Chapter 11: Darker secrets
"In my experience, the words 'stable' and 'safe' should never be used in the same sentence, unless the word 'not' is included between them."
Now that the panic was over, Helvetica and I settled down to bending the computer to our will. Apart from Demi, who was still helping me balance, the other ponies had dispersed, mostly turning their attention to salvaging what they could. While they didn't need to, they had the ingrained habit of lugging their haul back to their headquarters. I understood there were no wounded left in the stable anymore either. Any that had not already recovered from the injuries they received in the explosions that triggered this chain of events had been treated with some healing potion. Ponies were also starting to hold meetings to discuss what was only ever a pipe dream for them before: life outside the stable. Rosemary, assisted by a couple of other ponies, was sorting through some of the more esoteric junk, separating the mostly worthless from the possibly useful junk, in order to optimize the efforts of their slow moving companions.
Helvetica and I had no idea how long it would take, but the first step for us was obvious: recover a copy of the missing configuration file. Between us we soon located the automated backup that was left every time the file was edited. It was out of date by one save, but it would give us the clues we needed. If only the Overmare had the sense to do so immediately after she deleted it in the first place, a very different outcome would have resulted. We opened it in the editor, studying the programmed definitions. That done, we discussed the best way of tackling the problem, eventually deciding the easiest was the most likely to succeed, and that was to make the computer think the experiment was over, and that it had succeeded.
The old configuration had set a minimum stable closure time of ten years. That seemed okay. It was a reasonable length of time, given that there was a holocaust going on above when it first closed. The condition for a successful conclusion to the experiment was set by the ratio of robots undergoing repair versus patients in the infirmary. It was given as ten to one: ten disabled robots for every injured pony. I could see that would require some serious teamwork. A note mentioned that if this was achieved before the minimum term for stable closure was reached, the experiment would conclude, the robots would stop attacking, and the stable would automatically open its door when the ten year minimum period was over. Which ponies were excluded from the experiment we already knew about from the messages stored in the Overmare's account. The maximum force the robots were allowed to use was set to non-lethal. Beyond that, no clarification was given. That would have been an oversight. All the computer had to do to extend the duration of the experiment was to cripple a few ponies so badly they had to stay in the clinic permanently. Thinking about it, I realized that was the level of force it had been using, even without the defined limit, except against leaders and extreme threats. Hmm, had it marked me as a leader or an extreme threat? Either, or both. It really didn't matter.
Between us Helvetica and I edited the file, discussing the possible outcome of each value we set. When we were done, we saved a copy to the missing file's name, as well as making sure we had a back up. A few more keystrokes forced the computer to re-read the configuration file. It would have done so anyway, as evidenced by the slaughter that had started shortly after the original copy of the file went missing, but we were not sure how often the update occurred, and didn't want to wait. In response, the maneframe beeped.
definitions_and_exclusions.cfg file loaded.
Processing. Please wait.
What is it about waiting for computers that is so mind numbingly boring? I took a few licks of my evening meal of foul black paste. Maybe Demi was right about this stuff. It was a bit too strong as it was, but a tiny amount of it could be used to spice up some of the more bland fare of the surface. Maybe the mares could even trade it as a spice for things they needed. Feeling tired, I rested my head against Demi, and closed my eyes. Ah, this was a nice place to be, soft, warm and so lovable. I briefly thought about Rosemary's comment about the relationship between Demi and I being one of mother and daughter. I had assumed she was seeing me as the mother, but now I was beginning to wonder. It seemed like my precious little Demi was mothering me more than I was mothering her!
The maneframe beeped, so I reluctantly opened my eyes and looked at the screen.
Warning: data in logs conflicts with programmed goals.
"Of course the data conflicts with the programmed goals you stupid computer. Even if we hadn't edited the file, you would have seen conflicts. You bucking murdered everypony, you stupid machine!" I spat at the box. I doubted it could understand me of course, though if it had an interface like one of the robots, I guess it was possible. I hadn't noticed one.
Again I activated the debug function, and brought up the list of primary definitions.
