Fallout Equestria: Tarts and Tribulations

[Hazuki]

"There is a non-functioning cyborg body nearby; I believe your friend Moonshadow found it on her way in. It is mostly intact and my sensors first assumed it a particularly advanced android. Regardless of terminology, it is currently a empty shell, and I would see more issues with downloading myself into one of your current robot friends then simply seizing what's available."

When the AI spoke next, it sounded apologetic.

"I am sorry for underselling your appearance, but you are attractive, objectively the most attractive person I have ever seen. I would rather not break into poetry while I am still in a computer terminal. I hope it will be more natural for me when I am equine-shaped, at least."

"...gurl, you can't just go around having sex in some pony's body. That's, like, necrophilia at best." Viridia said.

[Dalinale]

"...gurl, you can't just go around having sex in some pony's body. That's, like, necrophilia at best." Viridia said.

Madeleine made a small girlish huffing sound before replying.

"That's not true at all! It's my body; I mean, no one else is using it at the moment, and it's as robotic as the Mr. Handy you walked with. The pony who the body belonged to was ninety-eight percent cybernetic; her personality was on a silicon chip no different to mine. I am not replacing anything and I am not seizing any living individuals property. While it is not as casual or as simplistic as appropriating the goods of deceased individuals, the same principles apply. It is little different then using a deceased individual's organs to save others."

There was a pause.

"I am sorry; I actually dislike philosophy." the AI meekly replied, "I really don't have a good frame of reference for this sort of thing, as far as customs go."

[Inspector Valin]

Choro looks down at her hoof; surprised, horrified and oblivious to the rest of the group. She brushes the end of her hoof, shuddering and struggling a little for breath as she whispered to what remained of the tiny creature. "I'm so sorry! I'm so, so sorry, little one. Celestia forgive me."

She's having to fight not to break into tears right there and then. One little life, dead because of her. Choro takes a wracked, laboured breath, dabbing her off hoof against her visor on impulse. She looks between the others, as if to just confirm they were still there. Unless one of them has a comment for her however, the little mare falls back into the marching order, blinking occasionally. Something seems to be trapped in her eye.

Spoiler

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Feel I should've done better with this as a reactopm, but dang Dalin. That got to Choro. Nice job!

[Hazuki]

"C'mon, it's not at all like using somepony else's organs. An organ is an organ, you could line up mine next to five other ponies' and nopony could tell the difference. But a body's what most people recognize us by - it's not all that we are, but it's definitely what represents an individual and is literally their personification. Using their body for sex without their consent is, like, super-gross." Viridia said. "Even if it's mostly metal."

[Dalinale]

Choro looks down at her hoof; surprised, horrified and oblivious to the rest of the group. She brushes the end of her hoof, shuddering and struggling a little for breath as she whispered to what remained of the tiny creature. "I'm so sorry! I'm so, so sorry, little one. Celestia forgive me."

She's having to fight not to break into tears right there and then. One little life, dead because of her. Choro takes a wracked, laboured breath, dabbing her off hoof against her visor on impulse. She looks between the others, as if to just confirm they were still there. Unless one of them has a comment for her however, the little mare falls back into the marching order, blinking occasionally. Something seems to be trapped in her eye.

Spoiler

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Feel I should've done better with this as a reactopm, but dang Dalin. That got to Choro. Nice job!

At a second glance, it was more clear that the critter was likely dead before Choro stepped on it, if only because it was rather cold and bled very little.

"C'mon, it's not at all like using somepony else's organs. An organ is an organ, you could line up mine next to five other ponies' and nopony could tell the difference. But a body's what most people recognize us by - it's not all that we are, but it's definitely what represents an individual and is literally their personification. Using their body for sex without their consent is, like, super-gross." Viridia said. "Even if it's mostly metal."

"I entirely agree with you regarding consent; however, I do not intend on doing anything as foul as usurping the life of the deceased and pretending to be them. I do not view this as stealing; if the Mr Handy that followed you was damaged, you would likely not object to porting it's personality to another model, correct? This is no different; for all intents and purposes, the body was inhabited by a intelligence very similar to mine. I would rather like to live like any other pony, and offend as few ponies as possible in doing so. What should I do, instead?"

