PaP: Bedtime Stories

by Starscribe

Compiler

Joseph stood in the center of his vault, appreciating the quality of his work. In all the world to his knowledge, he knew of no creatures anywhere who had seen the potential of magic like he had. Even Archive, holding all of it in her mind at once, had stopped several steps before the really interesting discoveries. Yes, self-recharging lights and using weather magic to feed gravity-driven power plants were an interesting innovation. But they were only a sliver of what magic could do.

Before Mystic Rune, resting in a docking bay of wires and padded foam, was an object he called a Compiler. It was to spellcasting what abstraction had been to the wire-reprogramming of the ENIAC era. The object was exactly three feet from point to point, an octahedron of flawless white crystal. On it was the runic language Joseph himself had invented (with the help of a reentrant neural network), which combined the existing laws of runic magic as specified by Equestrian lore into a higher, simpler description of spells. The spell that /was/ his Compiler was so complex only a high-precision laser had been able to etch it onto the crystal with enough detail to make everything fit.

This by itself was a powerful spell, though he doubted it was entirely revolutionary. Stories from Equestria of something called a 'Crystal Heart' and its properties suggested a purpose-designed version of what he had constructed had been used to run an entire pony city back in Equestria. I wonder how long it took to carve it without making a single mistake and having to start over.

No, Joseph's leading innovation hadn't just been inventing an abstraction for the machine-code of runes, but to combine the Compiler with a machine interface. The crystal itself was wrapped in wires and cables, roughly shaped into a padded cage to hug around it on either side. It didn't just give the Compiler the ability to use radio and other convenient communication methods, though those abilities were significant enough in themselves. Rather, it was that the powerful miniaturized computer packed around the Compiler could do the one thing all previous spells he knew of simply failed to do: think.

"Hello Cloudy," he said, voice low. "Today we're doing something special."

"Every day is special," the Compiler replied. It still sounded like an ancient text-to-speech program, even if improvements in the algorithm had allowed it to vary its tone somewhat according to lifelike emotional rhythms. "What did you have in mind?"

"I must take you to the surface. It may be dangerous, so I'll need you with me."

"What about your research?" the compiler asked. "Without a hardline into the Supercomputer Array, my current suite of calculations may not be completed in polynomial time."

He waved a hoof through the air with frustrated dismissal. "Nobody's more pissed about that than I am, Cloudy. But completing my spell won't mean anything if everyone on the surface is dead. I don't actually want to be god and have to create life from scratch. They don't pay me enough for that."

"Understood." Cables began severing themselves from the Compiler, most fiber optic interfaces or frost-covered coolant lines of liquid nitrogen. Removed from its docking area, the Compiler's computational power would be greatly limited. Instead of writing world-defining spells, it would only be able to run calculations for the sort of spells ponies used on a daily basis. Alicorn-type daily spells, but still.

This was why Joseph hated leaving the lab. To take Cloudy anywhere was to give up his nuclear arsenal in exchange for a few hand grenades. One of these days he would have to get around to creating a way for the Compiler to cast spells outside of sensory range. Crack the sympathetic magic problem, and he would /really/ have changed magic forever.

But there was no time for any of that now. Another century of research would surely be long enough for the plague to do its work, assuming it was even meant to kill everyone. His cure would not remain effective forever, not in the face of an actively-evolving enemy.

The Compiler lifted into the air in front of him, still trailing condensation as it began to spin. It looked as though a unicorn were levitating it, though of course he wasn't. The Compiler could cast its own spells. Sorta. "Very well, Joseph. Exploring the surface should be an enlightening use of time, at the very least. What is your purpose there?"

"Distributing a cure for the plague," Joseph answered, turning away and walking back towards the doors to the clean-room. Trade Wind was still out there, watching through the tiny window and waiting for him to finish. He didn't rush—a few seconds here and there would not make the difference between wiping out the plague or seeing all life on Earth destroyed. Once into the airlock he removed the loose cleansuit, tossing it into the wash-bin with the others. There were no clean suits left.

Trade Wind stared at him as he emerged—or more correctly, she was staring at Cloudy. "What is... that?"

"Trade secret," he answered. "You can call her Cloudy. She's the powerful magic I use for my hardest jobs, that's all you need to know."

"Okay," Wind replied. "But I don't like being left in the dark. I'm not a spy or anything, Joseph. There's no reason to keep things from me. I can't even leave this place without your help."

"Actually, you can." He nodded towards the suit she was wearing, the one he'd adjusted to fit her only a day before. It was an ancient creation of his compared to the Compiler, an early attempt he'd made replacing the functionality of the HPI's powered armor with spells and magic. Magic didn't need expensive machines to reproduce, or rare materials to make replacement parts when something went wrong. Unfortunately Joe hadn't actually known anyone on the surface by the time he finished, so he'd just been waiting for Alex to return to give the suit a proper field test.