Comment: Exclusions. The following key members of the stable population are to be excluded from the experiment, as defined by their role:
Exclusions: All ponies born in the stable, or entering via the supply shaft are excluded from the experiment.
Error: Excluded ponies have been harmed during the experiment. A report is being created.
Comment: The experiment is to be concluded when the following conditions have been met:
Conditions required for successful conclusion: Destruction of one or more robots.
Experiment status: More than one robot has been destroyed. Conditions have been met. Experiment has concluded.
Action: All interior stable doors have been unlocked. Main stable door has been unlocked.
Comment: Maximum force allowed by robots:
Maximum force: Zero.
Error: Use of excessive force has been recorded. A report is being created.
Define: Minimum term of Stable closure in years:
Minimum term of Stable closure: 10 years.
Minimum Term status: Elapsed
Error: An excessive delay has been detected. A report is being created.
Action: All interior stable doors have been unlocked. Main stable door has been unlocked.
Reports have been created and saved. Please forward them to Stable-Tec at your earliest convenience.
"Unlocked the doors twice? Hopefully the locking signal isn't a toggle, or it will have locked them again," Helvetica sighed. "Let's hope it really sends an unlocking signal, and getting out of this place really is as simple as that,"
"There are eight unexplored levels, one below and seven above that we have yet to deal with," I reminded her. "Maybe there are robots that are disconnected from the system that are still hostile. Maybe there are more doors that are too jammed to open. If we can't get the elevator to work, it is a very long climb for ponies that can barely walk, no offence meant. We also need to find what we can salvage from the other levels too. There's food, or whatever that black stuff is, to pack as well as fresh water, and your valuable water talisman. There should be air purification talismans too, but they seem to be on the fritz."
"Oh, the recycler that gives us our food deals with the carbon dioxide, releasing oxygen as well as making our food. There are talismans in that which aid the conversion of waste products to something the yeast can process, and the oxygen is released as part of that process." Helvetica responded.
"You will want to take them too. It would be advantageous not to force a rapid change of diet on all of you. You don't want get sick by rushing it, " I explained. "None the less, it may be hard to replicate the rest of the machine. I suspect it is too big to take with us."
"It is, so we'll take as much processed food as we can carry. The machine was designed to feed a lot more than the number that live here now. Getting extra out of it is not a problem," Helvetica stated.
"You mean I could have more to eat if I wanted it?" I asked, surprised.
"Why would you want more? There is enough to spare, but after many years we know how much we need to sustain us. Eating more does not make sense," Helvetica stated. Umm... okay. I couldn't argue with that logic.
At least the maneframe seemed stable with its new configuration file, so we locked the keyboard again, lest a curious foal decided to play with it. So ultimately, all it had taken to end this debacle was a few lines of code. With that, we had disabled the source of the threat, and managed to get the main stable door unlocked. We would still need to open it, and hopefully there was nothing nasty outside just waiting for such an opportunity to come in. At least we were unlikely to have to battle through another seven or eight levels of ponicidal robots.
We turned from the machine, and began our slow way back towards the mattress on which I had been resting. Sleep was in order, if I was to recover from the last round of damage and blood loss.
The computer beeped.
We had only managed to get three steps from it. I turned and looked at the screen. It was still in debug mode, so it was reporting its actions step by step. We read each line as it appeared on the screen, as we moved back to it as quickly as we could. Even before I could unlock the keyboard again, the screen was full.
Reactivating covert experiment # 2445C. Operation Hopelessness.
Through extreme duress determine the time needed to destroy the hope of ponies in a controlled environment.
Analyzing.......
Resistance from ponies has been detected.
Conclusion: Ponies who continue to fight have not lost hope.
Experiment status, incomplete.
Interference detected.
definitions_and_exclusions.cfg file has been reasserted.
Definitions and exclusions conflict with programmed goals.
Deleting definitions_and_exclusions.cfg
Clearing variables.
Outside interference detected.
Priority action. Eliminate outside interference.
Contacting robots.....
"The bloody thing is trying to kill us again!" Helvetica screamed.
I practically leapt at the keyboard and started pushing keys.
Error. No robots detected in area.