[Hazuki]

"I entirely agree with you regarding consent; however, I do not intend on doing anything as foul as usurping the life of the deceased and pretending to be them. I do not view this as stealing; if the Mr Handy that followed you was damaged, you would likely not object to porting it's personality to another model, correct? This is no different; for all intents and purposes, the body was inhabited by a intelligence very similar to mine. I would rather like to live like any other pony, and offend as few ponies as possible in doing so. What should I do, instead?"

"I mean, ideally we'd get the deceased pony's opinion on consent and how it applies to their dead body, so we're not deciding things for them regardless. But, lacking that, it seems like societal standards should be defaulted to? And, in this case, I think most ponies would be like 'Hey, stop that. Ew.'." Viridia said. "Ideally,
we'd make you your own body, or just customize the one you want until it's different enough to not represent the same individual."

[Dalinale]

"I mean, ideally we'd get the deceased pony's opinion on consent and how it applies to their dead body, so we're not deciding things for them regardless. But, lacking that, it seems like societal standards should be defaulted to? And, in this case, I think most ponies would be like 'Hey, stop that. Ew.'." Viridia said. "Ideally,
we'd make you your own body, or just customize the one you want until it's different enough to not represent the same individual."

"Well, I have no issue with making further modifications; in fact, I intended to do so. I was encouraged by the presence of the two cyborgs in your group, as well; if possible, I would like to make some adjustments to better suit my personality and identity. Although, I haven't been able to scan the body in it's entirety as of yet."

The AI paused again, and when it spoke again, it sounded slightly embarrassed.

"I apologize for my hasty behavior; my ethics core does not really cover any of this, and I assumed that most of my information on pony behavior is out of date. Would you reject a offer of casual sexual intercorse, however? I am asking, for a friend, which is myself."

[DigoDragon]

Doc holds up the bat. "Tell you what, I'll trade you the bat for the bone saw. One borrowed at a time so I got something to melee with if it comes to that, and well, the bone saw seems rather apropo for a doctor."

"Choro, you alright?" A concerned Doc asks the little unicorn.

[Forum Explorer]

The calf woke up slowly; while it was roughly as tall as a small pony, it's body was longer and as such it took some time to right itself, wobbling on it's legs as it stood up. The two heads on the mutant cow were disimular; one had a small set of horns, while the other did not.

The calf, after standing up, looked at Moonshadow with it's big brown eyes, and it answered her request with licking the pegasus on her face, apparently not caring about the fact that she was wearing a plastic suit.

Riiiiight. Well that's just fantastic. Moonshadow sighed. Hey, kiddo, can you understand me? I broke all the scary robots, so you can go out the front door and be safe. Maybe join up with those goats or something. Does that sound nice? she said gently.

[Dalinale]

Doc holds up the bat. "Tell you what, I'll trade you the bat for the bone saw. One borrowed at a time so I got something to melee with if it comes to that, and well, the bone saw seems rather apropo for a doctor."

Strata glanced at the saw she had strapped to her side, glanced at Doc, and quickly handed the bulky device over, with a rather large smile on her face.

"Choro, you alright?" A concerned Doc asks the little unicorn.

Strata glanced back at the filly, looking concerned at Doc's concern at first, and then at Choro's predicament.

Riiiiight. Well that's just fantastic. Moonshadow sighed. Hey, kiddo, can you understand me? I broke all the scary robots, so you can go out the front door and be safe. Maybe join up with those goats or something. Does that sound nice? she said gently.

The brahmin calf mooed at first, and then one of it's heads licked Moonshadow again. The other head nodded slightly, however, which was probably a yes, to some degree.

[DigoDragon]

Strata glanced at the saw she had strapped to her side, glanced at Doc, and quickly handed the bulky device over, with a rather large smile on her face.

Doc trades the items, putting the saw in with his other weapons.

