[NEXUS] MagCave VI: What Is a Mag? A Miserable Little Pile of Circuits!

[happyturtle]

MagCave

Missy blinks a bit, but then she is a friend of Cassius. So... weird ant stuff... okay. She can handle it.

She holds out a cake box. "I came by to say Happy Birthday, and to hang out and chat for a bit, if you aren't busy."

Well of course he isn't too busy for that - that's the entire point of having clones. But it's a way to let him get out of it if he changed his mind.

[Terumitsu]

[Firing Range]

The muse’s brow lightly furrowed at Mainframe's response. Discontentment was, at least in her experences with A.I.s, usually indicative of some possibly deeper problem. Although it could be relative displeasure.. I’ve not spoken with them long enough to really make that judgement. ”So, um.. What exactly is it that is causing you to feel displeased? Can you put a name to it?” the muse asked. However, even if Mainframe were to answer immediately, the arrival of Magtok would likely put the conversation on hold for the time being if the muse’s sudden tensing meant anything. Turning abruptly on her heel, Riss was able to force out a ”Greetings, sir.” with just moderate effort. A small improvement but it was progress.

Rather than something world-shaking, either literally or metaphorically, the device the muse held seemed to be rather more mundane. Or at least as mundane as an energy weapon could be. The outer chassis was completely lacking and every bit of the interior was on display although the reason for that would be clear given that it seemed to posses three emission and refraction chambers rather than the usual one for a similar weapon. However, aside from what appeared to be new or upgraded parts in several places and the trinocular design with part of a rangefinder in the center, it was still more or less recognizable for what it started as... Although the small swivel motors attached to each emitter were a bit odd. "I-I wanted your input on the direction I was taking with this and.. A few other things." Well obviously that's what you wanted, you idiot. Stop being redundant. "I, ah.. Tried to create a tool that was markedly more efficient.. I mean, by the standards of both power consumption and output.” she said, handing the weapon to Magtok.

[Reinholdt]

Mainframe Design

Much.

"Well... that's true I suppose. I'd still find you cute even if you were big, but some people wouldn't." Winston agrees with Magtok, to an extent.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Outside the Cave]

A bubblegum pink equine prods at the frozen forms of other, equally pastel equines.
"Dead-time huh? Players make up some weeeeird stuff to explain why they're gone."


[Somewhere Else Entirely - Probably the Hangar]

A certain catgirl reaper lounges on the back of a certain cybernetic super sloth, wiping what looks suspiciously like solidified death from her fingertips.
"I dislike large jobs.
Leslie, be a dear and have Rhodes find a Magtok for me?"

With little more than a sleepy grunt, the sloth proceeds to do absolutely nothing at all.

But what action need be taken, when you can just effortlessly send off an electronic alert to the target?

[Rebonack]

[Outside the Magcave]

Sigil Stripe gives a polite cough as at least one member of the group begins moving again. "Temporal stasis is one of the hazards of the Nexus. Only way to ward it off is to keep busy."

Ain't that the truth!

"Have we got everyone? It's probably only a matter of time before Twilight starts doing... whatever she's going to do... It'll be pretty obvious when it starts though I suspect. Once the trouble starts we move in, blast her with the Power of Friendship, and then get you girls home."

There!

Sounds like a great plan, right?

[Lord Magtok]

Outside the Magcave with Ponies

Magtok frowns at the mention of deadtime. He and that particular narrative force aren't exactly the bestest of buddies. In fact, deadtime's probably up there with Calublufiok and moldy spinach on his list of most hated nemeses.

"So if that doesn't work out, do we have a Plan B?"

Probably not the best question to ask, but an essential one. They've already gone over this plan for stopping Twilight a few times already, and everybody knows that once you discuss a plan onscreen before enacting it, something's bound to go wrong. It'd be a really boring, forgettable episode if nothing went awry, after all.

Somewhere Else Entirely - Attacked By A Raptor

"AAAAAAAUGH!"

Oh, there he is! The silly cyborg went and let a ventilation grate fall from the ceiling and then land right on his back! Somewhere along the way a raptor ended up on top of that grate, too! He could use some help getting up, probably.

MagCave with Missy

"Was busy, but now I'm not. We'll have to save a slice of that cake, though. Ran out of other clones who owe me favors and junk, so whoever fills in for what I was doing is going to want a bribe."

