//------------------------------// // Replaceable Parts // Story: The Fluttershy of Tomorrow // by Amneiger //------------------------------// Pre-read by Cheshire of Overly Extensive Editors. The male voice had come from Fluttershy’s right, from outside the vent. Fluttershy froze. “I say, hello! Are you alive? I hear a heart. Are you a friend?” There was movement outside in the hallway, and Fluttershy slowly turned her head to look. Was it an albino? Fluttershy couldn’t be sure; the creature outside had two arms and two legs and a torso and head like an albino, but his skin was a light pink instead of white. His black coat and pants were old and worn. He wore a bowler hat and carried a cane, and on his feet were shoes wrapped in dirty white rags. Fluttershy felt something poking her foreleg, and she looked down to see Little Ball vigorously shaking its head. It waved a leg in the air, trying not to make a sound as it spoke. The creature outside was a human! It wasn’t safe to talk to him. They should wait for him to leave. “You aren’t with Megiddo, are you? You don’t seem like one of his. Less metal, more life.” The human was leaning forward, towards the grate Fluttershy was looking out of. His head was tilted as if he wanted to turn it completely upside down like an owl, with one eyebrow raised in a inquisitive expression. The human’s question sparked another in Fluttershy’s head. Was this human with the soldiers, with Megiddo? Fluttershy didn’t think so. Just like with the clockwork ball, the human didn’t have the same look to him as the soldiers or this factory or any of the other places that had been claimed by Megiddo. And if the ball had been willing to help her… Fluttershy felt the ball poking her leg again. It didn’t want to say anything. It was scared. She leaned down towards it. “It’ll be okay,” she whispered. It looked up at her, then slowly nodded and then backed up against the wall. Fluttershy gave it a reassuring smile, then turned back towards the vent. “I’m here,” Fluttershy said, speaking loudly enough to be heard out in the hallway. “I’m not with Megiddo. Who are you?” “I – ” He grabbed his hat off his head and bowed “ – am Maxwell, gentlemen of the road – or at least the access corridors around Tacoma. I spend my hours with the Klondikes, fellow itinerants and transients.” Maxwell smoothly swung his arm up to put his hat back on his head. “And you would be?” “I’m Fluttershy,” Fluttershy said. “I’m not with anyone. I’m just here.” “Fluttershy,” he said, slowly, trying the word out. “What a strange name. It makes me think of pillows and marshmallows. Tell me, what is someone like you doing here? Megiddo has cameras everywhere, in the walls. His eye never closes, and his robots never sleep.” “Well…it’s a long story…” Fluttershy began. “Oh? Perhaps somewhere safer, then.” Maxwell straightened up and pointed to his right, down the corridor, in the direction the vent had been headed. “I just came from another room here. Server Room #11, near an assembly line. You’re in the vents?” “Yes.” “How far does it go?” Fluttershy peered down the ventilation tunnel she was in. It stretched off into the distance, and she couldn’t tell where it might end. “I’m not sure.” “Let’s find out, then.” He turned and pointed an arm down the hallway. “Onward!” “Well…all right.” Fluttershy looked at Little Ball; it was still looking nervously in the direction of Maxwell’s voice. “It’ll be all right,” she whispered to it again. It took one last glance outside before looking back at her and then standing at attention. She smiled. “Thank you.” Maxwell was already starting down the hallway, and Fluttershy followed him. He walked with his back straight and his cane just passing over the floor without touching it. His footsteps made a soft whooshing noise over the metal that would have been inaudible without her being almost next to him. Every few moments he would slow down and listen. Fluttershy walked along Maxwell in silence, with the ball walking behind her. The grates looking out into the hallway were running out up ahead. Fluttershy hoped that that wouldn’t mean she would have to keep walking in the dark. Then Fluttershy reached the last grate, looked around, and realized that the vent turned off to the left, away from the hallway. Fluttershy turned towards the corridor. “Maxwell?” Maxwell stopped and looked up at the grate Fluttershy’s voice was coming from. “Yes?” “The vent turns left. Away from here.” “Hmm. That’s unfortunate.” He swung his