“Inundation”
“Part 9, Imposition”
Author: It_that_watches
The service lift closed its scissor-doors and ascended into the gloom above. The ascent was silent for a time but began to be sharply interspersed by the screeching of metal on metal. As the platform shuddered in the strained darkness of the confined shaft, the unease of the younger occupant grew to a point where he began to voice his concern.
The building breathed down upon them from the blackness above.
“Dr. Winston? Is this… normal?”
He looked slowly to the intern, who was now trying to keep his balance with exaggerated motions.
“Calm down son. Isn’t this how you usually get down here?”
“No,” he replied, “You’d usually just go down through that stairwell on the west side of the building.”
Immediately following his admission, he attempted a retraction.
“Well, you know at least that’s uh, what the building plans say. That’s the way you reach the lower floors.”
“Relax kid. I know you’ve been helping them escape, and I also know that the only way anyone would use that haunted-ass stairwell is if they didn’t want to be seen. And I’m certain you were misled by Harriet; I’m not gonna report you to admin. I’m just hoping I can find a solution to this whole mess.”
Nathan looked no better eased by the new information. That’s not what was on his mind on his moment. Who cared about admin if the elevator collapsed?
“The lift always does this. It’s scraping against the seam between the old building and the new one built on top. There’s no need to fear, I’ve used this elevator plenty of times.”
“Isn’t this thing for moving cargo?”
“It’s not really used for anything, anymore. None of the undercroft facilities are in use anymore. It is primarily used to move things in and out of storage though so yeah, I guess, it’s a cargo elevator.”
Said cargo elevator promptly slammed to a halt as it reached its destination, doors creaking wearily open. Matthew slowly left the lift even as Nathan sped to leave it behind.
There was a sound of thunder. The skies above had opened their great vaults.
Nathan jumped at the noise.
“How long you been living in Washington kid? We have storms like this all the time.”
“Dr. Winston I’ve lived in Washington my whole life, just you know, on the other side of the mountains. I’ve always been uneasy during storms.”
Matthew laughed lightly.
“Like I said earlier. The Earth is full of hate, and these storms are one of its blessings. They destroy everything in their path incapable of withstanding them, and by doing so shower the survivors with lush greenery and clean water. It’s a honing stone, you see.”
As they stepped off the lift, he made discrete eye contact with the young man.
“Let’s hope this rain isn’t unusually heavy… We know what that’ll do.”
The sound of the slowly intensifying storm could be heard battering against the nearby pane glass window, a performative attempt to assail the species that had long since conquered it. A reminder.
Just behind a nearby door fluffies could be heard whimpering. Even through all the noise cancellation built into the structure, they could still feel the vibrations of the world outside.
“Better head in there, kid. I’ll head over to admin and vouch for you disappearing all day… I’m sure your supervisor’s noticed you’ve been gone for like… three hours. I’ll just say I needed you for something.”
“But… what if they ask what you were doing?”
“Like I said earlier kid. Nobody ever asks what I’m up to. You did a lot for those little fluffies. Thank you. I won’t forget.”
“Dave.”
The man behind the security booth remained still and silent, eyes fixated on a flickering screen.
“Dave.”
He reached one arm over to a nearby panel, pressing a button that opened the interior airgap door leading out of the facility.
“Yeah, clear. Go on ahead.”
Matthew slammed his fist against the reinforced glass barrier in overtuned exasperation.
“DAVE.”
“Huh!? What yeah! I said go, what’s your… Oh hey doc, what’s up? Didn’t hear you over all the rain.”
“Ah yeah Dave that must be it, not the YouTube videos you’re watching on company time.”
“The fuck you plyin’ at Winston? I’m watching security feeds.”
He might have sounded convincing if not for, well…
“Dude I can see the reflection in the monitor behind you.”
He quickly turned his head, looking over his shoulder where a black mirror reflected its illuminated family across from him. He turned it on, tuning it to a feed from the camera above the exit hall. Matthew turned to look directly into it. His vision panned back to the screen, now displaying himself from an odd angle.
