♫Walking through the forest, walking through the day! Walking to the factory, walking to that place!
Following the magical pointing arrow, following our hearts! Following my loving papa, following my dog!
What lies inside the factory? What lies inside the forest? I know what lies inside my papa though! Full of love for me!♫
And with that I reached up with my hands and grabbed hold of her while I showered her with kisses, her reply was the sound of cute giggles.
It had been a good couple of hours since we started following the cards directional arrow, pointing us toward this mystery factory and to whatever lay inside. Hopefully nothing bad.
But I am super happy that we have a card that stays true to the path, because I would of gotten lost ten times over if I had to search for it myself, the Everfree Forest is huge! And freakishly confusing as well, sometimes I feel like I am in a maze that changes and morphs while I walk around lost.
I also had to take a couple of detours as well, cause for some reason a large portion of the forest was full of strangely shaped holes of all shapes and sizes. But I simply walked around them and continued on my way.
It was truly amazing how large this forest was, not that I had walked through many in my old life, but to my eyes this forest just seems to go on forever and forever. Maybe that is one of the reasons no one wants to enter the forest. Certainly a good place to hide something then, well, everything except New Leafton.
~groooooowwwwwwlllll….~
I leapt into a defensive posture when I heard the sound and started to look around for what made it.
~groooooowwwwwwlllll….~
Again, I looked around to try and see what creature was closing in but all I saw was the forest. Wha?
~groooooowwwwwwlllll….~ “Papaaaaaaa”
Then it hit me and I knew who was making those sounds.
“Maelstrom, getting a bit hungry?” I asked her. She nodded her head furiously and I could only laugh a little. “Alright sweetie, lets sit down and have some dinner and its a nice place to rest as well” and with that Maelstrom glided off my head and to the ground where she began to play with Artemis who was just as happy to play along.
So with them running about, I set down my bag and opened it up, looking inside I found where all our food was and pulled it out, I am glad Celestia and Twilight snuck in plenty of food for us cause it means I can hold off on killing animals in the forest for meat. Survival is survival but that doesn't make it any easier to do it, so it may be the cowards way out but I just don't have the stomach or the will to do it yet.
Putting that train of thoughts away for the moment, I pulled out some ingredients for the three of us, slapped together a meat and veggie meal (probably one you would serve at a one star restaurant) and called the two girls over.
Artemis dug in right away and devoured her meal in a wild fashion, if she wasn't my canine companion I might have been grossed out but she is my little hunter, so its fine. I began to eat my meal as well and for a while, we all ate in silence. At least, most of us.
“Maelstrom? Whats wrong?” I asked her. When I looked at her plate, she had not eaten a single bite and instead had been using her finger to move the food around.
She flinched a bit when I spoke before she began to look squirm in place, like she was anxious about something.
“Maelstrom? What is it sweet heart?” I said to her again, this time I scooted a bit closer while we both sat on the ground.
“….. Papa?” she timidly said.
“Yes sweetie?” I kindly replied with a smile.
“…… why….. why do I look so different from you?” she asked me before she clasped her hands together and rested them on her stomach. “Am I….. a freak?”
I almost dropped my impromptu sandwich and half of the chewed food in my mouth when I heard her ask that question. That food didn't matter to me anymore, any and all importance shifted toward my daughter.
“No! No, no, no, no sweetie! You are certainly not a freak to papa!” I instantly told her as I scooped her into my lap.
“But…. I don't look like you” she replied.
“That doesn't matter and it never will, just because someone looks different on the outside, it doesn’t mean you can't love them all the same as a 'normal' person” I exclaimed.
“But…. But Papa….” she tried to say.
“No butts little girls, just believe in your papa when I say-”
“BUT WHY DO I NOT LOOK LIKE YOU!?!” Maelstrom suddenly shouted. And with that shout her magic bursted forth and transformed the area around us into….. into….. well, a little bit of everything. She noticed that she did this and curled up into a little ball. “Why is Mae a weird girl?”
I wanted to say that she was not a freak or weird, but the truth of the matter is, to the rest of the world, she was. But so was I.
