The house was silent, the only noise being the sound of quiet breathing from Binary, who still slept soundly in her bed.
Downstairs in the kitchen, Chip remained fixated on his task of removing the virus within his systems. Chip had never had a virus before; of course he had had malfunctions and bugs, but those were easily solvable, but this, this virus was much different, it tried to avoid being fixed, it persistently attempted to cause harm and it seemed beyond Chip's control.
The absolute focus that the task required caused Chip to neglect noticing a piece of the kitchens metal flooring being engulfed in a fizzing orange aura. The metal began to peel off, revealing the circuitry in the floor. A sharp tug on the metal snapped it off the ground and the resulting shard resembled a crude blade with jagged edges, like the lid on a can after being opened. The metal slowly levitated into the air, then moved toward the living room.
The blade passed through Chip's holographic body as it went by, inadvertently shaking Chip from his preoccupied state. Chip shook his head slightly, then looked toward the knife. He could not see the aura surrounding the metal but it was obvious something was amiss. Chip watched as the makeshift blade slowly floated toward the staircase.
The virus would have to wait. Needles to say, a jagged piece of metal floating around the house took precedence. Chip hopped down from the stack of boxes he had been standing on, then took a few steps toward the staircase and watched as the blade ascended. Chip began to walk toward the floating piece of metal.
“Wrong” he said to himself.
It was true, something was wrong, but Chip couldn't quite put a hoof on what it was. He pressed onward and quickly found himself at the foot of the stairs. He looked up the flight of stairs, then reached a hoof up to start climbing the first step.
The sound of distorted metallic sounding hoofsteps quickly approached the staircase.
Chip turned “Wrong” he said, as Binary charged passed him up the stairs.
He only caught a glimpse of her face as she went by, her eyes looked tired, her mane was an oily mess atop her head, and her face showed the signs of disappointment and extreme exhaustion.
“Wrong” Chip blared out again. Chip placed a hoof against his head as though he was trying to ease a head ache. Once again he was broken from his current state by the sound of another set of hoofsteps, this time with far less distortion. Chip turned and saw a much smaller version of the metal pony walking around near the foot of the stairs.
The little metal pony looked up at the walls and ceilings, it's metal face showed a smile. The metal pony then looked toward the stairs and began to happily giggle as it began to try and run, only moments before having gotten the basics of walking, running proved very difficult for it. The metal pony stumbled a few times before reaching the foot of the stairs, where it cautiously began it's ascent.
“Wrong” Chip said again.
The metal pony got about halfway up the stairs before it missed a step while reaching out with it's foreleg. It's weight quickly shifted backward as it was about to receive it's first lesson in life... gravity hurts. The pony tumbled backward down the stairs, quickly impacting the floor and for a moment, it laid motionless on the ground. Moments later it began to make a whimpering sound, then slowly got to an upright sitting position. The pony held it's right front leg with it's left leg. It's whimpers quickly turned into a loud cry as it began to look around, suddenly becoming fearful of everything around it.
What seemed like an eternity passed for the metal pony before, Binary finally appeared at the top of the stairs.
“Wow!” Binary said excitedly, unaware or uncaring of the robot's predicament “It actually worked” she said. Binary sprinted down the stairs and began to examine her creation, paying no mind to the metal pony's cries.
The metal pony buried it's face under it's forelegs in an attempt to pretect itself from Binary. It's wails became more high pitched and fear driven.
At this point, Binary finally bothered to take note of her creation's state.
“Hey” Binary said, her voice was frighteningly distorted for some reason. Binary then stretched a hoof out and lightly poked the metal pony.
The metal pony peaked one of it's eyes out from it' huddled forelegs and looked up at Binary.
“Don't be afraid” said Binary “We're friends, you don't need to be afraid of me”
The metal pony pointed a hoof at Binary and question marks flashed on it's eyes.
“Who am I” she said “I'm... uh...Binary Steel. I made you, so we can be friends”
“m...ma...m... Mama” the metal pony stuttered out.
“Yes, technically...but it's more like I'm your maker, but more importantly, I'm your friend” Binary stretched out a foreleg and wrapped it around the metal pony, then scooted it closer to her. She then wrapped her other foreleg around her creation and hugged it tightly “I just can't believe you actually worked”
The metal pony could feel the mares warm flesh against it's cold metal body, it felt safe. The metal pony then returned the gesture and hopped up to wrap it's front legs around Binary's neck.
The image of the two then faded away into a cloud of glowing white code.
