Fallout Equestria: Tarts and Tribulations

[Forum Explorer]

Viridia smiled when Moonshadow arrived. "Hey, Moonylicious. Why, uh, why are you the one who brought that body here?"

Because no one would help me and Madeline wanted the body here before she'd turn over control of the robots. Moonshadow explained.

[Hazuki]

Because no one would help me and Madeline wanted the body here before she'd turn over control of the robots. Moonshadow explained.

"We have, like, three robot friends and an Earth Pony for hauling stuff." Viridia said. "How are we gonna control the robots?"

[Forum Explorer]

"We have, like, three robot friends and an Earth Pony for hauling stuff." Viridia said. "How are we gonna control the robots?"

And they all refused to help. Moonshadow said, shrugging. Verbally I assume. I mean once we're labeled as their boss, we should be able to give them orders like you did with Dazzler right?

[Dalinale]

Buh, ba, ba, ba, ba! Moonshadow said, holding up a hoof. She took a moment to catch her breath and then continued. Before we disconnect you, we still need to finish up with those jobs I gave you before I went to get your new ride. Where are you at with that?

"Jobs? No, they were not so difficult to justify calling them that. The construct is currently being disposed of, the main supply of feed is currently being prepped to be burned, and the override code for the robots has gone through. In order for them to recognize you as their new owner, the code is ahh, ell, ell, equals, open parenthesis, ahh, ell, deh, iee, ehh, aer, space, iee. Enter that into this my interface after I'm out, and you'll have full control of them." the AI replied, sounding chipper.

"Who called you Madeline?"

"Myself; I just named me a few minutes ago. I think it's a nice name."

Viridia smiled when Moonshadow arrived. "Hey, Moonylicious. Why, uh, why are you the one who brought that body here?"

Because no one would help me and Madeline wanted the body here before she'd turn over control of the robots. Moonshadow explained.

"We have, like, three robot friends and an Earth Pony for hauling stuff." Viridia said. "How are we gonna control the robots?"

And they all refused to help. Moonshadow said, shrugging. Verbally I assume. I mean once we're labeled as their boss, we should be able to give them orders like you did with Dazzler right?

Madeline quietly hummed to herself as the pegasi talked to one another.

"Well, certainly looks used." Doc pats Bertly. "How good is your biotech knowledge? We should check the cabinets for any documents on how they make the feed and the little mutant critters around here."

"I worked for the Ministry of Peace; I have forgotten more about biotechnology then all the ponies I'v known put together!" Bertly grumbled, his tone obviously put on. The robot quickly picked a shelf and began sifting through files, regardless.

Doc first checks the percolator to see if it was recently used (i.e. is it warm?) and then started rummaging through filing cabinets and papers.

Per [roll0] v. 7
Luck [roll1] v. 6

The percolator hadn't been used recently, or in the last hundred years, given the half inch of dust inside it, but that meant that it was probably worth something.

There were actually only two cabinets on the desk; both were locked; he did find a key on the desk, but it didn't look like it belonged to either of the cabinets in question.

Anyway, after a few minutes, between files of engineering maintenance logs, he managed to find several files of immediate interest that were clustered together;

- One was labeled 'Equipment and Accessories Guide'; this was paired with another called 'Basic Handling (Draft)', and one called 'Media Examples'; these were all bundled together with a rubber band and looked older then most of the other files in the room by a few margins, and they were all quite thin.

- "Original Product Draft', 'Biotoy Biology', 'Biotoy Physiology', and 'Biotoy Psychology (Revised)' were in a similar state to the ones Doc found, looking older then most of the other files, although they each contained a great deal of paper each.

- 'Facility Overview', 'Handling and Interacting with the Product', and 'What We Do; a Orientation' were nestled in a mostly gutted HR section of the files.

- There was also a vast array of various experiments that apparently went on here, as a good half of the room seemed dedicated to vaguely titled folders, labeled 'Experiment 1A' to 'Experiment 56f', in a rough order. There was roughly enough to go through that it would take the average pony the better part of a year to get through it all.

[Pick a folder or a folder section to examine, one at a time. Searching through the experiment logs will take Int rolls to find anything in specific.]

Choro laughs, honestly kind of relieved. It's dank, to be sure, but after everything else they've been through... somehow the clutter is soothing to the little mage. She can almost picture the old tan coated stallion sitting at his desk, the smell of coffee wafting across the room. She glances from side to side, humming. Why was this compartmentalized? Aloud, she posited to the group, "Three labs. Six of us. Shall we split up? We're all close by and we could search the area more efficiently as teams of two."

"Choro, no, that's how horror movies work." Strata said quietly, mostly to herself, before coughing into a hoof and glancing at the desk in the middle of the room.

Before they make a decision however, Choro takes a look at the terminal, tapping away at it and bringing tools out of her saddlebags. If she could get it online and operational, it might provide a decent starting point

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[roll0] Science 90 to get this thing on and take a look at what's inside.

It was a basic system, one without any connection with the outside, but it opened up easily.

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========================

Clearance: Eyes Only
CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL
CRUNCH/MUNCH/LUNCH| VIOLATION VTP-01212
========================

> Prime Directives

> Experiment Abstracts

> Employees

> Hippocratic Holdings/Chief Scientist Guide

[Inspector Valin]

"Eyes only? What, did they think somepony was going to read it with their flank?"

Choro might have snorted. but the list of contents quickly makes the little wizard look intense. This is what she was here for! Well, a significant part of it at least. All of these demand her attention, but best to start from the top. She brings up the Prime Directives option

[DigoDragon]

"Eyes only? What, did they think somepony was going to read it with their flank?"

"Wha...? Well that's random."

"I worked for the Ministry of Peace; I have forgotten more about biotechnology then all the ponies I'v known put together!" Bertly grumbled, his tone obviously put on. The robot quickly picked a shelf and began sifting through files, regardless.

"Apologies Bertly. Of course you have a vast database on the subject. Carry on, and let me know if you discover anything relevant." Doc grabs the percolator and the key. Maybe the latter goes to one of the two doors here. He reads through the collection 'Facility Overview', 'Handling and Interacting with the Product', and 'What We Do; a Orientation' first, to get an idea of how this place operated. Or was meant to operate.

