Chapter 1: Anomalous Materials
Date: May 5th, 3213.
Location: Black Mesa, New Mexico.
Time: 8:32 AM
Miles "Tails" Prower groped for his alarm clock, knocking it off his bedside table as it's ringing became more insistent.
He growled, slowly rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, then scooped up his alarm clock.
As he blinked away his fuzzy vision, the time came into focus. His went wide, and he leapt to his feet. "Crap!"
He scrambled through his dorm, slipping on his khaki pants and pulling on his brown boots.
He raced over to his closet, grabbed a long sleeved baby-blue shirt and a red striped tie, and slammed it shut.
He finished dressing in record time, only stopping to grab a frozen waffle and his lab coat on the way out.
"Mornin', Prower." A graying bear waved at him from the dining area, a cup of coffee in her other hand. Tails rushed over to the coffee machine,
pausing only for a moment as it dispensed the caffeinated beverage. "Morning, Beru."
He shoved the frozen waffle into the dark liquid, and chugged. Tails shook himself as he finished his cup and he tossed it into a nearby trash can. "Sorry, I'm running late!" Tails made a mad dash from the dorms, slipping over and under colleagues as he passed through the halls,
and ground to a halt at the Rail System station platform. He took a deep breath, taking a moment to wipe the sweat from his brow,
then leaned against the safety railing. He glanced back at the terminal monitors, next tram wasn't due for another six minutes.
Tails sighed, turning his back towards the rails, and stared up at the expanse above him for a moment. As his eyes wandered,
he was lost in the same awe that captured him a year ago. Black Mesa was a Masterpiece of modern architecture,
with it's sprawling railways, and it's position situated in a valley somewhere in New Mexico;
combined with the secretive nature of the facility, all painted it with an amazing sense of wonder and excitement.
Laboratories, Dormitories, Security Sectors, Recreational Sectors, parking decks and lots, even two or three visitor centers.
Tails' mother had visited him once, after his move, his father had made multiple visits; all of them military inspections.
Tail's rolled his eyes, and stepped towards one of three empty benches.
He scooped up a copy of The Black Mesa Times as he sat down, scanning the front page news.
"Experimental virus being transported from private facility on Fairfield, Pennsylvania." Tails frowned, scanned the article-
which held no information on said virus-
and sighed. "Doesn't affect us..." He snickered as his eyes went to a article on the bottom,
Aperture Labs made front page again. "Oh, they actually got their AI working this time?"
He shoved the paper aside, pulling his smart phone from his pocket. He swiped through his social media app,
scrolling through pictures of family and coworkers, stopping only when the tram pulled up. He checked the time,
let out a sigh, shoved his phone into his pockets and stepped onto the tram.
As the tram settled back onto the rails, Tails thought back to the days before. War had torn the Earth apart,
Eggman eventually was faced with defeat, so; he claimed reformation. There were times that Tails couldn't doubt Dr. Robotnik's sincerity,
especially when it came to technologically advancing both the human race, and Mobians alike. Sally and Sonic had been quite suspicious of him,
for good reason, when he had begun to go by the name Ovi Kintobor, but Tails had been excited. A chance for peace,
to learn more about how reality worked, it brought his childhood self a feeling of exhilaration. And so,
years later, Black Mesa had become a thriving scientific community. Housing humans, Mobians, and new Alien life as well.
One example; a man who had become one of Tails' mentors, and one of his best friends: Lucas Oak.
Lucas was from a race of plant-like humanoids, called Seedarians, or Thorndigans depending on who you asked.
Tails smiled as he plopped down on one of the cushioned seats, his train of thought continuing as the PA system crackled to life.
"Good morning, and welcome to the Black Mesa Transit System.
This automated train is provided for the security and convenience of The Black Mesa Research Facility personnel.
The time is eight-forty seven A.M. Current topside temperature is ninety-three degrees,
with an estimated high of one hundred and five. The Black Mesa compound is maintained at a pleasant sixty-eight degrees at all times…"
Tails easily tuned out the obnoxious report, his eyes quickly drawn to a security station just down the line.
He snickered, his 'brother'; Sonic The Hedgehog, seemed to be just as late for work as he was.