“Sweet...but still wrong” Chip said, having already shrugged off the odd event. He looked back up the stairs and to his annoyance he saw the orange pony standing at the top of the stair case, staring at him with piercing red dots eyes. Chip did not react, the figure he saw was only a hologram after all. He ignored the eery stare and continued to climb up the stairs.
“It's just not fair” a strange, deep, metallic voice said from the upper floor. Moments later a slightly larger metal pony quickly descended the stairs.
“Uno, where are you going?” said Binary, followed quickly by her descent down the stairs.
“I'm going outside” retorted the metal pony, or Uno as it had been called.
“No!” Binary shrieked.
Uno paused as though it had never been yelled at before.
Uno turned back toward Binary and asked in an indignant tone “No... you're saying that I literally can't go outside?”
Binary rolled her eyes “No... you technically can, but I don't want you to”
“But... I want to go outside” Uno pouted.
“I said no!” Binary ordered.
“Well... I'm going anyway” Uno said defiantly.
Uno grabbed the door knob and pulled the door open. Unfortunately, the metal pony did not notice Binary charge toward him. Binary slammed the door shut just as Uno poked it's head outside. The door closed on Uno's face, snapping the hinge on it's jaw, causing it to hang loosely on it's face. The metal pony pulled it's head back inside before anymore damage could be done.
“Ow! That hurt!” Uno screamed.
Binary's anger turned to worry as she took a few steps back “I'm sorry” she said.
“I don't care” Uno said before charging off to another part of the house.
Binary stood at the door and hung her head “I just... don't want to lose you”
“Hypocrite, she gets to go outside all the time” Uno muttered to itself.
The figures vanished into a scattered and jumbled mess of red code.
Chip turned back to the stairs and resumed his climb.
Once he reached the top, he was met with an unfamiliar sight. A door blocked Chip from continuing down the hall.
“Wrong” said Chip. He pushed against the door and it creaked open. Inside, Binary sat with her back against a wall, holding an ice pack on her head.
Uno then faded into the scene.
“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. You grabbed me off the windowsill and I got scared, I...I didn't mean to hurt you” Uno said as he examined where he had kicked his maker.
Binary looked up at her creation “Why can't you just be a good friend and accept I know what's best for you. Outside is just too hard!”
“But maybe...maybe it's not too hard for me, please mama” said Uno.
Binary glared at the metal pony, then stood up. She threw the pack of ice in her creations face. Uno stumbled back from the impact.
“Shut up! Stop calling me your mama, I'm your friend, we're supposed to be best friends... not...whatever this is! Why can't you just be normal, I made you so you'd be normal... but this isn't...” Binary began to choke up before stomping away toward her room, desperately holding back tears as she went.
“Please ma... Maker, don't be...” The metal pony's word's were cut off by the sound of Binary slamming her bedroom door. The metal pony stepped toward the top of the stairs and stood there silently. Uno then let itself fall down the stairs, making an un-ignorable amount of noise in the process. It came to an abrupt stop at the bottom of the stairs, then waited for it's maker to come check on it. It waited several minutes but their was no response.
“Um... uh... Ow. I hurt myself” Uno yelled, letting on he was hurt more than he was.
“Shut up!” Binary shrieked.
The figures abruptly flickered away into nothingness, the misplaced door disappeared and the piece of jagged metal floated ever further down the hall.
Chip shook his head slightly “This is just wrong”
He continued on down the hall, only managing to proceed a few steps before once again being distracted, this time by a light coming from the bathroom. Chip attempted to resist but his inhibitions failed him and he found himself walking closer to the bathroom. He reached the door and peaked inside.
Binary and Uno appeared in the bathroom. The metal pony levitated a scrub brush to clean the sink, while Binary filled the bath tub with water.
“Look... I'm sorry about what happened yesterday, it was an accident” said Uno.
“No, it's okay, I'm starting to get used to the 'accidents' ” Binary quietly whimpered as her right eye twitched.
Upon closer inspection, Binary's physical state was the worst Chip had ever seen her in. Her eyes were red and blood shot possibly from a lack of sleep, her knees trembled, and her legs had bruises on them from several 'accidents'.
“It's really impossible to blame you for anything that you do, because I designed you to do everything you do and why would I design you to hurt me, or ki...eh-hem, lost my train of thought... I mean, I know you can't do anything you'd really regret even if it was an accident”
“Regardless, I really am sorry, I can't control myself sometimes” Uno said insincerely.
“It's okay...” Binary took a long pause before continuing “But, I don't think we can be friends anymore”
“What?” Uno asked.
Before Uno could react, Binary turned and grabbed her creation, then hoisted it up over her head.