“Maelstrom, listen. I…. want to only say nice things but I suppose you should hear it now while your young. Yes, to the rest of this worlds inhabitants, you look weird and out of place and perhaps even a little bit freaky. There will always be people who will only see you as that, but the important thing to remember is that there is probably an equal amount of people or more who will be your friends anyway”
“There is no such thing as 'the perfect look', someone will always by ugly, good looking, weird, beautiful, poor, rich, smart, and dumb. Because that is just how the world works, but you cannot let negative comments keep you down” I told her.
Next I reached under her arms and held her up so we could talk face to face “And know this, no matter what you look like or what you do in the future, Papa will always love you and maybe, one day, others will love you as well. I know that Twilight had started to grow a soft spot for you back in Ponyville, and Derpy had already accepted you as you are”
“And for why we look so different, well, just take a look at Papa. I'm not exactly normal around here either, and some have even called me a freak as well. It hurts to hear but now I have friends I can always fall back on and I have you, my sweet and beautiful daughter” I concluded with a kiss to her forehead which got her giggling again.
“Sorry Papa, for asking” she said.
“It's no problem Maelstrom, you can always tell me anything that is on your mind. Though, I am curious as to what brought this up?” I asked her.
“I was thinking of when mean lady trapped me in the bubble and scared me and Mae remember them say things like that when talking about Mae. Then I got scared if Papa thought Mae a freak too” she shyly told me.
I gave her another kiss, but on the cheek this time “Well, your no freak. But now your just a silly head for even thinking that I would consider my daughter a freak” I lovingly explained to her.
She giggled again before doing her best to hug me as much as possible “Thank you Papa, Mae loves you” she said.
“And I love you, Maelstrom” I said before hugging her myself, but before I closed my eyes for the hug, I saw that her tail glowed and grew in length a bit while slimming out. Guess this was another checkpoint in her growth.
I wished we could of stayed here a bit longer, for both our sakes, but other forces had other ideas in store.
For only a minute later, in the distance we heard a hollow moan echoing through the woods that was quickly followed by a chilly gust of wind. The trees seemed to amplify the skin tingling sensation as we heard the noise slowly die out behind us.
“What in Celestias name was that?” I asked out loud.
Artemis responded next by growling a bit and pointed her nose in one direction, I had a bad feeling I knew what lie in that direction. So I took out the card and sure enough, Artemis was pointing exactly where we were suppose to go.
Sigh. “Maelstrom, I'll leave this up to you. Do you still want to explore that way and follow his directions?” I asked her.
She nodded with a smile “Follow funny man! Follow funny man!” she told me.
Swallowing a bit of fear and a nervous gulp, I quickly finished up my meal and cleaned up before setting off once more in the direction of the arrow.
Lucky for us, the distance was pretty short before we saw the forest darken a bit and even more so with each step we took, so either Luna was bringing up the moon or the forest was warning us about this factory or something.
But I pressed onward, I left Ponyville to explore and find my role in this new world, I can't back out of this challenge now. So I took a deep breath and walked towards the darkness.
That confidence I had a moment ago was slowly leaving me….
The trees grew darker and darker and after a while of looking at them, I realized that it wasn't just because of the overhead foliage, upon closer inspection I saw that the bark itself had been covered in ash and soot, staining it. And a little more ways down, I saw that some of the bark had been burnt.
Something exploded or caused a roaring forest fire to cause this and now I kinda wanted to turn back, but my legs continued to move forward and forward until…
I saw it.
In a gigantic and ruined crater sat a huge and creepy looking building that seemed to still be smoking in some areas. But the structure itself was in ruins and was slowly rotting away to time. But the mere sight of it sent a cold shiver down my spine, almost like a frozen body had snuck up behind me and wrapped its lifeless arms around me.
~TOUMPFH~
That strange sound came from the rear end of the building, taking a gander to where I think it originated from, I saw that a medium-small blackened cloud escaped from a heavily damaged vent and drifted up until it hit the forest ceiling and that is when I noticed the huge mass of dark clouds that hovered above and drifted out a bit.
That is probably what made it so dark, but is that just due to the collapse or is it by design? Taking a quick peak at the slight incline leading to the building, I saw that it was close enough and short enough to escape in case something went wrong.