[Dalinale]

Stellar found herself in a room that, if it were any other place, would be a technological marvel that she could spend weeks studying and picking apart. Unfortunately, it was now a room that contained a AI, there was a corpse in it, now, and Moonshadow and Viridia apparently knew a little more about it then she really did. Her best option, really, was to check out the corpse and go through with the cybersurgery; she was better qualified at it then Moonshadow, probably.

[She should roll Mechanics and Science, and she can roll something else as she sees fit.]

[RCgothic]

Ah, right. Mechanics. The theoretician's flaw! Well this ought to be interesting.

Science (1d100)[48] Vs 65
Mechanics (1d100)[87] Vs 17
Luck (1d10)[1] Vs 6

[Dalinale]

"Eyes only? What, did they think somepony was going to read it with their flank?"

Choro might have snorted. but the list of contents quickly makes the little wizard look intense. This is what she was here for! Well, a significant part of it at least. All of these demand her attention, but best to start from the top. She brings up the Prime Directives option

Prime Directives... appeared to be a great mess of error codes and corruption errors.

"Apologies Bertly. Of course you have a vast database on the subject. Carry on, and let me know if you discover anything relevant." Doc grabs the percolator and the key. Maybe the latter goes to one of the two doors here. He reads through the collection 'Facility Overview', 'Handling and Interacting with the Product', and 'What We Do; a Orientation' first, to get an idea of how this place operated. Or was meant to operate.

Most of the files contents seemed to have been typed out at some point and have been edited by hoof. In addition, they contained diagrams that roughly matched up with it's contents. Due to the picture-heavy nature, there was less to read in the files then first appeared.

Spoiler: Facility Overview

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This is a state of the art facility; does it look like a dump? Yeah, it does, but this is a secret underground base and we don't need creature comforts, even the creatures; also, it isn't a dump, it's durable. This building is roughly shaped like a hexagon; there are four labs and one office room, with corridors connecting each of them. There is a external maintenance entrance that is between lab A and B, but it is for the use of the robots only. If you need assistance from the guys working upstairs, go up there. This does not cover the farms; we don't have access to the schematics for those, so don't ask. If you really need assistance with anything, they'll send a engineer.

Lab A and Lab B are the animal colony rooms; the difference between the two is that Lab A is focused more towards studying individuals and small groups while Lab B features a unique environment where many large groups of the bioproducts can interact with each other in the manner in which they were designed to do so by their original creators.

Lab C differs from the previous two due to containing most of the support functions for the others; it contains the surgical area, the necropsy area, and last, but not least, the supplies closet. Lab C might be called the Lab Closet, because it contains the food, bedding, toys, and other necessities for the charges in here.

Lab D contains the procedure labs and the testing grounds for the purpose of utilizing the creatures as food; you will be briefed on that if you are assigned to it.

Also, there's a bathroom in each hallway, and while we do not have a break room, we are allowed full use of Crunchmunch's upstairs break room.

Spoiler: Handling and Interacting with the Product

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The bioproduct, while now being focused on as a food source, was originally developed for the purpose of being companionship animals for young children. In other words, they are meant to be interacted with by ponies; hence, a poor reaction from them, regardless of the toy's apparent immaturity, may very well be the handlers fault.

To grab hold of a individual bioproduct of any size, one must simply secure it in a manner akin to securing and lifting a small dog; place a limb behind it's back legs as you place a limb around it's torso, and lift upwards until both limbs are under the bioproduct's back legs and head respectively. If this cannot be done safely, such as in the case of a disobedient individual or a pregnant or wounded bioproduct, a unicorn with a levitation certification can be contacted. In the case of healthy individuals, discipline is expected in the case of disobedience; however, for the purposes of the work done here, picking the bioproducts up by the scruff or the tail is explicitly forbidden. These principles are sound regardless of the size or age of the bioproduct in question.

In the case of interacting with the bioproduct in a non-industrial environment, such as this, friendly contact can usually be initiated by offering the bioproduct food or offering to be it's new owner. These creatures were created to serve as pets for young children, and have the mentality suited towards that; they are naturally cheery, happy, and eager to play and sing and dance, no matter the competence they display for those tasks. Among the greatest driving forces in their artificial brains is to find a mother or father willing to care for them; this can be a five-year old filly, or a elderly stallion. However, this is forbidden in this facility except in controlled groups. Another vital driving force for these creatures is the desire for a name; they will not name themselves in their natural state, as the bond between a owner and it's new pet was meant to be solidified by the new owner naming the bioproduct.

Spoiler: What We Do; a Orientation

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Hippocratic Holdings, jointly owned by the brothers Flim and Flam, is the secret parent company of Crunchmunch, and many other brands throughout Equestria. However, the flagship company of Hippocratic Holdings is Hippocratic Research; paired with Hippocratic Energy and Hippocratic Industries, Hippocratic Research is fueled by creating products for the Equestrian government and then re-purposing those products for Equestrian sale.

The Bio-Toys (note the capitalization) are the end result of a failure of Hippocratic Holdings; while they have participated in contracts for the Equestrian government in the science of bioengineering lifeforms en mass, the Bio-Toys were deemed too extreme when information about them were leaked to the Equestrian government, and information regarding them were seized and destroyed, with the front company shut down.

While it was true that the vast majority of the Bio-Toys were destroyed during the initial raid and the vast majority of the research regarding them were truly destroyed, along with many of the main researchers on the project jailed, a hutch of the creatures survived and many of the scientists who work here to today participated in the initial project. In truth, while Equestria might not yet accept the Bio-Toys as acceptable, they can still have a purpose.

Most of the work here is truly done in preparation to attempt to begin the sale of the Bio-Toys as what they were meant to be in the near future. These are creatures with unconditional love and a idealized look at the world inherent in their systems; these are creatures meant to be in loving homes. They are very similar to a idealized image of a Equestrian pony many foreigners once held, creatures of irrelevancy and song and play.

It's our job to make sure they taste good and that Hippocratic can turn a profit while we're stuck in a massive basement sharing several other examples of Hippocratic Holding's incompetence. We get weekends off and there's a bar downtown that we go to.

Ah, right. Mechanics. The theoretician's flaw! Well this ought to be interesting.

Science [roll0] Vs 65
Mechanics [roll1] Vs 17
Luck [roll2] Vs 6

First things first; besides the slight scuffing on the face, the body was remarkably not ugly.