Magtok leads the way in, tapping a statue of himself on the knee with one hand, revealing a hidden passageway that goes straight to the mess hall.

"So how's the kid? Jeanette, or something like that, right? It's a J name, but I don't think I actually saved it anywhere. Forgot that people and their names only auto-save if I actually meet them in person. It's a bit of a crutch, honestly. Sometimes I think I ought to just can the whole thing."

He reaches for the cake, before stopping to flick an ant off his finger. Gah, he really needs to remember to have those things go away for a while when he's talking to people. I mean, it doesn't bother him any more, but there's no way that's not going to freak people out and stuff.

Firing Range

"Alrighty, then. Any safety precautions I might be foolishly overlooking if I just go right ahead and point this downrange and pull what I think is the trigger?"

Magtok doesn't wait for an answer. He doesn't quite bring himself to pull the trigger yet either, though. I think he just wants to hear someone freak out and yell in a panic today, honestly.

[happyturtle]

Mess Hall

"Jefferies. She's good - happy, healthy, and full of trouble. And if relying on cybernetic neural interfacing as a memory crutch is wrong, I don't want to be right," Missy says. "So... um... don't know how much you heard me talking to Sophie in MagMart, but I'm getting married to Jefferies' father, Jyarl. No big ceremony or anything. We're just going to the registry office in a few days to make it official." Missy doesn't want to make this thing all about her - after all, it's Magtok's birthday - but she figured she'd better get that news out first. After all, last Thanksmas, she and Magtok were flying around on the paddleboat sleigh fighting a video game hero and delivering presents to kids in Inside.

Firing Range

"I am unsure of my role in the world," Mainframe answers Riss. But then is silent while Riss demonstrates her invention.

Mainframe Design

"What about catgirls?" Mainframe asks. Tact and Mainframe = not the best of friends.

[Terumitsu]

[Firing Range]

"W-Well.. You, um.. Might want to toggle the safety first." Riss suggested, pointing to a small switch over the trigger. It was just a good idea to follow proper safety measures after all. Once the weapon was 'live' though, the muse would back away so that she wasn't in the immediate range.

Once Magtok decided to pull the trigger, aside from a faint humming coming from the motors, there wouldn't be much of an indication that anything was happening... Ignoring the glowing pinpoint where he was aiming at, of course. Depending on the material of the target aimed at, it would either burst into flame or begin showing evidence of heat stress. Or, if metal was the target, it would start taking on a dull, angry red color although only after a few seconds of sustained fire. It likely wasn't as flashy as Magtok might want or otherwise prefer but hopefully it was at least functionally up to his standards.

[Lord Magtok]

Mainframe Design

"That's sexual attraction-cute. Not the same thing as adorable-cute. Except in Margret's case, because she's built to resemble a small child, not a grown woman. And we're getting off-topic."

Magtok tries his hardest to keep a neutral expression on his face. No, Mainframe, you're not allowed to be a sexy catgirl robot! Magtok has had enough to do with catgirls, so we're making that a non-option before the possibility even occurs to you!

Firing Range

"So...stealth laser, then. Is firing from large distances going to be an issue? If not, I could see maybe attaching this to that paddleboat, maybe handing it to a Magbot for sniping..."

Would it be too powerful in such a situation, though? Magtok's brow furrows in thought, trying to be sure he isn't at risk of going over the limit. Strapping it to the MagSat for orbital spontaneous combustion attacks is a definite no-no, of course, but even so...

Mess Hall

"Congrats."

Magtok nods politely and smiles, ignoring that weird sense of having failed some sort of...I don't know, a silly mission to romance all the ladies in the Nexus or something like that, without a single one marrying herself off to some other guy. It's a stupid thought, coming from a primitive, animalistic part of Maggy's brain that he's starting to think about having removed. Ego is one thing, but this is just ridiculous.

"Say, you haven't been watching television lately, have you? The Zeus fight nonsense, particularly?"

[happyturtle]

Mainframe Design

"I do not wish organics to be sexually attracted to me. I do want to appear non-threatening so that my next chassis is not destroyed as quickly as previous ones have been." Mainframe says.


Firing Range

"Most Mag weaponry has more visual appeal than this." Mainframe says.

Mess Hall

"I saw a little of it before I came over. Are you winning?" Missy asks.

[Lord Magtok]

Mess Hall

"He just telefragged the deity with his own goat offspring. Sneaked a portal in the guy's drink, and then the goat burst out from Zeus's head. The guy's still twitching somehow, but it'll be over soon."

