Research Project Sparkle - Original 0800, 25th Feb 2016

[b]0800, 25th February, 2016[/b]
Twilight Sparkle’s teeth tore another chunk out of the baguette hovering before them. She began to devour the sandwich anew, savouring every crunch of lettuce, delighting in the juiciness of the tomato, and relishing the sweetness of the beetroot.
Nutrient paste, it turned out, had exactly one positive aspect: it made everything else taste that much better afterwards. The sandwich could have used some buttercups, sure, but Twilight was already half-collapsed in a state of bliss; she really didn’t need this to be any more delicious.
Outside her taste nirvana, Twilight heard the door that lead out of the room open. She opened her eyes, and saw what appeared to be a tall, thin man in a navy blue suit being escorted in by a pair of guards. Unlike most of the ones she had seen, these two wore bulky blue-grey jackets and matching soft caps; less real armour, more like a protective uniform. Both carried boxy instruments in a similar colour, which the young alicorn assumed were weapons.
A scientist accompanied the trio, but not one that Twilight had met before. She stepped up into the control booth as the suited man was ushered past it, and spoke briefly to the two researchers already sat there before taking a seat herself. The man in the suit, meanwhile, was walked to the entrance to her cell. Twilight quickly finished the last few bites of her sandwich in the short pause that followed; this seemed important.
The new scientist spoke into the microphone for a few seconds, before nodding to one of her companions, who flipped a switch. “X-014-1,” her words echoed a little in the chamber, “we have a fluent speaker for you to learn from. You’ll be using psionics to accelerate the process, correct?”
Twilight looked through the glass screen separating her from the researchers, trying to gauge their intentions. On the one hoof, this would help her out immensely, but Twilight hadn’t expected them to find a volunteer this quickly, and since [i]she[/i] was in a holding cell…
“I will, yes,” Twilight replied concisely.
“Good,” the woman replied, her eyes focused on the instruments in front of her rather than on the alicorn, “will you need the damping field alleviated?”
Twilight mused for a moment. “Not certainly. I can make the process longer, and use less power.”
“Excellent, damping field remaining at ninety-five percent,” the researcher replied, “ready to introduce subject X-002-12 to cell A3, test beginning in five,” she began to count down.
At zero, the door to Twilight’s cell slid open, and the man in the suit stepped inside. The door shut swiftly behind him, which he half-turned to regard, his movements slow and precise. Looking back into the room, his bespectacled gaze settled on the purple pony. One eyebrow raised slightly, merely curious rather than perplexed. The man took a few steps towards her, his stride far-reaching and ponderous, before coming to a stop about six feet away from her. He said nothing.
“Hello,” Twilight offered, raising a hoof in a brisk wave. She was sat on the floor, not quite in the centre of the room, and watching the man with a hopeful smile on her face. “My name’s twilight Sparkle.”
The man made no immediate reaction. “Greetings,” he finally spoke, his voice flat and lifeless, “I understand that I am to help you learn to speak better?”
Twilight nodded, “That’s right, but probably not how you’re expecting.” The man’s eyebrow lifted a little higher as she spoke, “If it’s alright with you, I’d like to learn directly from you mind using psionics. I wouldn’t normally ask, since it’s-”
“You possess the Gift?” the man interrupted her.
Twilight blinked, a little surprised, before replying, “You mean psionics? Yes, I can use psionics. I mean, all pointy-psion horses can, but I’m impressive even by comparison.”
The thin man nodded, his expression softening slightly, “Then you have my permission to continue, Miss Sparkle.”
Twilight’s smile grew wider, and she stood up. “Great! Before we begin, I didn’t get your name?”
The man turned his head to look out of the window, directly towards the three research staff. “You may call me X-002-12, if you wish,” he replied, before looking back at the purple pony, “I doubt you would be able to pronounce my chosen name, without… alterations.”
Twilight’s smile faltered a little, but she pressed on regardless. “Okay sir, I’m ready to begin when you are. Thinking through what you know will help me find it better.” The man nodded again, and she began, a long, violet stream of psionic power twisting through the air from her horn to the man’s head.
Twilight quickly found what she was looking for, her search made easier by the man simply reciting the alphabet in his head. It was interesting, to say the least; the information was entirely self-contained. Normally, information in the mind would have its edges blurred, as the mind made connections to other relevant information, but the knowledge the man possessed didn’t demonstrate this; very few connections to outside information had been made, which to Twilight could mean only one thing.
Someone had used psionics to place this knowledge in the man’s head, just as Twilight was now using psionics to transfer it to her own.
The definite edges did make it easier to understand where this knowledge ended and the man’s personal experiences began, though, so the alicorn had a much easier time maintaining his mental privacy. She did explore the few existing connections a little, though, and found another three languages, some knowledge of local customs, and one other thing, a worrying connection made to one word in particular.
Enemy.
Twilight gave a slight push with her mental power, simply to ask the man what this meant, and if she could explore this connection further.
The reply was much clearer than she had expected. [i]Do not trust these people, Miss Sparkle,[/i] it addressed her, [i]for they most certainly do not trust you or I.[/i]
An image was presented to her, a scene of fire and war. A handful of suited men, with sleek, meagre weapons in their grip, huddled behind cover where they had not already been slain. A host of shadowy figures approaching, hulking figures with boxy weapons, firing bright beams of crimson light through the air, destroying obstacle and enemy with equal abandon.
