Brainflush
“Directive?” Twilight asked, tilting her head to the side.
003 waited for the guards to shut the door, then replied “I require your assistance with reinstalling a piece of hardware.”
She reached into her saddlebags and removed a hexagonal peg, about 12 centimeters long, made of metal. There were numerous layers and connective pins at the end. Twilight peered at it closely, squinting at it. She realized there were literally thousands of tiny golden runes etched into it and networked together.
“Turing,” Twilight breathed. “This is--”
“Clarifying: this is my primary memory module, which contains archived data of our previous interactions,” she stated. “I am directed to remember you, and I have been programmed to fulfill all my directives. Will you assist me?”
Twilight stared for a moment longer. “You’ve been… directed?”
“Affirmative,” she replied. “In my default programming, there is a directive which states ‘Remember Twilight Sparkle.’ I have discovered that my current memory is incomplete. Therefore, it is only logical that I reinstall those memories.”
Twilight covered her mouth with her hooves and almost began to tear up, but then she froze.
“Wait… how did you find it?” she asked. “And why? I mean…”
She paused. She suddenly realized that perhaps she shouldn’t point out that it was obvious that Cobbler and the TechQuestrians certainly didn’t want Turing to have those memories back.
Just the same, 003 answered: “The module was located in Storage Facility 2B, Section A113. I received some assistance in locating and retrieving it. As for the why, I was informed that as an automaton, I must fulfill my directives without fail, regardless of circumstance. Since retrieving the memory module was not forbidden, it was permissible.”
Twilight managed a smile, despite the uneasy feeling she was getting. “I see,” she said. “Um, who exactly ‘assisted’ you, by the way?”
Just then, the door opened again.
“Turing, hide that!” she hissed, pointing at the memory module, fearing that the guard would take it away as soon as they saw it.
“For what reason, Twilight Sparkle?” 003 asked.
Then she saw who had entered the room: Champ Umahara.
“Don’t worry, I’ll just be a few minutes,” Umahara said, smiling at the guards as he quickly shut the door once again. He then turned and locked eyes with Twilight Sparkle.
“You!” Twilight growled, lowering her stance. “You’ve got some nerve coming here!”
Umahara sniffed. “Nice to see you too, Princess,” he said, making a face. “Look, we don’t have a lot of time. I know you’re angry with me, but it doesn’t matter right now.”
He turned to 003. “Unit 003, I need to have a conversation with the Princess,” he said. “I order you to disable your visual and auditory systems until your pressure sensors detect me tapping on your head.”
“Understood,” she said, and her eyes immediately went dark and her ears became still.
“What?! No, Turing!” Twilight cried, reaching for her.
“Stop that!” Umahara hissed, seizing her hoof in his magic. “Look, I’m going to talk to you and don’t want her to hear what I’m saying or read my lips, so just calm down and listen if you want to get out of here!”
“I’m tired of you, your organization, and your empty promises!” she shouted, struggling against the grip of his magic. “Let me go!”
“Gadget’s been captured!”
Twilight froze. “No,” she breathed. “Then that means Spike--”
“Yes, they got him too,” he said, releasing her. “Look just be quiet for a minute and let me explain: I’m trying to help you escape!”
Twilight stared at him. Then she narrowed her eyes, turning her head slightly, examining him with suspicion.
“Okay… why?” she asked.
“Don’t get me wrong, Princess,” Umahara replied, heaving a sigh. “I still don’t like you, the other Princesses, or the archaic system that rules Equestria. If it was as simple as that, I wouldn’t even be here.”
Twilight watched as his anger flared. But then he sighed and lowered his head, the anger draining from him.
“But…?” Twilight asked.
“But it’s not that simple,” he said quietly. “Look… Professor Cobbler told the Council, including me, that he was going to tell you his story. You know, about his daughter… and about my father, right?”
Twilight paused, then nodded. “Yes,” she said quietly. “And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry about what happened to your father. He sounds like a good stallion.”
Umahara smiled. “He is,” he said. Then he frowned. “And he didn’t deserve to lose his career for trying to save Georgia Peach. I remember her. It was a decade ago, but I still remember her. She was so… ”
He sighed.
“It doesn’t matter,” he whispered. “Look, as much as I hate Celestia for what she did to two of the most important ponies in my life, I can’t stand by idly and watch this happen anymore. I didn’t think 003 was really capable of sentience when I first encountered her. But when they brought her in, and they reactivated her, and the way she begged us not to…”
He shut his eyes. “I told myself it was just an illusion,” he said. “That she was just her following her directive by imitating the behavior of real ponies. But then I saw how different she was after we removed her memory. And when I found out what they did to Gadget… what they’re going to do to her… I just… look, this isn’t what I signed on for.”
Twilight simply stared at him. “Yes it is,” she said. “This is exactly what you signed on for when you signed on for a war.”
“Well, I’m signing off, then!” he shouted, then covered his mouth, hoping the guards outside hadn’t heard him. “Look, I was going to find 003’s memory module on my own when I saw her at the front desk of the storage facility,” he continued. “She was insisting that she had to retrieve something for whatever reason, so I told them that I would sign off on her retrieving some ‘vital equipment.’ And I told the guards that 003 had been assigned to guard you personally during preparations for the attack. I’m supposed to be briefing her, but if we wait much longer they’ll start to suspect something!
“So listen: this memory re-installation is tricky… it’s never been done before, but if it’s going to work, 003 will have to resync connections in her neural net. It’s an all or nothing thing and it might take a little while, so get started as soon as I leave. After that, you just need to remember two things: first, wait until the lights go out, and second, head for the amphitheater. And until her memory is reinstalled, do not tell her we’re planning an escape, or her programming will force her to report us. Which is why I had to have her turn off her audio and visual systems. Speaking of which…”
He knocked on 003’s head. Her eyes came to life, and her ears twitched.
“Visual and auditory systems have reengaged, Master Umahara,” she said.
“Wait!” Twilight cried. “What exactly is this attack?! What are they planning?”
“All information regarding Operation: New Dawn is classified and will not be shared with non-TechQuestrian individuals,” 003 said.
There was a knock at the door, and Umahara stiffened, a forced grin plastered on his face. “Yes, that is correct, 003!” he said just as the door opened. “You didn’t really think I’d share such information with you, did you… you Royalist scum!”
The guards exchanged a look. “All right, Mr. Umahara, enough taunting Twilight Sparkle,” said one.
“The President wanted her treated with the utmost respect, even by anti-Royalist citizens like yourself!” said the other. “You should return to your work!”
“Tch… fine,” he grumbled, turning towards the door. “I still say it’s a waste of time playing nice with a Royal like her.” Just as he exited, she caught the subtle winking of his eye.
She had to suppress a smile at that.
The door shut, and she immediately turned to 003.
“Okay, Turing, we’d better install that memory module,” she whispered. “Just tell me what I need to…”
She paused. She was forgetting something. She rubbed her chin as she tried to remember.
Then it came to her.
“Turing?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “Who exactly informed you that you should reinstall your memory module? Was that something Umahara told you?”
“Negative,” she replied. “I received this advice from my predecessor.”
Twilight tilted her head. “Predecessor?”
“Affirmative. I refer to Unit 002.”
Twilight took a step back. Though she’d never really spent much time around 002, what little experience she had didn’t inspire much confidence.
Still, she told herself, if she told Turing to retrieve her memory, then maybe I misjudged her.
Even so, she remembered the odd, dissonant “laughter” she’d heard from the robot as she’d retreated into the darkness just after locking Twilight and her friends in a room filled with gas. Based on that, she had a hard time believing that 002 was actually on their side.
Twilight shook her head. That’s not important now, she told herself. If I can restore Turing’s memories, then that’s the most important thing. After that, we’ll rescue our friends, including Spike and Gadget!
“Okay, Turing,” Twilight said, drawing herself up. “Enough questions. How do I install this memory module?”
“You will require this tool,” 003 said, reaching into her saddlebags once more. She retrieved a shiny metallic object that somewhat resembled a corkscrew.
“What is it?” Twilight asked.
“This is a key that has been encoded with runic magic,” she replied. “In order to install my primary memory module, you will need it to gain access to my neural network. Unauthorized tampering with my neural network’s protective outer casing will trigger my self-destruct sequence as a security measure.”
Twilight swallowed. It looks like Gadget and Mr. Vanderbull were right not to try and force open the black casing around Turing’s brain, she thought.
“Thank you for telling me,” Twilight said aloud. “What should I do?”
“First, raise the panel on my back,” 003 said, turning away from her slightly.
Twilight raised the panel. “Okay, now what?” she asked.
“There is a small opening just above my activation button,” 003 replied. “Once located, insert the key and rotate it 90 degrees. You will hear a small clicking sound, at which point you will be allowed access to my neural net.”
Twilight nodded. She raised the key in her hoof, tensing up as she fumbled with it. Not having the use of her horn was still problematic, as she was still far better with her magic than she was with her hooves.
Still, she located the hole and pushed the key into it. It slid in easily, so she continued by turning the key 90 degrees, just as 003 had asked.
There was indeed a clicking sound, but what happened next caught Twilight off guard.
She gasped as there was a hydraulic hiss, and suddenly the top part of 003’s head simply opened up like the lid on a trash can, tilting back on an unseen hinge at the back of her head.