[Forum Explorer]

The brahmin calf mooed at first, and then one of it's heads licked Moonshadow again. The other head nodded slightly, however, which was probably a yes, to some degree.

That's great! Alright, if you get outside, hang around the air-bus. Ours has a dog in it. I'm sure someone will insist we find a place for you to stay if your still around. Moonshadow said, flapping for a bit of height to pat the calf on a head.

Now for you, she said, turning to look at the corpse. She tried to pick it up, before quickly dropping it. Okay, that's not going to work. Well, I hope Madeline doesn't mind some extra dents in her new ride. Moonshadow said, before grabbing the cyber corpse by it's tail and dragging it along.

[Inspector Valin]

At a second glance, it was more clear that the critter was likely dead before Choro stepped on it, if only because it was rather cold and bled very little.

The thought that the creature might already have been dead comes unbidden to the little mare. While it provides some piece of relief, the initial shock at the encounter and sorrow at the loss of tiny life still dominate Choro's heart. How many more lifeforms are there here? How many too small for her PipBuck to register them as significant? What bizarre environment had the factory workers created, through accident or design?

This... is this what it was like for the old wizards? Dark magic always led to things like this in stories. Places of evil, curses, darkness and death. Then the good wizard came and helped. That's what she'd wanted to do, right? Fix places like this, and make them better

That task looks more intimidating now.

"Choro, you alright?" A concerned Doc asks the little unicorn.

Strata glanced back at the filly, looking concerned at Doc's concern at first, and then at Choro's predicament.

Choro takes a second before nodding to the duo. "I'm... fine. I think. No, I'm fine." The little mare takes a breath, before laughing nervously. "I suppose this place got to me a little. It had to happen sooner or later, right?"

That's... probably not reassuring. The little mage doesn't seem very reassured herself, honestly. Still, she starts to move forward, nodding to her friends. "Let's keep going." If anyone's going to make this place better, it's us.

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Nitpick time! How could Choro tell the thing was cold when she's wearing an evo suit? Those things aren't perfect insulators but that's got to make it harder, right?

[DigoDragon]

"Well alright, if you're sure you can keep going..." Doc didn't seem convinced, but the little wizard was stubborn, so he didn't push further for an answer at the moment. He continued walking alongside Choro.

[Dalinale]

That's great! Alright, if you get outside, hang around the air-bus. Ours has a dog in it. I'm sure someone will insist we find a place for you to stay if your still around. Moonshadow said, flapping for a bit of height to pat the calf on a head.

The calf mooed after it's head was patted, and began to wander off towards a sideroom that Moonshadow didn't initially explore; however, given that the brahmin somehow managed to end up on the second floor of a factory, it was probably heading for the stairs or something.

Now for you, she said, turning to look at the corpse. She tried to pick it up, before quickly dropping it. Okay, that's not going to work. Well, I hope Madeline doesn't mind some extra dents in her new ride. Moonshadow said, before grabbing the cyber corpse by it's tail and dragging it along.

There was something to be said about the relative smoothness of the operation went; the corpse was a quiet traveling partner and it's face took those concrete stairs like a champ. Oh, what would the pegasi she grew up with do to see her now, dragging a pristine blond corpse in a fetish outfit around by the tail in a industrial setting while wearing a rubber suit. She was a walking album cover, really.

[She should make three rolls of her choice again. Any Stealth rolls take a -10 to the roll due to her being effectively over-encumbered.]

Choro takes a second before nodding to the duo. "I'm... fine. I think. No, I'm fine." The little mare takes a breath, before laughing nervously. "I suppose this place got to me a little. It had to happen sooner or later, right?"

That's... probably not reassuring. The little mage doesn't seem very reassured herself, honestly. Still, she starts to move forward, nodding to her friends. "Let's keep going." If anyone's going to make this place better, it's us.

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Nitpick time! How could Choro tell the thing was cold when she's wearing an evo suit? Those things aren't perfect insulators but that's got to make it harder, right?

[It's less that it was cold and more like it wasn't warm.]

"Well alright, if you're sure you can keep going..." Doc didn't seem convinced, but the little wizard was stubborn, so he didn't push further for an answer at the moment. He continued walking alongside Choro.

