• Published 27th Apr 2019
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The Equestrian Odyssey - A Tale of Two Worlds - Kamahido



Twilight accidently brings a human from Earth to Equestria. Will he be able to coexist with the equine inhabitants of this new land?

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Chapter 10 - Record Rendezvous

The next day Arc and his squad, along with Sereb and Ember, sit around the basement table. Arc gestures to the boxes taken from the previous night’s mission stacked neatly on a shelf, shrunken down.

“That much of that substance makes me nervous.”

Rose turns to him. “I assure you it poses no immediate danger to us.”

Max sighs. “I think the commander means the fact that the Shard Lieutenants had it was troublesome.”

Arc nods. “Yeah.”

Ember frowns as she looks to the boxes. “What do you suppose they were planning on doing with it?”

Sereb growls. “Form their own personal army would be my guess.”

Arc nods. “At best, yes. Or they could have been selling the stuff.”

Xenos grimaces. “To whom though?”

Arc sighs. “An equally scary question.”

Hugh turns to Arc. “Maybe to the military?”

“Not likely. Military big shots are pretty interested in where things come from. That and I doubt anyone of importance would listen to punks like Stingray and Hammer.”

Max puts a hand to his chin. “What about Mio, sir?”

“What about her?”

Viktor snaps his fingers. “She seems to be much more intelligent than the others. Perhaps she has contacts of some kind.”

Arc shudders. “That’s a scary thought.”

Ember rolls her eyes. “All of this is just theory and brainstorming though.

Rose sighs. “Yes. Some kind of a lead would be nice.”

“Yeah.”

Arc turns and points to the uniforms hanging up nearby.

“Any idea what country these are from, Rose?”

Rose shakes her head. “Further searches have proven fruitless. But they’re certainly very military looking.”

Cherry sighs. “I’ll say. Brass buttons, perfectly ironed, custom tailored… the whole shebang.”

Sereb sniffs at the garments. “The clothes do not bear a scent.”

Ember raises an eyebrow. “You mean no one’s worn them yet?”

“Correct.”

Arc turns to Rose. “Maybe they don’t belong to them.”

“I’ve compared the sizes to the measurements I extrapolated from your earlier encounters. These would fit Stingray, Hammer, and Mio perfectly.”

Hugh groans. “So they really are theirs.”

“Yes. Or an extreme coincidence.”

Arc sighs. “Unlikely. But Rose and I should get going.”

Sereb raises an eyebrow. “Another mission so soon?”

“Not exactly.”

“Arc and I are going to the hospital and try to find Mr. Fontaine’s chart from his recent stay.”

Ember gives him a withering look. “Why?”

“One of his guys voiced a concern that the hospital staff may have… done something to Frank. I initially brushed the idea off as them being paranoid. However, he doesn’t seem to be getting any better.”

Rose nods. “If I look over his chart I may be able to figure out what’s wrong with him and determine if he requires additional medical attention.”

Xenos looks nervous. “And if he does?”

Arc sighs. “Wish you hadn’t brought that up.”

Ember sighs. “Yeah. It’s not like we can just take him back there, right?”

“He’d never agree to that.”

Viktor turns to Arc. “You going to force him, sir?”

“Only if his life is in danger. Other than that, it’s his call.”

Rose nods. “If that’s the case we should get moving, Arc.”

“Agreed.”

He turns to the others.

“You guys catalogue everything that we took from that safehouse. I want a complete list.”

Max appears confused. “Sir?”

Ember shrugs. “We didn’t have time to fully inspect everything.”

Sereb nods. “It’s safe to say we most likely overlooked something.”

“Yeah. I want to make the most out of every lead. And that means knowing everything about what we have.”

Ember frowns. “So you want us to study this stuff too, Arc?”

“Sure. After all, we’re probably dealing with magic here.”

Hugh grins. “We’ll do our best, sir.”

Xenos laughs. “Yeah. You can count on us.”

Viktor pats his computer. “I’ll see if I can research anything we don’t understand.”

“Good. Let’s go, Rose.”

“Right behind you.”

