//------------------------------//
// A Machine That Follows Orders 
// Story: A̶r̶t̶i̶f̶i̶c̶i̶a̶l̶ Intelligence 
// by chillbook1 
//------------------------------//

	Boy, did I get some work done after that. Ironically, I made the most progress in the technical wasteland of Appleloosa. I managed to cobble together about half of an android, just like Twi had suggested a few weeks ago. Trouble was, I didn’t have anything to make it look like a real pony. Still, I snuck in some secret touches, one in particular, that was sure to give it just a little bit more of an Equine edge. I also tricked it out with some of what I’d like to call “defensive measures”. Besides the hardware fixes, I also uncovered an interesting quirk of the software.

As it turned out, each AI after Twilight came with a special function. I only figured this out a week after Twi and I made peace, when I was inspecting as much of their code as I was allowed to access (which wasn’t much). While poking around, I discovered the secret functions, each of which were named and could only be activated by a particular command (following their name) while that specific AI is active. NK’s function, Party Planner, was activated by the phrase “Let’s party”. It allowed her to near-instantaneously plan out up to fifteen years of my schedule, should I give her enough information and order to do so. She could create a list of points of interest, not unlike what Twi did before the press conference, and then use that as a baseline to find anything I might be interested in, make reservations, and direct me there.

Aj’s was Stonewall, which was basically the most advanced, impregnable firewall you could imagine. To activate it, all I had to do was utter the phrase “Raise this barn”. It was such a perfect defense that even I, the user, couldn’t take it down until the command had run out (which wasn’t for six hours). Then, we had RD’s, which was called Zapp, which I couldn’t actually test. Zapp, activated by the word “Rainboom”, was a digital blitzkrieg, rushing through firewalls and deleting/stealing every scrap of data possible in what she described as “ten seconds flat”. Which was cool enough. But there was more.

Twi technically didn’t come with one of those, but she could activate a killer one in all three of the others. As far as I knew, this was the only way for more than two AI to be actively working at the same time, and I couldn’t keep it up for long. However, if I needed everyone to be helping, as I did now, I could activate a command called “Harmony”. The activation phrase? “Dear Princess Celestia”. I wasn’t very fond of that, so I soon replaced it with “Crunch Time”, which I found to be more appropriate and far less creepy.

I needed to leave Appleloosa. That much was clear, but where else could I go? Going back to Canterlot would be suicide, but it was the only place I was at all familiar with. For a while, I considered following through with the original plan of Griffonstone, but I still suspected Celestia was watching that place. Every single place I could think of had problems, that problem being proximity. I couldn’t pick a place too close to Canterlot, or Regal would be on me like white on rice. That said, I needed to stay close enough that I could actually do something. I asked around, but nopony could give me anything solid.

“Where should we head?” I asked RD, three days after I had discovered the commands. She was the only one active at the time, as the other three were resting.

“I dunno,” she said, scratching her head. “I’d suggest Cloudsdale, but that has obvious issues.”

“Hm? And what’re those?” RD looked at me like I had totally lost my mind. It is probably all the same, because that was certainly a possibility.

“Cause you’re, uh…, an Earth pony?” suggested RD. 

“And you’re, uh…, a racist?” I returned. I wasn’t offended, not especially. I just found that to be an odd, out of character thing for her to say.

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it,” she scoffed. “All I’m saying is… Well, how are you going to get up there?”

“I’m going to take a train. What? Earth ponies can’t ride on trains?” I said. “Racist.”

“I’m not racist, I’m-... Hold on a minute, did you just say you’ll take a train?” I nodded in confirmation. “Take a train two-hundred hooves straight up? Just to melt through the cloud and fall back to the ground?”

“Two hundred hooves, my flank. What sort of city do you think Cloudsdale is?” I asked. “It’s right on the ground, just like Canterlot.”

“Dude, it’s a flying cloud-city! That’s why only pegasi live there, because we’re the only ones who can fly up to it!” exclaimed RD.