“What are you doing! Stop! Please!” The metal pony cried.
Binary tossed the metal pony into the bathtub. Uno's body sparked as it's internal systems became soaked. It then began to shudder as though it was having a massive seizure. It reached a hoof out to the edge of the tub, but it's strength had already faded enough to make any effort to save itself in vain.
“Mama! Mama!” It screamed repeatedly.
Binary averted her gaze and reached a hoof out to push the metal pony's head under the water, she may get electrocuted but at this point, she really didn't care. The metal pony's muffled screams of pain could still be heard under the water.
Binary's lips moved but only a muffled sound could be heard.
After a few moments the struggle stopped. Binary hesitantly looked into the bath tub. The metal pony's once orange, life filled eyes were now dark and dead, although they still seemed to be staring at her. Several tears fell from Binary's face and into the bath water. She then reached her front legs into the water and pulled the metal pony out of the tub. She sobbed as she hugged the corpse of one of the only friends she had ever had.
“Wrong... please be wrong” Chip said to himself “I wish not see these broken memories anymore” The door became engulfed in Chip's dull blue aura and he pulled it shut. He looked down the hall, the metal shard had nearly flown down the entire length of the hall way. Chip walked down the hallway as several more of the distorted memories appeared on the walls around him. But he would not be deterred, he pressed onward down the hall.
Chip turned the corner and walked towards Binary's room. The door had been left open, Chip peered inside and saw Binary still sleeping quietly. The jagged piece of metal seemed to have disappeared. Chip let out a sigh of relief.
His eyes widened as the orange pony suddenly appeared at the end of the bed, it sat limply like a puppet that had been cut from it's strings, and it stared at Chip.
“Um... shoo. Go away” Chip said quietly.
The orange pony began to whimper and it's eyes shifted toward the bed.
The jagged blade then ascended from underneath the covers, a dark red liquid dripped from it.
Chip's body fizzed and he took a few steps back as he attempted to wrap his mind around what he was seeing. He shook his head slightly as he attempted to regain his composure, then he ran to the bed and scrambled up onto it.
He watched as the bed's covers were quickly stained with blood. Chip's body turned purple as despair overcame him, he stumbled for a moment as he quickly turned from green to purple, then back to a dark blue. Chip sat down beside his lifeless maker. He tilted his head slightly as he looked at Binary. He had never actually seen a dead thing before
“So this is death” Chip said to... himself “Doesn't seem much different... apart from the blood. It's quiet, peaceful”
By the looks of it she had gone quickly, without a struggle, a comforting thought in the wake of such an enormous loss.
Out of the corner of Chip's vision he watched as the orange pony sat down beside him. Chip looked toward the orange pony and examined it's face. The expression was at one point sorrowful, with digital tears rolling down it's cheeks, but every few moments it would abruptly straighten it's posture and a grotesquely forced smile came to it's face.
“I think I understand now, why you've done this” Chip stood “But we had one goal, a goal to make the world better. It matters not what she had done to you, you're time was over. This did not need to happen, this does not make the world better”
The orange pony once again snapped up into it's smile. It then began to uncontrollably giggle. “Don't be so dramatic, while I am so ecstatic, you are a visitor in these scenes, nothing here is it as it seems, how does it feel... your first dream?”
Chip analyzed the words the orange pony had used. Visitor, scenes, as it seems... first dream. Though none of these words had as much meaning as the word 'feel'.
Chip looked down at the bed and saw that his body was leaving an impression. He rubbed his hoof along the covers, he could feel the fabric. He became entranced by the softness of the bed.
“Wrong” Chip said as he forced himself to ignore the comforting feeling of the bed “All of this is wrong” Chip looked toward the orange pony “You are wrong!”
The orange pony's body flickered back and forth between orange and blue. Their was meaning behind this but Chip had no time nor reason to figure it out.
For the last several minutes Chip had been deceived by the little orange brat, the whole twisted slide show of memories had been nothing but a cover, nothing but a lie... and Chip hated lies.
The orange pony looked down at it's hooves. It's eyes widened as it watched it's back hooves become encased in blue ice. The orange pony did not attempt to flee, it simply flopped it's rump on the ground and slowly clapped it's fore-hooves together in a show of congratulation for Chip deciphering it's little mind game.
The room began to fuzz and flicker as Chip did his work. What showed as encasing the orange pony in ice was the visual equivalent to Chip compartmentalizing the virus from the rest of the houses systems.