He stood at the door to his station, pounding on the Security door, then glanced back at Tails.
Tails waved, making sure his chuckling was visible, continuing to laugh as Sonic rolled his eyes.
His tram rounded the corner, taking him out of sight. His laughter faded, and the PA system wormed it's way into his ears again.
"This train is inbound, from: Level 3 Dormitories. To: Sector C test labs, and control facilities.
If your intended destination is a high security area beyond Sector C, you will need to return to the Central Transit hub in: Area 9."
Tails smiled softly, remembering his last security trip beyond Sector C. Rotor the Walrus required his help on a mechanical project,
but it was what had introduced him to Lucas. The two had gotten to know each other, and next time they met;
Tails was being invited to dinner. He ran a hand through his hair, his eyes going to a flickering light above him, and let out a sigh.
"Have we really known each other that long? It's only been about a year or two..." He shook himself, grimacing as his train halted.
He felt slightly sick as he gazed down at the pool of radioactive waste that was currently flooding the room,
but his sickness was suddenly overshadowed by a flood of fear. He whipped his head around,
his blue eyes falling onto a pale human in a suit.
The tram holding this mysterious man with a brief case sat on the line just opposite of the Sector C rail,
it held one other scientist at the moment; Ovi. The man in the suit sat across from Ovi, the two of them were conversing,
but the other human had met Tails' gaze. Tails attention was wrenched away as his tram shuddered back into action.
He leaned down, gazing in horror at the burst in the material container,
two of his gopher coworkers were frantically attempting to stem the flow. One of them pounded on a maintenance door, screaming in fear.
Tail's worry grew as his tram rounded the last corner and pulled into the Sector C station.
"Now arriving at Sector C Test Labs and Control Facilities." Tails sighed, his nerves frazzled, and got to his feet.
'Half an hour late, time to play chew toy.' "Please stand back from the automated door and wait for the security officer to verify your identity.
Before exiting the train, be sure to check your area for personal belongings. Thank you, and have a very safe and productive day."
A female badger grinned as she stepped towards the tram, she chuckled to herself as she entered her pass-code.
"Mornin', Prower. Looks like you're running late." She stepped away from the tram as the door slid open,
giving Tails enough space to step through the door and onto the catwalk.
"To think, Mom wanted me waste my money sleeping through college courses, when now I'm getting paid to sleep out here!"
She laughed and Tails rolled his eyes. The two made their way towards the large airlock door, slowing as the badger glanced over her shoulder.
"You know, Sonic's been pretty scarce around these parts." She smirked. "Guess his bar tab must've caught up with him."
She stopped by the large doors and entered her access code into a security panel.
The gears on them whirred and giant bars retracted as the doors opened.
"Put some pep in that step, Prower. You're late enough as it is." Tails stepped into the airlock, the doors slid shut with a loud clang.
As the decontamination spray activated, Tails glanced into the security office. A rather bored looking white wolf eyed him, letting out a huff.
"Aw, man! You cut the ponytail!" He whined. "Alright, Prower. You know the drill. Just give me a second..."
He input a few commands onto the security terminal, and the decontamination spray ended. Two laser scanners ran over his body,
then beeped in confirmation. "Be sure to stop by the front desk, heard Rotor was looking for you."
As the doors slid open and Tails stepped through, the guard gave him a parting remark. "Say Hi to Doctor Mongoose for me."
Tails' ears went red, the remark felt rather scathing in that moment. Shaking himself, He stepped forward to the front desk.
"Hey, Mister Prower." Sitting at the desk was a dark brown hedgehog, running a hand through his quills.
"I had a bunch of messages for ya, but we had a system crash about twenty minutes ago and I'm still trying to find my files."
He sighed, slumped in his chair, and began rubbing his temples.
"System crashes, Terminal failures, it's a wonder this place hasn't gone up in flames yet."
He sighed, cast a glance at Tails, and returned his attention to his monitor.
"They were having some problems down in the test chamber too, I think that's all straightened out though.
They said for you to head right on down as soon as you got into your hazard suit." Tails shuffled in place,
shoving his hands into his lab coat pockets.
