Manipulation

by Element of Malice

Esteemed Guests

Author's Note:

I apologize for the quality of this chapter. It should have been written with more care, but to finish this story I have to move on.

(I say as I grit my teeth)

A maintenance hole cover launched skyward, and Riot erupted from the storm drain system. As casually as the circumstance would allow, he caught the cover and jammed it back into place as though to prevent anything from following. He did it with such force that it left behind a permanent handprint on the metal. However, the most impressive thing was that it was all accomplished without so much as a sound. There was no ‘pop,’ ‘bang,’ or even the sound of twisting metal.

Riot immediately whipped out his cellphone and put it against his ear. “Hi, this is Twilight Sparkle. Sorry for missing your call. Leave a message, and I’ll get back to you.” Beep.

“Change of plans. Five minutes early. No questions. No excuses. Be there.”

After putting the cellphone back into his pocket, he began to walk out of the backstreet alley he found himself in. “That should be enough to throw them off.” Amateurs.

Overhead, on the rooftops, two beings looked down at Riot, watching him leave and having heard every word. One of them smiled and began chuckling. “Okay, wow.” He said in a low volume but unable to suppress his excitement.

“That was just… Wow! I don’t believe it!” his smile grew wider as he laughed a little harder. “I haven’t had this much fun in a very long time. Gotta hand it to him; I’m impressed.” They gave slow applause, “He’s not your average prey. This is what it means to be a hunter!”

While the one laughed, the other one swallowed his nervousness and said, “Shouldn’t we keep following him?” Thorax tensed at the sudden contact of his brother Pharynx’s hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t you get it? We know where he’ll be. So~ we don’t have to keep a constant eye on him. That will give us more than enough time to prepare.”

“But he’s already-” Thorax felt something was off about how quickly Riot vanished from their sight, but Pharynx interrupted.

“Forget about it. What’s more important is that I believe what he’s planning to do is a live drop. Those are always vulnerable in some way, especially with an advantage like ours. He’ll pass the stolen goods the queen ordered us to retrieve over to… uh.” Snapping his fingers, a habit he had recently developed during his time here, Pharynx tried to recall the name that eluded him.

“Twilight Sparkle?”

“Don’t tell me something I already know! But yes, Twilight Sparkle.” He put a hand to his chin, thinking through the next step he needed to take. “All we need to do is distract her and take her place long enough to retrieve the package and disappear.” Pharynx slapped Thorax on the back. “It’ll be an in and out job. Piece of cake, won’t even know what hit him. He may have given us a little bit of a scare earlier, but the clouds are starting to clear. Trust me, this will be an easy one.”

Pharynx looked back at Riot’s last known location and started talking as though it were to his prey. “You think you're so smart, trying to throw us off your trail like that. As clever as it might have been, it’s too bad you underestimated what you're up against.” Pharnx’s eyes drifted over to Thorax, “Ready to take Twilight’s place?”

“What? But… But I-”

“It only makes sense because you’re the one who suggested looking for life signs down the storm drain. Otherwise, we would have definitely lost his trail. So, this is your opportunity for redemption. Are you going to do it?”

That’s only because I was thinking of doing the same thing. “I… guess.”

“Or do you want me to tell the Queen that we failed because—”

“I’ll do it. I’m ready.”

“That’s the way I want to hear it. Let’s get as much intel as we can on this Twilight Sparkle.”

Pharynx walked past his brother, and Thorax looked down at the alleyway. He vanished so quickly. Using his extra scenery perception, Thorax couldn’t feel where Riot had gone to or that he had even been there. The only sign that he had was the handprint. Why didn’t he just do that earlier?

---

“*Ding* Attention,” A soft-sounding stern feminine voice politely said over an intercom system, interrupting the six girls that were relaxing in a hot spring-styled pool. “You will be arriving at your destination in approximately ten minutes.”

“Did anyone else think that that sounded like an airport announcer or something, or was that just me?” Twilight said, finding the similarity being a little disorienting.

“I don’t follow.” Said Rarity, “But if you’re asking whether it sounded professional or not, it sounded quite professional.”

“I agree. It was very professional.” Fluttershy added.

“Sorry. It’s just a little hard to believe that all of this is inside a limousine.”

“You can say that again.” Applejack agreed. “I’ve been ta fancy receptions with less pizzazz than this vehicle has around just one door frame.”

“You’ve been to fancy parties?” Rainbow Dash chuckled, “I’ll believe it when I see it. In your frilly frou-frou dress!”

