Tales of Soleanna

By K. M. Carroll

Story 1: Unsung


Robo Knuckles awakened in prison.

He lay on his back with the roof four inches from the end of his nose, illuminated by the glow from his green eyes. It was too small to move his arms or legs.

"I'm inside a box," he thought.. He struggled, but his arms were bound to his sides by steel bands. "Oh, wonderful," he growled aloud.

He consulted his log files. The last thing he had done was shut himself down in the laboratory where he was receiving upgrades. Supposedly it had been an upgrade to his facial structure. Robo Knux checked his hardware. No upgrade had been installed.

Those crummy scientists had waited until he was offline, then crated him up and shipped him off. He swore to hunt them down and murder them all in their beds. No, when they were at work in their lab, so he could see their terrified faces. No, in a public place, so other people could see their terrified faces.

As Robo Knux fumed, he noticed a new item in his logs. An upgrade had been installed after all. He hunted it down in his system and examined it. Then he raged at it.

A restraining shell.

Robo Knuckles had never operated under a restraining shell before. He knew that Metal Sonic had carried one, and it kept him loyal to Robotnik until Metal Sonic managed to destroy it.

It weighed on Robo Knux's personality like a lead seal. It forced him into certain behavior patterns, such as not killing anyone unless instructed by someone in authority.

Authority? Robo Knux hated taking orders! He frothed and roared inwardly, and beat his consciousness against the restraints. It wasn't fair! They had no right to do this to him! Not him, the mighty Robo Knux!

They'd sold Robo Knux into slavery to whoever registered themselves as Master to the restraining shell. It'd force him to obey, no matter how hard he resisted. No wonder Metal Sonic had reworked his entire body until he achieved a semi-organic state. It was too simple to control a robot.

Robo Knux hammered the shell with every program he possessed, but nothing penetrated it. Slowly his fury calmed into resignation. He activated his area scanner. He might as well find out where he was.

His scans revealed that he lay in a coffin-shaped box among stacks of other boxes. Hundreds of boxes, many of them large wooden shipping crates. He expanded his scan until it outlined the bow of a shipping freighter. A ship. On the ocean. Delightful.

Robo Knux queried for local network connections, located a port, hacked in, and bounced his signal through a satellite. He was hundreds of miles out on the Ausif ocean, traveling east along a shipping lane that curved up to Central Mobius and arched through several island chains all the way to East Mobius. He might be bound for any one of those places.

Either way, he was in for a long trip.


Day after day passed, and Robo Knux lay in his box, immobile and hopelessly bored. He scanned the entire ship and profiled everyone aboard, just in case he received the opportunity to kill some of them. The network connection was unreliable, and he lost contact with it often.

But finally they docked in a port in Central Mobius. Robo Knux watched hopefully with his scanner while dockhands descended into the cargo bay and hauled out mountains of crates. His hopes dwindled as he realized that they were cleaning out the opposite bulkhead. He was being shipped elsewhere.

It occurred to him to hack the ship's computer and reroute his own shipping instructions so that he would be unloaded here. He immediately attempted it, but discovered that he had no idea what his shipping number was. By the time he had finished combing through the shipping database and sorted out the likely items, the ship was churning its way out to sea.

Robo Knux lay in his box for an entire month, fuming, fighting his restraints, and hoping for someone to unload him at every port. Once he was moved from one side of the cargo bay to the other, and was bitterly disappointed when he was buried in more boxes.

After a month of travel, the ship docked in port at Soleanna, a city-state in East Mobius. Robo Knux's crate was loaded on a forklift and hauled out onto the docks. He shivered with anticipation as his crate was loaded onto a truck.

Robo Knux scanned his surroundings as the truck drove through town. He'd only seen East Mobius briefly, and had never visited Soleanna. It had a dense population, tall buildings, and lots of canals. The entire place seemed built on water. What kept it all from sinking?

