Chapter 11: Opal
For the first time in Bit's timeless existence, she found herself beset with an entirely unique problem: a task that was time sensitive. This was her one great advantage, the thing that made the Wizard sing so much praise to her precision and thoroughness. She could devote herself completely to every endeavor she attempted, learning every possible fact of relevance, examining it from all angles, and only acting when she was precisely confident in her choice.
This was how she had got the power working, with so little resources that a single burned turbine might've met utter failure. This was how she had kept the tower maintained with a rapidly draining reservoir of cleaning materials.
But Pathfinder could not wait for her to take her time. Even worse, the task she had set for her now was not one any creature before her had attempted. For the first time in forever, Bit's hooves were on fresh snow. This was going to take everything she had.
Even worse, her reliable fallback strategy of exhaustive trial and error would not work either. Her living patient was incredibly unlikely to remain that way if she made even a modest error. To be alive is to desire to reproduce. When I am successful, I will meet this definition.
What unconquered horizons waited beyond the veil of life? She would have to succeed to face them: after all, failure here would likely mean the end of her desires, returning her to a perpetually unliving state. Perhaps she would remain that way forever.
But she had one advantage. While Pathfinder slept, she could devote herself fully to her work, returning down the steps only many hours later to see that he was doing well.
He was not, of course, despite his insistence on the resilience of earth ponies. The pony hacked and coughed a few times in the morning, and she verified he had begun to pass blood as well as the usual waste of living ponies.
"Always gets worse before it gets better," he grunted, grinning feebly for her. "I've felt this bad before, two winters back. I'll survive."
"You will not survive without my help," she said flatly. There was no pride or correction in her tone—if anything, she wanted to be wrong. But the knowledge of her tower had not lied to her yet, she saw no reason it would start now.
"Then it's a good thing I have you," he said. "Because I'm not ready. 'Efore the rebellion, ponies who stole all the wealth could do two centuries, that's what they say. I figure I 'ave another hundred in me. Evil king ain’t gonna kill me from beyond the grave. Besides... have to find your old master."
Those words focused her like a laser. Of course, she wasn't doing this to satisfy some vain desire that originated within herself—Bit was honoring her directives. This pony and the rebellion outside were the last line of contact with Crimson. Even shoddy information was better than the nothing she had left.
"Right. I should return to my research. I have delicate processes to begin, which will only have a single opportunity for success. If they fail, you will die before I can attempt them again."
"Can't you take me up there?" Pathfinder gestured around the room, at the empty hospital beds covered in crusty, yellowing blankets. "I need to keep my spirits up if I'm to survive this. I need a friend."
"The sick should remain in the hospital," Bit said. "That is the proper arrangement of things. See these beds? They are for the sick. The doctor’s quarters are there, and the nurse's station is up there. There are at least two nurses and one doctor on call at all times to see to your needs."
Pathfinder's expression faltered, changing to something Bit couldn't read. But it was something her Wizard had felt for her too, because he looked like that a great deal near the end. The familiarity was a painful one. "There aren't, Bit. It's just us and the death machines, remember? This tower got..." He trailed of, hacking into a cloth. It came away red from his mouth. "The revolution came here," he finally said. "They didn't leave anypony behind. Everyone either joined, or... they were overthrown."
He was right, of course. Bit had cleaned this tower so many times that she couldn't possibly miss the presence of another pony dirtying it back up. "They abandoned their posts," she muttered, turning her tail sharply on the empty doctor's station. "They had shallow loyalties and faltering morals. They abandoned their duty to the Wizard."
"I dunno, Bit," Pathfinder said. "I find it best not to judge a pony you never met, ya' know? My point is, I don't want to be stuck down here alone. Who cares what's proper—wouldn't you rather have company?"
Who cares what's proper? The thought was so incomprehensible to Bit that she was silent for almost a minute, turning thoughtful. When ponies reproduced, they spent years of their life instructing the new creature, preparing them to be a productive contributor to society. Sometimes their children even eclipsed their parents, as the Wizard had done to King Zircon. Either way, Bit would have a lot of instruction to do with Pathfinder.
If he survived.
"I have never had company," she finally said. "Not while I work. Only while I assist with the work of others. I sometimes provided... proximity... to the Wizard. He seemed to prefer laboring when there was someone he could speak with. I did not understand what he told me."
"Exactly," Pathfinder said. "I'll do that. I barely understand what you say half the time anyway." He rolled out of bed onto unsteady hooves. "I'll follow you up."
She wanted to argue, but he walked past her to the door. Pathfinder wasn't lying about earth pony magic, even if he obviously overestimated its ability to save him. A member of a weaker tribe probably would've been unable to walk by now.
He froze in the doorway, horrified by what he saw. The two “death machines” waited on the landing, exactly where Bit had told them to remain. Neither so much as twitched as he approached.