“Can you still see it?”
Matthew squinted and raised his hand to block out the overhead lights.
“Nah, you’re good.”
“Still, Dave, I need a quick favor.”
“Ahuh, and that is?”
“I need access to the security database. All exterior cameras, probably for the last two months or so.”
Dave slowly looked up from his desk, a look of incredulity spreading across his eager face.
“You do rea-“
Before he had the chance to experience the smug satisfaction of saying his piece, Matthew cut him short. Dave seemed to have expected this and confidently folded his hands and gave a polite smile back.
“Yeah, it’s giga-illegal and a violation of both of our contracts. If we get caught, we’re going to face not only professional ramifications, but we’re both gonna be effectively court martialed by Hasbio- and after that, the only way we’ll ever see the sun again is through bars.”
He paused for only the briefest of moments.
“Happy Dave? I know you’re sticking your neck out for me, and I also know, that you know, that I’d do the same for you. For instance, if you were to have been behind the disappearances of several test subjects under suspicious circumstances last month, whose loss really meant nothing to the company or course, but would be terrible for the kidnapper were they to have been caught… You know I’d cover for you. For instance, by having Twilight say that I had you watching her at the time… and she’d just so happen to corroborate the lie.”
“Alright, alright, jeez dude it was a joke! I know you can be trusted.”
“And I know that you can’t.”
There was another brief pause before both of them laughed.
“Come on into the security office. Find somewhere cozy to do your thing… oh yeah… and how is Twilight doing?”
The sound of grating metal-on-metal was sudden and sharp.
Matthew couldn’t suppress his happiness at the thought of his beloved daughter.
“She’s doing so much better now that Tia’s awake… Her nightmares stopped. Well, Twilight’s did anywho… She’s uh- recently claimed dominion over a herd of feral fluffies, and is… exploring… the responsibilities that come with leadership.”
He chuckled softly as he passed through the now opened magnetic blast door, it swiftly closing behind him with a screeching slam. The company guard playfully punched Matthew in the arm as he passed, eliciting a halfcocked swipe in relation… at least once he had finished nursing the aching muscle.
“You dick’ead.”
“Oh, you’re just a baby. Continue, you know, about Twi?”
“Oh right! Uhhm… sometimes she ignores the fluffies entirely, usually to watch YouTube on the TV. Sometimes they gather in a fuzzy big mass outside the windows to watch as well, and… a-hah… the trouble that causes sometimes…”
Matthew shook his head whilst holding back laughter, a smile forming on his weary face.
“Trouble?”
“Well… as you know the lower level of my house has those decorative… pits? You know, so the basement can have full windows? Anyways- one of them just so happens to be right outside that window. If the fluffies get too distracted by the flashing lights, whoops! Down they go… the mewling from the pit is certainly… something.”
“How often you have to pull ‘em out?”
Matthew laughed aloud as he dug aimlessly through the building security logs, unsure of the structure of the system, but he had confidence that he generally knew what he was looking for.
“They aren’t mine; I owe them nothing! If Twilight wants to lob them out of the pit she’s welcome to, but I don’t exactly feel inclined to prolong the time they spend eating my ferns.”
“I take it you don’t like her having them?”
He paused for a while. He’d been avoiding answering this question, even to himself. Twilight hadn’t asked him, and he was hesitating the conversation that they’d surely have the day when she finally did. After all, he did try to never lie to her.
“That’s… complicated. On the one hand, they’re just biotoys. I mean, there are certainly worse things that she could be playing with. It’s the strays though, that I’m worried about. They know things. They know about the outside world, and I… I’m not sure I’m ready for her to learn about it yet. It’ll kill her, to know the kind of life she has ahead of her, to know the real world. To know what we’re really like.”
“Damn dude, chill. What?”
His response was resolute but unfocused, being both proud of both watching her grow and learn, but terrified that she might learn the wrong thing.
