Lens gasped at the sight of the Risen, out of surprise… and out of escastcy. She looked at the biological-mechcanical creatures with the joy of a child first discovering a butterfly or a rainbow. Her usually reserved face was filled with a smile not seen often even by her grandfather Prancer. 

"Extraordinary! Most amazing Doctor!", she said. "I've seen papers on the topic of the use of such mechanics, but never actually implemented. Not even my gr- the Director has accomplished anything like this!" She sounded giddy as a schoolmare, talking rapidly and almost giggling. "I'm almost surprised you'd let anypony see this - quite an honor really." 

She then calmed down a bit, repositioned her eyeglasses, and resisted the urge to circle the cyborgs. "Ahem, I apologize Doctor, usually I don't do that. But on to business, and yes I'll answer your questions.

"We have been looking for you good sir for some time. I assure you it's not for some crime or vendetta - my order has little interest in justice. Nor are you the only pony we were looking for. We have a number of contacts through the land, mostly just streetears and merchants and travelers. if they see a pony of interest, then they give us a message. But they do not know the true reason why we seek these ponies. We have our classified reasons to find them. 

"As such, one of those lookouts - a missionary of a small cult - had happened to notice one of your companions making grocery trips. They contacted us out of good will, thinking it the will of their newfound deity. They too have no real idea why we seek you, nor of your identity. 

She paused for a moment, and raised an eyebrow. "If I may be so frank, we don't even know your true name either. Actually, we don't want to know, depends on your decision. If you prefer another title or name, just say. Sorry for not asking first. 

"As to the reason for the search, we must go back some four or five years ago. It was the month that the eccentric Screwy Maple had died of old age, that millionaire known for his isolation and taste in books. He had quite a collection really, many old ones in fact. What most ponies do not know, say for the rumormongers and the nobles of Whitegold, was that he had an interest in Elder lore. His collection on the eldritch and unusual was rather impressive - The Princess in Yellow, De Mole Mysteriis, the Libre Ebon, and the infamous tome by The Mad Pony. 

"That special collection of his stolen and put onto the black market. In passed from shady trader to trader, until it came to the hooves of one Marvelous Baker. He had sold the lot at a auction at Threshold Street in Manehatten. You should be familiar with the place and name - you where there four years ago. Of course, it was under an alias, but we got your description from Marvelous. 

"So our search began, and through the years we learned bits and pieces about yourself . Not too much - your methods of hiding your tracks is very effective. But enough to discover you were very talented in science. At first we just wanted a book, but we also hoped to you'd join us. 

"But first the book… Hopefully you still have the grimore we seek, because among those infamous books was one called [i]The Marvels of Science [/i]. Odd that we seek such a mundane sounding title, is it not? But inside… inside may be the key to a new magic, one that allows the unlocking of parallel universes. 

Her eyes become cold and stared right into Scalpel's eyes. "If you have the book, we are willing to trade anything you need."