Diaspora - Lunar Exodus [SFW Nobledark Sci-Fi AU]

@CobaltTheMadMage  
(I applaud you on using actual binary.)
 
Its jaw is slow to move, but the speaker gets to work anyway, sounding a bit like Pat Boone(before he aged to a senior citizen) after a short jumble of noise, “oh! hello there. What can I do for you today?” The machine moves its head, the cameras in its eyes still processing its surroundings.

@Cerebrate19  
“It’s all right, just take it slow.” a mare says as he feels his head being cradled by magic while his augmentations are moved into place for reattachment “When you plugged into that Ponyroid, it seems whatever was going on inside his head crashed your systems, too. We’re not sure yet whether he’s been infected with some kind of malware or just suffering a feedback loop of some kind, but whatever it was looks like it hasn’t done much damage to your organic parts, if any.”
 
 
@HatOfDisguise  
he looks momentarily unnerved before regaining his composure “_{eh, good enough} Good morning, Kev! I am so glad you asked, we have a special job for you today: you are going to be working alongside a~~”
 
“This is your plan?” another stallion interrupts from the doorway to the room “You’re breaking out the museum piece for this~~”
 
“Hey now, no need to be like that! He can hear you, you know!” the first stallion retorts as the other rolls his eyes “Besides, he’s perfect for this job! Trust me, this will work.”

@CobaltTheMadMage  
The voice deepens a bit and sharpens to sound better. The jaw also syncs with the words. “Watch who you call old, pal. So, what is my job?” The ears perk up, signifying he had the machine’s full attention.

@CobaltTheMadMage  
“at least i found the final proof he’s alive… he DID dream… and it was a nightmare.”

@CobaltTheMadMage
 
[ ♪ ^♪^ _^♪^(Metroid Prime 3: Corruption Music - Norion) ]  
{ Follows with furtive caution now after the flightsuit-clad pony, while quietly rummaging through his pockets, drawing out from a wither satchel the old camera he kept from the lunar rover, along with a little spare film he’d scavenged from the vehicle’s tool compartments. Stopping between two stacked rows of crates to hide for a moment, he double-checks to make sure the photo-flash is off, loads the film, then continues stalking. }

@CobaltTheMadMage  
(I’m gonna get a response up soon, but I had a question. What exactly is Nobledark?)

@Toffee
 
(this)

@HatOfDisguise  
“You, my friend, are going to be accompanying a very special member of the Lunar Guard on a top-secret mission- I know it sounds like a bit much, but trust me, your unique hardware and software specs offer you some unique advantages that not even the newer Ponyroid models would possess.” he turns to face the door for a second “Oh, and here comes your partner now!”
 
Into the room steps a mare the likes of which Kev has likely not seen in a long time, if at all. Her gray fur and dark mane alone weren’t all that unusual, but her slightly enlarged tufted ears, orange eyes with vertical slitted pupils, and membranous wings sprouting from her back were not exactly a common sight on the Moon. She wore what resembled an elite Guardspony uniform with a darker color scheme and emblazoned with a crescent moon emblem denoting a high or unique rank among the Guard, and had a physique that suggested she was no stranger to physical combat.
 
Without a word, she walks into the room, giving Kev a once-over before glancing to the other stallion in a mixture of confusion and disbelief
 
“Kev, meet Special Agent Autumn Breeze. Miss Breeze, this is Kev. You two are going to be partners for this mission.”
 
 
@Cerebrate19  
“A nightmare? How~~” she almost sounds as if she doesn’t believe him, or at least the notion of Ponyroids having nightmares “That can’t be good…”
 
 
@CasaBlamCo  
He witnesses the pony pilot approach the hangar for one of the astro-miner ships… and then the next one… and the next one… and so on until he finally stops at one of those giant storage containers he’d always seen stacked between the hangars but never really questions. One was always led to believe those things contained backlogs of spare parts for repairing and maintaining the astro-miners, but that hypothesis was blown out the airlock the moment the mysterious pilot was observed inserting some kind of key-like object~~ it was hard to tell what specifically from that distance- into a seam on the side that led it to start to slowly open from the front, in a fashion very much unlike how similar storage crates were supposed to open.

@CobaltTheMadMage  
“actually it proves a number of old theorem regarding ponyroids and AI in general… anyways when can i go?”

@CobaltTheMadMage  
Kev finds the nicer stallion to be a bit over-eccentric. Perhaps he works with younger ponies on a regular basis.  
It’s too early for Kev to draw a conclusion on the mare, though perhaps the two being familiar with each other may help in the future.  
“It’s good to meet you, miss Breeze. Sir, your story is…confusing. What is it that’s happening?” The advanced computer assumes something is being glorified and that budget cuts may be somewhere in the roots of the situation.

@Cerebrate19  
“Not long now. We’re almost done reinstalling your augmentations; we can let you go as soon as everything’s working properly.”

