Sally sat comfortably in the corner of the main room of Bunnie's hut, holding NICOLE. From the top of the hand-held device an attachment protruded, made by herself and Rotor. She was making the final few adjustments to NICOLE's programming to install the attachment's software properly. The attachment itself would be removable, but in the near future it could - hopefully - prove very informative for all of Knothole's freedom fighters.
As Sally completed this task, something else was going on in the kitchen, something more familial: Bunnie was teaching Tails how to make jam. Sally came out of her concentration to clear her head a little, and listened to the rabbit with a smile as she said, "...and then, we pour all o' this ol' sugar, into the fruit."
"That sure is a lot of sugar, Aunt Bunnie," Tails answered. Sally glanced over to see him staring at the - admittedly large - bowl of sugar Bunnie was hefting in her robotic hand.
"Well, that's jam for ya!" Bunnie laughed and up-ended the bowl over the saucepan, "and Ah just happen to know, you have a little ol' sweet tooth in there!" she poked lightly at his cheek, causing him to squirm at the ticklish touch and giggle.
xXx
Smoke and fog mingled in an unhealthy travesty of lovers embracing above the streets of Robotropolis, blocking much of the sun's light. Together they sucked the heat out of the air. They invaded the upper levels of the taller buildings, seeping across rooftops and galleries and leaving their unwelcome, poisonous dirt in their wake. They conspired together to darken and dirty and chill until anybody caught with them was obsessively, uncomfortably aware of their presence but utterly powerless to shoo them away.
Robotropolis was as dark and uninviting indoors as it was out. Where outside boasted grimy, unkempt pathways, inside the floors were kept clinically clean by workerbots, and even the joints between the floor sections were frequently sucked free of grime. Where outside most surfaces held a veneer of filth from burnt fuel, inside there was barely a speck of dust. Where outside the breeze, mild and interrupted by tall buildings, carried light detritus, inside the air was still and free of debris. Just as cold, though, and severe in its stillness.
Robotnik cared nothing for this. His attention was fixed on his most recent project: five new robots. They walked in single file at his command, ready for inspection. They came to a stop in front of him and faced the dictator. After a brief glance at them he pressed the intercom. "Snively," he growled, keeping the button held down and watching Snively flinch via the surveillance screen. "Report at once." The tiny flat figure immediately left his work and made for the command room.
Even the quietest rumble from Robotnik was enough to bring his nephew scurrying, and within a few seconds the little man had arrived. "Yes, sir?"
Snively noticed the robots at the same time as he spoke, lending his tone an uncertain edge. He blinked at the assembled bots and then looked at Robotnik querulously.
"Meet my new troupe," he said, indicating the robots with a single wave of his hand. "I'm calling them the Anti-Freedom Fighters."
Snively regarded them afresh. They were an impressive bunch to look at: gleaming cases and moulded contours well-described their bodies. Julian took pride in his creations, and it was obvious that much care had gone into their production. They hummed quietly, an efficient standby. They balanced well on their feet despite all being bipedal; they had been made well indeed. Snively grinned and returned his gaze. "Very good, Doctor Robotnik! But just what are they capable of?"
The dictator smiled malevolently and gave Snively more information.
xXx
They were on a mission. Sally ran alongside Sonic and Bunnie as the three of them made for the best access point to the Robotropolis computer system.
Robotnik had long ago developed a great, though subtle, influence over Acornian society by tapping into banking and other official data-storing systems. Births, deaths, travel arrangements, monetary movements and more were registered in his own databanks. Little happened in this country that Julian didn't know about.
As a result Sally and the rest of the population of Knothole stayed well away from banks and other establishments that required them to give personal details. It happened, however, that the majority of the Acornians - indeed, citizens from all countries on planet Mobius - were unaware that they were being spied upon. But neither Sally nor Rotor had worked out a way of informing such a large number of people without drawing attention to themselves and perhaps even betraying their location.
It was conceivable that Mobian apathy would prevent the greater population from changing the way they treated their personal information, anyway, it was impossible to tell without hindsight. So an informing operation was never planned.