Taking one last look around, I stepped down and did a quick and awkward step-stumble on the curved hill until I finally landed at the bottom, not two feet away from the hellish looking opening that just screamed for me to run away.
I had to look away, but in doing so I found a small and barely legible sign, leaning down and using my hand to clear away the rust and dust, I read as much as I could
-R…..W Factory-
Welp, looks like I found the factory, but just to be sure I pulled out the card and looked at the arrow, it was completely still as it pointed forward. So I put it away and did a quick scan of the door frame and what little I could see through the opening. Full of darkness and rusted old metal and machinery.
“What do you think Maelstrom? Artemis?” I asked them. Artemis did a fierce and nasty sounding growl while in a predatory stance.
“Explore! Explore!” Maelstrom responded with a care-free smile. Ugh. Why does she have to be so cute and innocent?
“Ok then, here we go. But just in case, be sure to always stick close to me. Ok?” I sternly told her as I took my first step inside. She nodded and put on her serious face, which almost made me burst out laughing. But I had to stay vigilant, for her sakes.
The moment I was fully inside, my whole body was raked with chills and I even felt my magic start to swirl a bit. Something was defiantly not right about this place. Even an idiot could understand the danger this place reeked off, non-magical or otherwise.
As I carefully walked through, I noticed that the place was defiantly some sort of hybrid between an assembly line producing factory and a laboratory. For stampers and conveyor belts were right next to broken and half-formed giant glass tubes. In fact, half of the machinery itself seemed to be only half done, as if the building was cut short before completion.
This place was eerily creepy, and I am not sure why. This place just feels….. wrong.
I went around to every room I could find, most of the area was the huge middle area where all the machinery was and all the actual rooms were on the outside ring. They all appeared empty though, like they were going to be prepared to be used but never finished. Just like the rest of the building.
Although I did discover the first sign of life in the kitchen area, rotten and spoiled food littered the ground, cabinets, and makeshift refrigerator. Though, when I took a closer look at some of the discarded food wrappings, they had expired many years ago and some were almost as old as me.
We made our way out and I had no luck anywhere else since the place was mostly empty and with no downstairs to be found, I started looking for a safe ladder or set of stairs up to the second floor. Most had rusted all the way through and were a death trap until I found a partially hidden set that was blocked by a few fallen pillars.
I carefully moved a few of them just enough to make a small opening that I still had to squeeze through. No sense in causing a cave-in.
Slowly making my way up the jagged metal stairs and slagged framing, I finally made it to the slightly tilted second floor and saw that these were more personalized that on the main floor.
The very first room I saw was something straight out of a horror movie, dried blood stained the walls and on the broken shards of glass that faced away from the base it sat on. Random assortment of rust covered tools, both medical and non-medical, littered the floor and I think I saw a few strewn feathers and teeth as well.
I quickly made my way out of that room and almost began to hyperventilate, but I kept it down as I slowly drew in deep breaths of smoky air. I decided to continue exploring as a way to distract my mind from that room. Unfortunately the next two doors were locked shut and even giving it a few shakes and a quick shoulder push did nothing to loosen it.
I could probably easily open them with force, so I moved on to the fourth and final room of this section and I saw that it was some sort of cloud producing room or something, since I heard that strange sound again and I saw through the broken pipes a little stream of fluffy black clouds heading up. I followed the pipe down and I saw that it lead to something akin to a furnace.
And for a brief second, it reminded me of the furnace scenes in Sweeney Todd, but I shook out that thought as I inspected it a bit more and that is when the smell of copper invaded my nostrils, enough so that it even made Artemis and Maelstrom cringe, though I had covered Maelstroms eyes long ago.
I was at a crossroads between curiosity and disgust as my hand hovered over the handle and as soon as my fingers made contact, I took a quick peak inside.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
I just as quickly slammed shut the hatch and almost caused it to cave in on itself while I left a hand shaped dent around the handle.
I could feel the bile rising in my throat and I even had to cover my mouth to make sure it didn't get everywhere. But I saw something inside and my initial thought was right.
I rushed out of the room and breathed in some more smokey air, which at this point was more relaxing then in these two rooms.
Could this be what that stranger wanted me to see? This horror? This…. Savagery?