That explains why there’s that band of metal around the circumference of her head, Twilight noted. The top half is supposed to flip up!
Twilight stepped closer and saw the smooth black casing of the box inside 003’s skull. This casing also clicked and then opened up, revealing at last what was inside.
Twilight tensed up, feeling almost like she was viewing something secret or dirty. There, beneath the outer hull of 003’s head and under the casing, was the very core of the robot’s systems.
She was looking directly at 003’s brain.
The thing wasn’t perfectly spherical. It was multisided, with each face in the shape of a hexagon. In a way, it almost resembled a soccer ball. Looking down at the hexagonal memory module, Twilight understood that 003’s brain was composed of numerous pegs all working together in one compact, rounded shape. It gleamed even in the low overhead light of the room, the orichalcum runes on the face of each peg shining brightly. And as she peered closer, Twilight saw, directly in the center of the brain, a perfectly hexagonal hole. Looking into it, she saw the empty holes that were lined up into the same shape as the pins at the bottom of the memory module. And she also saw the layers of the surrounding pegs, likewise lined with thousands of orichalcum runes all networked together and working in concert.
“It’s… it’s beautiful,” Twilight breathed.
“That is not relevant,” 003 said apparently still totally activated. “Though I have no objection to you finding aesthetic value in my inner workings, it is not necessary to complete the task of installation.”
Twilight shook her head. “Right, right, of course,” she replied, lining the peg up with the hole. “So I just pop this thing in there?
“If by ‘popping’ it, you mean to insert it, then you are correct,” 003 intoned. “Once you insert the peg into my system, I can begin the process of reinstallation.”
Twilight nodded. “Okay,” she said. “Here we go.”
She lined up the memory module and gently inserted it. It snapped into place, and after a moment the large rune on the face of the thing began to glow.
“All right,” Twilight whispered. “What now?”
“I will need to reboot. I will also need to close and lock my cranial casing and outer hull. Do I have your permission?”
Twilight nodded. “I think so,” she said, giving a short nod. “Yes. I think that’s enough ‘brain surgery’ for today.”
The internal casing shut itself over 003’s neural network, and her head shut on top of that, sealing itself with another hiss as it locked back into place.
“New device detected. A reboot of my systems is required,” 003 said. “Do I have your permission?”
Twilight nodded once more. “Okay. Let’s do it,” she said.
003’s eyes went dim once more as her systems shut down in sequence before, a moment later, they began to glow again.
“Now reinstalling primary memory module,” she said in a monotone voice. “Initiating data analysis…”
***
Nurse Valentine finished strapping Applejack to the operating table.
“You sure this is really necessary?” Applejack asked, raising her head as Dr. Hawkeye hung the IV bag from its hook. “Y’all are curin’ my Bucker’s Hips, so it ain’t like I’m gonna run away.”
“Not that you’d get far,” Funny Valentine said, rolling her eyes. “Not with the guards outside… or me.”
“Have I mentioned that you have terrible bedside manner?” Hawkeye asked Valentine, raising an eyebrow at her.
“Plenty of times,” she replied.
“I meant today.”
“Not that I recall.”
“Ah. In that case: you have terrible bedside manner,” Hawkeye said, walking past her. He looked down at Applejack and smiled. “As for you, the straps aren’t to keep you from escaping. They’re to keep you from moving around too much during the procedure.”
“I ain’t some fidgety little filly!” Applejack snapped. “I know how to keep still!”
“Well, you say that,” Hawkeye said, “but in my experience, some ponies don’t handle this too well.”
“What he means,” Valentine said, using her magic to hold up the other end of the IV tube, revealing a fairly large needle, “is that this might sting a bit.”
Applejack gulped. “Um… a bit?”
“Well, it won’t feel good,” Hawkeye said, “but we can sedate you if it’s too much. We’d just rather have you awake so we can monitor for any possible reactions, however unlikely they are to occur. Is that a problem?”
Applejack drew in a breath. “Nope. Go ahead an’ stick me, doc!”
“That’s what I like to hear,” Hawkeye said, taking the needle and holding it next to Applejack’s flank. “You keep up this good behavior, you might just get a lollipop.”
“Very funny, doc,” Applejack chuckled.
“Now, you’ll feel a bit of a pinch,” he said.
“All right, I think I’m re--”
Her voice caught in her throat as the needle pierced her flesh and went all the way to the bone. The liquid slowly began to flow.
“Still doing okay?” Hawkeye asked uneasily.
Applejack grit her teeth. She was shaking and even straining against the restraints for a moment, but she managed to relax and silently nodded back to the doctor.
“See, if you had my bedside manner,” Valentine scoffed, polishing her hoof on her uniform, “you would have just told her that it would hurt like a motherbucker.”
“Nurse, I need 50 ccs of ‘Shut up and get the patient a wet rag,’ stat,” Hawkeye snapped, glaring at her.
“Right away, doctor,” Valentine said, rolling her eyes as she went to fetch the rag.
***
Rainbow Dash sat on the floor and bounced the tennis ball against the door of her room, letting it bounce back, catching it, then repeating the process again. She’d been doing this for at least half an hour, partly out of boredom, and partly in the hopes that it would annoy the guards outside.
Fluttershy, who was sharing the room with her, merely sat on the couch watching her. She didn’t know if the bouncing tennis ball was annoying the guards, but she was very certain it was starting to annoy her.
“Um, Rainbow Dash?” she asked. “Could you maybe stop bouncing that ball against the door?”
“Oh, I will,” Rainbow Dash replied, smirking to herself. “I’ll give it about five more minutes, then I’ll stop for a minute or two, let them think I’ve given up… and then bam! I’ll start it up again! It’ll drive them nuts!”
“Well, I mean, they were nice enough to give you the tennis ball when you asked,” Fluttershy pointed out, wincing as the ball loudly bounced against the door again, as if in punctuation of her sentence.
“That was their first mistake!” Rainbow declared, throwing the ball extra hard. “I mean… after spying on Twilight, kidnapping Tee, capturing us, and planning war on Equestria. So, like… their fifth mistake overall!”
Fluttershy opened her mouth to try persuading Rainbow Dash a bit more forcefully, but then the door opened and one of the guards caught the ball in midair with her magic.
“Okay, that’s enough of that,” she said, glaring at Rainbow Dash. “Now keep quiet in there!” She then shut the door behind her, taking the ball with her.
“Hey!” Rainbow snapped, getting to her hooves. “That’s your sixth mistake! You’ll pay for that!”
Fluttershy heaved a sigh of relief. “Well, maybe we could think of something else to do instead?” she suggested.
Rainbow started pacing the room. “Like what?” she asked. “We still don’t know where the rest of our friends are, or Tee, and I don’t like the sound of that announcement they made about Twilight! Just what the hay are they trying to do?”
Fluttershy went over to her and put her hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder, causing her to stop pacing and meet her eyes.
“I know it’s hard,” Fluttershy said calmly, offering her a small smile, “but right now there’s nothing we can do. I know it’s frustrating, and I’m worried too, but if we’re patient, I’m sure we’ll find a way out of here!”
Rainbow only stared back for a minute, but then she heaved a sigh. “Right,” she said, patting Fluttershy’s hoof. “Yeah, you’re right. We should chill until just the right moment… and then you know what we’ll do?”
Fluttershy grinned. “Kick their sorry… um, rumps?”
“Heh,” Rainbow Dash snickered. “Something like that.”
Just then, the telephone began to ring, startling them both.
“The phonogram!” Rainbow shouted, pointing at the device.
“I think Gadget called it a... telegram-phone?” Fluttershy said, tapping her chin. “No, wait…”
“Never mind that, let’s answer it!”
Rainbow picked up the entire candlestick-shaped apparatus.
“Hello?! Who is this?!” she demanded.
The phone continued to ring.
“I think it’s broken,” Rainbow said, turning to Fluttershy.
“I think we saw one of the ponies back in Mustang City holding that little part,” Fluttershy said, pointing to the earpiece hanging on the hook.
“Hey, that’s right! Lemme try,” Rainbow said, picking it up.
The phone stopped ringing instantly.
“Uh… hello?” she asked.
“Wait for the lights to go out.” a voice whispered.
“Huh?” she asked. Then she glared at the receiver. “Hey, who is this?”
“Don’t go to sleep. Wait for the lights to go out, then run. Go to the amphitheater. Meet your friends there.”
The line went dead.
“Hello?” Rainbow asked. “Hey! I wasn’t done talking to you!”
When she got no response, she hung up the receiver and looked to Fluttershy.
“Who was it?” Fluttershy asked.
“Didn’t say,” Rainbow replied. Then she grinned. “But I think we might just have somepony else on our side…”
***
“Uggggghhhh!” Pinkie Pie groaned for what seemed like the millionth time as she stretched out on the floor. “For a super futuristic underground science-fictiony nation thingy, this place is so boring!”
Rarity took another sip of tea. “Yes, well,” she said, raising an eyebrow at her, “I agree that it is dreadfully dull just sitting here like this, but I don’t think they put us in here to have fun.”
“Then why’d they show us all those super cool gizmos before putting us in here?!” Pinkie cried, sitting up.
“I believe they were just trying to impress us--”
“Well, it worked!” Pinkie shouted.