“You wouldn’t know bout it cus it happen’d back a few months after my... parents… I was with some relatives at the time. It was years ago, and not the life fer me.”

Hearing the mild discomfort in Applejack’s voice earned Rainbow an elbow jab to the ribs. “Ow! Okay, I’m sorry for bringing it up, AJ.”

“It’s fine. I never really told yall bout it, so ya didn’t know.” But the band-aid had been pulled, and her friends could still see the lingering pain as she lowered her head far enough into the water to make bubbles.

“If you want my opinion, I’m still sticking with my robot theory.” Pinkie said, backstroking around the fairly spacious pool with water wings.

“You're still going on about that? I mean not that I don’t disagree with you, but it does seem more plausible the more we learn about these guys.” Rainbow said, pulling herself out of the water.

“I mean, at this point, what can’t this guy afford? His limo is made out of pure freaking gold for crying out loud! I can’t imagine him not having the resources to make them. But, it still seems a little unlikely by how life-like they look… erm if they were robots that is.” She grabbed a warm towel and walked towards a door. “That aside, I’m going to the locker room to dry off and change out of this swimming suit, then get back into my other clothes.”

Her other friends followed. All of them, that is, except Twilight.

“Ya comin’ Twi?” Applejack asked, snapping Twilight from her train of thought.

“What? Oh, uh, right behind you.”

Applejack waited for Twilight at the locker room door, “Still thinking bout yer dinner date?” She teased.

“It’s not a date! But, yeah, you’re right, I was. I still don’t know how he got my number or why he contacted me.” They entered the locker room as the announcer gave them a five-minute reminder.

---

Back in the main room of the limousine, the girls came out of the locker room. They saw Sir E next to the door leading to the outside. “*Ding* Attention, you have arrived at your destination. Please watch your step as you exit the vehicle, and we hope you enjoy our hospitality during your stay.”

“If there is anything you need, your wish is our command.” Sir E said in sync with the announcer as he opened the door. “I bid you welcome to one of my smaller abodes.” He said as the girls filed out of the vehicle. “I apologize about the grandeur and the lack thereof.”

“One of?”

“Smaller?”

“What do you mean by ‘the lack thereof’? How can this cathedral you call a house possibly have any more glamour added to it!?”

Everything around them looked as though they had entered into a fantasy world straight from the pages of a storybook. As far as the eye could see were hedge gardens and immaculate landscaping. Two fountains as glamorous as the limousine was set either side of them. Each one as big as their school’s parking lot, gushing and gurgling. The crystal clear water it sprayed made mesmerizing patterns that could only be achievable by magic, and anyone watching could quickly lose themselves in.

The main house, a wooden Victorian styled structure, loomed over them like a daunting beast. It was easily three times bigger than their school, with its many towers, domes, and spires. And to the group, it looked to be at least six stories tall.

“What do you do for a living to earn all of this?” Twilight asked, incoherent to the words escaping her mouth.

“Erm… _{best way to describe}… I dabble in a little bit of everything, but mostly I am a pony, turned man, of science and sorcery.”

“Sign me up.”

“As thrilling as that may seem to you, I doubt you could grasp the basic fundamentals of time-oriented equations necessary to qualify.” Sir E said, walking up to the fifteenth foot mahogany double doors.

Time-oriented equations?

As he reached the doors, they were soundlessly opened by two men dressed as proper eighth-century footmen wearing crisp steam pressed suits with masks, but unlike Sir E, theirs had eyeholes. The two men stood staring straight at one another, but it felt like they were also staring right at Sir E and his guests.

Sir E prompted everyone to follow him in the monstrous mansion’s doors of the wooden wonder. Doing so, everyone found themselves entering into a marble marvel. Everything was a variation of the color pearl white, which looked like a fluid resin, much like the dark blue mask Sir E wore.

In fact, the walls and floor were so much like his mask that they too looked as though they were alive, breathing and swirling in slow motion like a smokey silk fabric in the wind. It didn’t take much to make them think that if they were to reach out their hand, there would be no wall but another world shrouded in mist.

It was mesmerizing and terrifyingly hypnotic. The more the girls held their gaze, the deeper their minds were drawn into its majesty, left wondering what mysteries might be hidden just past the vaporous veil. The sound of Sir E snapping his fingers broke the trance the patterns on the wall had put the girls into.