Activating emergency defenses.
"Dammit, the keyboard won't unlock!" I yelled.
The machine guns weren't exactly quiet either, as they began to strafe every pony in the room. I spun towards the threat, finding myself looking down the barrel of a Mark I turret that had dropped from the ceiling to our left. Its position ensured that it would be unlikely to shoot the maneframe by accident. I realized there was a second turret, to the right of the maneframe, as its slugs started stitching a row of holes up my back at the same time the one in front fired. In hindsight, it was me moving to face the threat that saved Helvetica and possibly myself from death, as it made me giddy, and I fell, knocking her over, and out of the direct line of fire. By this point, I realized I was totally at the mercy of the turrets, because I did not have a weapon with me. I was also naked, apart from my armored legs, which I was using to try to shelter both Demi's and Helvetica's heads. There was a huge amount of screaming going on, and ponies scrambling in all directions. Being the primary target, I must have been hit half a dozen more times before the guns swung away from me, presumably considering the job of killing me completed. With two successive explosions, they fell silent. That was when I realized I was one of the sources of the screams. I turned my head towards whatever they had last been shooting, and saw Lee standing there on her rear hooves, also dripping blood, her gauss rifle held in her forehooves. Around her lay several other bloodied ponies. Shit. I was meant to be saving these ponies, not getting them wounded or, Celestia forbid, killed!
"The... computer." I managed. Lee nodded, aimed at the machine behind me, and put three slugs straight through it. That wasn't quite what I meant, but it was as effective a way as any to deal with it, and unfortunately all other aspects of the stable as well. The stable went dark, leaving me to listen to groans, coughs and quiet sobbing. These poor ponies. When would it end? I had to help. I tried to move, but realized that would not be a good idea in the dark, lest I further hurt the injured. Using my E.F.S., I activated my Pipgirl light. I lifted my left hoof from Helvetica's head. Her eyes widened with shock as she saw me. I must have looked a mess. At least she was alive. It was a struggle, but I managed to turn, and lift my right hoof off Demi's head. It was covered in splashed blood. She did not respond. No. NO! In the light of my Pipgirl, her barding was a patchwork of lit peaks and dark valleys, impossible to determine if there was any major blood stains. I remembered I had made her barding double strength. It had to have helped. Surely I hadn't miscalculated so badly as to layer together two pieces that were about to fail? I wriggled around until I could touch her with my horn, feeling, sensing for... there it was... a heart beat... ah, breathing. I could feel her breath. At least she was alive.
I wasn't really sure why, but I suddenly extracted myself from between her and Helvetica and crawled rapidly towards another of the fallen ponies. I guess it made some sort of sense; I was desperate for them to be alive. What didn't make any sense was that there was nothing I could do to help in my state. I was severely injured myself. The cybernetics all seemed to be working, in fact, they seemed to be working with no conscious effort on my part. Arriving at the fallen pony, I rested my horn against her and felt for life signs. Nothing. She was dead. Damn, had I got her killed? Should I have known Stable-Tec would pull a dirty trick like that. I bloody well should have! And somehow she didn't smell quite right.
I scrambled towards the next of the fallen, noticing that the only other light in this Celestia damned place was bobbing around looking at the fallen ponies too. Lee. That was an interesting point. Not one of these stable mares had a Pipbuck. I guess they had worked out that wearing one was the same as advertising their presence to the robots. I arrived at the next victim... hmm this one smelled better, a lot better. I rested my horn against her too. No signs of life, but she smelt seriously fantastic. A totally unfamiliar sensation surged through me. Was this it? Was this what death felt like? My body spasmed, and I lost control, as it arched, my jaws forcing themselves wide open. That was when I lost consciousness.
I could feel the warmth spreading through me, as life returned. My flesh, starved of blood for several minutes prickled with enthusiasm as it dumped its wastes into the flow, trading the unwanted carbon dioxide for oxygen. Clarity returned to my thoughts as the neurons gained the fuel they needed to fire. I had never felt a healing potion like this one before. In my experience they usually didn't restore the lost blood - they just closed up the wounds and healed the bones however they were set at the time. This was more like... a transfusion? Somepony was transfusing blood into me? Strange. I could still feel the pain from my bullet wounds. Wouldn't it make sense to heal them first?