"B-Bit? Why are they here?"
"They require service as well," Bit explained. After a few more moments of consideration, she gestured towards the intact model. "You, a new command. Bring a bed upstairs to the Wizard's lab, along with saline and a surgical kit." She gestured to the other one. "You, climb to the crystalarium, and wait there for repair. I will help you once Pathfinder is healthy."
They both jerked to motion, though the cracked automaton was far slower than the other. It limped along the stairs behind them, its metal legs clanking and spluttering with every step.
Pathfinder followed her up, despite her protestations. He was quickly out of breath, and overwhelmed with the climb. But rather than leave him there, Bit waited patiently for him to catch his breath. If he wasn't so big, she would've tried to carry him.
Pathfinder barely even dared to breathe as the intact automaton trudged up the stairs, with an oversized box of surgical equipment in its arms. Only when it was past them did he speak. "Don't you think it's... wrong... using their help like this?"
Bit twitched her head to the side. "Wrong? Did I fail to perceive an error? Please, report it."
He sighed. "Death machines killed so many ponies during the revolution, Bit. I don't... stars above don't know how many. Stories say outrageous things, like bringing down a hundred brave ponies with every one. Could've been even worse for all we know. If those two are still working, it means they won. There's no possible way they aren't responsible for many deaths."
She shrugged. "Pathfinder, I believe you are operating under a failed assumption. You mistakenly assume an automaton is capable of deciding its own actions, it is not. They are 'responsible' for no deaths. The one who gave them their orders is 'responsible'. In this case, Evil King Zircon, or one of his generals.”
The stallion seemed unconvinced. "Ponies blame swords too, sometimes. Lots of the old army's weapons were melted down, made into the monument of Unity by the spire. Victory over oppression, all that. The Union would probably do that to them, too."
Bit said nothing as they climbed the rest of the way. Outwardly, she showed nothing but calm to this pony. But within, she couldn't shake her dread. For reasons that she could not explain, she did not want these machines to be destroyed.
It must be their utility, she told herself. I have done all without reliable assistants. If they remain, I could leverage their help to increase my capabilities. But to do what, without the Wizard? That question remained unanswered.
It's their form that terrifies the ponies of Zircon. I'll have to make them look like something else.
But that was another task, for another time. Pathfinder stopped on almost every floor, peeking into the tower's many rooms and asking about much of what they saw. She explained everything as best she could, though for most of the machines she could only say, "The apprentices used this to build things for my master," as well as extensive notes about what she couldn't touch while cleaning and how to store each machine properly.
Eventually they reached the top, and the Wizard's personal lab. Pathfinder could barely stand by the time they arrived, and collapsed into the bed with relief. The automaton hadn't brought a full hospital bed to the top, but instead chosen one of the portable rolling models, which it tucked away in the open space near the large, central screen.
Pathfinder finally drifted off, letting her focus her attention on the lab.
Bit could not merely return this lab to some desired state, as she did with the rest of the tower. This new task would be the most difficult she had ever faced. She would have to do something new.
She had already memorized every page of the Wizard's notes on the subject, or else she might not have known it was even possible. As it was, she had already gathered all the raw materials, filling a shelf with beakers and sealed vials. Her first step had been testing each of them for their purity, and arranging them by order they would be required in the process.
With that done, it was time to begin growing the first stage of the formulation.
"The process of crystalline vitrification begins with a seed."
Though memorization had taught her there were two distinct styles of writing within the document. She recognized this one as his, and could almost hear his voice reciting the words.
"The purity of this seed is critical to the success of all that is to come. The astute artifabrican will recognize the process is identical to the one so familiar to them. A seed, usually taken from a master sample, is introduced to a substrate, and allowed to grow.
“The difference here is our substrate, and the desired outcome. Rather than robust thaumic manipulators around a powerful crystalline computer, we desire to use the most powerful computer currently known: the equine brain.
“We began with the standard crystal seed useful in automation. It is imperative you complete the following steps to prepare it exactly, or else the candidates will certainly die, leaving only morbid sculptures behind. If successful, a sliver of this seed should be preserved for future use, as it will form the master for self-replication.
“The modifications to this seed will take place over exactly one hundred and eleven steps, over the course of several days. Seed crystal is highly temperature and vibration sensitive, so take appropriate precautions. If your product does not exactly match the following descriptions in each phase, abort the process and incinerate the result."
At least in this one way, it was a comforting return to the world Bit knew. Crimson had left precise, detailed instructions. All she had to do was follow them.
Stats
Page generated in 0.024 seconds
Total duration
680 users online
1,232,269 hits today, 2,707,512 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Aww, she feels hecking kindship with the robots. Watch her make crystal pony foals, using them as a base.