When they looked at him, the room came into total clarity, and they could see the corners of the walls, ceiling, and doors, the two curving stairways, and the mighty crystal chandelier between them. It was lightly furnished with paintings of and by historically famous people and a few decorative tables holding antique flower vases.

Sir E stood looking at them motionless for a moment without saying a word. During the uncomfortable silence, Twilight realized she had her hand against the wall. Not recalling when she got to her current position, she lowered it to her side and promptly returned to her friends.

After a quick scan across the room, Sir E finally spoke, “I suppose the texture I chose is slightly disorienting to those who are not familiar with it. If I may, allow me a moment to fix that.”

Sir E repositioned the cane in his hand, grabbing the center. With one hand, he swung it like a golf club, nearly smacking the ground and arching it towards the ceiling. A ripple manifested in mid-air, coursing through the room and changing the interior to one that matched the wooden exterior of the building.

Rainbow folded her arms and, with a flat tone, said, “let me guess, all of this was also ‘handcrafted.’”

“Why yes, yes it was. As you just witnessed, this was all crafted by my hand.” Sir E gave a slow, small wave of his hand, making another water-like ripple appear, trailing behind the gesture.

“Okay, the way you were using handcrafted earlier was making me think warehouses of near-slavery to achieve perfection, each with a weekly pay grade of more than what I earn in a year.”

A chuckle escaped from behind Sir E’s mask. “Even though I could afford something so outlandish, why would I go to such great lengths when I have a much simpler alternative?” He snapped his fingers again, and movement appeared from behind the girls making them all whip around.

Six maids in identical black and white uniforms stood at attention, and like the footmen, wore masks, but these had very different straps. “Each of our guests will require a personal guide during their stay here. It’s a fairly big establishment, they could easily lose themselves were they to go off and explore. You are also to provide them with any service that they ask of you, is that understood?”

“Yes, sir.” They all responded in impossibly perfect unison. Their voices were so similar that it made the girls wonder if they were all related to each other.

“Excellent. Glad that that has been settled. Now it’s off to the dining hall where I shall grace you all with a dinner and a show.”

After exchanging glances amongst themselves, Applejack was about to object to his generous offer. Just as she was going to tell him that they were only there to repair their gems, her stomach objected to her objections, grumbling in opposition.

“I guess it has been a few hours since we’ve all had somethin’.”

Those words seemed to trigger a signal to everyone else as their stomachs grumbled in agreement.

“But honestly, I thought we came here ta git our necklaces fixed. Mind tellin’ us when that’ll happen?”

“That will undoubtedly take me a few hours, but I can’t work on an empty stomach. So for now, we feast.” Sir E gave a hand gesture, signaling the maids to accompany them.

Again in, perfect unison, the maid ushered them with a light wave of their hands, “Right this way, please. The dining hall is just down this corridor.”

“Did anyone else feel the creep factor go past eleven, or is that just me?” Twilight asked, making sure to lower her voice so only her friends could hear her. Something else was bothering her, making her skin get goosebumps, but whatever it was continued to eluded her powers of observation. Something seemed off, it was subtle but there and it was more than just the synchronized maids.

“This whole place feels off.” Rainbow agreed, “But that might be because of how expensive everything looks, or something to do with magic?”

Walking down the hall, there was so much detail in the interior design and every piece of furniture there wasn’t anything not worth look at. It was so rich and thick with detail that they could almost feel themselves slipping away like what had happened earlier.

“No, it's not just that. It’s more with...” Twilight gave a quick, indirect glance at the maids looking around rather than at them. “All the staff. Every one I’ve seen is reminding me of Sent and Al for some reason.”

As one everyone looked at Pinkie who smiled knowing that they wanted her opinion, “three words: zombie alien cyborgs.”

...

“I think yer wires are crossed.”

“If you ask me, perhaps we’re being a little harsh for saying these things.” Rarity chimed in. “I’ll admit, I also have my suspicions about him and it's understandable why we all do. But, it’s not his fault that Sunset is in the hospital. He’s doing all of this to make up for Riots actions. However, I wouldn’t want any of us to be on Sir E’s bad side. Remember when he lost his temper after loosing mask?”

Their conversation was promptly interrupted by Sir E, “And here. We. Are. The banquet hall.”

Before them were double doors just as big and solid looking as the ones at the entrance. They did seem to be slightly bigger than said doors but who was keeping track? Everything Sir E had was outlandishly expensive, over the top and exuberantly decorated. At this point, it wouldn’t have come as a surprise if it were made of gold and jewels.