@HatOfDisguise  
“It’s all a little classified, but… I suppose in this case it would be a need-to-know basis. Long story short, there’s been reports of a disturbance of some sort in a previously unknown tunnel formation within the Moon. Miss Breeze, here, is part of an elite chapter of the Lunar Guard that specializes in unknowns such as these, and has been ordered to investigate the anomaly and, if necessary, neutralize and contain it.”
 
“You, meanwhile, will be Miss Breeze’s escort, providing assistance where necessary and possibly serving as a bodyguard or interpreter should the need arise.”
 
Autumn Breeze shoots the stallion a look that implies offense at his statement, or perhaps at the notion of working alongside the archaic machine.

@CobaltTheMadMage  
“Good. When does the job begin?” The machine began processing a schedule together while taking note of Miss Breeze’s offense so it could be addressed in private.

@CobaltTheMadMage  
“glad to hear it ma’am… speaking of which though, i think the ones i use for work should be checked for software damages… got some strange values back a few times.”

@HatOfDisguise  
“Well, if Miss Breeze here is prepared, you can start immediately~~”
 
Autumn stamps her hoof to get the stallion’s attention. Though she does not speak, Kev seems to recognize a form of nonverbal communication between the two, as it would appear she prefers to work alone, or is perhaps offended by the notion that she may need help.
 
“Agent Breeze, please understand~~ I have no doubts whatsoever in your abilities, but trust me, he can help. Maybe you won’t need his assistance, maybe you will, but management made it clear that they would rather you undertake this mission with backup and not need it than entertain any possibility of losing you because you insisted on going it alone.”
 
She momentarily glances between Kev and the stallion- ‘why him?’ she seems to ask
 
“He’s modular, reliable, and if our intel is to be believed lacks the vulnerabilities of the newer Ponyroid models. Please, just give him a chance- I wouldn’t have vouched for him unless I was certain he could help you.”
 
Autumn remains skeptical, but seems to resign to his judgement for now.
 
“Sorry about that, friend.” the stallion turns to address Kev “Agent Breeze here is… well, for now let’s just say she’s a mare of few words, and we’ve all just sort of learned to live with that. It’ll take some getting used to, but don’t worry; we’ve updated your software with the latest in body language recognition technology. Theoretically you should be able to understand her even when she insists on keeping her silence.”
 
 
@Cerebrate19  
“We’ll see about patching those up, too; what kind of values were we talking here?”

@CobaltTheMadMage  
This should flow well with Kev’s past experience with mutes.  
“No apologies are necessary. I like updates, especially those as large and useful as this one.” The glance Autumn Breeze gave to Kev was enough for facial recognition to latch onto. Kev turns its robotic head to face Autumn Breeze, the pixelated LED(Light-Emitting Diode) eyes used by Kev almost seeming to manage to focus on her, “provided the circumstances allow it, I am ready to depart when you are.”

@CobaltTheMadMage  
“Energy readings from Stones, heat signatures in empty hallways, sometimes the photosensor would report i’m in the dark when i stand in the middle of a well lit room.”

@CobaltTheMadMage  
The pegasus would smirk and open his wings, kicking off the ground and giving them a flap, lifting off into the air. He would give a whoop and start speeding around the room, letting the air mess his mane and tail up as much as it wanted

@HatOfDisguise  
She shrugs and gestures he follow as she proceeds down the corridor herself. It would appear she was ready right now.
 
 
@Cerebrate19  
“Interesting… we did what we could to fix your hardware already, but the only other explanation I could offer would be maybe there was a conflict between your organic and mechanical components as one was being affected by some form of illusion or hallucination that the other side wasn’t…”
 
 
@Toffee  
There are other ponies there as well, mostly Pegasi taking to the air like himself, but a few others remain on the ground, going about their business or watching the Pegasi at play. Though most of the rec area is open air, there are also a few floating obstacles in place for him and others to fly through or around should he feel the need to test his maneuverability or just show off

@CobaltTheMadMage  
The machine follows after equipping a saddlebag. It was obvious that small talk would fail to accomplish anything, so Kev kept quiet, instead choosing to pay attention to her and to where they were going.

@CobaltTheMadMage  
“yeah, but who in their right mind uses illusion spells where you need to be aware of your surroundings at all times?”

@CobaltTheMadMage  
The pegasus would smirk and dive through a few of the hoops, then fly over a few more, a goofy smile on his face. After doing this for a few minutes he would land, closing his wings. “Alright, I can get down to living on this place.” He would start walking around the large center, taking in all the things there

@HatOfDisguise  
On the way out, Autumn is given a file by a secretarial-looking mare, which she takes a few moments to parse before holding out to Kev.
 
 
@Cerebrate19  
She shrugs “Maybe somepony who has something to hide?”
 
 
@Toffee  
Though the majority of the facility seems designed for Pegasi, there are enough more universal exercise machines and sporting facilities to hold at least a partial appeal to ponies of all sorts. Weight machines, treadmills, ellipticals, ball courts, and even a small VR arcade, though it would appear that last one has admission fees all its own.

@CobaltTheMadMage  
The machine attempts to take the file and scan it for information.

@CobaltTheMadMage  
“saboteurs?”