"Guess I'm not fired, then." Tails muttered with a grin. The hedgehog turned towards him,
his name clicking into Miles' mind like his name tag clicked into his field of view. "I don't suppose, you wanna trade jobs?"
Tails chuckled, turning around, and made his way towards the locker rooms. "Not a chance, Murtagh."
"What? But I already made plans!" Tails slowed his steps, shamelessly eavesdropping on some of his older colleagues.
"Don't worry, you can always attend next years convention." Tails grimaced, a red duck sat down with a look of disappointment,
while a pompous looking rat stalked away. He slipped out of the hallway and into the server room.
Standing at the security console was a shaggy dog, who smirked at the navy colored cat behind him.
"Oh, would you look at that!" The canine guard, Digby, grinned. "Prower actually DID show up for work this morning."
The navy colored feline twitched, glaring down at Digby. "Looks like SOMEBODY owes me lunch." The feline scientist, Rover,
smiled halfheartedly at Tails. "Good morning, Miles." A pink simian scientist, named Elise, snorted out a laugh as she walked past.
Rover hissed at her in turn, anger at the loss of a bet. "Shut up!" Digby leaned back in his seat and lazily eyed the security monitors.
"Yep, Yep. There's a pepperoni pizza in my future." Rover stepped towards a server, gently shoving Tails out of the way.
"Yes... Hope you choke on it." Digby's grin widened, Tails couldn't tell if he had heard Rover's passive-aggressive mumbling or not.
"Gonna get me one of those Jumbo size Rutta Grape sodas. Hu, hu, hu." Rover rolled his eyes. "Hu, hu, hu."
Digby leaned back even further, then stretched. His eyes shining with mischief. "Man, I'm working up a mean hunger just thinking about it."
Rover snorted, eyeing the canine. "Finally, you're thinking of something." Digby rubbed his stomach, licking his lips. "Mmm-mmm! What a Rutta!"
Rover glared over at Elise. "Who creates these stupid drinks, anyway?" Tails rolled his eyes,
before giving Digby a gentle punch on the shoulder. "Hold off on that pizza, I'll treat you to a pie after." Digby shrugged him off.
"Sorry, Prower. But I don't think my stomach can wait." He grinned at Rover,
who chucked a soda can at him. Tails plucked it from the air, and stepped out of the server room.
As he dropped it in the trash can, a sense of Déjà vu overwhelmed him. Standing in the conference room, talking to one of the lead scientists;
was a pale human in a blue suit. As he turned to meet Tails' gaze, the Déjà vu was replaced with fear. 'How? How did he...
His tram was heading to Egg- I mean, Ovi's office!' The lead, a blue baboon, scowled at Miles.
He quickly stepped towards the door, and closed the blinds. Tails' breathing became irregular, was he just being paranoid?
He set off at a quick walk towards the break room, startling it's two occupants. "Woah, mornin' champ."
A fruit bat, whose name tag read; Roger, leaned against the vending machine,
nursing a cup of coffee. "Another day, another dollar." He sighed, casting a glance at the other occupant; a blonde squirrel.
"These double shifts are staring to get to me..." She stared at him, taking a bite of her waffle as he continued.
He took a swig of his coffee, and let out a sigh. "I'm at the point to where I have to drink a cup of coffee just to get to sleep at night."
Tails stepped past him, frowning slightly. "Don't be developing insomnia on us, we're not exactly keen on the idea of becoming Security personnel."
Roger chuckled, watching as Tails stopped in front of the microwave. Sitting inside was a casserole, no one had come to claim it, so Tails decided
to reheat it. As the ancient technology warmed up, Tails quickly grew impatient. He pulled a remote from his back pocket, aimed it at the microwave, and
cranked up it's power. Suddenly, the casserole exploded, showering the microwave with it's contents. "Good heavens!" The squirrel jumped.
"What the hell!?" Roger stepped forwards, examining the microwave. He chuckled, his ears twitching. "Think you can fix the vending machine too, college boy?"
Tails frowned. The female squirrel sighed. "We will never hear the end of this." Roger chuckled. "You kidding? He'll be fit to be tied!" Tails' eyes widened.
