"Oh, let me get that for you."

Beside me were Miles's office and the Fox himself. Behind was the exit, and before me was the lion's den- or should I say, the lion cub's den. But a lion could do a whole lot worse to the average mobian than a Cat could, and I was far from an average mobian - especially in this situation - so I was not particularly worried.

Miles swiped a keycard into the slot by the door; there was a slight click as it unlocked. As I pushed the door open slightly, I looked over my shoulder at Miles, who hadn't gone back into his office yet. I was met by the creepiest smile I had ever seen on man or beast. His nervous movements had completely ceased, and he held his shoulders at an almost predatory angle. Sensing a threat, I almost attacked him on reflex.

"Yes?" I asked through gritted teeth. He had no right to smirk at me like that.

The grin dropped off his face, and his nervous movements resumed. "Oh, sorry. I'll go back to my office now…."

Something was still off. I narrowed my gaze, searching his face. Something was wrong with his eyes… they were dull, the pupils tinted red like an albino's. He darted back into his office and slammed the door shut.

I shook my head and pushed the heavy door completely open. The white tile followed me through the threshold of a bright, square room with intense white walls. Even more intense was a loud buzzing in my head, not caused by the florescent lights above my head. I recognized it as the same buzz, though not as strong, that I had gotten back at Lucas- the sound was almost a feeling, and it spread to my fingers and toes, making them numb.

Still gripping the syringe in my hand, I crossed the room, letting the door shut behind me. There were only two spots of grey in the entire space: some sort of gravel-filled box sunken into the corner of the room, and a small grey striped Cat lying peacefully on a white mat on the floor, her hands tightly clasped and resting on her stomach. Making a slow circle around her, I debated how I should do this. Sit her upright? Pick her up? The buzzing was making it hard to think. I took a breath and rolled her onto her stomach, her tail flopping lifelessly as her body turned.

Just like that, the buzzing was gone.

Breathing slowly with relief, I grabbed the loose skin below her feathery gray hair. Biting the cap off the syringe, I slid the needle up through the hollow created by the pull of her pelt, parallel to the spine, and pushed down the plunger as instructed. Satisfied that the tube was empty, I pulled it out and recapped it. As I did so, I saw that my gloves were blood red again.

I turned to the wall that separated this room form Miles' office, and was met with my own determined expression. The window that I had seen in the other room must have actually been a two-way mirror.

"Kitsune," I demanded, holding up my hand, "What is this?"

Click. "What is what?" Click.

Miles' voice came out of a speaker in the ceiling, obviously controlled by the pressing of a button, like some intercom systems.

"My glove keeps getting colored by something. Do you have any theories on what that something is?"

Click. "You feeling okay? Your glove is white… is it not supposed to be?" Click.

I stared at the mirror in stony silence. After a few moments, a small compartment opened up on the wall by the two-way mirror.

Click. "O-kay then, just stick 'em in there with the syringe and I'll take a look at 'em later." Click.

I crossed the room, stripping off my gloves, and stuck the three items in the angled metal bin, which was probably designed to be open in the other room when it appeared to be closed on the other side. As the compartment clanged shut, I heard a dull thump behind me. I whirled around, readying myself to do whatever needed to be done.

Click."Ah, she's awake." Click.

Awake she was. Desdemona was already standing on two feet, tail bushed, claws out, ears back, and hissing. Her pale grey eyes, heavily outlined with black, were narrowed at the mirror and, indirectly, at me.

"What should I be doing now, exactly?" I asked, much relieved. Despite her attempts to be "scary," I was unimpressed. If she was truly psychotic, she would have attacked immediately.

Before Miles could reply, she dropped her stance, posture completely relaxed, and flicked her tail disinterestedly. Without another sound, she meandered to one of the walls and stroked it with both hands. As I watched, she lifted an exceptionally small hand off the smooth white surface and began to draw a line around the room with one finger.

Click."Just thought I'd point out a little somethin' here-" Miles said suddenly, "-if you would be so kind as to look at her feet for me, you'll notice the arch of her foot has elongated considerably, and the bones higher up her leg have been shortened… we aren't really sure why this is yet, but the structure is reminiscent of all feline species from before the First Day of Fury, when Earth ended and life on Mobius began anew." Click.

