Equestria and the Machine

by SapphireRose87

12) Hopeful Trigger Responses

{Jude}

I was panicked! Rainbow Dash was outside of AI on her first mission. What panicked me is that her first mission was at The Gates of all places! “Great! Just great, I was hoping mother would stay at the Sixth longer than this! First Mother will definitely make sure that Rainbow Dash is a threat now! And why would they send her to the gates of all places? Has the Sixth done lost their minds? Rainbow Dash should be considered a new agent, or at least I would think so!”

“Lord Jude?” Servant Ivy said. “You’re panicking.”

"Panicking! I'm not-" I paused. I didn't realize how bad I was panicking until I stopped pacing and looked down at my seat to see I wasn't sitting down on it. I knew that if First Mother got wind of Rainbow Dash being assigned to do damage to the gates she would be pushing for me to kill Rainbow Dash even more.

Once I saw this I panicked even more. "This is not good! Not good at all!”

“You really should sit down already!” Servant Ivy said. “I know your AI’s ruler but I think you should calm down. I don’t think AI would self-destruct because of your panicking but I don’t want to find out.”

I really didn't want to sit down for a problem like this. Although I doubted that AI would self-destruct because of it. Either way, I forced myself to sit down so I could try to think of a plan.

As soon as I sat down Servant Ivy for some reason felt the need to sit on my lap to make me stay sitting down. I smiled at her and she smiled back. It was almost as if she knew me better than I knew myself. I didn’t mind when Servant Ivy would do that not one little bit. Servant Ivy didn’t do anything but put her head on my chest. “You know something Lord Jude? You take your job as ruler way too seriously sometimes. It seems that me sitting on your lap calms you down, that’s why I do it. But if you don’t want me to, I won’t do it anymore.”

I shook my head, “Yeah you’re right, but it’s okay I don’t mind when you do this. If anyone else did it. It would be weird!”

Servant Ivy and I laughed at the thought. But I knew that First Mother got wind of me and Servant Ivy’s growing friendship, she would have a field day with that too. Even though I didn’t mind when Servant Ivy sat on my lap I wasn’t sure if I should think of having a relationship just yet when I was trying so hard to protect my mother at all costs.

* * *

{Rainbow Dash}

Oliver had to report to Samantha for his out of the Machine assignment and when he got back I found it funny that he was acting like I was sick even though I felt fine. I'm a rare bird when it comes down to having a cycle. Sometimes my cycle hits me like a ton of bricks so bad to the point where I pass out because of it. That’s the first thing Oliver did was check and see if I had a fever.

“How are you feeling?” Oliver asked.

“I’m fine,” I said, trying to reassure him. I don’t think the information that I just told him made him feel any better because he was hugging me so hard it felt like he was going to break my rib cage. “It’s okay Zach, you can let go!”

“Oh...Sorry,” Oliver said.

After Oliver let go I tried so hard not to laugh but I wasn’t successful at it because Oliver's face turned red. Of course, we heard Gilda laughing as she walked by us. “It’s so cute how you two act around each other. Considering Zach’s been overprotective of you since day one!”

Gilda kept laughing so hard she didn’t notice that Emily was standing behind her until she pinched Gilda's butt!

“Hey!” Gilda said. When she turned around and saw Emily she looked down at the floor in embarrassment.

I smiled, “Hi Emily! How’s it going?”

“Abigail,” said Emily, “I think Sadie would prefer it if you leave her alone! I mean I know she’s beautiful but my goodness! If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you like Sadie too! I don’t blame people for falling for her if you know what I mean!”

“Ah…” I said practically choking on what Emily just said.

Oliver tried to stifle his laughter but he wasn't successful at it.

“That’s not funny Zach!” I said.

“And you should know that Roman gawks at you all the time you walk by!” Emily said.

“I’m pretending that doesn’t happen!” Oliver said.

“Well, at least people are chasing after you for once!” I said.

“Really!” Oliver said.

“Is that why you hide behind me every time Roman looks at you?” I said. “Wow!”

Everyone except Oliver started laughing and I was laughing the hardest just at the very thought of Oliver hiding from someone that likes him! I saw Oliver’s eyes go wide with a terrified look on his face. Emily kept shaking her head as if trying to make something that was happening go away.

“What’s wrong Zack?” Gilda asked.

“Do you not see the signs of Phase 1?” Oliver said with a look of horror on his face. “Or am I seeing things?”

“Huh?” Gilda said. The next thing we knew Emily passed out and Gilda caught her before she could even hit the ground.

* * *

When Emily passed out Gilda took her to her room and laid her down on the bed.

“So what happens now?” Gilda panicked.

“I don’t know,” I said. “Hopefully she won’t be in pain like I was in Phase 1.”

“That’s exactly why I hate Phase 1!” Oliver growled.