At the end of the path, there was a low-slung rectangular concrete 'building' at the edge of the chamber's walls. There was what appeared to be two different entrances (one labeled Staff and the other labeled Maintenance), with the latter being far larger and being present at the opposite end of the building from where the party was standing. The only threat around appeared to be a singular turret positioned above the door, but it seemed to be currently nonfunctional. Curiously, the area, compared to it's immediate surroundings, looked well kept; the floor, at the very least, lacked much in the way of refuse and it was quite possible that the area had been recently swept.

To the right of the building continued the rows of cages; to the left, however, was a series of low-lying squared-off fences, five in all and probably big enough for a hundred ponies each, up against the walls. From the distance the group was at, however, it was hard to make details out, given the distance and the dark.

[DigoDragon]

At the end of the path, there was a low-slung rectangular concrete 'building' at the edge of the chamber's walls. There was what appeared to be two different entrances (one labeled Staff and the other labeled Maintenance), with the latter being far larger and being present at the opposite end of the building from where the party was standing. The only threat around appeared to be a singular turret positioned above the door, but it seemed to be currently nonfunctional. Curiously, the area, compared to it's immediate surroundings, looked well kept; the floor, at the very least, lacked much in the way of refuse and it was quite possible that the area had been recently swept.

To the right of the building continued the rows of cages; to the left, however, was a series of low-lying squared-off fences, five in all and probably big enough for a hundred ponies each, up against the walls. From the distance the group was at, however, it was hard to make details out, given the distance and the dark.

"Any nearby red dots, C?" Doc asked Choro. He watches the turret, and a bit to the left fences, just on the off chance he seems movement at all in the shadows.

PER (1d10)[4] vs. 7

[Forum Explorer]

The calf mooed after it's head was patted, and began to wander off towards a sideroom that Moonshadow didn't initially explore; however, given that the brahmin somehow managed to end up on the second floor of a factory, it was probably heading for the stairs or something.


There was something to be said about the relative smoothness of the operation went; the corpse was a quiet traveling partner and it's face took those concrete stairs like a champ. Oh, what would the pegasi she grew up with do to see her now, dragging a pristine blond corpse in a fetish outfit around by the tail in a industrial setting while wearing a rubber suit. She was a walking band cover, really.

[She should make three rolls of her choice again. Any Stealth rolls take a -10 to the roll due to her being effectively over-encumbered.]

I...am...100%...sure...I...am...the....living...br eathing...picture...of...some...conspiracy...ponie s...nightmares...of...the...Enclave! Moonshadow gasped as she hauled the corpse down another stair well. Why were there so many stairs? And how did non-pegasus handle climbing them all day?

But with a Thud! and occasional Splat! Moonshadow was on her way.

Spoiler: rolls

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Perception (1d10)[10] vs 10
Luck (1d10)[2] vs 4
Survival (1d100)[43] vs 41

[Hazuki]

"I apologize for my hasty behavior; my ethics core does not really cover any of this, and I assumed that most of my information on pony behavior is out of date. Would you reject a offer of casual sexual intercorse, however? I am asking, for a friend, which is myself."

"Eh, we'll see. Aren't you the one who's responsible for all this ponies getting slaughtered stuff?"

[Inspector Valin]

"Nothing yet."

Choro sounds sceptical herself. And still a touch afraid. In a place like this, how could there not be more monsters lurking? The tiny creature proved it wasn't just the donkey-blobs who lived in this place. With the power in this muck, all sorts of strange mutants might emerge. In fact... a line of thought comes to Choro. Something she should've perhaps realized sooner. She looks up at the walls of cages, shivering a little, but when she speaks up her voice is calm. "You know... was this place originally built for CrunchyMunch?"

She waves her hoof up at the wall of cages towering above them. "It seems... over-engineered. Almost ridiculously so. The reports were that they cut corners with budget. Robots bought second hoof, a small staff, there was that unfinished freezer room and Ms. Maddies' electronics seem dangerous... but we have this enormous chamber, with a self enclosed laboratory building and... pen?"