Arc and Rose walk upstairs. Hugh looks to the table.

“How about we put things that need research over here?”

Viktor nods. “Sure. Then I’ll know what needs doing.”

Ember picks up one of Mio’s staves and Hammer’s gun. “How about you start with these?”

Max looks the items over as he talks. “They’re certainly the biggest enigmas here, after all.”

Viktor sighs. “Uh… okay. But this is going to be tough without Rose here.”

Sereb chuckles. “Indeed. She’s great at this sort of thing.”

Ember frowns. “Come on! We did just fine before she came! Now let’s figure this mess out.”

Max nods. “The commander’s going to expect some answers when he gets back.”

Xenos grins. “Let’s find him a lead!”

Meanwhile, Arc and Rose make the drive to the hospital. Arc turns to Rose as he shuts off the engine.

“Are you ready to do this?”

“I am. What do you want me to do?”

“Well…”

A short time later Rose enters the hospital. She walks in the main entrance and heads for the Cafeteria. Purchasing a bottled water she sits down at a table in the corner and looks around.

“Okay. We’re alone.”

Arc peeks out of her pocket in his armor.

“Step one complete.”

“Huh?”

Arc chuckles. “Getting in here again.”

“Were you afraid I’d be stopped, or something?”

“Kinda. I mean, if anyone saw you back then and had reported you, I’m sure the secretary at the front desk would have your description and called security.

Rose raises an eyebrow. “Is that why you wanted me to come in with my regular clothes on?”

“Yeah. Had anyone questioned you about the other day, you might have been able to persuade them that was someone else.”

“That makes sense. It would have been rather tricky to do that wearing the nurse’s uniform.”

“The stolen badge would’ve certainly proven your guilt.”

Rose sighs. “Can I assume you had a Plan B?”

“The same plan from the other day actually. I cast a Sleeping Spell on them as you screamed for help. Then we could have slipped away in the confusion.”

“It’s very simple.”

Arc shrugs. “Less to go wrong that way.”

“I suppose so. How long should we sit here?”

“Give it another twenty minutes. If no security guards show up we’ll know you’re in the clear.”

Arc sits down and makes himself comfortable. Sometime later Rose clears her throat and gently taps her pocket.

“Twenty minutes have elapsed.”

Arc stands up. “Already?”

“Yes. Did you have a nice nap?”

“I dozed off?”

“Yes.”

“Sorry. Didn’t even notice.”

Rose giggles. “It’s fine. After all, you work the hardest. But that does have me worried.”

“Worried?”

“That your strength will fail when you need it most. You really need to rest more, Arc.”

“Yeah, I know. But this needs to be done.”

“I could have just taken care of this while you rested in the Jeep.”

Arc shakes his head. “While I’m sure you can handle it, I don’t think I’d be able to sleep knowing you were taking this risk while I stayed behind.”

Rose giggles as she stands. “You always worry about others. But I don’t believe it’s good to worry too much.”

“Easier said than done.”

“I suppose. What now?”

“Head to a restroom again.”

“Okay.”

Walking down the corridor, Rose spots a private restroom. Entering, she closes and locks the door behind her.

“We’re here.”

Arc peeks out of the pocket and looks around.

“Good.”

Blinking, Arc reappears on the floor in front of Rose

“Just let me resize myself a minute…”

Casting the Matter Compacting counter spell, Arc brings himself back up to normal size. He removes the nurse’s scrubs from his ring and hands them to Rose.

“I think it’s time you got changed.”

Arc turns around as Rose removes her shirt.

“You don’t need to do that, Arc.”

“Do what?”

Rose blushes slightly. “Look away.”

“I’d leave the room if I could, but…”

“What I mean is that it doesn’t bother me if you see me without coverings.”

“Well, it bothers ME!”

“Why though?”

“It’s not… proper.”

Rose tilts her head to one side, confused. “But mother and her friends don’t cover themselves.”

“Well, humans are… different.”

“You forget that I’m a machine, Arc. Not a real human female.”

“Well, you’re real to me, Rose.”

“I… thank you.”

“What for?”