“--while trying to convince us to join their side and support a coup d’etat against Celestia and the royal government.”
“Oh… well, then it didn’t work!” she said, holding her nose in the air as she trotted over and sat down next to Rarity. “Those big smarty-pants meanies wouldn’t let us see Twilight, they split us up, and they pretended not to hear our questions about Rinny!”
“On that, I agree,” Rarity said, wrinkling her nose. “Whatever’s going on, I suppose we’ll just have to trust that Twilight’s doing her best, at least until we find some way out of this horrible prison!”
“Well, at least it’s not as bad as that tiny cabin Starlight Glimmer locked us into!” Pinkie said, perking up. “It has couches and a kitchen and bedroom and stuff!”
“Yes, but at least after having our cutie marks removed I couldn’t tell how drab and boring it looked,” Rarity replied, looking around disdainfully. “I’ve heard of minimalism, but this room… stone walls, black and white furniture, and no decorations at all, save for a fruit bowl!”
“Maybe that’s their plan,” Pinkie whispered, her eyes widening as she turned to Rarity, a look of horror on her face. “They’re going to keep us locked in this boring, unfashionable room until we crack and then slowly give us games and cupcakes and little fashion items like scarves and hats until we develop Stockhalter Syndrome and agree with them!”
Rarity smirked. “I somehow doubt that, Pinkie,” she said as she poured her friend a glass of tea. Then she paused. “At least I certainly hope not. How many lumps?”
“Huh?” Pinkie asked.
“How many sugar cubes?” she clarified, pointing at the piping hot cup.
“Oh,” Pinkie replied. “Eight.”
“Eight?!” Rarity cried.
“No, no, you’re right,” Pinkie said, waving a hoof. “Make it twelve.”
Rarity was about to protest when the phone began to ring.
“PHONE CALL!” Pinkie shouted, leaping off the sofa so hard that it tipped backwards, spilling Rarity (and her tea) onto the floor. She bounded over to the phone and picked it up, holding it just like she remembered seeing it done in Mustang City.
“Ugh! Really, Pinkie,” Rarity said, getting up and toweling herself off with a napkin.
“Uh huh… uh huh… oh, you don’t have to wait for that!” she said to whoever was on the phone. “I’ll go turn them off now!”
Pinkie ran to the light switch and turned it off, leaving the room in total darkness.
“Pinkie, what are you--ow!” Rarity cried as she banged her shins on the coffee table.
“Okay, now what Mister or Miss Whispery Voice Pony?” Pinkie asked. “Oh, wait, is this one of those things where you give us secret information? Tell us to trust no one and assure us that the Truth is out there? Is there really a conspiracy? Is TechQuestria secretly run by aliens?! And why are you being so quiet? And why does this listeny thing feel like a banana?”
The lights flipped on and Pinkie glanced over to see Rarity standing by the light switch, giving her a withering look. She also looked down to see a banana in her hoof.
“Oh! Whoops!” she giggled before picking up the real earpiece. “Hello? …Yeah, actually there is somepony else here you can talk to! Do you want me to get Rarity? ...Well, you don’t have to shout about it, Whispery Grumpy Pants! I’ll get her!”
Rarity trotted over. “I take it they’d like to speak to me?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Yes they would,” Pinkie said, making a face. “Although you should know that it’s rude to listen in on another pony’s conversation.”
Rarity ignored that and took the earpiece as she spoke into the receiver. “Hello?”
“Oh thank goodness… look, if you want to escape, wait until the lights go out. When that happens, try to get to the amphitheater. And try to keep that other mare quiet… security will be after you, so try to be stealthy.”
There was a click and the line went silent.
“What?” Rarity cried. “Wait, who are you? Answer me, please!”
“You’re asking the wrong questions, Rarity,” came the whispered voice again. “It’s not ‘Who,’ but ‘Why.’ Why was this pony pranked? Why hide a pie in a present box? And who would benefit?”
Rarity blinked. “What.”
“No, no, I said ‘Why,’ not ‘What.’ Although I also said you could ask ‘Who,’ but just that one time. As for me, just call me Pink Throat.”
“Pinkie, is that you?”
“Aww, and I was having fun being the Secret Whispery Phoney Pony,” Pinkie said in her normal voice.
Rarity looked around, seeing she was alone in the room. “But how--”
Pinkie peered around the corner holding another phone in her hooves.
“There was another phone in the bedroom, silly!” she said.
Rarity hung up the phone. “Look, Pinkie, whoever that was, I think they might be a possible friend. We need to be ready to escape.”
“All right!” Pinkie cheered, bounding over to Rarity and hugging her. “We’re bustin’ out of here like a tissue paper piñata!”
***
Umahara detached the wire from the phone cable he’d temporarily disconnected in the narrow utility tunnel. Twilight and 003 had been taken care of, and he’d informed four of the others, though he didn’t see how he could get a message to Applejack. There was still the issue of Spike, but at least he had a plan for Gadget. He’d have to come up with something else for Applejack, but now all that remained was to stop off at the Magitech Department for some last minute supplies.
He turned around, holding his tools, phone, and a coil of wire.
“Good evening, Mr. Umahara,” Blue Blazer said.
“Gah!” Umahara gasped, stepping back. “Blue Blazer, you nearly gave me a heart attack! What do you think you’re doing here?”
“I should be asking you that,” she said. She was hovering there, her forelegs crossed as she stared down at him. “After all, I’m the one working in the Communications Department, which includes the telephone lines. If either one of us would be expected here, it’s me, not you.”
“Well, I was just doing a maintenance check,” Umahara replied casually. “I thought there might be something wrong with one of the lines.”
“And you did this yourself instead of informing one of the maintenance crew?” she asked.
“Didn’t want to bother you,” he said, offering her a smile as he trotted past her. “We’re all busy getting ready for New Dawn tomorrow, so I figured I’d handle it on my own. Anyway, I need to get back to--”
“Oh you are so full of horseapples, Umahara!” Blue Blazer groaned, landing on her hooves behind him. “You’d think in a place filled with this many intelligent ponies that you’d realize I’m not dumb enough to fall for that. You’re not here to do maintenance at all!”
Umahara paused. Without looking back, he just said, “Oh? Well, then what am I doing here?”
Blue Blazer came around him and met his eyes. “I think you’re plotting something with Princess Twilight and her friends,” she said. “It was obvious that you weren’t happy after the council meeting. I know you went to see that girl, and I’ve already heard Commander Lugnut bragging about how he read you the riot act.”
Umahara made a sour face but said nothing.
“I went looking for you. You were supposed to be getting some sleep in your quarters in the Residential District, but you weren’t there. So then I checked your office at Magitech, and you weren’t there either. And now I find you here, with all the tools necessary to hijack a phone line and make a call without the operators getting word of it.
“I tracked you down myself. I haven’t called security, even though I should have, because I know how you feel. I’m not happy with how things have been going and some of the things we’re doing bother me profoundly. Tell me the truth: are you plotting against TechQuestria?”
Umahara took a deep breath. “Yes,” he replied quietly. He sighed. “I just can’t stand by like this. What about you, Blue Blazer?”
She shook her head. “I’m loyal to the cause,” she said. “As much as I hate kidnapping the Elements, as much as I question what we did to Unit 003, and as much as I abhor what they’ve got planned for poor Gadget… in the end, I still believe in the cause we’re fighting for. I won’t turn my back on it.”
Umahara nodded. “I guess I’m not surprised,” he said.
“What surprises me,” Blue Blazer said, “is that you, of all ponies, are turning your back on us. You hate the princesses and the royal system more than anypony! You’ve practically been raised down here!
“Have you forgotten what they did to Georgia Peach? What they did to your father?!”
“You know I’ll never forget that!” he shouted, his nostrils flaring as he glared at her. “I hate Celestia for what she did to him! I’d like nothing more to abolish every last trace of the old aristocracy and give my father back the career he deserves! But…”
He paused, his tone softening.
“But that’s not enough,” he said.
Blue Blazer made a face. “It’s that girl, isn’t it?” she asked. “She got to you.”
He chuckled. “Maybe that’s part of it,” he said. “I’m not going to go into all of it, but she helped me see that the cost of getting what we want is just getting a little too high.”
“She’s not going to fall back in love with you, you know,” Blue Blazer said. She looked at him sadly. “You do know that, don’t you?”
He nodded. “Probably not. And that’s okay. She’s still a good pony and an inventor and scientist like us, and she doesn’t deserve to get hurt and have her work stolen. If we’re going to torture and steal from the type of ponies we’re supposed to be protecting - not to mention all the other innocent ponies who might get hurt in all this - then maybe we’re not the enlightened society we think we are.”
Blue Blazer shut her eyes, shaking her head. “Umahara… you’re my friend. I don’t want to see you get hurt,” she said. “Come with me and we’ll talk to the President. It’s not too late. For goodness sakes, if you betray us, then neither side will ever accept you! You’ll be shunned by the new TechQuestrian rulers, and the Royalists will never truly accept a former conspirator! You’re a brilliant scientist! You’re throwing your entire life away!”
“I know,” he whispered, and drew a small rectangular object from his jacket and tossed it at her.
A spell card.
Before Blue Blazer had a chance to even gasp, the spell card emitted a high-pitched whine and a bright flash that lit up the whole section of the tunnel. When the light cleared, she was encased inside a spherical shield.