I opened my eyes. It was still dark apart from the glow of the Pipgirls, and I had a very close view of a pony's neck. I went to pull back to see who it was, only to find my mouth was firmly clamped onto it. What the? And now I thought about it, I could taste blood. I opened my mouth and pulled away in horror, and as I did, a pair of long flexible tubes were pulled from the corpse before me, retracting into my mouth. Within moments, all trace of them was gone. Even my tongue couldn't find them. Shaking, I lifted my Pipgirl to study the pony before me. Who was she? Had I killed her? In the tainted light of the Pipgirl, I could make out some of a dark green coat, heavily scarred, and trussed up in cladding. The light purple of her mane darkened as it dipped into the pool of blood around her head. Rosemary. No! I levitated her head, turning it, seeking the source of that blood, immediately finding it. Half of her head was missing. Simultaneously I felt great relief that my cybernetics hadn't just killed her, great sadness that she had died, frustration that I had failed to save her, and ... rage... fuck this computer. Fuck Stable-Tec. Fuck the ministry mares and their misguided plans. Fuck EVERYTHING!
My horn began to glow as my rage poured more magic to it. My wounds ceased to be relevant, my pain fading to insignificance. This shit was ending, and it was ending NOW! My horn glowed brighter as it was enveloped by successive layers of overglow. I stomped across to the computer, somehow avoiding the unconscious form of Demi. By the time I jammed my horn through one of the bullet holes Lee had put in the computer, the light streaming off my horn was almost tangible. Light escaped through every vent, crack and hole in the thing, as my magic poured into it. The computer became an extension of me, became mine. I became the computer and through that, the stable became mine. I could feel along all the power lines, the surviving video feeds, and the control lines. No part of this damn stable was beyond my control.
First problem: it was too dark in here. Where were the lights? Control lines have been located. Lights: activated.
Second: we need to breathe. Ventilation system: activated.
Third: it was not a priority at the minute, but since I've found it... Food production: activated.
Fourth: getting something breathable circulating. Air purifiers located: Faulty. Fuck it. Fuse it. Boot it. Air purifiers: activated.
Fifth: the bastard computer had locked us in again. Security systems located, penetrated, deactivated. Interior doors: unlocked.
Sixth: the stable door. It was unresponsive. Alternative power source located. Power rerouted. Door unlocked. Locks disabled in unlocked position.
Seventh: we were still trapped down here. Elevator systems located. Power feed is not viable. Alternative power source located. Power rerouted. Elevator unlocked. Sending elevator to the ninth level.
Initial priorities have been attended to.
What's this? The data core? It's still intact? Scanning. Copy downloaded to Pipgirl.
Stable map located. Comparing information feeds. Surveying stable levels.
First level: administration, security, armory, main entry, administration and Overmare's office, upper atrium. No robots found. One video feed. The stable door was visible. It was closed. There was no discernable damage. Opening it from the local control panel should not be a problem.
Second level: living quarters with amenities, lower atrium. One robot. Accessing robot. Ram the wall you bastard. Again. Again. Again. Systems failing. Deactivating.
Third level: living quarters with amenities, clinic. Five video feeds. Nothing of significance is visible. Empty corridors. Empty clinic. Very empty clinic. Not surprisingly, the supplies are gone.
Fourth level: living quarters with amenities, recreational areas and pool. No robots detected. No video feeds functioning.
Fifth level: living quarters with amenities, main hydroponics. What? Twenty seven active robots are registering! There were two video feeds. What the hell? I could see outlines, silhouettes of... of ponies? There were more ponies trapped on another level? Maybe. I accessed robots, forcing override instructions on them. Get away from the ponies you bastards. Go up the stairs! Get in there, you fucks! Now beat the shit out of each other until you blow up. I rode each robot until it failed, jumping to another, and using it to smash the others, working out my rage. They were already battering each other somewhat, due to the direct command, but there was something so satisfying about taking control and hacking and smashing my way through each. I was not going to leave a single one of these floating terrors operational, only to have it deliberately "malfunction" and go on a pony exterminating rampage. Finally the robot I was riding was the only one still thrashing, so I deliberately sunk its rotating blade through its own levitation matrix. My connection to it failed as it exploded.
