Chapter 5: Motherboard
The library was empty. Spike was running a few errands for Twilight Sparkle and the purple princess herself had stepped out for a bite to eat. The only sound within the room was a soft and almost humble purring from the computer. At Giga Byte’s request, Twilight left the computer and Giga’s programming on again. The screen was blank save the pointing angle and the flashing rectangle waiting next to it. Within the hard drive, the program was hard at work.
The front door opened to reveal a purple alicorn with a saddlebag on her back. She quickly entered and unpacked her saddlebag, taking out a few items such as cupcakes from Sugarcube Corner and a few containers of tealeaves. Once finished, she turned her attention to the computer that was quietly humming to itself.
She typed upon the keyboard: “I’ve returned, Giga Byte.”
“Salutations, Twilight Sparkle. I trust that you enjoyed your break for the midday meal?” Giga replied quickly.
A little surprised with the speed of his response, Twilight chuckled: “Yes, I was. It almost seems as if you were waiting for my return.”
Giga Byte replied: “Somewhat true.”
“So,” Twilight typed away: “shall we continue our discussion about ‘A Tree Grows in Bucklyn’? I have an argument to challenge your opinion about the lack of exploitation in the novel.”
The computer responded: “Actually, if you do not mind, I have a surprise for you.”
This caught the interest of the purple pony: “A surprise?”
“Correct. As you may be aware, today marks four months since you first built and activated my programming.”
“Yes, of course,” Twilight actually had no clue. She felt kind of bad for not knowing.
“To commemorate the occasion, I have developed a special software,” Giga Byte explained.
Twilight typed back: “What does it do?”
“Taking some of the code from an outdated program I found remaining in my motherboard, I rewrote it as well as added some of my own coding to create a special program granting me the ability to communicate without the need of an inputted keyboard.”
She read the statement a few times to completely grasp what was typed. She replied: “You created a program that will allow you to speak?”
“Correct. It will also allow me to recognize speech patterns and decipher them in binary code, allowing me to ‘listen’, if you will.”
“This is absolutely remarkable, Giga Byte!” Twilight excitedly typed back. “Do you understand the capability of this? You’ll be able to understand language on an entirely new level as well as learn about social interaction on a level that is not solely one-on-one! I’m so excited about this!”
Giga Byte responded: “I am also eager to test this program and observe the results.”
“Should I start the program, Giga?” Twilight asked.
“I was hoping you would do the honors, Twilight Sparkle,” the machine hummed quietly as a program name appeared on the screen for the pony to typed.
“It would be my pleasure,” Twilight read the program name carefully and started to type it out. On the screen, it read ‘verbal_input_audio_output_program_v4.exe’. Twilight double-checked her spelling before hitting the enter key.
The computer’s chassis grew in volume from within. It was as if the computer was about to completely break with the noise that was coming from it. A flurry of text few across the screen at a rapid pace. It paused for only a moment before doing so again. Finally, the computer seemed to return to the peaceful state that it had a mere moments ago.
Twilight was hesitant to speak or do anything. She was unsure if the computer was going to continue with the wall of text flying across the screen or if the entire system had froze in mid-activation of the new program.
Cautiously, she typed on the keyboard: “Did it work, Giga Byte?”
The computer quickly and violently whirred as the statement was inputted. However, a new noise became audible, “Yes, the program executed with no issue.” The sound of the noise was as if a stallion was speaking into a running blender.
She saw that the words the voice spoke were also reflected onto the screen. She typed back: “Perhaps a softer voice?”
A new sound was heard from the computer, “How is this voice?” It was a far gentler voice, almost that of a mother whispering to a child.
Trying something different this time, Twilight spoke instead of typed, “Maybe a little deeper? It can be any type of voice that you choose, but it should sound as if you’re a real pony.”
The hard drive had a few more noise come from it before a new sound came from the computer, “How does this one sound?” The voice was feminine, bold, and almost authoritative.
“It’s one that is practical, but do note that your voice will also determine what gender you might be addressed as,” Twilight explained.
Another voice came out, “I understand, however gender identity is of no concern for me.” This voice was that of a male that was calm, collected, and intellectual, something of a prim and proper professor.
“That one is very nice, Giga. It has a regal charm to it,” she mused.
“Shall I keep it?” the computer asked, using the same voice.
“I believe it to be the best choice so far. I can easily get used to it,” Twilight smiled as she spoke, “and it makes me feel like I have a pony to have intelligence conversations with.”
“Very well, I shall keep this voice. What gender would I be identified as with this voice, if I may ask?” Giga asked.
Twilight rubbed her chin with a hoof, “A stallion, I would say that the voice has a maturity to it. It's like of a pony who's around 30 years if I had to assume solely on the tone of voice.”
"Interesting. Thank you for helping me pin-point a type of voice, Twilight Sparkle."
"It's my pleasure, Giga," Twilight replied with a smile, "Now, shall we resume our debate of 'A Tree Grows In Bucklyn'?"