Sonic
the Hedgehog: Bunnie Rabbot
by
Serinthia Draftwood
The
author of this work will accept questions and comments via E-mail at any
of the
following addresses:
serinthia@draftwood.com
based on characters created by Service and
Games (SEGA) and
on characters created by Archie
Comic Publications
NOTE: Tails does not appear in this story because,
according to the way I wrote history,
Tails had not joined
the freedom fighters at this point.
Night had settled over The Great
Forest. Most creatures were asleep
and
dreaming various dreams. The
inhabitants of Knothole Village were no
exception. Every freedom fighter was in bed sleeping
peacefully, except for
Bookshire.
Sitting in front of his computer,
Bookshire sat back and groaned.
For the
last two months he had been trying every trick in the book and then
some in
order to access the Robotropolis Main Computer Core and he hadn't
been
having any luck whatsoever.
Bookshire looked at the computer screen
and rubbed his eyes. It
was
filled with complex mathematical calculations and at the bottom it said
"ACCESS
DENIED". Very early on in the
project Bookshire had discovered that
all
outside links to the RMCC were protected by complicated data encryption
algorithms.
"This is ridiculous," he said to
no one in particular "At this rate
I'll
never crack the access code."
He sat back and thought for a moment.
"What I need is a direct
terminal."
Of course, that meant actually going into
Robotropolis and using one
of the
many workstations located throughout the city. Cracking the entry
code
for one of the stations wouldn't be a problem, but getting caught would
be,
and, with his bad leg, he wouldn't get far if he was discovered.
"Oh well," he said as he turned
off the computer "maybe one day..."
He turned out the lights and went to bed.
The morning found the freedom fighters
going about their business as
usual. Rotor was sitting at a table next to his hut
with both a pitcher and
a mug
of hot chocolate and a small pile of papers that he was looking over.
He
looked up for a moment to take a sip from his mug when he saw Bookshire
limping
by with cane in hand looking rather depressed.
"Hey, Bookshire," called Rotor.
Bookshire looked up.
"Oh, hi Rotor," he said
"Would you like some hot
chocolate?" Rotor asked.
"Sure," said Bookshire as he
walked over.
Rotor poured another mug as Bookshire sat
down opposite him.
"So," said Rotor "Is
something bothering you?"
"I guess you could say that,"
said Bookshire "I've been working on
trying
to break into Robotnik's main computer for the last two months and I
haven't
been having any luck at all. It
wouldn't be so hard if I had access
to a
direct terminal, but the only ones are in Robotropolis."
"Yes," replied Rotor "I can
see how that would be a problem."
The two sat in silence for a moment or two
before Rotor spoke again.
"I have an idea," he said
"why don't we send someone into
Robotropolis
to try to break in for you."
"I doubt it would work," said
Bookshire "so far as I know I'm the
only
one in the Village that can't even begin to try to decode Robotnik's
computer
network."
"We wouldn't need a computer
expert," replied Rotor "wait here a
moment."
Rotor went back into his hut and emerged a
few minutes later
carrying
a small, flat box which he set down in front of Bookshire.
"What is it?" asked Bookshire.
"Its a mini computer and long range
communications set," said Rotor
"All
we would have to do is have someone use the computer to tap into the
mainframe
while you give them directions through the comm. link from here."
"Yeah, that might just work,"
said Bookshire brightening up
considerably
"why don't we go see what Sally thinks about it."
The two finished their hot chocolate and
went over to Princess
Sally's
hut. Sally liked the idea and, soon,
Sonic and Sally were headed
toward
Robotropolis, while Rotor, Bookshire, and Bunnie sat down in front
of
Bookshire's computer and waited.
Deep in Robotropolis, Robotnik was
standing by a window, gazing out
at the
city when Snively entered.
"Did you trace it?" asked
Robotnik without turning.
"Well...no, sir," replied
Snively "we traced the transmission to a
relay
station just north of here and then we lost it."
