Alpha One Six

by Misanthropian

Chapter Twelve: Guardians

"Yeah, okay. I'll be there in a bit, so just hold on." Alan hung up the phone. "Friggin' bull!"

"Dad?"

"What?!" Alan shouted as he turned around to see Dennis standing in the doorway.

Dennis stepped back. "Should I come back later?"

"No, sorry. It's fine.", Alan relaxed his tone, "What did you need?"

"Ken and Sharp want to hang out down around Fifth, and I was wondering if I could borrow the car." Dennis gave his father a hopeful look.

"No." Alan said flatly.

"What! Why?" The young cold asked.

"One, I need it to go pick up Redheart from the police station. Two, it's acting up again, and I don't need you getting stuck out in the middle of the city in case it decides to die. And three, there's a big storm coming in, and I don't want you driving in the rain yet." Alan concluded, picking up his keys off the counter.

"But Fifth is 12 blocks away!" Dennis half shouted.

"Good! You'll get in your exercise in for the day." Alan trotted towards the door.

"This sucks..." Dennis walked out of the room to get ready to leave.

"Language!" Alan shouted back as he stepped out into the dreary afternoon light. Thick cloud loomed overhead threatening to begin pouring rain at any time.

Alan headed towards his car. He got in, put the key in the ignition, pressed the clutch and turned the key. The starter buzzed for a moment before the engine make any effort to turn over.

He let go of the key and took a deep breath. "Come on..." He turned the key again. The engine turned over once again. It was weak, but it turned. Then again, and again.

Alan tapped the gas, and the engine finally sputtered and coughed to life, spouting thick black smoke out the exhaust. He let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding, and shifted into reverse.

---

Redheart was being escorted in hoofcuffs by an officer back to the detention cell where Lyra was waiting.

Lyra was standing at the door trying to see them as they came down the hall.

"Towards the back please!" The officer warned.

Lyra complied and moved back.

The officer opened the door and moved Redheart into the cell before removing the cuffs. "The charges against you have been dropped, so you don't have to pay bail. You'll be free to go as soon as your paperwork is in order and there's somepony to take you home."

"Okay.", Redheart said, "Is there any news on Alphie?"

"The search for your robot is still under way. We'll update you if anything changes." The officer finished locking up the cell and left.

Redheart waited until she heard the door at the end of the hall shut before she spoke. "Good. That means they don't know where she is either."

"Yeah." Lyra responded.

Redheart looked down. "I hope she's okay."

Lyra looked to her for a moment before smiling "I'm sure she's fine. She seems pretty tough."

Redheart looked to her and paused before bursting out laughing.

"What? What's so funny?" Lyra asked giving her puzzled look.

Redheart calmed herself before speaking "Sorry. It's just, this isn't how I imagined we'd become friends."

"I mean... Are we friends though?" Lyra asked.

"Well, you don't seem to be mad at me any more." She responded, still fighting fits of giggles.

Lyra smiled and shook her head. "Okay. Fair enough.", She looked back to Redheart, "So did you get us a ride at least?"

"Oh, right.", Redheart trotted over and sat down on the bed across from Lyra, "I called Alan. He's on his way."

Lyra put a hoof on her chin as she tried to remember. "Alan... Is he the kind of angry looking guy who doesn't seem to know what a comb is?"

"He...", Redheart thought for a second, "Yeah, that's about right."

The two of them giggled.

Redheart looked at Lyra with a puzzled look.

"What?" Lyra stared back.

"I know you, don't I?", Redheart asked, "Like I've seen you somewhere..."

Lyra took a moment to thoroughly examine the floor. "I uh... Used to work for ERoCo.."

Redheart took on a shocked expression at the sudden realization of who she was talking to. "It's you! You're the Miss Heartstrings."

Lyra tried to hide her face.

"You're the mother of general AI! You piratically invented modern AI robotics!", Redheart jumped up, "That explains it! You care so much about robots because they're your work!"

Lyra flopped onto the cot and covered her face with the pillow. "Please don't. I really don't want to talk about it."

"But...", Redheart stopped herself, "I'm sorry."

Lyra just rolled over to stare in silence at the wall.