“Yeah, right, pegasi can fly. And unicorns can levitate, right?” I said sarcastically. “Earth ponies can control nature and whatnot? None of that stuff is true. Pegasi wings are just for show.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! Of course we can fly! Why else would we have these things?” asked RD, gesturing to her wings. I swear to God, she made them bigger to prove her point, but she refused to admit it.

“Prehistoric pegasi used their wings to attract a mate,” I said, listing off the drek I managed to recall from eighth-grade biology. “The bigger the wings and the straighter and shinier the feathers, the more likely a male pegasus will be found attractive by a female and allowed to reproduce.”

“What about reproducing?” said NK, who had apparently manifested from nothing. “What’re we talking about, here?”

“Nothing, nothing,” I said. “RD, you need a break? NK can take it from here.” RD was partial to “naps”, so she graciously accepted the offer to take one now. Soon, she vanished from view.

“I told you, if you want to come out, use your own projector,” I scolded. “I only bought 12.”

“Sorry, Boss. 91-NK13, reporting for duty!” she said, saluting. She loved doing that, even after I told her to knock it off.

“Don’t call me-… There’s no point, is there?” I sighed. “Whatever. NK, I need to get out of town and something to do. Let’s party.”

She reached into her mane and withdrew a small cannon, about the size of a bike or a scooter. The cylinder was baby blue, and it was magenta wheels decalled with daisies. Etched along the side were the words “P4RTY C4NN0N”. She grabbed a short piece of string near the rounded end of the cannon and pulled. With a loud boom, digital confetti burst from the mouth of the weapon.

“Using your given criteria, I have developed a series of schedules that may appeal to you,” said Pinkie, slightly robotically. “The first of which: Depart from Appleloosa now, at 11:08 AM and arrive at Cloudsdale at 8:30 PM today, I can make dinner reservations at a relatively unknown restaurant, to avoid suspicion, and you can be enjoying a meal by 8:45. At that point, you can either choose to find a place to sleep, of which I have found six and can make reservations for, or you can do reconnaissance on the nearest Aitselec corporation building, or you could inspect the Augmented Reality visor given to you by Celestia Regal, and return to your room by 10:00 to 11:00 PM, depending on traffic, hastiness, and walk speed-”

“The visor! I almost forgot!” I said. “Pause that schedule, I want to take a look at that thing now.” NK nodded, filing away what she had recited somewhere deep in her memory. I reached into my saddlebag and took out that visor, the ear-bud orbs, and the adapter. I slipped the orbs in my ears, flipped the switch on the adapter, and tapped the sun on the side of the visor. Thin planes of red light scrolled down my eyes, gaining speed with every pass. I was blinded by the red for a few seconds, then I was in the cafe again.

I dropped the cappuccino that I had appeared with and ran to the door. Again, I came across six tables and the feeling I should be picking. I picked five, again, and found myself sitting at the fifth-farthest table, just as I was before. I expected to be alone.

I was not.

“We were starting to believe that you would never show up,” said Luna blandly. “My sister had faith, but I’ve always been more of a skeptic than she.”

I didn’t say anything, which seemed to suit Luna just fine. She was a perfect contrast to her sister, in just about every way. While Celestia was charming, energetic, and even humorous, Luna was dull and even. Awkward, I’d say.

“Few ponies these days understand that, often times, doing nothing is the best action,” said Luna. “It’s very rare for those who have nothing to say to remain silent.”

“What do you know about ‘ponies these days’?” I asked. “Didn’t you just get here?” Luna rolled her eyes in annoyance.

“And, just like that, you dashed any semblance of my respect,” said Luna. “You have very few redeeming qualities, Ms. Aigo. You are careless, paranoid, cowardly, and far less intelligent than you would like to believe.” Her tone of voice wasn’t malicious, as if she were trying to hurt my feelings or get under my skin (she did a lot of the latter). She was simply stating facts as she saw them.

