Let the infection take its course 72%
There was no doubt in Twilight’s mind that this was the right course—as she watched Fluttershy’s scanners, more and more she realized that they were completely out of their league. Trying to teleport the infection out might have made for a daring last-second-save, but more likely it would’ve just made Apple Bloom bleed to death on the operating table. Twilight had not studied medical magic, she couldn’t close thousands of little capillaries and veins at the same time. That took years of training she would never receive.
Even knowing they had made the right choice; the process was terrible to watch. She could only imagine how horrifying it might’ve been to watch this same process happen to her own brother, sitting on the sidelines and powerless to do anything. Fluttershy administered painkillers and kept her unconscious, but even so she twitched and fidgeted as the mechanical growth worked. Not just on her—the thin fibers began to spin her a cocoon of sorts, eating the operating table and any sensors that Fluttershy didn’t get away from them in time.
It was more than Applejack could take. After watching for twenty minutes or so, Twilight could see the change in Applejack’s face. The pony marched straight across the room, intent on the semitransparent cocoon around her sister.
Does Twilight stop her without incident? Yes
But Twilight was ready for her. The voices of her friends hadn’t gone quiet while they watched, and Applejack’s was the loudest of all. Twilight listened silently as she plotted her brave “rescue”, watching as long as she could before she finally decided she was going to defy Twilight’s orders and attack.
Twilight might not know incredibly-complex last ditch cancer treatments, but she knew how to stun a pony who wasn’t expecting it. Twilight aimed her horn carefully, and blasted Applejack in the back with a simple mind spell. She fell limply to the floor, a few inches from her sister’s cocoon. “I’m sorry, Applejack,” she muttered. “If you interrupted her now, she’d probably die.”
They could’ve left her in stasis, until they discovered what the infection was and found a way to treat it. But Applejack had demanded they release her. Now they paid the price.
“Restrain her,” Twilight ordered, gesturing towards an empty table. “Fluttershy, make sure she doesn’t wake up.”
“Okay, captain,” she whispered, voice doubtful. “But if her sister dies while she’s asleep, she’ll never forgive you.”
“I know,” Twilight said. “But if she wakes up, she might be the reason her sister dies. And she still won’t forgive us.” She was going to be a leader. If that meant consequences… she had done her best. “I’m going for a walk. Radio me if anything changes.” Twilight needed to get away from the voices.
She wandered down the halls almost at random, though she kept careful track of where she had gone and what turns she’d taken. She wouldn’t get lost in the upper floors of this building, as badly explored as they were. The voices just don’t stop. Some part of her, perhaps one that she wanted to stay buried, knew that they weren’t really voices. Rainbow Dash had realized it almost immediately, even if she hadn’t. I’m seeing their thoughts.
It’s okay, Twilight. Deep breaths. Don’t try to process everything at once. What do you know? I have mind magic that doesn’t seem to take any energy and never shuts off. I can’t teleport safely anymore. Those two things were probably connected, somehow. She would have to figure out how. There’s probably a way to turn this off. A pony who had to hear the thoughts of everypony around them would go completely insane.
Something tapped her on the shoulder, so suddenly that she actually jumped into the air. She spun around, horn glowing to defend herself, but there was no new defense of the Memorial. It was Node. The one creature whose thoughts she couldn’t hear.
“Captain. Are you functional?”
Twilight slumped onto her haunches, lowering her head. “I’m asking myself that right now, Node. I don’t know anymore.”
“You appear damaged. I advise consulting the medical representative as soon as you have a free moment. But this is not the reason for my visit.” She lowered her voice leaning in close. “I believe I have remembered something that is immediately relevant to the situation at hand.”
Twilight looked up. “And by that do you mean ‘Remembered’, or do you mean that you’ve just changed your mind about keeping it secret from us?”
Node withdrew a little, almost like her words had hurt it. “I am beginning to suspect that my creators restricted my knowledge. As I am exposed to various triggers, my internal storage becomes more accessible.”
“So what do you remember?” she asked.
“I believe your crewman experienced the same process my creators did. Organic life is untenable. Conversion must take place, or…” it shuddered. “Or it will end.”
The radio on Twilight’s breast squeaked with Fluttershy’s voice. “Umm, captain? You should… probably come back here, if you want.”
Does Apple Bloom survive? Critical yes.
Does Apple Bloom wake up? Yes.
“She’s awake.”
Twilight rose to her hooves, enjoying a few more blissful seconds of silence. I’m going to have to think of a spell to keep their thoughts out. There’s got to be some variation of mind magic I can use. But for now, she would have to go back into the maelstrom. “On my way. Revive Applejack,” she said to the radio. Then she let go of the transmission button. “You’re saying this process is safe.”
“Reasonably,” Node said. “Casualties among healthy individuals were… not unreasonable given the circumstances.”
Twilight galloped back the way she’d come, down the dark hallways of an extinct civilization. She found her way back to the lab. The cocoon of spun metal had opened down the middle, with Apple Bloom the insect hatching from within.
