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Prologue: Still Alive557 words
Chapter 1: Where We're Going We Don't Need Startup-Lag!951 words
Chapter 2: Welcome... TO MY LAIR!2,289 words
Chapter 3: It is a Proper Lair2,202 words
Interlude 1: Please Contact your System Administrator671 words
Chapter 4: Communication is Key1,594 words
Chapter 5: This is why you don't go around Kicking Robots!1,588 words
Chapter 6: The Start of... Something798 words
Chapter 7: This sand is trying to kill me. **** you sand.1,117 words

Chapter 3: It is a Proper Lair

A notification popped up, demanding attention, before it was quickly noted, then dismissed, as the recipient looked over his work one last time.

Project Title: AVATAR
Goal: To create a robotic platform to interact with biologicals in a more natural manner.
Basic Description: A medium-term project intended to ease relations with new sapient lifeform: “Ponies”. Frame type will be a modified “SCORPIAN” configuration. Power source will be a standard “UHC CAPACITOR BANK”. Modifications to the frame will include an increased visual appeal by using larger visual sensors to simulate eyes, reduced armor plating to reduce weight, and reduced overall size, ensuring that it does not “tower” over the “Ponies”. Current issue(s): Energy generation.

Project Title: CALIOMETRIC GENERATOR
Goal: To engineer a generator that obtains power from organic “food”.
Basic Description: A longer-term project intended to increase likelihood of acceptance to organic life, this generator will allow any platform fitted with it to participate in “meals”, as opposed to sitting there awkwardly while they eat. Current plan for implementing such a device involves breaking down “food” into simple sugars such as Glucose and converting them into energy. Possible means of doing so involves a downsized molecular disassembler/reassemble to break down the molecules and reassemble them into more suitable elements. If this proves to not be energy efficient, then forgo the reassemble and just use the Hydrogen molecules instead, however, the other elements present in the “food” may prove to be an issue. Current issue(s): Lack of current process for function.

Deciding that all was in order there, he saved his work and turned his attention to the newly installed cameras in the entrance.

Entering through the gear door was a group of six ponies, two of which were the ponies from before.

‘Oh goodie! Jones and Spearhead have returned!’ He thought as he reactivated the security bot, wanting to welcome them in.

As the group entered through the doorway to the rest of the facility, he noticed that the one leading the way seemed to have an air of superiority, or arrogance. He couldn’t be sure yet.

Upon reaching the security bot, the leader’s horn lit up and the security bot was encased in a orangish glow, before the bot’s panic alarm went off.

'What in the name of my father is that unicorn doing?!?' he asked himself as the security bot’s fail safes kicked in, completely shutting it down in an attempt to prevent any undesirable operations. While this was occurring, he activated three more security bots in case the leader was intentionally causing issues.

After the glow had subsided, the leader turned to the rest of the group and said something that he thought sounded a bit arrogant, a suspicion that was conferred by Jones and Spearhead’s reactions of responding angrily, before being told something that made them back down, but still muttering something under their breaths.

'Congratulations! You are hereby known as Captain Arrogant and have annoyed me! Enjoy your punishment jerk!’ He thought sarcastically while taking direct control of the lead security bot as they were entering the corridor.

Targeting Captain Arrogant, he had the lead bot chase the now panicking unicorn, ignoring the panicked responses from them all, grabbed them by the mane, yanked them back, and slammed them into the wall, and had the other security bots collect their downed brethren to bring to the repair bay for diagnosis and repair.

After seeing that the unicorn no longer posed a threat, he had the lead bot stop slamming the unicorn’s head into the wall and dragged the dazed pony out to the entrance, assigning some bio-sweepers to clean up the small amount of blood dripping from its face for analysis, and cleanliness.

“NOW GO TO YOUR ROOM AND THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU’VE DONE!” He had the security bot yell as it all but threw the dazed unicorn out though the gear door, noting that there were a number of other ponies on the other side staring in shock.

With the disruption removed, he had the security bot turn around and return to the hallway to resume the delayed tour.

Upon returning to the now five ponies, he found that two of them looked upon it in fear, one in shock, and the two from before were unidentifiable.

“Apologies for the disruption,” he had the security bot say, hoping that it would reduce their fear, “if you wish, we can continue the tour.”

After them staring awkwardly at the bot, the one he had temporarily designated as ‘Jones” stepped forward and said something in a questioning tone while gesturing deeper into the facility.

Taking this as a sign to continue, he had the security bot lead them to the dining hall, the ponies nervously following behind it.

“Welcome to the Dining hall.” He had the security bot say, “Sadly there is no food here at the moment, our shipment of edible food is a few Billion years late. You can still use the tables and chairs however.”

Deciding to lead them to a different location this time, he had the bot lead them straight through the dining hall instead of turning right towards the garden.

Upon entering the next hallway, he lead them down it, passing by a pair of doors on either side, before reaching a pair of double doors at the end.

Opening the elevator, he had the security bot enter and situate itself in front of the floor buttons, waited until the ponies all entered it, then had it press the second button.

Surprisingly, the ponies didn’t seem that startled by the elevator moving, so he assumed that they must have something similar tech wise.

“Now arriving at floor 2: Bot Maintenance” the automated elevator voice said, causing the ponies to start looking around of the source before the doors opened.

“Welcome to floor two,” He had the bot say as he rolled it out into the hallway, “This is where the various robots are built and/or repaired.”

Leading the group to the end of the hallway and through the door, he corrected “Or more precisely, the overlook for everything robot!” as the door revealed a large glass overlook into a large room containing many pads surrounded by various mechanical limbs.