Rose smiles as she steps into the scrub bottoms. “For treating me so well.”

“It’s what you deserve. Now you just let me know when you’re decent and we’ll get underway.”

“Okay.”

A few moments later Rose calls out.

“How do I look?”

Arc turns around and looks her up and down.

“Like a real nurse. Just one more thing…”

Reaching for his ring, Arc pulls the ID badge out and hands it to Rose.

“This’ll make your outfit complete.”

Taking the badge, she looks at it a moment silently.

“Rose? Something wrong?”

“N-nothing! Sorry!”

She quickly pins the badge to her shirt as Arc gives her a final look.

“That looks okay. Are you ready?”

Rose nods. “As ready as I can be.”

“Then let’s go.”

Arc casts the Matter Compacting Spell on himself. Rose bends down and allows him to step into her hand. She carefully drops him into her pocket.

“Comfy, Arc?”

“Enough for the time being.”

“Okay. Here we go.”

Unlocking the door, Rose steps out into the corridor. She looks around before whispering.

“Which way?”

“Head for the nurse’s station over in the Intensive Care Unit. That’s where Frank was.”

“Okay.”

Walking down the corridor Rose heads for the nurse’s station. Approaching it she looks around.

“What now?”

“Look in the filing cabinets.”

“Where?”

“Under ‘F’ for Fontaine.”

Rose nods nervously. “R-right.”

“You okay?”

Rose sighs as she opens a filing cabinet.“Sorry. I’m just a bit nervous. All this sneaking and skulking around are wearing on me.”

“Hopefully this is the last time. But one never knows what the future holds.”

A short time later Rose finishes searching.

“It isn’t here!”

Arc sighs. “Great.”

“What do I do?!”

“Ask?”

“Who?”

“Try the first nurse you see. There’s supposed to be one here though.”

“Okay.”

A short time later a nurse walks behind the counter and sits down at the desk.

“Ask her.”

Rose nods and walks toward her.

“Excuse me.”

The nurse turns around.

“Yes?”

“I’m looking for a patient’s file. But it doesn’t seem to be in the cabinet.”

“Which patient?”

“Frank Fontaine.”

The nurse turns to her computer screen and presses a few keys before looking up.

“That file is restricted. Why do you need it?”

“Oh, I… I didn’t know that. The… the doctor asked for it.”

The nurse raises an eyebrow. “Which doctor would that be?”

“Um…”

Arc calls out to her in a whisper. “Doctor Rieper.”

“It was Doctor Rieper.”

The nurse nods her head and sighs. “Ah! That would explain it. He always insists that his patient’s charts be stored in the Records Room for security.”

“Does he?”

“Yes. If you ask me, I think he’s just overly protective. In any case, do you know where that is?”

Rose shakes her head. “Sorry, no. I’m new to this place.”

The nurse points down the corridor. “Down the hall and to the right. It’ll be the third door on the left.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

Rose quickly heads down the corridor. She breathes a sigh of relief.

“That was close!”

“Yeah.”

“Why’d you say Doctor Rieper?”

“He was the only doctor whose name I knew in the heat of the moment.”

Rose sighs. “Luckily it worked.”

“We’re not finished yet. Not until we have that file.”

Rose nods. “The Records Room is just ahead.”

“Good. Our goal is in sight then.”

Rose approaches the room. Opening the door she sees a large room with floor to ceiling filing cabinets. A nurse sits at a desk in the center of the room.

“Can I help you?”

“I’m looking for a patient’s file. The name’s Frank Fontaine.”

“Who’s his caregiver?”

“Doctor Rieper.”

“One moment.”

The nurse stands up and walks over to a locked cabinet. She turns to Rose.

“By the way, what was your name again?”

Rose smiles nervously. “It’s Rose.”

Arc grimaces. “Uh oh.”

The nurse glances down at the badge on Rose’s chest before looking up again, her eyes narrowed.

“Really? Because that’s not what your badge says.”

Rose takes a step back. “Um… you see, I…”

The nurse frowns and points a finger at her.

“You stay right there.”

She hurries to her desk and picks up the phone. Arc mutters under his breath.

