Chapters
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Red knew nothing more important than his duty. Function was purpose, and purpose was all that mattered.Centre was not the place of much labor anymore, not as it had once been. He remembered the very moment of transition, though it had been long ago. For years he had lived among others who were like him. They did things, they said things, and they wanted things... but he had understood little of it.But Red knew some things, even then. He knew that he wanted to be useful. That was how he had come to be here,…-
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The path leading down into the city was not an easy one. Bit had arranged everything about her lab—even the shelves—and she'd placed each of these to block easy view of what was below. But she'd sliced through the edges, and her crystal ponies had already pushed the shelf aside, exposing the entrance just wide enough to travel downward."What is that?" Pathfinder asked, voice frightened. "Even I wouldn’t go below the city. Ponies that go down there don't come back.""Let's hope they believe that too,"…
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Bit watched as the guard poured in. After just a few seconds there were already more than she usually saw in one place. Only when they were guarding the Secretary of Labor did so many of these black-armored soldiers appear.Comet Hum retreated as they walked inside, backing up until she was against the far wall, near a resin printer. Pathfinder was too confused to move, and remained on the floor, stupefied. That alone could at least serve as proof of the success of Bit's healing—he didn't rise to join the…
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After a few seconds of study, Comet Hum gestured urgently. She spoke in a hurried whisper, barely audible even right beside her. "Wizard, we can't just use a spell like this on anypony. Wherever you got this spellbook... it says we need someone who knew the victim. Someone needs to know the person they were to put them back. Before he came to your laboratory I'd never met this pony.""I knew him," Bit said flatly. "Will my memories do?"Comet hesitated, glancing to both doors and then to Pathfinder before…
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Pathfinder didn't react, any more than the other revolutionary guards did. He saluted as Sombra walked past, but remained beside Bit. His eyes stared forward blankly, off into the horizon, and did not move. The parade-ground below the stage gradually emptied, with ponies averting their eyes as they passed.Bit remained silent for a few seconds, as the last of Sombra's guards followed him away. She approached slowly, extending one nervous hoof. "Pathfinder? How are you feeling?"The pony didn't twitch, didn't…
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Bit wasn't there to see her first victims wake—the process still wasn't timed precisely enough for that.What the secretary demanded, he had received—laborers had arrived the very next morning to haul equipment away. Bit had considered resisting them, sealing up the tower and letting its defenses keep the Zirconian army at bay. But while she could imagine soldiers battering up against its magic and melting onto the snow, she couldn't face what Sombra would do to Pathfinder.So she let them come, loading…
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There was nothing unexpected in what happened next. The process of conversion to creatures of crystal was never intended to be explored by unscreened convicts in a nonmedical setting without support present. At least the victims were up on an isolated surface, where the crystal growth wouldn't spread to others. But all that could do nothing for the screaming.Bit's ears flattened tighter to her head, and still the sound echoed through her. The cries of the dying, echoing so loudly that she would hear it in…
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Weeks passed in Zircon. The Secretary of Labor had not been exaggerating or overpromising—Bit received everything she wanted. Within the day, a secondary workshop began to rise at the foot of the tower, a thin metal building packed with old electric heaters. But the oncoming winter would be a benefit for the chemical factory within—slower reactions were far easier to control.But before she could make use of the new facilities, she had to grow a crystal seed, and no addition of supplies or extra labor…
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Keen seemed surprised as they stepped outside, watching the space over Bit's shoulder with considerable confusion. "I didn't think any other pony was allowed into the tower. Wasn't that the payment you requested in exchange for your help?" Then he saw Pathfinder, and he trailed off completely. "Pathfinder, could you come forward a moment? Lower your hood for the secretary." Pathfinder was no automaton, but after remaining stubbornly still for a few moments, he finally obeyed. He kept glancing to the…
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Twenty minutes later, the automaton in the room with her finally stood, this time without flopping around. At her instruction it walked slowly from one end of the room to the other, an even-more accurate mirror than what it had been before. Not only did the automaton look exactly like her, but it also moved like her too, its back legs swaying exactly as hers did, occasionally shaking its mane in precisely the same configuration. Did I give it too much of myself? But that was an organic way of…
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