It wasn't a suit at all so much as a harness, which could be worn by the pony like a saddle studded with little crystals. All self-recharging, and resistant to outside spells. Resistant enough that the harness had survived centuries sitting on a shelf without maintenance and still been charged when he gave it to her. "Time for you to learn about your tools. We're going a long way, and if you do something stupid I'll look stupid. So listen up."

Trade Wind sat on her haunches, watching him expectantly. She's an even better listener than Cloudy. "Three crystals. One for protection, one for strength, and one for teleportation. The first two will work on their own, similar to earth pony magic. If you're exerting yourself, the strength crystal will help you. If you're in danger, the protection crystal will create a shield. The yellow one is for teleportation, and it only does two things—it will take you into the lobby of the university above us, or back down here, alternating each time. But be careful—if you're out of sensory range, it will use a lot of energy. Maybe one jump from far away, so save it for an emergency."

Wind stared down at the metal harness in wonder. "Y-you trust me after all. Something so valuable... kings would sell their thrones for magic like this..."

Joe grunted in response, turning away. She couldn't see his satisfied smile if she could only see his tail. "I made it in a weekend after binging Borderlands 2 until my Xbox broke. It's also never been tested so I don't know how well it will work. You should be careful and ease into relying on the crystals slowly until we know for sure if they work. Oh, and... the glow tells you how much power there is. If they ever go black, it means they're completely drained. They leech your own magic to charge, but not enough that you should notice."

He started walking along the hall, setting his usual brisk pace. Wind quickly followed, her mostly natural hoofsteps broken by the regular thump of her single crystal limb.

"Oh, and one more thing! Don't break your leg if you can help it. Crystal doesn't heal, ever, but it still hurts like it's alive. I will have to repair any damage with specific spells, and that might take weeks. Weeks of pain you could have avoided if you took better care of your leg."

Wind whimpered from behind him. "I'll do my best." They were almost to the teleportation room now, the section of his lab he used the least. Until very recently, it had still been an ocean of dust. As he stepped in now it was to a room swept and clean, though there were still piles of broken crystal and a few trash-bags tucked away from when he'd tidied in here. The room was perfectly round, exactly ten feet across, with a detailed topographical map of the planet on the walls. Along with the elevation was a series of photographs and descriptions of everywhere he'd ever visited. The photos still had some of their color, thanks to the magic that suffused this place, but any that depicted civilized places were worthless now. Collecting information about places you wanted to visit was the best way to keep a network of destinations, but that required constant updating. Until a few months ago, Joseph had just assumed things on the surface hadn't changed.

Obviously that assumption was in error. Basically everything besides the topography was worthless now, and even that was showing some wear. A problem for another time. My assistant can deal with this when we finish distributing the cure.

Joseph himself carried that, in a single side of his saddlebags marked all over with bright biohazard logos. Trade Wind had been obedient so far, but he couldn't yet trust her competence enough not to drop his cure and ruin it all over the floor somewhere.

"You've never done this before," he said. "Stand there, breathe out, hold your breath. Cloudy is better at teleporting than anypony you've ever known, but something can still go wrong. Plus, cultivating good habits with her will help you if you're around someone less skilled. I wouldn't want you to get complacent and get your lungs ripped out during the next trip. I don't make crystal lungs.” Not yet, anyway.

The pegasus winced, but he could only smell a slight twinge of fear in her scent. Trade Wind was a brave pony.

"I've already used a searching spell to find the greatest concentration of infected individuals. Hopefully you wanted to visit China, because that's where we're going." He stepped up beside her, crowding as close as possible in the center of the room.

"What's a China?"

"You have the coordinates, Cloudy?"

"Suitable landing location resolved." The crystal surrounded with wires and machines began to flicker and glow, its clear internal light flashing through the visible spectrum. "Warp field stabilized."

"Do it."

It did.

* * *

For all Joseph seemed to want her to be afraid of teleportation, the jump from Joseph's lab to "China" was as painless as a stroll down a windy room. For a few seconds there was no ground beneath her hooves, and she was practically flying through the air. The sky all around them was dark, save for the glow of the crystal called Cloudy. The flickering through every color she knew had slowed dramatically and was now moving in reverse. Trade Wind couldn't open her mouth to ask what she was feeling—whenever she tried, an enormous pressure settled on her. She couldn't move at all.

The moment didn't last long. Soon enough she was free, and the little round room with its maps and charts and tables had bled away to nothing. She was immediately assaulted with a wave of familiar stink, one she'd known every day of her life. It was the rot of the plague.