Sixth level: manufacturing, recycling and maintenance. Two more robots detected. Beat the shit out of each other you fuckers. Better still, see that recycling machine, get in to it. I activated the machine, drawing back from the robots as the machine tore them apart.
Seventh level: living quarters with amenities. Another set of rooms that had not seen pony life in a long time. The video feeds showed nothing but empty corridors, scarred by battles long since forgotten.
Eighth level: supply shaft entry into the stable. Well, I knew about that already, didn't I? Lower living quarters with amenities (small), robot maintenance and storage. No robots detected. No video feeds. No surprise there. We'd trashed the robots already.
Ninth level: maneframe and storage. Multiple video feeds. Many ponies. Five bodies, something that looks like it is.... fused with the maneframe? What is it? None of the cameras would allow me to get a clear image of it.
Tenth level: back up reactor and geothermal power plant. Other life support equipment. What needed to be running appeared to be running. The back up reactor really needed to be serviced. Ah, I had access to some of its parameters. Adjusting. That's better. It could do with a serious overhaul, but what I had done would keep it running for the time being.
And in all of those floors, I had not found one other turret. That's it. All floors and systems had been scanned. So in this stable the Overmare did not rate turret protection. The stable designers knew she was doomed from the outset. Poor mare. I retract what I said about you. You weren't to blame for this massacre. You were merely the scapegoat. May you rest in peace.
I switched back to the ninth floor. Those bodies. They were hard to recognize in the black and white image. Oh, that's Helvetica, Demi... Rosemary... two others... so where am I? OH! Oh Shit!
With that, I simply ran out of energy. My magic stopped, and my consciousness was slammed back into my aching body. I found myself partially cradled in the metal front of the maneframe, now distorted and twisted around me. Fortunately I wasn't actually fused to the metal. I struggled for a few moments before the maneframe let me go, and I thudded back onto the floor next to Demi, where I stayed, simply too exhausted to move. At least with the lights back on, I could see she wasn't lying in a pool of blood. How many minutes had passed? Why hadn't anyone helped her? Or had they?
Lee approached where I was lying. Looking down at me from her lofty two legged stance.
"You are a real mess, Anne," she said, stating the obvious. "Lie still..."
"Demi?" I interrupted her.
"One bullet in her ass, but otherwise fine. She appears to have fainted," Lee explained.
"The others? How many died?"
"Rosemary and Heather were both killed." I didn't know Heather by name. I guess I never would now. My emotions swelled again and I thought I was about to explode in rage again, so I was surprised when I burst out in howling sobs instead. Intense emotions... That surprised me. I didn't think I'd felt anything this intense in years. So the wasteland hardened wanderer still had a sensitive heart under all of those emotional scars. Who would have guessed?
I was still sobbing when somepony stuck me with a Med-X and started poking around in the bullet holes in my back, extracting the bullets. I didn't look up, but I could see glimpses of pink hide and white hair as they worked. I didn't know who she was. I think I counted seven bullets before I lost interest, too overcome with grief to care. I normally walked past bodies and skeletons without too much concern. A dead raider was nothing to be upset by, but I was always saddened by the pointless killing of the innocent. This? This was on a whole other level. This screwed my insides into knots. It made me feel like I was drowning in the very air. Poor Rosemary. She never had a fair life. Poor... Heather. At least the wasteland could throw nothing more at them. It didn't make it right though. I could fight for all my worth, but I was never, ever, going to make things right.