“Hm. I’ll accept paranoid and careless,” I said plainly. “And I would never, ever deny being a coward.” I tapped my temple with my hoof. “But intelligence is sort of my thing. I agree, my good traits are few and far in between. But when I’m good, I’m good.”

“Then why did it take you so long to inspect this visor again?” asked Luna. “It’s been weeks, and not once have you even powered it on. I’m willing to wager that you don’t even understand what this is.”

“An Augmented Reality chatroom programmed to resemble a coffeehouse. It’s a play on the idea of an internet cafe, because your sister has a notoriously odd sense of humor.”

If Luna was impressed, she didn’t especially show it. She just sort of tilted her head at me, amazed that I had even opened my mouth.

“And how much of that did you get from my sister’s AI?” It was a rhetorical question, thankfully, because it was frankly embarrassing how much help I needed to make that connection. “It doesn’t matter. I haven’t been waiting for idle chit-chat. I’ve been waiting to deliver a message to you, on behalf of my sister.”

“And she couldn’t give it to me directly?” I asked. “Why’s that?”

“My sister has a multi-billion credit company to run,” said Luna. “And vagrant criminals to eliminate. Do you wish to see the message my sister has meant for you?” It was another rhetorical question. This time, I wish she had let me answer, because I really didn’t want to see it.

Regal tapped a hoof on the table, and a thin, semi-transparent plane of light floated in front of her face. The “screen” faded to black, and some sort of security footage began to play, evidenced by the time real in the lower right corner. The screen burst brightly with light, like the camera lens was covered with a tarp until just now. Then, the light dimmed, and I nearly lost my lunch.

Two ponies were slumped against a formerly white wall, lying limply against one another. I say the wall was formerly white, because it was currently stained with red of varying shades, from blood that was both new and old. The two ponies, who I had thought to be dead at first, were just barely breathing. Their bodies lay mangled, twisted up in agony, each of them having at least one broken leg. The ponies themselves were so bruised and cut, not to mention soaking wet, that I couldn’t make out exactly who they were at first. It took me to notice their similar coat color, their identical sopping manes, and the addition of a thick mustache on one of them to identify the two. I felt my stomach drop when I finally put it together. I couldn’t really process it at first, and it became even harder to swallow when Celestia Regal stepped into frame. She traded in that black dress of hers for a navy blue suit, which was currently stained with blood. She waved to the camera, grinning while she did, then turned to say something to her captives. She stepped out of the way of the camera, leaving the twins in center frame. Flam lifted his head and said something weakly. There was no sound on the video, but I could just barely read his lips.

Help us, Aiden.

“Oh my god,” I whispered. “You… The twins.”

“Hm. Interesting,” noted Luna. “You’re outraged, but for the wrong reasons.” I had trouble catching breath, it looked like I was going to have an anxiety attack. “The ‘wrong reasons’, of course, being the right ones. You’re disgusted, rather than excited to have proof that you’re not crazy. TW1 has been affecting you more than I’d have thought.”

“Twilight,” I said quietly.

“I beg pardon?”

“She doesn’t like being called that, TW1. She prefers Twilight, and she prefers that people like you rot in prison!” Something in me just snapped. I didn’t even like the twins that much, but the fact that I was the one who got them in that predicament made me lose my mind a little bit. “And that’s exactly what’s going to happen! She’s going to help me take you and your sister down, and we’re gonna make you wish you never got out of that cryosleep!”

Luna literally freaking yawned in boredom.

“Very well, Ms. Aigo. Until next time,” she said. The cafe lit up brightly with white light, until the entirety of my vision was obscured. I blinked quickly, trying to return my sight as quickly as possible. When I could make out general shapes, I ripped the visor off of my face and chucked it against the wall.

“NK!” I shouted, still blinking profusely. “Change of plans! I need to be in Canterlot real soon and that android needs to be ready and raring to go. Let’s party!”

