Force of Five: Sundered Together

by DustyDominic

Chapter 4: Project-Hopping

There is a great desert valley on the continent of Avalon, far to the east from the shores of Equestria, one which has lured many an enterprising pioneer, but, save for a few scattered towns, it is mostly unsettled. Archaeologists speculate that this vast highland desert, over fifty thousand years ago, was a lush valley. The ruins they've uncovered underneath nearly a mile of sand. contained an ancient, booming civilization. At some point in history, so the theory goes, the entire valley was silted in and became the dry basin it is today.

At an undisclosed location surrounded by the vast sandy wasteland, there is Gideon Labs. It operates outside the confines of territorial Equestrian law. It is one of many facilities maintained by the MaxxDyne corporation. Its purpose, unlike their sister facilities, is the secret testing of dangerous and unprecedented technologies. Its existence is kept secret from even Celestia. Its location is unlisted. The majority of its staff and scientists, except for a select few, are officially "missing ponies." Most are not allowed out of Gideon Labs.

From the outside, it seems to be a small group of three-story office buildings, surrounded by twelve foot high chain-link, barbed wire-topped fence. It is far more than that, though. The office buildings are the tip of the iceberg. Underneath lies Gideon labs, over two dozen stories of underground testing facilities. It has power to run itself indefinitely and was commissioned, built, and run by the founder and CEO of the MaxxDyne Corporation, Maxx Teller.

Deep inside that facility, as the scientists and technicians and security guards go about their business, two colts are discussing the nature of their predicaments.

In another part, a filly is desperately wishing she was home.

In yet another part, two scientists are arguing over project staff listings.

And the stallion responsible for those project staff listings, and the two colts' predicaments, and the desperation of the filly, is on his way down through the facility to check on all of them.

The room Sue and Boole were in was, by its nature, an observation room. A large glass panel gave the view of the massive biological labs, housing hundreds of sections where the scientists at Gideon could nurture and study some bio-engineered product or another. Of course there were no real windows to the outside; the whole facility was underground. All light was artificial, all air pumped in.

Sue had caught the Senior Physiomagical Operator, a stallion named Boole, packing his notes into a small brown file. She called him incessantly for the past half hour, and now she was marching down to persuade him face-to-face.

"I'm telling you, Sue, I can't get you on my project!" Boole took his folders and shoved them in the desk cabinet. He spun around to face Sue, finding she was only two inches from his face. The silver locks of her mane spilled over her face and gave her a wild appearance.

"So talk to Maxx about it, Boole. I'm done working on Meridian. Give me something new!" Sue insisted. Her vehemence took Boole by surprise.

"I can't talk anything into Maxx. He's dead-set on this project's staff," Boole stood his ground. He pulled at his necktie, but he was earnest. "Listen, Sue, I'm going to tell you it's not because of my decision. You're plenty qualified in... what we're doing. It's got nothing to do with office politics. Maxx drew up the charter for the project. It's his staff, it's his idea. You know we have no control over the stuff here at Gideon."

"Stop blaming everything on Maxx!" Sue slammed her hoof down. "What do you want from me to get me on the project?"

Boole sat down on the floor, plopping down without trying to soften the landing, and cast sorrowful looks at the ceiling, "Please, Sue. I know you don't understand this, being single, but I haven't seen my wife in weeks. Gideon Labs is secrets within secrets with security codes and iris ID. I don't have the control here. I can't even leave the lab to see my family until the end of this year."

Sue was silent. She hadn't even considered the stresses the No Contact rules put on those scientists who, unlike her, did have family and connections to sever. Boole rubbed his forehead and sighed.

"There's nothing I can do. Maxx controls everything here. If you want to get on the project, ask him. Until then, let me alone."

"Sorry about your kids and wife, Boole, but this is important."

"I should say it sounds important," came a voice from the doorway. "Questioning secrecy protocol is not something done frivolously."

Maxx Teller stepped between them, bserving both Sue's standing position as well as Boole's kneeling one on the floor. He gave Boole a small smile until the latter realized his awkwardness and scrambled up.

Sue remembered just why she hadn't gone to Maxx first off.

Maxx Teller was an imposing stallion. His brown mane, though cut somewhat short, was richly brown, and he kept his steel gray coat immaculate. He wore such rich, yet unassuming clothing, and he had green eyes that offered neither confrontation nor condolence, only comprehension.

And he was leveling his gaze right at Sue.

"I am surprised at the both of you," Maxx remarked, not in disappointment but in honesty.

"I am sorry about your family Boole. I hate keeping all of you away from your loved ones. It brings me no pleasure, but you both know the nature of what we do here. The smallest of rumors, escaped from even our Fernlab or Hefton facilities, stolen by competitors, can mean the loss of profit. It can mean the loss of Equestrian security. It could even mean... loss of life. Can you imagine what would happen if a terrorist group or a criminal cartel got hold of our data?"

As if in emphasize, Sue glimpsed a the tip of a giant tentacle waving around behind the observation glass. It was true. They did dangerous work here. Cutting edge technology, powerful fringe science... none of this could be made public. No leaks could be tolerated. He was right.

Still.

"I understand, Maxx. I really do. But all the same, I want to ask why I'm not on Project Sutter," Sue reiterated. Her gut was a cement mixer, but Maxx smiled reassuringly.

"Doctor Sue, dear, it completely slipped my mind," Maxx flashed a big grin. "You've got all the right qualifications, let me tell you. There's no other explanation except a bad memory."

"Boole, how's about a vacation with your family? I'll put someone else in charge as project director. Sue, you're on Sutter. We've just begun the most important introductory phase! It's quite exciting. Come with me down to Sublevel 12 and I'll fill you in on the way."

Maxx marched out of the room and trotted down the hall towards the nearest elevator, and Boole sat right back down on the floor, mouth agape.

Sue felt struck by lightning. In a fell swoop, Maxx had just rearranged the project management, given Boole and her what they each wanted, and charmed the both of them into forgetting their troubles.

It must be good to be the CEO, she thought as she raced to catch up with Maxx.