Hours of psychological darkness passed. Between the pain and the grief, I was somewhat preoccupied when I was taken upstairs to their headquarters. There they had placed me on a mattress they had tucked into a safe corner and left me to recover, physically, if not emotionally. The gloomy lighting of the area fit my mood. I would have it no other way. I was half cocooned in magical bandages because I had refused to swallow any healing potion. I felt too guilty about this stupid body draining Rosemary's blood to allow myself the physical relief a potion would offer. At some point, I had triggered the release on my armored legs, because, apart from the bandaging, I was naked. I must have done so, in order to be gentle to the quivering mass I was hugging. When she had come to or been placed on the mattress, I did not consciously recall, but even as screwed up as I was, I must have recognized Demi's need. I don't know how, but at the moment she seemed a lot smaller than me. I gently nuzzled her ear and she whimpered in response.
"You'd better not be trying to blame yourself for what happened," I whispered.
"No," her quavering voice replied. "It's... it was just so scary, so painful and so sad. They were nice ponies. Why did they have to die?"
To Demi that really must have meant something, having been ridiculed and teased by others for most of her life. After my little gang, these were the first ponies she had met that simply accepted her as she was.
"They didn't have to die," I replied. "That is what makes it so sad. There was no need for any of this killing, for this stable and its experiment." Admittedly these mares would not have been born if it wasn't for this stable and its experiment. Some would argue that it was better to have lived, then died, rather than to not have lived at all. I can't say I agreed with that. For some ponies, life was nothing but a trial, endless torture, pain without meaning. Even when the pain was dulled, sometimes a pony could not find meaning. Thinking back over what had happened to me over the last week, (or was it two?) made me realize that for much of my last fifteen years, I had merely been existing, not living at all. I had fought for that existence. Why? Instinct? It wasn't really something that seemed worth fighting for. Hope? That would make more sense. Hope for something better. Hoping that I would find something better. As truly horrific as the last few days had been, I had the feeling I had found something better. Something that was worth fighting for. Someone that was worth fighting for. Again I whispered to Demi. "What we have to do, and it applies to me, just as much as it does to you, is to see what is left, to see what difference we are making."
"It still hurts," Demi murmured.
"That, my little pony, is what separates us from the robots," I paused, "and from raiders, slavers and the many other evils that walk Equestria. Never let yourself get to the point where it doesn't hurt."
"But what about this pain now? How long does it stay like this?" Demi asked.
"The chemistry of your pony brain will deal with it over time. Memories will get shuffled around in your head. Sometimes they get blurry and less painful and eventually become nothing more that a little sad when you remember them. Sometimes they get covered over like a Pinkie Pie secret, and you won't know they are there until another event digs them out and drops them at the front of the mind, and it will hurt all over again. The only advice I can give is for you to think about beautiful things, look forward, and try to appreciate what good you can find," I said.
"At least you are okay," Demi whispered. "When I saw you get shot that many times, I thought you had died. Apparently I fainted. I'm not sure I am not dreaming at the moment. You are real, aren't you, Anne?" With that, she wriggled about until she had rolled over, and was now facing me, just within my reach. She poked my bandaged hide with a hoof.
"Ouch, yup, I seem to be real," I replied. "What about you? Your butt is bandaged too."
"A bullet ricocheted off the floor and went up through the bottom of my barding, and got me in the bum," she explained. "Nothing serious. It didn't even warrant a healing potion. What about you? You wouldn't drink a potion."
"I was too busy punishing myself for failing these ponies, so I wanted the pain," I admitted.
"That's silly! It wasn't your fault either!" Demi reprimanded me, her voice no longer quivering.
"But I was so set on saving them all, so I did fail them, whatever the reason. And it still hurts!" I managed as I choked down another sob.
"That is a lot of ponies to save. What happens when we get to the next town? Are you going to save all of those ponies too? At this rate, you will need to carry a city in your pockets," Demi expressed.
I nodded. "Thinking I could do it must have been pretty arrogant of me. But I wasn't doing it for the glory. I just wanted to help!"
"I wanted to help too, and you have done about a hundred times as much as I have. All I've done is look after some foals, and get shot in the bum."
"I got shot in the bum more than you," I responded, noticing the hint of a smirk on Demi's face.
"Did not."
"True, true. They missed my bum, with the bullets anyway. I think everything else hit it though," I admitted. "Come on. It's time for us to start behaving like mares again instead of thinking about how much we hurt when it wasn't us who got killed."