I hope she succed. Pathfinder us such an intresting Charakter and would Match bit perfectly
Something, something, let it go.
I mean, she meets it now. The desire to reproduce is not synonymous with successful reproduction. Crimson desired Bit to achieve full sapience, but she didn't manage that within his lifetime.
Whatever you need to tell yourself, dear.
Hmm. That could lead in interesting directions...
Well, that's not in the least bit ominous.
In any case, time to begin the procedure. Let's see just how well Bit follows the recipe.
Why do I get the feeling she is going to be missing a part and sacrifice herself to give it to him?
10673806
The cold certainly never bothered her.
10673822
I hope not. That's one of those cases like Jiraiya's death where it may fit the patterns of good literature (passing the torch in Jiraiya's case), but you just wish it could have been done differently.
...plus, it wouldn't fit as well. In Naruto, it was this big epic storyline where combat and self-sacrifice were baked into the atmosphere of the setting from early on. Here, the story is about the growth of a main character who's still too much of an innocent to truly understand the conflict and I feel there are better ways to drive home the main character's success than some grand sacrifice that leaves her unable to enjoy the fruits of that growth.
It kinda detracts from the satisfaction by leaving the ending torn between triumph and tragedy and, to be honest, feels like it'd be a cheap, lazy way to communicate that progress to the reader. (Among other reasons, because you get the sense that she's always been willing to give of herself for those she values. The primary thrust of this story arc is about Bit's growth from innocence into ponyhood, not about Pathfinder winning over a heart which was worldly but cold.)
EDIT: ...and there's an example of me slowly deconstructing my intuitive reaction as I write, so you see it solidify as you read.
TL;DR: Bit sacrificing herself like that would be a terrible fit for this story, because a grand self-sacrificial gesture represents the opposite kind of character arc to what Bit is going through. (An automaton would sacrifice itself for its master without qualm. Self-preservation is one of the most fundamental drives of a living being. The symbolism of giving something irreplaceable of herself to save Pathfinder would reinforce the connection to her past, rather than showing how far she's come from it.)
And so the process begins. Good thing it's Bit performing it. There isn't a better pony capable of following the instructions to the letter. Though will the resulting crystal pony actually be Pathfinder or be a more-or-less new entity like Bit?
I'm wondering how she is supposed to manage this without a working horn. It seems like soul transferance is a major magical feat, and might be a little hard for a machine to do.
10673806
Well, you gotta end up with an entire civilization of crystal ponies somehow...
A process so delicate that the slightest error in any of the hundred plus steps requires total annihilation? Yikes. Even high tech CPU technology isn't that stringent, but we suppose if the goal is perfect conversion the verbiage necessarily reflects the inevitable consequence of malformation.
INB4 the ponies down below get fed up and bump the fricken tower...
10674544
In this case it's more like crystalline identification petrification, but without the can't-move and isn't-alive bits.
Oh, wait.
So, you mean, that how "crystal" ponies appeared in your world?
10673822
People were predicting that last chapter, but now I'm thinking she's going to end up using a piece of herself as the seed, rather than whatever she initially uses as the master sample. (That is, she'll attempt following the instructions as written with the master sample crystal and it will fail, then her second attempt she'll be convinced by some means to use some of her own body as the seed.) Pathfinder's new body would then be, in some sense, Bit's child.
10674544
If you read Starscribe's lore article on Zircon, it's the remnant of a highly advanced technological society (even in this chapter you can see Crimson referring to crystal computers). It seems reasonable to conclude no magic is required to create Bit and ponies like her (except in the "any sufficiently advanced technology..." sense).
10675373
Starscribe has written stories taking place in many different unconnected settings, but yes this story is about the origin of crystal ponies in this particular setting.
Interesting.
Self-replication, hmm?
Now I'm imagining her replacing one arm with a broom and the other with a dustpan...
To be alive is to desire to reproduce. When I am successful, I will meet this definition.
I'm reminded of an robot anime where the final episode had a new circuit placed in him by the villain to make him an obedient minion, but unable to remove his morality chip... it ends with the hero crushing the villain's glass brain dome... saying this act will make him fully human, as the good and evil in him fight each other, forever.
10721128
If crystal ponies can't reproduce on their own, then they're a dead end as a species after all.
they were overthrown."
Euphanism.
Imagine if Radiant Hope had become an Alicorn, as a mere unicorn her healing magic could effectively bring back the dead, imagine what she could have done as a goddess.
The Union would probably do that to them, too."
And that makes Bit all the more determined to protect them. They're kindred spirits after all.
If this experiment only partially succeeds, the crystal ponies are doomed, as no one will trust Bit to grant immortality to any others if they end up zombies.
I'll have to make them look like something else.
Indeed.
Begin Modern Prometheus!