Tall metal walls encased the Puzzle. She sat in front of her mirror, it's cracked surface sending back her broken reflection. She just sat, and stared, just like every other day in her life. But then the doors opened and two guards stepped in, standing next to the doorway. A stallion walked through, clearly dressed as a doctor, but he didn't look anything like a pony. He had a long, thin neck with dark grey spots covering his body. His hooves clicked against the cold stone floor, ringing in the air. He carries a tool box with his magic, a sign that he's a unicorn. He had a lab coat on, with his ID reflecting the light in the room. It read : Gira Shinikau Robotic Engineer Staff # 4803. "Gira," she thought, her eyes trailing back to her reflection and away from the stallion. "What kind of name is that?"
'Gira' sat the toolbox next to Puzzle's flank and stopped. He was now just a few hoof-steps away. He reached out and opened the toolbox, removing a thin circle of metal with little metal balls along it, and a screwdriver. He set them down next to Puzzle and waited. He sat down and stared at her, and she stared right on through her reflection. They sat like that for what seemed like hours, until Puzzle finally spoke. "What do you want?" she asked, her voice dry and hoarse from it's lack of use in the past months. Gira smiled at her, and finaly spoke as well. "Hello, Puzzle. I've heard a lot about you!" His voice was cheery and full of happiness.It wasn't deep, like the other guards, but it was a nice mellow tone. Puzzle turned around, facing Gira. "Oh, have you now...let me guess, all the 'Good Things'?" Gira smiled softly and shook his head. "Of course not Miss, I've heard of everything. It isn't a secret here, you know." Puzzle sighed and turned her body away from the mirror and towards Gira. "Yeah...I know..." "Well,"he went on, obviously seeing her sadness, "I'm here for a special little project!" Puzzle froze, her eyes locked on the stallion. Her mind went back, just a few years ago.
The scientist wanted to see what made her tick, so they wanted to cut her up and experiment. Puzzle went along with it, but they didn't give her any sort of pain medication for the surgery, resulting in a young mare tied to a metal table, surrounded be ponies in white lab coats, cutting her open as she cried from the pain...Her mind finally released her, leaving her gasping for breath in front of Gira. He leapt forward, holding her up as her body shook with fear. When she finnaly did regain her mind, she pushed Gira off her forcefully, and curled up in a ball to shiver by herself. "It won't be like that, Puzzle." he said, almost like he was reading her mind. She stopped shivering and uncurled, facing Gira again. "Then what will it be like?" she asked, all weakness leaving her voice. Gira smiled again, obvious to her curiosity.
He nodded towards the metal band in front of her. "That right there is for protection." he said. "For the doctor's that'll enter here. The guards too." Puzzle let this sink in. "Go on..." "When one of the lab personnel's ID cards gets within scanning distance of this little thing," he said, nodding to the metal band. "A small shock of about 7 volts will shock you. Nothing too bad though, just enough to make you twitch." Puzzle stopped. A shock. For safety. On her. For others...
"If I refuse?" she asked, glaring at the stallion. Gira retained his small smile. "Well, there's always killing you." Puzzle stopped. Gira acted so nice when he said that, his voice moving fluidly to say the words. It sounded, natural, somehow. Puzzle huffed. Gira waited for a few more minutes for a response, before picking his the metal band and screwdriver back up with his magic and placing them back in the toolbox. He grabbed the toolbox and stood up, heading back towards the door. "Oh, one more thing, Puzzle," he said, pausing in the doorway. "Red is your favorite color, right?" he asked. Puzzle shook her head, deciding not to respond. Gira smiled. "It may yet be." And then he was gone...