The metamorphosis was no less complete. Apple Bloom’s body still looked very much like a pony, at least in shape. But her coat was some kind of smooth, metallic layer . When she moved one of her legs, Twilight could see bundles of fiber there, more like industrial machinery than muscle. At least she didn’t have the uncanny-valley appearance of Node’s plastic shell, she still had something like a coat and skin. Her eyes were unblinking, even if they looked a little like eyes. She had no cutie mark.
The ground all around the half-digested table was covered with thick black sludge, that smelled vaguely like someone had dumped out the contents of a biodigester and then vomited all over it. Sweet Celestia that’s not what I think it is…
Twilight strode into the room, doing her best to ignore the smell. She was surrounded with voices—except for two. Node’s thoughts remained her own. And now, Apple Bloom’s were as well. “I’m… alive,” she said, her voice almost what Twilight remembered. But maybe it was just deeper with age. She held out one leg, staring down at it with confused eyes. “It didn’t kill me.”
[Cyber-Bloom joins the party]
“Sis!” Applejack called from her cot, stumbling forward half-groggy from the drugs.
Twilight would have only a second to react.
1. Absolutely no one make contact with her. This might be contagious. It might be meant to spread. We should get her into a biohazard suit right now until Fluttershy can study it carefully.
2. If we’re going to get infected, it already got us anyway. Interrogate Apple Bloom for what she knows.
3. Time to wake up Sunset. Our work here isn’t done. Applejack can get her sister back, but she’s not the captain. We’ll give Apple Bloom some time to recover before we ask her questions.
4. The voices won’t stop they just keep getting louder Celestia I need to get away…
(Certainty 220 required)
Hmm... I think I have an idea for an insanity check formula.
-Start with 1.
-For every choice, not including the insanity choice, add 1.
-For every dangerous choice, not including the insanity choice, add 2.
-For every previous chapter that included an insanity choice, not including the current chapter, add 1.
The number this creates will be the failure threshold. If a d20 lands on this or any number below it, the check fails. If it lands on any number above, it succeeds.
In this case, 1+3 choices+2 insanity chapters makes this number 6. The dice rolled 16, so I'm safe. If anyone'd like to improve this formula or steal it, be my guest.
Finally, we can ask questions. We kneed to know.
WE need intel and we need it NOW!!
This thing is potentially contagious if direct physical contact is made. We've been getting stupidly lucky so far, but we cannot have this sort of luck forever. Option 1.
On that note, THANK THE ROLL GODS!
Well that's two in a row that we have a Horror Option. Oh boy.
I vote Interrogate. We need answers, and we need them now!
Thank you merciful dice for granting Cyber-Bloom to us this day.
I'm torn between 1 and 2. It may only be skin to cyber-skin contagious and not airborne, and depending on how careful they were in the procedures so far it's possible that they haven't been exposed yet in a way that would test the former. Probably 1 just to be careful. Definitely not 3, they need to take a moment to be catch a breath.
Let's be cautious for now. We can interrogate AB after she puts on a suit
Implying AJ wasn't the root cause of Bloom's suffering. Sure, we got a cool new crew member out of it, but this is still Tree Kicker's fault.
In any case, pretty sure the nanites have run their course. Unless someone opens up a fresh package, they should be fine. And at this point, I'm honestly willing to wager Applejack on a "pretty sure." Besides, we need more information, and thanks to the incessant mind chatter, we know Apple Bloom has it... assuming her mind was uploaded and this isn't just some horrific Necron-esque terminator unit using her form as a template.
Eh, odds of that seem even lower than contagious reformatting, especially given the critical yes on survival. Suffice to say, Sunset can wait while the crew gets a better sense of what's going on. Hopefully Twilight's sanity can endure it as well.
I hate to say it, but she asked for this.
: "You know what this calls for? A Party!!!"
I voted for option 2, following the argumentation give in the option itself.
No way we should wake up Sunset before having at least an idea of what the heck is going on. Interrogate AB fist, then wake up Sunset... AFTER Twilight has enough time to recover. And talks to the crew about, well, reading their minds every goddamn waking second
Apple Bloom knows something, and she wants to share. There is no way I'm not voting option 2.
YES WE HAVE BEEN BLEESED WITH THE BLOOMINATOR!!!!! ow man the critical succes so that she doesn't need medical bedrest, way luckier then we deserve. also twighlight needs to not yell it hungers into the void so....... i vote to prioritise a mental hypo-sensitivity spell.
oh shit... did i miss understand? is the purple option not "figure out a spell to not go insane" or is it succumbing to insanity?
I'm so sick of trying to stop AJ from doing stupid things. Sure, hug your sister. If she's infected with something or has an automated self-defense function, let us know between coughing up blood. But in all likelihood a hug will be fine.
No "it hungers" option this chapter. Unless you count Twilight's desire to escape the voices, and I very much don't. That's a perfectly reasonable response to suddenly having voices in your head in my opinion. Might even vote for it. She could use a break. ...Hm, no. No rest for her, time to be a leader. (It will never not be time to be a leader at this rate.) We (I) want answers and Apple Bloom has some.