Sir E walked up to the doors and proceeded to open them himself. However, the group was thrown for a loop when they realized what they thought was the door frame was nothing more than another decorative wall ornament. As it turned out the entire wall were two big doors leading into an even bigger room, one that a high school football stadium could comfortably fit inside.

Immediately as they entered the room, music filled the air, spectacularly welcoming their arrival.

The room had pillars circling all the way around that held up a second-floor balcony, and in the middle, four more pillars reached up to the ceiling. A chandelier hung high above them, gleaming gold and crystal in the light shining through the mesmerizing colored glass flowery murals that blended well with the ceiling art.

Sir E reverted into the french dialect, “Ma chere Mademoiselles, it is with deepest pride and greatest pleasure that we welcome you all this afternoon.”

As he did his introduction Sir E took off his hat by pushing the handle of his cane under it and threw it to one side then tossed the cane the other way before removing his overcoat and tossed it in the same direction as his hat. There were so many servants in the room that none of the items he discarded touched the ground, the footmen simply caught them, walked away, and were replaced by a different person.

The girls were escorted to their respective seats at the table and were treated as the esteemed guests they were.

“And now we invite you all to relax, let us pull up a chair as the dining room saff proudly presents - your lunch!” Sir E clapped twice and a sea of waiters and waitresses carrying trays of food almost literally came out of the woodwork as Sir E began to sing.

Be. our. guest! Be our guest!

Put our service to the test

Tie your napkin 'round your neck, cheries

And we'll provide the rest

There was an overwhelming amount of food coming and going, being brought in just as swiftly as it was taken away. Each and every dish was presented and offered to each of the girls directly and then returned to the kitchen regardless of whether anyone had some or not.

Soup du jour

Hot hors d'oeuvres

Why, we only live to serve

Try the grey stuff

It's delicious

Don't like any? There’s more dishes!

Sir E jumped onto the table and began to dance in a swing fashion of his own unique design.

Make me sing, I will dance

Say the word Miss, now's your chance

And a dinner here is never second best

With a flawless transition he went from swing dancing to something closer to a waltz.

Go on, unfold your menu

Take a glance and then you'll

Be our guest

Oui, our guest

Be our guest!

Beef ragout

Cheese souffle

Pie and pudding "en flambe"

We'll prepare and serve with flair

A culinary cabaret!

Feel at home

Don’t be scared

Because the banquet's all prepared

No one's gloomy or complaining

While the fanfare's entertaining

I’ll tell jokes or do tricks

Nothing less than magnific

And it's all in perfect taste

That you can bet

Come on and lift your glass

You've won your own free pass

To be out guest

If you're stressed

It's fine dining we suggest

Be our guest! Be our guest! Be our guest!

The waiters and waitresses took over the song in their own chorus as Sir E vanished into the ocean of his staff.

Be our guest! Be our guest!

Our command is your request

It’s felt like years since we've had anyone else here

And we're obsessed

With your meal, with your ease

Yes, indeed, we aim to please

While the candlelight's still glowing

Let us help you, We'll keep going.

In yet his third outfit of this day, Sir E took over the spotlight once more in a renaissance era dark red and black ceremonial styled robe. His new mask had a face etched into it, resembling a jester. Slowly moving across the table he maneuvered through the food displays as he neared the end of the song.

Course by course, one by one

'Til you shout, "Enough! I'm done!"

Then we'll sing you off to sleep as you digest

Having reached the other end of the table he began to back track the way he came with a little more speed.

Tonight you'll prop your feet up

But for now, let's eat up

Be our guest!

Be our guest!

Be our guest!

Please, be our guest!

Sir E spun at a humanly impossible speed. All the while fireworks erupted in a Sir E approved display.

The dinner staff took their leave and vanished the same way they arrived. The room returned to what it was when they entered aside from the table now being stockpiled with the most exotic and foreign assortment of food. Sir E hopped down from the table and took his seat before prepping his mask allowing him to start eating himself.

“I must say, you really are a man of many talents, that was quite the performance indeed.” Rarity commented, both impressed and yet not, seeing as everything he has done thus far had been… Overdone in her opinion, but she could tell he was merely trying to gain their favor.

Twilight had, during the performance, figured out what was bugging her about the staff and she needed answers to her questions. “Can I ask you something?”

“Anything.” Sir E answered without hesitation.