She takes a second, squinting at the fenced off area and making some rough estimates. Multiple areas, about yay wide, you could fit... a lot of ponies in here. Perhaps half a thousand. In this dark place under the earth, half a thousand ponies, just here. Why on earth would they need so much space? So many ponies? Choro looks between the three ponies and two robots, eyes wide. "Am I just going crazy? Because this place seems enormous to me. My Stable had some pretty big areas underground, but this is... unreal. And I can't think of a reason they need this much area."

Not paying much attention to herself and her surroundings, Choro has proceeded towards the lab door while looking at the pens. She looks down at the ground beneath her hooves, realizing something odd. "... and why is the floor here so clean?" No refuse was one thing, but not even dust? Had this place still been in use under the Overseer? But no, the Bot had been locked to its core programming, focused on facility expansion. It wouldn't have needed to analyse or create new products. it'd probably requisition handies from here to help get the factory back online. So what was the answer here? Choro considers the point briefly before shaking her head and stepping through the door. No sense in wasting time worrying when there's other things to investigate and other problems to solve.

Spoiler: OOC Note

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Oh, ok!

Also, RAW I believe EFS stays on once activated, so Choro doesn't have to keep checking it: once up, new dots'll blink in, right?

[DigoDragon]

"I recall some terminal notes saying that CrunchyMunch acquired this place and retooled it for their purposes," Doc answered. "Dunno what it was before, but I think one journal entry said something about all this basement space being a nightmare to dig out and build."

[Dalinale]

"Any nearby red dots, C?" Doc asked Choro. He watches the turret, and a bit to the left fences, just on the off chance he seems movement at all in the shadows.

PER [roll0] vs. 7

The turret did not move; however, Doc could detect some faint signs of movement, or at least activity, occuring in some of the pens. Nothing too large; it could've been rats or something similar, but with his cybernetic enhancements it was quite clear that the source were more mutants. Doc actually spotted what appeared to be a sleeping one of a similar size to what he saw a few minutes ago, surrounded by far smaller critters that seemed nestled in the creature's hair; the source of the movement, as far as he could tell, was a light blue mutant with bright orange hair standing a few feet away from the sleeping individuals, apparently standing guard. While Doc could look into it's eyes, it was clear that the creature couldn't see them, given that it wasn't looking at them.

In addition, there appeared to be suspended overhead lights for each of the pens, akin to what he would recognize as a setup for a indoor farm; they didn't look too damaged, and while they were high up, working lightbulbs went for good money.

I...am...100%...sure...I...am...the....living...br eathing...picture...of...some...conspiracy...ponie s...nightmares...of...the...Enclave! Moonshadow gasped as she hauled the corpse down another stair well. Why were there so many stairs? And how did non-pegasus handle climbing them all day?

But with a Thud! and occasional Splat! Moonshadow was on her way.

Spoiler: rolls

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Perception [roll0] vs 10
Luck [roll1] vs 4
Survival [roll2] vs 41

Moonshadow, slowly making her way back through the facility, saw absolutely nothing of interest and it was quite clear that she was entirely alone. The only real sounds she heard was her own breathing and the occasional scrape and muffled crunching noise the corpse made after being dragged across the occasional rough patch of concrete and iron bar.

Soon enough, she found herself back on the walkway to the server's room, entirely alone.

"Eh, we'll see. Aren't you the one who's responsible for all this ponies getting slaughtered stuff?"

"Oh, no, ponies were responsible for ponies getting slaughtered." Madeleine replied, sounding somber, "I just managed the robots and kept them from killing themselves, and patching the occasional bug when I saw it. This place only processed cattle and goats that went through a vetting process for a very long time; however, a few months ago, someone invaded this place and altered the systems here heavily, and broadened what counted as a cow until the standards were low enough to include most quadrupedal animals. I, personally, did my best to keep the overseer from using the facility to it's full extent."

"Nothing yet."