"I trust, Snively, that you are doing
everything in your power to
trace
this transmission," said Robotnik, his temper rising "I will not have
rebel
freedom fighters breaking into my system!"
Snively just stood there unable to think of
anything to say.
After a moment, Robotnik calmed down.
"Did you send for Commander
Packbell?" he asked.
"Yes, sir," replied Snively
"He should be arriving within the hour,
sir."
"Actually, I should be arriving
now."
Snively was grabbed from behind and tossed
to one side and a cloaked
figure
entered the room. Robotnik turned away
from the window to face him.
"Well, well, well," he said
"Commander Packbell, and how is my
favorite
android today?"
"I'm your only android, sir,"
Packbell replied.
"Packbell, I have a new assignment
for you," said Robotnik "Someone
on the
outside has been trying to break into the computer system. You're
job is
to track them down."
"That's it?" asked Packbell.
"Yes," replied Robotnik.
"Hum, somehow I expected something
challenging from you, sir," said
Packbell.
"Just do it!" snapped Robotnik.
"Very well," answered Packbell.
He turned to leave. As he walked toward
the door he grabbed Snively,
who was
in his way again, and tossed him over his shoulder.
"Excuse me, please," said
Packbell as he passed by.
In another part of the city Sonic and
Sally had managed to make it
into an
abandoned service crawl way. After a
few minutes, the two emerged
into
and empty room with a workstation in it.
"Well," said Sonic "we're
here. So, what now?"
"Just stand and watch," said
Sally. She went over to the workstation
and
opened Rotor's computer.
"Stand and watch?!," said Sonic
in disbelief "I can't just stand!"
"Try to have some patience,"
said Sally.
"Hey, patients are for
hospitals. We're in Robo-country, and
that
makes
me edgy," replied Sonic.
Sally sighed as she began to make the
connection to Knothole.
Meanwhile, back in Knothole, Bookshire,
Rotor, and Bunnie were still
waiting
for Sally's signal.
"Tell me again," said Bunnie
"How is it that you can get into Robo's
computer
without being traced?"
"It's rather simple really,"
explained Bookshire "My computer has a
random
signal path generator. Every time I
send a signal to the system it
gets
routed though a completely random selection of relay stations and
satellites
throughout the planet. Since the path
keeps changing with each
signal
it's impossible to trace."
Suddenly the speaker crackled to life.
"Knothole, this is Sally, over"
"This is Knothole," replied
Bookshire "we read you loud and clear."
"I've located a workstation and I've
hooked your computer into it,"
reported
Sally.
"Excellent," said
Bookshire.
Bookshire leaned forward and turned on his
monitor.
"Sally," said Rotor "on the
computer is a button marked "screen
transmit",
push it."
Suddenly, Bookshire's monitor laid out a
menu of options. At the top
of the
screen it said: ROBOTROPOLIS MAIN
COMPUTER CORE ACCESS STATION
#1245-B.
"Wonderful," said Bookshire
"now all we have to do is fine out what
the
code is for getting in from the outside."
"Well," said Sally "I
suggest that we start with system security.
I'm
logging in with Rotor's cryptosmasher software."
Getting in was surprisingly easy and,
soon, they believed that they
had
found what they were looking for.
"I think I have something," said
Sally "It's a code labeled
'global
access'."
"Yes," said Bookshire "I
see it. I think that that's it. Hang on
one
moment."
Bookshire pulled out a blank optical disc
and placed it into his
optical
recorder and hit the record button.
"Okay, Sally," said Bookshire
"transmit the file."
"Transmitting..."
The screen filled up with incomprehensible
data all of which they
now had
on disc.
"Great," said Rotor "that
should do it, so disconnect and come home."
"You got it," said Sally
"we're on our way."
"Finally," said Sonic
impatiently.
"Oh, come on," said Sally as she
disconnected the computer "it wasn't
that
bad."
"Wasn't bad! My legs fell asleep!" exclaimed Sonic.