The truck pulled up to the back of a large building. Robo Knux's scans indicated tons of stonework, and many people inside. But to see what it looked like, he needed to use his brand-new visual sensors, courtesy of those conniving scientists. He blinked his new steel eyelids. They worked extremely well and looked stylish, too.

Robo Knux waited while the workers (all humans, how peculiar) loaded his crate on a dolly and wheeled him up a ramp and indoors. The ambient noise changed to muffled voices in the distance, echoing footfalls, and the hum of electronics.

Robo Knux followed along with his scanners. They walked down a hallway, turned right once and left twice, and arrived at an elevator. His box was wheeled inside, and they traveled upwards for several minutes. They hauled Robo Knux out of the elevator and into a nearby room. They thumped his box to the floor and left him.

Voices approached. Three humans, two male and one female. "Your bodyguard has arrived, Highness."

"Yes," said a female voice. "I do hope it isn't too unsightly. It must accompany me to the rehearsals."

Wood splintered as the two men pried off the lid. Robo Knux blinked in the daylight as they peeled back the lid. "Oh," said one of the men. "It's already activated."

Robo Knux's eyes flicked to the female. He was her property, eh? She was tall and pale, with wispy red hair and mournful eyes. She gazed at him thoughtfully, moving up to look into the box. "A mobian robot?" she said, tapping her lower lip with a finger. "I hadn't counted on this. Hello, robot. Can you understand me?"

Robo Knux could not speak unless spoken to. The restraining shell sat on him like a straitjacket. "Yes, I understand you," he said. But he could not say anything else, which was fortunate, because he would have added, "Now release me before I kill everyone in this room."

One of the men produced screwdriver from his belt and set to work unscrewing the band restraining Robo Knux's arms. The girl scrutinized Robo Knux. "How long have you been active? Is your power core drained?"

"I have been active for many years," said Robo Knux, testing the boundaries of the shell. "Although if you mean how long was I activated while in this box, I've been awake in here for a month. And my power core is just fine, thank you."

As long as he kept talking, the shell did not interrupt him. Interesting.

The mechanic pulled off the metal bands and motioned to Robo Knux to get up. Robo Knux obeyed, thankful to finally be able to move. He climbed out of the box and saluted the girl. She watched him in amazement. "It moves so smoothly! Almost like it's not a robot at all."

Robo Knux looked at her, but could not speak the retort that leaped to mind. She gave him a faint smile and said, "Well then. I am Princess Elise. Do you have a name?"

"I am Mecha-bot Four," he replied, "but my friends call me Robo Knux."

"Robo Knux," said Elise with another faint smile. "All right then. Follow me. I'll show you around the palace."

Robo Knux obeyed. He had already traced her with a 3-D scan and registered her in his databanks. And he already had a terrific crush on her.


Robo Knux trailed behind Elise through the Soleanna Palace, admiring his surroundings in an abstract, survivalist sort of way.

That plush red carpet would smoke heavily if he set it afire. The furniture was pleasant, but there was too much of it. He'd have to activate his jets indoors if he wanted to travel quickly through the palace, and the furniture would have to fall where it may.

They passed through a sunlit indoor atrium with a fountain playing in the center. Robo Knux glanced at the trees and potted plants. What a strange thing to keep indoors. Too much water. He'd have to shut off the fountain.

Elise spoke, and he had to attend to her. Her voice was pleasant and soft. "This was my favorite room when I was younger. I used to bring my schoolbooks here and work by the fountain."

Robo Knux heaved an inner sigh. No tinkering with the fountain, then. If only she'd talk to him some more in that musical voice. If his plans of razing the palace came to fruition, he would not touch Elise's favorite rooms.

As Elise led him from place to place, she neither smiled nor frowned. She wore a small, neutral half-smile on her face at all times, and her voice did not rise or fall much, either. Maybe she was an android.

She led him down a flight of stairs and to a door with a note on it saying, "Do Not Enter". She touched Robo Knux's head lightly with her fingertips. He quivered.

"This was where my father's laboratory was. It was cleaned out after his death, but there is still excessive chaos radiation. It's off limits."

