Cyber-Students
Gem smiled as the main doors of Shadowfall Manor closed softly behind her, and looked around at the empty living room. The girls were out for the weekend, and Steno was visiting a friend in the next town over, leaving Gem free to spend the day doing whatever she liked. With a snap of her fingers, she teleported the TV remote control into the palm of her hand and clicked her way to a favorite music channel, then turned the volume up and went off to get ready for a nice, long bath.
An hour later, Gem returned, with a towel wrapped around her chest and torso, and carrying some dry clothes along in her telekinetic grip. She entered her room and put the clothes on the bed to dress, only to hear a knock on the door.
“COMING!” Gem called out, throwing on a shirt and panties in her rush to get downstairs. She opened the doors to find a human standing there, only instead of skin, there was lavender colored metal that shone brightly in the sun. She resembled Raven, if Raven was about ten years older and a robot. Robo-Raven smiled warmly and said, “Gemini, how wonderful to see you!”
Gem jumped nearly a foot in the air, “How... how did you get here?!”
“It was pretty easy,” Raven explained. “I found some residual information about your world in our databanks, traveled to it by recreating the program we used to send you back originally, and learned where you lived by going to that large building that I believe is called a school.” She held up one hand. At the end of one finger was a USB connector, like the one for a flash drive. “I downloaded your student records and followed the route given to me by my internal GPS, and here I am!” She scanned Gem’s form. “My sensors are indicating that you’re frightened. How come?”
“...You realize this sort of thing is incredibly creepy, do you not?” Gem asked, putting her hands on her hips. “Sneaking into school and finding out where I live? Anyone could do that, not just pretty robot girls like you!”
Robo-Raven tilted her head to one side, the gears whirring in her neck as she did so. “Wait… you mean this isn't something that humans do?”
Gem just stared. Robo-Raven studied Gem’s expression, silently processing this new information. Finally, she said “An error in protocol has occurred. Updating database.” She went silent and still, save for a low whirring noise. After a minute, she blinked. “Update complete. Can I come in please? There’s a reason I’m here, it’s super important.”
"Oh very well..." Gem nods and moves aside to let her in. "I'd ask if you'd like something to eat or drink, but I don't think your kind need to eat... right? It's been a while since we last met."
“No, we don’t need food or drink,” Robo-Raven said, entering Gem’s home and looking around. “I also charged my power banks before I came, so I’m all set.” She stops in the middle of the grand foyer. “Where are we going, exactly?”
"We'll go to the sitting room," Gem announces, heading in that direction. "You look nice, by the way! I've never seen a robotic human before. Outside of television, that is." She smiles warmly. "How do you like being bipedal so far?"
The robot shrugged. “It’s been okay. I needed to adapt my internal gyros to be able to balance on two legs, as opposed to the stability afforded by walking on all fours.” Robo-Raven follows Gem to the sitting room. “Mastering the actual mechanics was simple, as you can see.” She goes to a chair and sits down. “Gemini, there is a crisis facing us, and I am afraid it will also impact your world as well.”
"What kind of crisis?" Gem asks, sitting across from Robo-Raven in a larger chair by the fireplace, legs crossed and hands folded in her lap.
“A virus has been detected in our world,” Robo-Raven explained. “While it hasn’t posed any serious harm to us, except for a few system glitches, it has had an effect on biological life forms. Most recently, a warren of rabbits all developed special vegetable-locating sensors, which allow them to feast almost ravenously. They also adapted to eating other forms of plant life. An entire section of forest was defoliated within minutes before the rabbits could be contained.” She leaned in close. “We also believe you may have carried this virus back to this world, where it has remained dormant. It could awaken at any time.”
Gem's eyes widen in surprise and worry. "Good grief... but what can we do to stop it?" she asks. "How will we tell if anyone's been affected?"
“The virus normally amplifies a natural talent of the host,” Robo-Raven explained. “It also allows for growth of cybernetic implants to enhance those talents. If left unchecked, the virus can convert this entire world into cyborgs within a matter of days.”
"My word..." Gem's mind races at the implications. "An entire world of robot humans... mass conversion on a planetary scale..." She puts a hand to her forehead. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I think I prefer being flesh and blood, not a living computer..." She reaches for her phone. "I'm texting the girls about this. In the meantime, feel free to make yourself at home, we could probably use your help."
“There is no offense taken, Gemini,” Robo-Raven assured Gem. “Our fastest processors are working on a solution to the virus and we hope to have something within three of your days. I have been instructed to remain here to receive and send messages to Princess Celestia. It appears we shall be, as you might say ... roomies.”
