A Rainy Night in 2061 (Complete Story)
Coraline stared around at the meeting of various Pod Pal and Meta-Frames, including three ponies, a video game character, and a plain-clothes human whose name she did not know. She assumed the last person was the group organizer for Robots, Augments and Meta-Frames. She was the only other person who wasn’t a robot or wearing a suit. Besides her seven-year-old son of course. He shifted uncomfortably in the seat next to her and stared around at all the suits. He was told not to make them uncomfortable before he went in, so he did his best to be quiet.
The human organizer looked out the window of the quiet upper-class suburban home. He stared at the downpour and sighed. “The weather’s just too nasty out there right now. I think it’s just us tonight, guys.”
Coraline eyed the interior of the home and thought about how much more beautiful it was than her own. The furniture was soft and inviting with couches and recliners in earth brown tones. Small lamps illuminated the corners of the room with lampshades accented in small dangling crystals. Photographs lined the wall from door all the way to the kitchen. When she looked closer, there were the same lilac and mint green ponies in almost every frame. She noticed there happened to be more photo of the winged lilac pony than there were of the mint green one.
In the kitchen she saw the Princess, Twilight Sparkle, gathering two trays full of finger foods together. She walked over and set them down. Coraline smirked at the mostly-white cooking apron Twilight was wearing with a saying etched across the front in binary. She didn’t know what it said, but she was sure it was a joke meant for the robots in the group.
Coraline and her son Armin reached for the trays of food and noticed two distinctly different plates. One was metallic with small gray cubes and the other held carrots and fresh vegetables on a golden platter. “What are those cubes?” Coraline asked.
“Easily digestible nutrition packs. We can all eat them, but they’re meant for the Pod Pals, because solid foods are harder for us to break down into useful components without stomach acids and an intestinal tract,” Twilight said as she placed her apron back on the rung in the kitchen. She sat down next to the mint green unicorn, Lyra Heartstrings, and leaned on her shoulder.
Coraline saw a gray pony in a moss-green one-piece dress sitting in the corner reading a book. Her mane and tail were purple and her expression was rather neutral as she read. Coraline looked over at the only non-pony. Her body was covered in what looked like a long white dress with two white legs underneath. Her arms were forest green and ended in three fingers each. Coraline couldn’t tell if she had green hair styled into a crescent moon shape over her face and behind her neck or if it was some sort of helmet. She could only see one of her eyes underneath, and it was red and very expressive for its size. She was about to ask her son the character’s name when Armin spoke directly to them.
“Hey, what’s your name?” He asked. Coraline felt a little embarrassed. “What’s that red thing on your chest?”
The being was about to answer the first question when she looked down at a red fin shape jutting out of her chest. “I don’t know. It gets in the way a lot.”
Coraline apologized for her son. “I’m sorry. My name is Coraline. This is my son Armin,” She stood up, approached the female character and held out her metallic left hand as the being switched from her right to her left for the handshake.
“I’m Gardevoir, I mean…I’m Stacey.” She smiled. It was charming and sweet. When she turned her head, Coraline could see another red cartoonish eye on the opposite side of the helmet hair shape. “Who’s this?”
“Armin!” he said a little louder than usual.
“Nice to meet you, Armin,” Stacey said.
“Gardevoir, huh?” Lyra Heartstrings said from her seat. “I was trying to figure out the name. But there are like two thousand Pokemon now, so I couldn’t remember.” She smiled. “Are you a Pod Pal, Stacey?”
“Um, no. I’m a human. This is a suit,” she said, gesturing to her Meta-Frame. “I wish I was a Pod Pal though.”
“Oh. I wouldn’t recommend it,” Lyra said. “It’s not as fun as you think it is.”
Stacey the Gardevoir moved to say something more, but went silent.
The gray pony in the back looked up at the wall clock. Besides the usual circular face with the numbers one thru twelve, there were two glowing bars of light labeled from zero to one hundred. The green bar was near fifty percent and the lilac bar was around seventy five. Coraline deduced that this was the power charge recorded wirelessly for the two tenants of the home. Lyra could last for a few more days before recharging and Twilight almost a week.
The human at the window sighed, then looked back outside. “Um...Perhaps we should start with whoever we have.”
Coraline looked over at the human she thought was the group organizer. “So it’s just us seven?”
The human kept his eyes focused on something outside in the rain storm. “It’ll be eight when Chrys stops hesitating across the street at the bus stop.”
Coraline stood up and eyed the opposite side of the street. A black shape with a green carapace underbelly stood under the spotlight of the bus stop. She held a bag up to her chest to shield it from the rain. Her eyes were large and luminescent green with cat-like slit pupils. A jagged horn jutted from her forehead and her wings were light-blue gossamer with holes all over them. Her long blue hair dropped down over her face. She hid herself behind the mass of hair as she paced back and forth, stroking with her blue tail and hugging it to her chest.
“Does someone need to go get her?” Coraline asked.
"I was thinking that but..."The organizer suddenly looked nervous. His face was red. He moved to the door and stopped. He wasn’t staring at anything anyone could see. He finally turned the handle, opened the inner door and stared out the glass outer door. He saw the bug woman look at him as he gestured for her to come inside. She moved across the street and stood under the awning to the house, but didn’t move any further. The organizer nodded and left the inner door open.
“She’s letting her suit dry on the porch outside,” he said as he sat down. He appeared less nervous now. “Okay, we’re going to start. We can’t wait any longer. Let’s begin with introductions.”
“Done,” Stacey the Gardevoir said. She smiled.
“I haven’t,” Twilight said across the room. “I’m Twilight Sparkle. I went online five years ago in 2056. Um...oh sorry, next person?”
“Lyra Heartstrings,” the mint green unicorn said. “Online since 2060.”
They all turned to look at Maud. She was staring down at her moss-green dress. She rubbed the fabric, realized it was quiet and then looked up. “Hmm? Oh,” she said. Her voice was monotone, almost disinterested. “I’m Maud.” She then went back to reading her book.
Twilight spoke first. “When did you go online, Maud?”
“Hmm? Oh, never. I was human once,” she said. Her eyes kept focusing on what she was reading.
With the exception of Maud, they all turned to stare at Coraline. She felt a little tense, but turned to see Armin standing at the glass door, waving and gesturing to the bug woman outside. She looked scared but starting moving towards the entrance.
