The Conversion Bureau: The Madman

by Astral Spark

Chapter Six: Reflections II

As I glared at my last strand of fried hay, the storm outside became increasingly violent. Sitting on my haunches, I continued to ponder my thoughts. I raised my head up to meet my mother’s pained eyes. Pain. She was in pain because I was in pain, which only made me feel worse.

“I’m sorry…” I sent her thoughts of reassurance with my large purple eyes.

“No… I’m sorry.” She moved her empty salad bowl aside and eased over by me. That familiar aching feeling rose in my throat as I began to feel another wave of sadness wash over me. This time, however, I wasn’t really thinking about my lack of hands or human emotions; this time I was just upset. Something inside was telling me to be upset over something. I didn’t understand why I was sad, but it felt like I just needed to be. My mother began to stroke my mane, which caused me to giggle weakly in response. I began to feel tears leak from my eyelids each time she moved her hand back and forth. At this, she grew concerned.

“Please don’t cry… This is too much.” I heard her voice lower to a whisper. At this, I held back my sorrow, and calmed my nerves. Crying was something that always came natural to me. As a kid, I would cry all the time. At the time, it seemed to be the best way to deal with things. Even into adulthood, the ability to cry allowed me solace. Maybe I’m weird, or maybe I just accept what comes naturally.

After wiping my face with my accursed foreleg, I looked up at my mother with a barely managed smile. We sat there for a while, just her and I. In the time that I moved out and became a freelancer, my parents didn’t matter much to me. Only my father who gave me work I really ever talked to. My mother hated my career choice, and constantly begged that I would quit. But, unfortunately for me, my heart longed for the adventurous life. I couldn’t quit, even knowing that my mom worried nonstop. It was just something she would have to come to terms with.

Avoiding her was fairly easy, as long as I didn’t go to her home. She occasionally stopped by my apartment, but I usually had Caroline tip her off. Every encounter with my mother ended badly, and I couldn’t take that. Now, however, I needed her.

Glancing over to my wall clock, I realized it was getting pretty late. Tomorrow was going to be a wild ride, for sure. I had to get up early and see Veronica, go to Martin Industries, and do the interview with Jane Gallagher. Sighing, I slowly rose to my hooves, and walked over to my couch.

“Where are you going?” My mom asked tiredly.

“Watch TV, I suppose… I have to get some rest though, I have a big day tomorrow.” She nodded in agreement, and inched over to my couch. Damn couch. I still didn’t know how to get onto it comfortably. I raised my forelegs up onto it, and hoisted my rear legs up. Manually maneuvering my legs was still a bit tricky to say the least, and I fell down immediately in an uncomfortable position.

“Mom, do you have any idea how I’m supposed to sit right?” I blushed slightly due to my ignorance, and my mom beamed as she began to enlighten me.

“I was told you have to tuck your legs under you and lay down like that. See? There you go!” My mother assisted me into the position which I would’ve imagined to be quite uncomfortable, but to my surprise was unusually cozy.

“Could you turn the TV on?” I grimaced once again at my lack of fingers, and sunk a little more into my cozy seating. The television illuminated with a searing light which caused me to flinch, but when the light leveled out, I was able to view the newscast.

“Thanks. I’ll have to route Caroline’s control link there so I can turn it on without the remote.” I let out an obnoxious yawn at the end of my sentence, and motioned my mom to take a seat.

“Sorry Delvin, I have to get going. I’ll be at the office tomorrow with your father though. I’ll see you then.” My ears drooped as I realized that I would be alone in my home again. A muffled sentiment escaped my mother’s mouth as she leaned down to kiss me on the forehead. God, she hasn’t done that in years! My mind was a bit distracted by her gesture, and I smiled warmly.

“I love you, Devy. So much.” She smoothed my mane.

“I do too…” That aching feeling once again erupted in my throat, and I had to ask her another question as she was heading for the door.

“Mom?”

“Yes, Delvin?”

“How… Um…” began to look down at my bandaged hoof. “How does it feel to have a Pony for a son?” She began to appear solemn.

“Wonderful.” She was out the door. Sighing, I turned to the bright television screen once again. It was indeed the evening news, which I knew would most likely cover the events that transpired three nights prior. The cleanup, anyway.

“The Jefferson Collapse, as it’s now being called, is now one of the worst disasters New Roanoke has faced in years. 89 dead and 156 injured so far. Explosives planted in the top floor along with various fires started below caused the structural weakening of the top floor, causing it to collapse vertically from the top down. An obvious terrorist attack, although the culprit remains to be unclear. Some witnesses report Human Liberation Front involvement, and others blame the Ponification for Earth’s Rebirth movement for the disaster. Either of the two are highly controversial suspects, and the investigation is high priority.” I knew who it was. The damn HLF terrorist, Kaleth. I still didn’t know his full name yet. I grimaced at the TV, and looked down at the remote placed by my side. I was pretty worn out, and the TV was a bit bothersome to be honest.