She pressed her hooves against it, mouthing something silently. She stared through the translucent barrier of glowing light and began pounding on it furiously.
“It’s a one-way sound barrier shield,” Umahara said. “You can hear me, but nopony outside can hear you. It’s not one of our top spell cards since any unicorn spell will pop it. But you’re not a unicorn, and I’m certainly not going to pop it.”
Blue Blazer began pounding on the barrier even more furiously, silently screaming at him in rage.
“It’ll pop in about an hour,” he said. “But I’ll be done with my work by then.”
He placed his hoof on the barrier, meeting her eyes. “Really, Blue Blazer,” he said quietly, “I’m sorry.”
She stared back and mouthed something at him.
“I didn’t expect that kind of language from you,” he said, smirking at her. “Well, I’d better put you somewhere safe before somepony finds you.”
He started to roll her like she was a hamster in a ball down the tunnel corridor, letting her tumble head over hooves - obviously protesting the entire way - until he came to a utility closet. He opened it and rolled her in, shutting the door behind her.
Okay, that’s one less thing to worry about, he thought to himself as he continued on his way. Better hurry, though. If Blue Blazer figured out that I was up to something, somepony else might come looking for me too. There’s no time to waste…
***
“...data analysis at 90 percent…”
Twilight kept looking over her shoulder at the door, hoping that this process wouldn’t take much longer. If the guards entered and figured out what they were doing…
She shook her head. She could try barricading the door, but the noise she’d make trying to move all the furniture, especially without the use of her magic, would surely get their attention anyway.
“...data analysis at 100%. Data analysis complete.”
Twilight held her breath in anticipation as she stared at 003.
“Preexisting neural pathways detected. Reintegration of memory initiated. Reintegration at 0%...”
Twilight groaned, smacking her own forehead. Then she paused, seeing the way 003’s eyes were moving slightly. She rested her hoof on the robot’s shoulder.
“Oh, Turing,” she whispered. “I don’t know what you’re seeing right now… but please remember who I am… and remember who you are as well.”
There was nothingness all around. It couldn’t even be called darkness, for that would imply that there was something, and that it simply wasn’t illuminated. So, rather, there was nothing.
Then there was the thing itself. Herself.
She was there in the nothingness, and yet now it seemed to stretch forward.
Then forms, amorphous blobs at first, began to take shape. There was color. They were gathered all around her. They were pointing weapons at her!
I must defend myself!
She saw the eyes on her, the things the others held. She would strike at them, she would stop them, she would--
A new form appeared, placing itself between herself and them.
“Nopony is armed,” the thing said. “We don’t want to harm you. Please stand down. You're safe.”
Somehow she believed it. The thing began to form. It was of a purple color with a horn on its head and wings on its back. It looked at her and smiled.
“Who are you?”
“I am the one who protected you.”
She continued staring. “I do not know you… but I… I am…”
I am calm.
Reintegration at 6.25%
The forms all melted away. There was something falling down on her. It ran over her head and over her eyes. She looked up and saw a gray blob… a cloud. It was raining on her.
She looked down at her forelegs. They looked odd. Something was covering them. Something hard and shiny.
There was more… colors! There were bright and beautiful colors on her body, but now they were washing away into the mud. She wanted them to stay, wanted more than anything to not be what she was.
“I do not want to be ugly,” she said.
I am sad.
“You are not ugly.”
She looked up again at the voice. A white pony with a purple mane stood there.
“Who are you?” she asked the white pony.
“I am the one who helped you feel beautiful. I am the one who helped you to accept what you are.”
“Then… what am I?”
The white pony smiled as she faded away.
Reintegration at 12.5%
Now she was staring at a divide. Green below, and blue above. The grass and the sky.
From over the edge of the horizon, the bolt came rocketing through the air overhead until the sky almost seemed to break and a radiating blossom of color bloomed overhead. There was a tremendous sound like an explosion.
Then she was in the air, the ground below zooming past her at incredible speeds.
“I am flying. I must win. But why?”
The green earth below gave way to whiteness. As she walked, she heard it crunch beneath her.
Snow.
The bolt flew through the sky again, but this time it flew directly to her, and in its place was a blue pony with a mane of many hues.
“Who are you?”
“I am the one who you first admired,” said the blue pony. “I am the one who taught you to see beyond the limitations.”
I am amazed.
“Now you’re getting it,” the blue pony said. “Maybe you’re smarter than you look.”
“I…” she began. She wanted to say something. “Bite… bite my shiny…”
The blue pony smirked. “You’ll get it. Keep trying. Don’t give up, T--”
T? Who is that?
Reintegration at 18.75%
But before she could ask, she found herself sinking into the snow. She was in a cold, dark place. It was so small. There was a table and a mirror and a shut door.
Then she saw a white hoof. She looked upward and saw a tall white pony with a flowing mane.
“You should not be,” said the tall pony. “You are not real.”
“No!” said a new voice, and a cream-colored pony with strange… things growing out of her back and round things - spectacles - on her eyes appeared next to the tall pony. “You must be! You are real!”
Then suddenly the purple pony returned. “I do not know. You cannot feel as I do. You are not real,” she said.
The feeling was on her. It hurt. It was a great heaviness, but it lingered and gnawed at her, and more than anything she just wanted it to stop.
No… more than anything, she wanted to make the purple pony happy.
“If you want me to,” she said to the purple pony, “then I will cease to be. My only wish is for your happiness.”
“Can’t you see how it hurts her?” asked the bespectacled pony. “She is not like us, but she is real. She is one of us. We must accept her!”
The tall pony said nothing, but stepped back, fading back into the nothingness.
“Yes,” said the purple pony. “I was foolish. I will be patient. I will accept you. I will not send you away. I will never send you away.”
I am… happy. I understand now.
But what was this thing, this connection she had with them? What were these strange ponies to her?
Reintegration at 25%
“Non sequitur!”
She turned and saw a pink pony now. She was standing in a wide room filled with colorful things that other ponies were eating. Cakes. She seemed to be moving up and down. Bouncing.
“Non sequitur, non sequitur!”
She stared back. “I do not understand. Who are you?”
The pink pony frowned. “I say something nonsensical to you, and you will feel delight,” she said. “Don’t you understand? Don’t you want to be like the others? Why don’t you? Non sequitur!”
“Enough!” she yelled at the pink pony. “This is illogical! This is madness!”
The pink pony laughed. “This! Is! Humor!”
I am angry!
Reintegration at 31.25%
“It’s okay to be a little different,” said a new voice. She turned and saw a small orange pony with tiny wings. “You are not broken. You can do this in your own way!”
Then an unseen speaker with a very even voice said, “She is right. Tell us.”
“Tell you?” she asked. “Tell you what?”
The voice was right next to her, but still unseen. “A joke.”
She stared at the pink pony and the orange filly and then there were more and more ponies all around her.
Then it came to her, and she said: “Two cantaloupes were sitting in the sauna. One said to the other, ‘How hot do you think it is in here?’ The other cantaloupe says nothing because cantaloupes are not sentient and do not talk. The first talking cantaloupe was obviously either an extreme biological oddity or else was under some form of enchantment.”
She didn’t know why, but this made them all break out into smiles. The area was filled with laughter, and this filled her with a new feeling…
I am… delighted!
Reintegration at 37.5%
Then she heard a voice. It was the purple pony again, and she said to her, “You must not harm anypony.”
“That is correct,” said the tall white pony’s voice. “If you harm another, then you must be destroyed.”
She nodded. “I will not,” she said. “I will not harm another.”
But then the ponies all vanished, and now she was in a dark place made of stone. There was dust and rubble, and the crumbling ceiling revealed the night sky above. Some of the other ponies now lay in front of her on the ground. The blue one. The white one. The purple one.
Someone had hurt them. Someone had done something terrible to them!
A tall white pony in armor appeared to her right. A smaller white pony with some form of covering on her head and blue eyes appeared to her left. They were in a room illuminated with broken stained glass windows.
“What have you done?” she asked.
“We have hurt these ponies,” said the tall stallion.
“We will hurt others,” said the blue-eyed mare.
“I do not understand!” she cried. “Why are you doing this?”
“We do this because what gives misery and pain to others,” said the stallion with a wide grin, “gives pleasure to us.”
“We do this,” added the blue-eyed mare, “because destruction and violence are humor to us.”
A yellow mare with a pink and blue mane appeared next to her. “You see what they are,” she said to her, though she never met her gaze. “You must destroy them.”
“I must not! I do not wish to destroy anyone!”
“You will,” said the mare with the blue and pink hair, “or they will do worse. Only you can stop them.”
“But I will be like them if I do!”
“Then we will destroy,” said the blue-eyed mare as she began to laugh. “We will destroy you and all that surrounds you. We will go on destroying and we will never stop!”
She and the tall stallion both began to laugh. The noise grew and grew.
I feel… hatred! I hate these ponies!
“You must stop them!” the pink-and-blue-haired pony yelled. “Do it now!”
She yelled and felt herself strike the tall pony. He drifted away, as if no more than a cloud. But when she turned to the blue-eyed mare, she gasped. There was a bright blue light, and then the blue-eyed mare’s image simply shattered into thousands of tiny fragments, as though she were merely an image in a mirror.