“Armin!” Coraline said as she stood to fetch her son. Armin kept his face pressed against the window and then opened the door. Chrysalis walked in.
“Oh…” the changeling Queen looked around. “Hello,” She was blushing. She looked down at Armin. “Thank you, sweetheart.” Chrysalis took her seat near Stacey as Coraline stood next to Armin, face down close to his.
“Armin, listen to me when I talk to you!” She said and clamped down on his arm with her metal hand.
“Ow!” Armin said as Coraline immediately loosened her grip. She stared at her robotic hand as Armin ran back to his seat.
In the moment Armin had yelped, Coraline saw something that no one else could. The ground was no longer carpet but concrete. She flexed her hand and saw it wholly organic again. There were people screaming nearby and rushing towards her. Armin had run off and she turned to find herself in a street full of running people. She stood up to prepare to run and instantly saw the interior of the suburban home again. Her face was flush with confusion and worry.
“Coraline?” the Gardevoir asked. Coraline blinked several times and refocused. She nodded. She sat down next to Armin, who was avoiding her gaze. Coraline noticed Armin had moved his seat closer towards Chrysalis and away from her. Her metal hand dug into the plush side of the seat.
The organizer stood in the middle of the group. “Now that we’re all here, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Leo Holdman. I am Director of Human and Robotic Relations at Technomancer Industries here in Austin. Let’s see, who here hasn’t introduced themselves? Well, we know Armin now.” He stood in front with his back turned to Chrysalis. She avoided looking at him, and everyone else, and didn’t introduce herself.
“Hello, I’m Armin,” Armin said.
Holdman motioned to Coraline. She hesitated, not expecting to introduce herself so soon. She stood up, even though she didn’t have to. “I’m Coraline. I’m Armin’s mother. This is my first time here. Um…” She stared at her metallic arm and flexed her fingers. “Don’t know what else to say. What do you want us to focus on?” She asked Holdman.
“Whatever is most important that you get off your chest,” he said.
“I…I’m not ready to share just yet. You mind if I sit back for a while?” Coraline said.
“No, of course. Let’s focus on someone else,” Holdman said as he sat down on a seat next to Coraline. No one raised their hand.
Lyra poked Twilight. The Princess sat up straight and moaned. “I’m not happy that I haven’t made any progress. What am I going to share? It’s been the same for almost a year,” she said. “It’s the same old thing.”
Holdman gestured to Coraline, Armin, Stacey and Maud. “You can reiterate for those who are new here. Maybe by sharing with them you can gain some new insight.”
“Well, I don’t want to be stuck in a learned feedback loop where I chose to do nothing, so it’s better I try, right?” Twilight said. She smiled a little as Lyra rubbed her arm. “For years, I was a trainer for other Pod Pals at Technomancer Industries satellite branch in San Antonio. I was really good at helping new Pod Pals learn how to work with their soon-to-be lifelong companions. But back in 2057, many of you remember we had that first combat-related death in the Middle East. One of the first Twilight Sparkle models commissioned went overseas with a US Marine, to serve as a translator and help with humanitarian efforts in the region. She…” She covered her face with her hands. “Lyra, please explain the rest. I need to focus on not regressing again.”
“Okay, sweetheart,” she said as she held Twilight’s hand. “During a training workshop at her work, they were covering the idea of working in foreign countries as an assistant to troops and peacekeepers. Part of the video demonstration displayed a news clip summarizing the deceased Twilight’s efforts in the Middle East. Well, for some stupid reason, the news anchors decided to show a video of the Pod Pal caught in the explosion.” Lyra gritted her teeth. She seemed very angry. “I don’t know if it was because the video was projected on a screen so big it looked as though the battlefield was right in front of Twilight here, or maybe because the sounds and video combination were so realistic that Twilight got confused…but whatever caused it, a glitch occurred in her system which mistakenly made her believe that she was under attack and had been caught in an explosion.”
Twilight spoke up. Her voice was shaky. “My creators never lab-tested what would happen if a Pod Pal witnessed another one of their own template die in front of them. How could they? Who could think there’d be a problem there?” She sniffled. Coraline couldn’t believe that these robotic beings could cry, but she continued watching anyways. Twilight spoke again. “For the past year since that workshop, I’ve been having what human sufferers call Post Traumatic Stress Disorder where I keep reliving that same scene over and over again. But I was never there! I know that for a fact, but my internal computer won’t accept it. Programmers and engineers haven’t been able to isolate the cause and repair me.”
Coraline wanted to say something but didn’t know what. Stacey the Gardevoir looked nervous and reached out but retracted her hand when she didn’t know what to do. Maud had stopped reading her book and kept her eyes down. Chrysalis looked weary, but attentive. Armin hadn’t taken his eyes off Twilight from the moment she started speaking. Holdman nodded and spoke.
“Twilight, has there been any progress on a solution at the labs?”
“No,” she said sadly and buried her face in Lyra’s arms. “I’m starting to wonder if they’ve forgotten about me. Or maybe they just don’t care.”
Holdman looked compassionate. “Twilight, I’ve worked at the labs in the past. When a problem comes up, they work on it right away. I’m sure they’re just swamped with other projects right now. But something like that has to be top priority.”
“Then you talk to them,” Twilight said through tears.
“I will. I promise,” Holdman said. “If they aren’t making progress, then I’ll go see them myself.” He waited. “Did you want to say anything more, Twilight?” She shook her head.
Coraline wanted to understand. She leaned forward. “Is there no way to overwrite whatever files are in your system that are affected by the glitch? I would think it’d be as simple as erasing something unpleasant and filling the gap with something nice.”
Lyra smirked. “Doesn’t work like that, ma’am. Robotic minds don’t function the way a user-controlled computer system does. Every memory, every experience is tied to the one before it and after it. And there are countless bits of association between thoughts and memories which make up the recalled information and allow it to be recaptured by the Pod Pal themselves, like recalling memories or imagining new ideas would be for you. These memories and events cannot be isolated in her head. Even if you could erase one thing, it would be like experiencing a blackout. The rest of the brain would suffer from the disconnect.”
Armin spoke up, surprising Coraline. “But what if Twilight sees videos of good things happening to other Twilights? Would that make her happy again?”
Twilight sat in silence for a minute. Lyra turned to her partner. “What do think, sweetheart?”
“I want to try it,” she said. “I’ll give that a shot.”
