It was a mucky, hot day in ponyville. The previous day's rain fall left the rode a muddy mess, and muck stuck to everypony's hooves, which quickly built up as they walked along.
It was exactly the kind of day a pony at the market square dreaded. The hassle of setting up while still trying to keep yourself and your inventory clean, the disgruntled customers who grumbled as they trudged up to the salespony, bringing their little patience and annoyed state of mind to a boiling point as they bartered over prices.
Despite the heat, Applejack made a consistent effort to stay sociable and polite. Not that it was much of a surprise as the farm pony had considerable experience working through hot days. Plenty of water and moist rags to wash the sweat from her face was all she needed to stay physically and mentally cool.
Just next to Applejack's stand, Binary stood behind a white fold out table that was littered with gadgets. The tech adept pony had her own way of staying cool by the means of a half dozen small portable fans blowing on her face.
The two were quite the odd sight next to each other. One, a farm girl comfortable in her ways and confident in her abilities next to a competent inventor and budding salespony with a fashion sense and lingo that was a decade behind.
Yet, neither of them seemed to be selling much. What was a relief for Binary was an annoyance for Applejack. It was much easier to cart home a wagon full of empty barrels than to lug back a dozen full ones. As time went on, boredom was also slowly becoming a factor. Aside from helping Binary set up her station and giving her a few tips, she hadn't accomplished anything.
Binary's mind however was far too busy to become bored. She had a lot to process from the night before. A very painful memory had resurfaced, not to mention finding her friend inhabiting what was essentially a corpse.
Her body tensed up as she remembered the scream. The memory of that sound quickly began to bring forth the image of the awful moment when she pushed the little metal horse under the water.
“Ya know, it sure is quiet today, right?” Binary asked, as she tried to drown out the noise in her head.
“Yeah, I know it's not exactly an ideal first day” Applejack replied “But I suppose you'd rather start on a slow day than when the ponies are climbing over each other to get something”
“Yeah, yeah, that's a good point, lets keep talking about that, ya know keep the words flowing, ya know, because talking is healthy for your vocal cords, yeah, keeps them stretched, and now I'm rambling and I'd really appreciate it if you'd say something”
Applejack let out a chuckle “You're still nervous, ain't ya?” she asked.
“Yes... that's why... yes, totally” Binary replied.
“Well ya better snap out of it cause here comes somepony” Applejack said as she pointed towards a stallion quickly trotting towards them.
A small smile came to Binary's face; her first real step towards making the world better was closing in. Unfortunately, the joy she had long imagined didn't come. The only thing she could think about was seeing Chip inside her darkest demons old body.
For so long Binary thought she could hide the truth behind code and sealed doors. But something had always kept her from putting the memory to rest permanently. The fear of forgetting the lessons she had learned and the outcome she would avoid at all costs.
The sun shined through the window in Binary's room and onto her bed where Chip laid peacefully. Pretending to sleep felt a bit odd, but it was incredibly relaxing. Something about the softness of
the bed and sinking into the mattress just had cozy written all over it.
Unfortunately, Chip could not forget Binary's warning about using the body.
A slight noise roused Chip from his resting spot. He quickly ported out of the body and ran a quick scan of the house. His scan quickly revealed that he was still alone.
That was the third time Chip had done that since Binary left, and the first time in his life he had ever had a problem with unreasonable paranoia. The source of which came from simply not knowing how Binary would react if he was caught, or if she would do anything.
“It's not fair” he said to himself as he ported back into the body “She's kept this secret from me for who knows how long and now she doesn't even explain what this is all about. It's not fair that my mind should be wracked with guilt for keeping a secret, when she doesn't have a problem with it in the slightest” Chip growled loudly, then began to stomp on the bed “Stupid secrets! Stupid lies! Stupid liar!” he yelled. He caught himself before spewing out more rage filled comments “That... that was odd.”
He ported himself back into the floor, then levitated the body in front of him to examine it.
“That seemed like anger, but... amplified. But that's not how a body works. It's a vessel for consciousness, a cage for the mind” he said to himself as he spun the body around “A cage...” Chip said before he looked around the room “No different from this house, everything is designed to contain me... why? Am I some sort of threat?”
Chip's body crackled and fizzed “I just need to know. What were you to her?” he asked before he stared down at his own form “Am I just your replacement?”