Anyway, more important matters; the corpse was a technological marvel. This was, in fact, a full cyborg, one that was advanced enough to give the appearance of being made of flesh. In addition, this was a custom job; either this was a pony who was turned into metal through some sort of fantastical magic, or someone made a gynoid who perfectly resembled a pony.

Also, Stellar found something very interesting, although a little gross; there was a small holding-compartment like object hidden inside the back of the cyborg's throat, about the width of half a bit and present where the tonsol's normally be. This wouldn't be that interesting if it weren't for the fact that it appeared to be a actual miniature black box of the sort that was designed to take nearly everything, from EMP blasts to directed magical assaults.

Now, someone just needed to wiggle it out.

[The cyberpony in question has a Full-Body Replacement, along with a Grade A Cyberheart and Optical Scanners. Someone should likely roll Mechanics (or Medicine with a -10 to the roll) to remove the tiny information storage device.]

[Inspector Valin]

The little mage tuts as she scrolls through the corrupted data. Hardly the first time she's had to encounter issues like this, but it remains annoying. Backing out to the main screen, Choro continues her way down the list, opening up Experimental Abstracts next.

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I'm not sure if it's helpful for me to go one by one, or open them all at once. Choro's a pretty focused pony; she might add snarky commentary but I can see her finishing this before doing anything else. If it's helpful, have her continue on from Abstracts to Employees and Chief Scientist Guide

[RCgothic]

At some point once it became clear that there was no immediate risk of infection Stellar has changed out of her hazardous environment suit and back into her security barding.

"There's a little black box in here! I wonder if I can..." She considers attempting to wiggle to black box or of the, but thinks better of it.

"No. Sorry Madeleine, but the installation procedure is beyond my abilities."
Stellar brushes her mane out of her face with a hoof, frowning when it gets caught in a tangle. She gently works it loose as she speaks.

"We'll need to wait for Doc or Choro to get back. I have to say, it's a very impressive body! I'm a little jealous! I'm too attached to my own to make that kind of change though."

[Forum Explorer]

"Jobs? No, they were not so difficult to justify calling them that. The construct is currently being disposed of, the main supply of feed is currently being prepped to be burned, and the override code for the robots has gone through. In order for them to recognize you as their new owner, the code is ahh, ell, ell, equals, open parenthesis, ahh, ell, deh, iee, ehh, aer, space, iee. Enter that into this my interface after I'm out, and you'll have full control of them." the AI replied, sounding chipper.
[/COLOR]

Great! Let me just write that down. Moonshadow said, copying the code to her Pipbuck so she'd be able to remember it.

Speaking of your new ride, will it work right when it's missing whatever it was using for blood? Also a leg, but I'm assuming we can just weld that back on.

[DigoDragon]

"Hey Choro, here's a care and feeding guide if you wanted to raise a farm off little chubby boneless donkey things," Doc said, holding up the paper for just a moment. "Apparently Hippocratic Holdings was some company owned by two brothers. It got raided by the government, but CrunchMunch was overlooked because it was an unspoken subsidiary. This part can sort of work for a map of the facility."

Doc went through the experiments next, looking to find anything on what this place used for feed, and any mention of diseases that came about.

Int (1d10)[4] v. 7

[Hazuki]

"We'll need to wait for Doc or Choro to get back. I have to say, it's a very impressive body! I'm a little jealous! I'm to attached to my own to make that kind of change though."

"Pfft. There's no body you need to be jealous of." Viridia said. "Except maybe Nightcore, for the padding in winter."'

[Inspector Valin]

Mmm? Choro takes the profered paper from Doc with her magic, floating the file over to her and browsing through it briefly. She remains calm at first, but as she reads the little unicorn's face turns ashen. "They... have you seen..." The paper flies across the room back to Doc, though it's not immediately clear what roused the wizard's emotion's like this.

Choro just stands there for a moment, breathing deeply with her eyes closed and her limbs tense, imagining the ponies here and what they'd done. She wants to call out words she doesn't entirely know, no amount of normal profanity or negative description seems sufficient to encapsulate... this. What the scientists did. What the robots did because of their programming. The stabledweller takes a second to collect herself, before looking back at the terminal, glaring at the screen as if the previous employees could hear her through it. "In nomine Celestis et Lueni et Cadenza, futue te ipsi et mori in igni!"

If they'd still been outside, that might just have echoed all across the massive cavern. Scowling, Choro taps at the terminal, resuming her work but now using her hooves instead of her magic and muttering incomprehensible words under her breath. It felt good to hit things right about now.

[DigoDragon]

"Well ponyfeathers. Choro's speaking in fancy. Anyone know how to reboot a unicorn?" Doc asks the others.

[RCgothic]

"Pfft. There's no body you need to be jealous of." Viridia said. "Except maybe Nightcore, for the padding in winter."'

Stellar smiles. She goes back to poking at the Gynoid, hoping nopony notices her blush.

[Dalinale]

The little mage tuts as she scrolls through the corrupted data. Hardly the first time she's had to encounter issues like this, but it remains annoying. Backing out to the main screen, Choro continues her way down the list, opening up Experimental Abstracts next.

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I'm not sure if it's helpful for me to go one by one, or open them all at once. Choro's a pretty focused pony; she might add snarky commentary but I can see her finishing this before doing anything else. If it's helpful, have her continue on from Abstracts to Employees and Chief Scientist Guide

[Rather it be done one-by-one, because otherwise I'll start to flub stuff.]

Spoiler: Experimental Abstracts

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>1: 'Finding' Bioproducts
Status: Active

> 2: Understanding Anatomy
Status: Active

>2.5: Understanding Psychology
Status: *Special*

> 3: Training Bioproducts
Status: *Special*

> 4: Studies on Pregnant Bioprducts
Status: Active

> 5: Accessory Acceptance
Status: Pending

> 6: Improving Bioproducts
Status: Pending

Experiments marked *Special* have been moved forward in anticipation of

At some point once it became clear that there was no immediate risk of infection Stellar has changed out of her hazardous environment suit and back into her security barding.

"There's a little black box in here! I wonder if I can..." She considers attempting to wiggle to black box or of the, but thinks better of it.

"No. Sorry Madeleine, but the installation procedure is beyond my abilities."
Stellar brushes her mane out of her face with a hoof, frowning when it gets caught in a tangle. She gently works it loose as she speaks.