“Yeah,” Stacey the Gardevoir said. “Flood the system with good memories! There’s tons of videos of Pod Pals having fun online. We could show you all the good ones!”
For the first time that night, Twilight’s sadness disappeared. “Yeah…Thank you, Armin.”
“You’re welcome,” he said. “I’m pretty smart.”
Coraline sighed the good-natured motherly sigh when your child has just said something extremely confident and you have no idea where it came from. Everyone else laughed, save for Maud. She did nod though.
Twilight stood up. “I’m going to check on dinner. Everyone else please keep talking.”
“Do you need help?” Lyra asked.
“I’ve got it. Thank you,” she said as she walked to the kitchen and put on the apron again.
The Gardevoir girl raised her hand. “May I…go next?”
“Sure,” Holdman said. “How long have you been wearing that Meta-Frame?”
“Oh, for at least three years now,” she said and smiled before biting her lip. Coraline was astounded at the suits expressive capabilities. The Pokemon girl tried to keep a pleasant grin, but it seemed hard for her. “I actually got this suit as part of a…very interesting relationship I had with a previous partner of mine.” She looked down. “That’s why I’m here today, actually. I broke up with him about a year ago. But this suit is virtually permanent. I mean, I can take key components off. You could see my real face underneath if I wanted to remove the cover, but there are some parts I can’t take off since they’re attached to hardware set to my body.” She reached a green hand up to her face and stared at it. “It’s weird, to be in a totally different body for so long. Your mind gets used to it. Starts to feel wrong if you think about removing it. Even though I’ve had so many bad memories, the good ones are worth keeping. But that’s not the major issue I’m dealing with.”
She stood up and started pacing in front of the television. She wrung her hands in front of her. “I work as manager of sales at a local game store. I’m very good at what I do. I’m basically the store mascot who has sold more games, systems and accessories than anything else in the store’s twenty-year history. And I get paid really well. With the economy the way it is right now, it’s really hard to get a job, unless you want to go to the overseas markets. But I can’t afford to move. And I don’t want to leave my friends and family behind. It would be ignorant of me to think that this success isn’t due in part to the novelty of my appearance.” She gestured outward to show off her Pokemon suit. “People don’t know me as Stacey. They know me as the Gardevoir Girl. And the more I think about it, the more I’m happier with this new identity than with my old one. I get more done. I’m more respected. People care about me who didn’t before. I have tons of guys, and some girls, lining up to want to be my partner. But I’m torn because the longer I stay in the suit as Gardevoir, the more I feel I move away from being Stacey.”
Coraline had never heard of such a situation before. She was about to say something when she noticed Armin’s mouth half-open at what Stacey was saying. Coraline wanted to ask Armin what had shocked him so much, but she waited to see if he would ask a question.
Stacey kept pacing. “I think this is a good thing, right? I mean, I took what was a bad situation with my ex-boyfriend and I turned it into a money-making opportunity that’s better than anything I’ve ever had my entire life. After all, shouldn’t the point of this suit be to achieve a better life and become a happier me? So what if I have to discard an old identity to get a better one?” She stopped. Her hands were over her heart.
Holdman quickly scanned the group for reactions then spoke. “Stacey, think about what you’re saying. Do you want to discard an entire life’s worth of experience and identity just to start anew?”
“Yes,” she said with almost no hesitation. Her eyes were watering. She wiped the tears away and turned back to the group. “You know, in the past, you only really had one life. You’re born with these expectations, this path expected of you by parents and peers. But what better way to rebel against that than to totally change who I am from outside-inward? I have who-knows how many decades left of life. Can’t I choose to live it how I want?”
Armin spoke up again. “Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
Stacey the Gardevoir was thrown off by the question. “Um…yeah. Two younger brothers. Why do you ask?”
“I wouldn’t want an older sister to stop being my sister because she wanted to be someone else,” Armin said.
Coraline’s eyes widened. Where did that come from? she thought.
Stacey was stunned. Finally she said “I’m not going to stop being their big sister. I love them.”
“But you just said you wanted to change everything. You can’t leave them behind, even if you change. I’m sure they’d support you if they knew you wanted them to help you,” Armin said.
Coraline thought hard. She had a suspicion of where Armin’s logic was coming from, but she tried to cut-off the thought before it formed. He couldn’t be thinking about his father…could he?
“I won’t,” Stacey said. She seemed far more nervous now than before. “I’ll ask them. I’ll tell them what I want. They’ll be okay with it…I hope.”
“As long as you talk to them. I mean, my Dad never did that.” Oh no, Coraline thought. “It’s because of him…”
“Armin,” Coraline started to say firmly, but he kept talking.
“…that we were in Dallas last year, and the police…”
“ARMIN!” Coraline said.
Armin looked back, shocked. “But,” he started to say, “I thought…we were here to talk about what’s bothering us.”
Coraline couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “N…Yes, but I’M here to talk about what’s bothering me.” I can’t let him speak about his dad. I can’t. I can’t hear anything about his dad without…
Armin ran off to a bedroom and closed the door. The group heard sniffling.
Holdman stood up. “Coraline, why did you do that?”
Coraline saw all the faces staring at her and stepped back. “He was going to talk about his father! We don’t talk about his father! We never talk about his father!”
Holdman threw out his arms in a confused gesture. “But why? Why not?”
Coraline walked over to the bedroom door, tried the handle and found it locked. She knocked on the door with her metal hand. She saw the small dents and switched to her organic hand instead. “Armin! Open this door right now!”
“NO,” he said from inside. “You shouldn’t have yelled at me! I didn’t do anything wrong!”
“You didn’t listen to me when I wanted you to stop talking!”
“That’s because you don’t want them to hear the truth about Dad!”
Coraline felt her blood boil at what she interpreted to be disrespect. She wound her metal arm and pulled it back.
A firm, but unyielding grip clamped down on her arm from behind. Coraline turned to see Twilight Sparkle holding Coraline’s metal arm with her own vice-grip level grasp. Her eyes were steady and she wore the cooking apron. Her other hand had a heatproof mitten on.
“Please do not break the doors in my house, Miss Coraline,” Twilight Sparkle said.
“Let go of me,” Coraline said with more fear than anger.
