(STORY EXTRACT)
 
“Woah, back, back, backbackback!” She pushed us backwards out of the room before giving a small sigh of relief, looking around. “Jeez, who told you it was a good idea to let a Mr. Handy hover in here when I’m refilling the air tanks? That hover module could’ve set this whole place on fire!” She shook her head, pausing to let off a sigh after a moment, calming down. “Sorry, didn’t mean to be rude. It’s good to see you again. I hope you’re not here to drop off more batteries, we’ve been doing fine after you got the dam fixed up.”
 
“Actually, she’s why we’re here.” I nodded to Pearl, who floated forward and lifted a claw up to shake Emerald’s hoof. Upon getting a better look at Pearl, and finally noticing her central screen in place of an eyestalk, Emerald raised an eyebrow, looking back to me. “She’s an AI that was developed to run the experiments back up at the Shady Shores research center. We think she’d be able to help out the Triage into looking for new medical treatments, better agrarian practices; stuff like that. Here name’s Pearl, by the way.”
 
Pearl spoke up, lowering her claw. “And anti-zebra bioweapons, and other fun stuff too! Did you know I was the one that designed those anglerponies everybody’s been talking about? I still think they’re some of my best work, but these guys said I should probably stick to less murder-y science from now on. ” Emerald looked taken aback and simply stared at Pearl for a moment before she found her voice again.