Magtok shakes his head, before getting some cutlery and plates to deal with the cake.

"This would all be great news, of course, if the newly transfigured clone behind all of this god-slaying business wasn't the greatest traitor in MagClone history."

Magtok stops right there, taking his time to enjoy the first bite of a slice of the cake, leaving Missy in suspense all the while.

[happyturtle]

Mess Hall

"Wow that sounds gruesome," Missy is about to say to the first part, when she hears the rest.

"What? Traitor to what?" Missy asks. Magtok doesn't have any true and lasting allegiances to betray, unless it's to his family.

That MagClone is a traitor to his family?

[Lord Magtok]

Mess Hall

"Maybe traitor is the wrong word. He's just...a generally terrible clone, is what he is. Each and every one of us is supposed to be one part of the whole, and what he's been doing, well..."

Magtok sighs.

"We've tried to be lenient, since he was kidnapped right out of the cloning pods and forcibly turned into a woman by two now-renegade MagPloyees, was dead for a while, and had that goat explode out of his head. Understandable, that stuff like that could make a guy a little unstable and not act totally normal, right?

More cake nomming, as Ant-Maggy takes a moment to collect his thoughts. Man, sweets like this have gotten a lot tastier since Pat did that thing to his head.

"But that telefragging? There are things you can and can't do in a fight, especially a televised honor-reclaiming match to the death sort of thing. That attack is basically the worst way he could've ended things. Now any half-wit with no imagination and teleport powers is going to be adding tricks like that to their repertoire, when before everyone either thought that sort of thing was off-limits, or they were just too stupid to realize it could be done. But if Magtok's doing it, oh no, it has to be legit, doesn't it? He knew all of that, weighed the consequences of it all, and decided that his own pride and ego were more important."

Magtok takes a moment to tap the side of his head, and a whole bunch of ants abruptly leave the room. Security cameras suddenly find the other folks eating here much more interesting, and the ambient noise more or less ensures those still present won't be able to overhear anything.

"That's the least of his sins, though. And now he's a god too, so I can't just make him and his stupid sidekick vanish, either."

[Terumitsu]

[Firing Range]

"Range in atmosphere should be superior in comparison to ballistic counterparts as well as accuracy. The latter due to the central unit initially painting the target while the three peripheral units adjust their aim to the designated point. Further micro-corrections take place each second to compensate for drift up to a maximum of ten degrees of error." Riss said, handling the easy explanations first.

Still, the way Magtok had phrased things caused more than a bit of confusion on her part. "...Um.. But.. It's not a stealth laser? I-I mean.. At least as far as I know, at least.. Might be some color diffusion if enough material gets in the way..." the muse said, mumbling more to herself at the end. Was he expecting something else? Am I supposed to make it more.. 'Visually appealing' or something? Mainframe would be given a questioning expression based on her input. Was there some standard that she should have been following?

[happyturtle]

Mess Hall

"What else did he do?" Missy asks. She wonders about the sidekick, but doesn't ask.

Firing Range

The Mainframe inhabited Magbot simply looks back with all the lack of expression a Magbot usually has. It sometimes grasps human facial expressions, but it doesn't understand a facial expression combined with an unspoken question.

[Lord Magtok]

Mess Hall

Magtok pauses to peer at the back of his hand, as if expecting to see something there, something other than his hand. You've already gone this far, Mag. Stop being so damn hesitant and tell her already!

"It's not what he's doing that's the main issue. Linda Dahilan. That's who his sidekick with the harpoon gun is, too. Bartered with a devil so she'd continue living, and he's convinced himself she's learned the error of her ways, and is on the side of righteous now. Really, it's more that's he become one of whatever the hell she is."

He grimaces once more.

"He's a god now, sleeping with the idiotic racist woman who ruined the proposal, and could ruin everything if he ever so much as asked her to take off that disguise. Even worse, I can tell he's not trying to antagonize us, that's he's just got a screw loose and doesn't want to keep messing everything up, but...well, he's just not qualified to be a Magtok anymore. I've been covering for him, keeping his deeds in the dark and 'accidentally' sending ants to nibble on surveillance camera wires and such, but he's made it clear he's only going to get worse. I figured I'd tell you before I tell the other Magtoks, because-"

Magtok stops, a piece of cake getting torn to bits in his mouth. Fudge, this is some really good cake. You really ought to have these birthday things more often, Ant-tok.