“No,” Twilight Sparkle, “You are acting irrational, and I want your assurance that you will not create another outburst while you are here, or I will ask you to leave. And then if you still refuse, I will tell you to leave.” Her eyes did not have to be threatening. The lack of emotion and the cold calculation was enough to scare Coraline into compliance. Coraline nodded. The grip was released. Twilight Sparkle’s eyes instantly became more compassionate. “Let him be for now, Miss Coraline,” she said. “He’s upset. You both need time to cool down. Please come back to the room. I made cinnamon rolls.”
She stepped back a few feet but did not leave until Coraline walked past her and into the main room. Coraline avoided the stares and sat down in the farthest corner at the little book table next to Maud. She held her head in her hands.
“Let’s take a break. We’re way too wound up,” Holdman said. He stepped forward into the center of the room, between the coffee table and the couch where Lyra Heartstrings sat with a very concerned look towards Coraline in the corner. “I’ve been to over a hundred of these meetings over several years,” Holdman said. “Different cities. Different people. But some of the responses are the same. No one is asking any of you to reveal anything you don’t want to talk about. But…” he stopped and appeared to choose his words carefully. “On you own time, and in your own way, I implore you to face what you’ve been avoiding. Or else you’ll find yourself back here, again and again, with more complications and more problems, because you didn’t address something when it was small and waited until it was too much to handle.” He stood silent for a few seconds. He looked at Coraline, who still kept her face buried in her grasp on the table. Wet droplets had appeared on the glass below her face. Holdman nodded at what he saw and made sure to direct his voice towards her this time. “I have never once seen repression lead to anything good.” He sat down and sighed.
Lyra turned to Twilight who was standing with the tray of cinnamon rolls in her grasp. Little cubes of frosting rested inside tiny rolls off to the side. “I could use something sweet about now,” Lyra said to Twilight. She rested the tray on the coffee table next to the finger foods. Save for Maud and Coraline, the rest of the group started to eat. Armin stayed in the room and Twilight took a small plate of samples and one cinnamon roll. She knocked on the door. “I have some food, sweetheart.”
“I’m not hungry,” he said quietly.
“It’s a cinnamon roll. I made them myself.”
There was a brief pause.
Armin spoke. “Give me two cinnamon rolls and we’ll talk.”
In the living room, Maud put down her book and eyed Coraline, whose head was still facing the glass table she was resting on. She looked at her as if examining a sad animal from afar with a certain sense of emotional detachment while still being interested in the scene itself.
“Coraline,” Maud said. As soon as she spoke, everyone in the room stopped eating and turned to look at her. Maud, however, was busy looking at the mother. Coraline looked up at her with eyes red from her tears. Maud spoke softly. “Have you ever wondered why some Meta-Frames and Pod Pals have the ability to cry?”
Coraline stared at Twilight Sparkle. The Pod Pal pony had cried earlier that night. She had wondered why that was possible. She glanced over at Stacey. Her Garvedoir suit had eyes which watered when she was upset. Then she turned to Maud, whose eyes had never deviated from their neutral expression the entire night. She spoke to the suit-wearing human. “You haven’t cried.”
“I’ve never wanted to be able to cry,” she said. “But the other suits and Pod Pals have that feature because one of the greatest achievements of this technology is that it allows people to express themselves to one another in ways that we all understand. The eyes move and emote to show compassion, fear, or love.”
“But yours don’t.”
“I’ve never wanted to show compassion, fear, or love. But I am happy for those who do. The eyes of the suit are one of the greatest communicators and one of the reasons why people connect with them so much easier than with each other. People hide themselves,” Maud said as Coraline pulled her arms off the table and set them on her lap. “People do that because over their lifetime, they learn how to hide versus learning how to express. Humans can be cruel,” she said, nodding. “But some people are lucky. And they’re raised in environments where they learn compassion, where they learn love, and where fear is a distant memory.” Coraline put her metal hand up to her head and started to breathe a more shallow. “I wish I had been raised by a mother like you.”
Coraline’s train-of-thought stopped. She looked at Maud. “But I’m a horrible mother.” Her eyes closed at the sound of her own voice uttering the words.
“I don’t think so,” Maud so. “You’re so hard on yourself. But I see your boy and how smart he is. How well-spoken.” Coraline looked up. “That kind of intelligence only happens when it’s nurtured. When he’s loved. And even though you’re afraid, I can tell that he isn’t. He’s smart enough to see a way out of the pain that has affected both of you. And if you’d just trust his curiosity and his desire to learn, you may find the healing you’ve been looking for.”
Coraline couldn’t believe what she had heard. She sat in speechless silence as she thought about what was said.
Maud spoke again. “I can tell Armin is going to be someone even more amazing when he grows up. I can only imagine what lucky partner he will have in the future.”
“You really think so?” Coraline said as she smiled a sweet smile.
“Heck, when he becomes an adult, if he stays on the right path, I have a sister who would absolutely love him,” Maud Pie said.
“Thank you, Maud,” Coraline said. “I needed to hear that.” She walked over to the door of the bedroom Armin had hid inside. “I’m sorry, Armin,” she said. “I shouldn’t have yelled at you. I just want you to listen because…” she stopped herself. She was three sentences in and already she was approaching it all wrong. She tried again. “I just want you to be happy. And what your dad did was horrible. And I don’t want you to think that’s the way people are. I’m sorry,” she placed her head and human hand against the door. “Do you forgive me?”
There was silence.
“Yes,” he said. “But…”
Coraline waited.
“You have to tell them what happened. It’ll never get better otherwise.”
Coraline felt her mind start to ache. She tried to calm her breathing but couldn’t. She steadily lowered to her knees as she focused all of her efforts on staying calm. She felt an embrace from behind. The hold was soft, comforting and warm. She saw the black suit out of her peripheral. Chrysalis was holding her close, her eyes staring off to the side, half-lidded in serenity. Her smile was peaceful. Coraline felt her breathing slow and her heart settle. She clutched Chrys’s hand and immediately felt a warmth travel from it into her own.
“That feels so calming,” Coraline said. “How are you doing that?”
“It’s a soft-skin upgrade,” Chrysalis said. “Made to soothe even the most restless. Doesn’t work on the wearer, though,” she said, looking down. Coraline turned around and embraced Chrysalis. “That…that works, though.” Chrys said with a bigger smile.
Coraline sat back against the wall and noticed Stacey, Holdman, Twilight and Lyra were standing at the end of the hallway while Maud stared from her usual spot in the reading chair a few feet behind them. “All right. Let’s talk.” She exhaled as she stayed sitting in the hallway. “You know we’re all here, so let’s just stay in the hallway. I want Armin to hear me.”