Gem laughs and gives Robo-Raven a hug. "Welcome then, roomie! The guest rooms are upstairs, I think you'll like them!"
The next day, Gem and the girls walked toward the main entrance of Canterlot High School. “So, if what Robo-me says is true,” Raven said, “and this virus starts to take hold, we’ll see the students changing to adapt to their talents?”
“We’ll definitely have to keep an eye out for anything strange going on,” Sunset added. “Who knows who’s gonna catch it first.”
Twilight stopped in her tracks and stared. “I think I might have an idea...” she reported, pointing toward the school buses. The eight briskly walked over there.
“Um, Longhaul? What’s going on...and are you feeling okay?” Sonata asked.
Longhaul smiled, revealing a cable plugged into his left forearm. “I’m doing quite well, thank you. I am performing some diagnostic work on the bus here. I received an alert to connect the engine repair tool, so that’s what I did. Seems there’s a bad sensor in the exhaust system, I can have it replaced within 4.72 hours if I am able to procure the part today.”
“Um...yeah, that’s great, buddy,” Aria said warily, flashing a smile and giving him a thumbs-up. “We’ll leave you to your work, and check in later, okay? C’mon, girls.” The eight walked back toward the school.
"Well... that was bizarre," Gem announces, her fingers closing on the familiar handle of her magic screwdriver. "Never thought I'd live to see something like that happen..."
"You said it would take three days for her to find a cure, right?" says Twilight to Gem, pushing up her glasses. She takes out a pad of paper and quickly scribbles a few equations. "By that time, I estimate most of Canterlot will be two-thirds of the way to full roboticization."
"But what about us?" Adagio asked. "Are we going to end up like poor Longhaul over there?"
Twilight shook her head. "I doubt it. We have Equestrian magic, after all, that should shield us from any changes for a while."
"Hey girls, check me out!" shouted a loud voice. Vinyl Scratch rolled over to the eight friends, literally, as her shoes had been replaced with wheels. At the press of a button, which sat in one metallic forearm, the wheels reformed into feet. "I bonded to my car this morning, it was the coolest thing ever! And watch this!" She pressed a different button, and a full DJ stand unfolded itself from her chest, with her breasts serving as turntables. Two of her fingers extended into styluses, complete with a needle. "Now I can DJ anywhere I want! Isn't that awesome? It freaked Tavi out though, she's been hiding in the bathroom for the last fifteen minutes."
“I’ll go talk to her,” Sunset sighed.
“Hadn’t we better alert someone that the school could potentially become a haven for cyborg?” Adagio queried.
“Yeah. Let’s go talk to Vice-Principal Luna,” Emerald suggested. “Maybe she’ll grant excused absences until this thing blows over.”
"Let's split up, gang," Gem proclaims. Then she stops. "Gang... ew. Let's not use that word again. Anyway, Emerald, you, me, and Adagio will go talk to Vice Principal Luna. Sunset can go talk to Octavia, and the rest of us can continue about our days as normal. But if anyone sees anything strange, we'll meet at the portal during lunch. Clear?" Every one nods, and the group separates.
Sunset entered the girls' bathroom, and immediately found a pair of small black shoes peeking out from beneath one stall. "Octavia? Are you okay?" she asked.
The stall door creaked open, and Octavia stepped into view, her eyes red with tears. "Oh Sunset, it's terrible... Vinyl just sort of... became her car on the drive to school this morning, and now she can summon a DJ stand from her chest whenever she wants... but that's not the worst of it."
"What's the worst of it?" Sunset asked, feeling a shiver run down her spine.
"It's happening to me too," Octavia explained. She flicked a switch somewhere, and her entire left arm shifted with the creaking of metal plates, becoming a cello bow.
Sunset watched with fascination. Finally, she said, “It’ll be okay, Octavia. We’re working on finding a way to stop this, you’ll just have to be patient. Just ... just try to get through today, and we’ll get the cure out as soon as we have it, okay?”
Octavia wrapped Sunset in a hug. “O—okay,” she whispered.
Reports came in from all over the school. Students were slowly changing into robotic versions of themselves, with their special talents being amplified and more pronounced. Perhaps the most disturbing was the sight of the girl with weird eyes literally pulling fresh-baked muffins from her backside. Although initial reports were that they were quite tasty, it sparked a new urgency in the eight to get the cure, and more importantly, find a way to deliver it to everyone at once.
Unfortunately, a text from Robo-Raven shortly before school got out confirmed their worst fears; there was not yet a cure for the mysterious virus. "There had better be one soon," Gem grumbled, as the girls boarded the afternoon bus to go home. "If I hear anything about collectives and assimilation I'm going to be very unhappy," she informed Raven.