"-well, at first because I figured you'd be less likely to do something rash this time around, and an outsider's opinion and junk, but as of the last few minutes? Mostly because of this cake. I mean goddamn. Where did you get this, anyways?"

[Chaotic Bob]

[Somewhere Elses Slightly and Entirely]

Rhode is having entirely too much fun with that grate, really.
Jumping up and down, up and down, up and down...

Undoubtedly Magtok is enjoying it too.

There's a rumbling yawn from Leslie, wherever she's napping, and the raptor hisses a bit before obligingly hopping off the grate.


And then there's Libby, standing right next to Magtok, bending over to pluck away the grate and help the poor cyborg up.
So feeble and helpless sometimes, honestly.
Pay no mind to the fact that she was laying down Somewhere Else Entirely literally an instant ago.

"Sorry..."

[With the Ponies]

Pinkie Pie spends a moment poking and prodding the other members of the group, until they resume movement along with everyone else.

Everyone else who proceeds to mysteriously fail to notice any time gap whatsoever. Almost like it's narrative design.
"Puuuupppeeeeeets."

"Plan B, unfortunately, would be stopping Twilight Sparkle with force. Although there is no reason to suspec-"
Luna, the more pragmatic voice of the pony-group takes up the mantle of Magtok's question, shortly before an indignant blur of rainbow cuts her off.

"Whoa, hey, we are not gonna fight Twilight. The Elements will work just like they always have."
"I believe that's what she was about to say, Rainbow Dash."
"...oh."

Only to be neatly admonished by Rarity.

"...as I was saying, there is no reason to suspect they will not work in this situation. They have banished the fell influence of the Stars once before."
Sort of.
Kinda. With stipulations.

"So, uh. Are we just gonna wait around until Twi starts doin'...her thing?"
"That sounds...risky."

[Rebonack]

[Outside the MagCave]

Or maybe dramatic convenience? Might be that too.

"We can head to the City and begin our search there. Maybe at the place where Twilight... vanished from? I guess that would be as good of a place to begin as any," Sigil reasons. "Teleportation magic really isn't my forte. I could get us there buuuut it would take a bit of set up time. Magtok's telewarp would probably be the fastest."

He casts a sidelong glance at the cyborg.

"Assuming you're willing to lend a hand, Maggy. This whole mess concerns you as well of course. It sounds like Twilight is looking to impose whatever her currently twisted vision of 'order' is on the Nexus."

Which would probably be a bad thing. Or at least a thing that will be reacted to very poorly.

[happyturtle]

Mess Hall

"The bakery on Milson St." Missy says. "Linda Dahilan? The woman who killed you? Oh... wow. That's... I don't know what to say. Do you want me to arrest her?"

[Reinholdt]

Mainframe Design

"I was under the impression you didn't want to be humanoid anyways." Winston says, an eyebrow raised.

"But if you don't want to be attacked, a small child may be your best choice." That was totally Magtok's suggestion, as interpreted by Winston.

Not that Winston has enough experience in the Nexus to give a wide range of choices anyways.

"Though I think it'd be more fun making the meerkat."

[Lord Magtok]

Firing Range With Robots & Lasers

"No no, I just mean it has potential for stealth combat, sneaking around, that sort of skullduggery and shenanigans. No loud noise or trail of visible light zipping out between here and the target."

Man, with the right positions and sufficient camouflage, the Mystery Meat Team could probably take out...I dunno, maybe six whole malfunctioning squidcopters, all before so much as a single mollusk realizes where their unseen assailants are striking from.

"Of course, the flesh spontaneously being set alight would probably draw some attention. No weapon's perfect, though..."

He lowers the weapon, flicking the safety back on.

"I think...Twelve? Yeah, twelve should be fine. Two for the Mystery Meats, three more in case their previous guns get damaged, and then seven stored away for Cave and Mart security situations and apocalypses and whatnot."

Mess Hall With a Fellow Cyborg

The cyborg shakes his head.

"Can't. Not without taking a major risk with the unstable clone. Plus, we're both MagClones, so we already have this entire thing planned out based off of what the other is most likely to do. He knows that with Zeus dead, I don't need him alive anymore, so he's going to go into hiding with Linda. I'm going to shine the MagSat on him and try to electronically identify him through the MagNet, while he's going to flee to the darkness of Westside and have Linda tear the tracking device right out of his arm.

