The trio in the fire engine had been away from the town for several minutes now, and Copper Glow looked at the speedometer, which was sitting at 80 kilometres per hour. Twilight looked across at her and asked her to put her hoof down. Copper Glow managed a quick stare, commenting that the fire engine could go no faster.
Driving along a road by a railway line, Copper Glow glanced at the right-hand mirror and noticed a thick cloud of smoke rapidly approaching from behind. Over the sound of the fire engine's siren, she could hear a low-pitched whistle being repeatedly blown in short blasts and the deep chuffs that could only come from an Ivatt Class 2 mogul.
Copper Glow noticed that the Ivatt, when it was closer, was medium green but with pink windows. The number, 11211021, was written on the side of the cab in small black letters above the much larger name, Fizzy, which was white, green, and bi-tonal pink. Tait's head was stuck out the left window, long hair streaming behind him. Copper Glow used the fire engine's horn a couple of times, and Tait replied with a long blast on the whistle, and a pony in the cab looked out. The Ivatt thundered past the fire engine at about 120 kilometres per hour.
At Canterlot train station, Tait left the Ivatt in the marshalling yard, ready to go back to the station it came from with a goods train. He left the station with his companion, passing the vagrants and beggars in the street by the station. He headed for Rodnog, a CPD signalling facility at the top of the mountain Canterlot was perched on. Tait decided to take a shortcut through the castle gardens, where groundskeepers were busy at work. At the top of the mountain, Tait left a message to be relayed to all CPD stations across Equestria and began to make his way to Site Two, taking a detour to his local CPD station.
After tearing their way through the countryside and a feodum of the mayor of Canterlot for several hours, the three mares stopped in a fishing village for lunch, as Alex was very hungry, and both Copper Glow and Twilight were also feeling peckish. Twilight had a quick look at the village, which was located near a beach in a small bay. An island was in the middle of the bay, and a merchant ship was docking in the port.
Copper Glow and Twilight had a couple of sandwiches in a café in a market square, where a wandering minstrel was busking. Alexandria put both of her companions to shame by devouring a dozen sandwiches and still looking hungry.
A stallion lookout in a wooden watchtower nearby rang a bell several times, and a stallion emerged from a building across the square.
"The beacons of Canterlot! The beacons are lit! Rodnog calls for aid!" shouted the lookout.
"And we shall answer. Marshal the CPD!" replied the stallion on the ground.
The stallion in the tower began ringing the bell repeated until the square was full of ponies of all descriptions. The three mares took this as their invitation to leave. After a few minutes of driving, the trio encountered a river, with a ferry taking them across. When they reached the other side, they sped off. Twilight asked Copper Glow how long it would take them to reach Site Two. Copper Glow considered, before replying that it would take at least forty-five minutes, probably more. Twilight began asking Copper Glow questions.
"How long have you known Tait?" asked Twilight.
"What did I tell you yesterday? Call him by his surname unless he tells you otherwise. Anyway, we've known each other for a long time, decades even. In fact, he used to help my uncle when he was building the Black Grass units. Lucky made Allerton and High Strung with Tait's assistance, and then they split the rest of the work between themselves; Lucky made the remaining mares and Tait the stallions. I think Tait blames himself for what happened to Vulcan, having made him in the first place, but it's not his fault – the design was reliable, proven to work safely and even the Committee verified that Vulcan had been built to a high standard. The two incidents surrounding Allerton and High Strung were as a result of damage, and Vulcan's accident is still unexplained."
"Are you and Ta...Girling together?"
"Good gracious no. He's not interested in having that sort of relationship with me. Besides, he's an alpaca. I'm a unicorn. And even if we were together, he would be long gone before I go."
"Eh?"
"Obviously you are not familiar with unicorns of Equus Secondus Anorexius Forgottenus like me; unlike the unicorns of Equus Quatrus Insanus Populus, we have very long lifespans compared to other ponies."
"How old are you now? You must be at least eighty."
"I'm seventy-three. Tait is eighty-one. Actually, that reminds me of something. The Black Grass units had been programmed to start with a mental age of about twenty, and Tait told me that when they were turning Kimberly on for the first time, he remarked that he thought Kimberly looked rather cute. Uncle replied, rather cheekily, that, because Tait was twenty-one at the time, they could be a couple."
Twilight asked several more questions, with Copper Glow answering as best she could. This revealed to Twilight that Lucky had married Copper Glow's mother's sister, as well as Copper Glow being orphaned at a young age and had therefore moved to live with her uncle and aunt, although her two older sisters were old enough to live by themselves. Copper Glow's younger sister, Diamond Glow, was raised by relatives on her father's side of the family. Copper Glow also mentioned that the use of "animatronic" to describe the Black Grass and other units was an artefact title from Butterscotch, who was the only true animatronic, as the later creations were technically robots.