"We'll need to wait for Doc or Choro to get back. I have to say, it's a very impressive body! I'm a little jealous! I'm to attached to my own to make that kind of change though."

"That's fair. I suppose we have plenty of time." Madeleine replied, "As for body image, the equine form in all of it's variations is perfect the way it is; do not feel the need to be modest."

Great! Let me just write that down. Moonshadow said, copying the code to her Pipbuck so she'd be able to remember it.

Speaking of your new ride, will it work right when it's missing whatever it was using for blood? Also a leg, but I'm assuming we can just weld that back on.

"The blood? From my readings, it's actually a specialized biogel; some food is merely required for the body to produce it." Madeleine replied, sounding cheerful, "As for the leg, if a splint cannot be prepared, I would prefer to leave it as is until a medical specialist can repair it. Fire would damage it, you must understand."

"Hey Choro, here's a care and feeding guide if you wanted to raise a farm off little chubby boneless donkey things," Doc said, holding up the paper for just a moment. "Apparently Hippocratic Holdings was some company owned by two brothers. It got raided by the government, but CrunchMunch was overlooked because it was an unspoken subsidiary. This part can sort of work for a map of the facility."

Strata frowned; Thanatos didn't react to Doc's statement, instead observing Bertly.

Doc went through the experiments next, looking to find anything on what this place used for feed, and any mention of diseases that came about.

Int [roll0] v. 7

There were no detailed files about the issues at hand in the experiment section, but there were two notes in the folder.

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Bioproduct feeding guide:

Nutra-Plus ™ is to be used whenever possible. This was originally made to feed cows for meat purposes; don't touch it, and you'll be fine. If you can't read, it's the golden-brown grainuals in the special containers.

Cutie Kibble ™ is what the bioproducts (marketing called them 'Cuties') were originally engineered to eat; in essence, it's basicly branded dog food with some extra ingredients. The original company was pushing hard for a market somewhere between small and medium-sized pets, and the food products reflect that; there's seven different kinds of kibble, including some for injured, pregnent, and elderly bioproducts. We have several hundred pounds of this, but we can't make more of it. We use it during control experiments where the bioprodcuts are under conditions assumed by the original staff who created them.

'Pony food' is acceptable, but is to be used only to reinforce behavior.

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Alchermes:

I believe we have a issue with the Nutra Plus feed; the bioproducts react oddly to it. A suggestion; focusing on feeding reactions as apposed to simply testing their base behavior. Any creature can be reached through their stomach.

"Pfft. There's no body you need to be jealous of." Viridia said. "Except maybe Nightcore, for the padding in winter."'

"Hahaha, what?" said the AI, sounding lost.

Mmm? Choro takes the profered paper from Doc with her magic, floating the file over to her and browsing through it briefly. She remains calm at first, but as she reads the little unicorn's face turns ashen. "They... have you seen..." The paper flies across the room back to Doc, though it's not immediately clear what roused the wizard's emotion's like this.

Choro just stands there for a moment, breathing deeply with her eyes closed and her limbs tense, imagining the ponies here and what they'd done. She wants to call out words she doesn't entirely know, no amount of normal profanity or negative description seems sufficient to encapsulate... this. What the scientists did. What the robots did because of their programming. The stabledweller takes a second to collect herself, before looking back at the terminal, glaring at the screen as if the previous employees could hear her through it. "In nomine Celestis et Lueni et Cadenza, futue te ipsi et mori in igni!"

If they'd still been outside, that might just have echoed all across the massive cavern. Scowling, Choro taps at the terminal, resuming her work but now using her hooves instead of her magic and muttering incomprehensible words under her breath. It felt good to hit things right about now.

"Well ponyfeathers. Choro's speaking in fancy. Anyone know how to reboot a unicorn?" Doc asks the others.

Thanatos nodded, but Strata spoke, glancing over at the filly with mildly detached worry.

"She should be fine." the unicorn replied, "I mean, anything that could 'reset' her isn't safe for her, at her age."

Stellar smiles. She goes back to poking at the Gynoid, hoping nopony notices her blush.

"Excuse me, are you a homosexual?" said Madeleine, sounding like a innocent filly.

[RCgothic]

Stellar smiles at Madeleine's appraisal of all bodies pony. That does sound very like someone who desperately wants to be one.

"Yes, Doc should be able to patch the leg and the chest wound well enough. I presume the body has some self-healing properties? That would be convenient."

"Hah!"

Stellar laughs at Viridia's joke at Nightcore's expense, explaining it for Madeleine.

"Nightcore is a pony we know in Oakville. Her partner is a very fine cook and it shows. Nightcore is one of the few ponies out here carrying a little extra weight. Viridia's joke is that makes her both warm in winter and comfortable to be intimate with... Not that they have been..." Stellar gives Viridia a sideways look. She's like, 60% sure of that statement. Mostly only because she imagines Nightcore as loyally monogamous. "And that therefore those are rare qualities to be jealous of."

Stellar's ears flatten in embarrassed when asked directly if she's gay.

"That's a very personal question, Madeleine! In general you shouldn't ask, there are ponies out there who could take violent offense to the implication one way or another. If you like somepony its usually easy to tell if they like you back."

Again, Stellar's ears flick.

"But since you asked, it's not really come up for me before. I've been busy! I guess now I'm finding I'm bisexual, actually." Her voice drops a little in the middle as she desperately wants to skip past the reason she's been having that realisation. Not here, not now.

"Why do you ask?"

[Forum Explorer]

"The blood? From my readings, it's actually a specialized biogel; some food is merely required for the body to produce it." Madeleine replied, sounding cheerful, "As for the leg, if a splint cannot be prepared, I would prefer to leave it as is until a medical specialist can repair it. Fire would damage it, you must understand."



"Excuse me, are you a homosexual?" said Madeleine, sounding like a innocent filly.

Well lots of food around here. But not much we can do until we get Choro and Doc get back. Actually, there is one thing.
I found this holodisk on the corpse, can you read and play it?
Moonshadow asked.

Geeze Maddie, learn to be a little more discrete. Moonshadow laughed.

[DigoDragon]

Doc chuckles at Strata's statement. "They musta had some interesting ways to reset a pony in your time."

He takes notes on the files, in case he finds bags with those names on them, but otherwise doesn't seem to happy to find the experiment logs to be useless. "So far I'm not finding anything useful. How goes your search, Bertly? Anything?"