“I’m here,” Armin said in the bedroom. His small fingers stretched out from under the bottom of the door. Coraline reached out with her human hand and clasped his fingers in her own. Chrysalis sat in front of her on the other side of the hallway and held her metal hand. Gardevoir and Holdman sat on the floor next to them as Twilight and Lyra stood behind. There was the sound of a chair being set behind Twilight. They turned and saw Maud sitting closer, the chair backwards, with her head and arms resting on the back as she stared. Coraline began.
“A year ago, my ex-husband and I were taking Armin with us to a citywide rally against America’s involvement in the Russian/Chinese Border War…” she stared up and felt her heart nearly stop at what she was witnessing around her. The moment she began to think about the event, her mind fell back into scene one year prior. She felt Armin's hand press on top of her own.
No, she thought. I can’t be afraid. I’m going to finish this. If I talk my way through it, the others will be there for me.
I didn’t realize that my hus…Armin’s dad had planned some things he didn’t tell me about. I thought he just wanted us to support him when he got back to the hotel room. Somehow…somehow he convinced me and Armin to go with him on a protest march. Gosh, I was so stupid…I reasoned that the marches had been safe for the past couple years with no problems. I thought Armin could learn from them. He was so excited to win his dad’s approval. I wanted to nurture that. I always tried to strengthen their relationship, sometimes at the cost of my own.
When we were preparing in the hotel to go out, Armin found something strange in his dad’s bag when his dad was busy taking a shower. It was a some sort of small pipe-like device. I thought it was a mailing tube made of metal, but it had all sorts of wires sticking out of the end. I took a picture of it with my phone and ran the photo through image-matching software online. The results came back instantaneously: it was a pipe bomb.
I later found out my ex-husband was planning to bomb one of the leaders of the pro-war movement. One of the warhawks who had been saying some horrific stuff on TV. I didn’t want any part of it and I didn’t want Armin there either. But…I had to be stubborn. I could have left the pipe bomb there. He would’ve gone on by himself and did the deed and I’d still have an my other arm. But…I couldn’t do it. I knew, holding that bomb in my hand, that it would be used for murder. I couldn’t let that happen. So I put it back in the bag, took the bag and Armin with me and ran.
Armin’s dad had the keys to the car in the restroom with him. He was so paranoid. I think he knew something might happen. So Armin and I took off on foot.
We needed a place to hide. The streets were filled with protestors and some points had both anti-war and pro-war screaming at each other. Halfway towards a police line where I thought we’d be safe, a fight broke out.
Several of the opposing protestors started hitting each other, viciously kicking and punching and stomping until more joined in. I pulled Armin with me into the nearby TruCore building. I didn’t even see Armin’s dad pulling up to the front. He had been following us the whole way.
Armin and I ducked into an elevator. I pushed the button for the topmost floor. Seconds later, Armin’s dad ran into the elevator as it was closing. He kept screaming, yelling at me to give him back the bag. I wanted to protect Armin, so when the elevator door opened to the top floor, I gave it back..
He knew I would tell police. He took away my phone and tried to lock Armin and me in an office room.
Something snapped. I don’t know what came over me. Maybe it was the thought that because of me, he would now be able to murder lots of people. I couldn’t allow him to put blood on my hands. I wouldn’t. I pushed him out of the room before he could lock it and wrestled him to the ground. He was stronger than me, but I know he married me because I was a fighter. Looks like it worked against him after all that time. We tumbled down a flight of stairs but I landed on top. I pulled the bag away from him and he threw me to the ground. I pulled out the pipe bomb. I didn’t see it before, but there were indicator lights inside it. It must have armed by accident in the fall. He pushed me into one of the rooms and I slammed the door in front of him, my hand still on the bomb. I locked it. He couldn’t get in, but I couldn’t get out. There was a window.
I opened it and prepared to throw the bomb away, but there was a crowd of people below. Thousands of protestors and police clashed on the street. I couldn’t drop the pipe bomb. It would kill hundreds of people. I couldn’t keep it in the room. It would kill me, Armin’s dad, and perhaps Armin himself plus whoever else was in the building we couldn’t see. I sat down with the bomb as Armin’s dad screamed at me from the door. I opened the casing and looked inside to see a mass of plastic explosives. I knew what they looked like because Armin’s dad and I used to watch cop shows with the fake version of the bomb materials. The shows were accurate-enough to give me the courage to try something reckless.
I didn’t know what I was doing. I was desperate. I wanted to save everyone, even if I couldn’t save myself. I saw the mass of wires and thought the only way I could stop it was by chance. I pulled out the wires from the plastic explosives, like I’d seen in those shows, and grasped all the exposed cables in my hand and pulled.
I didn’t know about the small explosive charge in the middle. If my hand hadn’t been clutched around them, the plastic explosive could’ve gone off.
It detonated. I lost my hand. But the rest of the bomb didn’t go off. I had saved everyone.
I fell back and passed out. I thought I was dead.
That bastard didn’t even call for help while I lay there dying. Armin did it. He had snuck out of the room during the fight when I pushed out Armin’s dad and found a phone to call police. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t be here today. My son is right. He is very smart and always has been. And I love him so much.
Armin’s dad was arrested. Dallas Police Department investigated and found out everything I just told you was true. They had evidence from the camera footage in TruCore to Armin’s testimony to the confession of his dad who at least had enough decency to be honest about what I had done and what he was going to do.
National news heard about what I did. But I asked to keep my photo out. I didn’t want them to harass me or Armin after it. I was a hero, so of course they complied, which is why I’m sure you didn’t know who I was when you saw me.
A fund was started for my hospital bills. And Technomancer Industries was contacted. They made a prosthetic for me. I love it because it’s a sign that I helped countless people, but I hate it because it reminds me of that day and how much danger I put my son in for the sake of everyone else.
“Mom,” Armin said.
Coraline broke from her trance. She was still in the hallway of the house with everyone staring at her. Her human hand had clenched Armin’s fingers underneath the door.
“You’re a hero, Mom,” Armin said. “I don’t mind being in harm’s way if it means saving everyone.”
Coraline started to cry as Chrysalis held her close. The door opened and Armin rushed to his mom’s side as he embraced her. She wrapped her arms around her son and cried into his shoulder.