Later that same day, Gem and Raven headed to the latter's house to come up with a plan. "Your brother's a scientist," Gem said as they walked. "Maybe he can help us!"
"Assuming the virus hasn't gotten to him too," Raven muttered.
“All right, let’s see if I got this straight,” Corvus addressed the group gathered around the kitchen table. “Gem, you were visited by some cyborg that told you a virus was introduced into this world.”
Gem nodded.
“And this virus is slowly turning people into what they’re truly good at, witness your bus driver, that DJ chick, and the cello player, not to mention the walking muffin oven.”
“Spot on,” Adagio agreed.
“The cyborg are working on a cure, but so far haven’t had any luck, and now you come to me to see if there’s anything I can do.”
“You got it,” Raven said. “So, you can see how desperate we are.”
Corvus ignored Raven’s dig. “I don’t suppose anyone has a sample of the virus that I could analyze...?”
“Wait a second,” Sunset remembered, digging into her purse. She retrieves a used handkerchief. “Octavia used this when I was talking to her, it might have a trace of the virus on it.” She handed the slightly damp cloth to Corvus, who immediately backed off.
“Whoa there, let me get some gear on before I even begin to handle that,” he cautioned, “unless you want your last, best hope to go down also.”
“Our last, best hope says even their fastest processors can’t find the cure,” Raven said, sticking her tongue out.
“Y’know, I think I’d prefer you as a robot. At least you’d have an off switch,” Corvus snarked. “Let me gear up and we’ll get to work.” As he walked away, a pillow struck him in the back of the head. “Love you too, sister dear,” he said without turning around.
Gem heaved a sigh, staring thoughtfully out the kitchen window. "I wonder what tomorrow is going to be like," she mused. "I mean, how much more robotic can things get over at school? Will we arrive to find that Longhaul has become part of the steering column? And what about the cure? What if we can't get it in time, and the whole town gets infested with cyborg?" Then she shivers. "And what would they do to us? We haven't changed! I think." She pinches herself and winces. "yes, still flesh and blood..."
Corvus returns to the kitchen, wearing a fully-encapsulating suit and heavy gloves. He holds out a plastic bag. “Put the handkerchief in here and I’ll see what I can figure out. In the meantime, just...just keep doing what you’ve been doing, I guess.”
"We will," Raven promises. "Thanks, big bro." She hugs him.
That night, Gem fell into an uneasy sleep. In her dreams, she walked toward Canterlot High and pushed through the doors, only to find it eerily still. "Hello?" she called out, her voice echoing off the walls and ceiling and floor. "Is anyone here?"
Raven stepped from the shadows. “Welcome,” she said in a monotone, her eyes lit up. “We’ve been waiting for you.”
The rest of the group stepped into view, each with glowing eyes. The group advanced toward Gem.
Gem slipped through the advancing cyborg and ran toward Vice Principal Luna’s office. Running inside and slamming the door, she tried to catch her breath. A voice from behind her interrupted her rest. “Miss Shadow, I fear you are in sore need of discipline. You don’t fit in with the rest of the school.” Luna’s eyes glowed and her teeth glinted in the dim light of the office. “Do not resist us. Join us and become one with us.” The other girls came in from the door from Principal Celestia’s office, all advancing slowly toward Gem.
"No! Unhand me at once!" Gem screams, reaching into her pocket for her magic screwdriver. Luna grabs Gem's other arm tight, and her finger becomes a needle, which she uses to inject a strange, glowing substance into Gem's arm.
Gem yells in pain as her skin hardens into cold metal, and everything else biological about her is changed into a mechanical equivalent. Her right arm fuses with her screwdriver, and as the changes finish, her eyes glow. "Conversion complete," she intones in a flat, emotionless voice. "Systems functioning at one hundred percent." With a whir of gears and machinery, her head turns a full 180 degrees to face the world map on Luna's wall. "Now, for the rest of the world..."
*BZZT BZZT BZZT* A grey fist banged into the alarm clock and sent it falling off the beside table, landing with a clang. Gem sat up, shaking in fear. "What a horrible dream... at least, I hope it was only a dream..." She quickly dressed and made her way out to the bus, looking visibly frightened.
The bus arrived, and the doors opened. Longhaul turned his head to greet Gem, his head making the faint sound of whirring gears. His metallic outer shell, colored the same grey as his skin, glinted in the sunlight. “Good morning, Gem, it’s good to see you. Please take a seat, we’ll arrive at school in 17.4 minutes.”
Gem warily slipped past Longhaul and sat down. Sunset joined her. “I know, it’s creepy."