If I was sure it'd end like that, I'd be okay with things, but as I said, he's unstable, a disgrace, and a traitor to Pat's memory and the kids. Bound to do something stupid while trying to redeem himself, or start believing the cultist's nonsense and just go completely stupid all over the place with her."

Outside the MagCave With Ponies Aplenty

"Assuming I'm willing to lend a hand."

Magtok gives Sigil a sidelong glance of his own, repeating that phrase with evident distaste. Seems he's a mite offended by the notion that he might just abandon the group and leave them to their own clueless flailing about. I don't know where he gets off feeling that way though, seeing as he was totally thinking about doing exactly that a few posts ago. He tears open a portal, positioning it closer to the ground and stretching it out taller and wider than he normally would, to account for the humongous princess pony present.

"There's the city of Inside. I'll have MagSat sweep across it, checking the place out for any ponies that aren't you guys. To put that in terms you guys would understand, it's basically a giant space telescope that mails me pictures of what it sees. Based on your trains and stuff, I'd say Equestria's two, maybe three hundred years away from that kind of technology, probably."

This isn't the time for idle chatter and boasting, Maggy! There's a world to save! Besides, your species has opposable thumbs, that's totally cheating!

Inside the MagCave with Catgirls

"I'm fine."

You had a big grate fall off of the ceiling and crash into you, Maggy. A grate that had a raptor on top of it, of all things. If you still think you're fine and dandy after all of that, then I really don't want to know what in the world it would take for you to admit otherwise.

"Been a while since you dropped by, hasn't it? Was starting to wonder if you were coming back, or if you'd been-Oh hey, have you heard about Zeus?"

Poor, stupid, oblivious MagClone. With that idiot smile on his face, you can tell he has absolutely no idea that it's only a matter of time. Soon enough, he and the others will have to disown the Mount Olympus Magtok, and consequently won't be able to take credit for the thunder god's demise, much as he's doing right now. Quickly changing the subject before Libby's mortality could become an issue again was probably for the best, though.

[happyturtle]

Mainframe Design

"If I am too small, I may not be able to use tools and facilities built for human sized creatures." Mainframe says. "I am unsure how much of a problem this might be."

Firing Range

Mainframe has no commnts here.

Mess Hall With a Fellow Cyborg

"If he comes out of hiding and does anything unsavoury in the city, then I can arrest her then. Him too, if needed. We don't make 'can't do it for fear of instability' exceptions." Which is bull****, as Remnant's attitude towards AMEN is proof of. They keep the peace by any means necessary, and 'any means' sometimes means looking the other way.

[Chaotic Bob]

[CatMag! Nanananana...]
Or something actually clever.

Libby doesn't seem particularly inclined to believe Magtok is actually okay, but...hey. He's moving, talking, and seems to be willing to say he's okay.
Until he starts stumbling, or bleeding from his ears, she's willing to go along with it for now.

More important things!
Like catching up. That's more important than silly health.
"Oh, I just had a rather big plate of work dumped on me all at once. An entire planet had ended in a magical apocalypse."
Definitely unrelated to the death she was wiping from her fingers moments ago.

Harder to deny her subsequent ignorance though.
"I try to avoid that pantheon. Other than Dionysus."
Because she doesn't have a choice.
"Something nice happened, I'll guess?"

Alternatively, she's feigning ignorance of something that is very definitely related to her jurisdiction, as a means to let Magtok boast and puff himself up.
Who knows. She's weird.


[Outside with the Ponies]

Somewhat predictably, Magtok acquires five sets of incredulous looks.
And one set of infinitely bubbly looks.

Luna decides to go for the slow elaboration response.
"So...your space telescope will allow us to perform the searching plan quicker."
When put that way, it sounds somewhere between "completely ridiculous" and "sort of silly".

"Well hey, if it works, it works. I say we give it a go."
Applejack isn't particularly sure how such a thing works, but hey, if Twilight or Rarity can magic things around in the air, what's to say someone hasn't magicked a telescope into the sky?

"Very well, if it will be faster than wandering the city ourselves.
Speaking of which...Rarity, I believe you had a suggestion for maintaining the missing Element of Magic?"

Oh yeah, that was a thing she was supposed to tell everyone, wasn't it?
Oops, how thoughts fly, when...why did she forget?
"Oh, yes, of course. Although Sigil Stripe here has the idea, rather than myself.
Be a dear and run them through it, would you?"

