Welcome to Project EXO
I found myself awakening slowly to a soft light. White walls and bright lights filled my vision. Blinking awake, I attempted to sit up, suddenly stopped by a tight restraint on my chest. Upon further investigation, I found that my chest and all of my hooves were restrained to some sort of table. My head was free to move at will, but any movements caused a sharp pain, so I decided to lie still. The room was pleasantly cool, and had nothing besides a single white door on one side. Besides the door, the rest of the room had perfectly white walls and floors, and the table that I was restrained to was gleaming silver, apparently made of some sort of stainless steel.
Where am I? I thought to myself. I remembered nothing of how I got here. I had a slight memory of some stallions from the Equestrian Royal Guard (ERG) doing something to me, drugging me with some sort of sleeping drug. Guess they dragged me into here. I yet again attempted to move my forehooves, not surprisingly finding them still tightly bound to the table. I managed to lift my head enough to realize that my hooves were bound with thick brown leather straps. Classic.
My ears perked up suddenly. I heard a noise coming from behind the door as it was slowly opened. A petite, white unicorn mare walked in levitating a clipboard with her magic. She walked up to the side of the table and smiled at me brightly as she began furiously scribbling notes onto the various papers on her clipboard.
“It's nice to see you awake Lieutenant”. Her voice was calming, helping to alleviate a bit of the nervous pressure of this very strange situation. It had a very odd feel though, as if she was nervous about something. I paid it no mind.
I felt my hooves being released and instinctively attempted to pick up my forehoof. The mare, who I could only assume was some sort of nurse, quickly grabbed my hoof to stop me.
“Take it slow Lieutenant...you've still got quite a bit of adjustment to go through. Just lie still”. The nurse mare continued to unstrap the rest of my appendages, keeping a comforting hoof on my forehead.
“I've unstrapped all your legs Lieutenant. Your chest is still strapped down. Please continue to lie still”. She spoke in a very gentle, almost motherly tone of voice.
I complied with her strange instructions despite the oddity of the situation. I was beginning to seriously wonder what was going on. I opened my mouth to speak, but the nurse stopped me.
“Please do not speak Lieutenant. Remain silent and do not move. Your Acclimator will be with you shortly”. She gave me a forced smile and quickly left the room, furiously scribbling notes onto her clipboard as she walked out.
I was left alone to think about my situation. Something was very odd about this. Resisting the urge to move, I continued to lie on the table. I began to feel extremely restless, as if I had suddenly had been injected with a large dose of pure adrenaline. Right on cue, the door at the front of the room opened, and a unicorn stallion in full surgical gear walked in pushing a relatively large cart with a metal box on top, and various surgical tools splayed out on the lower shelf.
“How are you feeling Lieutenant?”
His muffled speech instantly snapped my mind back into focus.
“Restless. Can I get up and stretch?”. I was beginning to get a bit impatient.
The stallion's eyes indicated he was frowning at me. He was slightly intimidating with his surgical mask and cold eyes.
“I'm afraid not. Stay still Lieutenant”.
He reached back over to his cart and put a magnifier over one of his eyes. He looked over at me, seeming to concentrate on the top of my head. His expression never changed. I decided to try and gather a bit more information.
“Any reason you're looking at my head Sir?”.
He raised on eyebrow at me.
“They didn't tell you?”. The surgical stallion chuckled and shook his head at me.
“I'm here to inspect and test your Neurological Diagnostic Port.”
These words made no sense to me. As if reading my mind, the stallion went straight into an explanation.
“I'm not going to sugarcoat it Lieutenant. You've been sent here for testing. Surely you've heard of Project EXO?”
I thought about it for a moment. I don't think my security clearance covers stuff like this...
“I'm afraid I haven't Sir. Could you fill me in?”
He cleared his throat dramatically and backed away from the table slightly.
“Project EXO is one of the ERG's latest and greatest ideas. The Project is a movement to replace conventional guards with those of a cyborg-like nature. Super-soldiers, if you will. You were oh-so-lucky and ended up as the first guard to be selected to test the first combat-ready model, EXO 1. I've been assigned as your Acclimator, an individual who is versed in all of EXO 1's systems and functions, and my job is to guide you through the entire EXO Acclimation Process, known more commonly as the EAP. The tests consist of-”
“Hold on a second,” I quickly cut him off. “You're telling me that your job is to teach me how to use a crazy suit of armor, and I was never told about this sooner?”
The stallion calmly walked back over to the side of the table.
“Calm down Lieutenant. There's a very good reason that you were not told about this. Any guard chosen for this role knowing what they were getting into would never go into Project EXO willingly. This endeavor will change you forever Lieutenant, both physically and mentally, and my sole responsibility is to make sure that you get through it in one piece. Makes sense?”
I was still in a bit of a daze as this was explained to me. “I guess...”
The stallion suddenly went back to examining my head. “Good. Perhaps you'd like to see what I'm looking at?”
I didn't think my head was that interesting.
“Sure,” I sounded a bit unsure in my answer.
The stallion levitated a mirror in front of my eyes and pointed out a small hole nearly directly on the top of my head. My entire head was shaved bald, the entirety of my short-cut mane completely gone. I frowned a bit at what I saw. I was surprised that I had not felt any pain or soreness around the area of the hole. Gotta love modern medical technology...
“What did you say that the hole was again?” I wanted to make sure I knew what I was looking at.
He wasted no time in giving his answer. “This hole is your Neurological Diagnostic Port, and the fitting inside of it is wired directly into your brain. The wires that I will apply to it will be connected into the Heads-up Event Alert Diagnostic system, cleverly titled HEAD for short. This is the system installed into EXO 1's helmet”. As he said this, he opened up the metal box and took out of it a peculiar looking piece of headgear, relative round in appearance, resembling a space helmet of sorts. I stared at it, trying to gather as much information as I could. This is obviously EXO 1's helmet. Looks pretty advanced. I hope he knows what he's doing.
“This is the helmet that goes with EXO 1,” He said oh-so-professionally. Duh! “This will be the first piece of armor that you will be acclimated with. I believe we should waste no time in getting this procedure done. Please hold still Lieutenant”. He quickly stuck a needle into my forehoof, and I slowly felt myself slipping into unconsciousness as he began to collect multiple surgical instruments from his table. I feel...tired. Maybe I'll just...sleep.