Gem nods in agreement. "I had the worst dream last night..." She recounts the nightmare to Sunset, and at the end of the story, glances up at Longhaul. "I didn't see him in the dream, but there definitely wasn't any flesh left over... just metal."
“Well, it looks like there are still plenty of flesh-and-blood humans left, so there’s still a chance the converted ones can be returned to normal,” Sunset soothed. “Any word from either Robo-Raven or Corvus yet?”
Gem checks. "Corvus says he's come up with a potential breakthrough to at least halt any further progression, but Robo-Raven will have to undo what's already been done. He'll drop by during lunch to give us some samples."
“Let’s hope it works. Looks like most of the school is infected now.” Sunset stared gloomily out of the window as the bus made its way to the school.
“Really?” Twilight said in disbelief. “The best thing you can come up with is a muffin?” She eyed the muffin cautiously. “How is this supposed to cancel out the virus?”
“When I was looking at the sample, I noticed little tiny cyborg,” Corvus explained. “I was able to get a couple and Robo-sis and myself looked at ways to reverse-engineer the programming, thinking if we could do that we could eliminate the virus. We managed to get a couple of samples, and baked them into the muffins you see before you.” He grinned. “I know...handsome, smart, and a good cook, almost too much to take in...”
The girls all looked at him with deadpan expressions.
“All right, fine,” he said, visibly deflated. “We do need a test subject, though. Maybe cello chick would be willing to try them?”
“Okay, but if it works, how do we get enough muffins to the entire school?” Emerald asked.
“Robo-sis says she can transmit the anti-virus code to muffin girl, who can turn out batches of muffins in nothing flat. Pass them out to the entire school, even those that aren’t affected, and the problem should be solved.”
Gem smiles and grabs a muffin. "You're a genius, Corvus! I could kiss you!" And she does, on the cheek. "I'll be right back!" She gets up and heads over to the table where Vinyl, Octavia, Lyra, and Bonbon are all sitting. All four of them are now mostly cyborgs.
Octavia, whose arms have now shifted into both cello and bow, looks up at Gem and says, "Good day, Gemini. Can I help you?"
"In a manner of speaking," Gem replies, holding out the muffin. "I don't suppose you'd like to eat this muffin?"
Octavia picks up the muffin and scans it, then hands it back to Gem. "No thank you," she replies. "I am not hungry."
"Oh, come on, please?" Gem pleads. "I made them myself!" She crosses her fingers behind her back.
Corvus and the rest, overhearing the exchange, looked very downcast. “Well, looks like we’re hosed,” he said quietly.
“So now what do we do?” Adagio asked.
“Hang on, looks like Octavia’s gonna try it,” Twilight whispered.
Octavia took the muffin again and, after a tense moment, began to eat, gears whirring as she chewed. Slowly though, the sound of the gears faded to nothing, and her skin became less metallic-looking. "I'm me again..." she whispered, in awe. Then she hugged Gem tightly, crying tears of joy into the other girl's shoulder. "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!"
Then and only then did Vinyl look up, her headphones retracting into the sides of her head. "Tavi, my sensors indicate you're experiencing a human emotion known as joy. What's up?"
"I'll show you what's going on, sweetie!" Octavia exclaimed, running over to the table where Corvus and the others sat. She grabbed a muffin and shoved it into Vinyl's mouth.
Vinyl began to chew, and as she swallowed, she slowly returned to her normal self. “Hey, I’m me again! Cool!” she announced. She then noticed that her built-in turntables were gone. “Aw, man....”
The table was overjoyed at the results. “It worked! Now we need to get Robo-Raven to upload the code to Derpy!”
Gem quickly sent a text, and within the space of a minute, the cafeteria was filled with more muffins than there were students. Vinyl plugged her phone into her boombox and played a song.
Gem stepped cautiously into Longhaul's office, holding the last muffin Derpy had made before she too had been restored to her human self. "Longhaul? I know you're busy being half robot and all right now, but please eat this muffin... I don't care what your programming says, you have to eat it. Please? For me?" She holds it out.
Longhaul takes the muffin. “For you, I shall.” He eats the muffin and returns to his normal self. “Wow...that feels much better.” He smiles at Gem. “Thanks, I’m glad to be my old self again.”
"And I'm glad to have you back," Gem replies, hugging him tight.
That afternoon, the friends have gathered around the portal to say goodbye to Robo-Raven. "Thanks for your help," Gem says, giving the metal girl a hug. "I hope we can see each other again sometime!"
Robo-Raven smiles. “Perhaps we will, Gemini. For now, I must return to my world.” She waves to the other girls. “Farewell, friends. And thank you for your help.” She steps through the portal and vanishes.