"Well wake them up," she said
"we've got to go."
Sonic and Sally tore out of Robotropolis
as fast as they could.
When they arrived back at Knothole they
immediately went down to
Bookshire
computer room.
"Did it work?" asked Sally as
they entered.
"You bet it did," replied Bunnie
"that ol' genius has a direct link
into
the system."
"Excellent," replied Sally.
"Now we should be able to get any info
on what ever we need," said
Bookshire.
Rotor yawned.
"Well," he said "I think
that it should wait until morning."
The others agreed and they left to go back
to their huts. Bookshire
stayed
at the terminal and looked through a few files. Interesting, he
thought
to himself. He turned off the computer
and went to bed.
"What do you mean you lost it!"
exclaimed Packbell.
The Swat-bot turned from the computer to
face him.
"The signal was traced to a relay
station in the Great Swamp and
then it
was terminated," it reported.
Packbell grumbled in suppressed
anger. He walked over to the wall
where
there was a rack of laser rifles.
"You know I don't like failure,"
he said.
Quickly removing a rifle from its place,
he turned and blasted the
bot out
of its seat. Replacing the rifle, he
walked over to the comm. panel.
"Bot Distribution, could you send me
another Swat-bot. The other
one
displeased me."
"Acknowledged," came the reply.
Packbell turned towards the computer.
"I swear, when I find the rebels that
are doing this, they're going
to be
on their knees begging me to robotize them."
The next morning, Bookshire was back again
in front of the terminal,
examining
Robotnik's system. At one point, he
came across a directory
labeled,
"CURRENT OFFENSIVE PROJECTS". As he began to read through the
terrible
ideas that Robotnik was devising to eliminate the freedom fighters,
he came
across a recent entry that stated that an intense acid rain factory
would
be on-line in less than one day. After
reading enough of the entry,
he
leaped out of his chair and ran to warn the freedom fighters.
"I knew that terminal would come in
handy," said Sally.
Sally, Bunnie, and Sonic were crouched
near a junk heap on the
outskirts
of Robotropolis.
"So, what's the plan Sally
girl?" asked Bunnie.
"You and I are going to break into
the control room and disable the
security
devices while Sonic plants the explosives to destroy the factory."
The three freedom fighters made their way
toward the factory. They
split
up just outside the factory.
"Good luck you two," said Sonic
" as he raced off.
For some reason, Sally and Bunnie found it
surprisingly easy to get
inside
the factory. While carefully avoiding
the security devices, the two
made
their way to the control room. When
they arrived, they were somewhat
surprised
to find that there weren't any bots manning it.
"That's odd," Sally remarked as
she began to look for the security
override
switches "We shouldn't have gotten in here this easily."
"Do you think it's a trap?"
asked Bunnie.
"I'm not sure," Sally
replied.
"I found the security switches,"
said Bunnie.
"Excellent," said Sally. She examined the switches and panels.
"Wait a minute," she said
"According to this display, there's more
than
one set of security overrides. The two
sets have to be deactivated at
the
same time."
"So," said Bunnie "Where's
the other set?"
"It's on the other side of the
factory," Sally replied. She
handed
Bunnie
a comm. link "Take this. I'll go
over to the other set and we'll
shut
them off at the same time."
"I'll be waiting," said Bunnie
"Good luck."
"You too," said Sally as she
walked out of the room.
After a few minutes, Bunnie examined the
panels again. She knew a
bit
about computers, not as much as Sally or Bookshire, but the knowledge
she did
have had been helpful in the rebellion. As she began to look at
one of
the panels, the door to the room slammed shut. She turned in alarm as
a
previously unnoticed door slid open and a dozen Swat-bots came in.
"FREEZE PRISONER," declared the
leader. Each bot had a laser rifle
aimed
directly at her. Bunnie froze where she
was, too startled by their
sudden
appearance to react in any other way.
Sally made it to the extra set of
overrides and turned on her
comm.
link.
