A/N: Something weird happened to the chapter so I'm gonna try reposting it one more time. I think everything's okay now, but it was very weird o.o


Family.

The word repeated over and over in her head until finally, she was stirred awake. She stretches her arms and legs, surprised to feel a cold, soft bed. Her head pounded painfully so she turns her head to press against it, and takes her time opening her eyes. Her whole body felt heavy. She wanted to go back to sleep but found it difficult to ignore the soreness in her muscles from being in bed for so long.

As soon as the headache is gone, she opens her eyes. The room is brightly lit and surprisingly bare. No furniture except for the bed she lay on top of, though even that was plain: No pillows or sheets, just a smooth, thin mattress. No decorations, either. The walls and floor were all made of metal, and there weren't any windows or doors for that matter. She pushes herself up into a sitting position so she can lean against the wall behind her and get a better look. It felt like she was in a box.

The drowsiness she felt was also overwhelming.

Rubbing her eyes, she tries to put some effort into remembering what happened to her. There are some images, but they're all fuzzy and difficult to make out. She can remember people, but none of their faces were clear enough to remember who they were. There were loud noises. Screaming, maybe? Dark uniforms, and a sense of danger. Fear.

There was also a hand. A white-gloved hand. Then sadness.

That's all she could remember.

She sighs and runs her fingers through her hair. It's blonde and reaches down to her waist. Looking down, she notices the pale blue outfit she wore for the first time. It was a sleeveless dress that fell mid-thigh and made of a thin, rough fabric. Similar to a hospital gown, she thought. The comparison comes out of nowhere and sticks in her mind for a while. The next thing she notices was the most alarming of all, and probably the final thing to rouse her from her calm. A thick, metallic choker was covering her neck. She traces her fingers around the entirety of it, trying to find a way to remove it. She feels ridges and small bolts holding it together, but nothing to suggest it could be taken off.

Nothing was adding up. The strange room, clothes, and the fact that she couldn't seem to remember anything. Who were the people in uniforms? Where was she? Had she been brought here against her will? Did something happen to her? And who... who was she?

That last question made her heart go into overdrive. This wasn't good. She couldn't just sit here, waiting for whoever brought her here to finish the job. She couldn't curl up and go back to sleep. As she rushes to the edge of the bed and stands up, she feels a wave of dizziness hit her. She squeezes her eyes shut and grits her teeth as she waits for the vertigo to pass. Her legs felt a bit numb but she manages to walk toward the wall across from the bed with some effort. There had to be a way to get out of here. She couldn't have just magically appeared one day. As she tries to find any trace of an exit around the wall, another thought came to mind. What was on the other side? She didn't have anything to defend herself with, and who knew what or who was out there. She knew she wouldn't find the answers until she got out, but her body was suddenly still and her bare feet were glued to the floor. Her limbs felt heavy and she wanted to sit down.

Why did she want to go outside again? Wouldn't it be easier if she just went back to sleep? Maybe if she closed her eyes, she'd be able to remember the owner of the gloved hand. As she tries to think of who they could be, that strong sense of sadness hits her again. She latches onto it, refusing to let it go for the second time. She got the feeling someone was depending on her, and she couldn't let them down.

"I'll find you," she whispers. It was the first time she'd spoken anything aloud, and she found it strange. This is how I sound like?

As she dwells on her latest discovery, the wall in front of her suddenly splits apart. She nearly gets a heart attack as she takes a step back, shocked by both the appearance of the exit and the figure that came with it. A large robot with wheels for legs stood in front of her. The robot looked more like two boxes stacked on top of each other, except its face was a screen featuring large, half-lidded eyes, bright red lips, and a mole on the corner of its mouth. They wore a pink nurses uniform and matching nurses cap atop their head, where curls of orange hair fell around its face. The robot didn't pause for a second and rolled right into the room, forcing its inhabitant to awkwardly stumble out of its way. As she does so, she notices the door, which was actually the walls tucked into the sides of the room begin to slowly shut again.

The robot starts to say something in its electronic voice, but she isn't able to catch most of it as she grabs the edge of the door and pulls herself out. "-has awakened," the nursebot says. It stops in the center of the room and turns around. Arms slink out of secret compartments and it reaches toward the door.

