Chapter 1

A small girl put her palms on the clear glass in front of her, tainting it with her fingerprints. But this was but a small blemish upon a large surface. On the other side of the glass was a creature, black and red. It's eyes were closed and its fur looked at if it was soft to touch. It was wearing gloves and shoes, which confused the girl. She didn't know anyone who took a bath in their clothes, she also didn't know anyone who wore their daytime clothes to bed. The creature inside of the tank was doing both. He was a strange creature to her. But not because he looked different to her own kind… the fact that he was a different species didn't seem to bother her. After all, the hedgehog was as small as her, and as friendly looking as a kitty cat. The girl guessed that the 'kitty' inside of the tank wasn't like the other kitties she'd seen around the ARK, he looked like he grew and acted like a human, therefore… it must have been five years old like her. Or it was just the biggest pet she'd ever seen.

The girl tapped on the glass, but the creature inside of it didn't stir. She wanted to wake it up; she wanted to talk to it; she wanted it to be her friend. She didn't have any other friends since she'd come to the ARK.

"Kitty!" she cried out and banged on the glass with her chubby fists. Still nothing.

"Grace!"

The girl turned around quickly to see an adult standing at the door. He had a stern expression on their face, that was almost buried in their long, white labcoat and protective head a face gear.

"What did I tell you about coming in here?"

The girl twiddled her thumbs and looked at the floor with a sad and guilty expression.

"I got you plenty of animals sent from Earth, you can play with those," the man said coldly. "Now go." He pointed to the side, this was the girl's que to leave. She didn't, instead, she gave a pout of resistance. "Grace!" The man yelled.

The girl, Grace, put her hands to her face and ran out of the room. She pushed past her elder and ran down the corridor with tears streaming down her face. The adult shook his head disapprovingly, then pressed a pad on the wall by the door frame. A metal door slid down, locking the creature and it's tank inside of it. He bent down as he noticed a long wooden spoon on the floor underneath the keypad.

"Scott, was she trying to get to Project Shadow again?"

The man, Scott, turned around and saw a colleague jogging his way. He sighed, pulling his goggles off of his head.

"Yes," he said irately as he waved the spoon frustratedly. "I've done everything I can to make her lose interest but, she won't leave it alone."

"What are you going to do now?" the colleague asked. Scott rubbed the stubble on his chin inquisitively.

"I don't know, what do you think?" Scott asked.

"No clue, but good luck!" the colleague asked, then ran past him. "I've got somewhere to be. See ya' later."

Scott frowned and looked in the direction his colleague had run… that's also the way his daughter had run.

"Grace Robotnik, if you keep this level of trouble up, I'm going to be fired," he grumbled under his breath. Fired, was an understatement.

A few days later, Grace tried to sneak her way into the forbidden room again. This time, she pulled a chair up to the keypad while her father and all other scientists were at work. When she climbed on the chair and stood on her tiptoes, she could reach the keypad. That's when she looked at it, brushed her hair blonde hair out of her face swiftly, and pressed the letter keys on it.

"M… A… R.."

"STOP!"

Grace turned her head to see a man in military uniform run towards her. She noticed the gun on his belt, then cowered, curling up on the chair like the child she was. She felt someone shake her shoulder.

"You've been told not to do that," the soldier said sternly. "How many times now?"

Grace looked up at him fearfully, uncurling from her fetal position. She slowly counted on her fingers… when she got to all ten fingers, she jumped off the chair and ran.

"Exactly. More than enough times! Stop messing with Project SHADOW!" the soldier yelled after her. "Those Robotniks are going to get fired and then some if they don't keep that kid under control…" he grumbled under his breath.

Grace ran as fast as she could. She looked behind her as she ran, to check for the soldier; he wasn't chasing her. But, she did bump into the legs of someone rather tall. The small girl was knocked back a few steps. She looked up as she stumbled, it was her father, with his ginger face and head, and eyes hidden by glasses.

"Grace, you're weren't messing with project Shadow, were you?" he asked rather ominously, while looking down on her sternly.

"N-no, daddy!" she stuttered.

"Let's go see then, shall we? What am I going to find by the door today? A tea set?" he said in a soft but stern voice. He picked her up under her arms without warning and put her over his shoulder. the small girl grabbed onto her father's shirt and accepted her fate. They reached the door to project Shadow. "Oh, a chair this time," he commented.

"I wasn't using it to open the door; I was just sitting outside," Grace said as innocently as possible. Scott put her down gently and looked at her sadly. He stayed bent down so he could speak to her face.

"Grace… I'll get into huge trouble if you keep doing this," Scott said softly. "That Project SHADOW, isn't a kitty." Grace looked annoyed and offended at this.

"He is!" she cried out. "He has ears and fur just like them! He's a kitty, and he's a better kitty than the rubbish kitties I have. I don't want those kitties, I want that one!" she frantically pointed at the door. "My kitties don't give hugs! That kitty does!"

"And, how would you know that?" Scott asked her skeptically.

"He has arms to hug with," Grace said in protest. "And he'll hug me alll the time and tell me bedtime stories!"

"He won't do that, he's living weap-"

"He'll do more than you do!" Grace screamed at the top of her voice, getting up in her father's face as much as possible, then she turned around ran. She turned the corner before her father could catch up with her, then leapt inside a closet and hid behind the boxes. She peeped out every so often, waiting for her father to run after her… she hoped he would.

She waited and waited… but he didn't come. He hadn't bothered to chase after her. Grace curled up on the floor and thought the worst. He… didn't love her; he didn't care; he cared more about his work, and there was nothing anyone could say to convince her otherwise. The kitty in the see-through bath would understand, and he would do everything her father never did, and more. The creature would be the best of friends… if only she could free him.

Grace sat up, and felt a strong sense of determination. She looked out for any adults that would tell her to get back to her room, then ran back down the corridor. The chair was still there. She jumped up onto it. The password was still half typed out.

"I… A." The door lifted itself open. Grace jumped off the chair, then dragged it into the room. Before she did anything else, she pushed the chair over to the side of the doorframe on the inside of the room. The wood scraped against the metal quite loudly, but Grace had move it so she couldn't get caught. She climbed up and typed out the password again; the door closed behind her. No one would guess that she was inside.

Grace ran up to the cryo-chamber and put her hands against it as she looked closely at the creature inside. Then she leant over to look at the buttons on the side of the machine. There was yet another keypad to press a password onto. It was easy… she'd already typed it in at least a hundred times before.

"M… A…R… I… A…"

There was a click from the machine, and then a hiss. Grace stumbled to her feet and ran backwards in fear, she wasn't expecting that to happen. She nervously grabbed the bottom of her t-shirt and tugged at it while she watched the machine work guiltily.

Steam filled the room, it reminded Grace of when the grown ups took hot showers. She wondered if the kitty in the bath has decided to take a shower instead. There was a loud humming sound as the machine seemed to move. Behind the long layer of steam, Grace could make out a dark figure falling out of the machine and landing on its feet. The steam hadn't even cleared away, but Grace could already see red eyes, almost glowing at her through the fog.