[explain rib]
[– – –]
→→→•2•←←←
Access the Workshop
Instead of character 'A' appearing in the timeline, character 'B' took its place.
His gloved hand streaks red ink across the file name Dr Namgge. The stationery is dropped top page one-hundred and eighty-one of the printed lists. He rests his legs on the desk and situates arms behind the head before releasing a sigh. Outside the workshop the sky cascaded to darker shades of a gloomy nature, instigating the sandy coastline and periodic waves jostling it to conglomerate uniform in colour.
The bottom corner of the monitor displayed heaps of data taking hold the rest of the screen in the form of ones and zeros, causing the time display to be hidden when it struck 11:10. The fox reiterated yet another piece of knowledge captured in his connected Miles Electric.
"Eggman's favourite food is scrambled eggs"—he paused—"of course."
These files reeked uselessness. Tonnes more needed to be read by hand. He experienced an analogous situation before with Eggman's data stolen, and fabricated an algorithm to do the work for him. The next morning his hard drive became wiped, and a Graphics Interchange Format of the fat man laughing appeared on every single device display.
He refused to allow the mistake twice. Manual labour be damned.
Manipulating his twin tails he jolts a command to open the next file. Orbot's voice echoes inside the garage walls spouting another report on expenses, this time a strontium shortfall.
Tails' right ear diverts to the ceiling, the other falls to the metal desk, his head turned to the side. He reaches into the drawer, hauls forth another journal and lets a slap emit upon its drop. Ink flow becomes restored, tuning in the words said.
The robot voice distorts, slurring the word 'kilogram', and finished with static. The fox did not bother to adjust his head, and added the corrupted file to the growing pile. He readied his tails to play the next audio recording.
Without his input the static ceased and Orbot continued, this time he listed the benefits if the boss retired from world conquest. The fox surrendered a chuckle.
File.
Understand.
Cursive.
Keep.
This repetitive cycle continued until Tails succumbed to the dark influence of sleep deprivation. His body slumped atop the table, the arm of his stuck in mid-stroke of writing, while the combat proficiency profile of A. Rose occupied the computer monitor. The Miles Electric took space beside the journal.
The snapshot revealed a ditzy-faced hedgehog leaning on the edge of her Piko-Piko Hammer, visible cleavage amplified.
Whoosh.
A new set of gloved hands gained control of the keyboard. The being paused to read the profile, then exited the program. Their words per minute reached the double digits in securing an outsourced connection. A prominent letter 'G' arose on screen with the subheading 'Satellite Station' below. Minutes later the connection severed, and A. Rose's kinky image returned.
Other than the occasional rise and fall of chest fur the kid did not stir. The intruder's task ticked completed, but they could not stop themselves marveling at the technology on the workshop's shelves. Gloved hands grasped at any device at an attempt to understand their functions.
Whoosh. Tails' ear twitched at the noise.
The web camera implanted in the monitor cover booted and swivelled its bifocals to the recent fled intruder, then to the sleeping pup. A. Rose minimized again, with it emerged a pixelated image of Eggman on the computer desktop, icon-sized.
Alongside the data Tails stole a Trojan-Horse computer virus.
The fox's face stuck to a moist surface.
Daylight seeped into the workshop highlighting various contraptions. No doubt he would remain asleep if he had not overheard suppressed voices. He whirled his face upright, knocking himself over the chair. The provocative display on screen loaded from standby, a groan heard in sequence.
"No, we haven't found any massive robots yet. The type Sonic, battled yesterday is long gone, as with the doctor. Guardian Unit of Nations will repurpose this base into a new Chemical Plant Zone for the denizens."
The closest official to the Commander she could request an interview with, and even she could not get the whole body.
The banana-yellow cat continued. "Quick comment. How'd you get employed to the organisation? Few years back you supported a theory of the blue blur being a machine. Care to tell our viewers how a once biochemist turned homeless, now holds the title head scientist?"
