“Look Doc, I respect you both, but you can’t just grab somebody’s face like that. We have policies concerning research volunteers. They made me watch like a three hour video and take a test.” Mark stared sternly at the researcher.
“Kyle, we brought you on this project because you're trustworthy.” Doctor Chang heaved a heavy sigh. “And you're right, Vinyl Scratch should be treated as a volunteer, not a test subject.”
Vinyl waved at Kyle. "Ease up, he said sorry." She adjusted her goggles. "Everypony gets one freebie. Ask before the next one, huh? We're all cool."
Kyle threw his arms up in the air in frustration before storming out of the room. "It ain't about you, it's about what people are expected to do to other people."
Herrington waved along. "I'd like to try something. You remember the MRI, don't you?"
"I still have the remix." She bobbed her head to the tune of that beat. "We doing it again?"
"Close." He held up a finger. "This time, a fMRI, it lets us see things as things are happening. I want to get you in one and have you use your horn so we can see what's happening in your brain as you do that. Maybe we'll see what your horn's up to while we're at it. That should be fascinating."
-=-=-=-
“You know this isn’t a smoking area, right Kyle?” Doctor Chang said with a smile as she walked up on the night janitor in a secluded corner of the underground employee parking lot.
“I get an hour lunch break on a twelve hour shift, on a seven day a week work schedule. It takes twenty minutes to leave the facility to the nearest smoking area.” Kyle laughed mirthlessly. “Shouldn’t you be ‘sciencing’?”
“I think Doctor Herrington can manage without me for a moment.” The doctor smiled more honestly. “I meant what I said, we brought you one because you're trustworthy. And you do speak out. And with all the pressure we’re under right now, we need that.”
“Yeah, I lost my cool a bit, back there, sorry. But ya gotta admit, this is a lot to take in.” Kyle took a long pull from a suspiciously hand rolled cigarette. “I’m not a scientist, but I ain’t uneducated neither.”
“No, you have an Associates degree in computer science, and are one language course away from matching degrees in psychology, philosophy, and journalism. A masterstroke of getting the most out of a grant that only paid for one degree.” The Doctor nodded. “You might be surprised that I did actually look into your resume. You're possibly the most overqualified night janitor I’ve ever met.”
“Yeah, that’s the thing. I ask different kinds of questions than science.” Kyle replied with a cough, before taking another draw. “Like where did she come from? You didn’t just make that unicorn, she knows all kinds of shit you ain’t spent the last week teaching her.”
“Yeah…” Doctor Chang slumped her shoulders. “Mind if I hit that? What? If they don’t fire you for it, they probably won’t fire me. I just summoned a magical unicorn.”
Kyle shrugged and handed her his hand rolled cigarette, which Chang took a deep drag of, holding it in as she handed it back, exhaling smoke through her nostrils.
She blinked before laughing softly. "I feel stupid." She thumped herself lightly. "I should have smelled that long before I grabbed it, but I wasn't thinking clearly. Look, we both have a job to do." She pointed inside. "I'll see you in there."
Kyle grinned wolfishly. "Ya know, I always got a crush on the smart ones. I ain’t dumb enough to pursue you, but I ain't blind to beauty when I see it either."
Her brows fell. "You also made it clear your idea of romance is playing Smash Burrows into the wee hours."
"Smash Brothers." Kyle elbowed her gently. "I'm up for it whenever you are."
She laughed on her way back into the building, though not exactly answering the question.
-=-=-=-=-
“Glad you could join us, Dr. Chang.” Dr. Herrington smirked as his colleague returned. “I trust our wayward janitor has calmed down from his latest moral outrage?”
“He’s not wrong you know?” Chang retorted.
“Honestly, you two should just play Super Smoosh Brothers and be done with it.” Herrington returned sass with interest.
“Is that a metaphor for something?” Vinyl inquired from within the scanning device as she juggled three wooden blocks in her telekinetic aura.
"This is, oh this is, perfect!" Herrington couldn't restrain his enthusiasm, pointing to the monitor that was recording the proceedings. "The magic is concentrated, with such little energy wasted!"
Chang joined him at the monitor, brows raising together. "Hm, but there's more activity in the horn than the brain." She tapped at each part. "As if she isn't focusing on each part, or perhaps it just takes more effort to do what she's doing? Impossible to know with this."
Vinyl slowly lost control, the blocks tumbling to the floor with a crash, despite the thick foam padding she rested atop to muffle the noise, as well as protect her from any stray bits of broken machinery in the event of a catastrophic failure. "Oops!" She reached for a block with a hoof, her magic snatching it up into reach as she played with it a moment like an amused foal. "Sorry about that, I kind of spaced out there."
"Amazing, amazing, she makes little effort, and her horn responds with no effort!" Herrington tapped his cheek, ideas blossoming in his head, but this was the data. "We have so much more to study! Vinyl, my dear, you have been a perfect partner in this."
“So we’re all calling it ‘magic’ now? Fair enough… any sufficiently advanced science, right?” Kyle laughed as he walked into the lab. “Where are you from, Vinyl?”
“You are grossly overstepping your boundaries!” Doctor Herington snapped testily.