No, no that could not be it. Especially with his warning of a device of some kind. Maybe he wanted me to find it and expose this mad house, this long dead mad house.
But even with that encouraging thought, I found myself still and silent as the grave as I gasped for air since my mind still reeled back from that. I almost wish this was a movie cause I would love to magically make a flame appear and burn this place down but it was already burnt from what I have seen and it still stands.
Though, technically speaking I could make a flame magically appear. But that is besides the point at the moment.
Turning around, I stared at the two doors and choose the right door, I gathered my strength and used my shoulder to strongly ram the door and busted it down, and that is when the metal railing started to give way beneath my feet.
I had to make a quick leap into the unknown room just to make it out of the quake line that collapsed the rail and the small part of the outer wall. Thankfully once the ringing of metal died out, it was silent again and I was still on edge since my back was turned to the room I just entered.
Looking back, I saw that the two rooms were actually partially connected due to a giant hole in the wall that was already there and thankfully this room was not quite as horrifying to look at but my hairs were standing up and I could feel my chest tighten out of fear.
The room was blackened like the rest of the building but test tubes, tools and parts, desks, and papers were scattered to the four corners. But these were thrown rather than by wind or other natural elements. I picked up the closest stack of papers and it was filled with scientific mumbo jumbo and filled with drawings of what looked like a pony version of Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man. But there were also multiple drawings of various body parts being removed and other such depictions.
A random gust of wind blew them out of my hand and landed on a small black sheet that covered something small. So I grabbed the end of it and yanked it off, blowing dust into my eyes.
“GASP!” Maelstrom said before she dived bombed into the corner of my arm. With my free arm, I quickly cleaned my vision and saw what she did.
It was a pair of scorched skeletal remains but I saw that they were not of a pony, I think. The back legs were hoofed but the upper arms had four digit hands that seemed to be reaching out to the wall in front of it. I glanced up and saw that most of the wall was covered in the same black sheet as the small skeleton.
I was going to pull down the other sheet when I noticed that the skull had a small pair of inwardly curved horns, it kinda looked like a tiny demon head or something. I really hope this world doesn't have demons in it, that would put a damper on things quite a bit.
I shook my head of those thoughts and concentrated on the sheet in front of me but before I pulled, I leaned down and placed a kiss on Maelstroms head. “Just stay there sweetie, let Papa do all the looking” I said to her. She nodded before re-adjusting herself.
With that and a long, deep 'relaxing' breath, I re-gripped the sheet and pulled it down.
Time slowed down for me as I lived through this horror scene that shook me to my core.
When the sheet slowly fell and twisted in the air, etched onto the wall was a large pair of sketched out eyes that seemed to stare right at me, those huge, menacing, white pair of eyes that seemed to almost flicker in my eyes. And printed in the same style were these words:
YOU HAVE BEAUTIFUL EYES
Just four simple words drove me to feeling like a small child, lost and alone in a graveyard at night with the fear of the dead rising all around me. And I could not stop staring, even though this terrible, terrible thing was staring me down, my fear had me grounded.
At that moment, I felt my magic start to warm me up and within a second, I gathered up as much wind as I could before fully unleashing it on that wall, erasing it from existence and the rest of the sheet it was attached to.
~clang clang~
“Now what?” I asked with breath in hand.
With the sheet gone and a newly made hole in the tree tops, a single ray of light shone on a mangle of mechanical parts that did not seem as rusted as the rest of the building and they actually seemed to be in some sort of shape, almost like a pegasus.
~viii…...vii vii…….vreiiiiiiii~
The sound of an old fan filled in the still silence of the factory and I swear I saw that pile of parts move. So I took a step back and then another when suddenly it lurched and bit into my leg, drawing blood and causing me to yell out in pain.
“AUGH! Son of a-” I cut myself off as I strongly swung my free arm straight down onto the machine and due to the weak infrastructure, the thing fell through the weak floor without causing the room to collapse. A large plume of dust and the sound of machinery scattering came through the hole before it fell silent again.
At least, until I heard the fan again.
“Maelstrom, Artemis! You two stay back, you hear me? Let me handle this thing” I said and thankfully they both obeyed. Maelstrom took to the air and Artemis growled while we made our way down to the bottom floor, this time I simply jumped down since we had already started to weaken the building and I did not mind if this all came crashing down on that thing.