A generic Japanese man outfitted in a white lab coat and circular spectacles erected visible on the variant Beetle. The monitor slapped in front of the robot, G.U.N. Hunter arms bolted adjunct to the sides. His pace in jouncing the Beetle diminished.
He veered a pincer at her, failing to commit the action partway. His monitor flickered into General Towers.
"NARASU, THE ENGINEErs need help supporting the underground labrinyTH, ITS ABOUT TO GIVE WAY."
The static screen exited, leaving the unimportant Japanese man to reappear.
"RIGHT AWay, sir. I'm needed someplace else, sorry, Ms. Honey." He pats on the cat's ponytails, bobbling his previous trend to the complex.
G.U.N. secured the area last night. An armed helicopter surveyed the perimeter, and dump trucks were accepting destroyed Egg-pawn loads transported by Hunter Mechs. The man-made lake produced in the aftermath of Sonic's battle with Eggman exhibited quarantine status through police tape, labelled a sinkhole.
The red skirted reporter ran after the floating television, microphone in arsenal, and pig-cameraman jogging behind.
"Wait. I sTILL HA _ _ FIVE MINUTES—"
The remote disintegrated in his hands.
Living on a floating island yields several advantages, at present though the disadvantages outweighed the former. The parts were swept underneath the couch. As far as Knuckles' concern the television's power ceased.
He whizzed to the doorway of Tails' exterior workshop, the fox's yawning face and held tablet blocking the entrance. Knuckles spoke first, lunging at him.
"Did-you-discover-anything-new-yet?"
Knuckles shoved Tails into the kitchen, the farthest area to the living room. Tails' response hit rejection when dumped on a chair near the table.
"You-look-awful—I'll make a smoothie. Here, munch on these." A bowl of grapes slid beyond the tabletop to Tails. Knuckles threw a variety of fruits in a blender, chopping the finer ingredients with his namesakes.
Tails muffled a response. "If this is about the deal with G.U.N.." He continued munching on the grapes.
The echidna's forceful jabs on the fruit grew in haste, his face hidden. Minutes later they were drinking smoothies, bendy straws included.
"Where'd he go?" Knuckles said, in a bid to rid his mind of that contract.
Tails hummed the answer. "Said he wanted to go back. Thought he saw something." He placed his Miles Electric on the countertop.
On contact it buzzed an alert causing smoothie spillage in the slurping position. The powerful vibrations tossed away the bowl of grapes over the table, the device itself going on its pursuit. Knuckles clasped the fruit while Tails plunged for the tablet, their drinks spilled.
"An emerald detection?" He smeared a glove crosswise the smoothie-soaked screen.
One green dot represented the stone, the user in the centre. From the predicted line it pointed to their residence, travelling at Mach speed.
Tails rushed to the front door, Knuckles tagging along.
A wave of sand covered them when departing outside. The trespasser flipped the emerald in hand, rubbing the bridge of his nose to the pair. Rapid shaking released the sand embedded in their fur, discovering their intruder.
Tails hovered closer. "You found it at the old labyrinth?" he said.
Sonic's eyes widened. "No. I ran back for this."
He yanked a couple of dust covered sneakers resembling his own, tossing it at Tails. They were identical to the one he wore except the maker logo, sporting the Eggman design ingrained in the soles.
Sonic coined the term 'Slow-Down Boots'. Caught in his home unguarded these shoes limited his speed to walking pace, and he progressed through a multi-level labyrinth to permit the shoes' removal. No one knew Eggman's reasoning in not eliminating the blue pest, but the hedgehog always used this anecdote as proof of the doctor's non-immoral nature, much to the disapproval of his friends.
"Where'd you get the emerald then?" Knuckles said, walking past the porch.
Sonic mumbled when handing the piece to Knuckles, having glanced behind him. A shallow path from his running infused in the sand parallel to the tide barrier. Halfway completing a facepalm he grabbed their arms.
"I'll show you."
He dragged them to his speed along the trail. The yellow stone and footwear abandoned to the sand.