Redheart laid down as well. "For the record... I think you were right in what you did..."

Lyra said nothing, and the two stayed silent.

---

Alphie limped along as she tried to find somewhere safe to hide.

Her vision in her left eye was flickering, and one of her forelegs refused to move fully. She could only describe what she was feeling as pain.

The feeling of something cold on her back made her jump. She looked about for a sign of what had touched her, when a drop of rain hit her nose.

Alphie looked up and was greeted by more cold rain. Soon the shower picked up into a downpour, and she was left standing out in a back alley, soaking wet with no shelter in sight.

She sighed and continued on.

Ahead the alley opened up onto the street. Alphie hesitated. Not wanting to be seen, she stood back and watched. She watched the traffic and ponies crossing the street, waiting for an opening.

The rain had driven most ponies indoors, leaving the area mostly clear.

Alphie moved to cross but stopped suddenly as a police car pulled up a short ways down the street. She watched the officers get out and begin searching the area.

She knew she was in no condition to get away if they saw her. She stepped back and debated backtracking to find another route.

"Wait up!"

Alphie turned to see three younger looking colts crossing the street.

"How about you keep up!" One of them shouted back to the trailing member.

Alphie watched as the colt stopped to pick up something up. "I dropped my phone!"

Alphie looked down the street at a car coming towards the stallion. It's wheels stopped. It didn't.

She saw the look of horror on the driver's face as their vehicle hydroplaned out of control. She looked to the the pony standing in the street, and to the officers searching nearby.

She made her choice.

"Look out!" Alphie burst from the alley as fast as she could on her damaged legs. She lept into the street and grabbed the colt, putting herself between him and the oncoming car.

For a moment she saw and felt nothing. Then she felt a wave of pain as she and the kid went tumbling through the street.

"Holy Celestia!" One of the other colts shouted. "Dennis! Are you okay?"

"I think so... Is she okay?"

"Wait... Isn't that the robot they were looking for?!"

Alphie struggled to move at all. All of her systems were failing.

"Hey. Are you okay?"

She felt a hoof on her side. Her eyes opened slowly. Her left eye now displayed nothing, and her legs barely responded at all, but she began struggling to her hooves.

"Are you... hurt?" The young stallion asked.

"I... Are you... okay?.." Alphie struggled to speak.

"Yeah...", The colt grabber her in a hug, "Thank you." He stepped back over to speak with his friends.

A small crowd was beginning to gather. The officers from down the street had come over to investigate. Upon seeing Alphie one of them drew drew her weapon.

"Hey! Stay right there! Don't move!", She shouted at Alphie, "You're coming with us."

Alphie couldn't move, she simply closed her eyes and waited for them to take her.

She waited.

Something brushed past her.

"Move it kid! This has nothing to do with you!" The officer shouted.

Alphie opened her eyes to see one of the colts standing between her and the officer.

"She just saved our friend, you're not taking her anywhere." He said, staring down the barrel on the gun.

The officer lowered the weapon. "This is police business, now step aside or we'll be forced to detain you too."

"Like heck!" Dennis shouted and he and the other colt joined their friend forming a line keeping the officers away from Alphie.

"Get out of our way!" One of the officers shouted.

"No!" All three shouted in return.

Alphie watched as the driver of the car stepped up next to them.

"Sir, get back in your vehicle!"

"No! If it weren't for this robot I'd could have killed that kid!"

Alphie watched as other bystanders began to gather around her, keeping the police at bay.

"You're not taking her!" Somepony shouted.

"I never could have done what that machine did! This robot is a hero!"

"It deserves protection!"

"She deserves the same rights as the rest of us!"

Soon a crowed had formed a wall around her, protecting her from the officers who were dumbstruck at the situation. An uproar filled the air drowning out the sound of the rain as ponies protested to protect her.

They had backed off and were regrouping. One of them pick up her radio and began to call for backup. "This is officer May at the corner of Fifth and Mane. I found the robot, but we have a situation. I need SWAT and authorization for crowd control asap!"

Dennis turned to Alphie. "Do you have a name?"

She looked to him. "My name is Alphie..."