An Era Begins: Part I

It was a brisk, moonlit night through the Mobian countryside. While there was a large full moon out, very little light was making it to the surface below. Instead, the white light was being smothered by the large toxic clouds that were billowing from the distant city of Robotropolis. The city was illuminated by several artificial lights, appearing as though the black buildings were being highlighted by small fireflies.

Overlooking the city was a small ridge at the edge of the Mobian Great Forest. Atop the ridge, a low sigh could be heard. Sitting on a log, looking over the lit city, was a young fox. His fur was a bright orange and had a tuft of white fur on his chest. He tapped his red and white shoes on the ground below as he stared at the city, his chin resting in the palms of his gloved hands, which were propped up on his knees. His light blue eyes were sullen and dejected. Unusually, the boy had two soft white-tipped tails which were calmly wagging behind him. He often came to the ridge to think but the dismal sight of Robotropolis didn't bring much solace, instead inspiring frustration and anger. A light breeze blew past him and with it the foul stench of pollution from the city, which caused his small black nose to scrunch with disgust.

"Tails!" a voice called out from behind the fox. He stood up and looked back at the sound, which he recognized as one of his closest friends. "Where are ya, buddy?"

"Tails!" another voice called, this time female.

"I'm over here, guys!" he called back, getting their attention. He waved his arm above his head but wasn't sure if he could be seen through the thick foliage.

"Hey, Sal, I heard him over there!" the male voice said to his companion. The pair of voices revealed themselves as they emerged from the Great Forest. Out in front was the male; a blue hedgehog. His stomach, arms, and mouth were tan-colored while he wore a pair of red sneakers with a white stripe across the top, in a similar pointed shape to the shoes on the young fox. His white eyes were connected at his nose and his pupils were a deep green. Like the younger fox, he wore white gloves on his hands. His female companion was a brown squirrel. Her fur was two-toned, with a lighter brown tuft covering her stomach. She had on a pair of blue boots and a matching sleeveless blue vest. Her hair was a dark red and styled into thick bangs over her forehead that offset her soft blue eyes.

"There you are, Tails," the hedgehog said to the fox. His high-pitched voice was slightly whiny but at the same time full of self-confidence with a hint of rebelliousness. "You should really tell us when you're gonna go out this late."

"Sonic and I were looking for you for the past fifteen minutes," the female squirrel added. By comparison, she spoke with a gentle class to her words, as though she had come from well-spoken backgrounds. "It's too late to be out this far away from Knothole Village."

"Sorry Sonic, Aunt Sally," the young fox said, a little sheepishly. "I guess when I'm out here I tend to get lost in my thoughts and lose track of time."

"Ah, it's alright!" the hedgehog named 'Sonic' said. He wrapped his arm around his young friend and pulled him in. "You can handle yourself, right?"

"Sonic…" Sally said, putting her hands her hips disapprovingly. "Don't go giving him ideas…"

"C'mon, Sal," Sonic tried to bargain. "When I was his age I was already bustin' up 'Buttnik's bots." He threw a few quick punches into open air to emphasize his point.

"Yeah, and you're also the fastest thing alive," Sally countered with a scoff. "Surprising how often you seem to forget that, given how much you remind us of it…" She folded her arms and turned to the side with a slight frown.

"Meh…I could train Tails to be one of the best Freedom Fighters!" he said, mussing the fur on Tails' head. The young fox giggled at Sonic's playfulness.

"Well, come on you two," Sally said, trying to get the pair back on task. "We can't stay out here all night."

"Race ya home, big guy!" Sonic said to his friend. However, as he was about to take off, he noticed Tails didn't appear to be willing to race, standing upright without any indication he was going to begin running. "Hey, wassup? You love to race!" Sonic asked, perplexed at Tails' lack of enthusiasm.

"Sonic…what was life like before all this? Before Robotnik?" he asked, pointing back at the city behind him. Sonic didn't respond, instead looking at Sally.

"Well…um…" she stumbled over her words, not prepared to answer such a deep question. "Sonic and I were just kids when everything happened…"

"It was ten years ago, Tails," Sonic reminded him. "We were younger than you when it all went down. I barely remember what things were like before Robotnik."