"Chaos radiation?" Robo Knux was allowed to say. "Was he working with Chaos Emeralds?"

A shadow passed over Elise's face. Her half-smile faltered, and her eyes took on a faraway look, seeing deep into dark memories. "No," she said, turning and walking on. "With the Flames of Dis ... the Flame of Hope."

Flames of Disaster? Robo Knux cross-referenced the phrase in his databanks, but found no matches. Then he looked up Flame of Hope, and discovered a vast entry on Soleanna's religion. He studied it as they walked, keeping a few cycles of processing available to listen for Elise.

"The Festival of the Sun is in two weeks," said Elise. "It is a beautiful celebration with fireworks and music."

"Fireworks?" said Robo Knux. Fireworks meant gunpowder. Explosions. Carnage.

"Yes," said Elise. "As the Princess, it's my task to light the Soleanna Torch, which signifies the start of the celebration."

Robo Knux called up images of past celebrations, and examined the torch. Its position varied every year, but lighting it always involved flames following intricate channels of liquid fuel up to a vast brazier heaped with seasoned charcoal.

Imagine what might happen if someone tipped the burning brazier off onto the crowd. The restraining shell repressed his giggle.

Elise opened a door and stepped into a spacious room with ten foot windows open to the south. Robo Knux's feet sank into the red plush carpet. Mirrors lined the other three walls. He glared at his reflection. A cherry red echidna robot, three feet tall, with arms paneled like airplane wings, and foot-long claws on his hands. With diamond tips. For cutting through cars, doors, and blue hedgehogs.

A tall, thin man with a mustache like a black pencil swooped toward Elise. "Princess! There you are. I'm ready to fit you for your festival gown." He paused and regarded Robo Knux, nose wrinkled. "What is this?"

"This is my bodyguard for the festival, Mr. Weaving," said Elise with her customary small smile. "His name is Robo Knux. He's quite docile."

The word burned Robo Knux. Docile! He'd show them docile, if he could break this restraining shell!

Mr. Weaving tilted his head to one side and his eyes narrowed. "Very well, then. Robo Knux, please stand against the wall there. No harm shall come to the princess."

Robo Knux took two sideways steps and placed himself against the nearest mirrored wall. He folded his arms across his chest, overlapping his wing panels like a shield. Elise stepped up on a stool, and Mr. Weaving pinned swaths of white fabric around her waist and shoulders.

Minutes became hours. If only somebody would to toss a grenade through the window to liven things up. But nothing happened. Robo Knux watched birds fly by outside. A plane traced a white contrail across the blue sky. Elise's dress slowly took shape. How could Elise stand there for so long without getting tired? His android theory held more water all the time.

At last Mr. Weaving whisked the dress off Elise. "You may go now, Princess. I'll have this finished by the Festival."

"Thank you, sir," said Elise. She curled a finger at Robo Knux and walked out of the room with slow, stately strides.

But as soon as they entered the hallway and the door closed behind them, Elise leaned an elbow on Robo Knux's head. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm so tired."

So much for the android theory. Robo Knux reached up and supported her arm. "Where're your chambers? I'll help you there."

"Thank you," she said faintly. "It's on this floor, but at the other end of the castle."

Robo Knux helped Elise along. He hoped she'd faint and he'd get to carry her. Even leaning on him, she weighed precisely nothing. But Elise retained her dignity, and walked all the way to her rooms, a distance of nearly one thousand feet.

She pushed her door open, hurried inside, and crawled up on a vast four-posted bed with a bubblegum pink bedspread. She flopped on it and closed her eyes.

Robo Knux looked around and wondered if he ought to stay. Pink curtains framed a pink-cushioned window seat. A pink and white dressing table stood in the corner. A pink and white wardrobe dominated one whole wall.

Maybe he ought to rethink this crush. Women were more alien than he'd thought.

"Shall I wait here, Princess?" said Robo Knux.

"No," said Elise faintly. "Just stand outside. I only need to rest."

