“Stand back,” Celestia said, commanding Atlas, Twilight and the refugees to halt their advance. Most of them were confused at the fact that they had stopped in front of a pile of debris. Neverthless, Celestia’s horn lit up with a magical aura as she grabbed a telekinetic hold of the many rocks and pieces of building, setting them aside with little to no effort. Some watched in awe, not having seen Celestia do such a thing in their entire lives. The others stood silent, waiting for her to finish.

A couple of minutes afterwards, the debris were cleared out, leaving the dark entrance of a tunnel instead. Celestia turned to the refugees. “I am afraid that you must stay behind. We still do not know what we will find inside.” She then gestured for Atlas and Twilight to follow, leading them into the tunnel and leaving the refugees behind.

As they entered the tunnel, small emergency lights lit the dark abyss. Celestia glanced over at her two followers, seeing Twilight visibly clamping her wings against her body as a sign of uneasiness. Atlas, on the other hand, simply continued to stomp after her, his expression hidden beneath his faceplate.

The three beings stopped walking as their path was met with an enormous set of blast doors, with a tiny hole in the centre. Celestia already knew what she had to do, and as such, she walked over to the metallic gates and inserted her horn into the hole, charging it up with magic and twisting it just a tiny bit. With a large groan, the blast doors began to open as soon as Celestia stepped back. Dust fell from the ceiling, and the ground quaked.

Beyond the doors, was revealed a long hallway, well lit until its very end. Without hesitation, Celestia motioned for Twilight and Atlas to follow as she walked into the bunker. A long walk awaited them.

The metallic hallway was lined only by lights and nothing else, a feature which made Celestia and the other two just a little bit unnerved. The occasional small quake made it even worse.

As the end of the hallway drew near, Celestia began to speed up her pace. As soon as she reached it, she found herself amidst a large control room lined by holoscreens which all lit up in unison upon the group’s arrival. And in the center, was a large tube with a large, metallic body in it.

“Mac…?” Atlas muttered.

Further examination of the tube revealed a similar, yet different figure from the androids that fought the Vector war. It looked bulkier, with some sort of synthetic muscle visible underneath the armor, and a visor instead of two eyes.

“I see you have arrived, Celestia,” an old, familiar voice said. The three began to look around for the source, but then the holoscreens lit up with the face of Admiral Becker. “This is a pre-recorded message, mind you.”

"Presenting to you, is the MechCore Android Trooper and Commander, Mark two.” He gestured to the centre of the control room. “Enhanced with both biological and synthetic systems, which both integrate into each other seamlessly as to prevent rampancy, amongst other errors."

“Under its armor is a dense and strong nanoweave, which serves as protection, enhanced strength, enhanced agility, and more." The android inside the tube twitched.

"The Commander version serves as a hub for feedback when connected to a thousand or more troopers. Both models have a full suite of systems for increased battlefield awareness, and several other systems made for self-adjustment of their shell. In other words, they adapt quickly to both enviroment and new types of enemies." He sighed, looking somber for just a second before continuing, "Thanks to this, the MechCore Android can collect data and use it to upgrade itself."

The Admiral sighed once again, "One admittance that I have to tell is... We do not know how far these models go regarding their capabilities. I have to say... I don't know whether or not we have truly created another species... or an army of monsters."

Becker placed his hands behind his back as he continued speaking, "To ensure the latter does not happen, we have taken the database of the former M.A.C unit, who had achieved full self-awareness and metastability, and retrofitted it into the Mark II M.A.C."

Atlas chuckled.

"But even then, every unit is self-aware, and metastable. They can make choices on their own, they are... true intelligence." Becker cleared his throat. "Celestia, I hope you know what you're dealing with when entering this facility... You will be waking thousands upon thousands of units, who may or may not choose to aid you."

"We have done all we could to prevent any mishaps, but there are so many variables..."

“RECORDING OVER,” the holoscreens displayed. The three organic beings in the room turned to the android in the tube as it continued to twitch sporadically. The fluid inside it was then drained, allowing the M.A.C to stand on its own. Celestia stared at its visor, not even flinching as the android stood at full height, the tube opening itself, letting the air of the control room touch its shell.

The android exchanged looks with the three, before Atlas stepped closer to it. “Mac… That you in there?”

“Atlas,” the android said, its voice deep and cybernetic. “It has been too long.”

The giant chuckled, watching as Mac stepped over to the main console inside the room. “I have been observing the current situation… I must wake my brethren. We will help.”

“Excellent,” Celestia said, stepping over to him. “My subjects are dying, so I suggest we make this-”

“At the price of joining your society as equals.” Mac slowly turned to Celestia. “That is the requisite.”

“Are you-...” Celestia frowned. “You cannot seriously be negotiating terms at this moment! People are dying!”

“ And so did we on the Vector war, before we were decommissioned and scrapped.” Mac turned back to the console. “We only wish to live.”

Celestia stomped her hoof on the metallic floor, leaving a sizeable dent. “We will negotiate, after this war ends.”

She and Mac exchanged stares for a moment, before the android began to type onto the console. The holoscreens lit up once again, this time displaying thousands upon thousands of androids standing idly.

“Remember your words, Celestia, because we will.”