When we landed, I heard the whir of fans continue but now they seemed to have…. Calmed down? It reminded me of a computer disk drive when it was working overtime and you could hear everything spinning super loud and fast and now it sound calm and normal.
Cough cough
Coughing? Who was coughing? It couldn't of been the machine? Could it?
“-.ardon mze. .hat whazzzz r-r-rude of m-me-” said a very bizarrely robotic voice, that was clearly broken.
“He-hello? Is someone here?” I asked while in a defensive position.
“-zzwhy m-me oooof courze. The o-one you pu.ch.d th-gh te flo-flo- flloor-” said the strange voice again.
“So your the one who attacked me? Why?! Who are you and what is this terrible place!?!” I angrily asked the new entity.
“-y-yes. I apo-ogize abooooouuuuut that. I-I am nut sore vhy I did th-th-that-” it said back. I heard that sound of clicking and metal clanking “– I-I-My memo.y is zlighty fuzzzzzzzzzzzy-”
“-mmmmmmy cu-current status I-i-is un.a.orable. I-I would be I-in your det if you vould kin.ly fin. Me some .pare partz so I m-may rrrrrepair myselfffff-” It said in its strange mixture of voice and tones.
“Why should I? How can I trust you won't kill me if I do this?” I asked it.
“Yeah! You hurt Papa!” Maelstrom yelled from behind me. Artemis was in agreement with her growl.
The voice went silent for a moment before some buzzing and clicking started up “-so this…. Creature I-i-is your ffather-?” it asked.
“Yes! Papa is papa! And you hurt Papa!” Maelstrom answered.
“-m-most in.eres.ing. W-well, I d-d-do not have an-any way .o prove my iiiiinnnnooooocence, e x c e p . for my word. Iiiiii hope t-hat willll suffffice-” it told us.
“Before anything, I want to at least see you, face to face and without incident. Is that acceptable?” I asked it. I am still not sure if I should place any sort of trust but this thing is my only lead to finding out about this horrible factory.
“-I agree t-to your ttttttermz. D-due to my ztatuz I am un… un…. Not able to move-” it told me.
This was raising all sorts of red flags, but I had to see this thing through. So I summoned a bit of my magic and had it swirling around, ready to fire. I slowly made my way through the rubble and debris until I found the mangled pile of scrap that was apparently talking to me. But now I could see the head more clearly, or well, whats left of the head.
It must of heard me since it raised its head as much as it could and seemed to be looking at me before it….. smiled?
“-I-I am m-most happy t-that you have ttttttrusted me. A-a-as you can zee .y body is….. un-avorable. I-I can do a m-minor zelf rep.ir. B.t I cann.t reach any m e t a l-” it told me.
“Would this make you able to walk and talk properly?” I asked.
“-wwwwalk yes. I w-would neeeeeeed to find a s.are v.ice box to f-fully talk-” it explained.
My brain was shooting all the red flags and screaming at me to run and/or destroy this thing. But, I couldn't stop thinking about that smile it gave me. It seemed so…. Genuine. It made me want to give it a chance. Well, now my brain and my leg were shouting at me.
“Alright, I will give you this one chance. Prove me wrong and I will do everything in my power to fully destroy you, down to the last screw and bolt. Do you accept?” I asked it again.
Almost instantly, it replied with “-m-most cer.ainly. I t-t-thank you again for yo-your kkkkkkind.ess-”
“Alright then. So, will any metal do or do you need special metal?” I asked it.
“-any w.ll do-” it said back.
“Ok, be right back then” I told it and with that I started to scavenge for any and all usable metal parts. Which was kinda hard since most was burnt, smelted, rusted, or simply turned to dust at my touch. Fortunately this little hunt made my two girls be in a happier mood since it distracted them. So that is a win in my book.
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ 30 Minutes Later -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
“Phew! Hopefully some of this is useful” I told the thing as I finished unloading the last of the parts that the three of us found hidden in a corner.
“-s-so far, s-so good-” it said as it used its weird wing like claw hands to take apart and re-assemble itself. Right now, it had a decent pair of front legs and one back leg, half of its body was somewhat normal looking, its head was undented and its wings were the best part of it.