“I’ve spent so much time keeping her from the world, that I’d never considered that the world just might decide to come to her. Sure, that whole conceited congressional thing on cloning and rights and shit guarantees that she’s not gonna be dissected as soon as I die, but what future prospects does she have? She’s smart as hell, cunning too, but she’s associated with those… those ugly little things.”
The security guard took a moment to process it all.
“So… horse racism?”
Matthew looked up at his friend with a look of bewildered incredulity.
“Yeah… sure…”
He tried stifle another laugh, but this time, a few bits of happiness audibly escaped. Matthew took a second deep breath as he felt his face starting to ache. It was only moments later though that his friend watched as every bit of happiness seemed to bleed out of him.
“She’s different, and to all those people out there, different means bad. You think she’ll be able to get a job? Friends? A family? Hell do you even think she’ll be able to go out in public without everyone gawking?”
“Not to mention the fact that she scares the shit outta fluffies.”
“Yeah, Dave, but we both see that as a benefit.”
Matthew slumped down to the floor and closed his eyes.
“I’ll find a solution for all this though, I’m sure I will… For now, though she’s a perfectly capable eight-year-old. I’m sure it’ll all be fine.”
Celestia’s eyes fluttered awake, oh so irritatingly accompanied by a fearful and pleading call for some inane request. She realized that whatever this droning was, it had awakened her from sleep. She didn’t remember falling into it’s grasp, and it chilled her soul.
“Hrmm? What. What do you want, Briar. I don’t like you sneaking up on me like that.”
She leered over the room and into the kitchen.
“Where’s my sister. Whachu want frum me? You… I… Jus… I’m sorry. I don’ mean to be mad at you. You didn do anyfing wrong yet.”
She reeled her neck and snuggled into her blanket. Her long aurora painted mane completed her concealment as it draped over her head, leaving only one piercing pink eye visible by the grace of some reflected light- and a sharp white spike pointed forward.
“Twi- Pwrin…” Briar stuttered under the strain of her gaze. “Bwiaw am wowwied fow Twiwight, an…”
“Lissen. I’m sure whatevers goin’ on oud dere, she be akay. She’s like, real smart like that. Puzzle solver an’ stuff like that. She plays computer games wif Dad sometimes.”
That last sentence didn’t make any sense to Briar, but the prior ones did make her feel more at ease. After all, this pony seemingly knew Twilight really, really well, or at least she was superior to her in the herd hierarchy… she was beginning to doubt however that that made her correct by default.
The sky was starting to grow darker, and the fluffies outside were starting to grow worried. Tiny droplets began to form on their fur as fog descended from the heavens.
Twilight looked down at her shivering congregation from atop her “throne”, not with contempt or annoyance, but with worry. What was going to happen to them? She could see the gathering stormclouds and while she loved the sound of the wind and rain battering against the windows as she fell asleep… she didn’t have to fall asleep outside.
She’d never actually thought about how much of a difference that might make. She never had to before.
“Pwincess? Bad sky wawa am commun’ an’ fwuffies nu wike. Pwease mak’ gu way?”
“Sky wawa gud, bud nu dis much! Tu many wawa’s make fwuffies cowd an’ hav saddies!”
“Babbeh’s nu haf wawmies fow cowd times yet! Nee’ bwite sky baww tu cum bak’!”
She could scarcely begin to speak before the sky answered for her. What fluffies didn’t soil themselves immediately dove for non-existent cover, or slammed their snouts into the ground and covered their heads with miniscule hooves.
Inside, Briar staggered away from the direction of the muffled booming, and Celestia reacted with the near imperceptible twitch of an ear. A storm was coming.
“Pwease Pwincess Twiwight, teww sky nu haf’ maddies at fwuffies… fwuffies am gud fwuffies…”
“Nu wike scawy noisies! Nu wan! Nu wan! Scawy noisies am nu gud fow babbehs!”
She stood with a rigid back, looking down at her filthy subjects, all clumping up under the awning to avoid exposure to the glowering sky. Her eyes couldn’t help but wander across them and feel concern, and it was then that she realized that she actually cared what happened to them. At some point they had ceased to be toys and become something more.