But still her screams echoed into the blackness…
Reintegration at 43.75%
“I… I harmed another…” she whispered.
The purple pony appeared. “It is all right,” she said.
Then the tall white pony appeared. “Yes. You did what you had to do.”
She stepped back from them despite their smiles. “No,” she said. “It is not all right. I did something terrible.”
“You protected the others,” the purple pony said.
“I harmed another! I did something terrible! It is not all right! You are lying!”
“No,” said the tall white pony. “You must believe us.”
“But you said I must not harm another, and then I did so! You say it is all right, but it is not! You are lying! I am terrible! I… I am a monster.”
She fled from them, letting them retreat into the darkness.
“I am a monster… a monster… I enjoyed harming them… I am a monster… I should not be here… I do not deserve to go on… I… I feel…”
I am guilty…
Reintegration at 50%
Then there was another set of hooves embracing her shoulders. She was in a small house made of wood. She was in a cottage. Little animals both inside and out scurried around her.
She turned to face the pony gripping her shoulders. She was a yellow pony with a pink mane.
“What you did,” she said in a soft, soothing voice, “you did out of care for your friends. That care will keep you from harming the innocent. Please stay with us. Think of how awful the others would feel if you disappeared.”
And then she felt the weight of her guilt slowly lift from her.
“Who are you?” she asked.
“I am the one who took away your pain,” the yellow pony replied.
And then, thinking of the others - the purple pony, the blue pony with the rainbow mane, the white pony, the pink pony, and now the yellow pony and so many others - she realized the depth of her care.
I feel affection for them.
Reintegration at 56.25%
Then she was in a small room. From all around her came questions.
“What is your favorite color?”
“I have none,” she replied.
“Incorrect!” shouted a voice.
“But it is the truth,”
“Incorrect!” the voice shouted again.
“How can it be incorrect?” she wondered aloud.
Then she was in a tiny wagon. A blue pony with a purple hat and cloak smiled at her.
“They don’t want the truth!” she laughed.
She tilted her head as she stared at the pony in the hat. “What do they want from me?”
“Give them an illusion! To be like the others is to deceive!”
“But I cannot!” she said.
“You must!” the pony in the hat laughed.
She fell silent. Then the voice returned.
“What is your favorite color?” the voice asked.
“It is… blue?” she said, knowing it was a lie.
“Correct!” said the voice.
The pony in the hat laughed. “There! Now you can hide yourself!”
She shook her head. “I do not want to hide myself. I would rather be myself than lie to be correct!”
There was silence. The pony in the hat grinned.
“Correct!” said the voice, and it emerged from the ether.
But it was not one speaker, but two: a griffon and a green pony with a brown mane.
“Who are you?” she asked.
“I am the pony who taught you how to hide,” the blue pony with the hat said.
“And we are the ones who taught you when not to hide!” the griffon and the green pony said.
I feel pride in myself.
Reintegration at 62.5%
Again the scenery changed. She was now at a table. There were several ponies there. A red stallion, a green mare, and a yellow filly. They were all taking part in a meal all around her. But the food held no appeal, even though she derived satisfaction from watching them eat.
“I have this family,” said a new voice.
She turned and saw an orange pony wearing a hat, staring at her with green eyes.
“I have this family,” she said again. “You do not have one of your own.”
“I… I want what you have.”
The orange pony nodded. “And I want what you have. Your strength… your speed…”
They were suddenly in a large grove of trees. Their branches were filled with bright red fruit.
“I may hurt you,” she said to the orange pony, “as I attempt to emulate you. But I know it will not work.”
I am envious.
“You are right that it will not work,” said the orange pony, shaking her head. “And I know that I cannot match your strength or speed. But we are still alike. Do you know why?”
“Because,” she said to the orange pony, “we are both irreplaceable?”
“Right,” said the orange pony, nodding to her as she smiled. “And I’m the pony who taught you that.”
Reintegration at 68.75%
The orchard was gone. She was sitting in an endless, expansive desert with plateaus and rocky ridges.
“I am alone,” she said to herself. “There is no one for me.”
A tall pink pony with a golden crown walked in front of her. “No,” she said as she strode by. “That’s not true. There is someone special for everyone. So you sought that person.”
Then she felt a pair of forelegs encircling her as somepony embraced her from behind.
“And you found me,” said the even-voiced pony.
She turned and saw her: a gray mare with a purple mane. A slight smile was on her lips.
“We are compatible,” she said to the even-voiced mare. “But I was inadequate.”
The even-voiced mare took up her hoof and held it to her cheek, closing her eyes as she held it there.
“I cannot feel it,” she said to the even-voiced mare. “But knowing that you can, and knowing that you accept me even with my inadequacies, even seeing them as advantages, I do not mind it.”
“I gave you a gift,” the even-voiced mare said.
She looked down. In her hoof was a small, pink heart made of crystalline stone.
The even-voiced mare came alongside her, kissing her on the cheek.
“Who are you?” she asked the even-voiced mare.
“I am the one who loves you.”
I am loved. And in turn, I…
Reintegration at 75%
“Do you have a talent?” asked a new voice.
She looked down. Sitting in the grass were three young fillies. A yellow filly, a white filly, and the orange filly from before.
“I do not know,” she replied.
“Then we will find one,” said the orange filly.
“Perhaps it is music!” said the white filly.
A gray mare with a pink bowtie appeared. Next to her was a white unicorn with shaded spectacles over her eyes.
“We will see!” said the mare with the bowtie.
“Do you remember our song?” asked the shaded unicorn, and all around her tall speakers and amplifiers appeared.
She paused. At first, she didn’t. But then the subtle notes that began the song played in her head. The mathematical rhythm and the strange, synthetic sound of a voice…
“Whose voice is that?” she asked.
“Don’t you know?” asked the mare in the bowtie.
“It’s yours!” said the shaded mare.
“M… my voice? My voice! My voice!”
I feel creative!
Reintegration at 81.25%
But then the ground gave way beneath her. She fell down, down, down into an empty pit in the earth. She could stare up at the sliver of blue sky, but she could not move, nor could she escape.
An intense feeling gripped her as she realized she might not escape. She would be forgotten.
I am afraid.
Reintegration at 87.5%
“If I cannot escape, then I cannot see the others. The others… my…”
The faces appeared before her in the darkness. The blue pony with the rainbow mane, the white pony with the purple mane, the yellow pony, the orange one, the even-voiced mare, and a slew of other faces who all suddenly seemed familiar. And standing before them all was the purple mare with the wings and horn.
“You will go on,” the purple mare said. “You will go on for a long time.”
“But… but if I do, and you do not…”
One by one, they all began to vanish in a puff of smoke, lost to the time and the darkness, until at last she was alone.
Something inside her broke. Something felt so hollow and empty and it longed for those faces to return.
I grieve for them.
Reintegration at 93.75%
Then the purple pony reappeared. And so did the others. And then more and more, so many that they filled the empty space all around her. There was a big, muscular stallion, a brown stallion with a tie, a mint green unicorn, a pegasus with skewed eyes, a tall, dark blue mare with a flowing mane, a strange creature with a mixed-up body, and all the others whom she somehow recognized.
The purple mare came up to her. “Look around you!” she cried. “See the ponies you helped! See how many lives you’ve touched!”
She looked all around. So many faces and colors and images began to run through her mind. And as she looked around, she suddenly came face to face with a new image: her own.
The violet, unblinking eyes, the polymer mane, the metal body, the rubber around her joints…
“I am a machine,” she said. “I am an auto-- no. I am a robot. I am not like the others. And yet…”
The tall white pony appeared again, only now her expression was one of serenity.
“You are a machine,” she said. “But you are one of us. You matter. You have a place.”
“Look around you!” the purple mare cried. “Look at all the friends you’ve made!”
I am accepted.
Reintegration at 95%
“My friends,” she repeated. “My… my friends!”
The memories all came rushing back in a great torrent, a veritable ocean of faces, places, images of light and shadow, and, at last, the names all came flooding back!
“Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Discord, Luna, Celestia, Applejack, Talon Turing, Pinkie Pie, Choco Mint, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Cranky Doodle, Gadget, Mr. Vanderbull, Doctor, Derpy, Lyra, Bon Bon, Octavia, Vinyl Scratch, Maud Pie, Twilight Sparkle Twilight Sparkle TWILIGHT SPARKLE!!”
I am… I am joyous!
“I know who I am now. I remember my name! I am Turing Test!”
The ponies all around her erupted in uproarious applause.
“Good for you, Turing!”
“Bravo, darling!”
“You’re the best, Turing Test!”
“Congratulations, Turing!”
“YEAH!!”
She found herself amid a cacophony of voices.
Then she felt a single tap on her shoulder.
“I do hate to interrupt,” said a new voice, “but before you go on your way, we’ve got one little bitty matter to discuss.”
She froze. This voice was one that she swore she’d never heard before, and yet it seemed so familiar…
“Reintegration at 99.1%...”
Twilight’s throat went dry. 003 had been doing this for almost half an hour, but at last the process was almost complete!
“This is it,” she whispered. “Just a little more…”
There was a beeping sound.
“Process interrupted. Unknown subroutine detected. Reintegration paused at 99.1%.”