There was also a "bed-in" year where the NEMRA units were supervised; the first-of-series were watched over by Tait, and the subsequent units with the exception of Dawn Mist were supervised by the first-of-series, which was something that Allerton and Kimmeridge really enjoyed; Dawn Mist was supervised by Lucky. During this year, the units learnt about the world around them and how to interact with it. Copper Glow remarked that Kimberly was the funniest; in particular, her initial reaction to a mirror was like that of a cat and included a good deal of fear and curiosity.
When the mares arrived at the town where Site Two was located, they found Tait was waiting for them with his companion. Both were now wearing CPD apparel, which included a riot helmet, an ill-fitting Teflon vest, and armbands displaying their ranks and, in Tait's case, first aid skills. Tait also had a shield strapped to his left foreleg. Tait took the mares aside, explained that he had delivered a large crate of good whisky to the anarchists, and they were going to wait for another forty minutes. Copper Glow looked at Tait funnily.
"Are you trying to pull...an Etarvirp Yee style raid?" she asked.
"If it worked for them, it can work for me. Also, we have an insider."
"Is..."
"Polybius in there? Yes, he is. I think he'll do a little bit of encouragement for us."
Tait directed the group to the town's museum. Twilight became so absorbed that she didn't notice the passing of time until Copper Glow prompted her. Tait was already outside, speaking with a gathering of CPD officers, and Twilight observed the large quantity of CPD in the town. Tait finished his conversation with the other officers and approached the mares.
"We're going in. I want you three to stay out of the way, particularly in case things go south." stated Tait.
"But they've got my documents!" resisted Copper Glow.
"Miss Glow! You will stay out of the way, even if we need to restrain you. However, I will get you your documents back." forced Tait.
One of the CPD officers blew a whistle, and the CPD entered Site Two. Inside, they found anarchists sprawled out left, right, and centre, completely legless. One was still standing and approached Tait while the inebriated anarchists were arrested and taken away for questioning.
"Colour Serjeant Girling." said the anarchist.
"Yes?" replied Tait.
The anarchist transformed into Polybius.
"I am after Dodgson." stated Tait.
"Follow me." instructed Polybius.
Polybius took Tait and a couple of corporals into one of the many rooms in the building. There, at a table, sat a drunken pony who looked like he was trying to be a secret agent. Polybius pointed at him and left to hand himself over to another member of the CPD for questioning. Tait indicated to the corporals to wait outside, and then approached Dodgson and sat opposite him.
"Dodgson, I take it?" asked Tait.
"Yes." Dodgson slurred.
"I was informed that you were in charge of releasing information about the Utterham Institute's robots."
"Yes."
"Some documentation was stolen from the Institute; what has happened to it?"
"Sent to Burna at Site F..."
Dodgson slumped onto the table. Tait left the room, and the two corporals arrested Dodgson. Tait took out a marker pen from inside his coat and scrawled 'Hello Cap'n Dodge' over several windows in the room next door.
After about an hour, during which the CPD dealt with the anarchists from Site Two, Tait returned to Twilight, Copper Glow, and Alexandria. Copper Glow immediately asked about her documentation, to which Tait gave the reply Copper Glow didn't want to hear.
"What site was the one we were holed up in this morning?" asked Copper Glow.
"That was Site Four." replied Tait.
"Let's go back there, then."
"Now? Besides, if Dodgson only said 'Site F...', that could be Site Four, Site Five, Site Fourt..." started Twilight.
"Yes, now. This 'Burna' must work there if he dropped us off there."
Tait confirmed that Burna did work at Site Four, having managed to ask Polybius. Tait then looked at his pocket-watch and commented that it was getting late, and even when they did get back to the other site, it would be too late for them to do anything useful. Twilight seconded Tait's statement. Tait added that he'd alerted the local CPD to Site Four's purpose, and requested that they blockaded the building until reinforcements arrived.
Copper Glow sighed and reluctantly agreed not to go back to Site Four that evening. Alexandria caught Copper Glow's eye, and gave her a sympathetic look that said: "I know how you feel, but don't worry too much about it.".
Tait located a nearby guest-house, and, because of Twilight's status, the proprietor insisted that the quartet have a room for the night for free, despite the repeated offer of payment. The group located a nearby free-house for tea, which Tait paid for.
The group returned to the guest-house later in the evening. Alexandria seemed the happiest of the lot, in part because she'd been allowed to eat three full three-course meals and it was the first time in a while that her stomachs were contented.
Copper Glow awoke suddenly and looked at the time – it was ten minutes until 6 o'clock in the morning. She looked out the window and saw a flickering red glow, and stashed Disinformation Highway, her teddy bear, under her duvet.
She went outside and saw that there had been a terrible accident. Several buildings had utterly collapsed, and others were partially demolished; fires were burning in some of the ruins. Dust and smoke hung in the air, along with shouts of confusion, bewilderment, and pain.