“Firstly, back in the Limousine, you made it sound like you had nobody to talk to, yet here's all these... people around you that you can get to know, so why don't you?” her pause on the word people did not go unnoticed. Despite her attempt not to sound rude, that's how it came out. But she hoped to redeem herself with her follow-up question.

“Also, how is it that they're all the exact same height? I don't mean close to or around, I mean exactly. I don’t want to sound insulting, but the odds of that are… We'll I don't even know how to calculate something of that magnitude, but even with all the money you have, that's still highly implausible. Unless they're all clones or something.”

Sir E momentarily postponed his meal to give his answer. Giving a sigh, he began, “I was hoping to avoid this until later, but you deserve a straight answer,” he snapped his fingers and said, “show them.”

As one, all the staff spoke, “According to rules only under the authority of—”

“My voice is my authority, now heed my command. Take off your masks. All of you.”

Again as one the staff members hesitated to comply, but did as they were told, revealing what they truly were underneath.

---

Walking down the hospital halls, nurse Tender Heart was going about her routine work schedule when she rounded the corner and all but kissed Nurse Red Heart. They both crashed to the ground rubbing their now throbbing foreheads. Tender Heart quickly got up and began to apologize.

“I am so sorry, Red heart,” she extended her hand to help her coworker and friend up, “I didn’t hear you coming. If I had, I would of—“

“Just don’t,” Red Heart said, slapping away the offered hand and picking herself up off the floor. She sounded uncharacteristically grumpy. It was her day off today, wasn’t it? If so, it was understandable why she was upset. Tender Heart never enjoyed working on her days off either. But, something else seemed to be the cause of her grouchy behavior as Red Heart shot a dirty look at her.

“Move it. I have work to do, and so do you.” She practically snarled, but she hid it well under a stone-cold expression.

Replaying the events that just unfolded, nurse Tender Heart stood dumbfounded in the hallway, watching Red Heart briskly walking away. She’d have to ask what was troubling her later.

Tender Heart was about to go on her way when she saw a pen lying on the ground. That must be Red Heart’s. It was a petty issue, but what was the harm in spreading a little bit of kindness? By the looks of it, Red Heart needed some, no matter how small.

Grabbing the pen, Tender Heart called out to her coworker, but she didn’t seem to notice. She was a ways away. Perhaps she was too far to hear? Red Heart just knocked on a door and was greeted by Al…, or was it Sent? She couldn’t remember, but that wasn’t important. Al and Red Heart shook hands, and she entered the room.

Tender Heart got to the door seconds after it closed. She knocked on the door and was greeted by the same person who had just greeted Red Heart.

“Hello, yes, is there something I can do for you?” He extended his hand for her to shake.

“Hi… Al, right?” That ever placid smile always made a shiver run down her spine. Al says ‘yes’, Sent says ‘okay’. Or at least that’s what she had been told.

“Hello, yes, is there something I can do for you?”

Another shiver ran down her back from hearing the same sentence for a second time. She swallowed her nervousness, took his hand, and shook it. “Um, I just bumped into Red Heart a moment ago and—”

“Yes, Tender Heart, I see you have recently been in a collision. It was your head you hit, yes? You’re okay I presume, yes?”

Giving an unsettled chuckle, Tender Heart continued, “hehe, right. Um, listen, I just saw Red Heart go in, and I wanted to give this back to her.” Tender Heart held up the pen for clarification. “I know, it’s a little ridiculous, but she seemed—”

“Red Heart has not been in this room today.”

Tender Heart’s mind went blank, carefully replaying the words in her head to make sure she didn’t misinterpret what she heard.

“I… I’m… I’m sorry, what?”

“My apologies. Yes, I must have misspoken.” That grin again, something about it now seemed utterly wrong. “What I meant to say was, Red Heart has not been in this room today.”

His face didn’t change. There were no subtle hints of any kind to suggest that he was lying or had anything to hide. He believed what he was saying, but Tender Heart knew otherwise, or had she imagined it?

The sound of a pen hitting the ground broke her train of thought. The same pen that Red Heart had dropped. She looked at it, and the sting from her recent collision with who could only be Red Heart re-emerge. She knew that face, hair, and voice. It was her, and she had just walked into that room. So why was Al lying to her?

“Red Heart is in there. I know what I saw, and I just saw her walk into this room.”

“If I recall, today is her day off, yes? You must be mistaken. Yes, I guarantee Red Heart has not been in this room today.” Tender Heart had to fight the urge to flip her lid. She wasn’t there yet, but if this continued, she was going to be.