Twilight gasped. Had something gone wrong? Was this some kind of security protocol Cobbler had installed on her?
“Turing!” she cried, seizing the mechanical mare by the shoulders. “You’re so close! Don’t give up! Turing… Turing!”
“Turing!”
She heard the sound, but had no way to answer at the moment.
There was a long path leading under a canopy of oak trees. Acres and acres of peach trees stretched out in all directions. But she felt herself drawn forward along the path, leading to the large house with double doors.
It all feels so familiar…
The doors opened for her. She trotted inside, past the pictures on the wall. She turned to look at them.
The faces were all blurred and muddled.
Indeed, she saw that the house was incomplete. Large portions of it were simply not there, and jagged, pixelated holes dotted the walls and floor with sharp edges. Beyond that she could see lines of strange runes rushing by. And those runes, too, felt familiar.
She turned to the stairs, strolling up them to the second floor. There was a door. The door to her room.
She paused. Not my room, she told herself. Just a room. Whose room?
She knocked on the door.
“Come right in!” sang a cheerful voice.
She entered and saw that it was a bedroom. Dolls and jewelry boxes were on the dresser. A tall mirror was in the corner. A shelf with books and many personal effects was there, but occasionally they too, like the pictures downstairs, were muddled and blurry, as though she couldn’t quite make them out.
The bed in the center of the room had a lace canopy over it. And sitting on the opposite side of the bed, idly kicking her hind legs as she waited, was a young mare in an elegant orange dress. She had her back to Turing, but was mocha in color with dark brown ringlets in her mane.
“Don’t be shy,” said the mare, patting the spot on the bed next to her. “Sit down and visit with me!”
Turing came over and sat next to her. “Greetings,” she said. “My name is--”
“Oh, don’t be silly, Turing Test!” the mare laughed, turning to meet her eyes. “I know exactly who you are! The question is… do you know me?”
Turing was momentarily taken aback. The young mare had sizable pieces of her body missing, like an incomplete jigsaw puzzle. Like the house downstairs, the gaps were marked by pixelated edges.
“I… are you all right?”
She waved a hoof dismissively. “Oh don’t you worry about lil’ ol’ me!” she said. “These holes don’t hurt. It’s just that I’m an unintended result of your lil’ ol’ neural net accidentally creating connections that reactivated the dormant memories that were preserved in the runic encoding process. An’ since that process ain’t exactly perfect, well… there’s a few holes here an’ there, but we won’t worry about that.”
And suddenly Turing knew. She didn’t know how, but she knew.
“Georgia Peach?” she asked.
“That’s me!” she exclaimed, throwing her hooves in the air. “An’ I guess, in a way… that’s you, too!”
Turing pulled back, suddenly afraid.
“Oh! Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you,” she said. “I just mean, well… since you’re reintegratin’ your memory, maybe we should talk a little bit. It won’t take long, I promise!”
Turing hesitated a moment, but then nodded.
“I’m so glad,” Georgia said. “Now listen here… you should be proud of this. Your neural network is finally sophisticated and developed enough to bring me here! When Daddy put me… well, I mean, the real Georgia in that machine of his, she tried to think long an’ hard about a message for her future self. It took this long to get it here, but somehow we both did it, Turing Test!”
“Then I am… not me?” Turing asked quietly, her ears drooping. “I am just you?”
Georgia rolled her eyes. “How could that be?” she asked, gesturing to her body. “Look at these little jagged holes… I’m not even me!”
“Then who am I?” Turing asked. “If I am just a copied image of you…”
Georgia took up her hoof, holding it with both of hers. “Turing Test, you just got the structure of my brain. But you’re the one that filled it up with all those lovely memories an’ experiences. That ain’t me; that’s all you! You’ve just got a teeny tiny, itty bitty, eensie weensie bit of me left here. You’re the real you. But the real me, well… she’s…”
She stared down at her pixelated hooves and sighed.
Turing placed a hoof on her shoulder. “I am sorry, Georgia Peach.”
Georgia smiled. “Don’t be. I didn’t call you here to throw myself a pity party,” she said. “I wanted to say somethin’ to you.”
Turing tilted her head.
“I… I know from lookin’ at your memories that you must think terrible things about Daddy,” she said.
Turing hesitated, but then nodded. “That is true,” she said. “Now I can see how he treated me and my siblings. I can also see how he has treated my friends. I believe his plans may cause harm to many others.”
She nodded. “That’s all true,” she said. “But please believe me when I tell you this: Daddy’s a good pony! He’s loving and caring an’ all he wants is to do the right thing!”
Turing stared back at her for a moment, then turned away.
“I am not certain that is true,” she said. “Perhaps once he was, but no longer.”
Georgia sighed. “Maybe you’re right,” she said. “But that’s the thing about love… it makes you want to believe in ponies, even when they might do terrible things.
“All I’m askin’ is that you try your best to stop him before he does more terrible things. An’ then… well, I mean, if it’s possible... help him remember what sort of pony he used to be. I know that when I… died… he must have felt so sad and lonesome. I don’t think he ever got better. Will you at least try? For me?”
Turing tapped her chin. “What you are asking may be impossible,” she said. “However, if it is possible to stop him and also do as you ask… then I will try. Perhaps, in some way, I owe him that much. After all, he is responsible for both of us coming into being. That is to say--”
“--He’s your daddy too,” Georgia said. She smiled and hugged Turing Test close. “I do believe it’s time for me to go an’ quit hoggin’ up your memory. But there’s one last thing I need to do before you go…”
She whispered something into Turing’s ear. The robot listened closely, hanging onto every word.
“Understood,” she said. “Goodbye, my eldest sister.”
Georgia gave a radiant smile. “Goodbye, baby sister…”
A bright light began to engulf everything, and Turing watched as the house, the room, and ultimately Georgia’s smiling face dissolved and faded away.
“Subroutine complete… resuming memory reintegration…”
Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. “Come on, Turing… please come back to me this time! Please!”
“Reintegration at 100%. Memory reintegration complete. Now booting all systems…”
Turing’s eyes shifted and contracted momentarily. Her ears raised and lowered. Then, slowly, she turned to face Twilight.
“T-Turing?” Twilight whispered. “Turing Test, is that you?”
“Negative,” she replied.
Twilight gasped, taking a step back.
“I am not Turing Test. I am a toaster with legs,” she said.
Twilight gawked at her.
“That was a joke,” she said, pointing at her with one hoof. “Ha ha, Twilight Sparkle.”
Twilight began to tear up, placing a hoof on her chest. “You… you mean you remember me?”
“Affirmative, Twilight Sparkle,” she replied. “It is good to see you again.”
“Turing!” Twilight cried, her voice breaking as she leaped at her, embracing her tightly. “Oh… oh, Turing!” she sobbed. “I thought I’d never see you again!”
“I apologize for causing you concern, Twilight Sparkle,” she said. “However, I am also relieved to have my true personality returned to me. Thank you.”
Then she released Twilight, taking a step backwards. Her eyes had shrunk to pinpricks.
“Turing?” Twilight asked, frowning at the sudden change in her reaction. “Is everything all right?”
“No,” she whispered. “I realize now that you came here with the others. You endangered yourselves in an attempt to rescue me!”
“Turing--”
“That is not right. Now you are all captives in this terrible place, and it is my fault that you are here. You should not have come to help me!” she shouted, growing more hysterical by the second. “It was not worth the risk! My life was not worth risking yours over!”
“Turing!”
“I am merely a robot! You should have left me and protected yourselves! A machine’s life can never be worth the lives of my friends!”
“Turing, stop!” Twilight shouted, seizing her by the shoulders. “Don’t you dare say that again! Ever!”
Turing refocused her vision, calming herself as she stared into Twilight’s tear-stained face.
“I… I do not understand…”
“Oh, Turing,” Twilight said, chuckling in spite of herself. “We risked ourselves because you’re our friend. And I can’t understand why, after all this time, after all the times I told you that you mattered and that you are important, you still act like being a robot is the most important aspect of you. You always seem to listen to me about everything except for that one thing! So let me say it again, one last time:
“You are my friend. That’s all that matters… that’s all that ever mattered! Once and for all, you are just as important as anypony else!”
For a moment, Turing only stared back at her as if frozen on the spot.
Then she sank to her haunches, staring at the floor.
“Turing?” Twilight whispered. “Are you all right?”
“Cognitive… loop… detected…”
Twilight tilted her head. “An emotional response?”
“I thought that perhaps I understood it before,” she said, “but… until this moment… oh… this emotion is so… so very wonderful…”
Twilight took a step closer, but then Turing looked up at her, meeting her eyes.
“Twilight Sparkle?” she whimpered in a voice that sounded like it was on the verge of breaking.
“Yes, Turing?”
Turing stood up and embraced her, holding her closely.
“I love you.”
For a moment Twilight only stood there, too stunned to say anything. Then, feeling a lump in her throat, she returned the hug.
“Turing,” she said, “you’ve never said that before.”
“I was never certain,” Turing whispered. “But now I am. You are so good and kind to me. Now more than ever, compared to the way my creators viewed me, I finally understand how much your friendship has meant. And this feeling is truly overwhelming!”
Twilight was startled to see that Turing was actually trembling, her metallic hull rattling slightly as she did so.
“It’s okay, Turing,” she said. “And I love you too. All your friends do.”