Pinkie started rattling off instructions mixed with schedule plans, both of which I listened to intently. I don’t think I’d ever been so determined in my entire life. I went to work, cobbling this hodgepodge robot shell. I was possessed with a crazed methodism that I hadn’t had since I was first fired from Aitselec. I kept seeing Flim and Flam’s bloody, bruised bodies, their mangled limbs and pulverized faces. I may have thought about beating the twins within an inch of their lives, but to see it actually happen was another thing entirely. I was pissed, which had a dual-effect. Effect one was that it made me work like lightning.

Effect two was that it made me sloppy. My android wasn’t pretty, but it damn sure was functional.

“Is it good, NK?” I asked. She looked over my handiwork, inspecting it for errors. Like I said, my android wasn’t pretty. It was bald, and it was grey. It had no tail, no Cutie Mark, no emotion on its face. Its eyes were from my camera orbs, so they had a very odd appearance in that they had no real color. It was only discernable as a mare because of its muzzle. Twi wouldn’t be winning any beauty contests, that’s for sure.

“Sure thing, boss. She’s ready for you download an AI,” said Pinkie, saluting. She bowed her head meekly after that. “Um… Boss? There’s no chance that you’d let me in that robot, is there?”

“Sorry, Pinkie, I need Twilight while I’m out there,” I said. “Plus, she was here first. I promise, as soon as I get the chance, you’ll get yours.” One of my leftover camera orbs floated up and turned itself on, projecting out a thin plane of blue light, which soon became my original AI assistant.

“You expect me to go in there?” asked Twilight. “It doesn’t look very structurally sound.”

“Twilight, I don’t care how ugly it is. We don’t have time for this,” I said. “We need to move, and we need to move now. Please and thanks, get in the goddamn robot.” Sensing my tension, Twi nodded and stepped into the robot (which was entirely for visual effect. These AI seemed to have a thing for that). There was silence for a bit, then an inexplicable gasp.

“Ah! Oh my goodness!” squealed Twi. “W-w-w-what is this?! I don’t understand, what’s happening to me?!”

“You’re feeling your hooves beneath you for the first time,” I explained. “That’s what the ground feels like. I wove artificial nerve tissue and electric transmitters through the chassis and innards of the bot, and wrote up a hell of a program so that you could feel things.”

“Feel? This is feeling? I… I wasn’t expecting this,” Twilight shifted a bit more weight onto her hind hooves, and then flinched from the resulting sensation. “Oh my goodness. Is this what you go through constantly?”

“And more. You can marvel in its wonders later,” I said. “If it’s a distraction, you can disable it for now.”

“No, no, I think I can handle it.” Her voice still sounded kinda shaky. “It’s 5 o’clock PM. If we leave now, we’ll make it to Canterlot by twelve. Pinkie already ordered the tickets.”

“Since you’re in there now, will I be able to have two others working without any issues?” I asked. “I could use the help.”

“Well, I will be able to use Harmony a bit more efficiently. Twelve hours, I think,” she said, rubbing her chin in thought. She flinched again, still not used to touching things. “That should be enough time, right? Pick two, and I’ll be able to keep them out.”

“Hm… I need RD and Aj the most,” I said. “Sorry, NK. I don’t know what we’ll be running into, and they seem to be the most use at the spur of the moment.”

“Sure thing, Aiden,” said Aj, surfacing in the Interface. “Me an’ Dash are here on standby. Just holler if ya need us.”

“Oh, there’ll be hollering,” I said. “I promise that.”

I rushed around the room, picking up my belongings. I slipped on my belt, my saddlebags, which were filled with my bit cartridges and the visor, and my screwdriver. After I triple checked everything, I ordered the AI to go full airplane mode: No radio, no internet, nothing. They didn’t typically like that, because it made them the computer equivalent of nauseous, but I asked them to grit and bear it for now. Once I was sure I was untraceable, I left my motel room with a big, loud, ugly, super conspicuous robot that flinched with every step, making her hydrauling joints creak loudly when she did.