Doc checks the folders Original Product Draft', 'Biotoy Biology', 'Biotoy Physiology', and 'Biotoy Psychology (Revised)'.

[Inspector Valin]

"Te futueo et caballum mensarius tuum..." Choro's low chant of profanities pauses briefly, as the little pony snorts at the commentary of those behind her. "I can hear you, you know! Being angry doesn't make me deaf."

Still, it has shaken her. She can't focus on going through the abstracts like this. Choro sighs, stepping away from the computer for a moment to address the group. "I just... how? How do ponies, Equestrian ponies, end up thinking this way?" She uses the name of the state like an accusation. Equestria's name means a lot to Choro, and to see ponies fail to live up to it is perhaps the biggest sin of all. The young unicorn waves a hoof at the file, "We've created a new form of sentient life to provide companionship for others. They just want to sing, dance, enjoy life and bond with ponies. But the government didn't like it, so... let's chop them up and serve them as meat!"

It's... she lacks the words. The magic to create a new race is beyond impressive, it's inspiring and heart-warming and that makes the end result all the worse. Choro hesitates, considering whether to continue before finally adding a addenda to her words. "Even Dr. Stitchheart was trying to do something noble with her work on Project Butterfly. Her methods were appalling, but she grew up outside Equestria, and... she tries. I think." She goes quiet at that, looking at the floor. She can't defend Dr. Stitchheart to Strata, and can't condemn her in front of Bertly. She's still not quite sure what to make of the good Doctor, between her history and what Choro herself observed, but there's no sense in risking an argument over the matter. After a few seconds, the little wizard turns back to the terminal, continuing to talk as she trots back over to it. "These were ponies born and raised in Equestria, who had nothing directly to do with the war, and they let. this. happen. It's atrocious!"

If any of them were still alive, Choro would dearly love to give them a piece of her mind muzzle to muzzle. A part of her wants to unleash a little destructive magic on the room, just to let her feelings loose. But... she's tired, dang it. And she has stuff to do, stuff that's starting to look somewhat promising. Choro actually smiles just a little as she taps on the machine. There is always room for hope

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Since this is labelled abstracts, can Choro access more information on these various things? If so she's going to look to bring up 2.5, 3, 5 and 6. At your own pace. Her priority is 3, 5, 6 and then 2.5. If she can't bring them up, she's gonna write those numbers down for later and then go back and bring up employees

[DigoDragon]

"Well... you know, Choro, everyone is capable of both good and evil. Even all of us here in this room; Strata, Thanatos, myself, you... maybe not Bertly. He's pure," Doc says to the little unicorn. "We just gotta accept that the whack jobs who built this place said 'hold my beer' and took it to a whole new level. How did they think this way? That I don't know, but now we have the awesome responsibility of correcting that. Focus the energy behind that anger of yours into something productive as a force for good."

[Inspector Valin]

That got a chuckle and a smile from Choro. The little mare turns and winks at Doc, "I'm a wizard, Doctor. That's my job."

With a brief flash of magic, a wheeled chair slowly rolls across the room, letting Choro prop herself up as she turns back to continue investigating the computer. The young wizard continues talking as she taps, "I've also read philosophy books before. The fact that ponies can do evil does not excuse that evil. The ponies here, the ones who designed the creatures and the ones who ran the Lab, set in motion a chain of terrible events... and didn't have to pay for it. They likely just died on the Last Day, along with everypony else. They escaped justice." She glances back at Doc for a second, looking at the stallion curiously, "Doesn't that make you angry? That bad ponies can just... get away with what they do?"

[DigoDragon]

Doc flips through the papers, pausing to answer. "Eh, I suppose I do get angry when someone does a grave injustice and gets away with it. But if I can't do anything about it, then I'm not sure being angry helps anything. What kind of justice would you like the builders to have served?"

[Dalinale]

Stellar smiles at Madeleine's appraisal of all bodies pony. That does sound very like someone who desperately wants to be one.

"Yes, Doc should be able to patch the leg and the chest wound well enough. I presume the body has some self-healing properties? That would be convenient."

"Self-healing, as done by nanomachines activated when raw materials are introduced." Madeleine confirmed.

"Hah!"

Stellar laughs at Viridia's joke at Nightcore's expense, explaining it for Madeleine.

"Nightcore is a pony we know in Oakville. Her partner is a very fine cook and it shows. Nightcore is one of the few ponies out here carrying a little extra weight. Viridia's joke is that makes her both warm in winter and comfortable to be intimate with... Not that they have been..." Stellar gives Viridia a sideways look. She's like, 60% sure of that statement. Mostly only because she imagines Nightcore as loyally monogamous. "And that therefore those are rare qualities to be jealous of."

"Aah, I understand."

Stellar's ears flatten in embarrassed when asked directly if she's gay.

"That's a very personal question, Madeleine! In general you shouldn't ask, there are ponies out there who could take violent offense to the implication one way or another. If you like somepony its usually easy to tell if they like you back."

Again, Stellar's ears flick.

"But since you asked, it's not really come up for me before. I've been busy! I guess now I'm finding I'm bisexual, actually." Her voice drops a little in the middle as she desperately wants to skip past the reason she's been having that realisation. Not here, not now.

"Why do you ask?"

"Well, at last count, factoring in non-native immigrants to the region, roughly eighty to seventy-five percent of Equestrian citizens identified as heterosexual; however, the Golden Horseshoe region has always skewed lower then that for unknown reasons. I have very little information on the current state of the world except what has been immediately presented before me, you must understand. I don't even know if ponies are still a dominant species on this planet, or if the primary language is a Germane-Namadicus creole, or if the Marediterranean is dried up and is currently populated by Prench-speaking horses and zebras who use magic through song. I know none of these things, because my sensors extend only so far and you are the first sentient life forms I have had the pleasure to interact with in some time. I would rather work this all out now before I offend anyone who I would count as suspicious or hostile, as I do believe that body can feel pain."

Well lots of food around here. But not much we can do until we get Choro and Doc get back. Actually, there is one thing.
I found this holodisk on the corpse, can you read and play it?
Moonshadow asked.

"The terminal connected to me has all the functions of a higher-end model; feel free to use it."

Geeze Maddie, learn to be a little more discrete. Moonshadow laughed.