What a relief. Robo Knux stepped outside and shut the door. He crossed his arms over his chest and stared down everyone who walked by.


The days passed. Robo Knux adjusted to the restraining shell as well as he could. It was so boring without the occasional random death, though.

He accompanied Elise to her protocol lessons, to Festival rehearsals (which took place in front of an impromptu crowd, which took pictures and waved the whole time). He stood at her elbow at dinner and passed plates like a waiter, careful not to scrape his claws through the sauce.

Robo Knux studied Elise. How could she stay so reserved? She never laughed, even with her silly female servants. She only smiled that vague little smile. Nothing upset her, and nothing pleased her. Often he saw her sit back, close her eyes and tilt her face toward the sun. Many people in Soleanna did this in prayer to the sun god. But Elise did it all the time. Maybe that was her secret.

Once, while standing outdoors, Robo Knux decided to try it. He looked up at the sun. "Oh mighty sun god of Soleanna, please free me of this restraining shell-" But the words dissolved into a scream as the sunlight seared his tender optics.

Elise turned to find Robo Knux with his arms over his eyes. "I've decided to become an atheist," he told her.

"You shouldn't look straight into the sun," she said with a smile. "Even the most loyal priests sun gaze while wearing protective lenses."

Robo Knux imagined rows of black-robed priests in sunglasses. Too bad the restraining shell didn't let him laugh.


On Sunday, Elise attended a church service at the Sanctuary of the Flame. Robo Knux, of course, went with her.

It was a centuries-old cathedral built of white stone. The inside was all pillars and arches, with a lofty dome above the altar. The inside of the dome was painted with winged humans and various flying Mobians. Robo Knux gazed at it, wondering which one was supposed to be their god.

Elise sat in the front row with her two servant girls, all dressed in shimmery blue. Elise wore green, which set off her red hair. Robo Knux adored the color green, especially on an attractive woman.

The priest walked to the altar with a lighted taper. A watermelon-sized candle sat there. At the touch of the taper, the candle's wick flared to life.

Elise flinched backward. Robo Knux glanced from her to the flame. As the priest spoke about how this flame represented Solaris, the Flame of Hope, all the color drained from Elise's face.

How fascinating. She prayed to Solaris all the time, yet shuddered away from open flame. This girl had issues. Maybe he could ask her about them if the shell permitted him.

Aside from lighting the candle, nothing about the service interested Robo Knux. He passed the time reviewing his growing blueprint of the castle and Soleanna itself, and seeking the best spots to plant incendiary bombs.

After the service ended, Elise and her servants made a quiet escape out the cathedral's side door. They walked through a strip of forested parkland that separated the castle from the cathedral's grounds. The forest was striped with concrete walkways, and they met a few other people who bowed to Elise as they passed.

Someday they'd bow to Robo Knux the same way. Maybe he'd let them live afterward as a reward.

The servant girls talked about the Festival and what each would be wearing. Elise walked behind them with her customary smile. Robo Knux tried twice to ask her about the Flame, but each time the shell stopped him. Blasted thing.

They arrived back at the palace, with its many stone pillars and vast marble bird wings spreading from the castle's main body. A white limousine sat at the curb, and guards clustered around it. As Elise and her entourage approached, a guard broke free and ran up to them. "Princess, the Lord Kaz has come to pay his respects. He arrived two days early and caught us unprepared."

Elise actually frowned. She gazed at the limousine and a faint line appeared between her eyebrows. "Show him to his rooms, of course," she said. "I'll dine with him tonight."

The guard saluted and ran back to the others. Elise sailed past the limousine, head up, every inch the monarch. Robo Knux scanned the car and the people inside it as they walked by. The lord was a tall, thin man in a suit, but Robo Knux learned nothing else about him. He'd examine him at dinner and plan his death.


At dinner, Robo Knux decided that the Lord Kaz must die sooner rather than later.

Kaz turned out to be a young man, newly come into his title. He had perfectly styled auburn hair, perfect white teeth, and laughed often. He made clever conversation with Elise and pressed her to talk about herself.