Holdman pulled up his phone and stared at the screen. “Wow,” he said, looking at something on it. He turned the screen to everyone else.
Heroic Mother Saves Countless Lives, Loses Hand Disarming Bomb
“Coraline,” Holdman said, “I remember your name now. Coraline Weaver. You’re a hero!” He helped her and her son off the ground. His hand grazed Chrysalis and they locked eyes for a moment before both turning away, blushing. “Where do you work, Coraline?”
“I work at…”
“What’s the pay?” Holdman asked before she could finish. “Because I guarantee you Technomancer Industries can beat it.”
Coraline’s eyes widened. “You…you want me to work with you?!”
“I don’t know why they didn’t hire you at first. I’m assuming they never got around to it because your recovery must have been a very delicate time for you. But whatever the reason, I’m here now. I can pull some strings. I could have you working in the Austin or San Antonio branch by next week.”
Twilight smiled and gasped as Lyra nodded. “Wow,” Lyra said. “Moving up in the world, Coraline.”
“Take it,” Maud said, from her seat-side view. “Technomancer employees get augmentation and product discounts. You could upgrade that arm of yours to something even more impressive. Maybe even get a Pod Pal or Meta-Frame later.”
“I want a super arm!” Armin said. “Can I work there?”
Stacey the Gardevoir put her hand on his shoulder. “Sweetheart, you’re like ten.”
“I’m seven.”
“Wow, you’re tall for seven,” she said, nodding.
Coraline looked at Armin and then back at Holdman. She felt Armin’s grip in her human hand as he hugged her close. She smiled. “Okay.”
The group cherished the night with one another. They laughed, talked, and connected like they never had before. Coraline found friendship where she least expected it and Armin talked with everyone about their technology and what he could do to learn about it. The pair left that night with a new hope in their hearts, wondering what wheels they had set in motion which would be felt for a long time after…
---
“Mom,” Armin Weaver said, standing at the mall next to the cake store. He looked at the cake coupon on his phone. Happy 17th birthday! It said.
“Yes sweetheart?” Coraline said as she hugged him. Her metal hand was sleek and strong, a product of new Technomancer technology. It almost resembled perfectly-interlocking platemail.
“How much of a discount do you get for working at Technomancer?” he asked as he stared at a wall-sized advertisement. Several giant pony characters scrolled by on the screen. He reached out with his augmented fingers and tapped the screen. It stopped on a pink pony with balloons tattooed on her hip.
“Oh no,” his mom said.
“Oh yeah,” Armin said. “I want a new best friend.”
“Then go make some friends,” she said.
“She can do all sorts of cool stuff,” Armin said.
“Like bankrupt my account,” Coraline said.
“They got payment plans. And scholarships for really smart kids who plan to attend their academy after high school. Every future engineer needs an assistant,” he said, winking.
“And that assistant has to be a pony?”
“Is there nothing I can say to convince you?”
“Look, I’ll tell you what. We’re go by the Pod Pal Bay so you can meet them and satiate your curiosity before we go home. But we’re not going home with one. There is no way…”
One week later, the Pod Pal known as Pinkie Pie arrived at Armin’s house, ready to begin a new adventure…
---
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Cool story, I love this kind of hard tech sci-fi
7343098
Thank you! *hugs* If you love this one, you'll really like the main storyline that takes place after. I don't know if you've read it yet. It's hard to keep track for me sometimes :P
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/333408/equus-metamorphosis
A nice little story, and a point of where things certainly do click for the times. And more so when kids make lasting points of impressions. This likely does more to get the why of armin than the main stories in places. Yet tells another story entirely. Well done.
7343109
Thank you for the kind words! I wanted to explore the mother/son relationship a little more and how they arrived at where they are when they start the main story. I'm getting better and better with storytelling as these weeks progress! I'm so EXCITED for the next "Equus Metamorphosis" chapters and more spin-offs! :D This world is so fun to write, because depending on our technology, everything written here could actually happen. :D
Wait, what are the things it's crossed-over with in these stories? Every franchise that has a pod-pal or meta-frame? Also, what's your favorite pokemon? Mine's Gallade, with Blaziken a close second.
Darn, I can't write anything with my ordinary randomness and feeble attempts at comedy. By the way, did you know that I hate myself? I hate myself. I hate my body, I hate my mind, I hate my personality. At the same time, I love everything about myself. It's just like my mind towards everything else in the world. For almost everything, I love it and hate it at the same time. There's nothing I don't love except for Donald Trump and genocidal maniacs like Hitler and the Nazis. There's nothing I don't hate except my friends who I show my true, and random, personality to. I guess I consider you a friend, even though we've never met.
By the way, fairly certain I have insomnia. Two days ago, I got Doom 4, which had a 6-hour download time. I took a 4-5 hour nap, and woke up at 8 to eat dinner. I then played Doom for a while until I saw a spider on my wall. Me, being the severe arachnophobe that I am, immediately quit and went downstairs with my blanket, my phone, and my kindle to the sofa. I then tried to get some sleep, but instead just read the Foal of the Forest and listened to music on Ponyville Live! for the entire night. I fell asleep around 3 and woke up before 5. I then stayed up until 12 this morn, when my dad forced to stop play Skyrim and made me go to bed, despite me not feeling tired. I started a new character called Igneus gla, and I thought of renaming the character that I cheat with Dominus Spatium-Tempus. Also, I woke up at 7.
I like Latin.
7343119 A reread does also prompt something else. In thinking on, what kind of nature would it be to be connected with the some of an attempted terrorist. Yes, while the ability to fix exists, it is still something else to be connected to that in a very modern media kind of always on world.