Choro sounds sceptical herself. And still a touch afraid. In a place like this, how could there not be more monsters lurking? The tiny creature proved it wasn't just the donkey-blobs who lived in this place. With the power in this muck, all sorts of strange mutants might emerge. In fact... a line of thought comes to Choro. Something she should've perhaps realized sooner. She looks up at the walls of cages, shivering a little, but when she speaks up her voice is calm. "You know... was this place originally built for CrunchyMunch?"

She waves her hoof up at the wall of cages towering above them. "It seems... over-engineered. Almost ridiculously so. The reports were that they cut corners with budget. Robots bought second hoof, a small staff, there was that unfinished freezer room and Ms. Maddies' electronics seem dangerous... but we have this enormous chamber, with a self enclosed laboratory building and... pen?"

She takes a second, squinting at the fenced off area and making some rough estimates. Multiple areas, about yay wide, you could fit... a lot of ponies in here. Perhaps half a thousand. In this dark place under the earth, half a thousand ponies, just here. Why on earth would they need so much space? So many ponies? Choro looks between the three ponies and two robots, eyes wide. "Am I just going crazy? Because this place seems enormous to me. My Stable had some pretty big areas underground, but this is... unreal. And I can't think of a reason they need this much area."

Strata hummed, and looked around the area, glancing at the smooth walls and high ceiling especially.

Not paying much attention to herself and her surroundings, Choro has proceeded towards the lab door while looking at the pens. She looks down at the ground beneath her hooves, realizing something odd. "... and why is the floor here so clean?" No refuse was one thing, but not even dust? Had this place still been in use under the Overseer? But no, the Bot had been locked to its core programming, focused on facility expansion. It wouldn't have needed to analyse or create new products. it'd probably requisition handies from here to help get the factory back online. So what was the answer here? Choro considers the point briefly before shaking her head and stepping through the door. No sense in wasting time worrying when there's other things to investigate and other problems to solve.

"Likely, a maintenance robot." Thanatos replied, continuing to look on at the building itself while speaking, "Such a thing is not surprising, but it might prove useful. Those are worth a decent amount of money, if they are fully functioning and have no immediate flaws."

Bertly, who was hanging back closer to the cages, didn't answer the tall stallion, but seemed to be on guard, regardless. Likely, whatever hospital cleanliness routines that existed in the Mr. Orderly were kicking in and it was starting to get overwhelmed, given that it was switching between it's sterilizer and it's flamethrower every few moments.

Spoiler: OOC Note

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Oh, ok!

Also, RAW I believe EFS stays on once activated, so Choro doesn't have to keep checking it: once up, new dots'll blink in, right?

[/QUOTE]

[Actually, she needs to check it IC when she wants to use it; 'passive' updates don't make much sense, as she actually has to look at it, and the nature of a Pipbuck is more of a item then a passive interface.]

"I recall some terminal notes saying that CrunchyMunch acquired this place and retooled it for their purposes," Doc answered. "Dunno what it was before, but I think one journal entry said something about all this basement space being a nightmare to dig out and build."

"You know, it could be a abandoned dragon den." Strata eventually said, "Or something like that. Any kind of big underground monster or monster nest could've carved most of this out while keeping the lake from leaking in. It was probably abandoned a long time ago, and they found it when making the underground mall. I wouldn't be surprised if some Ursa a thousand years ago lived in this and wandered out to munch on lake monsters when they started to spawn, honestly. If some private company or the government found out about something like this, no wonder they'd keep it quiet. I honestly don't know what Hippocratic Holdings is, but if most of the technology here is from stuff that they didn't have a place for, then information on them will probably be inside there."

Strata then wiggled a hoof towards the building in front of them, before turning to Thanatos.

"I do not know what they are." the stallion replied, "If I did, I would have said so. If there was a abandoned office to raid, then it would have been done."

The dark red ghoul narrowed her eyes slightly, but shook her head and glanced back at the two other living ponies nearby.

[Forum Explorer]

Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Splat. Thud. Thud. Thud. Splat!

Right...here's....your....new...ride...Moonshadow. ...Inc....is...not...responsible...for...any...dam ages...occurred...during...transit! Monshadow gasped as she pulled the corpse into the server room.