She panics and covers her face with her arms in fright. There's a sound of metal crashing against metal and then silence. When nothing else happens, she lowers her arms and notices the door was still closed. There was no telling how long it would stay like that so she starts walking. As she rounds a corner, she stays there and tries to catch her breath. She looks back toward the door to her room several feet away just as it opens again and the same nursebot hurries out, arms waving above its head in a panic.

"Doctor! Must alert the doctor!" it cries, spinning several times as it swerves and heads in the opposite direction of her.

A doctor? Wouldn't that suggest she was in a hospital? But as she looked around, her surroundings suggested anything but. It was much darker outside than it had been in her room and everything was cast in an eerie blue light. As her eyes adjust and she looks around, she takes note of the colder temperature and rubs her arms. Everything was made of metal like it had been in the room, and the ceilings were so high she wondered if she were in a building at all. It felt more like a fortress.

She also didn't feel as tired as she did a few minutes ago. A bit unsteady maybe, but her muscles were finally loosening up and she was able to find her sea legs. If the nursebot went to tell the doctor about her escape, she had to stay on high alert. At least until she found a way out of here, and she couldn't do that until she found out where she was. There weren't any signs to help her navigate around. The doors to her room had been more distinguishable from the outside than they'd been inside, but as far as she could see, her room was the only one present in the current area. Nothing adorned the walls and there weren't any windows in sight. The place felt totally empty.

Good. She wasn't going to let this opportunity pass her by.

She hears a faint buzzing sound up ahead, so she quickly straightens up and walks quickly in that direction. Her bare feet pound against the chill floor, and the sound echoes through the empty halls. There's a turn up ahead and she slows down to a stop as the room opens up to reveal a wide, open space. The path she was on became fenced in by a metal railing and turned into a long winding bridge that disappeared behind several towers of machinery. As she looked over the side of the railing, she could see other paths crisscrossing each other many levels below her. There was no end in sight for the titanic machines either, just a dark abyss. Large lights along the walls provided visibility, and for a moment, she wondered if she was in some sort of factory. She caught movement above her and watched as a crane arm flew past her while carrying a big bulk of a machine. As she follows it, she notices what looks like a window along the wall, but all she can see outside is a dark sky and stars. She felt compelled to stop and stare, but she keeps going. What was this place? It was enormous.

She walks for several more minutes, head turning to and fro as she tries to soak it all in.

After a while, she enters a different section of the building. The path she was on looked like it circled around a bottomless pit. Curious, she walked closer to get a better look, discovering a lone platform in the middle of it several feet away, and with no noticeable way of getting to it. Looks like she's reached a dead end. As she runs her hands along the railing and continues to move, she notices the light fixtures she'd seen until now were gone, and instead, replaced by a huge glass dome that dominated the ceiling overhead. Her jaw drops as she registers what it is she's looking at.

The moon, but not all of it. Not even half of it took up the view. Was it supposed to be so close? Its surface glowed so brightly that it filled the room with moonlight. The craters were well defined and more detailed than they should've been. At least, she had a feeling they weren't supposed to be so clear. Were they floating around the moon that very second?

Her grip on the railing tightened as her legs began to shake, and she forced herself to look away. Trying to make heads or tails of it was making her sick to her stomach. As she tried to find her bearings, she was suddenly struck by the feeling of being watched.

"I knew it! Everybody look! Someone's here!"

She jumps at the high-pitched voice and feels her heart nearly burst out of her chest. Her eyes quickly flicker behind her until they stop on an animal. Several, actually. All of which were huddled together behind a barred door. And they were standing.

"Hey, you! Get us out of here!" a bunny demanded.

"Help us!" shouted a bear.

"Stop! You can't trust her!" growled a fox.

Soon, everybody in the cell was joining in and began to pound their fists against the bars. Some of them cried and begged for help, while others glared and shouted obscenities at her, threatening her for no good reason at all. There were so many of them, and she felt herself backing away in shock and nearly fall over the railing in her haste to get away. Their screaming becomes more desperate and she lets out a horrified cry as her legs give out from under her. In her panic, she twists her body in the opposite direction and begins to crawl away. Her breathing was becoming shallow, and there was no stopping the trembling that rattled her body. In a confined space like this, their voices seemed to bounce off the walls from every direction, giving her the impression she was surrounded. She just needed to get away.