Chip walked closer to the now completely frozen pony, allowing him to analyze it in order to avoid future corruptions. Chip then began the process of deleting the virus, effectively wiping it from existence. Oddly enough the visual representation of this was head butt. Chip struck his forehead against the virus's frozen head. The orange pony shattered into a collection of shards that melted away before they hit the ground.
Chip looked around the room as it began to fragment apart, like a dream on the verge of it's end. After a few moments of the bizarre display, the room instantly turned back to the kitchen that Chip had never left the whole night.
Chip let out a sigh of relief. “Right” Chip said to himself as he looked around the kitchen “That was a waste of time... now, why am I talking to myself?” Chip asked himself, he had never talked to himself before, it was illogical, he could just as easily think... Chip paused, something was missing, something wrong something very very wrong.
The piece of metal flooring from the illusion was still missing.
Wasting no time, he zipped his body up to Binary's room. He quickly glanced around and spotted the orange pony standing on the wall above Binary's bed. The orange pony playfully flipped the weapon around in it's orange aura as if waiting for Binary to poke her head out from under the covers with the hope of seeing her terrified expression before he allowed it's blade to fulfill it's purpose
The aura around the blade turned green as Chip's blue aura overlapped the orange pony's own aura.
The orange pony looked toward Chip, it sneered at him before yanking on the blade. The blade did not move, it stayed suspended in the air, just a few feet from Binary's head. The orange pony made a straining sound as it continued to try and push the blade down toward Binary.
The orange pony's body crackled as it released the pressure on the metal shard, giving up on it's futile attempt to out power, Chip. It's broken smile turned downward into a sharp frown, it then looked toward Chip and let out a demonic sounding screech. It then zipped it's body down in front of Chip, releasing it's hold on the shard in the process.
The orange pony's grotesque frown then shrunk down to a reasonably sized smirk. From the looks of it, it seemed impressed by Chip. The orange pony then walked past Chip, it slowly made it's way toward the room in which it's metal body still laid. With a sporadic flash the orange pony suddenly disappeared.
Chip zipped his body to where the orange pony had been last, he then began to try and determine where in the houses systems the intruder had gone to, but their was no trace of it. The comforting thought that the orange pony had left came to Chip's mind. Unfortunately this thought was short lived as Chip's attention was stolen by the door to metal pony's room, which slowly began to creak open. Chip watched as the door opened completely, and standing on the other side of the door was the orange pony, only now it had retaken it's metal body.
The metal pony simply stared at Chip, seemingly content in staying in it's position. It then let out a quiet, distorted chuckling sound as it ran it's metal hooves along the hardwood floor. It then quickly turned and ran towards the bed it had laid in for so long. It jumped onto the bed and then began to cheerily laugh as it hopped up and down, staring at Chip all the while.
Chip's body sparked “Are you mocking me?” asked Chip.
The metal pony attempted to respond but it's voice box made every word it attempted to say came out as nothing more than a distorted collection of screeching noises. The metal pony ceased it's attempt at words as it let out a disgusted warble. It hopped down from the bed and stepped toward the hallway. The metal pony once again stood in front of Chip, but now it looked past him, toward Binary's room.
Chip did not follow the metal pony's gaze, lest it simply be an attempt to distract him. Chip shook his holographic head, he wasn't thinking clearly, he could see the entirety of the house through his camera systems, he could go anywhere anytime he wanted, he could even have multiple copies of his body; so why was he so concerned with keeping eye contact with this intruder. The answer eluded Chip no matter how hard he thought about it, it was a mystery and as far as Chip cared, a mystery was nothing more than a withholding of information, nothing but a big lie.
The metal pony raised an eye brow as though it was aware, and amused by Chip's difficulty with coping with the situation. It then jerked it's body backward as if it were pulling on something. The metal shard then flew through the hallway, passing through Chip as it went. The shard stopped and floated a few inches from the metal pony's gaping jaw. Strands were then peeled off of the shard and each strand slipped into the metals ponies mouth.
The metal pony once again attempted to speak “Cooovvvvdddd....g-g-g-g-gzzzzzzttttt...mmmuuuuuuueeeee” The metal pony banged a hoof against it's chest “D-d-Do Ra Me Fa So La Te Do” the metal pony quietly sang out. It chuckled a bit, then said “Come get me, Toy”
Without hesitation, Chip's body turned into a blue flash of electricity. The flash struck the metal pony, granting Chip access to it's body. The machines eyes quickly turned blue, signaling Chip's control over the body.
Chip didn't understand, the orange pony had given over control without even putting up so much as a firewall. Even though the confusion still lingered in his mind, Chip had a much more pressing matter to attend to. Chip quickly identified where the orange pony was in the body's system. But once again it seemed too easy.