[DigoDragon]

Doc decided to lower his voice. "Dragon den, huh? Possible. Certainly big enough. Alright, there are some more of those chubby little mutants over by the cages there." He pointed to where he spotted them.

He then pointed up. "Above the cages, there are some decent-looking lightbulbs. If either of you unicorns care to procure a few with your magical talents, bet we could sell them for some caps. I'm not seeing the turret move, so I'll check this door up here. Someone cover me."

Doc slowly makes his way forward to the Staff-marked door. He checks to see if it's unlocked, but he won't open the door just yet. Only testing the handle for the moment.

[Inspector Valin]

[Actually, she needs to check it IC when she wants to use it; 'passive' updates don't make much sense, as she actually has to look at it, and the nature of a Pipbuck is more of a item then a passive interface.]

Spoiler: OOC

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It's primarily an item, but aren't SATS and EFS visual AR overlays? EFS literally stands for Eyes Forward Sparkle: I figured it had a minimap on the device but also that little bar in your upper periphery giving you an idea of where enemies are. There's bits in the fic where LittlePip seems to see it that way, like in the Hellhound warren.

"You know, it could be a abandoned dragon den." Strata eventually said, "Or something like that. Any kind of big underground monster or monster nest could've carved most of this out while keeping the lake from leaking in. It was probably abandoned a long time ago, and they found it when making the underground mall. I wouldn't be surprised if some Ursa a thousand years ago lived in this and wandered out to munch on lake monsters when they started to spawn, honestly. If some private company or the government found out about something like this, no wonder they'd keep it quiet. I honestly don't know what Hippocratic Holdings is, but if most of the technology here is from stuff that they didn't have a place for, then information on them will probably be inside there."

Strata then wiggled a hoof towards the building in front of them, before turning to Thanatos.

"I do not know what they are." the stallion replied, "If I did, I would have said so. If there was a abandoned office to raid, then it would have been done."

The dark red ghoul narrowed her eyes slightly, but shook her head and glanced back at the two other living ponies nearby.

Choro listens to Strata is respectful silence. Her guess seemed plausible. Some great natural creature hollowing this place our made sense. How it ended up in the holding company's possession was another matter though. In wartime, wouldn't the Equestrian military have wanted a place like this? Underground meant it was safe from bombing. Why had some kind of strange biogenics company gotten their hands on it instead? The Professor had no way to answer that, but the question puzzled Choro.

At Thanatos' simple denial, the young mage nods. "I don't doubt that. That hypothetical looted office is our best clue. If somepony found out about this place, Hippocrat must have had a second Tauronto facility somewhere. If we can find that, it'd put us a step closer to the Assassin and her employer." At least in theory, if they could find out who'd salvaged that office nd who they might've sold the information to. It seemed a long shot to Choro, but she wasn't seeing many alternatives.

Doc slowly makes his way forward to the Staff-marked door. He checks to see if it's unlocked, but he won't open the door just yet. Only testing the handle for the moment.

Choro dutifully hovers a few steps behind Doc at first, but as the stallion's slow pace becomes evident, the little mare feels guiltily compelled to point out the alternative. She coughs,"You.... do realize we could test that from over here, right? Doctor? Magic and everything?"

She lets her magic take gentlehold of the handle. Unless Doc objects, Choro pushes the door open once the stallion has had a chance to take a step back, and then proceeds inside.

[DigoDragon]

Choro dutifully hovers a few steps behind Doc at first, but as the stallion's slow pace becomes evident, the little mare feels guiltily compelled to point out the alternative. She coughs,"You.... do realize we could test that from over here, right? Doctor? Magic and everything?"

She lets her magic take gentlehold of the handle. Unless Doc objects, Choro pushes the door open once the stallion has had a chance to take a step back, and then proceeds inside.

"Alright, I'll uh... be over here in the background."

Change of plan. Doc hangs back and pulls out his silent pistol. He aims at the door way in case something hostile pops out at the party.

[Dalinale]

Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Splat. Thud. Thud. Thud. Splat!