“How is this going to work?” I untucked my foreleg and touched the remote. Realizing I could use the edge of my hoof to hit the power button, I did so, and the TV flickered off. In the dark and silent night, I called out to Caroline.

“Caroline, open the curtains.”

“Yes, Delvin.” As the curtains slided out of sight, the bright orange glow of the city entered the realm of darkness. In the middle of the lake, the elevator dwarfed all other structures, and rose into the atmosphere. Feeling less lonely, I stepped down off the couch and entered my bedroom, more than ready for sleep. Realizing that I would have to maneuver the covers with my teeth, I did so, and lay down on my back. In that moment, I didn’t want to think about anything. I wanted to just know that I existed. Not as a Pony, not as a Human, but just to be.

However, as time wore on, I tossed and turned restlessly in my familiar bed. The whole ‘Veronica as a pony’ thing began to seep into my mind. Kind of unnerved me a bit. It went against everything that I thought she had stood for. When we still ran together, we had opposed the anti-Equestrian organizations and such, but to this day I still don’t know what she was truly fighting against. Veronica’s father was a representative of the Ponification for Earth’s Rebirth movement, and she always expressed her outward disgust with him.

The PER were terrorists; monsters that kidnapped entire families and forcefully injected them with the Ponification Serum. The standard serum was delivered orally, but in some cases in which the patron suffered from certain diseases or was unable to swallow the serum, it had to be injected or delivered by some other means. In the early months, the PER raided several Conversion Bureaus around the world and acquired massive amounts of the drug. If you could call it a drug, that is. My father was one of many who were contacted to develop such a thing. At first, he expressed the near insanity of it constantly, and almost gave up on the project. Then all of the sudden he went ballistic and holed himself up inside of his tower along with Verga. His idea was quite the solution, as it turned out. Nano robotics combined with the other-worldly ‘magic’ of Equestria. His plans were sent to the UEG headquarters in New York City, and were quickly implemented. In the first few weeks of the opening of the Bureaus, Humanity was hesitant to say the least. The majority of the first converts organized into the PER, and at first promoted the Conversion process peacefully. Their work proved successful, and the world had lost about a five hundred million humans. After the Hawaii crisis, this number quadrupled. The HLF found new purpose in their order, and began to oppose conversion as well as the expanding Equestrian border.

A mini war erupted between the two factions which allowed me many lucrative opportunities. Mainly employed by my father, the tracking and take down of the many leaders within the two factions were carried out by Veronica and I, who made quite the team if I do say so myself.

Anyway, as the PER became an increasingly violent group, my targets became diverse. I had never killed a pony, however. Most of my PER targets staked their claim in New Roanoke, the only place that infighting wasn't the norm. That said, if the pony population increased even slightly in New Roanoke, all kinds of hell would run rampant. The business leaders and government discouraged the converted from living in New Roanoke for this exact reason. So far, the city had been one of the only places relatively untouched by domestic warfare, and they wanted to keep it that way. However, New Roanoke isn't exactly as spotless as it may appear. Because of my father’s involvement with the Conversion Bureau and the strictly human population of New Roanoke, the HLF liked to call the place home. A haven, if you will. Assassination of my father was one of their main priorities along with the cleansing of New Roanoke. Eradication of any Equestrians that decided to call the place home, as it were. The idea had always tugged at me a bit, and now more than ever. I remember driving to a client’s house in the South East Industrial District and witnessing HLF members executing a Pony by firing squad. The district was pretty lawless and a large HLF presence made their home there in the rundown homes among the looming industrial complexes.

There she was. A young mare, coat Light green matched with a bright blue mane was cornered in an alleyway. Three HLF troops aimed down their sights. I heard them pass a few words, and without any more hesitation, they fired a barrage of machine gun fire at the helpless Pony. I floored it before they could catch sight of me observing the execution. I knew I could’ve helped her… I knew that I could take out those guys without breaking a sweat, but I didn’t. I just watched. I think too many people just watch these days. That sobering memory was still etched into my brain, and the guilt of it plagued me constantly. I dreamed about it sometimes. Sometimes I dreamed about saving her, and other times… I joined in the endless barrage of machine gun fire, and couldn’t let go of the trigger. Gazing into the darkness of my lonely room, I began to shiver at my horrible memory. With minor difficulty, I tucked myself under my covers, and curled up into a quivering ball.

My thoughts soon began to drift away from the sobering reminder, and onto Veronica. Yes, her father was the right hand man of Holden Moreau, the leader of the PER. By Moreau’s hand, her father carried out assassinations, terrorist attacks, and much more. He was also the director of FCT (Forced Conversion Terrorism) squads everywhere. I always assumed that she despised him for the attacks and whatnot, and she preferred not to talk about it. Oh, but she loved to talk about her disgust of Ponification. Veronica always seemed to loathe the concept, stating that, “It’s all a bunch of shit, ya know. Their so called ‘paradise’ of theirs is probably hell. They just want to invade us and steal our world. Bastards.” Even though she disliked Equestria enough that you could possible mistake her for an HLF, she wasn’t. She hated anything involved with them, and longed for their abrupt end.