Prompted by his rather flashy dialogue, I looked at her feet for one moment but quickly looked away. She was walking on her toes, forced to take slow, deliberate steps to avoid falling over. Her instinct seemed to be telling her to walk upright, but her body refused to cooperate. She held her over-long, almost Raccoon-like tail several inches above the floor to help keep balance, but it was rather sad to watch, like a bird with broken wings. It definitely had that Uncanny Valley effect.

Once she got to the mirror, she lifted her hand and studied the fixture closely, her eyes tracking some sort of movement beyond it. After a moment, unexpectedly, she waved. Moving on, she continued to feel her line until she reached the point at which she began. Then she plopped down on the floor in front of the wall and stared.

Click."Welp, that was weird… I don't know what she's looking at now, maybe one of the cameras – I don't doubt that her eyesight is that good - but when I noticed she could see me through the glass I waved, and she waved back-ack-ack… hey Shadow… can you do something for me?" Not waiting for an answer he said, "Wave your hand like you're throwing a baseball or something." Click.

A bit suspicious about his request, I drew my hand to my chest and swiped it out in an arc with minimum force.

"WHOA!"

A blazing red fireball came out of nowhere, blackening the two-way mirror and licking three out of the four walls, strangely leaving me and the Cat completely unharmed. After a minute of snarling obscenities at the Fox for asking me to do whatever-I-had-just-done, I choked out, "What was THAT?!"

Click."I'm not- ARRG!"

K-SHHHT SHHRT!

Miles let out a yell and the intercom shorted out. After a few seconds of static, a piercing whine drilled through my skull. I instinctively pressed my ears against my head. "Miles! What's going on?!"

Either he couldn't hear me or wasn't able to answer. I hastened to the door and was forced to uncover one ear in order to look for some way to force my way out. There was a button by the door, but if it was that easy, Desdemona could escape at any time… but intelligent people have been known to overlook such things, so I took a chance and smashed my finger into the button. I saw a small light flash- it was a finger-print scanner, got it.

After a click I dug my fingers into the doorframe, since the designer didn't have quite enough insight to include a door handle. I glanced over my shoulder, ears pinned to my head in pain, to make sure the Kitten stayed put. She hadn't made any sign that she could sense that anything was going on.

I thought getting into the Kitsune's office would be the most difficult part, next to keeping myself from bashing his skull in for the unexpected fireball. To my surprise both his office and the exit door were wide open, half-wrenched off their hinges.

"Fox-boy?" I asked cautiously, peering through the small foyer. I let the door to Desdemona's room shut behind me.

The small, cramped office was dimmer than it had been a few minutes ago; the blackened mirror prevented the usual amount of light from getting in, so I couldn't see into the shadows until my eyes adjusted to the darkness. Several papers were still drifting to the ground like snow. There was a dark figure sprawled out on the floor; I could make out the white stripes on a sleeveless t-shirt…

"Mmmn… my 'ead…" a voice muttered, rising slowly from the ground.

"What happened in here?" I asked from the doorway.

Miles screamed like a small female, slipped on several sheets of paper, and landed on his twin tails. "What- What are- Why-?!"

"What am I doing here?" I asked, a bit taken aback.

"Yes - oh, OH! The kid! That's right! I'm sorry, I'll get you all set up, I'm sorry, but ow, my head…" He picked himself back up off the floor and scrambled for the small refrigerator. Even though he was saying a lot at once, his tone was professionally apologetic instead of intensely nervous.

When he pulled out two small purple bottles, I said, "What're you doing? I've done that already!"

Miles turned back to me, confused. "What do ya mean, 'I've done that already?'"

He seemed to realize something the moment I noticed something myself.

"Oh! How could I have forgotten-!"

"Did you not use to have a tattoo?"

There was a moment of silence.

"Come again?" Miles said politely, since we had spoken at the same time.

"Your neck. Did you not use to have a tattoo?" Where the shape of a diamond used to be was nothing but smooth yellow fur.

The Fox laughed and rubbed his neck, as if genuinely amused. "A tattoo? Ain't nobody got time fo' that! You must've hit your head as well…"

He had a bit of a point… why would he get a tattoo? For a mobian, that would mean getting a specific patch of fur lasered off several times, getting the skin inked, and then regularly having the surrounding fur trimmed. It seemed like a lot of work for a simple diamond.

I frowned at him, crossing my arms. "What do you remember?"