They needed her. These wayward… souls? -had come to rely on her and though strays had a chance to survive out there in the wild, surviving wasn’t the same as living.
“Mummah wook, Pwincess hown make happy sky cowor… Pwincess gon bwing back happy sky?”
Her trance was broken, and she focused her eyes on the foal that had just spoken those words.
He was a colt. Just recently weaned off his mother, and the last of his litter alive. He had a younger brother and sister once, but the “big tree pwace” had taken them away. He’d told Twilight whilst he was packing debris against the log wall that they probably got lost. He was building a ramp so he could walk along the wall and look for them.
His name was Tea-Leaf.
He wasn’t blue, she knew he was red, though at this moment he looked a vibrant violet. The bioluminescent light from her horn bled down the inside of her skull and caressed the backs of her eyes, giving them a clear-sky backlight that bathed all she saw in the color of sorrow. Her subjects looked up expecting a stern, possible uncaring gaze, but instead were met with eyes welling with glittering tears.
The whole world was bathed in a mournful azure glow…
But crying wouldn’t solve anything.
The first droplets of rain were heard heavily striking the world. Rocks grew slick. The sky played the awnings like drums, and the blades of the lawn danced to its music. Now was the time for action.
“GrraAHH!”
Twilight shook her head, attempting to stifle the glow.
None of them knew what it meant, the Princess was simply magical, of course- but she did. She knew what it meant, and she needed to shake it off. She had to be strong. For…
For them.
“Alright! Everyfluffy listen up. We don’t have much time before the storm gets here, and your little burrows aren’t gonna make it. Take anything or anyone, you don’t want to get washed away and bring them here, under the picnic table. I’ll have them sorted later.”
She hopped down from her throne and continued, raising her right wing high to gather the attention and awe of her fluffies.
“The rest of you, I need your help. You need to move heavy things, like… firewood- I know it’s gonna be hard, those logs are heavy, but I know you can do it. Bring at least… four of them to the big toy. Leave them in front of the slide. I’ll get the tarp.”
She couldn’t believe what was happening. Twilight had found herself running across her backyard in a the increasingly powerful rain, to build a makeshift lean-to, that she was actively straining her mind to design in realtime… and all to protect the creatures that she once viewed as test subjects.
She wasn’t sure when that change occurred, and she didn’t care.
She jumped with force into the disused and hard-to-turn handle of the garage back door, in an attempt to loosen it, but it would not yield to her methods. She drew out her wings before her, flexing her pollex and gritting her teeth. She’d have to find another way in; there’s no chance that she could open that door by herself. She didn’t have hands. As she spun around to run and enter the house from the door behind her “throne” she noticed a group of frightened fluffies waddling after her.
“Wait here. Wait, no- help the others! They’ll need all the strength they can get, and I don’t want them hurting themselves.”
The frightened fluffies that had followed her scattered away, a few going where she asked, and the rest running off to cower from the angry sky. Those that stood transfixed received a split-second reprieve from the rain as she leapt over them, wings spread.
As she pushed open the door, she cursed herself for not being stronger. She didn’t know how much time she had left, and she didn’t want to find out.
Celestia and Briar both flinched at the sound of the door slamming shut, and the hammering of hooves on hardwood as Twilight raced to the garage. Mossy and Muddy suddenly had a whole litter of terrified foals to deal with as she cantered past the laundry room and shunted open the garage door.
The light from the hallway would probably provide enough illumination for her search, she figured, and so she rushed into the dark room, the feel of the cool concrete beneath her, and the smell of iron in the air.
There was a crash and a clatter of jingling surgical tools as she collided with her dad’s makeshift operating table. A few instruments fell to the floor, as well as a piece of rebar that bonked her on the head on its way down.
“Ach! My fuckin’… Why did dad leave all this shit out!?”
She squinted at the setup, but in the gloom couldn’t make out more than some sort of table with a toolbox on it. Were those cages? Probably, but that didn’t concern her because she was on a mission. Dad’s got some weird stuff in here, but that table had wheels and so was easily smashed aside. It’s not that she wasn’t interested in what might be going on in here, it’s just that thinking about all of that right now wouldn’t get her anywhere closer to finding the tarp. She knew it was in here, just… where?