"Cuz, that was... You-know-who's lunch." The guard eyed Tails, then sighed. "Don't worry, I'll cover for you." Tails nodded. "Thanks." The fruit-bat smirked.
"But I don't think he's going to believe me." Tails' ears drooped, his day was just getting better by the minute. "You better make like a bread truck, and haul buns."
Tails slipped out of the locker room, hoping to avoid more embarrassment.
And it just kept coming. He stood at the locker room sink, debating whether or not he should strip out of his clothes before putting on his HEV suit,
thanks to the comments of an old nostril challenged weasel. "You're looking quite fit today, Prower." His ears burned as he scrubbed his hands thoroughly.
"Why do we all have to wear these ridiculous ties!?" He heard the weasel mutter. Tails shut off the water, his ears drawn to a frustrated sigh.
"Drat! No toilet paper..." He glanced back towards the stalls, only one was occupied. "Hello? Could someone get me some toilet paper?"
Tails reached above the sink, searching in the cabinets for a roll. He found one, sealed in plastic, and rolled it under the door. "Here you go."
The Mobian on the other side sighed in relief. "Oh, thank you. Stupid cleaning crew didn't bother to refill the dispenser."
Tails turned back towards the lockers, stepping inside and hanging up his lab coat. He paused, a picture had fallen out of his coat pocket.
He stooped down to pick it up, his angry frown slowly fading into a bittersweet smile. The photo was taken during New Years, the height of his dating career,
and his last week dating Mina. They worked in the same sector still, for the most part, but tended to avoid each other outside of occasional small talk.
He placed the photo face down on the shelf, and tugged off his tie. They were just too different, that was all. He tossed his tie onto a shelf,
scooped up a battery for his suit, and closed up his locker.
After he had made sure the coast was clear, Tails had stripped down to the nude, and quickly climbed into his hazard suit.
The first model they had given him had required an extra layer of clothing, which was no longer required for Mobians.
And it had a few features that most either forgot, or attempted to forget. The suit opened up, wrapping itself around him; needles puncturing points of his arms,
legs, and neck. He grit his teeth and blinked repeatedly as the HEV OS booted up. As his suit continued it's boot-up sequence; he stepped out of the capsule,
picked up his spare battery and plugged it into the suit. His Heads-Up-Display popped up in the bottom left and right sides of his field of vision,
an extra 10% had been added onto his electrical armor system. "Ah, I remember the my days in the Hazardous Environment suit."
The creepy weasel eyed Tails, his look disturbing. He rubbed his neck sheepishly. "Of course, at the time it was Mark III." He turned his head away,
a small smile on his face. "Mind you, the base color wasn't so... Loud." He turned his head back and examined the neck of the suit.
"And the helmet wasn't optional. Or ventilated!" He chuckled. "There wasn't an integrated waste disposal system, either. You should count your lucky stars!"
And good Chaos and Lord above, there it was, what Tails had wanted to forget. The Weasel seemed to remember something, and hurriedly ran to his locker.
"Well, I suppose you'll have to be getting back to it. Good Luck, Prower!" Tails set out at a quick jog, swinging his tails in a circular motion,
hoping to catch some air. It had been a few weeks since the last test, so he was ready to hop back to it.
As he jogged down the halls, very few of the scientists acknowledged him, he wasn't mad though. He watched as some ran back and forth, in panicked motions,
while others paced nervously. He slowed to a halt at the next checkpoint, nodding at the porcupine guard.
The guard, tagged as Victor, grinned. "Hey, Tails. Mighty and I are gonna round some guys up tonight for a poker game, you in?" Tails sighed, then shook his head.
"Sorry, I can't. I've got some paperwork I've got to catch up on." Vick sighed, rolling his eyes.
"Oh, Yeah. Ever since Miss hard-ass broke up with you, you've been buried in paperwork." He shook his head, smirking.
"And to top it all off, looks like you're in the barrel today." Tails raised an eyebrow, an incredulous look on his face. "Knock em' dead, Prower."
Tails' expression fell, and he let out a tired sigh. "Gee, thanks. See you." Tails followed the right side of the rounded corridor,
his eyes roaming over the rotating posters lining the walls. One of a team of scientists huddled around a loader droid, "Working as a team!" it said.