By now Robo Knux had gathered that Elise never talked about herself. He watched Elise bow her head and murmur pleasantries, and hatred uncurled inside him. Kaz must die. Somehow. Maybe at the Festival of the Sun, Robo Knux could drop the brazier on Kaz. That'd end his annoying life.

"And what is this thing?" said Kaz, turning his laughing attention to Robo Knux. "A Mobian robot?"

"He's my bodyguard," said Elise. "Robo Knux, introduce yourself."

"I'm Robo Knux, like her majesty said," said Robo Knux. "I think you should shut up before you hurt yourself."

Kaz slapped the table and roared with laughter. "It tells jokes! What else can it do?"

Robo Knux's fury inflated inside him and crushed itself against the restraining shell. Kaz caught his eye and winked.

What a jerk. Robo Knux hammered against the shell. Three seconds and he could jump over the table and stab his claws straight through Kaz's heart. Three seconds was all he needed.

"Please don't tease him," said Elise. "I believe he's had a rough past and I've tried to treat him kindly."

Robo Knux's fury deflated like a popped balloon. A rough past? Him? Well, if he looked at his violent life from her perspective, perhaps he had been a victim all along ... a victim of society's intolerance for violent, messy death.

"You're right," said Kaz, his smile vanishing. "I forgot my manners. My apologies, Robo Knux." Again he winked.

What was with this jerk? Robo Knux stepped up to Elise to hand her the roast beef platter, and successfully managed to knock Kaz's ice water into his lap. Kaz leaped up with a gasp. Servants rushed to wipe him off.

Robo Knux gloated about this until he caught Elise's look. She did not smile or frown. She merely stared at him a second longer than usual, and her displeasure hit him like a rocket in the torso.

Robo Knux slunk back to his spot behind her chair and stayed there. Was this what embarrassment felt like? He'd never experienced it before, and he never wanted to feel it again.

Curse his living nanite brain and its conflicts with his robot body.


Kaz hang around Elise as much as possible. But the Festival was only four days away, and Elise was embroiled in the details of pulling together a national spectacle and holiday. Robo Knux trotted at her heels as she spoke to caterers about the castle feast, pyro technicians about the firework show, and gave generous interviews to the press who camped out on the castle's front steps.

Mobians flocked to the city, and the hotels filled. Robo Knux saw people his own shape and height walking the streets among the humans. All of them gave him a wide berth. Had his reputation spread as far as East Mobius? Perhaps not, or rumor of his true nature should have already reached Elise's security team.

Word circulated that important Mobian dignitaries from across the sea were attending the Festival this year, too. Elise worked a little harder to make sure everything was perfect.

The day of the Festival, Robo Knux wished for the first time that his shell would let him help Elise more. With his flight capability, he could run messages far quicker than the human runners Elise used. Their long, spindly legs were so slow. But of course the shell let him do no such thing.

All day long Elise ran from place to place and spoke to dozens of different people. Robo Knux cataloged them all, and kept an eye out for Kaz. Kaz lingered in the background, watching unhappily, unable to get close enough to chat with Elise. Good. Let the jerk stew a little.

The sun sank. Elise and her servants had a light supper in a little restaurant that overlooked the marina near Soleanna's center. All the boats had been moved to make room for the vast floating platform that supported the brazier. Robo Knux eyed it out the window as the girls ate. By day it was a tangled mess of twisted metal and cables. But by night, it'd be magical.

After dinner, Elise rested in a chair on the restaurant's balcony for a while. Her servants left to don their Festival clothes, leaving Elise in Robo Knux's charge.

He rested both broad arms on the stone railing and watched the sun drop behind Soleanna's skyscrapers. Lights flickered on, yellow, red and green. People gathered around the edges of the marina, equipped with lawn chairs and picnic blankets. Merchants moved among them, selling popcorn, roasted nuts and drinks.

"My people love the Festival," said Elise.