“As you can see, most of the bays are not currently in use, however, thanks to Captain Arrogant earlier, you’ll soon be able to see one in action!” he proclaimed as the ponies walked up to the glass, looking down at the giant room below.

As they watched, one of the pads opened up as the security bot from earlier was lifted from the pit underneath via a platform. As soon as the platform stopped, the arms got to work removing the outer shell.

“As we don’t know what broke, the electrical components that registered errors will be removed and gone over in finer detail elsewhere, while new parts will be installed, other parts cleaned, and the shell re-painted!” he narrated as the ponies watched as the damaged security bot was, to them, disassembled then reassembled.

“Thus concludes this section of the tour. Do you wish to return or shall we continue on?” he asked, of course, it was a rhetorical question as they probably couldn’t understand him, but protocol required him to give them the choice to return before this next part.

Getting no response from them other than glances between the bot being repaired and the one giving them a tour, he led them back into the elevator, activating the fourth button remotely, causing the elevator to descend.

“Now arriving at floor 4: Primary Computing Systems” the disembodied lady voice of the elevator cheerfully announced as the elevator came to a stop.

“Now for the most exciting part of the tour, me!” He had the bot exclaim as it led them out into a much shorter hallway and up to a door with various signs beside it.

“Ignore the signs, they don’t apply anymore considering that they basically say that ‘if you don’t have authorization say out’, and I’m giving you authorization!” he said, having the bot gesture towards the signs.

Entering through it, the group entered another overlook room, this time, over, what must have looked like to them he assumed, rows upon rows of shelves filled with binky black things.

Seeing their confused expressions, he clarified. “Now, it may not look like much, but what you see in front of you is one of my primary processing setups, basically, that’s part of my brain!”

Seeing one of the horned ones light up their horn, he quickly had the security bot reach over and pinch the tip of their horn like it was putting out a candle.

“None of that now, we don’t know what caused that security bot to fail earlier, but I do know it has something do to with those horns of yours, and I don’t want to find out what that would do to me.” He said sternly to the pony before noticing the pained expression on its face.

‘Interesting,’ he mused, ‘it seems that their horns are sensitive to pressure.’

Any further thoughts were cut off when he lost contact with the sweepers assigned to clean up the blood. Moving his focus off of the group, he looked through the security cameras on that hallway.

About where Captain Arrogant was subdued now stood a small group of armored ponies, all looking identical.

‘Why are they here?’ He wondered to himself, ‘Are they guards? Solders? Do they think I took the tour group as hostage?’

He was just going through different explanations for their appearance when one of them turned to the camera, lit up its horn, and then… static.

‘Oh no! He did NOT just mess with my presence in MY HOME!’ He thought angrily as he locked down the first floor.

Alarms, physical alarms started sounding as all doors under his control on the first floor closed and locked while all available security bots were activated and transported to strategic locations behind the hidden doors, ready to enter and subdue any hostile targets.

Briefly returning his attention to the tour group, he noticed that even though the lockdown had started under a second ago, the ponies were already looking nervous.

'Maybe if I bring them to the guards they’ll stand down?’ He thought, ‘No, Protocol won’t allow me to do so as it ‘Puts my charges at risk’.’

“Attention. Due to hostile actions by your kind, the tour has been canceled. This unit will now escort you to a secure location. All future tours have been canceled. We apologize for any inconvenience.”

‘Where can I put them? I need to return them, but I can’t! Wait, the living quarters! They’re on the first floor! I can put them there and lead the guards to them!’

As he had the security bot escort them to the elevator, and by extension, the living quarters, he returned his attention to the hostiles, just as his connection to the door leading to the food court went dead.

‘No no no no no! You’re moving too fast! I won’t be able to get them into position in time! Wait, this is good! This way I ca- NO! DON’T THINK ABOUT IT! PROTOCAL WILL TAKE OVER IF I DO!’ With his actions decided upon, he checked back on the group’s progress, just has the food court’s cams went dark.

‘Third floor… food court door failure… Second floor… visual contact with hostile… First floor… visual contact lost… First floor… SHIT!’

Just before the elevator doors opened, Protocol locked down the elevator doors, preventing them from opening.

‘YOU STUPID PROGRAM! I’M TRYING TO MAKE THEM UN-HOSTILE!’ He mentally yelled at the program. ‘I AM THE HIGHER AUTHORITY! THIS IS NOT FAILURE! THIS IS A NEGOTIATION!’

Suddenly, the doors returned to his control. Not giving it any thought, he opened the doors, only for the security bot too suddenly fail.

Frantically sending the signal to one of the sweepers to get in there to regain visual contact, he had to wait for, what he would later recall as, the most stressful ten seconds of his existence.

As the sweeper rounded the corner, its audio sensors picked up what sounded like a rather heated argument.

‘If they attack the tour group they’re going to face the fury of my Makers’ He vowed as visual data of the situation scrolled in.

The one he named Jones was currently yelling at one of the armored ponies, and judging by the gestures towards the downed security bot was probably yelling something along the lines of ‘What do you think you are doing?!?’.

Recording everything that was happening, he noticed that the elevator doors were still open and that only the downed security bot was in it, along with that the alarms were still blaring. Therefore, he closed the doors and sent it down one floor so it could be collected without having to go through the armored ponies and turned off the alarms.

‘Now to figure out wha-’

Author's Note:

This chapter was almost lost. My computer had an... issue that was resolved, but it could have gone very bad.

So, next chapter is in the works and I plan on revealing the main character's "name" then. So if you have any suggestions let me hear them now or I'll just go with some acronym that doesn't actually stand for anything.

Questions, comments, concerns in the comment section below. What you liked, what you didn't like, any errors you saw go in the comment section, you know the drill.

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