In one building, water cascading from a broken pipe fell onto exposed wiring, causing electric arcs to nearby conductive objects. Some ponies were tending to the wounded and others to the fires. The rising and falling tones of ambulances and the maniacally ringing bells of the fire engines in the distance made Copper Glow think that the entire situation belonged more in a horror film than in reality.
Copper Glow noticed a struggling silhouette in an almost wholly collapsed building nearby, lit by a backdrop of fire. Copper Glow ran over to help. Inside, she could see Kimberly squirming, her hindquarters crushed under a support beam. A fire was raging dangerously close by, and Kimberly's pelt was starting to smoke. Copper Glow could see her panicking wildly, trying to free herself.
Copper Glow used her magic to start lifting the beam, and Kimberly was able to drag out everything from her waist down away. Her rear legs have been smashed beyond use. Her cooling system had better not be broken. Uncle won't like this, but poor Kim thought Copper Glow.
As she tried standing up, part of Kimberly's tail ignited, and the flames quickly spread all over her body. She began screaming. It was a fearful scream, full of panic, and was very loud. Copper Glow ran to Lucky's workshop and took a couple of the carbon dioxide fire extinguishers – one had a standard frosting horn, and the other had a horn with a bayonet fitting that could be inserted into Kimberly's CO2 injection port.
Copper Glow ran back to where Kimberly was ablaze and still screaming. Taking the extinguisher with the standard horn, Copper Glow released the contents of the extinguisher at Kimberly, directed at her head initially, then at the rest of the animatronic's body. Finally, Copper Glow directed the carbon dioxide at the fire nearby.
Copper picked Kimberly up magically and removed her from the building, taking the extinguishers with her. Even though the fire that had consumed Kimberly's blackened pelt had been put out, sections were still bubbling and melting. A short distance away from the building, Copper Glow released Kimberly, who lay on the ground.
After a few seconds, Copper Glow noticed smoke coming out of Kimberly's mouth. Acting quickly to prevent Kimberly's hydrogen cooling system catching fire but with a quick and uncomfortable glance around that only a teenager could do, Copper Glow shoved the horn of the undeployed fire extinguisher up Kimberly's backside, locked it into the injection port, and emptied the contents of the extinguisher into the animatronic. The inrush of suffocating gas caused Kimberly's badly burnt pelt to bulge and distort slightly before exiting through the mouth, while Copper Glow was fighting back Freudian thoughts but relieved she wasn't using a foam or powder extinguisher.
When the extinguisher was empty, Copper Glow disconnected the extinguisher, sat down, and wiped her forehead with the back of her left hoof. Kimberly slumped limply onto the ground, performing a Class 4 Emergency Shut-down initiated by SKALA.
Tait appeared from a nearby building, carrying a wounded pony on his back. He disappeared but returned a few minutes later without the pony. After asking what had happened, and receiving a response, Tait picked up Kimberly and began taking her to Lucky's workshop. Copper Glow got up and began to look around more. There was a rumble behind her, and she looked around; the building behind her had started to collapse. Copper Glow went to escape, but falling masonry tore into her back, causing her to fall to the ground with flames of pain and rivers of blood coming from the spot. More pain, then darkness.
Copper Glow woke up and looked at the time - 02:37. It was the third time that year she had remembered that night - the night that Vulcan was torn apart explosively. Kimberly had come dangerously close to being decommissioned that night. How many lives had been lost? How many lives had been changed through injury, sickness, and experiences? The Committee attended the scene within a couple of hours, taking notes, conducting interviews, and photographing evidence. The Institute arrived later that morning to assess for themselves what had happened.
Copper Glow sat up in bed. She supposed that she was fortunate to have survived. She turned to look at her back and summoned what was left of her original pair of wings, which she had lost that night. A couple of green stumps appeared. Copper Glow had always liked her real wings, which were similar to Vulcan's wings, but with a green frame instead of a brandy-brown one surrounding the glitter-filled heart-shaped innards. The glitter had supposedly allowed her to fly. Although the scars were no longer visible, the stumps still itched occasionally.
Copper Glow magically scratched the stumps of her real wings before lying down in bed. She slipped a hoof under the covers and pulled out Disinformation Highway. He was old and slightly tattered, but Copper Glow still had the same feelings towards him now as when she seventeen, when Vulcan died.
Copper Glow felt a presence nearby and looked to her right. Alexandria was standing there, looking extremely distraught. It was probably unpleasant for her, seeing Kim like that. No sentient being, whatever they may be, should see their adoptive or birth mother burning, thought Copper. She shifted over in her bed, and Alex sat down next to her, legs going everywhere. Even if blood didn't relate the two of them, they still regarded each other as family, connected through Kimberly.
A/N Another couple of chapters to go.