Boy, looking back, I must’ve looked like an idiot.

We ran across the desert, drawing a ton of stares that I would ordinarily be terrified of. I really wish this weren’t the case, but seeing those two bloody and tortured really helped clear my head of the things that didn’t matter. Nopony stopped us (how could they? We looked like sci-fi characters), and we made it all the way to the train station without incident. They almost didn’t let Twi onto the train, but I eventually convinced them by pretending to be mentally ill and claiming I needed her or else I’d have a panic attack. I’m not sure how much of that they actually bought and how much was simply not wanting to deal with me.

The longest 7 hours of my life. It was torturous, waiting as the train crawled up the map to the capital city of Equestria. Flim and Flam kept flashing in my mind, their mangled, broken bodies which would haunt my dreams for weeks. I couldn’t believe I got them into this mess. They were innocent (relatively, anyway), and they definitely didn’t deserve what they got. At their core, they were good guys who live a bad life. Kinda like me, at least when they started out. 

No money, next to no skills, no friends. Just each other and a dream to bring home the bits to put food on the table. They were con men, salesmen, from day one. I met them before they set up Bits and Bytes.  The salesmen without a shop meet the rebel without a cause. Unlike me, they achieved some perverted form of their goal. Me, I was in way over my head, duking it out with someone infinitely smarter, richer, and more powerful than myself. The thought made me want to puke. I wouldn’t be able to keep this up for much longer.

Part of me considered giving Twi back, if for no better reason than to just get Regal off my back. That part grew as time went on. I didn’t expect to get the reward still, but peace would be enough for me. I knew Twilight said she didn’t want to go with Celestia, but what if that was my fault? What if she really was meant to like Regal? I started to feel like I had taken a hostage instead of made a friend. Giving her back would probably be the best course. 

But then, I thought about it. I had to be really honest with myself, regardless of how unkind the truth was. On the most basic, selfish level, giving Twi back would change nothing. I would never have peace, because I would never stop trying to bring down CCiOS. At least Twi would be safe from me if I kept her in my possession.

Around hour six, I was unable to sit still. I think Twi sensed my tension, because she started to pace with me. I wanted to punch someone, and if I hadn’t given Twilight the gift of nerves, I might’ve socked her chassis. just to get the stress out.

“Aiden? I’ve been wondering something since the beginning,” said Twilight. “Why do you hate CCiOS? What have they ever done to you?”

“I’m good at one thing, and only one thing,” I said. “My only skill is with computers. I was so good that I would finish my week’s worth of work by Tuesday afternoon. I had a lot of free time, so I did the thing I do: I dug. I need to know everything about everything. My brain just won’t let me leave questions unanswered. So, I poked around CCiOS’ origins, the Aitselec company’s roots, things like that.”

“Uh-huh…” nodded Twilight. She clearly didn’t understand, which I couldn’t blame her for.

“Then, they fired my ass. They never told me why, and they blacklisted me,” I snarled. “If you get blacklisted by Aitselec, get used to being homeless. Nowhere legit will hire you. I couldn’t get a job flipping fricking burgers if I wanted to. They ruined my life, and it was because I was getting close to something. That was the day, the day they fired me. That was the day I promised to myself that I’d ruin them like they ruined me.”

“Aiden, do you believe in destiny?” asked Twilight. I didn’t answer immediately, which Twilight took to mean “no”. “Well, I do. I believe that we were destined to meet. You found me only a few hours before Princess Celestia came back. I should’ve ended up with her, but I didn’t. I believe fate pushed us together.”

“No offense, Twilight, but I don’t really see your point,” I said. “Where are you going with this?”

“Just something to think about. Everything happens for a reason,” said Twilight. “We just have to find out the reason for all of this.”

“I know the reason. To burn those evil bastards to the ground.”