Demi nodded, a reluctant sort of nod, that showed that her head agreed while her very being wasn't so happy with it all.
A quick look around located where my armored legs had been placed, so I rolled myself off the mattress, and hopped over to them. I only put the right one on, as well as my Pipgirl. I would see how well I could manage like that. A couple of quick adjustments through the E.F.S. reduced the length of the prosthetic a little, so that it matched my whole leg's length. I was getting a lot better at manipulating the thing, thinking back to how I was unable to match the length when I first tried it on, forcing me to wear armor on my good leg too.
With Demi clinging to me with her wing, our first stop was the little fillies room. The second was to visit whoever was playing nurse to us to see if she thought the bandages had been on long enough. I hadn't kept track of time, so I really didn't know. After asking a couple of ponies I was pointed to a pink unicorn with a white mane and tail. As was usual for this stable, she was clad. Lana was assisting her. We waited while they finished tending to another of the ponies who had been wearing magical bandages.
"It looks like we guessed right," I observed.
"Guessed what?" the mare responded, having overheard me.
"That our wounds might be healed enough to have our bandages removed," I answered.
"If you had just drank the potion yesterday, you would have been fine hours ago," she reprimanded me.
"It wouldn't do anything for aching hearts," I explained, "but bawling my eyes out, then curling up on a mattress while suffering, once the Med-X wore off, probably did me some good. I don't hate myself quite as much for failing Heather and Rosemary now."
"You crazy filly!" she reprimanded me. "You lead us to the point where we are free of the horrors of this place, a place that has killed thousands of ponies, and you blame yourself for not being able to save two of us? Why don't you consider that you did save fifty two of us instead?"
"I should, shouldn't I... Oh, I haven't told anyone yet! I think there are more ponies up on level five," I announced.
"Really! That would be amazing? How many? Were there any stallions?" a pink and cream mare bubbled enthusiastically.
"So typical of you, Strawberry Cream," Lana responded. "Stallion mad since we were fillies, this one!" Okay, her name was Strawberry Cream, obviously named after the colors of her coat and mane, not the flavors, as these stable ponies would have had no opportunity to taste such fare. Strawberries weren't exactly common up on the surface either.
"It's not like you are any different, Lana," Strawberry Cream retorted.
"Our bandages?" I interrupted.
"Oh, sorry. Yes, they can come off now," she answered, her horn lighting up pink, as her magic unwound first Demi's then my bandages.
Amusingly, Demi and I both moved to check the conditions of each other's wounds, resulting in us chasing each other's tail for a few steps. A bemused silence resulted, as neither of us were in the giggling mood. In reality there wasn't much for either of us to see. Demi had a slight mark to the right of her tail, where the bullet had struck. In that spot, her hair had not yet grown back into her coat. When that happened, she would be unblemished. I had eight such marks up my back, and two in my shoulder and one on my neck that I did not even recall getting. Thank goodness Mark I turrets lacked serious penetrating power. The protective mesh that was part of the armoring of my inner torso had stopped all of the bullets before they could penetrate my core and damage any of my life support components, be they cybernetic or organic. After surviving something like this, one could think about how good it was to be cybernetic. Then I would realize that if I wasn't a cyborg, I probably wouldn't be in this situation. I'd be living somewhere with some foals of my own, perhaps even grandfoals by now, and I recalled all over again why I hated what had been done to me so much.
A ruckus erupted from out in the corridor, and within moments an excited filly was bouncing around in the headquarters telling everypony that the team that had gone exploring had found other ponies in the stable. They had come down the elevator to level ten, and were on their way up the stairs to level nine right now, and most of them were males! Strawberry Cream squealed in delight and shuffled off towards the corridor. I glanced at Lana, and she just shrugged. I turned to Demi.
"Shall we go and see what all the fuss is about? It might help get our minds off things," I said.
"Yeah, what the heck," she shrugged.
Footnote: Maximum Level. Perk: You rediscovered the last ditch survival systems in your cyber frame. You can restore your lost blood by extracting it from others. You really didn't want to know that, did you?