cane back and forth a few times, thinking. “Why don’t I go to the server room and wait for you there. Do you remember where it is?” “Server Room #11, near an assembly line.” “Excellent! Now, there’re a few hallways leading in and out of the production area. The server room is in the hallway that’s closest to an L-shaped bend in the assembly line with a light directly over it, and an arm with two arc welders. If you walk out of the hallway and you’re on that side of the room, you’ve gone too far and should look behind you.” “Um, excuse me…what’s an arc welder?” Maxwell tilted his head again, the same expression of inquisitiveness passing over his face. “You truly aren’t from around here, are you? An arc welder uses electricity to melt metal together. You’ll see lots of sparks coming from the weld area when it’s working.” “Okay.” Fluttershy tried to imagine what Maxwell had just told her in her head. “Very well. I’ll take my leave now, then. Be safe, my dear.” Maxwell reached behind himself, pulling out a garishly colored purple jacket. He pulled it on over his black coat, and for a moment there was a spot in the corridor that Fluttershy couldn’t make her eyes focus on. She blinked, and Maxwell was gone. Fluttershy turned towards Little Ball. It was still standing right behind her, waiting for her to say what to do. “Let’s keep going,” she said, and began walking down the vent. She followed it for what felt like at least fifteen minutes. At a few points she reached junctures in the vents; each time she took the one that felt like it was going to stay the closest to the path she had originally been taking to follow Maxwell. The vents always seemed to be right next to a corridor, with more grates to let in air and light; at one point she had even been underneath a floor when a patrol of three soldiers had gone by. She had stopped and hunkered down until they had passed out of sight before moving on. Finally, she turned a corner and was at another grate large enough for her to fit through. Fluttershy looked out first; it opened up into another corridor. She pushed it open and gently flew out, carrying the ball out with her in the basket. The corridor opened up into a large room several feet to her right, and she looked out there first. It was a long, L-shaped room, with walls and a floor with a reddish tint. Fluttershy was at the end of the longer part of the room, with the room bending to her right and the other end out of sight. Two assembly lines snaked their way around the corner side by side, ending in a pair of bins close to where Fluttershy was. The things on the conveyer belts caught the light as they moved, and Fluttershy saw that they were more of the soldier’s lightning weapons. Three soldiers were on the factory floor, walking a slow patrol pattern with their lamps scanning side to side. The room was filled with the clanking sound of heavy machinery. Just on the other end of the room, where the assembly line curved to go around the bend of the room, Fluttershy saw an arm that split halfway down into two, smaller arms. It bent down towards a weapon that was coming down the line, and the ends of both flared into sparks and smoke. Just behind the arm was an open doorway leading into another corridor. It had to be the one leading to the room Maxwell was going to meet Fluttershy in. But what leapt out at Fluttershy were the pale, gaunt figures standing at the various machines around the assembly line. More albinos. Fluttershy looked at them. Their arms and legs were skeleton-thin, and their ribs were prominent on their chests; they weren’t eating well. Their hair had become nothing more than faint wisps on their heads. They had to be prisoners. Maybe if she got close to them she could ask them for help. She’d need to hover just off the ground to stay quiet; the loud noise of the assembly line might be enough to hide the sound of her hoofsteps from the soldiers, but she didn’t want to take chances. “Get in the basket,” she said to Little Ball. There was a flash of movement in front of her. The albino closest to her had turned her head in Fluttershy’s direction. There was a milky white film over her eyes; she was blind. “Who’s there?” The voice was just above a whisper. It trembled slightly. The albino’s hands slowed, but didn’t stop. “Who’s there?” she said again. Fluttershy tried to think what to do. Stay hidden, or greet the albino? Maybe she could get help. “I’m Fluttershy,” she said. “Who are you?” “I’m Lisa.” She turned the rest