The attachment Sally had fitted to NICOLE and that she now carried with her would interface with the mainframe. Using the attachment with Robotnik's databanks, they hoped to find details of their respective families and hopefully track down any possible living relatives. It was worth a shot.
"There should be an access point to the mainframe on the other side of that section of wall," Sally called to the others, pointing to a plain sheet of metal that comprised part of the building wall up ahead. They came to a stop by it.
"Take it, Bunnie," the princess said, and the rabbit approached the sheet. She knocked a dent into one corner and used it as a hand-hold to tear the entire plate away.
Now exposed, just as Sally had calculated, were the slightly dusty controls of an electronic interface.
"Okay Sal, do your stuff," Sonic said, slightly hushed as he glanced about for danger. "We'll be close." He walked out a little way, far enough to keep vigil. Bunnie walked a similar distance in another direction. Sally's back was covered.
The princess wasted no time. She located the interface, lined up the attachment and slotted it in. It fitted perfectly. "Yes!" she muttered. The fit had been secretly worrying her: Rotor had only been able to find an old, bent-up interface and had spent hours straightening the pins. "Nice work, Rotor," she whispered, perhaps more to reassure herself than anything else, for of course, he wasn't there. "Let's find your folks."
They'd decided between them that Rotor would be first to be investigated. Although he wouldn't have been the choice to come along on this particular expedition anyway, still he had requested not to come along. Knowing what Sally was searching for would just make him anxious, distracted. So he hadn't come along.
Among the computer's data were the roboticization records. Rotor's mother, it seemed, had been captured long ago and turned into a workerbot. Rotor won't like this, Sally thought. Gritting her teeth at the news, Sally pressed on and learned where the robot was. The co-ordinates of its last position before it came to rest were easy to find.
The dump.
Sally briefly hoped that the robot was simply on standby rather than decommissioned. It was just possible.
That was the search for Rotor's mother complete. Taking a deep breath, the princess began the search for Skeeter, Rotor's younger brother.
She attempted to find his records at the present day. But, she discovered with a jolt, there was no present day. The record ended several years back. She looked at the date of death that faced her blankly on the screen and closed her eyes. Poor Rotor, Sally thought. Poor Skeeter. Then, heavy-hearted, she disengaged NICOLE and the attachment from the mainframe. The fate of Sherman, Rotor's father, was already known. There was no point in searching for him.
"Come on, guys," she called to Sonic and Bunnie. "We need to check out the junkyard."
"The junkyard?" Bunnie asked, and shared a glance with Sonic. "How come?"Sally sighed as she led the way. "I'll explain on the way."
xXx
Sally led them to the place she'd been told by NICOLE via the mainframe's co-ordinates. Rotor's mother wouldn't be hard to find.
In fact there she was already, up ahead: a broad-bellied robot on squat legs, standing grubbily among the detritus of the city. Sonic signaled for Sally and Bunnie to stop walking and approached carefully, unwilling to have to engage with the robot should it come to life. Even workerbots were programmed to be dangerous.
"Hey," he half-said, half-called in an effort to get the robot's attention. It didn't move. He looked for something on the ground, picked up a chunk of motherboard and threw it close to the walrus robot's feet. Still it didn't move, although that kind of treatment usually would prompt a robot to activate. This wasn't a good sign.
Sonic turned and looked uncertainly at Sally. She seemed to know what he was asking and nodded her consent, sadly. Then, as he turned again to look for another projectile, he briefly lowered his eyes to the floor before he focused on his target again and threw.
The clang of ringing metal she had anticipated, the hellish noise of thousands of flies she had not. Swarms of them erupted from Mrs. Walrus' casing, disturbed and angry. Sonic, the only one close enough to be caught in their path, backed away in disgust, shielding his face.
"Oh, man!" he growled. "Gross!"
"Such primitive language. You must learn to make better use of your linguistic faculties, hedgehog!" came Robotnik's smooth timbre behind them. The three of them whirled around, expecting to see the warlord towering over them...