"When it comes to protecting science, this guy's on your side." Said the next one, which was a picture of the Mobian flag, with a security guard standing before it.
Tails snickered, eyeing the red echidna on the poster. He rounded the corner and tapped the down button, the doors opened,
he stepped onto the elevator and began it's descent.
Tails broke into a short sprint, following the the laser conductors down the hallway and past the next security checkpoint without incident,
except for the security bear shooting one remark at him. "It's been a mess down there this morning. Have fun."
Tails took a deep breath as he stopped outside of the control room, clenching his hands into fists then relaxing them, before stepping into the control room.
"Nice of you to join us, Doctor." A beige cat mumbled at him. Tails smiled as Rotor The Walrus shuffled into view, a smile on his face.
"Good morning, Miles. We've just sent the sample down to the test chamber." A blue jay with a pair of glasses stepped forward,
reading procedural mumbo-jumbo off of a clipboard. "We've boosted the Anti-mass spectrometer to 110%. Bit of a gamble, but we needed the extra resolution."
Rotor adjusted his tie, nodding in agreement. "The administrator is very concerned that we get a conclusive analysis of today's sample.
I gather he went to some length to get it." The cat hissed slightly as he eyed Tails. "They're waiting for you, Prower. In the test chamberrrr."
Rotor grinned, then clapped Tails on the shoulder. "Right, I'll be walking him down." The cat rolled his eyes, turning his attention back to his console.
Tails waited patiently as Rotor used the retinal scanner, then followed him through the now open door.
"Lucas has been a bit busy this morning, making adjustments for the test." Tails nodded, following the walrus down the hallway.
"I expect as much from him, especially with this 'gamble' we've got going." Rotor nodded in agreement. "Lucas?"
The purple Thorndigan pulled his head out from an open panel in the wall, smiling at Rotor. "Mornin' Rotor."
Rotor stepped forward and gave Lucas a friendly hug. Lucas quickly took notice of Tails, and his smile widened. "Miles! Good morning."
Tails nodded, then gave Lucas a quick hug. "Morning, Lucas." As the two separated, Lucas turned to Rotor; His expression grave.
"I'm glad you're here, Rotor. These last minute changes, They're a bit strange to just-"
The panel Lucas had been working on suddenly exploded in a shower of shrapnel and sparks, forcing the three scientists to the floor.
Lucas quickly got to his feet and began pulling wires and flipping switches. "It's about to go critical!" Rotor slowly got to his feet,
a worried look on his face. "What in the name of Chaos is wrong with our equipment, today?!" Lucas sighed, turning to face his friend.
"It was never meant to do this in the first place." Lucas let out a ragged breath, frowning at his friends.
"Looks like I'll have to cancel lunch with Hertia and Cosmo..." Rotor stepped forward, eyeing the machinery. "Anything I can do?" Tails piped up, smiling hopefully.
Lucas glanced at Rotor and shrugged, so Rotor pushed Tails towards the elevator. "No need to worry about us, Miles. Lucas and I have everything under control."
Lucas sighed, his expression betraying just how tired he was. "I don't know if I'd call this under control, Rotor." Rotor laughed.
"We'll be laughing about this later, Lucas. While relaxing with your wife and daughter, sipping champagne and resting our tired laurels!"
Lucas smiled slightly, rolling his eyes. "Oh, Brother." Tails chuckled as Rotor pushed him into the elevator.
Tails stopped outside the test chamber, then cleared his throat. A beaver sat at the desk, he looked up with a grin on his face.
"Oh, there you are Hombre. Everyone's been looking for you." He pushed a few buttons and the two security doors opened.
Tails took the first dreaded step into the outer test chamber. A pepper black fox and a graying goose waited inside,
ready to debrief him before granting him access to the inner test chamber. "Ah, here he is." The goose spoke, the fox almost jumped as he rotated.
He stepped forward nervously, twiddling his thumbs. "I'm afraid we'll be deviating from standard analysis procedures today, Miles." The goose stepped in,
attempting to reassure the two. "Yes, Yes. But with good reason. This is a rare opportunity for us. This is the purest sample we've seen yet."