“Oh no you don’t!”

Looking toward the nurse Arc reaches out with a Telekinesis Spell. He knocks the receiver out of her hand. Rose gasps as the nurse dives to the floor to grab it. As she does so Arc uses his magic to rip the phone wire out of the wall. The nurse gasps as she whirls around to look at a frightened Rose.

“Wha… what ARE you?!”

“I… um…”

The nurse hurries toward a large red button on the wall. Arc gasps as he calls out to Rose.

“Stop her!”

Rose takes another step back. “B-but…”

Sighing, Arc raises a hand. The nurse stumbles as her eyelids grow heavy.

“I… what are you… doing?!”

Rose shakes her head fearfully. “N-nothing! It’s not me!”

The nurse falls toward the wall. She braces herself against it as she struggles to stay awake. With a last burst of strength she shifts her weight to throw her body against the button. An alarm goes off as she falls to the floor. Arc Blinks to the floor and casts the Matter Compacting counter-spell on himself. Rose looks around frantically.

“What do we do?!”

Arc runs over to the door and locks it. “Security will be here any moment! We need to find that file, and fast!”

The sound of bootsteps running down the corridor can be heard. Arc puts his shoulder against the door as he turns to Rose.

“Get her keys!”

Rose nods fearfully and grabs the ring of keys from the unconscious nurse’s hand. She hurries over to the drawer marked ‘F’ as she fumbles with the keys for the correct one. Arc turns to her as a key is pushed into the door in front of him.

“They’re here!”

“Here’s the key!”

The drawer lock clicks as the mechanism allows it to open freely. Looking down the row of files quickly, her eyes rest on a particular one. She pulls it out and turns to Arc.

“Found it!”

Arc grimaces as the pounding on the office door intensifies. “Good!”

“Now what?! We can’t let them catch us now!”

“Come here quick!”

Rose runs over to Arc. He throws his arms around her and Blinks the pair through the ceiling and onto the roof. Reaching forward he opens a portal and jumps through with Rose. Falling to the leaf-covered ground on the other side, the swirling energies dissipate as Arc looks down.

“Rose?”

The young woman lies there, quietly crying.

“I… I’m sorry!”

“What for?”

“For freezing up and almost getting us caught!”

Arc sighs. “It’s okay, Rose. Anyone could have a panic attack in the heat of the moment.”

Rose shakes her head. “But I shouldn’t! And not when you need me to perform!”

Arc sits up and recalls his armor. “I’m not mad or anything. After all, you did get the file and we got away.”

Rose sniffles as she hands Arc the folder. “Here. You’d better take this.”

Arc accepts the folder and puts it in his ring before turning back to his friend.

“What’s going on, Rose? This isn’t like you.”

“I… I know.”

“Is something wrong?”

“I don’t know. Right now my… insides feel funny.”

“Do you need repairs?”

Rose shakes her head. “No. I’ve already run a scan of my internal systems. Everything is running normally.”

Arc stands up with Rose. “I think we need to talk to Twilight about this.”

Rose shakes her head as she quickly to her feet. “NO!”

“What?”

“Don’t tell mother about this!”

“Why not? She can probably figure out what’s wrong.”

“Because it… it’s embarrassing!”

“How so?”

“I don’t want her to know how I locked up back there.”

Arc shrugs. “It sounds to me like you were just scared.”

“That’s not possible. I can’t feel fear.”

“Well, it sure looked like it back there.”

Rose sighs. “I suppose it did. Tell me, am I really broken?”

“I don’t know. But maybe it has something to do with your directives being removed.”

“How so?”

Arc puts a hand to his chin. “Well, think about it. You’ve been acting different since that time.”

“I’m sorry!”

“No, no! Not bad different. Just… not as you did before.”

“Perhaps mother should put them back in then.”

Arc sighs. “If that’s really what you want, I’ll ask her to. But I think you’ll still be better off staying as you are now.”

“But what if I go crazy?!”

“You won’t.”

“How can you be so sure of that?!”

Arc puts a hand on her shoulder. “Because I trust you to make the right choices, Rose. I’ve never seen you raise a hand against anyone who didn’t deserve it, after all.”