Over the harsh screams and tearful pleas, she hears a male voice reach her ears as she manages to get further away from the group.

"Hey! What's going on? Are you guys alright!?"

She doesn't know how far she gets until she slams head-first into something solid, and she slumps to the floor reflexively to cradle her head.

"Whoa! Are you okay? That sounded like it hurt."

Tears form in the corners of her eyes as she sits up and rubs her hand against her throbbing forehead. "It did...!"

"Hmm. Let me see if you got a bump. Move your hand."

Cringing at the pain that still lingered there, she did as she was told and removed her hand. Sniffing back tears, she opens her watery eyes to see who she was speaking to, and was met by a snout and shiny round nose as he presses his face between the bars to try and get a closer look. He was like the others, except the majority of his body was covered in blue fur and what looked like sharp quills on the back of his head. His socks were tucked into bright red sneakers, and the only other clothing to join them were two matching white gloves. Her eyes lingered there for a few seconds, as she's reminded of the gloved hands from her own memories- or what little of them remained. If it weren't for the glowing blue handcuffs strapped to his wrists and ankles coming into view, she probably wouldn't have been able to snap out of it.

"Nope. You're good," he announces cheerfully. "Which is lucky, cuz I don't think I've ever seen anyone crawl as fast as you did. And that's saying a lot considering I'm the fastest thing on two legs." His tone wasn't unpleasantly hostile or scary at all. In fact, he sounded pretty friendly and calm despite the circumstances he appeared to be in. It didn't hurt that he wasn't screaming at her, either. His green eyes met her own as she continued to assess this new individual, and when he aimed her a curved smile, she couldn't help but relax. "I'm guessing you're the cause of all the commotion?"

"I... yes," she confesses, her voice quivering without her permission. Speaking to somebody else still felt bizarre to her, especially after not having come across another soul (robot or otherwise) in so long. She looks over her shoulder then, taking a cautious peek toward the group that had been in an uproar a few minutes ago. Some of them were still watching her like a hawk, while others were now whispering quietly amongst their selves.

Following her gaze, he lowers his voice. "Hey, try not to take it to heart, okay? We don't really get a lot of visitors down here, so they tend to go a little overboard. They're good people, though, I promise."

At his words, the stiffness in her shoulders disappears and she responds with a smile. "O-okay."

"Ack! Where are my manners? I've been stuck in this place for so long I guess even I'm getting rusty in the greeting department." He extends one of his cuffed hands as far as he can through the bars and grins. "My name's Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog. And you are?"

She's caught off guard for a moment but immediately returns the gesture. "It... It's nice to meet you," she says. His hand was larger than her own, but also gentle and surprisingly warm. Again, she finds herself absorbed in her memories and wondering about the owner of those gloved hands. Had they also been a hedgehog? Something close to it? Now, as she held Sonic's hand in her own, the images seemed to blend more seamlessly then they had before. Her brows knit in frustration as she tries to shoo away the gathering fog, but her mind wasn't having any of it, and she was left in the dark.

The concerned tone of Sonic's voice brought her back to reality. "Uh, you okay?"

Sonic couldn't have expected that to be such a loaded question. Her hand slips out of his grasp then and falls on top of her lap. She stares at it, wishing more than anything for someone she couldn't remember to be holding it instead. "I... I don't think so. I can't remember who I am."


A/N: I have a bunch of family coming over tomorrow to ring in the new year, so I really wanted to get this posted before then. That, and I just really wanted to get Sonic into the picture asap xD Don't think I haven't forgotten about him getting tortured, either. Since they never show anything in the game, I'm just gonna write my own spin on things. Also, notice how I didn't ignore the other prisoners? Cuz the game sure did. This won't be the last time we see them. Thank you to everyone who faved, followed, and left a review! It makes me really happy and motivates me to keep going. I hope you all have a Happy New Year! See you in 2018~