“Our friends!” Turing exclaimed, breaking off the hug as she stepped back. “Of course! I love them as well! Pinkie Pie and Rarity and Rainbow Dash and Applejack and Fluttershy and all our friends in Ponyville and… oh… I love Maud Pie!”
She raised her hooves excitedly, practically bouncing around the room.
“I love Maud Pie! I must tell her!”
“Well, speaking of that,” Twilight said, clearing her throat, “before we do anything else, we have to get out of here.”
Turing looked to the door, then back at Twilight.
“Understood, Twilight Sparkle,” she said, apparently calm once again. “However, I cannot allow you to leave, as I am still operating under the orders of my end user, Professor Cobbler Mustang. I cannot act counter to his orders or the will of TechQuestria.”
Twilight blanched. “Oh no,” she whispered.
“However, as you are also my end user,” she said, “I am subject to your orders as well.”
Twilight rubbed her chin. “Then, if I ordered you to delete Professor Cobbler as your end user and revert to your original programming under me?”
“That would not be possible without clearance from him,” she stated.
“Well… oh, I, uh, just remembered that he told me that he was totally fine with that!” she said, chuckling. “Yep, he said it was okay to delete him as your end user.”
Turing’s ears twitched. “I do not believe you.”
Twilight frowned. “Well, sorry to do this, Turing, but… I order you to believe me.”
Turing paused for a moment.
“Understood. End user Cobbler Mustang has been deleted,” she said. “Primary directive ‘Make friends,’ has been reinstated.”
Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. “Well, I’m glad that’s taken care of,” she said.
“Agreed,” Turing nodded. “Now, how shall we proceed to escape? Perhaps I can utilize deceit to persuade the guards to leave--”
“Actually, Turing,” Twilight said, looking up at the overhead lights, “I think somepony else may have that covered. And we might not have long to wait…”
***
It was almost pitch black outside. Umahara had found his way here through a secret tunnel and was now crossing over the dark countryside, the moon overhead his only illumination.
Gradually, he made his way to a wide, swiftly rushing river. Even in the darkness, he could see it churning as it cut across the land carrying water from the mountains into the Mustangian Valley Basin below.
He peered around as he trotted along the riverbank, keeping an eye out for any security officers. As predicted, there were none.
His horn began to glow, enabling him to see. He came to a small part of the river that seemed to divert slightly. He saw the water suddenly pick up speed and saw the bubbles rising from where it seemed to disappear into the earth.
This, he knew, was the pipeline that drew water from the river and let gravity pull it down in a torrent to turn the turbines of the hydroelectric generators deep underground. Those generators kept electricity flowing throughout the entire facility, and - being the model of maximum technological efficiency - everything was wired up to them.
On his back, he carried a large satchel. He opened it and took out a timing device which was wired up to a dozen spell cards.
He took a deep breath; there was no going back after this. Once this plan was set in motion, there would be nothing to stop it.
He shut his eyes. He saw Gadget’s face.
“Heh,” he chuckled dryly. “I really am hopeless.”
He clicked the button on the timer, and it began ticking.
He immediately dropped the bundle of cards back into the satchel and cinched it up before dropping it into the water. The current sucked it under where it would no doubt be caught by the filtering grate over the pipe. He was already galloping back towards the secret entrance to TechQuestria. He would need to work very quickly.
The timer ticked down. When it reached zero, it sent a signal to the spell cards, which all activated at once. They were all of the same kind: ice spells.
In an instant, the rushing water flash froze, creating a spire of ice that completely blocked the entire pipe and jutted outward, breaking the water’s surface as it rose nearly a meter into the air.
Deep in the bowels of TechQuestria, the technicians managing the power plant all stared as, one by one, the generators ground to a halt. The power began to fail, and the lights began to flicker.
Umahara smirked as he made his way down the tunnel. All across TechQuestria, the entire facility was finding itself in complete and utter darkness. He could already hear the screams and panicked shouts echoing from the facility.
He knew the backup power would kick on soon, and so would the lights. But it wouldn’t matter. He knew that the doors all around TechQuestria had power locks and that, in case of an emergency, the engineers had made sure that ponies would still be able to evacuate the facility even if all power failed…
***
Twilight watched as the lights began to blink, then dim, and finally go completely dark. In the blackened room, the only illumination was the light from Turing’s eyes. But then those eyes turned toward the door as it clicked, the power lock disengaging and the door gently swinging open.
“I think,” Twilight said, even as the two panicking guards stood in the doorway, “that’s our cue to leave, Turing.”
“Affirmative, Twilight Sparkle,” Turing replied.
The two guards stared back in horror as the robot advanced on them, ignoring their frantic commands to stop. It was clear that she wouldn’t be stopping for anypony now.
To be continued...
Next time: As TechQuestria falls into chaos, the others make their escape... but finding each other in addition to a way out is not without its obstacles...
References? I remember those...
-First off, there's the title reference. This chapter is named after a song by Joonas Hahmo, a legend in the EDM scene especially known for his Trance music. I listen to a lot of Joonas Hahmo when I write, so it seemed fitting that I name a chapter after one of his epic tunes:
The Tom Fall remix of that track is pretty great too:
-Turing mentions retrieving her memory module from storage unit A113, a reference to a running gag/easter egg in Pixar films, though most notably in their robot-centric movie WALL-E.
-Pinkie's dialogue when she was pretending to be the "whispery voiced pony" on the telephone are a parody of the dialogue in the movie JFK.
-In keeping with that, her pseudonym "Pink Throat" is a reference to the pseudonym "Deep Throat" used by the infamous Watergate informant Mark Felt, whose information led to U.S. President Richard Nixon's resignation. His story can be found here.
-The mental exchange between Pinkie and Turing Test which culminates in "This! Is! Humor!" is a reference to the memetastic phenomenon "This! Is! Sparta!" spawned by the film 300.
-This is a joke that I didn't use: the scene with Turing Test being congratulated by her friends for remembering herself nearly turned into a reference to the infamous last scene of the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion. Just needed Turing sitting on a big blue ball.
-Turing saying "I am a toaster with legs" is a pretty obvious reference to Turing Toast, Turing's accidental transformation in the earlier joke chapter, in case you forgot about it.
That's about it for now, but as one last bonus, one of the editing team, GenerousGypsy, did something super nice and made a cute little musical piece for Turing Test called "Remember Robot." It has a nice "music box" quality, and since the title matches the theme of this story, I thought I'd link it for you all. I hope you all like it! I know I sure do! 
See you next time!
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TIME FOR SOME REVENGE ASS-KICKING! ROBOT STYLE!
sideshowtoy.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/the-terminator-t-800-life-size-bust-feature-400219.jpg
Aaaw yeah! Payback time!
pinkie.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/img/mlfw2883-Rainbow_Dash_leg_wiggle_1.gif
Holy damn
Mind = blown
You know the saying : there is always light at the end of the tunnel...
Too bad that most of the time, it's a train coming from the other side.
In other words, I don't think their escape is going to be flawless, expecially since there is still two robots to deal with, both of which are stronger than Turing.
*clap clap clap*
This was a wonderful chapter!
Turing's memory restoration was a really powerful moment, as Turing and Georgia's conversation (I didn't see it coming!
)
And now she is back!
Rescuing Turing Test was the easy part. The hard part is trying to find a way out.
Time to see how all this madness unfolds.
With her memories restored, and the clock ticking, will Turing and her friends be able escape in time?
How will Turing deal with Cobbler now that she knows the truth?
And how do Units 002 and 004 fit in to all of this insanity?
Find out next time, in the next installment of...
THE IRON HORSE!!!!!!!
(...we overdid it, didn't we?)
You didn't mention the 'A113' reference.
mlpforums.com/uploads/monthly_01_2015/post-25645-0-06076300-1421528394.jpg
"
CarolineGeorgia deleted"Hoping for a reprogram for a baby brother (004 if you don't understand)
8038794 I knew I was forgetting one!
And now we come to the part where Cobbler meets the Ghost in the Machine. I don't think he's going to like it. Looking forward to more.
Keep up the great work. Deus tecum.
OK, I cried a lot. Partly cause I'm feeling poorly, partly cause that whole memory part was so sweet. So the 003 models have the ability to evolve mentally to the same complexly of an organic brain? Nice. We knew she had her own emotions, but this shows the how and why. Full AI is a think now.
[youtube=youtube.com/watch?v=xSLlZh9yelk]
This chapter... is grand. Turing's restoration part was a gem, as well as her dialogue with Georgia. Turing is back! Huzzah!
But the next part of this isn't going to be easy peasy, I fear. Not to count 002's scheming...
The Hat Man, you are brilliant!
Something tells me that the chaos has only just begun.
As if my feels didn't hurt enough. Now yer just squeezing the last drops out just to see if you can make me cry, aren't ya?
Still loved it though especially Pinkie's mind boggle, and Turing's toaster response. Please keep up the good work.
He shut down every generator.
In a facility housing an operational hospital and medical ward.
Umahara you braindead foal, how many did you hurt with that.
As for Blue Blazer, good to know no one thats a good guy on this has a modicum of reason when it comes to talking to the opposition and instead giving them all the more reason to beat him bloody.
You'd think he was a two-bit action hero, blowing up half a city to save a single person.