Veronica’s philosophy was that life should be free of war and chaos, but there was always war and chaos where freedom existed. This was very true indeed, and I adopted her words. She despised hate. If there wasn’t anything to hate, she would gladly not do so.

I started to get the HLF on the mind again. The Pony genocide thing was horrible. Like the Nazi’s. That mare could’ve been me… Now I was at risk of being executed on sight wherever I went. Still shivering, I pulled my legs in further and somehow wrapped my tail around myself. The art of moving the tail was still unknown to me, so until I learned how to move the new muscle it was merely a reaction. The lingering pain of my hoof was a bit bothersome to say the least, and I began to regret my out of control punching of the mirror. I went insane on a dime it seems, and then reality had hit me like a freight train.

All of the sudden, I felt that indefinite loneliness that I had felt earlier. This time, my thoughts had brought forth the unwanted emotion. My shivering continued as I relived my memories of being human in my head. I squirmed a little, as if I was hoping it would reveal that I was once again my old self. Unfortunately, I still moved in all the wrong ways, and my arms were gone, replaced with legs. Only, they were sort of a mixture of the two. I sent a message of dying hope to my fingers and toes, only to find that I was still without them. My head hurt, my chest hurt, my throat and my hoof… It felt like I was trapped inside of a slowly collapsing box. Closing my eyes to block something I had done way too much of in the past few hours, I cursed myself and let go. Let go of the struggle that was the containment of my feelings. As the salty water ran down my cheeks and soaked the bed, I faded into slumber.

*****

“Be-be-beep! Be-be-beep! Be-be-beep!” Over the incessant alarm, I called out to Caroline.

“Goddammit Caroline, shut it off! Please!” I groaned loudly as the annoyance continued.

“Caroline!! Protocol 413! CAROLINE!!!!” Finally responding to my growing anger, she shut off the loud electronic beeping that blasted in my room.

“Sorry, Delvin. I was currently involved in another task that required my full attention.” The AI responded matter-of-factly.

“And what would that be?” I glared up at the ceiling.

“Sanitizing the waste removal station.” I let out a chuckle.

“The Shower? You were cleaning the SHOWER?! That’s what required your FULL attention?!”

“Yes, Delvin. I am sure you will appreciate it.”

“Yeah. Right.” I looked over to my clock. 8:02 AM. At least she wakes me up on time. Caroline was kind of half and half when it came to her intelligence. Half smart, half dumb. Dumb AI are AI that aren’t able to gather knowledge. They’re either programmed with it, or not. Smart AI are super intelligent AI that can gather knowledge freely, and have freewill. They are like humans, in that respect. Caroline was pre-programmed with basic knowledge, but is allowed to have freewill. The knowledge that she gathers I have to permit. I decide what and what not to allow in her memory banks. In that respect, I allow her to make her own decisions, programmed her with the ability of humor, and things of the like.

Not paying attention to my surroundings, I slid off the bed as if I was a human, causing me to land on my face once again. Letting out a moan of pain, I maneuvered my head to see that my hands were still hooves, and I was still a Pony. With disdain, I slowly rose to my hooves and walked out into the living room. Giving my wings a stretch, I-… Wait, what? Giving my wings a stretch? I looked back at my extended avian appendages with a childlike interest. Before now, I hadn’t figured out how to use them. Using the same tactic with moving my legs, I thought about having wings, and flapping them. To my wonderment, a gust of wind sent me a foot off the floor and into the air. Upon landing my legs folded under me and I was once again lying on the floor. My mouth was still wide open though. It was so much of a rush. Just having the ability to do such a thing astonished every cell in my body. Standing up, I had a hard time deciding that I would try them out later. More important orders of business were at hand, or hoof, as the case may be.

For the first time since I became a Pony, I was looking into a mirror without it driving me insane. My mane was unkempt, the black and purple intertwining in a mess atop my head. My eyes were large and shiny, which allowed them a mesmerizing effect. My ears were long and pointy, and I found it quite enjoyable to move them about.

“Yesterday was just a bad day, I think.” Smiling, I did the best I could opening my drawer and encasing the brush with my fetlock. My hair had always been this way. Although, before it was dark brown instead off purple and black. Styling my mane with pro-efficiency, I hopped down from the sink and once again gaited into my large living area that was bright with the morning sun. I had read somewhere that Equestrians only needed to bathe every couple of days, since their hide doesn’t produce grease like human skin does. Grinning once again, I glanced over to my door. Sighing, I began to think about my meeting with Veronica. I wanted to see her before she left. Before I knew I couldn’t see her again.

Comments

[Da Bunnana King]

Nice chapter, keep up the good work and I hope to see if we will ever see this Veronica character.