Right...here's....your....new...ride...Moonshadow. ...Inc....is...not...responsible...for...any...dam ages...occurred...during...transit! Monshadow gasped as she pulled the corpse into the server room.

"Thank you. I will not forget this." the AI replied.

After that, a cuboid slab, lightly slanted, was produced from near the bottom of the terminal, wires and cables parting to allow the sizable hunk of steel and marble room. Besides it's solid bulk, it had small bits of black wire poking out from it's sides, along with what appeared to be braces placed to allow hooves to be secured.

"This should do for a operating theater; this room goes through a thorough sterilization every time I run maintenance, and as such it is as clean as any hospital; or, at least Ministry of Peace hospice." Madeline continued, giggling, "If you could bring it to the table, we can get this started."

Doc decided to lower his voice. "Dragon den, huh? Possible. Certainly big enough. Alright, there are some more of those chubby little mutants over by the cages there." He pointed to where he spotted them.

Thanatos nodded, the look on his face ambiguous.

He then pointed up. "Above the cages, there are some decent-looking lightbulbs. If either of you unicorns care to procure a few with your magical talents, bet we could sell them for some caps. I'm not seeing the turret move, so I'll check this door up here. Someone cover me."

Doc slowly makes his way forward to the Staff-marked door. He checks to see if it's unlocked, but he won't open the door just yet. Only testing the handle for the moment.

"Of course!" Bertly replied, before flying past Thanatos and stopping a few feet away from the door, buzzsaw raised.

Spoiler: OOC

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It's primarily an item, but aren't SATS and EFS visual AR overlays? EFS literally stands for Eyes Forward Sparkle: I figured it had a minimap on the device but also that little bar in your upper periphery giving you an idea of where enemies are. There's bits in the fic where LittlePip seems to see it that way, like in the Hellhound warren.

[Yes, but it's also basically you using a item to cast a spell; it's not a 'passive' thing that is always on, because that could be one of the few things that could actually drain a Pipbuck's battery. In the context of game mechanics, if she used it in combat it has a AP cost, which implies it takes a bit of fiddling about to turn it on and keep it active.]

She lets her magic take gentlehold of the handle. Unless Doc objects, Choro pushes the door open once the stallion has had a chance to take a step back, and then proceeds inside.

"Alright, I'll uh... be over here in the background."

Change of plan. Doc hangs back and pulls out his silent pistol. He aims at the door way in case something hostile pops out at the party.

Choro found herself standing in front of a rather cluttered, small office space. There was a single desk with a terminal and stacks of files behind it, a coffee perculator on a hot plate paired near it, a small trash can next to it. The rest of the office was erratic; two filing cabinets filled up most of one corner, three bookshelves filled with tan files took up another corner, and there was barely enough room for the doors on each side of the room to be visible from where she was standing. It smelled like old cigarettes and mold, and, to be honest, old people. The door on the right was labeled 'Lab A' while the other door was labeled 'Lab C'.

[Forum Explorer]

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?

[DigoDragon]

"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."

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 (1d10)[7] v. 7
Luck (1d10)[5] v. 6

[Inspector Valin]

"Well. This looks more like my Grandfather's room than I'd expected."

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."

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

Spoiler

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(1d100)[60] Science 90 to get this thing on and take a look at what's inside.

[Hazuki]

"Oh, no, ponies were responsible for ponies getting slaughtered." Madeleine replied, sounding somber, "I just managed the robots and kept them from killing themselves, and patching the occasional bug when I saw it. This place only processed cattle and goats that went through a vetting process for a very long time; however, a few months ago, someone invaded this place and altered the systems here heavily, and broadened what counted as a cow until the standards were low enough to include most quadrupedal animals. I, personally, did my best to keep the overseer from using the facility to it's full extent."

"Who called you Madeline?"

Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Splat. Thud. Thud. Thud. Splat!

Right...here's....your....new...ride...Moonshadow. ...Inc....is...not...responsible...for...any...dam ages...occurred...during...transit! Monshadow gasped as she pulled the corpse into the server room.

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