Miles shrugged. "Well I remember everything now, I just had a little memory lapse is all." I lowered my head at him, and he hastily added, "I was sitting here, talking to ya, and a muscle in my neck started twitching and I think I hit my head on the control panel."

"So you didn't see anyone? These doors are dented badly…"

The Fox smiled helplessly and he shrugged. My eyes narrowed as I stared into his. Strange… when I had looked at his eyes earlier, they were dull and the pupils looked red, but now they looked as ordinary as ever… "It looks like whatever just happened wrecked a lot of the observation equipment, so, ah, that's all we can do for today."

I stared at him blankly. "But I've hardly arrived."

"Well, my hands are tied. We just can't move on. But I mean, it's almost sunset, you can take a look around Cadmium City, get acquainted, find a place to stay." He opened a drawer and pulled out a stapled packet of papers. "I have some paperwork for you, if you wanna get a head start…?"

Groaning inwardly, I took his offering and a pen from a jar. I hate paperwork. "Why not."

"Excellent!" Miles said, clasping his hands together excitedly. "See ya tomorrow, partner!"

To play off my involuntary eye roll, I looked through the darkened window one last time. Desdemona had not moved still. This could potentially be a very boring, paperwork-heavy assignment. "'Til then."

Cadmium City is a feast for the senses.

From the highway, the lights bleed into the black sky like smoke, blotting out the stars while snarling cars glow red and gold in a state of perpetual gridlock - an indication that Downtown Cadmium is a mostly an Overlander-inhabited place. Only they would be stupid enough to simultaneously pollute the air while stuck in traffic every day.

On the last bend of the road, the city rises up from the trees, skyscrapers like jagged shards of obsidian, reflecting all the light surrounding them tenfold as they shine their own boxy lights and flashing advertisements. Once I had skated to the first skyscraper within the city limits, a strange feeling urged me to deactivate my ancient hover skates. Sightseeing isn't something I often do. Slowing down to walk at the speed of the growing number of pedestrians next to the endless bottleneck of sleek, oily sports cars and grimy yellow taxi cabs, which honked perpetually as if causing a racket would result in progress, I made my way into the shadows of the doorways, not wanting to be spotted in the crowd or to seem suspicious by sliding around the puddles of light created by streetlights.

Another feeling urged me to turn my face to the heavens. So few people look up anymore… Many of the skyscrapers were topped with lightning rods, which were illuminated by floodlights stationed on the rooftops. In the apex of the sky you could see the ghostly shape of the full moon. In addition to the smoldering glow of the passing taillights and upcoming headlights reflecting wetly on the face of every window, all of the skyscrapers were outlined with their own cheerful streams of ropy neon lights. Colorful billboards hung in every available space, advertising everything from toothpaste to the next Forget-Me-Knots concert.

The best thing about Cadmium City was the air. Strangely enough, I have never been bothered by the smells of city life: gasoline and unwashed bodies, the breeze laced with a subtle whiff of expensive perfume and cigar smoke. It was the heat that made me most uncomfortable; I was born in the cold darkness of space, after all. But the air here was surprisingly cool, with the slightest hint of autumn rain.

Walking at the level of spiral-domed casinos and jewelry stores is not something I often find myself doing. I preferred to run through traffic, jump rooftops, or ride something loud and fast. This was a rare perspective. I had made a mental note to, in addition to buying new gloves, look into purchasing a new motorbike, but the state of perpetual traffic jam made the idea less appealing. Additionally, most citizens do not enjoy when I ride my vehicles over their cars. After years of self-denial, I have made it a habit to save such things for emergencies.

Taking one last look at the boisterous roar of city traffic, I ducked my head and took an abrupt turn down a dark alley between two high-rise apartments. It was actually a miracle no one had recognized me yet. The last thing I needed was for another city to duck-and-cover in fear of another alien attack. Such false alarms happen periodically.

I climbed a fire escape, darting past illuminated windows and trying not to listen too hard to the conversations within. At the final landing I jumped up onto the railing and hoisted myself onto the flat-topped roof. There was not much up there except for boxes and air conditioning units. I crunched across the gravel to the far edge overlooking the heart of the city, perching with my feet off the side. It was a beautiful place for something as distasteful as paperwork.