What they actually saw made them pause. Robotnik wasn't there. Instead, three robots stood impassively. One looked like a metal version of Sonic. Its arms and legs were sleek and newly-made. Its feet were made of many complex parts, clearly designed for foot-sureness and perhaps also for speed, Sonic judged warily. A large, round head sported deathly eyes. Not red eyes like those of most of Robotnik's creations, but flush. This was a robot designed to sense its surroundings. Its sensors were evidently built into that head: a fine grille here, a black and shiny panel there.
Another of the robots resembled Sally, albeit Sally in an all-over, skin-tight metal suit. Skinny but inherently graceful, it stood with a poise even its model couldn't match. Like the Sonic robot, its head was a mass of sensory equipment. Its torso was segmented - no doubt the robot was flexible. Very slim fingers remained utterly still, but Sonic had little doubt they were strong, for they were intricate and clearly made for gripping.
The third robot looked like Bunnie. Up to the waist it was practically indistinguishable from his lapine companion, for its feet and legs looked dangerously heavy and strong. Ditto its arms - both of them. But where from the waist up Bunnie shone with good nature and life, this bot was humourless and forbidding. It stared impassively ahead. It had ears but they seemed to be only for decoration, Sonic decided.
The voice came from the Sonic one, and he guessed its head contained a microphone system.
"What's going on, Julian?" Sonic demanded, directing his question at the Sonic robot.
It didn't move, although the casual animation in the voice coming from it would have been well-suited to an easy swagger. "Meet your counterparts, my Anti-Freedom Fighters. They are my gifts to you: robotic sparring partners, if you will. I... do hope you won't find them too tenacious."
Sonic scoffed. "No way, Buttnik, there's nothing as way past cool as the original!"
"Do you believe so?" Robotnik mused. And then the Sally and Bunnie robots attacked.
Both girls staggered back; Bunnie recovered first and entered into what began as a wrestle. The Bunnie robot nearly overpowered her but she managed to launch it backwards with some force and take a better stance. Their battle resumed and quickly resolved into a kickboxing fight. The robot had a speed she couldn't match, it seemed to anticipate her moves and counter them almost before she'd thought of them herself.
A few feet away, Sally was fighting her counterpart. It whirled and span, dodged and punched with great speed. Sally, like Bunnie, was having trouble keeping up. Although her robot didn't seem especially strong, it had made contact with her three or four times already and she had yet to manage to land a blow in return.
Sonic came to her aid first, judging that Bunnie was well capable enough of holding off her counterpart for a moment. But as soon as he sped to her side, the Sonic robot attacked him. It knocked the hedgehog clean off his feet, leaving him winded.
"We have to get outta this!" Bunnie cried out, still struggling with her robot.
Sonic stood up to engage with the Sonic robot again, and looked around for it. Then he paused in confusion. Where is it? It was nowhere to be seen. He looked over to Sally and saw that she was casting around too, for her own robot. Bunnie looked equally baffled.
All three robots had disappeared. There was no trace of them.
"Okay, that's weird!" Sonic commented, squinting into the shadows suspiciously.
He quickly tried to review what had happened, to piece together the events and try to make them make sense. As far as he was aware none of them had managed to damage the robots at all. The bots' retreat simply didn't seem to fit. It made him uneasy.
Sally glanced around once more and seemed to give up. "Let's get out of here," she murmured with a resigned sigh.
"Uh huh," Sonic said, still suspicious. He looked behind the three of them as they retreated to the city walls, expecting to be ambushed at any moment.
There was no ambush and, to his surprise, they managed to get to the city gate with no trouble. But just as they were approaching the great archway, Robotnik's voice echoed down unseen from somewhere up above. Sonic looked up: the Sonic robot stood on a high ledge. It said one thing only:
"Expect a more sustained attack next time."
And then it walked away, out of sight.
xXx
When the three animals finally dragged their feet back into Knothole it was late. They carried heavy hearts, all three of them. Sally had explained to Bunnie and Sonic what she had discovered, and since then the three of them had been morose. The clouds that'd gathered overhead coupled with the damp grey atmosphere suited their moods uncannily: the sky was cold and bleak. As the communal area came into view - and with it Rotor and Antoine - Sonic steeled himself. Rotor wasn't going to like this.