"But you still know what happened, right?" he asked, still wanting to learn anything he could. "I mean Aunt Sally was princess at time…and her dad was the king! I…never got to know anything other than this. I just wanted to know what life was like when things were better…"

Sonic and Sally both knew there was no getting around it. Tails wasn't going to let the issue go until he had plumbed what they knew about the origins of their current situation. "Come on, Tails," Sally said, smiling warmly. "We'll tell you what we can on the way back to Knothole."

The trio returned to the forest the way they came, walking slowly through the night. Tails strolled between his two elder friends.

"It was the year 3224," Sonic started to explain. "Back then Robotropolis was a way past cool city called 'Mobotropolis' and was ruled by Sally's dad, King Max…"


"These plans are exquisite, Julian," an enthusiastic voice said. The tone conveyed in his voice was regal and exuded strength. He was a light brown squirrel with a wide mustache below his black nose. He was clad in a royal blue jacket that ran all the way down to the tops of his black boots, adorned with several medals and gold trimmed shoulder pads. Above his long eyebrows, resting upon his forehead, was a thin gold crown with rubies carved into the shape of feathers at the center, coming out of a blue diamond centerpiece.

"Thank you, Your Highness…" a deep, imposing voice responded. It came from a rather rotund man wearing a white Kingdom of Acorn officer's uniform. His eyes were a disturbing black with red pupils and under his nose was a long orange mustache. Upon his head was a tall officer's black cap with a similar feather pattern on the front as worn on the king's crown. "The war has been hard-fought but I have looked forward to the day that I would be able to use my talents to preserve the peace…"

Between the pair was a long table on which a set of drawn diagrams were unfurled. The diagrams depicted various advanced technologies, such as hovercrafts and autonomous robotic patrol units. "Julian these concepts you've drafted for creating a robotic police force will be of great use to the realm," the king complimented. "Our resources have been stretched thanks to the Great War with the Overlanders and this will help offset the load as we train new recruits to backfill the security forces. How soon can they go into production?"

"As soon as the funding is approved, King Acorn," Julian responded with a bow. "The infrastructure for full scale production is already in place once we convert the war production facilities into robotics factories. With your approval we will be able to produce up to 200 units daily and have the first units fielded within two months."

"Excellent, excellent!" King Acorn regaled as he rolled up the diagrams. "We will be able to deploy units to ensure peace in the territories we acquired from the treaty and assist with the reconstruction in the war-torn regions. You are truly one of my most reliable and capable officers, Julian! That is why I have decided to name you the new 'Minister of Security Development' of the realm!"

"Oh…Your Highness…you are much too kind!" Julian said, appearing to be flabbergasted by the surprise promotion. "I am in your debt!"

"No, Julian, I am in yours," King Acorn said, graciously. "You have given us a path forward to maintaining order in the Kingdom of Acorn in the wake of this terrible war and for that I will be forever grateful. With your guidance we will be able to restore order and serenity across the realm with minimal downtime."

The king looked down at his watch. "Oh dear, I'm sorry Julian but I must be getting to my meeting with the Council of Advisors. I'll be taking these diagrams with me to show to the council, I'm sure they will be just as pleased as I am."

"I would be honored," Julian said, proudly.

"Your promotion will be officially formalized at the next royal address," King Max assured him. "I look forward to placing the Minister's Sash upon your shoulder."

"You humble me, Your Majesty…" Julian said, watching as the king exited the planning room. As soon as the door closed behind him, Julian's expression changed from a placating smile to a scowl. He flourished his red cape behind him then turned and left the room through the opposite door.


Elsewhere, a short man with bushy brown hair was standing at the console of a room-filling computer system, flipping through various security camera feeds on the large display in front of him. He was dressed simply, with a blue shirt and brown pants and had on a headset that wrapped around the side of his head. While he was working, the door to the room slid open and standing beyond was the silhouette of a large figure. The man looked behind him at the sound of the opening door.

"Uncle Julian," he said, welcoming the individual who had joined him. The man's voice was nasally and subservient. "So good to have you back. How did the visit with the king go?"

Julian did not return his nephew's greeting. He entered the room and took off his black officer's cap, revealing his pointy bald head beneath. He carried the cap over to the computer console before setting it down as his nephew stepped aside. Julian began to type on the computer's console.

"It was…enlightening," Julian said in a sinister tone, accentuated by his already deep voice. "The king has offered me a promotion to Minister of Security Development."

"Wonderful news, Uncle Julian!" his nephew congratulated. "We should celebrate tonight!"