"Bunnie, this is Sally, do you
read," she said.
No answer,
"Bunnie?" she asked again,
slightly alarmed.
Still no answer.
She ran back to the other room to find it
completely abandoned.
A transport docked at the main prison
block on the other side of
Robotropolis. A group of Swat-bots escorted their prisoner
into a large
meeting
room where Commander Packbell was eagerly waiting.
"Well, well, well," he remarked
as Bunnie was escorted in "whom do
we have here?"
He walked up to her and glared.
"You know, I may not have been able
to trace that transmission, but
the
false info about the acid rain factory did the job equally well," he said
"Only
a group of freedom fighters that had access to the system could have
known
it was there. You shall be an example
to the rest of the rebellion.
I'll
show all of them what can happen when they try to break into Robotnik's
computer
system. First however, if you are
willing to tell me about your
friends
and how they broke in, I might go easy on you."
"In your dreams, commander,"
Bunnie replied.
"Oh well," said Packbell. He signaled to the bots.
"We'll see what some of my devices do
to change your mind."
The Swat-bots escorted her from the room.
Soon, Bunnie was beginning to wish she
hadn't come on this mission.
Packbell
had strapped her into a machine that delivers controlled bursts
of
intense electricity to the victim. Bunnie
was only half conscious and
her
breathing was short and shallow.
"Still not talking, huh," said
Packbell "Oh well. It looks like
I'm not
going to get anywhere with you."
He turned to one of the Swat-bots.
"Revive her fully and take her to the
robotizizer," he said "I'll
be
there shortly."
Meanwhile, Sally had located Sonic and
told him that Bunnie had
most
likely been captured. They decided that
Sally would wait there while
Sonic
charged off towards the prison block.
Bunnie had been encased in the giant glass
cylinder in the massive
robotizizer.
"During these last few moments of
your natural life, I might be
convinced
to stop the procedure if only you would tell me what I want to
know,"
Packbell was saying.
"Then I guess that's the end of my
natural life," said Bunnie
defiantly
"I'm taking their secrets with me."
"Very well," said Packbell.
He turned to the control bot.
"Is this thing charged yet?" he
asked.
"Five minutes to full operational
charge," the bot reported.
Suddenly the comm. panel sprang to life.
"Urgent! Commander Packbell, report to the dragon robotizizer
immediately. Prisoner escape attempt under way."
"Well," he said to Bunnie "As much as I hate
missing a rebel
robotization,
I hate missing a dragon more."
He turned to the bot.
"Take over. Use standard procedures," he said.
As he walked from the room, Bunnie called
after him.
"You may get me, and you may get a
hundred more, but one day the
freedom
fighters are going to beat Robotnik!"
Packbell paused at the door and said
"I doubt that."
Then, under his breath he said
"because I'll get to him first."
Suddenly, the machine indicated that it
was ready to begin. The
bot
turned it on.
Bunnie was enveloped in a yellow beam of
energy. A sudden pain
shot
through her as the machine began to alter her body on the molecular
level. The feelings and sensations moving through
her body were intense.
After a
few moments she passed out.
Then, without warning, Sonic the Hedgehog
shot into the room and
slammed
into the control bot, tearing it to peaces. He shut off the
robotizizer
as fast as he could. Running over to
the cylinder, he opened
it. Bunnie's limp form fell out onto the
floor. Sonic gasped in shock.
Her
legs and left arm had been completely transformed into robotic limbs.
After
he recovered from the shock, he examined her. She was still breathing,
but her
pulse was weak. He picked her up and
ran from the room. After
meeting
Sally at the outskirts of the city, they raced back to Knothole at
top
speed.
Bunnie lay still as death in her bed. The only indications that she
was
still alive were the soft beeps of Rotor's pulse monitor and Bookshire's
brain
wave scanner.
"Is she going to be alright?"
Sally finally asked.
Rotor and Bookshire looked up from the
numerous books they were
reading.