Trade Wind started to back up, her hooves ringing on the wooden floor of a vast space, her breathing coming in painful gasps. "N-no... not again... not after living one time... I won't get sick again!"

Something shimmered around her limbs, holding her in place. She was still breathing this time, and began to hyperventilate. Not only was she surrounded by the sick, but she was stuck! There was no escape—the unicorn had brought her here to die.

"Trade Wind!" The voice was Joseph's, his expression harsh and angry. "Focus! You're immune. You're not in danger."

She kept squirming, looking away from him. "I don't want to get sick again! I already died once!"

Joseph rolled his eyes, glancing over his shoulder. Trade Wind could barely even see what was around them—anything more than a few feet away dissolved into an indistinct blur. "Cloudy, adjust the sensitivity of her shield to... 400 nanometers."

The air just above Trade Wind's mouth and nose began to shimmer a faint yellow, occasionally sparkling in some areas before becoming transparent again. She heard a voice from below—coming from her armor. "Hostile biosphere detected, isolation engaged." The smell of death was gone.

The magic holding Trade Wind's limbs was suddenly gone, and she nearly fell over in the sudden shock. She didn't, though it did take nearly a minute of calming breathing before she felt like herself again. The shimmering around her head and face remained, brightening whenever she took a breath and fading away again in the time before she took her next one. The air no longer smelled like anything at all, except for a slight odor of ozone she was used to from her early exposure to weather magic.

"Better?" Joseph asked, a hint of annoyance on his face. "We've got work to do. Are you all there, or do I need to send you back to the lab?"

"I'm here," she insisted, straightening. "Just... hadn't smelled this in awhile. Reminded me of—"

Joe waved her off. "Whatever, that's all I needed to know. Follow me then. We've got work to do."

"Where are we, anyway?" she asked, looking around them with renewed attention now that she was coherent enough to actually notice what she was looking at. Their voices and hoofsteps kept echoing, as though they were tucked away inside some massive interior space. The ground was still wood, a smooth floor lit only in a small circle around Joseph's floating crystal.

"Dunno," Joseph said. "Cloudy, give me 50,000 lumens."

The internally glowing crystal hovering above them became a blazing lighthouse, filling the interior gloom with light.

Trade Wind came to an abrupt stop, her mouth hanging open as she saw where they'd been standing.

It was a palace, a palace as big as a stadium and more luxurious than the university. Exotic woods sparkled in the even light of Joseph's magic, along with beautiful tapestries and sculptures made from solid gold. The windows high on the walls were covered with a thin white paper, and the wood pattern beneath looked like it had been built to spell out words in a language Wind didn't understand.

For all the palace had been beautiful, its occupants made that trait difficult to appreciate. There were hundreds of ponies around them, as well as members of other species Trade Wind had no names for. Every single one of them was covered with pustulant sores, leaking black ichor. Many were already dead.

Comments

[gakposter]

Oh shit!

[Ciber]

WHOOOOO BEST STORY HAS UPDATED

[Sparktail]

Oh my, best unicorn is up to his shadow hero shenanigans. Typical nerd, making everyone else do the physical work for him.

[Doppler Effect]

She's an even better listener than Cloudy.

I wonder if Joe's comparing her to Cloudy the computer, or Cloudy the pegasus. I'm still kind of curious why he named the computer after Cloudy instead of his wife...

[PiMan]

Might be Fimfic's update, might be something you did, but I actually received this update this time.

[DaJoesefMan]

[Booster Spice]

The lost history of Cloudy, given how much work Joseph put into things? Or how to manipulate enough microscopic zircon crystals in sapphire to at least store information in physical mechanical layout that stable for millions of years.

The cure would have to be extremely effiicnt if it can deal with even only a few survivors, where isolation and seperation is key to survival.

[Yami Vizzini]

So now the secluded genius has his own taking computer. Fair enough.

"Hello Cloudy," he said, voice low. "Today we're doing something special."
"Every day is special," the Compiler replied.

Every day is special, everything is cool when you're part of a team- no, wait...

Well then....

[StormySkiesPony]

8222246
I know I'm late to any discussion, but I think Moriah's personality doesn't lend herself to being helpful nearly as well.
Cloudy was a friend, gentle, and helpful, all traits that are desired in a helper, assistant, AI, etc.

If I were to make something like Cloudy or Athena, I would personally be more inclined to model it after my lifelong friend than my boyfriend.
If I use my lost mate, I may eventually rekindle my love for him on some level, even if I consciously know better than to think it's actually him, which leads down more unpleasant paths.

[Helium]

China huh? Interesting... in earth without us (i think) day did at some point connect with all human survivors/refugees and mentioned an empire in the east and a group of people living on the ocean. Will be interesting to see more about them.

personally i'd love to see more of what became of Europe, but im a bit bias there.