Suddenly, Julian slammed his fist down at the notion of celebrating his accomplishment, which caused his nephew to jump in shock. "I don't want his petty title, Snively!" he snarled, his face twisted in an angry grimace. "What this has proven to me is the king's weak resolve!"

"I-I-I don't understand, Uncle," Snively stammered.

"For years I've served under King Maximillian Acorn and in that time I have witnessed a monarch with no spine. No determination or commitment," Julian explained more calmly. "Instead he defers to his advisors and ministers to handle the hard decisions he refuses to make. As Chief of Military Intelligence, I watched as a kingdom teetered on the brink of defeat time and again simply because King Acorn could not issue the order to capitalize on an opening. He believes that choosing not to attack a vulnerability, vulnerabilities we were responsible for finding, will somehow inspire our enemies to opt for surrender. It is because of his incompetence that the war raged for longer than necessary, squandering precious resources, that have left us weakened in triumph. Now the king wants to merely cooperate with the conquered lands instead of reigning over them as a victorious ruler. He is a pathetic fool…"

Julian had finished typing on the console and brought up a video file onto the display. He turned around and sat down in the large central command chair that occupied the middle of his command center.

"What is this?" Snively asked.

"This is a video file of a meeting the King and I had two years ago," Julian explained from his chair. "Watch and be amazed…"

The video on the display showed the feed of a static camera housed in a complex laboratory. Julian and King Acorn could be seen on the side along with another individual who was moving about the room. The third individual was a light blue hedgehog with a graying mustache.

"Charles, please explain the purpose of this device again," King Acorn asked the hedgehog who was moving in and out of frame.

"Your Highness, this is the result of the project I've been working on," Charles explained. "You can bring him in," he said to someone off camera.

A wounded lynx was led into the room. He was on a pair of crutches and could visibly be seen favoring his right leg. He was dressed in soldier's fatigues, indicating he had served in the king's military.

"Hop on up here, son," Charles indicated to the lynx, pointing to a table in the middle of the room. He nodded back then gingerly lifted himself off his crutches and onto the table, assuming a seated position with his wounded leg outstretched. It was clear that the action was causing him a great amount of strain.

"This poor boy was wounded in the war with the Overlanders," Charles explained. "However my invention will give him a second chance…"

Charles walked over to a nearby computer console and began typing. As he did, the mechanism above the table began to light up. A beam of energy began raining down from above and onto the wounded lynx's leg. As it did, the leg began to change from the lynx's natural brown color to a metallic gray. The king and Julian both looked on with curiosity. After a few seconds, the beam of energy dissipated. The lynx's leg had turned from flesh and bone to a robotic prosthesis.

"That's amazing, Charles," King Acorn said in astonishment.

"What did you do, Charles?" Julian asked, equally as mesmerized by the sight.

"This is the 'Roboticizer'," he explained. As he did the wounded lynx stepped off the table and discovered he could walk and move without needing crutches any longer. He jumped up and down in wonderment at his new appendage. "This leg is a fully functional replacement for a damaged limb. It is capable of all natural motion that a real leg can perform and is able to sense touch as well as any living appendage. This technology will give countless Mobians a chance at a more full and fulfilling life after a debilitating injury or illness!"

"Truly astounding, Charles," the king praised. "We'll have one sent to the military hospital right away."

"The only thing you have to watch out for is roboticizing a person's brain," Charles warned. "If you do, it wipes away their free will. I've been trying to engineer this flaw out of the system but so far I haven't had any results."

With that, Julian pressed a button on his command chair, which ended the video feed.

"Intriguing presentation was it not?" he asked his nephew. Snively looked back at his uncle with some confusion.

"I don't understand, Uncle Julian," Snively said. "What does that have to do with the king?"

"Because, Snively, I need you to download the schematics from the data archives!" Julian said, his voice coming to a sharp crescendo. He pounded his fist once again and caused Snively to wince in fear. "Charles Hedgehog only worked on this project until the end of the year before abandoning it and resigning from the Ministry of Science. He claimed that erasing free will was too dangerous to justify any further experimentation and had the prototype model destroyed. However…that serves my purposes perfectly…" Julian tented his fingers and leaned back in his chair with a malicious grin.

"I-i-if I may, Uncle Julian," Snively stammered. "H-how is that a g-good thing?"

"Because…my dear nephew…if the king cannot protect his own homeland…we will make our own kingdom…"