Robo Knux turned to her. She reclined in her chair, but her eyes reflected the sun's orange light. Or did the light come from within her eyes, as if she burned inside?

"Yes, I see," said Robo Knux. The shell permitted him to speak, since Elise had initiated conversation. "Elise, do you ever laugh?"

"Laugh?" said Elise. She turned her head and the orange light left her eyes, leaving them shadowed. "Not really, no. Why should I?"

"I don't know," said Robo Knux. He leaned against the railing. "What do you think of that Kaz guy?"

Elise's vague smile returned. "He's pleasant, I suppose. I've been too busy to get to know him. Perhaps after the Festival."

The balcony's door opened, and one of Elise's servant girls looked out. "Time to get dressed, Princess."

Elise heaved a sigh and stood up. "All right. I'm ready."

Robo Knux followed her through the whirlwind of getting dressed, and last minute details that needed ironing out. One of the brazier's fuel channels had buckled and had to be fixed. A visiting dignitary requested better seating. The press complained that they weren't allowed close enough to the ceremony on the platform. And a hundred other concerns.

Robo Knux marveled at Elise's self control as she made decisions while her servants combed her hair. He'd have started killing people long ago.

But at last nine o'clock came. Robo Knux escorted Elise across the makeshift bridge and onto the platform. Elise carried a large, ornate silver torch, worked with bird wings in the image of Solaris. Fire burned inside it. The crowd cheered as they crossed the platform. It rocked slightly underfoot, and Robo Knux kept near enough to steady Elise if she lost her balance.

But Elise only took shorter steps as she reached the Solaris priests. Instead of sunglasses, the priests wore black visors that made their eyes look robotic. Not nearly as funny. They bowed to Elise, and she bowed back.

Then she raised the torch toward the bowl of fuel that would light the brazier. But Elise hesitated. She stared into the torch, and her eyes glowed orange again. No mistake about it this time. Robo Knux swept her with a worried scan. No chips, no implants, no excessive chaos energy. Nothing to indicate what made her eyes glow.

"Princess?" he murmured.

Elise's head jerked a fraction, and the glow left her eyes. "I'm sorry," she whispered. She touched the torch to the fuel.

Fire raced up the fuel channels in five different spirals. They painted patterns in the darkness, then sped upward and joined together in the brazier, which roared to life overhead.

The crowd cheered and clapped. Fireworks exploded in colored stars and flowers all around.

Robo Knux's scanner picked up incoming hostiles.

He grabbed Elise's arm and pulled her back a step, but there was no cover on this platform. He tried to fire his jets, but the shell locked him out of his controls. Curse it all!

Robots slammed onto the platform, making it pitch. Ten, twelve robots. Robo Knux swept them with a detail scan. E-500s. Dr. Robotnik's work. Didn't that just figure. He could destroy them all if not for this infernal restraining shell.

The robots trained their weapons on Elise, her servants and the priests. Everyone ducked and covered except Elise. She stood straight and gazed around her, lips pressed together. Robo Knux stood beside her, arms flung out. His wing shields were bulletproof, but he couldn't protect her from a firing squad arranged in a ring. Wouldn't they shoot each other, too?

The screech of a hover engine drew Robo Knux's attention. Out of the sky dropped Dr. Robotnik's all purpose egg-shaped hovercraft, now outfitted with enormous engines and mechanical fingers for grabbing.

Dr. Robotnik himself stood up and bowed to the princess. "Hello, Princess Elise. I decided to attend your lovely Festival this year. But there is a matter I must discuss with you. It involves not unleashing my robots on your adoring populace, and the ownership of that pretty chaos emerald in your pocket."

Elise clenched her fists and stood straight. Robo Knux imagined guiding a rocket up the left exhaust opening in Robotnik's craft. It'd be one more pretty firework explosion.

A gust of wind whipped Elise's hair across her face. One robot pitched off the platform and splashed into the water. Another fell headless. A third exploded into fragments as something struck it in the torso.