“What the hell are you even looking for Matt?”
Matthew looked up from where he slumped on the floor, irritated.
“I’ve told you before, don’t call me that.”
Dave relented, holding up his hands in apology.
“Sorry, sorry…” he paused briefly before continuing, “What the hell are you even looking for ya daft cunt?”
“Evidence…” He mumbled.
“Evidence?”
“You know, anything out of order. Something in the car park that shouldn’t be there… or… should…”
Matthew shifted to a more serious pose and focused on the tablet.
“Is there a schedule I can check for the company cars? Don’t we only move things between the campus buildings during the day?”
Dave shrugged noncommittally.
“Usually. I mean, I’m usually here to buzz them in or out, but I go home when you do. When a truck has to move something it has to be logged obviously- there are records kept of any transports moving in or out of the front gates. You know, gotta we always know where all the primo merch is.”
“Right, right, but do you keep a record of every vehicle?”
After some side-eye, he responded.
“Yes? No? Everything that goes into the motorpool, yeah- are you implying that someone is driving their personal vehicle in there and parking for the day? Or is that how you think the little rats are bein’ smuggled out?”
Matthew paused and sped through days of footage and tried to reference the transports moving in and out against the logs. Nothing was out of place. Dave was right. Everything was recorded in the database, and only company vehicles entered the area that he thought the fluffies were escaping from.
“They’re getting pulled up and out of the exterior incinerator. Someone put in a set of cages on pulleys. I’d be impressed, if they weren’t causing grievous harm to… you know…”
“I uh… don’t know dude. Far as I see, you’re fighting your own war. I just work security, like, mainly inside the building away from all the drama.
Matthew looked up at his friend, somewhat worried.
“You aren’t at all alarmed that fluffies from this building have been confirmed in the wild? Not even the slightest bit concerned?”
His answer was perfunctory.
“Nah, not really. If corporate were actually mad about it, I’d have been informed. Isn’t this just Hasbio’s way of dumping toxic sludge in a river? Escaped fluffies are just kinda like… runoff. Honestly I assumed that someone high up okayed it. Easy way to get rid of ‘em, right?”
“Sure Dave, the only thing that would be faster would be incinerating them on site. If only we had some sort of device for that. Something that we could also feed all our other waste products into- oh wait, we do. And someone’s essentially throwing our trash out of the can and into the forest. If the feds were to get involved-”
“Wait, why the hell do we even have an incinerator? Surely, they could be composted or something.”
“Yeah Dave, great idea, throw company secrets into the actual municipal trash system. Great idea.”
“What company secrets? Ain’t all that shit in building A?”
“The digital ones are almost certainly backed up there, but all sites keep their own g-stock on file locally- that’s not important though. We aren’t like, constantly broadcasting that shit out into the sky as we make it.”
“And broadcasting the fluffies is bad because…”
“Dave the incinerator isn’t for like, compacting waste, its for obliterating DNA. We dust the little fuckers- the ash is used for fertilizer by the way, so there’s nothing left to be extracted BY people digging through our trash. Trade secrets. Y’ever see one of those bootleg fluffies?”
“Yeah, the ones that look like shit?”
“Yeah, they still look like shit because nobody else has gotten it down yet.”
Dave chuckled.
“Okay and you think that we have? Fluffies are the apex?”
“No you fucking dumbass, our field does more than just grow pests. Bioengineering can do so much more, it can…”
He was cut off by the sound of an old telephone ringer, sung out by a timeworn digital speaker.
He reached into his pocket and retrieved his phone, where he then paused. He stared down at the glowing picture of Twilight sitting next to the pumpkin they had carved the year prior, bouncing text at the bottom reading “Home” underscored by an accept call button.
“It gave my shitty life meaning, man.”
He pulled the phone up as he accepted the call.
“It allowed me to have a family again.”