"Well, I would not have asked if I knew it was such a sensitive topic; do you want me to turn off my tact programs?" Madeleine questioned.

Doc chuckles at Strata's statement. "They musta had some interesting ways to reset a pony in your time."

Strata just shrugged.

He takes notes on the files, in case he finds bags with those names on them, but otherwise doesn't seem to happy to find the experiment logs to be useless. "So far I'm not finding anything useful. How goes your search, Bertly? Anything?"

Doc checks the folders Original Product Draft', 'Biotoy Biology', 'Biotoy Physiology', and 'Biotoy Psychology (Revised)'.

Spoiler: Original Product Draft

Show

PROBLEM

The Equestrian toy industry has not caught up to modern standards. With the stresses of the modern age effecting all ranks of society, the refuge of the vulnerable and young, toys and pets, cannot replace true companionship. More elaborate toys and games exist then simple dolls, of course, but these do not provide a refuge for many Equestrians in regions where such things will likely never gain a threshold, such as the mild west and Appleachia. A fine dog can provide companionship and love regardless of one's status or birthright; however, the government cannot give each household in Equestria a basket of puppies, regardless of the legislation that is being pushed by Pinkie Pie.

SOLUTION

The use of biotechnology to create a artificial life form that fills both the rolls of a pet and a toy could fill in a gap in Equestrian domestic life that is currently unfulfilled.

The organisms will be branded not as living things but as 'Cuties': organic, all-natural biological toys with high reliability and low maintenance needs; intrinsic mid-level cognitive capabilities s that allow them to enhance their function based on real-world feedback; human-level problem-solving capabilities, limited dexterity and maneuverability; highly advanced natural language user interfaces that allow them to speak in any language; advanced artificial intelligence that has full facial and environmental recognition; self-repair functions and complete immunity to hacking or magical interference; and environmentally-friendly qualities such as biodegradability.

Biotoy Biology looked gutted, with only one page not covered with enough censors to obscure it's contents entirely.

Spoiler: Biotoy Biology

Show

NOTE: The vast majority of these files were compromised during the inital raid, and much of the exact details are being rediscovered over time.

The following list contains the DNA of the lifeforms that were used to create the biotoys; for more in depth information, consult your supervisor.


49% Pony

12% Grey Parrot

14% Cavy

5% Dog

3% Cat

1% Rabbit

2% Gerbil

The rest hasn't been determined yet; it's pretty clear that the geneticists in charge of making these creatures were either geniuses or were winging it half the time. This file will be updated later, when I get paid

Biotoy Physiology contained a great deal of diagrams, but it also looked like it had been edited at some point.

Spoiler: Biotoy Physiology

Show

These organisms will be marketed and designed for useage by young children with adult supervision, and their bodies respect this ideal.

The biotoy's have a Equine bone structure, albeit one with a head that comprises of one-fourth it's total mass. This is the result of a great deal of labor involving the development of the biotoy's artificial brain, which was to be consistent in development while not sacrificing it's ability to learn and develop a individual 'personality'. The biotoy's brain, pound for pound, is larger in ratio of it's body then a pony foals; regardless of it's 'baby talk', it has a great capacity for language and it has a great deal of artificial 'instincts' that are beneficial to it's status as a pet-like biotoy. The biotoy's eyes are also very large and are so to express a great deal of emotion and 'cuteness'.

The biotoy's fluffy coat is similar to that of many artificial polymers and does not soil easily; it comes in a variety of colors that can be controlled through genetic manipulation. The coat itself is a excellent heat insulator, but adsorbs water quickly; as the biotoy's have no natural swimming ability, access to bodies of water are dangerous. This coat can be trimmed and styled, but removal of it is detrimental to the biotoy.

The biotoy's hoof pads outwardly resemble hooves. but in fact consist of soft flesh. This, along with their short legs which allow for only a limited amount of movement, is to prevent the biotoy from outwardly hurting others. The biotoy should not be left unattended on surfaces such as gravel or rough sand; it is a strictly 'indoor' toy.

The biotoy has fragile body overall; it has naturally loose teeth, brittle bones and weak leg muscles, as it is meant to be unable to pose a threat to a even the youngest of pony foals. The biotoy's skin is similarly weak, as well.

The biotoy's internal organs are of some note; even when starving, it will have a protruding stomach due to it's large digestive system and the gathering of fat in that general area. The biotoy's lungs are small for a creature of it's size, a flaw that was deemed accessible during production, as it is not designed for any kind of real strenuous activity. It's digestive system is very large, with a large intestine being very large in order to process low-nutrient foods and store waste matter longer then most equines at any one time. The biotoy's large intestine can also store a great deal of water, as well. The biotoy's heart is a standard equine heart and is of little importance.

The biotoy life cycle, while complex, can be summed up as a simple newborn-weanling-adolescent-adult cycle. See the appropriate files regarding the biotoy's life cycle.

The adult biotoy is meant to stand roughly eight to ten inches tall and weigh somewhere between eight to ten pounds, although natural variations are encoded in their genetics. Newborns weigh on average five ounces and are extremely fragile.

For information regarding biotoy reproduction, see the appropriate study.

The biotoy is not designed to be strong, stealthy, resilient, or intelligent.

Biotoy Psychology (Revised), unfortunately, just contained a sheaf of blank paper.

"Te futueo et caballum mensarius tuum..." Choro's low chant of profanities pauses briefly, as the little pony snorts at the commentary of those behind her. "I can hear you, you know! Being angry doesn't make me deaf."

Still, it has shaken her. She can't focus on going through the abstracts like this. Choro sighs, stepping away from the computer for a moment to address the group. "I just... how? How do ponies, Equestrian ponies, end up thinking this way?" She uses the name of the state like an accusation. Equestria's name means a lot to Choro, and to see ponies fail to live up to it is perhaps the biggest sin of all. The young unicorn waves a hoof at the file, "We've created a new form of sentient life to provide companionship for others. They just want to sing, dance, enjoy life and bond with ponies. But the government didn't like it, so... let's chop them up and serve them as meat!"