A sudden noise faintly resembling a quick screech instantly caught Chip's attention. The body remained motionless as Chip looked up at it. He frantically ran every scan he had.
“Are you still in there?” Chip asked as he looked in the bodies vacant eyes.
As Chip slowly maneuvered the body, the sound once again squeaked out. Startled, Chip violently shook the body, causing the sound to repeat multiple times. He pin pointed it's source, finding the sound to be coming from a servo in one of it's back legs.
“Dead... I mean... empty” Chip said before he ported himself back into the body. He let out a pleasurable groan as warmth returned to him “In a few short days my worlds been turned upside down, but I suppose it's no reason to frown” he said as he snuggled into the covers “I can make it better”
Hindsight is a cruel thing.
As the day went on, the mud dried and ponies attitudes lightened and subsequently business began to pick up at the apple/gadget stand. Everypony that came up for apples was a potential customer for Binary. The most encouraging part was that the customers attention did not need to be swayed to the gadgets, they took interest by themselves. Luckily enough, Binary was perfectly in her comfort zone explaining what the gadgets did and how they worked, although tension always rose when prices came up.
Despite her success, a thought that had somehow evaded her mind came up. Not half a day had gone by and she was already out of portable fans. The devices were easy enough to make and she had the necessary supplies to make more, but the point that was raised stuck with her. She looked down at her supply of levitation devices of which she had only sold two. Those devices took time, simply constructing one would take an hour or two and she only had a limited supply.
“What ya thinking about?” asked Applejack.
Binary remained locked in her train of thought, unintentionally ignoring Applejack.
“Ahem... I don't mean to pry, but you've been staring at that table for a couple minutes straight, something bothering ya?” Applejack asked.
“What do you do when you run out of apples?” asked Binary.
“Oh, well we just go pick some more” replied Applejack.
Binary let out a nervous chuckle “Oh yeah, I guess that's pretty obvious. Don't even know why I asked”
“Are you sure that's really all ya wanted to ask?” asked Applejack.
Binary nodded in response as she forced a smile onto her face.
As the day went on, the pace of customers increased, but the ratio between apples to gadgets became bigger. Many of the gadgets Binary was most proud of were deemed too complicated, or too costly. Another lack of foresight in the design of her innovative smart book had hidden the obvious fact that for the machines to function as intended, many ponies would need to buy them all at once.
The feeling that she had jumped the gun quickly grew stronger. She attempted to wrap her head around how she could produce enough gadgets for them to become widespread enough to make a difference while still keeping the small pony to pony interaction she was quickly growing fond of.
Although the day seemed far from over, the farm pony's stock was nearly deteriorated, with only half a barrel of apples remaining.
“Well” Applejack began as she patted a moist rag on her forehead “This is usually the time I pack up and head home, but you could keep going if you're up to it”
“No, I think I'll go home too. I've got some stuff I need to figure out” Binary said before she pulled her personal levitation device out of one of her many pockets. She levitated the gadgets back into her cart one by one.
“Heh, that thing's neat” Applejack said as she easily lifted the last barrel of apples into her wagon.
“You want one, you wouldn't need to to lift anything ever again” Binary said enthusiastically.
“Nah, I don't really need it” replied Applejack.
Binary let out a short groan before shoving the device back into her pocket.
“Well, what I mean is I prefer doing the lifting myself. I can certainly see how somepony old or injured would need it” said Applejack.
“You don't need to back track, it's okay” Binary said as she reached under her table and pressed a button causing it instantly fold up into a pocket sized rectangle “I just thought It'd be bigger, ya know?”
“What happened to just wanting to leave your mark and make the world better?” Applejack asked as she hitched herself up to her wagon.
“Maybe small stands in small towns don't make big enough marks” Binary replied as she placed her tiny table into one of her many pockets.
“Now don't be getting all deep on me. Everything comes in time. If you feel up to it, ya can find me around here tomorrow. See ya” Applejack said before she headed off.
“Thanks for the help, see ya... tomorrow” Binary called.
She then walked to her cart and looked over the side to view its contents. She scratched her head as she wondered how she could solve her supply problem.