The last hour slinked away even slower than the first six. I felt like the train would never stop when it finally lurched into the station. Me and Twi were the first ones out, and we ran like hell, trying to outrun the curious glances. Let me tell you, it was a long ass run from the train station in South Canterlot to get all the way to Bits and Bytes in the northern part of the city. I hadn’t run that far and long since I failed gym class.

With each step, my blood boiled a little hotter. Twilight tried to talk to me once or twice, but I shut her out. My mind had no space for anything but getting to the shop. I didn’t even know what I hoped to find there, maybe a clue as to where the twins were being held. All I knew is that I had to get there, and I couldn’t get there fast enough.

We finally arrived at the shop, only a few blocks from where my lair used to be. The windows had sheets of carbonized steel covering them, and the front door seemed to be welded shut. With the bit in my stomach growing, I went around the back, to the emergency exit that I normally used to get into the shop. I maneuvered through the back room, to the front of the store, and hopped over the front counter without even looking around. I heard Twilight’s metal hooves hit the ground just after me, and I heard her gasp just barely audible over my loud declaration of the situation.

“Shit!” I said, because who would be standing at the front of the store other than the twins, completely unharmed, and a grinning, laughing Celestia Regal.

“Oh, what’s this, now?” said Regal, looking to Twilight’s new body. “Interesting. I have one waiting at my home for Twilight’s return. Mine, of course, being of a higher quality and structural integrity. Not to mention it looks prettier.”

“Flim… Flam…” I said, unable to put everything together.

“Sorry, Aiden,” said Flam. “Bills have to be paid, after all.”

“It’s strictly business, obviously,” agreed Flim somberly. “Nothing personal, as cliche as that sounds.”

“So, what do you think of the twins’ little performance?” asked Regal. “Of course, they have a natural gift for showmanship. I might have to get them an Academy Award, as well as their payment.”

“You sneaky, slimy sons of bitches,” I growled. “To think I was actually worried about you!”

“Now, Ms. Aigo, there really is no need to shout,” said Regal. She took a step forward, and dropped her smirk considerably. “The gig, as it were, is up. You will relinquish my AI back to my possession, whether willingly or if I have to force your hoof.”

“Is that a threat?” I asked.

“I, myself, will not do a single thing to hurt you,” she said. “But I cannot promise the same for the world around you.”

I considered her offer way less than I did last time. Maybe because of the omission of a 5 billion credit check. Maybe because the twins had pissed me off.

“Bite me,” I said. Regal rolled her eyes impatiently.

“Is that your final answer?”

“Til your teeth hurt. Bite me until your teeth hurt.”

She moved for her Interface, but an unforeseen factor came to light. Before Regal could make good on whatever threat she had made, Twilight stepped forward, clanking loudly as she did.

“Princess Celestia?” said Twilight nervously. “I’d like to come with you now. I can move freely in this body, and I want to go with you. Please, save the girls from this mad mare.”

Karma was a dirty, rotten, back-stabbing whore. I thought I had made things right, but the universe apparently begged to differ. I had fallen into a trap, a huge one, that might end up costing me everything, my life and freedom included. Ironically, I fell into this trap because I decided to develop a conscious, and empathy for two ponies I ordinarily couldn’t give less of a damn about. If I thought I was up a creek before… At least I had a boat before.

“Twilight?” I said. Twilight locked eyes with me, her cold, emotionless camera-lens eyes.

“Your move, Ms. Aigo,” said Regal. “Mind you, I can still make the world your enemy. How do you wish to play this?”

Dumb as shit, was the honest answer, because I still didn’t intend to give up Aj and Dash. Regal looked at me with a sort of boredom, waiting for me to make the wrong choice. With each passing second, my hatred for her, her company, and her freaking twin puppets grew. I decided at that moment that I would either win this confrontation, or die trying.

I was confident it’d be the latter, but I gunned for the former anyway. She wasn’t about to make me lie down and take the loss. She could tell me to yield, but I wasn’t about to give in, like some sort of machine. I would do what I do best: Pointlessly rebel, and pray it all works out.