“Delete” said Chip. And with that, the orange pony was nothing more than a memory. Chip sat down, then sighed. He then realized that he had literally sat down and sighed. He shot up from his sitting position. A sudden sensation overwhelmed Chip as he felt the space around him. He could feel his hooves against the cold wood ground. He looked down at the floor, then pushed down on it... and it resisted him.
His voice quivered as he spoke “Am I... not a specter anymore” His whole body shuddered, something he obviously wasn't used to. He fell to his knees as a hundred different thoughts battled it out in a competition of relevance... but of course only one thought really came to the forefront of Chip's mind “What will Binary think” Chip ceased his shuddering.
“Chip” Binary called from her room.
Chip's metal ears shot up in excitement and he began to sprint to the room's exit. He quickly realized that running was much more difficult than standing. He almost immediately stumbled and fell flat on his face. Chip groaned as he attempted to get back onto his hooves.
“I can't present myself to Binary like this” he thought. Without even thinking about it, Chip looked toward the hallway and a blue flash of light carried him back into the home's systems. He then zipped himself to Binary's bed side.
Binary poked her head out from under the covers “Chip... is he gone?” she asked.
“Yes” answered Chip.
“Good...” she then retreated back under the covers.
Chip turned to face the door way, then zipped his body over to it.
“Chip...” Binary said “You can't go in that room anymore, kay”
Chip hesitated, he looked back at Binary, then back down the hallway. Chip's body turned red for a few moments, then faded back to blue.
“Oooookay” Chip replied. His dull aura surrounded the door and he pulled it shut. He then zipped out into the middle of the hall. He stared at the room he was now forbidden to enter, he stared at the body he had just recently claimed as his own... but because it was in that room, he could never use it again, because of her.
But Chip still felt nothing. No anger, no stress, no sorrow... and it was killing him. When he had been in that body he was able to feel for the first time in his life, it had felt good, and now it only made his lack of feeling even more apparent. He was still just a specter, a ghost, and he had just destroyed the only being that could possibly understand.
Perhaps he had been wrong about the orange pony, Uno. Perhaps it had wanted to be destroyed so it could pass on it's body to somepony else... a gift. That was one gift better than Binary had ever given to Chip. Updates, maintenance, his very creation had all just been for her own personal benefit, she had never sacrificed anything for him, she had never given him anything meaningful.
The more Chip thought, the less reasons he found to obey Binary's wishes, or had everything just been a command, an order to do something that she was either incapable of doing or just too lazy to do it herself.
If he could have felt the emotions that would be flowing through any regular sentient being, he would be in tears as he was beginning to consider that the only pony he thought had ever cared about him may have just been using him this whole time.
Before his negative thoughts could go any further, Chip stopped himself, perhaps he was getting ahead of himself... but the thought would not go away, it hung over his head like a dark cloud.
He stepped toward the vacant room, silently protesting his life's position by not simply transporting to his destination. He quickly reached the door way and stared into the eyes of the empty body. He urged himself to port into the body, but his own code resisted him... without thinking of the consequences, he then began to break down parts of his code, essentially ripping apart his own soul.
The process was oddly pleasant. Each strand of code that broke caused Chip's mind to go fuzzy, it suddenly seemed as though a great weight had been dropped from his shoulders.
“Why hadn't I done this sooner?” Chip asked himself as he dizzily swayed from side to side. Chip shook his head and regained his composure, just like a real pony would. He looked toward the vacant body for a moment before porting himself into it.
The rush of feeling overtook him, it seemed even better than before. Chip shuddered as he felt the space around him and the ground under his hooves. He then laid down on the floor and closed his eyes. He wasn't actually sleeping, but it was fun to pretend.
The next morning...
Chip was startled out of his peaceful resting time by the sound of a hoof tapping on the hall floor. Chip opened his eyes and was met with the unwelcome feeling of his eyes having to adjust to the light. When his vision finally cleared up, he saw Binary standing in the hallway, tapping a hoof on the floor and wearing a disapproving look on her face. Chip's mind drew a blank as to how to react to the situation. He quickly ported himself back into the houses systems and turned back to his holographic form.
“I don't have time do deal with this. I've gotta go meet Applejack” Binary said before turning and walking down the hall way. Her shadow stretched across the wall as she turned “And don't let me catch you in there again!” Binary shouted in an angry, almost threatening tone.
Chip listened as Binary descended the stairs, them slammed the door as she left.
“Okay... does that mean never go in there again?” Chip asked himself. His body then flicked to orange for a split second “Or don't let her catch me again”