It's... she lacks the words. The magic to create a new race is beyond impressive, it's inspiring and heart-warming and that makes the end result all the worse. Choro hesitates, considering whether to continue before finally adding a addenda to her words. "Even Dr. Stitchheart was trying to do something noble with her work on Project Butterfly. Her methods were appalling, but she grew up outside Equestria, and... she tries. I think." She goes quiet at that, looking at the floor. She can't defend Dr. Stitchheart to Strata, and can't condemn her in front of Bertly. She's still not quite sure what to make of the good Doctor, between her history and what Choro herself observed, but there's no sense in risking an argument over the matter. After a few seconds, the little wizard turns back to the terminal, continuing to talk as she trots back over to it. "These were ponies born and raised in Equestria, who had nothing directly to do with the war, and they let. this. happen. It's atrocious!"

"Choro, I know about things worse then this that was made by the government, and those ponies were not trying to make money off it. Making genetic hybrids isn't really up there in the list of magical sins; I mean, Twilight Sparkle once created a species of frog-orange hybrids that ended up being a regional delicacy. I mean, this place is really ****ed up, but it's just a bunch of ****ed up things pushed together then anything really cartoonishly evil. I'm pretty sure Robr..."

Strata seemed to remember that there was a robot in the room, and coughed in a hoof before continuing.

"I mean, the only reason this place exists is because someone expected to make mountains of money from it. Besides, it sounded like Equestria wasn't willing to allow for creatures designed to love ponies to be distributed, which I'm kind of surprised, because last time I checked, dog-scorpion hybrids were being used down south as guard animals. Why do you think that happened?"

]If any of them were still alive, Choro would dearly love to give them a piece of her mind muzzle to muzzle. A part of her wants to unleash a little destructive magic on the room, just to let her feelings loose. But... she's tired, dang it. And she has stuff to do, stuff that's starting to look somewhat promising. Choro actually smiles just a little as she taps on the machine. There is always room for hope

Spoiler

Show

Since this is labelled abstracts, can Choro access more information on these various things? If so she's going to look to bring up 2.5, 3, 5 and 6. At your own pace. Her priority is 3, 5, 6 and then 2.5. If she can't bring them up, she's gonna write those numbers down for later and then go back and bring up employees

Minor issue; each time she clicked on a option, it was demanding a unique password for the relevant experiment. A rather secure system, and obviously annoying.

(Science rolls will be necessary to crack open each experiment log unless a password list is found.)

"Well... you know, Choro, everyone is capable of both good and evil. Even all of us here in this room; Strata, Thanatos, myself, you... maybe not Bertly. He's pure," Doc says to the little unicorn. "We just gotta accept that the whack jobs who built this place said 'hold my beer' and took it to a whole new level. How did they think this way? That I don't know, but now we have the awesome responsibility of correcting that. Focus the energy behind that anger of yours into something productive as a force for good."

That got a chuckle and a smile from Choro. The little mare turns and winks at Doc, "I'm a wizard, Doctor. That's my job."

With a brief flash of magic, a wheeled chair slowly rolls across the room, letting Choro prop herself up as she turns back to continue investigating the computer. The young wizard continues talking as she taps, "I've also read philosophy books before. The fact that ponies can do evil does not excuse that evil. The ponies here, the ones who designed the creatures and the ones who ran the Lab, set in motion a chain of terrible events... and didn't have to pay for it. They likely just died on the Last Day, along with everypony else. They escaped justice." She glances back at Doc for a second, looking at the stallion curiously, "Doesn't that make you angry? That bad ponies can just... get away with what they do?"

Thanatos shook his head.

"The world is neither benevolent nor malevolent, but is founded on abstract concepts that are are not suitable to be used for moral guidance or the creation of codes of conduct. Truly evil individuals can have strong, lasting friendships; a group of raiders could likely activate the Elements of Harmony, while a winter warlord could pine for his lovers enough to activate the Crystal Heart. Celestia and Luna did not become who they were because of some inherent greatness, but gained control of the sun and moon because their own will. Discord the Demiurge was perhaps the most powerful being in the universe, and his will was cruel and could only be sealed away, not destroyed.

Ponies elsewhere in the world hold to beliefs that there is a powerful seapony who controls the tides, and that a quartet of equines in some hidden realm that each have domain of one of the four seasons. To use the Ministry Mares as a method of life-guidance has the intellectual depth of using a children's cartoon as the basis of a functional philosophy. If you desire a world based on good, do not look towards ancient dead mares; you have the potential to seize control of the sun itself, as all ponies do. Do not act as if you cannot enforce your will on the world; if this world is truly controlled by a malevolent power, you can seek it out and take it's place. If you do not think that is reasonable, consider enforcing your will on a smaller scale and do what you wish."


Strata, meanwhile, stared at the thuggish stallion with her mouth hanging open slightly, eyes wide, as if Thanatos was juggling pies instead of standing in the room and staring at Choro unpityingly.

[DigoDragon]

human-level problem-solving capabilities

"Huh. Wonder what's a human."

"The world is neither benevolent nor malevolent, but is founded on abstract concepts that are are not suitable to be used for moral guidance or the creation of codes of conduct. Truly evil individuals can have strong, lasting friendships; a group of raiders could likely activate the Elements of Harmony, while a winter warlord could pine for his children enough to activate the Crystal Heart. Celestia and Luna did not become who they were because of some inherent greatness, but gained control of the sun and moon because their own will. Discord the Demiurge was perhaps the most powerful being in the universe, and his will was cruel and could only be sealed away, not destroyed.

Ponies elsewhere in the world hold to beliefs that there is a powerful seapony who controls the tides, and that a quartet of equines in some hidden realm that each have domain of one of the four seasons. To use the Ministry Mares as a method of life-guidance has the intellectual depth of using a children's cartoon as the basis of a functional philosophy. If you desire a world based on good, do not look towards ancient dead mares; you have the potential to seize control of the sun itself, as all ponies do. Do not act as if you cannot enforce your will on the world; if this world is truly controlled by a malevolent power, you can seek it out and take it's place. If you do not think that is reasonable, consider enforcing your will on a smaller scale and do what you wish."

Doc yawned and tossed the files he just read on the floor. Boring rubbish. Stars and moon, why can't he find what he was looking for. If that AI lied, he would personally yank it's circuitry apart. Doc stretched his legs. "Pretty sure 'do what you wish' is exactly the reason your family isn't well liked by the majority of this party, but at least you're consistent with your concept that there's no good and evil, only perspective. The only problem with that, in my opinion, is who's perspective is the one calling the shots."