“I… I’ve kinda wanted to a couple times.”

“Ashe?”

Rose nods.

“Why didn’t you then?”

Rose sighs. “Because I knew it would cause you trouble.”

“Even though she was so cruel? I mean, you certainly didn’t have to kill her. Just show her who was boss.”

Rose nods. “Yes. However you’ve been nothing but kind to me since my activation. Even though my directives no longer force me into certain… actions, I still would like to hold myself to their standards.”

“Meaning…?”

Rose turns and takes a few steps away to look to the horizon. She smiles as she continues.

“Meaning that I’d like to do my very best to support you in whatever endeavor you undertake.”

“It’s probably going to be dangerous.”

Rose shakes her head. “You forget, I can’t truly be hurt.”

“Your body maybe. But your heart is certainly fragile.”

Rose looks down at her chest. “My central core is quite durable, I assure you.”

“Not that kind of heart.”

They are silent for a time. Only the sound of leaves rustling underfoot can be heard.

“…perhaps.”

Arc nods soberly. “I’d welcome your help, Rose. But only if that’s truly what you want to do.”

She turns around and walks back to Arc. He extends his hand to her. Rose takes it and wraps her hands around it as she puts the hand to her face and looks up at him.

“I will do my very best for you, Arc. This I promise.”

Meanwhile, Doctor Rieper sits in his office looking over some files. There is a knock at the door as a rather nervous looking nurse enters the room. Rieper looks up and glares at her.

“Don’t you know not to bother me while I’m working?!”

“My apologies, sir. But there’s been an… incident.”

Rieper rolls his eyes as he continues working. “Whatever it is, I’m sure someone less intelligent can handle whatever medical malady has befallen another foolish local.”

“It’s not a medical problem, sir. Someone broke into the Records Room a few minutes ago.”

He stops working and raises an eye.

“Did they take anything?”

“A single drawer was unlocked. The staff is currently working to determine what files were taken.”

Rieper nods coldly. “Keep me posted. Now, get back to work.”

The nurse nods and quickly leaves the room. Rieper turns to his computer and begins typing as he muses to himself.

“Let’s see who we’re dealing with.”

A few moments later he smiles and leans back triumphantly in his chair.

“The hospital really should invest in better cybersecurity. But I suppose even that would amount to little more than an added nuisance to one with skills such as myself. Now then… security footage for the Records Room… there it is.”

Backing up the footage, the doctor increases the speed until he reaches the point Rose entered the room.

“A nurse? Perhaps my files were simply misplaced.”

He frowns, but continues watching. A few moments later the phone flies away.

“That’s strange. I…”

Rieper stops talking as the wire is ripped out of the wall.

“Hmmm… how did she incapacitate the nurse? Some kind a sleeping gas? The reaction is about the same as…”

Arc appears on the screen as the nurse loses consciousness. He runs to the door as Rose takes the nurse’s keys and opens the filing cabinet.

“I see. An inside job. Although I don’t recognize that young woman.”

He pauses the footage and opens a new window.

“Let’s see… personnel records… I think there was a back door here somewhere… ah, there it is. Now then… female nurses…”

Scanning the badge ID photos at a rate of several per second he quickly comes to the end of the list.

“Strange… no record of her. A couple possible matches, yes. But nothing concrete. Now then, what about her companion.”

The doctor’s eyes grow wide as he zooms in on Arc’s face.

“The young man from the other day? What on earth would he be doing in…”

He taps his desk as he muses to himself.

“This doesn’t make any sense! Who IS that?! And how did he… could he possibly have been using magic?”

Rieper swivels to look out the window

“No, that’s impossible. If he had any kind of power I’d certainly have known about him. However, I swear I’ve seen him before! But where!”

He turns back to the computer screen and Arc’s face.

“Is this Diva’s doing? No, it couldn’t be. While a capable individual, she doesn’t have the skill-set or equipment to perform a Transfusion. I’d better download this and send it to the general. Perhaps he can shed some light on just who… or what this young man really is.”

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