Year 20 P.S,
Month 1, Day 1,
17:44
The only sounds to be heard within the large chamber were the dull thump of hoofsteps and the steady drone of mechanical workings, all carefully regulated to keep the room’s occupants in check.
The majority of the equine figures contained within, however, were immobile. For all intents and purposes, they weren’t even yet alive. Just hollow forms of metal, wires, and organic flesh.
Constructs were not to be disturbed.
The door to the chamber opened, and four ponies stepped forward into the room. One of them was a tan-colored unicorn, wearing a dark brown suit with a deep red rim at each of the cuffs, matching the red color of his shortly trimmed mane and tail. The other trio was a family of unicorns, known as the Sparkle family. The parents, a mixture of nighttime colors, trailed behind the scientist, while their son, a white-coated, blue-maned teen named Shining Armor, tensely walked next to them. He harbored a more unsettled expression than his parents. They were more used to such things, even given what they were here for, but he didn't think he'd ever get used to it...
The lights above flickered once as the door closed behind them, and the unicorns took in the gaze of the room. A string of tubes lined the walls, a dim blue light backing each one. Each tube contained an alicorn in various stages of development, but the Sparkles trained their eyes on the closest one.
The young lavender alicorn’s head was drooped, eyes closed as if in slumber, though it was clear by the readings she was in a state not of sleep, but of something more like death. In fact, it didn’t seem as if a soul inhabited the body at all, and the form was just a limp shell. And in reality, it was—wires and mechanics were visible within the alicorn’s torso, connected to what looked like the organs that would be found in a normal pony. To many of those part of the Project, she was not yet a pony but rather a hollow, inanimate object, a harbor for cybernetics and living tissue still in the process of being fully formed.
As for which of the alicorn’s organs were organic and which were mechanical, the Sparkles weren’t sure on most of them. Some apparent organs were obviously mechanized, but others seemed to be made of living tissue possessed by any other pony.
Though a silver-colored translucent tube was placed around the growing pony’s mouth and nose, the exposed metallic lungs remained motionless, neither expanding nor contracting. No indicator of life inhabiting the hollow shell.
The parents glanced at each other, while Shining was unable to take his eyes off the alicorn, as if looking at her would help her awaken and free her from that unsettling, death-like state.
"Dr. Craft," Shining asked, "why does she look so..." The last word died in his throat—he didn't want to voice the word "dead".
“Without a proper life force inhabiting the Construct, all biological processes are currently nonfunctional,” Dr. Craft noted, gaze trained on the alicorn in question. “We all hope that will change soon once it’s ready, once it can be deemed properly alive. We’ll know a soul has surfaced when the readings tell us so.”
Nightlight Sparkle examined a string of green numbers on a monitor by the control panel, a complex progression that he honestly couldn’t make heads or tails of. The pattern of 1s and 0s made it clear that the readings were in binary, but computing had never been the strongest point for the unicorn stallion.
"What's the coding mean?" he whispered, as if wary that he would wake up the "developing" alicorns in their containment tubes. While the Sparkles were reasonably adept with technology as required for the Program, the more complex uses of the number coding were lost on them and left to the professionals.
Dr. Craft's voice was gruff, with a business-like air. "It details the Construct’s current status. For instance, this is Alicorn Construct Revision E, Version P, No. 114, or EP114 for short.". Dr. Craft rattled off the information as if he could read binary on his own. "Primary Genestock: Purple Unicorn. Version: 3.8. Registered Name: Twilight."
"H-Hey, she shares your first name," Nightlight said to his wife with a small grin. The mare laughed softly in response.
Dr. Craft continued as if the Sparkles hadn't spoken. "Maturity for Awakening at 98%. Stability: A technical glitch or two early in Development but otherwise stable."
"Technical glitch?" Mrs. Sparkle muttered with a thoughtful frown. "What kind of glitch?" If there was even a slight possibility that this would be the alicorn that was to be Placed with their family—providing she passed the review—they wanted to make sure that she wouldn’t pose a danger to herself or anypony around her. They had invested too much time in the Project to take that risk.
Dr. Craft pulled a few levers to adjust the tubing positions before replying. "There was a bit of sparking from faulty wiring in the secondary coverts of its left wing that needed to be fixed.” He spoke in such a brisk manner than the others could barely get a word in edgewise. “Its eyes opened as we were repairing it, but it appeared to be a reflex from the electrical manipulation applied to the Construct body". His bright green eyes studied the limp young pony's form, as if scrutinizing for even the slightest movement of an eyelid. "There wasn't a conscious response, verbal or otherwise, merely a reflex." A huff before attaching another extension of wiring to provide further nutrients to the developing alicorn.
Shining Armor, stepping a bit closer to the Construct’s limp form, looked inquiringly at the engineering expert. Something about the stallion’s wording really rubbed him the wrong way. “Why did you call her an ‘it’?”
“You’re a bright one.” Rather than harboring a tone of praise, Dr. Craft addressed the colt in the same condenscending manner as before. Without a backwards glance, he began noting down the changes in the organic coding as more nutrients were pumped in the tubes to fully supply to the organic portions of the Construct. “Here in the lab, we don’t refer to the Constructs by gender until we detect that they’ve reached a level of MCA.”
“MCA?”
“Minimum Conscious Awareness,” the stallion clarified, a hint of irritation now present. “Referring to a Construct by gender is capable of forming even a subconscious psychological attachment toward the one in question. Thus, we avoid any indication of such matters. It’s all business here, and we can’t afford to let emotions get in the way before they become conscious.”
“I can tell,” Nightlight whispered in a tone that was only audible to his wife. His manner of speaking, however, wasn’t entirely disapproving.
The expression on Shining’s face made his confusion clear. “But what about the names? You said that you call her—it—Twilight.” Shining caught himself just in time to avoid the green eyes of the scientist. Despite Dr. Craft insisting otherwise, it was clear that referring the pony who might become his “sister” as merely an “it” left a bad taste in the colt’s mouth. She was a living pony—or rather, was going to be living, if all went well.
However, the scientist Shining spoke to either didn’t notice his tone or didn’t care. “We have to pick a name for them to prepare for their Interaction Tests and development in social situations. But now is not the time to discuss that. Let’s just continue on with the tour.”
With a quick jerk of his head, Dr. Craft led the trio away and called for another one of the scientists to look after the growing Construct. “There’s still so much you need to understand about the Program before that Construct is fully developed for its Placement.”
“You mean her Placement,” Shining corrected in a voice barely above a whisper.
The heart began to slowly pump blood through the circulatory system. The lungs took in oxygen for the first time,
The Construct—Twilight—opened her eyes, gaining a comprehensive view of the world. This time, it wasn’t just a reflex, but a true indication that the alicorn in question was aware of its surroundings. And the first thing the she was aware of was pain. Constricting coils that prohibited movement. She began to take in air for the first time, the chemical being pumped into her nose and mouth nearly causing her to choke.
With her senses in the waking world becoming increasingly brought into life, she became aware of a loud, blaring sound. A constant ringing that penetrated her eardrums and caused her to wince.
There were other voices audible over the alarm.
"One of them has reached Awakening! I think it's EP114!".
"Get it out of there before its circuitry is damaged! Do it immediately!"
Unnerved by the blurring of her senses, the contained alicorn attempted to struggle, pure instinct telling her to get away from the blaring echo and loud chatter. With a whoosh of cold air clinging to her synthetic fur, the restrictions suddenly loosened their bonds. She crashed to the floor in a daze, head spinning as she attempted to regain her bearings.
"It's alright, EP114. You're awake."