Elise covered her head. Robo Knux danced around her, waving his arms and deflecting flying debris. Without him, Elise would have been cut to pieces, but owing to his superior reflexes and fighting techniques, nothing touched her.

The attacking wind resolved itself into a blue hedgehog, who pushed the last robot off into the water. Then he turned and looked at Elise and Robo Knux. "Hiya, RK. Whose side are you on today?"

"Hers," snarled Robo Knux.

Sonic nodded. "Good choice. You okay, Princess?"

Elise nodded. She hugged herself and stared at Sonic.

Sonic turned and looked at Robotnik. "I suggest you get lost, Doctor."

"Who's going to make me?" said Robotnik. The hands on his ship twitched and the fingers opened. They were made of flexible cable padded in foam rubber. Perfect for carrying off princesses.

Robo Knux sidestepped toward the brazier's display. The central fireworks display had not gone off yet. He plucked a rocket from the holder and inched back to Elise. The shell wouldn't let him light it. So Robo Knux poked Sonic in the back with it.

Sonic turned and glared at him, then looked down at the rocket. Sonic's green eyes lit up. He flashed Robo Knux a grin, grabbed the rocket and stuck its fuse in the burning fuel beneath the brazier. "Better get moving, Doctor."

Robotnik only swung the ship closer, the hands reaching for Elise.

Sonic hurled the rocket. It ignited in midair and exploded against the front of Robotnik's ship in a splash of red and gold. Robotnik cursed and waved his arms. The ship's arms retracted, and Robotnik pulled up and flew away into the darkness.

Sonic dusted his hands together. "That took care of him." He turned to Elise and held out a hand. "I'm Sonic the Hedgehog."

Elise timidly shook his hand. "I'm Princess Elise. Thank you for saving me. That was ... amazing."

Sonic shrugged. "No problem. It's what I do. See you around!" He ran across the platform, across the bridge, and vanished into the crowd.

Elise stared after him. Robo Knux grumbled to himself. He'd given Sonic that rocket, yet Sonic had taken all the glory. Well, what did he expect from Priority Jerk Number One?

Elise's servants hurried up to her, along with a bunch of soldiers. They surrounded her and the priests, and escorted them to safety.

The soldiers formed a perimeter to hunt for Robotnik and his robots, but they had vanished. Elise insisted that the Festival must not be canceled. "My people look forward to this all year. Tighten security, but let the festivities continue. Please."

As Robotnik was nowhere to be found, the captain of the guard reluctantly agreed.

Elise was ushered back to the castle. She issued a few orders, then went to her room and lay down. "Come inside and shut the door," she said to Robo Knux.

He obeyed, and looked around her pink room distastefully. In the dark it wasn't quite so pink, and two lamps made comfortable yellow pools of light in the corners.

Elise lay with her hands folded on her chest. "Robo Knux," she said, "tell me about this Dr. Robotnik."

"What do you want to know?" Boy, he could spill some dirt on Robotnik. Robo Knux had archives of the stuff.

"Who is he? Where did he come from?"

Robo Knux rubbed his metal hands together. "Well, he started out as the head science officer in Mobitropolis. But he invented the roboticizer and staged a coup against the Acorn monarchy ..."

It was a long lecture.

When Robo Knux finally finished, Elise was silent a long time. Maybe she'd fallen asleep.

At last she said, "This man is a threat to my kingdom."

"You think?" said Robo Knux.

"But you say this Sonic the Hedgehog is his mortal enemy?"

"Did I mention that?" said Robo Knux. "Sonic's defeated him a few times. A bunch of times. Odious little rodent is always the hero." He left out his own involvement with Sonic and Robotnik. Elise didn't need to know how many times he'd betrayed both sides.

Elise was silent again for a while. Then she said, "I must call Sonic for an audience tomorrow. Soleanna must be kept safe. You are dismissed, Robo Knux. And thank you."

Robo Knux returned to his post outside her door, irritated that she wanted to see Sonic, and absurdly pleased that Elise had thanked him.