It was going to be a long, long night at the work bench for Miles Prower. His personal aircraft, the Tornado, was in serious need of repair and upgrade, but these things didn't happen quickly. Much to the chagrin of his partner, Sonic the Hedgehog.
But the sun was going down now, and it was becoming more and more clear that the work would quickly become an all-nighter if he wanted to meet his personal deadline. So, before dedicating himself to it, he decided the first step was preparing a little something to eat. That was simple enough; thanks to all the times Sonic came to visit, he always kept the means of preparing chili dogs in the pantry. Two of them sat on a plate before him now.
The fox's mind buzzed with thought, trying to calculate time projections and equipment requirements, potential improvements and retractions from his design. His head was so busy, he almost didn't notice that one of the small beans on his chili dog was staring back at him.
"Working hard, or hardly working?"
The bean greeted him, and his ears twitched. "O-Oh. You know how it is." Tails answered reflexively, a bit too shocked by the creature to think of a proper response. It certainly looked like a bean, but...it also a face, ears and a tail, similar to his own.
And then it spoke again. "Did you know? Most genetic mutations take the form of cancer."
...Tails' face went pale, and he set the chili dog back down on the plate, suddenly not very hungry. "I guess I should get to work..."