02: Eggman
The room is small. The room is square. A painting hangs behind the doctor's desk. "Doctor, did you just get that?"
Sonic turns to look at the painting. "Oh, that? Yes."
Eggman, sitting straight on the burgundy couch, stares at the picture. "It reminds me of something."
Sonic gives the mad scientist a curious look. "What does it remind you of?"
Eggman smiles devilishly and leans forward. His long fingers form a steeple in front of his face, which a shadow soon falls across. "World domination." His shades catch a ray of light and shimmer dangerously.
Sonic pushes his own glasses further up his snout. "Interesting. Would you mind explaining why?"
"Not at all." Resuming his straight posture, Eggman's hands fall into his lap. "The barren landscape begs to be mastered. The blazing colors scream to be tamed. And the wooden frame, the glossy wooden frame, demands to be conquered."
One of Sonic's arms rest on an armrest, the other on his desk. His fingers lay centimeters away from his pen, but do not grasp it. His eyes stare at the mad scientist, but do not comprehend him. "Intriguing," he says. "Eggman?"
"Yes?"
Sonic takes a moment to mull over how to phrase the question he wants to ask. "When," he begins slowly, "you look at that picture, what do you see? And I don't mean see as in what the image makes you feel, but see as in what your eyes discern."
Eggman looks at the picture. His gaze sweeps the painting from top to bottom. "I see…" He stares harder. "I see…" He looks from the painting to Sonic and then back again. "I see Sonic."
Sonic nods. He glances over his shoulder at his portrait and then looks back at Eggman. "And Sonic reminds you of world domination?"
Eggman laughs. "Of course not!"
Sonic nods. He picks up his pen and writes a single word on the latest page of Eggman's growing file. "Peculiar."