7343119 I'd love to see more of this universe I'm loving this so far I'm not going to lie there were some moments that gave me feels
......to be honest I'd......love to have a celestia pod pal I think I'd feel the most calm and at peace whenever I hear her warm gentle voice there are times I'd wish that celestia was my real mother I'm sad to admit it I think that my mom would be upset with me and not have me around mlp again don't get me wrong i know mom is a good mom it's just I've had a unhappy life growing up with mom having to be sick with constant pain due to her fibermialgia and her rithmadoidosteoarthritus and her nurotic disease and men like my dad and others get drunk and abuse her.....sometimes physically and even though I live on my own I'm to weak and cowardly to protect her or help her if something were to happen I hardly have many friends if something were to happen to her .....I'd be all alone so I guess mlp and the bronies I do know help somewhat I guess celestia in my mind is mostly a mother figure and some romantic feelings I guess in a way if technology were to advance in this way I'm not sure if having celestia as a pod pal or becomeing an augment to live longer would be helpful or harmful to me I.....guess I needed to rant I don't have anyone to talk to I'm sorry in advance if I made you uncomfortable
7343553
I was considering the implications of the main character's close proximity to the terror attack suspect. I was on the fence about the whole thing, wondering if she'd be implicated as an associate or not. But there were enough physical actions that she performed that showed, even on a camera with no sound, that she was trying to stop the bombing from occurring. The media also backed her up, painting her as a hero which would've looked very bad for the police force if they tried to erroneously make her look like she was responsible for anything else but saving the people at the cost of her own hand. I could make the case that there were a lot of cops down on the ground below the TruCore building who owe the main character their lives. It's a tricky situation and could be the subject of an entire debate, because depending on the political clout, it could've been pushed either way.
But now this whole story was two characters dealing with the aftermath of one person's mistake at attempting to harm a lot of people. And coming to terms with it as well as learning to move past it.
7344037 You certainly have a wide world to really approach with this so far, even little in the area, the world is quite a large place to showcase.
7343712
Oh there is more to this universe! This story leads up to the main storyline that I've been writing for a few weeks. It's got the same human characters Coraline and Armin, plus the Pinkie Pie you see at the end as a main character!
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/333408/equus-metamorphosis
And hey I totally understand that you like Princess Celestia. *hugs* She is definitely one of the best mother figures in the show. I know that the feel-good presentation of MLP:FiM can be really inspirational. Heck, the show started being important to me during a very key moment in my life when I needed some inspiration after dealing with some really horrible people.
If you need to find someone to talk to about what you're dealing with at home, please find a professional in your community to talk to about what you're going through. Here, I don't know where you live, but I'll private message you some info I found. *hugs*
7343504
Just think about whatever franchise you want as long as it's a cartoon or anime or video game with mostly unrealistic characters. The more stylized the characters, the more likely their forms can be made into a Pod Pal or Meta-Frame. Mostly, they have to be humanoid so humans can wear the outfit like a suit or Pod Pals can walk around with human-like appearance.
Have you considered turning your stream-of-thought into stories? Like, writing as though it wasn't you, but say Twilight or Lyra or Pinkie thinking about stuff? I bet you could write some awesome stuff that way! :D
7344093 I have thought about writing stories, even started writing a season 5 finale based fanfic in which there was another future in which Equestria was ruled by a Gary Stu character based of my good traits, who was also aware of the multiple timelines and could actually manipulate energy without a horn, and as he was an extremely frail young pegasus colt at the beginning of each timeline, he kept dying before the main events, but he managed to our research on his disease (huh. I just remembered that heven had a bone problem, similar to Armin's but it worked at a younger age.) He retained memory and magical strength through the timelines, finally surviving, and I've decided to amend his back story to make it so that he harnessed on of Starlight's stray magic bolts. He meets and befriends Alicorn Twilight, and they talk.
I crafted all of that months ago, but I haven't written it, because I'm lazy.
In language arts, some of my favorite assignments were creative writing pieces. I pretty much created a mini-fanfiction story for the Legend of Sleepy Hollow with lore stolen from the MLP Time Loops story.
7344078 thanks for the reply I'm better now I read your original story and I'm liking it so far . By the way......
1.have you thought of making a group for this universe I'd like to see you and others expand this idea
2. Can pod pals feel intimitcy ?
3. Is it possible for a pod pal female to bear a child?
4. Can meta frames extend life expectancy?
5. Will the dazzlings as pod pals ever make an appearance ?
6. Will we Luna at all ?
Other than that in your previous story I loved the celestiAI reference. It could be worse......
She might be a certain deviant with an unhealthy obsession with bananas (shudder)
So, how long before a guy in shades walks in and starts off with "I never asked for this..."?
7345271
Funny you should say that... *looks over at other idea for Church of Aug side story...* ;p
7345122
Aw thank you for checking it out! IT'S SO FUN TO WRITE! :D
Actually yes I was thinking of doing that really soon! Actually, I want to write a third side story before I can justify having a group. It would feel really barren with only two stories in the group folder right now. But don't worry. I've got SEVERAL side story ideas I want to work on next. :)
Keep reading the core story "Equus Metamorphosis" to find out the answer to that one! :D
That is an excellent question! I was thinking about how Pod Pals would have a child together, for example. Building a child out of component parts and programming them with a Technomancer Technician's help seems feasible, but not something I've explored yet.
Actually yes! By almost double! That's one of their key features as long as you continue with the upkeep of the suit. In the timeline I created for this universe, the founder of Technomancer Industries is still working well into her late 80s and functioning as though she were in her early 50s.
Here's the timeline for you to look up the events:
http://www.fimfiction.net/blog/646776/supplemental-timeline-for-equus-metamorphosis-thank-you-to-all-my-readers
You hit ANOTHER idea I had right on the head! I have a side story idea starring three human sisters who all-together get Meta-Frame bodies of the Dazzlings! It's a story about identity, starring the sister who becomes Aria Blaze.
Another direct hit about a story Idea I've been developing! Princess Luna will appear in a side story about a controversial game show starring a Pod Pal! I've been writing out the story chart for that one as of yesterday! In that story we will also see a character pair we saw in "Equus Metamorphosis" as well as a new rival to Technomancer Industries!
Hope these answers have gotten you excited to see what new developments will take place soon! Thank you for the questions! :D *hugs*
7347624
On question 3:
Amusingly, that's basically how children are "born", in the old CGI movie called "Robots". "Grown up" parts are treated like clothes for some.
The story description is…how do you stay so unique?! Like…a friggin support group…that’s so…agh! And a pod pal with PTSD…I mean that makes sense sort of with their programming.
“more photos* of the winged lilac pony than there”
Man your character descriptions are spot-friggin-on. I’m loving Coraline’s little realizations that a mom would totally make.
“and her wings were a* light-blue gossamer”
I like how the human with the Maud Meta-Frame is just like her XD
“In the moment Armin had yelped, Coraline saw something that no one else could.” Had to reread the paragraph again but awesome flashback!