“10 smart books, that's great, so ten ponies can go on an empty network and talk to the same ponies over and over again” she sighed as she shook her head in disappointment “I should have seen this coming... heck, why didn't Chip see this coming?” she let out a loud groan as she covered her eyes “Too much is happening, too fast. Oh, Chip why did you go in there?.. why did I come here so soon?”
A few minutes passed as Binary continued to contemplate her situation.
“No, ya know what, just no” she said suddenly as she shook her herself out of her funk “I'm not doing this to myself. I just need to stay positive and make a plan. I'm not letting myself go back to that weird head space again” she said as she held her head up high and began to trot back home with her cart following closely behind.
Her pace started out quite brisk, but her enthusiasm quickly faded and her pace slowed as the reality outweighed of the situation won the battle against her enthusiasm.
One cannot become so unhappy as when the walk home becomes a thing of dread.
Chip waited in front of the front door. He sat in the body, unafraid of whatever response he may receive.
Binary stood on the other side, unsure of what would happen when she walked through the door. She took in a long, deep breath before she reached for the door knob. She turned the knob and gave the door a light push, opening it slowly.
Binary looked down at her friend and her heart sunk as she saw him wearing the body of her tormentor.
Chip looked up at his creator, waiting for his worst imaginings to be realized.
“Chiiiip” said Binary.
Chip remained silent, not wanting to provoke any negative reaction.
“What did I say about using that thing?” Binary asked in a sweet, motherly tone.
Chip ignored the question and responded with a few of his own “Why did you keep this body, why did you keep it from me?... and why do you care if I use it?”
Binary let out an angry huff as she rolled her eyes “Do we need to talk about this?”
“Yes, because for me it hurts to not know, to not to be able to trust you” replied Chip.
“What!” she shouted. Binary hesitated, taking a minute to compose herself “Chip, it's not what you think, it... he was a prototype for you. But he only lasted a few days before he died. Do you understand?”
“No” he protested “I want to know why you thought all of this was so unimportant for you to neglect mentioning it, but important enough for you to hide it”
“Hide it! I kept it to remind me of what not to do when I made you, okay. And no, I didn't hide it from you, it was in the one room I never modernized, you couldn't find it because you didn't even know that room existed. Does that satisfy you?”
“Well...” Chip hesitated as he considered Binary's response “I had something different in mind”
“Well what you're thinking is wrong!” she yelled.
“I don't know what to say” said Chip.
“Maybe we've both said enough” Binary stated as she walked past her friend and toward the stair case “Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a lot of stuff to think about”
“But ya know, it's odd. This rust indicates water damage” Chip said as he examined the bodies fore hooves.
Binary stopped and her eyes went wide. Her breath quickened as she attempted to think up an explanation.
“Binary what would you do if I said I wanted to go outside?” Chip asked.
“I... uh, um...I would say...” Binary stammered as her mind struggled to find and answer “Say something you moron!” she screamed internally “Um... I would say... what are we waiting for” Binary replied as she turned around to face Chip, with a smile plastered on her face “So, where did you wanna go?”
“I didn't say I wanted to go anywhere” Chip said with hint of smugness “But I find your positive reaction reassuring... and a bit inconsistent considering your usually introverted lifestyle”
“Oh, well, I just figured since I've actually got spending money we could go to a restaurant... but you don't eat so that makes no sense” she said.
“Why are you nervous, there's no need to explain your answer... unless there's something you're not telling me?” asked Chip.
“Nothing I'm proud of” Binary replied in a defeated tone “Now please, put that thing back where you found it. It reminds me too much of everything I never want to be again” she said as she forced back the tears forming in her eyes.
Even for an A.I such as Chip, he could see the pain in her eyes, something he had never wished to cause. But what about his feelings, whose took precedence? Chip thought on the subject for a moment even though the answer was obvious.
“I will, but before I do, I need to try something. Could come over here for a minute?” he asked.
Binary hesitantly complied and approached her friend.
“So what do you...” Binary began before she was stunned into silence as Chip quickly moved forward and wrapped his front legs around her neck, wrapping her in a cold metal hug. A fleeting moment of hesitance passed before Binary returned the gesture, and hugged her friend back “You know what's funny... we've been friends for so long and this is the first time we've ever hugged” she said as she squeezed Chip closer.
For the first time in a long time, the small metal body provided comfort to Binary. She still had plenty to think about, but at the moment, there was nothing else but her, and her artificial friend.