The two animals' eyes shone out of the growing darkness and Sonic shared a glance with Sally, the dread weighing his stomach down. The princess didn't look any more relaxed; this was going to be tough for all of them.
They got within speaking distance. "Hi guys," Rotor said, his voice falling flat in the humid atmosphere despite the question his tone implied. Sonic hooked eyes with Rotor, who looked hopefully back for a second, and then shrank back a little as if he could see the news. "What happened to you guys?" he asked quietly, apparently sensing the grimness Sonic felt and glancing at the marks from the fight they'd encountered.
"Let's all sit down first," Sally said quietly and everybody took seats. The walrus and coyote looked imploringly at her, silently asking the question again. She searched Rotor's eyes and wondered how he'd take the news. "I managed to trace your mother and your brother. I guess you already knew what had happened to your father."
Rotor sighed and looked at the table top. After a moment he nodded carefully. "I guess so. I guess I would have wanted..." he screwed up his face. "... ah, it's cool. What about Skeeter and mom?"
Sally shared a glance with Sonic before saying, "Skeeter died later on in the coup. I'm sorry, Rotor."
Rotor looked away again; Sonic thought the walrus was holding back tears. Still looking fixedly at the distant rainclouds the walrus asked, "What about mom?"
Sally took a steadying breath. "Roboticized."
He shot her a look. "She's in Robotropolis?" he asked, hope briefly surfacing.
"Yes... we found her," Sally covered her face, her emotion. She rubbed her eye before continuing, "but she wasn't maintained, Rotor. She was decommissioned a couple of years ago. If we'd found her back then, maybe we could have..." Sally stopped as she realised this wasn't going to make the walrus feel any better. "I'm sorry Rotor..."
The group fell quiet to let Rotor take in the sudden news. The walrus sniffed and wiped his eyes angrily, his body language suddenly restless. After a few seconds he got down from his seat and started off toward his home.
"Rote..." Sonic said, his tone unusually gentle. Rotor looked at his friend for a moment. It was clear from the look on his face that he wouldn't be in any state to talk. The group let him go.
Sonic looked to Sally, who was close to tears herself. The silence continued for a moment. The group seemed unable to find anything to say. Antoine sighed heavily and studied the clouds hopelessly, sympathetic pain evident on his face. Bunnie put one hand on Sally's and the princess wiped away the tears that were gathering in the corners of her eyes.
Eventually Sonic decided to speak. "I guess we should get some rest, Sal," he suggested. "We'll tell Rotor about the robots when he's ready." This prompted a brief, curious glance from Antoine, but he didn't seem to have the will to ask more, not just now.
"Yeah-huh," Bunnie answered; the others seemed content to let that speak for them. With nothing else needing to be said they parted company.
xXx
The night was as cold and damp as it had threatened to be; the atmospheric moisture seemed to be absorbed into everything.
She didn't sleep very much at all that night. Part of her was keen to blame the rain and the howling wind outside, but she knew it had more to do with sympathy for Rotor. She watched the dark grey outlines of her hut from her bed for what seemed to be an eternity.
At some point sleep claimed her. She wasn't sure, when she thought back later, just what time that was.
xXx
The following morning she went for a walk. They hadn't agreed to meet up any particular time yesterday evening so Bunnie decided simply to pass the communal area and the others' huts to see if anything was going on. She wasn't too surprised when she found Rotor doing much the same, studying the river as he went. She caught up with him.
He aknowledged her with a sad smile before turning away again to watch the flow of the river. Bunnie took his lead for a while, only deciding after several minutes to say, "Pretty tough bein' first to get the news."
She wasn't sure whether or not to expect him to reply, but reply he did. "Yeah. But I'm not gonna be the next." He picked up a stone and tossed it distractedly into the clear water where it sank.
"There was a little more to tell you and Antoine about that mission," she said gently, watching the ripples disappear into the watery swells and troughs of the river.
At first the walrus didn't react much, just afforded her a quick glance. But then he led them to the fallen log and sat, where she did the same. "Okay," he said heavily, "tell me what?"
TO BE CONTINUED...