of her body slightly, towards Fluttershy. “Please, come closer…” Fluttershy hesitated, then flew and landed next to the albino. Lisa put a hand on Fluttershy’s head for just a moment and then snapped her hand back up to her work. Fluttershy looked at what was on the assembly line. It was Fluttershy-themed dentures. Lisa’s machine was putting labels onto the dentures, which were in a clamshell package. Lisa was pulling down on a lever as each denture rolled in front of her. A chime would go off, and Lisa would pull down on the lever, placing a Fluttershy sticker on the dentures and moving the line along. “You don’t feel like one of them,” Lisa said. “Where did you come from? Are you from outside?” Fluttershy wasn’t sure if Lisa meant outside the factory or outside the city, but both were true in any case. “Yes, I am.” “Please, help us.” Lisa’s voice shook. “They keep us prisoner here. They only give us one meal a day and a few hours of sleep, and if one of us drops they take them away and we never see them again…” Lisa stopped to cough. “There’s a central reactor near the prison. It powers the security systems…if you shut it off, we can all get out.” “Where’s the prison?” “I…” Lisa coughed again. “I’m not sure…they bring us here in boxes, and we can’t see outside. Please, can you help us?” “I can try…” Fluttershy wondered if Maxwell knew where the prison was. “But I need to get to the other side of the room, to the door near the two arc welders. I need to ask someone where the prison is.” “That door? Yes…” Lisa paused, thinking. “There’s a panel behind me, with some wires. You can turn off the lights. They’ll bring in more security once the lights are back on, but you should have a minute.” “All right.” Fluttershy looked back at the assembly line again. “Can I take one of the dentures?” “Dentures? Is that what we’ve been doing? You shouldn’t. Megiddo might be counting them.” “All right. Thank you.” Fluttershy flew back towards the doorway, where she had left Little Ball. Fluttershy wondered how she was going to navigate in the dark. Hopefully if she left the machinery on it would cover the noise of her flying into the walls. If only she had some sort of night vision. Fluttershy remembered something from when she had first met Little Ball. “You can see in the dark, right?” Little Ball nodded. Fluttershy looked up at the ceiling of the factory room. It was high enough for her to fly comfortably with the wicker basket over the heads of the albinos and the soldiers. “I’m going to turn off the lights in there,” Fluttershy said. “Can you help me fly through to the door over there?” Fluttershy pointed. Little Ball squinted, looking out at the far door, and then nodded. “Okay. Stay in the basket.” Fluttershy picked up the basket and carefully entered the room until she could see the handle of the panel set into the welded steel of the wall. She opened it. The inside of the panel was a tangle of red and green wires. She had no idea which was which. Fluttershy looked around. The soldiers were at the far end of the room, going around the assembly line and starting to head in her direction. She needed to do something, fast. Fluttershy took a deep breath, reached a hoof into the tangle, and pulled. There was a loud crack as all the lights went out. The machinery screeched. The soldier’s lamps suddenly seemed much brighter in the darkness. Fluttershy closed the panel, reached to her side where she had left the basket; her hooves closed on it, and she lifted off. “Am I facing the right way?” she whispered. Little Ball clicked yes. “Good. Tell me when to stop.” Fluttershy flew forward. Beneath here, there was shouting and footsteps. The soldiers’ lamps were getting closer to the panel. Little Ball clicked again; they needed to stop and turn left. Fluttershy hovered in mid air, slowly turning until the ball clicked that she needed to head down. Fluttershy risked a quick glance around; the soldiers were gathered near the panel, one of their lamps shining clearly into the open panel. Fluttershy dropped down into the doorway just as the lights clicked back on. When she was safely in the corridor, Fluttershy put the basket down and dropped to the floor. Her hooves were shaking a bit, and she took deep breaths. After a few moments she felt her pulse decreasing and her heart calming down, and she got back up. Fluttershy didn’t stay to see what would happen next. She needed to find Maxwell, before the extra security Lisa had said was coming could get here.