A grey-maned stallion in a blue workingpony's suit and black utility belt yawned and switched the positions of his feet, both propped up on his desk. Over his shoulders, a half a dozen monitors displayed the views of security cameras scattered throughout the facility.
In one, an empty staircase. In another, the overhead view of an elevator. In yet another, a sweet little filly was staring defiantly into the camera, mouthing demands of one kind or another. But the cameras didn't pick up sound, and so the stallion did not take his attention away from the sitcom on his personal TV set.
He was leaned back in his office chair, just as another stallion and a mare pushed open the swinging door to his station. Both were clothed in classic white lab coats, and their nametags displayed prominently. The latter took one look at the security guard's position and gave a curt laugh.
"Hey, Trunch, working hard or idly slacking?" Her companion frowned.
"That's not how that joke goes, Sue," he corrected her. The one named Sue waved him off. The grey-maned security stallion, named Trunch apparently, smirked at the two of them. He kicked his feet off the desk and swiveled around to face them.
"Why, no, in fact, I've been hardly slacking," he nodded to the monitors behind him. "I've been watching these two bottom screens for nigh on seven hours straight, so I thought I'd give myself just a couple minutes of relaxation."
"Which ones? These two?" The stallion scientist, whose name was Del, pointed at the bottom two screens, at which Trunch nodded his assent. Sue put her forelegs up on Trunch's desk and propped up her head.
"Why these two?" she asked.
"Orders! Yep. Straight from the top. I have to watch the ones with the boys from the provinces, and there's this filly they brought in," Trunch boasted. "They've been brought in for an extra-high security project. Maxx was very specific."
"OoooOOoooh," Sue sarcastically whispered. "Straight from the toooop. Oh, Trunch, just because Maxx told you personally, it doesn't mean it's 'straight from the top.' He likes to tell everypony everything personally."
"I'm serious! He said, 'Trunch, this project could make or break the company. I have confidence in you that you will place the'... uh... oh, the 'utmost importance on keeping an eye on these subjects,' " Trunch stuck his hooves in his belt proudly. " 'Especially the filly.' And dammit, I've kept eye on those foals since the start of my shift. Any change in their condition, and I'm the one who knows about it first."
Sue rolled her eyes, but Del narrowed his. He asked, "Has the subject been asleep since they brought her in?"
"Yeah, sound asleep. They knocked her out, I think, when they acquired her."
Del looked at the other two curiously. He motioned to Trunch, saying, "Well, here's one development that may have escaped your all-seeing eye, Trunch. The subject woke up."
All three crowded around the solitary viewing screen. They saw the filly alternately banging against the walls and the door, screaming soundlessly at the camera, and plopping down in the middle of the floor, shoulders shaking from sobbing. They were silent throughout the filly's tirades. It was an uncomfortable sight. Eventually, Sue saw fit to break their tacit silence.
"So, I guess you should alert Maxx then, huh."
"Yep. That's what he said to do," Trunch shook himself and he trotted over to the phone. As he dialed, Del and Sue backed a couple of paces away from the screen, and on the other screen, the other ones that Trunch had been told to watch, they saw four colts in small cells, each in stasis chambers.
Sue frowned. Stasis chambers were still an experimental project for them. What was Maxx playing at? Didn't they tell him about the dangers of using those things before they were fully beta tested?
"Say, Trunch," she interrupted Trunch's dialing with a careful question. "Did Maxx say what the subjects were here for in the first place?"
Trunch shrugged, and though his voice projected , the worry in his face was evidence enough. "No. It's triple security level, though. Only those involved know what it does. Those scientists and Maxx, of course."
Del cracked his jaw, and hmph'ed. Sue asked, "What's the name of the project?"
"Uh, it's Project Sutter, I think," Trunch mumbled. He resumed dialing, unwilling to answer anything else. Sue shook her head to herself.
She wasn't on Project Sutter, so she wouldn't know what the heck was going on until the project was completed. That was always how it worked with Maxx. What are you up to Maxx? You always do enjoy your secrecy and your power. What's the game for this one?
Del tapped the door, interrupting her thoughts. "Sue, we're due back on Project Meridian by 5:00. You coming, or you just going to get in Trunch's way?"
"Yeah, Del, I'm coming. If you're so eager to get more paperwork, you go on ahead without me," she said more caustically than she meant to. Del snorted and left. Sue returned to her musings.
Maxx knew stasis tech was experimental. What did he need the four subjects put in stasis for? And what were they doing with five subjects, all civilians? This was too unsettling, but it was out of her reach. She wasn't on the project, and it was triple security, so she couldn't get access to its details for a long time. Sue grunted, and she left Trunch to his monitors and controls.
As she left, she heard him say, "Hello, Mr. Teller? Ah, yes, I mean Maxx. Well, you told me to call when the female subject became conscious. Well, she's conscious sir. You're quite welcome sir, it's only my job."
Sue frowned. No. I'm more than qualified in whatever secret pet project Maxx has got here. I've got three doctorates in SCIENCE, dang it all.
I'll just have to convince Maxx to put me on Project Sutter. Whatever that is.