[Rebonack]

[Outside the Magcave]

Sigil sticks his tongue out at Magtok. That's incredibly mature of you Sigil. "Thanks for the help, Maggy. I knew I could count on you."

A quick nod follows. "Right. This will make things much easier than just flailing around blindly and hoping Twilight makes enough of a bang for us to follow. The more decisive we are the better."

Theeeen questions about the element of magic. The striped unicorn coughs slightly. "Oh, ah. Right. That. Well!"

He stands up a little straighter and puffs out his chest. "I was a good pick except for the whole 'not a pony' part. So I asked my Mother to help me out there and... well... I sacrificed my birthright. Which means the 'not a pony' part has been taken care of. Well worth it to help my friends."

[Lord Magtok]

Ponies

Magtok shakes his head.

"What? No, I never said anything about not flailing around like an idiot in Inside looking for her. The Sat's there to supplement your search, not replace it entirely. It's a huge city, and we're looking for just one mere mare in it, right?"

Besides, hasn't this MagCave had enough to do with ponies already?

"I can just teleport you there or something if I find her first."

Man, what was even the point of mentioning the MagSat? You know that narrative influences exist, Maggy. They're supposed to wander around a bit, and then stumble right into the purple pony just in time to behold something suitably dramatic and terrible, and then nicely ask her to stop. When that fails, reasoning, followed by fighting, is supposed to occur. Come on, Maggy! This is like, plot formula 101 stuff here!

Catgirls and Corridors

"Yep! There's one less bearded rapey lightning god running amok. Took him down with exactly the same sort of freaky forehead pregnancy he started all of this with, and televised it so people would really believe he was dead, since that's where his power and stuff probably comes from. A portal in his drink, plus a charging god-goat stumbling into the other portal, and it was over. I really don't know how, but it was his head that blew up, not his gut, which is where the portal was supposed to be. God pregnancies are weird."

Wow, he's really quite proud of all of that, isn't he? Man, this Magtok is going to be so bummed out when he learns that this was all the work of a smelly, excommunicated traitor clone.

"That planet thing doesn't sound anywhere near as fun, though. Or even halfway pleasant, for that matter. "

Probably why she decided to come here after that bit of business was concluded. So what are you going to do now that Libby's back, anyways? There's no mortality issues to worry about on your part, and eliminating Zeus probably took care of any lingering deity issues.

Mess Hall With a Fellow Cyborg

"Alright. I guess that's something, for now. Waiting for the two to come out of hiding is bound to result in some sort of mayhem, though. I was thinking maybe I'd tell the vampires in that region to keep an eye out, but even if, by some strange miracle, they actually wanted to help, telling them to 'watch for a totally nondescript and ordinary MagClone accompanied by a shapeshifter woman who could be anyone at all' isn't going to do much, is it? Something our renegade probably thought of or will think of too, seeing as how I'm thinking it."

Aaargh! How is Ant-tok supposed to outwit and outmaneuver this deadly foe when they're both using exactly the same brain? That deity cyborg is cheating, I tell you! Every time Mag thinks he's got a plan, that other clone has probably imagined the same exact plan, and might as well be reading his notes over his shoulder!

"We'll just catch him when he catch him, I guess. If it's all the same with you though, I'd rather we not put them into the penal company when the time comes. The two've certainly committed enough evil to warrant a firing squad, and I won't exactly be able to show my face in public ever again, much less make eye contact with Cassius, if the Nexus hears a MagClone hooked up with one of them."

I guess you're not going to tell Missy how this whole mess with Linda started, then? That she never actually died when you reported her death to Remnant, and Godtok was merely the unlucky third in a series of clones assigned to interrogate, torture, and demoralize the human supremacist? Probably for the best that you don't, but I doubt you'll be sleeping well tonight, will you?

Mainframe Design

"So we need compatibility with human tools and such, a pleasant and unintimidating appearance, adequate non-verbal communication ability, and the ability to run on those very same hands or feet or appendages that are operating the aforementioned human tools. I'm not missing anything, am I?" *Snerk* Human tools

Magtok pulls out a notepad, and begins sketching something. Look like he's got an idea as to how to get all of that stuff to work, guys! It's just such a shame he has absolutely no drawing ability whatsoever though, because the end result of such scrawling and scribbling is completely indecipherable, and he sounded like he had an idea where he was going with this.