"Now, my grandpa would have words about the first part of your thought process. He was a bard, used to tell me some stories about those old relics. Like for instance, the Elements of Harmony aren't simply a tool that just any friendly raider could set off. They're connected to a consciousness, created from the essence of long ago ponykind. Probably the age where all the wizards dressed like Choro. No offense. Anyway, this consciousness seeks out the right ponies with a special kind of spark to attune to each element. Since no one's witnessed such a thing in nearly two hundred years, it is perhaps that the elements lie in wait for just the right ponies to step forth. The story he tells of the crystal heart is it doesn't 'activate' for a pining warlord. Not like a basic magic item. The heart is an amplifier, attuned to the hearts of crystal ponies and amplifies their joy and love. Not sure exactly how that works, but if I ever see a crystal pony, I'd probably ask."

Doc muses his old memories of his grandfather for a bit. "Hmm, well I reckon everyone's got their own version of those legends. But right now, I really would love to find the one version of the crap this factory made here so I can get some formulas. If the files ain't here, then either someone got to 'em first or that AI is a lying pile of circuits. Anyway, maybe it's time to check out the side labs.""

Doc walks over to Lab A and checks if the door's locked.

[Forum Explorer]

"The terminal connected to me has all the functions of a higher-end model; feel free to use it."



"Well, I would not have asked if I knew it was such a sensitive topic; do you want me to turn off my tact programs?" Madeleine questioned.

Cool, Moonshadow said, moving over to the terminal and plugging in the holodisk.

Wait, turn off your tact programs? And that would make you more tactful? she asked, raising an eyebrow.

[Dalinale]

Doc yawned and tossed the files he just read on the floor. Boring rubbish. Stars and moon, why can't he find what he was looking for. If that AI lied, he would personally yank it's circuitry apart. Doc stretched his legs. "Pretty sure 'do what you wish' is exactly the reason your family isn't well liked by the majority of this party, but at least you're consistent with your concept that there's no good and evil, only perspective. The only problem with that, in my opinion, is who's perspective is the one calling the shots."

"You are correct." Thanatos replied, without additional clarification.

"Now, my grandpa would have words about the first part of your thought process. He was a bard, used to tell me some stories about those old relics. Like for instance, the Elements of Harmony aren't simply a tool that just any friendly raider could set off. They're connected to a consciousness, created from the essence of long ago ponykind. Probably the age where all the wizards dressed like Choro. No offense. Anyway, this consciousness seeks out the right ponies with a special kind of spark to attune to each element. Since no one's witnessed such a thing in nearly two hundred years, it is perhaps that the elements lie in wait for just the right ponies to step forth. The story he tells of the crystal heart is it doesn't 'activate' for a pining warlord. Not like a basic magic item. The heart is an amplifier, attuned to the hearts of crystal ponies and amplifies their joy and love. Not sure exactly how that works, but if I ever see a crystal pony, I'd probably ask."

"Those are old rocks; do you not think that Equestria created things equal to or superior to such artifacts? Was the Crystal Heart not a megaspell? If the Elements of Harmony are unwilling to manifest in what pockets of goodness exist in Equestria, then they are suited to be ignored; ponies held those virtues before they came to be, and they continue to do so. To cling too strongly to the ideals held by those that led to the apocalypse is a foolish thing; look at the world, do you believe that it can be controlled by any who is truly happy? To reach for the heights once held by the ancients, one should rely on one's will, which is limitless."

Thanatos took a moment to stretch out his back legs, otherwise appearing relaxed in the current environment.

Doc walks over to Lab A and checks if the door's locked.

(Roll Luck and Perception.)

Cool, Moonshadow said, moving over to the terminal and plugging in the holodisk.

After a few moments, the holodisk began to play. A young voice, slightly scratchy and angry, began to speak.

"Alright, so, I'm recording this because I want something physical in case something goes bad. My name is Flawless Trick, and I'm pretty sure there's some sort of conspiracy going on.

First things first; I'm a mercenary, so I'v seen some weird ****, and this is some weird ****. I have spent two years working for the Olive Family, a local trader family that has bad relations with the donkey traders who run half the stuff in Manehatten. They're like a Appleachian clan, but *******s. Anyway, they pay steady, but a few days ago I talked to their paymaster, Cured Olive, and he said he had a job for me; a quick investigation in a factory on the east end of the city that's infested with robots. I said why not, and I got the gang together and we headed for Ministry Row.

After two days, I got woken up and there was a ****'n wizard standing outside my room, wearing a big hat with a curled end and everything. This was a big bitch, horse sized and black as night, standing outside in the snow in some purple robes. She didn't say her name, but she wanted me to do the exact same thing the Olives wanted, but wanted me to keep track if I'd seen anything else odd about the place, like other cyberponies. Alright, great, ****ing creepy, but that's wizards for you.

Anyway, I tell the gang this, and the pegasus thinks that whatever's going on in the factory is super-important, and that there's some high technology in there. I mean, that's super-****ing obvious, but he has a point. So, I stay up as the nightly guard so everyone else gets some good sleep.

Everything's good for a week after that, until my mother bucking cyber-doctor actually tracks me down at the inn I'm staying at; anyway, Silicon Safeguard doesn't want me to go to the factory. I say that I won't, and she left. I'm going to go there, anyway, but I'm weirded out."

Wait, turn off your tact programs? And that would make you more tactful? she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, but it would be interesting, at this stage." the AI replied, after the tape had played.

[DigoDragon]

"Those are old rocks; do you not think that Equestria created things equal to or superior to such artifacts? Was the Crystal Heart not a megaspell? If the Elements of Harmony are unwilling to manifest in what pockets of goodness exist in Equestria, then they are suited to be ignored; ponies held those virtues before they came to be, and they continue to do so. To cling too strongly to the ideals held by those that led to the apocalypse is a foolish thing; look at the world, do you believe that it can be controlled by any who is truly happy? To reach for the heights once held by the ancients, one should rely on one's will, which is limitless."

Doc shrugged. "You have your story, he had his. I'm no expert on powerful artifacts and have plenty of questions about both stories, but I do know friendship is a really powerful force. So to answer your question, I'd say yes they could."

He jiggled the handle on the door slowly, listening for anything peculiar, and being cautious in case there was something in the lab dangerous.

Luck (1d10)[2] .6
Perception (1d10)[7] .7