I took out the papers that the Fox had given me along with the ballpoint pen. Maybe I would ask him one day if he had figured out how we mobians could put away or take out objects from nowhere. Clicking the pen and pressing the paper against my leg, I skimmed the questions. They were mostly about my understanding of Chaos Energy and my current relationship with it. Those were the questions I was not sure why they wanted to know. The rest were about what I knew about the Demon Project – which was not much – and what had happened at Lucas Industries. I sighed and began to write.

"Oh! You're here!"

I fixed Miles with a steady look as he stood eagerly from his chair. "Were you not expecting me?"

"Yes! I mean, no!"

I drew my ears back and folded my arms. Miles casually slid in front of Desdemona's door and asked, "So, how was downtown Cadmium?

"Quiet, for all of its noise." And interesting too; after the paperwork I had toured the whole city until sunrise. I tilted my head threateningly. "What are you hiding?"

"Hiding?" Miles said, blue eyes widening. "What do you mean?"

"You're blocking the door, Fox."

It was actually quite obvious. Miles grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, you got me, but get this - the Kitty talks!"

"Earth-shattering. Let me pass, please." I made another move towards the door. Miles moved to block me. Ancients help him if I had to remove him by force…

The boy didn't seem to hear me. "Yeah, she never seems to shut up, actually-"

"Nor do you!" I snapped, forcing the paperwork into his hands. Miles flattened his ears against his head and swiped his card in the lock. I shot him a glare as I opened the door and he shuffled back to his desk.

"I was under the impression that 'tomorrow' meant 'dawn,'" a high, cold voice said. An understandable assumption, I suppose. Though there were no windows in there, so how one could tell the time of day from inside was a mystery. I turned to see a silver-grey cat with pale red eyes glaring up at me from only a step away.

"You have grown," I said, surprised, shutting the door behind me.

Indeed she had. Desdemona had grown a foot at least, and her ill-fitting white scrubs showed it. Her fur and cowlick of hair on her head had lightened too - stripes and all - and of course her now reddish eyes... that was the most unnerving of all... And you know, it's strange, but I suddenly remembered how much I hate children...

Click. "Check out the feet," Miles said over the probably-newly-repaired intercom, "Strange, huh?"

I stared at the maybe eight or nine-year-old's feet. They were completely normal, if a bit disproportionally small, and she was standing like the typical mobian. She looked at them doubtfully and said, "My feet are perfectly normal, thank you very much."

Miles snickered over the intercom, "Isn't she the cutest?" Click.

I sighed at his inappropriate comment. She had done nothing to merit "cuteness". Her head snapped up and she hissed, "I am not 'cute,' machafu mwana wa nguruwe!"

"What language is she speaking?" I asked. Something about her was making my skin crawl. My quills itched with unfounded annoyance. I could tell I would not enjoy this experience.

Click. Giggling; "I haven't got the slightest idea." Click.

"What are you called?" Desdemona asked me. It sounded less like a question and more like a demand, like a police officer making an arrest. I still did not understand the "cuteness" and thought that perhaps the Fox's mind had gone soft.

I crossed my arms over my chest. "Shadow. Shadow the Hedgehog."

"Humph," she muttered, "I do not like it. It does not suit you."

I dropped my arms to my sides with surprise. I usually get the opposite reaction, where the speaker politely tells me it's a delightfully suitable name, even though every dunce that's ever walked in the sunlight knows that shadows are neither red nor white.

"Though a rude statement, I understand your opinion," I said through a heavy brow.

Her wide, black-rimmed red eyes glanced at me for a moment, then she curiously said, "And what am I called?"

"You are called Desdemona," I said helpfully.

"Kubwa mtoaji wa machafuko!" she exclaimed, which was not exactly the reaction I was looking for. "That is a lot of name for such a small person!"

"It's not so bad," I frowned, consoling her before she could throw a fit over not liking her name.

"Bah! You would not know!" she huffed, sitting down hard and wrapping her excessively thick tail around her body. "I am not four syllables tall. I am two, at the most. Four is just ridiculous."

Nonsense. Utter nonsense. This must be a new form of torture. Commander Tower is a cruel, cruel man.

Click. "Hey, Shadow, I think she wants a nickname." Click.

"Not so," Desdemona cut in. "I already possess this 'nicked-name'. I am called Dem."

Click. "Oh hey, Shadow, Desdemona… Dem…sorry to interrupt, but we have some tests we have to go to, remember?" Click.