"We don't know," Rotor admitted.
"There isn't anything in any of these
books on a person being
partially
robotizized," said Bookshire.
"This is totally new stuff,"
said Rotor "Bunnie is the planet's
first
cybernetic life form, possessing both organic and artificial parts.
No one
knows how to deal with such a concept."
Can't you at least give me a best and
worst case scenario?" pressed
Sally.
The two hesitated for a moment.
"Well," began Bookshire
"the worst that could happen is her brain
never
recovers from the shock, the brain waves break down, and she dies."
"Or," continued Rotor "the
best that could happen is her body makes
the
adjustments and she fully recovers. Of
course, any of a hundred of
things
in between those two could happen."
"Well," said Sally "let me
know if her condition changes."
"You can count on it," said
Bookshire.
Sally left and went for a walk.
As she walked down by the power ring pool,
she saw Sonic sitting
by
himself on a log. She walked up and sat
down next to him.
"How are you?" she asked.
Sonic looked up as if noticing her for the
first time.
"Okay I guess," he replied.
"What's wrong?" Sally asked, her
voice filled with concern.
Sonic sat there without answering.
"Come on, Sonic. You know you can talk to me," she
continued.
"I was too slow," answered
Sonic, quietly.
"What?"
"I wasn't fast enough to save her,"
he continued.
"Sonic, it wasn't your fault,"
she said.
"Yes it was," Sonic insisted
"If only I had been faster."
"Look, I know no one blames you for
what happened," said Sally.
"How do you know Bunnie won't,"
said Sonic.
"If anything Bunnie will probably be
thankful that you saved her at
all,"
Sally said "If it hadn't been for you, she'd be getting shipped off
to some
factory by now."
"Maybe you're right, "admitted
Sonic "but I'll have to think about
it for
a while."
"I understand," Sally said. she stood up and left him to his
thoughts.
After she finished her walk, Sally
returned to Bunnie's hut where
a
surprising site met her eyes. Bunnie
was conscious and crying into
Bookshire's
arms.
"She regained consciousness a few
minutes ago," explained Rotor
"When
we broke the news to her she burst out in tears."
After a few minutes, Bunnie calmed down a
little and laid back in
bed. Sally sat down next to the bed.
"It's not as bad as you think,"
said Bookshire.
"And how's that?"
demanded Bunnie "Look at me! I'm a
freak!"
"No you're not," said Sally.
"Then what would you call me,"
Bunnie insisted.
The three hesitated for a moment.
"You're just who you always have
been," said Sally "a kind, loving
creature
who's dedicated, smart, and great to be around. You may have
changed
physically, but you're still the same person we all know, and love."
"It will take time for you to adjust
to those changes," said Rotor
"but
it can happen. You'll be back to your
old self in no time."
"Perhaps," said Bunnie.
One month later, Bunnie had progressed at
a surprising pace, and
she was
learning to use her new arm and legs to her advantage. Bookshire,
Rotor,
and Bunnie were thrilled as were the rest of the freedom fighters.
Bunnie
was thrilled that she was getting back to normal and that her name
would
be recorded in history as the first cybernetic life form, and Rotor
and
Bookshire were thrilled because they would be known for perfecting
cybernetic
therapy. One day, Bunnie was relaxing
by the power ring pool
when
Sonic, who had been somewhat distant, approached her.
"Bunnie," he said "I have a
question."
"What is it," she asked.
"Do you blame me?"
"For what?"
"For not saving you in time."
"Well now what ever prompted an idea
like that," asked Bunnie "If
anything,
you saved me in the nick of time. If
you had been any longer,
the
process would have completed and I'd be a robotic slave in Robotnik's
work
force."
"Really?" asked Sonic.
"Really," confirmed Bunnie
"and hopefully, one day, we'll find a
way to
reverse this."
"Yes," said Sonic, turning to
gaze at the setting sun in the west.
"One day..."
THE END