“No. You’re wrong. I know what I saw!” Nurse Tender Heart began to push herself past Al and into the room. He barred her from entering entirely but didn’t obstruct her view of the inside. “I don’t know what you’re trying to hide, but—”

A quick scan of the room and the only ones in there was the patient, Sunset Shimmer sulking on her bed, and her two bodyguards, Sent and Al. There was no sign of Red Heart or any other hospital worker, not even in the bathroom.

It couldn’t have been more than five minutes. There was nowhere Red Heart could be hiding even if she wanted to, or, heaven forbid, hide her body if her life had been taken.

“Wha… No. But, that’s not… how?... what!? I… I know what I…, she just…,” Tender Heart didn’t resist Al as she was gently pushed back into the hallway. Tender Heart heard a crunch underfoot as she stepped on the pen.

That pen.

That stupid pen was now both a beacon of hope that she wasn’t losing her mind and a mocking reminder that she just might be.

“It seems like you’re a little confused, yes? As I have said earlier, and as you have clearly seen, Red Heart has not been nor is currently in this room. You have your phone, yes? Perhaps you can give her a call and ease your worries?”

With little other options to cling to what was left of her dwindling sanity, Tender Heart immediately got onto her phone and called Red Heart. It rang three times before it was answered.

“Hey Tender Heart, please don’t tell me I need to come into work to—”

“Where are you!?” Tender Heart surprised herself when she sounded as ravenous and psychotic as she did.

“... Erm… Shopping? On aisle six? Something wrong?”

Tender Heart didn't remember when she dropped her phone, but she did feel her back hit against the wall and herself sliding down to the floor. Eventually, her eyes locked onto her cell phone with many more questions than answers, the root one primarily involving Red Heart’s whereabouts.

_{“Hello? Tender Heart, are you still there?... Hello?”}

Next to the phone was that accursed, broken pen. Her mind frantically trying to find an exit to this madhouse of a situation. Tender Heart knew she wasn’t going crazy. She just didn’t know how to prove it. That’s when she caught a glimpse of what she considered her saving grace.

A surveillance camera.

I know what I saw, and now I can prove it. So help my sanity.

With zealous energy, she rushed towards the surveillance room at a quicker than recommended proper hospital speed.

Meanwhile, inside Sunset’s room, she watched as the holographic projection dropped while Sent and Al continued to dismember and dispose of the body. At first, it appeared as someone who worked here, but the moment they were killed, their appearance changed into something, not of this world.

It was her first time seeing something this horrible happening in front of her, but thanks to Riot’s memories, Sunset was already numb to the concept. He had seen it an innumerable amount of times and remembered all the details of every last one. But a part of her still wanted to start vomiting nonstop. That was the part of herself that she wanted to preserve.

“That’s just pathetic. I mean, look at yourself…”

Shut up.

“You can’t fight it…”

Shut up!

“Pretty soon, you’ll be no different. You’ve already progressed significantly.”

Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up! You’re not me!

“Is that all you can say? Or are you too stupid to realize that you’re efforts to get rid of me are fruitless.”

I’ll never be like you.

“You can’t fight me forever. You know how effective my methods are”

Watch me.

“Good, you’re starting to think more like him already… What? No counterremark? Are you giving up already?”

Shut… Up.

“Watch me.”

She had to block herself from the voice by thinking of something else.

Sent and Al… Now that she was thinking about it, something about those names suddenly seemed to go hand in hand. What if she tried… Sent and Al… SentandAl... Sentinel. That made sense now. She hadn’t thought much about it before, but everyone did seem to have a name that matched what they were good at.

Sentinel seemed like a fitting name for a pair of androids. Had they been living beings, the voice in sunsets head would have contaminated their minds as it had hers. It was crafty that way. Twisting words of truth into something abominably grotesque to her standards. But it never lied, it didn’t need to.

Sunset didn’t mind them being androids because she knew their programming wouldn’t let any harm befall upon them like it had her. More importantly, that prevented the voice from swaying their way of thinking, and that had kept her safe, even from herself. They were her bodyguards, and she was glad nobody else would have to suffer like she was.

How does Riot do it? She knew how. She just didn’t want to. She could never bring herself to stoop so low as to do something that heinous. What was most unsettling, however, was Sunset didn’t know how much longer she could hold out. Eventually, she had to find a way to rid herself of this voice even if it kills her.

“I know you want to, so very much.”

Just… Shut… up.