It took a few minutes for it to search the pile, take off, replace, and repeat until it slowly withered the pile away until finally it was done.
It finally stood up all the way and did a full examination of its body, testing its limbs and limits before it turned to me, gave me a smile and did an awkward bow. It reminded me of the movements of a newborn calf since it was all wobbly.
“-I th-thank you for y.ur kindnezz once again. N-n-now I will t-try and f.nd a new vo.ce b.x-” it said before slowly walking around and using its wings to easily lift the hunks to rock, metal, and other parts. Eventually it wandered to the right corner and looked up before suddenly swiping its wings and cutting the corner, causing the room above to fall perfectly around it before starting to search again.
Already this thing has proven to be both very strong and very smart, still need to keep a watchful eye out.
“-ah ha! Th-is one is in relati.ely good c-c-condition-” it said before quickly ripping out its old voice box and replacing it with the new one. It then began to due some tests I assume since it did the ABC's, counted numbers, and something similar to do-ray-me from the Sound of Music.
“-There, how does this sound sir?-” It asked while strolling up to me.
“That sounds better, though it sounds a bit weird. It sounds like I am hearing both a male and female voice talk at the same time in the same pitch” I explained.
“-It does? Interesting, from my calculations, I think that I was meant to process my thoughts and voice as both male and female. For what purpose, I do not know sir-” it replied.
“I see, well….um….” I tried to think of something but my voice was overrun with the worries my mind conjured up.
“-I believe you had wished to know who I am and what this place was, correct sir?-” it said.
“um…. Yes! Yes I did” I quickly said back.
“-I see, well according to what I have in my memory banks. I am number zero ******* device. Unfortunately, it seems I do not hold recollections of this dreadful looking place-” it said, but for some reason the word before device sounded fuzzy, like a dead TV channel.
“A what kind of device?” I asked agin.
“-A number zero ******* device….. hmmm. That is most bizarre-” it said and seemed confused by its own voice for saying that.
“Maybe its due to you not being fully repaired?” I suggested.
“-An excellent observation sir!-” it happily said.
“Well, I guess I should also ask why you attacked me earlier” I said.
“-One moment sir-” it said before it lowered its head and I heard a fan speeding up. “-Hmmm, I did a quick scans of my system and when I am not fully conscious my body will seek out any source of energy to power my form. My body appears to haven been built as to absorb many types of materials to use as fuel and power-”
“-Initially, I had powered up using solar energy but my sensor had detected a better and closer source of energy, which was your blood, sir-” it said in a way that sounded like regret.
“M-my blood?” I nervously asked it.
“-Yes sir. Blood appears to be the most sustainable form of fuel my body desires to operate. And so when I had obtained it, my personality core rebooted and my sense of self activated. Oh! Wait! My memory chip seems to be working better. Wait one, sir-” it said as it lowered its head again.
It was a long and silent minute as we waited for it to talk again when it suddenly sprang its head up “-It appears my memory chip is a bit more damaged than I thought, but from I can recover: I was the very first prototype of my creator, to be some sort of collection machine for this factory. But I was a failure since I had a personality and my own thoughts-”
“-I do not know what caused it, but I think the all this damage was caused because this facility had crashed into the ground since it was originally a floating building in the sky. Other than that, I had been uploaded with many files of knowledge ranging from basic education to medical procedures. So I believe that this will be very useful to you, sir-” it said.
“Useful to me? What are you talking about?” I asked it.
“My services of course! I owe you a great debt for not only reviving me but for indulging in my selfishness to repair me. My life is now yours to command, sir-” it told me with a bow.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! I don't know about this, I mean. Yes, you explained your actions but I still don't really know if I can trust you. You were built by the one who did all this-” I said as I used my hands to present the ruins all around us “-and you want to now follow me? This doesn't smell right” I explained.
“-Smell? Hmmm, it appears my scent identifier is also malfunctioning-” it said to itself before it starting going through the scrap pile again.
“No, no. I mean this whole situation does not feel right. Sure, I put enough trust in you to not attack me this time but how can I be sure that you won't ever do it again?” I asked it.
