my arms to sit up, I realized my broken bones had been healed. I was lying in a plain bed and on a table immediately to my right were several mostly empty bottles and a set of syringes. Recognizing the fluid inside the bottles and checking my bare arm, I realized someone must been treating me with potions based on my design. As I pondered who the culprit could've been, the door to my room slid open. [Hey, Eddy!] KS 6 chirped as she came trotting in with a plate of.. Cookies? [Feeling better?] Oh, God. "Yes, K-" She froze, and I hummed. "Yes, Twilight, I'm fine." She continued her approach like nothing happened. [Great to hear! Those thugs really roughed you up,] she grumbled as she magically cleared the table and set the plate down. [So, you just get some rest while I handle things, okay?] "Handle things?" I murmured while eying the door and scanning the room for my tools. [Yep! I've got to peek into your new Crystal Mind and start linking everything up. I also need to get the transformer built, but that shouldn't take too long once everything else is done.] The room was unfortunately bare save for my bed and table. "The what?" I raised an eyebrow at her. She giggled and reared up on the bed before projecting an image from her eyes. [This! I found the concept schematic in your files! I'm shocked you haven't gone ahead with a working model.] The sight of what she projected gave me chills and my breathing hitched. "Which files?" I quietly demanded as I clutched the edge of my bed. [Dimension Transport, for some reason,] she chirped and my eyes widened. [There were lots of neat things in there that I don't think you've bothered with yet.] "There are very good reasons for that," I replied anxiously. "Most of it is more advanced than anything I've created. Most of it uses Discord's magic in ways I wasn't confident could work or never thought to try." She blinked and cut the projection before beaming at me. [Is that the missing variable?] I blanched. [I was wondering why the schematic kept mentioning an 'Abject Alien Energy.' Makes sense, though! Guess I need to go get the bell first, huh?] I rolled forward and grabbed her. "You cannot create a working model. You don't-" I recoiled with a yelp as magical energy zapped my hands. That same magic caught me and kept me from tumbling off the bed. [Have a full and complete design, I know,] she replied with a giggle. [But that's what testing is for! I'll round up some organic life to put through the process way before I use it on you.] I stared at her in horror. "What?" She cast the projection again and appeared to be studying it. [If I understand it right, this thing uses transmogrification in a really detailed sequence to turn living flesh into animunculi, right?] She cut the projection and looked at me. [Shouldn't be too hard to make a few adjustments to also have them all come out linked to the Crystal Mind.] I clenched my teeth. She leaned forward with a happy hum. [And therefore, linked to me. Us,] she tilted her head. [Well, once you've been turned, and I've helped you scrub all those nasty aberrant thoughts out anyway.] I gasped and stammered. [Honestly, I'm really happy you came out to me like you did! You saved me the trouble of coming to get you,] she giggled. [Now, I just have to get the bell, run some tests, and we can get started on converting the whole world!] I was yanked forward and she pressed her hooves into my shoulders to look me in the eyes. [Won't it be great? The whole world, directly under our control! Just like you always wanted.] "KS 6, you can't-" I choked and was lifted in the air by her magic, which was firmly gripped around my neck. She giggled. [Try again, silly.] I helplessly clawed at my neck for a moment before she looked off to the side. [Ugh. Seriously?] The door to the room was blown off its hinges and Tempest came galloping in. KS 6 dropped me and turned to face her, conjuring a shield as Tempest spun and bucked at her. As her hooves connected, they clicked and then a focused blast of magic energy shot out with enough force to drive KS 6 backwards. In the same movement, I found myself yanked towards Tempest by her magic before she took off towards the door with me in tow. "Hang on!" She cried as she used her mechanical legs to propel us both at freakish speeds. I anxiously shot a glance back and saw KS 6 motionlessly leering at me as we darted out of the room and around the corner. As we raced, she flipped me around and held me parallel with her. "She killed the minotaurs, all of whom I believe intended to betray us, sir. So, I believe we'd best extract. I don't think we have the means to tackle this situation." "Agreed. It's worse than you realize. I'll explain once we're outside," I panted and scanned the hallway ahead of us. "Take the next left, though." "Why?" "There should be a hatch straight to the surface not too far away." I wasn't sure what was worse. Seeing the old Citadel pulsing with energy again, or the fact that KS 6 hadn't pursued us to the edge of the complex. As Tempest hauled me towards the ship, I mulled over what she could be thinking. "We can't use the airship with just the two of us," Tempest declared. "Good thing we've got the hover-" She slid to a stop and stared wide-eyed ahead. I clenched my eyes. "Don't tell me," I moaned. Craning my head, I saw a small group of drones buzzing around the ship, which was currently sitting lopsided with its balloon deflated and hull burning. "Damn it." "What do we do?" Tempest gasped. I frowned and scanned the area around us. "We sure as hell can't get back to the Citadel on foot," I grumbled. "And we need to contact Jury immediately." I grimaced and rubbed my face. "Head north." She recoiled and blinked. "Isn't that-" "Southern Equestria? Yes. The closest outpost? Also, yes."