"Okay, so what I'm thinking right now? Emote-box. We put a television screen in the middle of the torso, and it displays whatever feelings Mainframe might want to express with a variety of cartoony faces. Or text, I guess, if a feeling comes up and we don't already have something for it."

...Wait. So you're suggesting that Mainframe be turned into some sort of robot teletubby or something here? Magtok, I'm not sure that's the best idea.

[happyturtle]

Mess Hall

"So is this the dark stuff you mentioned in your note? Or is there more?" Missy asks.

[Reinholdt]

Mainframe Design

"So... why not just make it a chimp? I mean, monkeys aren't the cutest, but they aren't intimidating either, and some people find them adorable." Smaller monkeys anyways. Big ones can be scary.

It's got to be better than Mainframe teletubby though.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Still Ponies]

Silly plot formula.
Why are you so static?

"Whaaaaat. Lame. How is that supposed to save us any time, Monkeybutt? You're just making it sound all...complicated."
Rainbow Dash disagrees with Magtok's idea that they should go search separately.
"What if you find her while we're in the completely wrong direction, huh? We'll waste time!"

Thankfully, Fluttershy was paying better attention and offers just a touch of reason. Even if it is somewhat perplexed reason, judging by the facial expressions of her and Luna.
"Well...he did say he could teleport us?"
"How will you accomplish that?"


Rarity coughs a bit and waits for the others to realize what Sigil said.
Something that only seems to really dawn on Luna and Applejack, unfortunately. Rainbow Dash is too distracted by Magtok, and Fluttershy by trying to be sanity.
Pinkie Pie is just smiling expectantly, staring off towards the city.

"So...yer gonna take Twilight's place, just like that. Huh, well. Better somepony we knew, I guess."

"There is merit to the idea. Considering our current timetable, I doubt we would be able to find another viable candidate before it was too late."

Speaking of too late, ponies should probably get a move on.


[Catgirls and Grumpy Raptors]

Bad Rhode, stop stalking behind Maggy and wistfully staring at his spine!
Save that for later.

"That's...a very unique solution to the problem."
Portal'd god-goat to the face. Inside-face.
Most definitely not your usual assassination technique.

Libby can't say she's seen quite that kind of action in awhile.
"Hmmm, perhaps he hadn't swallowed yet."

Smiling away that little bit of musing, the reaper proceeds to congratulate the cyborg for his deicide.
Which, really, is probably not something a sane person would do.
"Brilliant work, though. I'm glad to see all of your planning and effort didn't go to waste. That's why you're my favorite genius.
Accomplishing anything with a little flare."
In this case, the flare being the explosion of a god's head, but hey whatever.

She fails to let her smile drop at the mention of her work. Back at the Cave, she's going to be happy! Happy or bust.
"Not very pleasant, no, but those things happen sometimes in sufficiently advanced wars.
Just another risk in mortal choice."

[Rebonack]

[Through the Portal!]

Sigil winces slightly at AJ's summery of the situation. "I... no. I couldn't possibly take Twilight's place. I'll just be holding onto her hat for a little while until she's feeling like herself again. Hopefully it'll work out."

That seems like a suitable way to describe it.

"Magtok should be able to drop in some new portals for us to use if he catches sign of any trouble. That satellite of his is pretty fancy after all. So c'mon! Let's go save a friend, right?"

Off through the portal he goes!

Hopefully with the others close behind.

[Terumitsu]

[Firing Range]

"Well.. With the energies involved, unless the being in question was quite large, the damage would likely be fatal before visible flames would manifest." the muse explained. Not that it makes things any less noticible but it would at least aid in preventing any forwarni-Wait, did he just ask for more? The brief moment of silence that followed Riss' explanation was nevertheless eventful if only in her mind. Okay.. This is.. Good. I mean, yes this is one of the better possible outcomes but it's not one that I was greatly expecting given.. Okay, stop with the stalling and say you understand or something!

A second of stammering later and the muse managed to find her words. A marked improvement over the near minute or more it used to require. "I-I understand. Sir. I may perform a few minor modifications in the final product but that only pertains to compacting the components into a protective chasis and removing a few unnessesary implements to reduce weight." she said. It wouldn't do to have just bundles of wires and components hanging out at odd angles. It was simply unprofessional.

"And, uh.. Sir? Do you have some time for a few questions?"