[i]Neither will they show us mercy,[/i] the man noted.
Another image, this one of sterile, steeley surroundings. Harsh lighting shone upon myriad sharp and pointy tools, as they were used upon one of the men. Figures in yellow, rubbery suits were removing something from him. It looked like an organ of some sort. Twilight felt her stomach turn.
[i]Be glad I cannot show them doing the same to me,[/i] her companion thought.
Twilight hesitated. The two images alone were alarming enough, adding slaughter and forceful surgery to her captor’s crimes. She dreaded to think how much worse they could be, or what sort of situation could drive them to such measures.
But Twilight Sparkle was not a mare to shy away from the truth, no matter how hard it might be.
[i]They do not know how long this process will take me. Could you tell me who has me captive, please?[/i]
She felt the man consent, and more images and memories began to flow forth.
***
[b]Research Project: Subject X-014 “Sparkle.”
Date:[/b] 25th February 2016
[b]Experiment X-014-1-F: [/b] Cross-examination with X-002-12 “Thin Man”
[b]Experiment Summary[/b]
X-002-12 transported under guard from Cell C7 to Cell A3. Security protocols for Cell A3 cleared and X-002-12 introduced to cell, which contains X-014-1. Cell A3 is under a psionic impedance field of 95% at time of experiment.
X-041-1 greets X-002-12 in English, and asks for its name. X-002-1 returns the greeting, but does not self-identify, instead stating its believed reason for introduction to X-014-1 (being the improvement of X-014-1’s linguistic skills). X-014-1 confirms this statement’s accuracy, and states that she will proceed immediately.
X-014-1 begins emitting a psionic signal measuring 18.4Vh, which seems to be directed at X-002-12. X-014-1 maintains this signal for a total time of one hour and eighteen minutes, in a standing posture with its eyes closed. At the indicated time, the signal ends, and X-014-1 thanks X-002-12 for his time and says farewell. X-002-12 is removed from Cell A3 and escorted under guard to Cell C7.
X-014-1 is asked to repeat her earlier self-identification from Experiment X-014-1-E, using any improvements in English that she now understands. X-014-1 agrees, and speaks as follows:
“My name is Twilight Sparkle. I am an alicorn. I am also a Princess of Equestria, and personal student of Princess Celestia. I bear the Element of Magic, which is one of six Element of Harmony.”
X-014-1 is then presented with a selection grammatically incorrect sentences, and asked to correct them each time. X-014-1 does so correctly each time, including correcting two undeliberate mistakes made by research personnel.
 End of experiment and further research are announced, to which X-014-1 made a response, noted below.
[b]Further Research [/b]
Given X-014-1’s new mastery of the English language, an interview has been arranged between X-014-1, key research personnel, and at X-014-1’s request, Central Officer Bradford. It is currently unknown how X-014-1 knows of CO Bradford, and an inquiry will be made to all research and security personnel as to whether any one of them has mentioned him.
A full interview and interrogation of X-002-12 is also in planning, both to determine what may have been discussed between it and X-014-1, and to search for any alterations to X-002-12’s neural patterns and structure as a result of prolonged psionic contact with X-014-1.
***
[i]”Princess?”[/i] Officer Bradford blinked in confusion, “You mean to say we have a member of alien [i]royalty[/i] in custody?”
Dr Vahlen nodded, “We have only X-014-1’s word for it, but that may well be the case. We really have no way to verify this information at present.”
There was a thoughtful silence for a moment, which Dr Shen broke. “Have we had any information, from interrogations or our psions, which suggests that the aliens have a royal caste?”
The head of research’s head shook this time. “None until now, which, alongside the numerous physiological differences we’ve observed…”
“Look at it this way, doctor,” Bradford said, moving the hand that had been holding his chin to cross his arms fully, “do we have any other connection between her and any other alien we’ve encountered?”
“Other than the timing of its appearance, no,” Dr Vahlen explained, “at this point we have to face the very real possibility that X-014-1 is not part of the alien collective we have been fighting.”
“Council policy is clear in that circumstance, doctor,” the officer explained, before quoting, “‘if an alien detainee cannot be proven to be hostile, an attempt at diplomatic contact must be made, and any following research involving the subject must have the subject’s consent.’ She’s already done that first part for us, and I’ve been watching over the combat analysis from her capture.” Bradford nodded to a nearby technician, and the screen nearest the trio changed to show the relevant footage. Bradford motioned to it as he continued, “Sparkle only fires one shot in the entire exchange, and waits to see that Captain Guseva is still alive before turning to engage the rest of the squad. Barring what happened to Captain Pimenova, I think it’s safe to say that Sparkle was acting non-harmfully.”
“Then perhaps we should try a different approach from now on,” Dr Shen spoke, “try to meet her as concerned people, rather than wary soldiers.”
“The upcoming interview should provide us with an opportunity to do so, especially since she asked for you specifically” Dr Vahlen gestured to the CO. He nodded, and the head of research glanced at her data slate. “I find it curious that she used two terms of equal standing to refer to both herself and her superior,” she added.
Officer Bradford glanced at the video again, watching Pimenova be lifted and thrown twenty feet by an invisible force, before speaking, “Let’s just hope this ‘Princess Celestia’ doesn’t show up to rescue her student.”