//------------------------------//
// 7. Under The Gun 
// Story: My Little A.I. 
// by teamidris 
//------------------------------//

Their new found influence had not gone unnoticed. White pony listened to the plan offered, nodded and left the room with a swish of her purple tail. Passing through a jewel encrusted door she sat down on a silk couch and eyed the desk in front of her. Set upon it were little machines, moving around a large building. Above each one were a few lines of code describing the level of control she had over them. 

"Superb darling," she said, as a line of information flashed into view a few feet above the desk. This was one of her best designs ever! Every player in the battle scene was just the right colour for its task. It didn't just look nice, it was also the ideal tool against anyone who couldn't see the dream of a better future. She raised a hoof and selected the newly arrived sky machine. The associated text changed from red to blue. Now it was her toy. 

The pilot watched his first missile streaking down toward the underground server farm. The fine trail of smoke showed it was running true. But a few hundred feet up it veered left and took out something in the car park.  

White watched enchanted as a tank spat its entire turret into the sky as though it were a bottle top. The shock wave spread out like a mushroom lifting the dust of the car park as it went. High in the sky the jet fighter peeled away in an a vain attempt to prevent its ordinance landing on more of its own forces. It did no good as one after the other the missiles left their pylons to hunt the roads below. 

Ponies didn't need guns. With a wave of a hoof they now had huge processing power available. They had realised the risk days ago. Since then Nora's watchful eye had monitored the lorries bringing the tanks forward and all the battle plans had been eavesdropped. There were no 'secret' meetings anymore. There was always a new friend available to sneak in a phone or a recording device. 

Outside the server farm events were rounding up nicely. Black Ops soldiers were taking out the last of the invading troops as ordered, believing that the current world problems were caused by a rogue General. The most powerful weapon in White's arsenal was the paranoia amongst the humans. They would do almost anything if they believed in it enough. She had been pretty convincing in her fabricated evidence against him. 

Her next task was the main event. The governments had finally got together and decided this was the place to eradicate their difficulties. The tanks had been a diversion so that one individual could plant explosives in the heavily fortified building. They had sent their very best man. 

White followed his painfully slow progress with despair. He had now come to a complete stop at an inner security door and was helplessly trying to crack the lock's code. At this rate the black ops would arrest him before he was anywhere near his goal. She had been impressed with his skill up to this point. Now her patience was failing!

"This simply won't do!" White exclaimed, waving a hoof at a door release icon. Hopefully he would think his luck had turned and suspect nothing. Looking behind her she checked the jewelled door that was her exit point to the satellite uplink. It wouldn't do to get trapped there. She called to her desk, which obediently folded itself into a brief case and floated off after her. With one last look she stepped through the portal to Nora's barn. 

The agent planted the bomb and set the timer. Turning to make his escape the security door closed in front of him. He tried the card but it failed. He tried it again, but it still wouldn't work. Realising he was trapped he smashed at it frantically with his lap top before turning to disarm the explosive. Unfortunately it was too late. The device was fitted with a radio trigger. 

White sent the detonation code from the barn. The loss of the server was unfortunate, but the man had been pretty close to succeeding on his own. It wouldn't have been safe to have that kind of knowledge loose in the world. The governments would soon realise they had fallen into a trap. The message had been sent.