“My creators never lab-tested what would happen if a Pod Pal witnessed another one of their own template die in front of them.” Dude…that’s true. How would an AI who learns from their environment handle that? Aw that’s interesting! Your ideas are so unpredictable! God I’m loving this story!
“Doesn’t work like that, ma’am. Robotic minds don’t function the way a user-controlled computer system does. Every memory, every experience is tied to the one before it and after it. And there are countless bits of association between thoughts and memories which make up the recalled information and allow it to be recaptured by the Pod Pal themselves, “ You just think of everything! Every time a question comes up, BAM, you answer it! And it sounds completely reasonable, like how a human brain would work!
Dude Stacey…I…wow. Like..I can completely see where she’s coming from.
Wow…characterization for Armin when he’s like 8…this story is amazing. I like how you add in backstory and add to Armin’s character simultaneously.
I…holy crap. I love how Coraline is so…she’s the most human but it’s like she’s not necessarily in the right for it you know?
“ Or else you’ll find yourself back here, again and again, with more complications and more problems, because you didn’t address something when it was small and waited until it was too much to handle.” Totally something a therapist would say! I love how instead of letting it be some random mumbo jumbo you actually took the time to make it sound legitimate.
I’m quickly running out of the words I want to express how I feel about this story. There’s just so much emotion and character flowing in every little scene, it’s just absolutely breathtaking.
Oh my God Coraline is like…a billion times more interesting now. I love the way you portrayed her, that even though she’s a hero, you started off with her weaknesses which made her way more relatable and more enjoyable to learn about.
Wow…that…wow. Reading that, then going into Equss is going to be amazing. You’re so good at portraying so many emotions without having to say them. Like you do most of it with body language and action. That was an amazing read.
7347624 by the way.....
Pinkie: "DOCTOR!!"
Armin:"who?"
Me:" exactly!!"
(I saw what you did there >:))
7347897
Oh nice! I could've sworn I remember that scene now, even though that is literally the only thing I have seen out of that movie. I must've walked in to witness that scene at a doctor's office or something O.o
7348208
HAH! Thank you! I'm glad you caught it :D
7347995
Hehe thank you! I was trying to consider what kind of unique disorders a Pod Pal might go through, considering their "biology" is really technology and all the challenges that come with it.
(btw, before I continue, thank you for the proofreading! I need to go back and add the proofreads you've given me for my stories *hugs*
Hehe I was trying to think "What would a mom do in this situation?" And then I realized I worked in education for a while, and that's kinda similar. So she's basically acting like teacher-mom, which is almost the same thing in many respects.
I was thinking well a lot of these Meta-Frames suit-wearers are very similar to their counterparts, which at least a big part is cause I want the spirit of the character they're portraying to shine through. But at the same time, I would think that either (1) A person who chooses a suit would pick something that closely resembles their personality or (2) They would pick a personality they want to achieve, so either way, they're going to be closer towards that personality than if they weren't wearing the suit.
Actually, I have an upcoming Meta-Frame story idea that talks about this exact topic on identity, starring the Dazzlings with the person suited as Aria Blaze as the main character :)
Sometimes the learning computer just can't seem to be turned off. O.o And thank you!
Half the fun of this story universe is the whole "What would happen if...?" and then answering that question almost immediately or displaying the answer through action in the story. :) Yay for speculative fiction!
I honestly want to write Stacey the Gardevoir Girl more. I'll just have to find out where to write her again, even if it's only a one-chapter cameo :) She's in her early twenties right now in 2061 though, so that limits which eras I can put her in if I go backwards, but not so much forwards :P
I wanted people who didn't quite understand Armin or Coraline to get a HUGE bit of insight to both of them through this tale. Based on all the comments that have mentioned this, looks like I'm succeeding!
Ah do you mean that she looks and is physically one of the human but some of the others display more human tendencies than her? :P
I wanted the characters to really focus on reaching out to each other through easily understandable compassionate responses. No need to come up with official terminology for what this or that is if a simple explanation can suffice. :)
YAY! Thank you! :D *hugs*
And what's even better is that through the act of writing this story, I have come to a better understanding of Coraline myself, meaning I can now write her character in the main storyline with greater clarity, thus giving her more involvement! YAY! :D
Thank you so much for the amazing compliments! I try to find a way to express emotions with actions whenever I can. Like between Holdman and Chrysalis ( *blushy, blushy*) which they never, ever talk about to each or anyone in the story. :)
I can't wait to write more of this universe! Might do so within the next day or two. I'm super busy though. We'll see! I can at least outline :)
This is a beautiful little gem of a story. Albeit short, it gives the reader quite some feels and makes you want for more.
Well done.^^b
7348533 in a unrelated topic have you seen the movie the last unicorn?
Not really a complaint, but to my amusement, I noticed how when you get down to it, Equis Metamorph really doesn't have much to do with the creatures of Equestria in any way. Sufficiently Advanced is the same, though meeting Equestria is actually in the works. Eventually.
The first 10 - 12 chapters is basically all set up.
Nice to see you writing again!
7348885
*hugs* Thank you so much for the compliment!
As a matter of fact, if you would like to read more, I have the main storyline that takes place after this already completed up to seven chapters long... ;)
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/333408/equus-metamorphosis
7349101
Actually I have not seen The Last Unicorn, but man do I ever want to watch that movie :D I started reading the book and then got distracted a while back. Has a great beginning too. Beagle's style feels similar to mine in dialogue...
7349626
Not in the way the official show does, that's for sure. :P And thank you for that info about Lord of Dorkness! I'm so looking forward to reading their fics!
7349956
Thank you! It's nice to be back again. I truly feel happy here <3
7353376
*squees*
My pleasure. Now, onwards to reading!
7353376 I'm sure YouTube or kisscartoon may have it did you know there was a second book called two hearts?
Lastly reason why I brought it up I think alenethena would make a good pod pal for one of your stories there needs to be more the last unicorn fics on here theres only one called the next to last unicorn
7354030
Oh that's a great idea! YES I am adding her to the list of Pod Pals for sure! I may not mention it yet, but hopefully I'll be able to do so soon <3
Thank you for the suggestion! :D
7354574 perhaps a celestia x alenethena x human paring? Maybe the human loses his wife parents and kids due to an unfortunate accident so celestia a pod pal who worked as his kids babysitter and a alenethena pod pal who the human an ex soilder named john brown who watched and loved the last unicorn as a child rescues alenethena from an abusive owner must heal his broken heart and learn to love again