“What’s going on?” Levi said when he came around the corner and heard us talking.

“It looks like Emily might be going into Phase 1,” I said.

“I wonder if it had something to do with the songs I've been playing lately,” Levi said.

“I’m not so sure about that,” Oliver said. He shook his head. “I’m wondering if she had any signs of Phase 1 happening lately.”

Gilda looked like she was racking her brain to try and think of what she had seen lately. It looked like she remembered seeing something. “Did she look like she was ready to pass out the last time she talked to you Tobias?”

Levi shook his head, “Not from what I can recall. The last time she did talk to me was leaning up against a nearby wall.”

“I don't know if it is the songs or something else,” said Oliver, “but in any case, I don’t think she likes Tobias that way, if anyone might be doing the trigger response it might be Sadie.”

“Hey!” I said. “She pinches Abigail's butt when she comes by and not mine! She doesn’t do that to me when she walks past me! She does it to Abigail! If she likes anyone it would be Abigail!”

“Now that you think about it,” said Gilda, “she has been trying to get closer to me lately. A little too close for comfort!”

“See!” I teased. “Sorry, Tobias but it looks like Abigail has already taken your spot!”

“Ha, ha Sadie!” Gilda said. “But we do have to think of something to send her into Phase 2!”

“Maybe you could kiss her like Zach did to me!” I laughed.

Oliver exhaled slowly, “Even if we get trigger responses from her at Phase 1 it doesn’t necessarily mean that she’ll go into Phase 2!”

“What do you mean by that?” I said.

“As soon as Emily started having trigger responses there were no flashes of her old self!” Oliver said. “If it worked there would’ve been flashes of it because that’s what we saw with Sadie. It’s very possible that if the flashes of her old self don’t happen that the trigger responses could go away! I’ve seen it happen before. Unfortunately, the trigger responses don’t work on everyone, but that still doesn’t mean we can’t try our hardest to make it happen. We should keep an eye on her to see if we see that. Abigail and Tobias, since Emily talks to you two the most you guys should keep an eye on her.”

Gilda and Levi nodded at Oliver in agreement, I couldn’t help but think that it was a good thing we were outside of Emily’s room because it would probably make it more painful if she went further into Phase 1.

* * *

“No! Roman!” I heard Oliver say as I turned the corner to get to my spot for work. I didn’t go any further because I had a feeling that this conversation might be entertaining to watch.

“Oh come on Zach,” said Roman, from the sound of his voice, he was begging for Oliver to do something, “I’ve wanted to be with you since day one!”

I tried my best to stifle a laugh when Roman hugged Oliver and kissed him.

It’s too bad Roman doesn’t need to be broken out the Machine or I’d ask Finn to give Oliver the go-ahead to kiss Roman to send him into Phase 2!

After the kiss, Oliver backed away from Roman when he tried to go in for another kiss I thought it was time to step in and help Oliver out.

“Exactly what are you doing to my boyfriend, Roman?” I said.

“Oh nothing,” said Roman, “I just admitted my feelings for him that’s all.”

I scoffed at him, “Do you need your hearing checked? I think he said no! And no means no! And as far as admitting your feelings for him goes, you probably should’ve done that before he got together with me.”

“Hey!” Oliver said. “If I recall correctly, me and Sadie were talking about being a couple before we even started working here! So I would’ve turned you down anyway.”

“Yeah I don't believe it,” Roman said, “we meant to be together since the first time I laid eyes on you Zach-Zach!”

“You’re just as bad as Clara with Sadie!” Oliver said.

At this point, it made me sick to see the way Roman was looking at Oliver. Roman went to go pat Oliver’s head when he grabbed Roman’s hand keeping it away from him. “I think I just said no, and don’t ever call me Zach-Zach again!”

I thought I had it bad with Oliver throwing paper balls at me!

I laughed at Oliver, “He's not asking you for a coffee date! But I have a feeling he might ask you for something else!”

I looked to see Roman staring at Oliver and pretty hard too. Then Oliver was looking at me with an evil smile on his face and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to find out what that look meant. “I’m afraid to ask this, but what is that look for?”

I really didn’t like the way Oliver was staring at me at the moment because he was looking at me just like Roman was looking at him.

“Okay, you're giving me the creeps right now!” I said. I backed away from Oliver because of the creepy look that he was giving me.

Without warning, Oliver hugged me and kissed me then licked my cheek just to make a point. Roman glared at us and walked away.

“Wow,” I heard Emily’s voice come from behind us, “you sure made your point clear didn’t you Zach?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about!” Oliver said.

“You felt the need to lick my cheek after you kissed me in front of Roman because?” I asked.

“Sorry,” said Oliver, “I wasn’t aware Roman was watching! My bad!”

“Yup,” I said, “sure you weren’t!”

I guess Emily got a real kick out of that because she walked away laughing.