The being leaves the room to discard the evidence.
Whoosh.
He blinked, and then again. Although the tinted glasses covering the eyes did not give any indication.
His head deviates to avoid the blank ceiling, scrutinising the door of the med bay. A med bay housing one occupant confined to a metal table.
A medical room better described the location.
The legs were free to traverse, and a handcuff clamped his left wrist. A large lever connected to the side of the table. After a few attempts he landed a hit with his heel. The single cuff clicked.
Padding his person revealed tucked gadgets confiscated.
Ransacking the various cupboards lining the walls gave view of nothing save generic medical devices, taking a serrated scalpel for precaution. He did note the strongest secured housing, an computerised mini-safe, contained numerous [BZD] stamped containers. One of the syringes lying around contained a minuscule amount of the pink substance at the tip.
The exit door, the lone non-hacked electronic in the room, became unlocked by him.
He twists the handle.
Whoosh. The door becomes opened.
[…]
Whoosh. The door becomes closed.
[…]
He blinked, and then again. Although the tinted glasses covering the eyes could not give any indication.
"Awake now?"
Sonic poised beside the reflective table.
Silence. The captive jerked his strength on the bulged lever, but bounded legs denied him his freedom.
"There's cameras in this room you know." A gloved index finger pointed to a dome capsule with lenses at the ceiling.
"You were injured when I found you beside the tide."
"What happened to my arm?"
"Tails patched it for you. You're welcome."
"I can't move it."
Sonic gave a sheepish grin. "Yeah... human anatomy isn't one of his strong suits. At least he didn't give it the axe."
To the hedgehog's surprise the man gave a suppressed laugh. "I don't suppose you're going to let me go? You do own me from before."
Sonic popped a word.
"Nope."
Eggman conveyed beyond the door into, the kitchen? An acute curve and downward ramp led them to the workshop. The owner hovered near the top window sill maintaining a potted plant, Cosmo bipinnatus, with an overflow of water.
Sunlight concentrating on his orange fur caused his pelt to shimmer. He fell to the swivel chair beneath ushering Sonic to maneuver the stretcher beside his computer.
While Tails placed a helmet over Eggman's head, Sonic announced his need for a mid-day chili-dog snack at the metropolis.
Whoosh.
Tails began wielding cables linked to the helmet into the Miles Electric, which in turn connected to the monitor rear. The doctor's head rested at arm's length where Tails sat. He handed Knuckles a sheet of paper.
Knuckles settled next to the patient and glimpsed at the set of questions given to him.
"How were you able to integrate chaos control to the Egg-mobile?"
Tails answered, "His gambit failed at supercharging an emerald."
"Did you shoot yourself in the arm?"
Miles answered, "Metal Sonic malfunctioned and shot him."
"Why sunbathe at the beach?"
Prower answered, "He doesn't remember... " His tri-cowlick inched to the results shown, eyes narrowed.
A growl escaped from the patient. "Stop this invasion of privacy."
The fox disregarded the rotund and integrated the emerald Sonic found to the Miles Electric. His brow furrowed, the brain signal distorted on the monitor despite the emerald's strength. The more he attacked the keyboard, the more erratic the sinusoidal wave pattern developed.
Knuckles added another question. "What're you hiding?" His large fist intimidated the doctor.
At attempting to undo the restraints the man's free arm limped past the table side.
"The entire Echidna Race."
This earned Eggman a one-on-one stare showdown, his repaired arm brushing the side of the echidna's leg. It would be awhile before a being capitulated had it been not for the extreme voltage coursing through the helmet.
An involuntary outburst of agony shocked Tails from his intense focus on the haphazard sine function he battled to control.
Tails twisted to Knuckles. "Shut the power."
He appeared at the panel when the command came. "Which one do I press?"
Tails did a full one-eighty-degree twirl on the swivel chair and banged its back end against the computer desk. Its kinetic force travelled through the wooden frame and ascended to the window sill. The plant teetered wide, sloshing the liquid contents over the pot.