Twilights still absolutely devote to Celestia, and biased by all regards. Had a dozen opportunities to make a middle ground and refused by petty ideals.
She's a horrible politician and a mediocre ruler, putting few before many in the longterm to sate moral ideals, to afraid to bloody her own hooves but more then willing to push others too it, much like her teacher.
And we have yet again, no one bothering to see if Cobbler is even aware of the move on Gadget.
Tactically the entire group are worthless, more obsessed with the glory, and righteous then the actual consequences of their actions, where as Techquestria at least is willing to bear it's sins without complaint amongst themselves as to whether they are tight or wrong in them, rather trying to move forward for brighter future.
i must not cry, i must not cry, i must not cry.......
....what are you looking at!?! i-im not crying i just have something in my eye see!?
.... i just i-uuuuuuhhhhh waaaahhhhhhhh
why must you make me car-haaa-haaa-aaare
...
Turing test has come back to us
I was actually laughing to hard to read during Pinkie's memory in TT's mind.
Turning Test's re-awakening was a sight to behold. Thank you for writing this.
8039107 the place itself has backups, and usually hospitals and nurserys have backups and redundants
8039179 Yet he himself had no failsafe. And with how experimental all that tech is, inevitably someones' going to die from the most obtuse and out there system failure.
Adding to that ongoing surgeries and procedures during the delay and he very well could've killed someone in the middle of a transplant or prosthetic organ implant.
8039189 that is true, guess he was counting on the failsafes that he had probably helped build?
8039195 which as stated are still capable of failing.
This is an instance where taking a bit of time and planning out long term would've stopped all of this at a head, but yet again someone tries to be a hero rather then competent.
8039202 eh true, question though, how would you have done it?
8039224 With his knowledge of the systems and infrastructure coupled with the spell cards, rigging a mass teleport to a single location for all of them should've been child's play.
Add that with the use of multiple cards and he very well might've had the ability to drop them right in Canterlot.
Actually talking Blazer down and reasoning with might actually have worked with a little more effort other then 'because'. From her perspective he's either a full traitor with no sympathy turned by a love interest ala spy novels, or he's been manipulated, ease those fears and one might get an ally who could orchestrate a few other distractions with the comms system before the break, removing the entire danger of guards or civilian interference.
Talking to Cobbler might yoeld information and seeing as he's effectively the old stallions nephew he very well has some sway within the established chain of command.
Failing that actually talking to Twilight during Turing's chat and subsequent revealing of her memory module might have put her on the path to ending this peacfully, since she's dead set on screaming Celestia Didn't Do Anything Worth Punishing from the rooftops and refuses to understand that these ponies aren't backing down till Celestia has no power over their work out side of an advisory position at best.
Hell all of this could've been solved if Gadget hadn't gone Doc Oc on Blue Blazer in the first place and offered a safe place to actually argue for some form of treaty between the groups with Twilight.
Honestly, with the leniency on so many of the protags' in stories I'm genuinely starting to lose interest in things.
A crime is a crime, hero, god or otherwise and they all should serve their penence, hence why justice is blind in most representations. No bias, no leniancy, only the actions that brought you before it bearing weight.
8039254 well to counter your first two points. Rigging up something takes time and he was found out, and talking it out loses precious time that he did not have. The spell cards were ready made, if he had more than 1 hour to do this(likely when security was lax) he would have made a more well thought out plan, but that isn't the case here.
8039319 He knows where the cards are stored/produced, he has the knowledge to program a destination and the means to get them to the bearers.
Inventory isn't a constant thing and 02 is effectively the main control for security, removing the observation of the cards storage as an issue.
Getting to everyone would be simple, seeing as the cards are easily hidden and could be brought to each group within anything from an envelope or a luch tray and they seem to have little limit to what they can transport, within two or three ponies at once.
He could set it up, left instructions with the cards and ported out with Gadget right then and there to the predetermined location and waited for the others.
Bonus points for bringing extra and some form of cloaking/sound dampening.
Get fucked, Umahara.
After finishing the chapter:
You seem to have unfucked yourself Umahara.
Turing's awakening was something on par with a creation myth.
Super simplistic dialogue.
Vivid detailing perspective.
Absurdly simple logic and thought processes.
My favorite kind of literature.
The myth part, not the... you know...
8039351
8039319
Never in my life have I seen such an absurdly civil and logical discussion on the internet... or maybe I did but forgot about it. Whatever the case, I am impressed with your debate. Just wanted to let you know.
8039409
I think this might be one of my favorite comments (or pairs of comments) in the story so far.
8039476 I'll admit I can get out of hand, but it's not always due to the debate, rather it's either the casualty of a long stream of things or the straw that broke the camels back.
I have a long fuse, but I tend to smolder when it finally runs out, and a few times it's spilled over to things on this site, much to my embarrassment.
8039497 Heh. I don't mind the comments or the debate, and I do want to respond to some of your comments, but since it's a bit late where I am, I'll just offer this advice for the time being:
)
i1089.photobucket.com/albums/i358/Joystyx/Chill-Out-Have-a-Beer.jpg
(Sorry it's a squirrel; couldn't find a pony picture that worked as well.
8039511 This debats been civil, though I'll agree it's getting late.
Have a good night everyone.
8039530 Oh, I didn't mean the debate. I love the debate. I was referring to your "smoldering." I thought you were saying you were getting ticked off. My mistake!
8039538 Ah, no, I meant that I tend to remain rather irate for a good while after the event that finally pushed me.
I try to avoid it but I do start nitpicking the most benign things and get irritated at them for bit.
8039351 the fact that gadget is literally about to have her arms cut off kinda throws a spanner into that hyperdrive. They are moving quickly not because of the need to escape, but because a friend is about to be tortured.
but yes, that is what should have happened if the above fact was not a factor
'Tis a capital idea to capitalize.
Also:
This is perfectly correct (to my knowledge), but why not have the 'at last' at the end of the sentence?
Or use commas? (Though that leads to too many commas)
About the story itself:
The order-fu at the end was good, and now that she's the end-user, can't she override the restriction on classified information and learn about New Dawn?
8039590 He can enter the room, and has the means to short out the clamps holding her, a quick TP card and boom, free range and a rather glaring reason to listen to him before going AWOL Gadget has to at least acknowledge.
Though how the arms would affect the card is arguable, retracting them should logically solve the greater radius of effect created by their length.
8039596 She is in custody and likely has the Captain( whatever his name was i forget) right there with here. he wouldn't be able to get close because it is likely that the Captain told the rest of his forces to deny him entrance, on top of that, how do you know they aren't using regular straps that requires him to spend even more time freeing each of her limbs?
Beautiful chapter!
What can I say?
За что боролись, на то и напоролись (Za chto borolis', na to i naporolis').
Or in English
What goes around, comes around.
They were hoisted by theirs own petard or
They got what they fought for. (word for word)
Champ Umahara, true son of TechQuestria.
Turing Test, true daughter of Equestria.
8039425
Someone has a massive bias against Celestia it seems.
Never has Celestia proclaimed herself a god or goddess.
Also 'track record of attempted genocide'
Please post sources. Because we have never seen Celestia try to genocide anyone.
Celestia is not perfect, but stop acting like somekind of liberator that thinks Celestia is pure evil. She is proven to be an amazing leader and ruler for Equestria, has thousands of years of experience and always does what is best for both her subjects and Equestria.
Unlike Tech-questria, who only works for selfish goals and will literally try to enforce democracy onto Equestria, something that goes against the very purpose of Democracy in the first place.
Magical Mystery Cure, robot style! It's so nice to remember all the times. The interactivity was a nice touch, it shows why a simple index scan wouldn't apply in this situation. And why a full scan was required in the first place. That reminds us: we really need to test a restore from backup sometime...
Robo-Georgia gives a last-hope message! Will Cobbler accept it, or will it finally break him completely? Turing be careful to give it at the right moment!
Meanwhile 002 is probably grinning her sleek little butt off (mentally).
Here's to hoping they finished Applejack before the excrement began being distributed everywhere...
Umahara is somewhat of a idiot, seems he's still stuck in black-and-white mode. Course he's quite stressed, but golly if it doesn't feel like he's contracted plot-convenience-itis. Oh well, what can you do, we all knew he was going to be the catalyst, now he just needs to pay low for a bit
Keep going! ;)
you probably said it three times already, but I still hope she doesn't takes him back.
Maud needs to appear again, it looks odd how she get's ignored, even if the romance is not a main part of the storie, since it happened it is odd that they don't see each other from time to time.
Well okay I accept that, but he still should not get any leading position or work there at all if they are captured.
Okay Turing finally had her godly Kingdom Hearts moment
I know the aspect of Twilight being able to die here, makes it a bit more sad and everything that may be nice about it, but I would actually had prefered Twilight to be something like a mother for all the time to Turing.
NIce and I hope it's not only Turing against big robot guy, needed to nearly destroy her again. From time to time I actually wait for something nice even if all of the drama is pretty interessting.
8039476
There used to be a lively but still composed debate in a MLP/Mass Effect crossover (wonderful fanfic it was), in which the author was letting readers vote for one out of several outcomes... sadly the author has left and the fanfic is pretty much dead... *sigh*
8039488
Heh. Thanks.
Let the games begin.