“I’m asking the question you never did. You didn’t create her from nothing.” Kyle smiled as he walked up to the doctor. “Everything she knows came from somewhere. And you ain’t bothered to ask ‘where’ yet.”
Vinyl blinked, considering that. "I guess I don't really know. I came to existence in that glass chamber you put me in." She wobbled her head to and fro, listening to something only she could hear. "Can I come out of this thing now?"
"Oh, yes." Herrington started pressing buttons, the maching quieting save for a tray that drew Vinyl free of its internals out into the air. "Since it's been brought up, again, do you remember anything before that point?"
Vinyl smirked at Herrington. "Do you remember anything before you were born, Doc?"
Chang offered a hand, helping Vinyl get to the ground smoothly. "You know we're just asking. There are no wrong answers if you're telling us what you know."
“Fair enough.” Kyle laughed. “None of us know where you came from either.”
Vinyl fiddled her hooves together, "I am pretty sure I remember things, but it's all a big jumble in my head." She pulled off her goggles, and rubbed a hoof around her forehead, letting her eyes dart around the room, a faint smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "I mean, I know lots of things, but it's as if I read books on them. Awesome books!"
Herrington completed the shutdown of the machine and turned his chair towards his test subject and new friend. "If you remember something, let us know. But let's put that aside for something more fun. Music."
"My language." Vinyl turned sharply to Herrington. "Got a music experiment? Sign me up!"
“Wait, Herington just said the word fun.” Kyle laughed. “Do I need to count my gummies?”
“Please,” Doctor Herington scoffed in reply, “Just because I don’t play video games or indulge in mind numbing candy doesn’t mean I can’t have fun.”
“You really should try his gummies. They are amazing!” Vinyl grinned. “Speaking of which, can I have a couple of gummies?”
“No.” Everyone else in the room replied.
Kyle waggled his eyebrows at Vinyl. "Told you. Now, music experiment. Can we assume music is her thing? Why not do something to help us figure out how she thinks?"
He led her to his computer and invited her up onto the soft chair. "I got a program, just for you." Vinyl was bouncing with excitement as he pulled it up. "You showed some talent with remixing and sampling, so I thought—"
He waved at the screen, showing a full-featured DJ program, ready to sample with a vast library of sounds and beats. "You'll be able to make your own music."
"Doc!" Vinyl put her hooves on the table, her horn eagerly moving the mouse around and figuring out the lay of the program with little clicks. "You are the best human right now." With a rapidly swaying tail, she was getting lost in figuring out the new toy.
Kyle sat back in his own chair with a smug smile. "So, Vinyl, whatcha gonna play?"
"Something loud and with a great beat and really awesome wubs." She found the beat library and little bits of and snips of sounds played from the computer. "Oh, wow, this is gonna be great."
“I used to do loop mixing back in the day.” Kyle watched over the unicorn’s shoulder. “I did the Fruitie Loops.”
“Is that like a pun name for Hoofie Loops?” Vinyl laughed as she explored the software’s interface. “That’s so cornball. Loop mixing is base, though. Just arranging the layers of the wave forms. It's like a bicycle, ya know? What kind of music did you do?”
“Goth-Industrial. It was super cringe.” Kyle chuckled. “But there’s definitely a skill to it.”
“Oh definitely!” Vinyl nodded as she arranged her sound clips into organized rows. “I mean, yeah, gimme two turntables and a microphone and I’ll rock the house! But there really is something to having that level of control over each beat.”
Herrington watched them talk with a half smile, Chang alongside him as they silently observed. She whispered to him, "Well, they seem to be getting along better than I might have hoped."
Herrington tapped notes on a secondary terminal. "And she's quite visibly enjoying herself. You know, this could be a new funding source."
"What could be?" Chang raised a doubting brow.
"Her music." He waved a finger at the two working busily on a new track. "Literal alien music. It sells itself."
"And how do you think she would feel about that?" Chang regarded him critically, a soft frown on her lips as she continued, "I know you want to tell her, but she could react poorly, and you know that."
"Would she?" He leaned back in his chair. "I don't think she would, if she gets a portion. Vinyl!"
That got her to look up and over curiously, even if her horn was still glowing with the work on her music. “Yeah doc, wassup?”
How would you feel if we, by which I mean the Foundation, were to,” The doctor pause awkwardly, “were to commercially release your music to help finance our ongoing project? You would get a percentage of the earnings, obviously.”
Vinyl regarded him like he grew a second head for a moment, her eyes searching him up and down before she answered. "I'd think you're crazy, but it'd be kind of cool, I guess?" She played a strange electronic noise and giggled as she moved it into position. "Does that mean I'll be able to make more music?"
"That's what the idea is, yes." Herrington tipped an imaginary hat to her, getting a happy whinny in response.
"Aww yeah, music is my life." She smashed play, sharing the short snippet she'd made with the room. "Oh wow, this is going to be good. If my music's a hit, I want a turntable! One that works with this. That'd make this a lot easier."
Chang spoke up at that, "I'm certain we could find something. For now, this program should serve you just fine. See what you can do with it."
Vinyl happily turned back to the screen, a few sounds in and the room was filled with her experiments and joyful noises as she fell entirely into the art of creation.