The fox snorted. "And potentially, the most unstable." The goose gesticulated like a parent trying to calm a child.
"Now, now. As long as we follow standard insertion procedures, everything will be fine."
The fox began to panic, throwing his hands in the air. "How can you say that? The possibility of a Resonance Cascade may be extremely unlikely, but-"
The goose glowered at the fox. "Miles doesn't need to hear all this. He is a highly trained professional." Tails frowned,
the two were treating him as if he weren't important to the procedure. "And we've assured the administrator that NOTHING WILL GO WRONG."
The goose said, putting special emphasis on his last four words as if forcing them onto the fox would make him accept whatever consequences came later.
The fox sighed in defeat, then turned to Tails. "You're right... Miles, we have complete confidence in you."
The two of them seemed to nod in agreement, Tails frowned at this manufactured response, and watched as they moved to their respective retinal scanners.
"Well, go ahead. Let's let him in now." The metal doors opened, and Tails stepped into the darkened orange, black, and silver colored room.
A large spectrometer loomed over a resonator built into the floor, Tails almost immediately forgot the strange attitudes of his superiors,
and slipped into a comfortable routine. He ran across the room as the control room microphone flared to life. "Testing... Testing?"
The speaker cleared his throat. "Everything seems to be in order." Tails quickly mounted a nearby ladder and climbed up to his catwalk,
stepping toward his control panel with a smile. "All right, Miles. Your suit should keep you comfortable through all this.
The specimen should be delivered in a moment or two. If you could climb up and start the rotors; we can bring the Anti-Mass spectrometer to 80%,
and hold it there until the carrier arrives." Tails recognized the voices as the rat and the blue jay from earlier.
He entered his pass-code and began setting up his station. As he finished his little tweaks, he turned to the microphone on his panel.
"I'm ready up here. Starting up the AMS..." He flipped open the bright red security box and flipped on the AMS power supply. "...Now."
The machine hissed to life, three emitters curled up under the spectrometer and began to rotate.
Tails took readings and reached for the emitters, Suddenly his controls went dead. "Don't worry, Miles. We can handle it from here."
Tails frowned. 'Standard insertion. Yeah, right.' "Power to stage one emitters in... 3... 2... 1..."
The emitters flared to life, firing one large particle beam into the center receiver.
Even with the nature of the current experiment, Tails couldn't help but grin as the energy collided.
"I'm seeing predictable phase arrays..." Tails ran back towards the ladder, sliding down in a matter of seconds. "Stage 2 emitters, activating... Now."
Three smaller beams shot from the emitters, meeting the large beam in the center. "Overhead capacitors to oh-one-five percent."
Tails raised an eyebrow, his mind going to safety procedures that states the capacitors shouldn't go over one percent.
"It's probably not a problem... Probably. But I'm showing a small discrepancy in-" Tails glanced up at the control room, watching as the blue jay studied his
console. "Well, no. It's well within acceptable bounds again. Sustaining sequence."
A small alarm rang from the chute beside him, Tails cast a glance as the cage around the sample was pulled into the floor.
"It appears the sample is ready, Miles. It should be up in a few moments." Riding the elevator was an orange cart with a bright yellow opaque crystal.
Tails gawked at the crystal, which was larger and more translucent than any previous sample. He was snapped out of his ogling by the blue jay.
"Standard insertion, for a non-standard specimen. Go ahead, Miles. Slot the carrier into the analysis port."
Tails looked down at his HUD, his Geiger counter wasn't clicking, so how dangerous could the sample be? Why the extra resolution?
He shook himself and took a tight hold on the handle bars. He slowly pushed the cart forwards, watching as the emitter crackled with energy.
The cart slotted into place, the particle beams connected with the crystal, and all hell broke loose. Tails was violently thrown back by an explosion of energy.
He smashed his head against the metallic wall, blood beginning to ooze from a head wound. He shook his head, his vision blurring.
Sparks of green electricity appeared in his vision, alarms blasted in his ears. Tails reached out with a hand, groaning as pain wracked his body.
He heard the scientists above scream, a beam of energy lancing out and destroying the observation window.
One of the beams blasted him, and everything went dark.