“-Calculating…… Calculating….. Ah! Well, according to my logical meters, you cannot. But sir, can you ever fully trust anyone using that logic? How do you know that the ones you do trust will not betray you as well?-” it asked of me.
Crap. Its a logical being. I wonder if it and Twilight would get along?
Wait….
Twilight…..
This situation, it is almost like when they first found me after I woke up here in a strange new world. They didn't have to trust me or help me or even give me a smile. Maybe I should return the favor and show this being the same kind of trust.
Ugh. My brain and leg are screaming at me not to, but my heart and my magic are beating as one and are urging me to show them kindness.
Ugh, again. Those girls have certainly rubbed off on me.
I knelt down on one knee and extended my hand out to it “I suppose your right and I suppose I should not have judged so harshly, since I myself was in a similar situation once before. But without the blood. So, for now, I can make an exception and welcome you to my little group” I told it.
It seemed to study my hand for a second before realizing what I was doing and quickly placed its cold metal hoof into my palm and we shook.
“Oh! And what is your name? If you have one” I asked.
“-I believe I already told you sir. It was number zero ******* device-” it told me in return.
“Well, that is not really a name. That is a label your creator gave you. My name is Adrian Frost, and this is my daughter Maelstrom, and this is my companion Artemis, the timberwolf” I introduced.
“-I see, so a name is more than a label. It is who you are. Most interesting. Well, I do not have an official name. Could you perhaps give me a few and I can choose which one to call myself?-” it asked me.
“Sure. Lets see…… Steve? Bob? Ha! No, those won't do. Cogsworth? Nah. Bishop? Hmmm. Then again you said you were meant to be both male and female or at least understand both sides. So you need a more neutral name. Glados? WAIT! No! Forget that one!” I said out loud before I started mumbling names to myself.
I saw that Maelstrom was now sitting on my shoulder and was mimicking me but was only repeating “numbah zero devoce”.
“Maelstrom, its: Num-bur zero d-vice” I quickly told her.
“Numba…..ber. Number! Number zero devoice!” she repeated back.
“No, no silly. Not devo, de-vi” I said back.
“-Devi! I like the sound of that one sir!-” it suddenly spoke up with great enthusiasm. “-or perhaps Deva-” it said again, but this time the feminine voice seemed louder.
“Both! Both!” Maelstrom said in return.
“-An excellent suggestion! Devi for my male half, and Deva for my female half! Brilliant, if we do say so ourselves-” it said before shaking its head in confusion.
“Whats wrong?” I asked.
“-It's nothing sir. I just think some of my processors are still broken and my equality is not exactly set. So I may fear that I may switch back and forth instead of-” its head twitched before swaying back into place “-acting as one of both parts, my dear sir-” it now said with a bit more smoother tone.
“So, I guess this is Deva now?” I asked.
“-Correct our dear sir. Do you like being called sir? We don't wish to offend-” it asked me back.
“I don't particularly mind, feels kinda weird but not bad” I replied.
“-We see, well, how about we call you-” “-Master instead? After all, that is what you are in our databanks now-” they both replied.
“Now, I’m not sure what is more weird. Being called that or hearing two voices at once” I said with a bewildered look on my face.
“-So it is official then since you did not reject! We shall call you our Master!-” “-Congratulations, our dear and kind Master-” DeviDeva said.
“Wha-no! I…. haaaa” I let out a long, drawn out sigh as I accepted defeat.
“Hehe~” I quietly laughed to myself when I realized the situation I found myself in.
“-So, Master, shall we depart from these treacherous walls?-” Devi said.
“Yes please, this dreadful place is starting to affect my nerves. But first, we should probably find you something more….. suitable to wear” I told them.
“-How so Master?-” Devi replied.
“Well, for one, your face is kinda scary and your body is also rather frightful as well” I told them. At this, Maelstrom seemed to become fully aware that they were indeed scary and hid behind me.
“-We offer our most sincerest apologies, Master. In truth, we have never seen our physical form. Our optics were never active outside of our host body. Please, wait here while we find a more suitable attire-” Devi said before scurrying off to multiple areas, searching.
From behind me, I felt Maelstrom poke me so I turned my head back to her and said “Yes sweetie?”