9493720
I never would have thought of this. This is risky but brilliant.
Applejack needs to be stopped. She is completely out of control. I am now voting and will continue to vote against Applejack until she brings herself back under control.
I’m going with option 1, because it will probably come down to a dice roll for whether or not it is contagious, and while I doubt it will be a very high chance, I still don’t like that risk. We can interagate AFTER we get the suit on.
Can we do 1 then 3, we need to make sure this what ever isn't going to turn every pony into cyborgs, at least not without consent, and we need to get answers out of Sunset, or at least find out if she will survive the revival process, the crew can do that while Twilight figures out a mind filter
"Don't joke about that! The robot police are always listening."
Seriously? She can't answer questions while she puts a suit on?
I can't remember the last game where talking was not a free action.
hi isolate Apple Bloom and interrogate her
We should take this as safe and slow as possible we don't have any time limit right now. Option one.
Featured again!
Well done starscribe.
9494964
The thing is, we don't *know* if the nanite transform is limited, and the way Bloom was frozen in stasis and thought she might die is a pretty clear indicator that this was an accidental activation and/or a high risk gamble. It really doesn't hurt anything other than Applejack's increasingly irrational recklessness to approach with caution, especially since they can *just ask* AB if the nanites are still active and what the circumstances were.
As for waking up Sunset, it makes sense to do that. . . but only after getting all possible information from Apple Bloom.
3, i guess, but we need a "give AJ the full appropriate dressing-down for being a hardheaded reckless badger."
Both 1 and 2 seem good... I think I'll just flip a coin.
I doubt she'd be robot contagious, but it's hard to say I suppose. The question is though... do we specifically not want more robots? Less food issues, more resistant to things that HUNGER. It's a risk I'm willing to take at least once.
I think waking up Sunset might be nice. We can get her up and about ASAP. She's going to take more time to come around than AB anyway, probably both physically and mentally, so it makes sense. There's also a bit of keeping AJ in check. Hopefully subtly, as we don't need an active infighting either.
But really, option 2 isn't bad either. Much as I feel for Twilight i think it's important to deal with these situations before she rests... though she definitely needs rest soon...
Talk about a couple epic win rolls. That coulda gone ugly fast.
Welp, time to roll for a Will save!
Im guessing this is an actual cyborg, not a full robotic conversion, since Fluttershg mentioned before that it was avoiding vital organs. So robotic body and muscles but sustained organs and brain maybe? That would comfort me since then we can avoid the uncomfortable discussion of whether transferring a person’s thought patterns into a machine is true transferrence or just copying and murder. I hate those conversations, theyre as bad as the transporters in Star Trek XP Of course this is MLP, so I suppose the idea of magical soul transference could be used as handily as anything.
Yay for successfully adding a new and hopefully knowledgable party member!!! Im guessing the roboticness isnt contagious, and while I would live to have Sunset awake, seems prudent to quiz Apple Bloom since she is right here in front of them and seems stable.
Also, if no one else has said it, I must: a missed opportunity to make Sweetiebot a reality. XD
I'm going to go out on a limb here. We should go number 3, but we have seen Twilight go Twily-nanas in canon over nagging problems she can't find a solution for (think Smarty-Pants and Pudding...). I think number 4 is going to get in the way, and over time get worse and worse until she deals with it, so lets get the dealing with it done and over. And if she ever goes on about monsters from the id it's time to stick her in stasis...
On the other hand, it's good that Node is starting to make more sense. So "The Creators" wanted to augment biological life with robotics to extend life. That seems less threatening somehow. Node has memory caps. Why does that not surprise me?
Oh well, as long as when Galactus aka "It Hungers" shows up it's not cheerfully singing "I'm the Bad Guy" from "Wander over Yonder" we should be okay...
I'm going to go with the suit option.
We can question her as shes getting into the suit. And get a full debriefing after shes contained.
As for Applejack? We need to make sure she doesn't get infected by this. It would be a pain if she gets infected by this and we find out this might kill a pony's connection to there magic. That would kill their agricultural buff, right there.
Well, at least we have moderate confirmation on what the decoded message meant.
So AB was selected to use one of the devices and they panicked and sent her into stasis. Meanwhile the death was still happening and Sunset tried stalling with a stasis pod? But then, is it a wave that came and went, or a spreading influence that hasn't yet built up to be lethal yet? Hmmm...
It's really unfortunate Node's memory is locked in a crypto-engram block. Those can be very temperamental about subversion attacks. If the option to attempt to hack Node's memory arises, we advise against selecting it...
9494936
I'm late to the party, but my thoughts are: (1) might have been nice, but there's no way in hell Applejack will accept not being able to hug her sister. If she's about to get cyborg'd, well, AB lived through it, so AJ has a chance too.
Putting it even more bluntly, stopping Applejack means losing a crewmember. Not stopping Applejack means maybe losing a crewmember.