Visible current appearing outside the helmet's enclosure reacted to the spilled water, arching in random directions.
Tails, who headed for Knuckles, failed to complete his walk cycle. A stray current-bolt had dived at him.
Knuckles struck the fuse box with his fists, multiple times. He watched friend and foe jolt airborne, the electricity aiding in their movements. The residual power dissipated a split-second later, and Tails flopped head first to the ground.
Knuckles ran to aid but a blue streak intercepted him.
"Don't touch. Let the electricity flow dissipate into the ground."
The echidna stepped back and surrendered the area to Sonic. Behind the brothers Knuckles saw visible vapour radiating from the unconscious Eggman. The hedgehog sat on his knees verbalising encouragement to awaken the fox.
A steady rhythm of bangs originated from the main floor.
The red one began to make a comment to the group, but decided to check the commotion himself. Opening the front entrance revealed General Towers, arms behind back. Along with him: Hunters, Beetles, R7s, and footman enveloped the beachfront.
And standing next to him concealed a refurbished Metal Sonic.
"Get me Miles Prower."
Although the Beetle levitating before the generic Japanese man stated the Mustache's death no wreckage or body graced the scuba team.
"Why didn't you check back on his last known position when excessive amounts of chaos energy were detected?"
The robot's optical lens displayed a response in holographic text projected outward.
"Objective to retrieve the Mustache failed. Increased chaos energy detection irrelevant. Completing next objective, illuminating the excavation site."
"He could be warped anywhere by now"—Narasu paused, then tapped his foot— "and firing into the ocean as an attempt to retrieve the Mustache?"
The bot circled behind him, and increased the font size.
"ATTEMPTED ALTERNATE OBJECTIVE."
With a suppressed sigh the unimportant Japanese man waved his hand to the general direction of the exit. He settled in his seat once the bot disappeared and turned towards his workstation, rolling to the location.
As lead scientist of the powerful organization Dr. Kai Narasu had a feeling of pride being the best in the Mechatronics field. Artificial intelligence, however, not even he could replicate it to true sentient behaviour. Building a robot to process procedures demanded little effort, but ask said robot for an opinion and you might as well be conversing to the reflection their chromed metal advertises.
Blue lighting engulfed the laboratory. On the table cluttered an abundant of alloy parts and circuits, several items exhibiting scorch marks. It took a good deal of convincing Towers to save these tandem robots from being converted into scrap metal, their A.I. components were much too valuable to go to waste. The success of his project yesterday helped persuade the decision.
He scribbled a note to rid the decals covering the motherboards. The white gloves the scientist wore prevented any unwanted static from shocking the delicate hardware.
These bots avoided vaporisation during the blast. A startling discovery, since he designed the incendiary grenades to be foolproof. Another Post-it note scribbles to existence.
A wall of text implants itself on his workstation, a Beetle being the emitter. The scientist scowls at the presented words.
"Artificial Ring Synthesisation Report: 'Subjects gained weight when touched.'"
Expect failures when experimenting on innovative technology. The line below it made him irate.
"Chaos Drives Available for Tests: 0 item(s)."
The CD stockpile being depleted means a loss of cheap power sources for G.U.N. robotics, among other ramifications. He did not expect using that trump card so early on.
Narasu acknowledges the Beetle. "Tell the Grenadier Division the task has been greenlit."
Say goodbye to the Master Emerald.
Author's Note:
Again, for the readers who possess short attention spans. The first phrase surrounded by "[" "]" in each chapter contains an anagram.
Chapter 1's anagram contains two words. First word is eight characters, starts with 'p', and ends in 'm'. Second word is six characters, starts with 's', and ends in 'e'. Attempt to solve it before moving on to the next Chapter.
Solving them might cause more questions than answers though.
Heh…
Also, Dr. Kai Narasu is not a fan character. He is an official character from one of the many spin-off Sonic series.