“Is weird pony gonna come with us?” she asked me.
“For now I suppose, it's only fair to give them a chance. Remember our little talk from earlier? About looking different? Well Deva… Devi…. The two of them, or the one of them I guess, are just like you and me. However, in this case, I will keep on eye out in case they attack again. Especially since their main source of 'food' appears to be blood” I explained to my daughter.
Maelstrom slumped into my back a bit and I could feel her playing with my long hair a bit “Ok Papa. Mae give weird pony chance….. I guess” she shyly said.
At that I reached around to bring her up to my chest and hugged her “Don't worry, Papa will always be here to protect you and love you, no matter what!” I said with a happy grin. This worked like a charm and she was back to her bubbly self.
“-We have returned, our dear Master!-” Deva proclaimed as they quickly stepped over a fallen metal archway. I looked and I saw they were certainly more, unassuming looking….a little bit.
They had found another piece of black cloth and used it as a large cloak that covered up most of their body, though they made room for their large folded up metal wings. They had made a makeshift hood using a small metal chain as the clasp and under the hood I saw what reminded me of Raritys ponnnequins back in Ponyville. Their face was plain, white, and seamless, so much so that it crept upon the uncanny valley and the white lighted dots for eyes didn't help much.
Overall though, I suspect that while others may keep their distance, no one would be running away in fear. Maybe we can find a pair of dark shades to cover their eyes back in New Leafton.
Speaking of New Leafton, I suppose now that strange mans message finally makes sense. But I wonder if he took a gamble on how events would fold out in 'taking caution with the device inside'.
So I dug through my pocket and pulled the card back out, only now the front side was completely bare and all trace of the words and the directional arrow were gone. Yet, the warning on the back remained: And beware of the Nightmare inside you.
I pushed the card back into my pocket since I had enough creepy vibes emanating from this place, so I starting walking towards the exit and thankfully the three of them followed.
I had gotten out first and turned around to make sure my party safely made it through, Maelstrom quickly floated out, tailed by a fast paced Artemis. DeviDeva had just crossed the threshold when I saw them twitch before lowering their head for a whole minute before springing back up.
“Devi? Deva? Is….everything alright?” I asked.
Without any warning, they suddenly spread out their wings and I fully saw their impressive wingspan, easily fourteen feet at least until they switched from wings to claws. My heart skipped a beat before they did a one eighty and starting hacking and slashing at critical points of the infrastructure. Mere seconds passed before I heard groaning and creaking following a sudden crash and a plume of black smoke that seemed to combine with the already formed blacks clouds above.
Yet, instead of permanently joining, they started to disperse and like a bursted dam, the clean air and dawns light came washing through to reclaim this part of the forest once again. It was quite relieving to see that infernal house come crashing down. Yet, I was still wary of the being that tore it down.
“-We…..apologize Master for that rude and sudden behavior. Once we exited the factory, a-” “-defense mechanism kicked in and…..well you saw-” DeviDeva said together. But Deva seemed a bit, distracted with that last sentence.
“Do I need to be worried?” I cautiously asked.
“No! No, no, no our dear Master. Under your contract, we can never harm you or your daughter or your companion unless we wish for our system to shut down and deactivate. That is something we….. I-I do not wish for again, Master-” Deva said with a hint of sadness.
Hearing them say that calmed my nerves a bit, but not enough for me to fully lower my guard.
“Alright, well. Let's starting heading back to New Leafton before night fully sets. Cause once the moon rises, the woods become too dangerous to move freely” I advised.
“-Very well Master, I shall keep vigilante and be at the ready to defend. I also came with offensive and defensive protocols, and I can mostly see in the dark until I can acquire new set of eyes-” Devi informed me as they started to patrol.
I nodded and began to walk, hoping to never return to his horrible place. That was until the way Devi said eyes sunk in and the image of those white eyes pulsed in my mind, quickening my heart beat as I turned around to stare at the wreckage. I stared and stared and found myself calming down as nothing happened, but that feeling of dread still loomed in the back of my mind.
And yet, it wasn't all that scary. As if that feeling was already there.
“-Master?-” Deva said.
I shook my head “Its nothing…..nothing at all”