Ah yes, I remembered something about testing being scheduled today. Which brought up the question: "How do you propose we transport this…Dem? You said yesterday that we had to wake her up so we could flush the sedatives out of her system. So we cannot re-sedate her…"

Miles was silent for a good thirty seconds. "I'm not sure, actually."Click.

I groaned inwardly at the genius's stupidity. "You did not think this over very well, Fox-boy."

"As I pointed out earlier," Dem interjected, "My feet are fine. I am perfectly capable of transporting myself."

Click. "Sorry, kid," Miles stated plainly, "We don't trust ya."Click.

The cat looked crestfallen. "I may not be a child, but I am trustworthy."

"You mean you are a child-" I corrected patiently.

"I am not!" Dem interrupted, wide-eyed.

"-Are a child, but dangerous still. Not even four days ago you hospitalized several full-grown men." I finished firmly.

Dem sighed and said, "I do not remember any men…" Before I could think of something to say about this, she added, "But I amvery dangerous." Her eyes lighted on mine. "I am the Ultimate Lifeform, after all."

I groaned inwardly. I may not survive this assignment. "No, you are not. I am the Ultimate Lifeform!"

She cocked her head to the side. "You are called 'The Ultimate Lifeform'? That name is worse than your last! And you must survive. He is coming."

Mind reading was on a whole other level of "not okay." The damned thing was leeching my thoughts somehow. I could feel my pelt begin to heat up, vision starting to glow slightly red. One flaw I will admit to is reacting with anger when faced with any strong or unfamiliar emotion. Right now, I didn't know what I was feeling. She wasn't making any sense! She just claimed she was the ultimate lifeform, but then- I- she-

It was so… so… frustrating! Unpredictable to the point that I could no longer follow her thoughts fast enough to counter them. I heard, once, that it is ill-advised to argue with the insane, for you will soon forget who the sane one is. And there is no way to argue logic with illogic.

Click. "Uh, Shadow? The lab just sent a shock collar. I think if we-"

I grabbed Dem's wrist, yanked her off the floor, and dragged her to the exit. I had had enough of this nonsense. She seemed too surprised to struggle. "Don't need it."

"But if she gets away-"

I glared at the young Cat. Her black-lipped mouth was hanging open in confusion as she glared back. A small but growing part of me wanted to smack the look right off.

"She won't."

I do not wish to describe in much detail the walk to the medical wing. Every few seconds she would begin to chatter nonsense until I tugged her arm sharply.

When she first saw Miles, she said "You are not blue," completely dumbfounded. She seemed to be thinking hard after that, and continually tried to drift closer to me, making me trip. "I am Dem," she whispered at one point, as if reminding herself.

Once we finally reached the wing, Professor Reed practically sprinted over to us.

"Miles! What were you thinking?" he whispered sharply, trying not to draw the other scientists' attention to the fact that the little monster could escape at any moment.

I deliberately let go of her wrist. She made a small noise and tried to grab my hand back. I nearly jumped out of my skin from the sudden contact, but disguised it by forcefully folding my arms. "Calm down. She's all talk. If you're calm, I trust she will remain harmless."

Reed called over an orderly, who nervously approached from behind and put his hand on her shoulder. She immediately began to run but the Mink orderly was quick and grabbed her around the middle and hoisted her into the air. She squirmed, yowling, and kicked him in the stomach. Winded, the Mink let her go and she flew at the unsuspecting Miles. I finally got a good look at her claws as they sank deep into his chest. They were black and long enough to pass for steak knives. I grimaced in spite of myself as Miles cried out and I wrestled her off of him.

"Calm down," I hissed. I think I was finally doing my job. She went limp in my arms almost immediately, hiding her face and shivering. I did not feel the slightest ounce of sympathy. I growled to Reed, "Where first?"

The Mink was helping Miles off the floor, who look as if he may cry. He was clutching his chest, which was seeping blood through his clothes. The others in the room were pretending not to notice anything that was happening in our corner. Reed's composure was impressive. He swallowed hard, and then cordially said, "There."

I sat the Cat on an exam table covered by sterile paper. She stared at the telescoping light overhead. Reed got a thermometer and its plastic sleeve out of a drawer and asked her to open her mouth for him. She did so immediately, which I believe surprised everyone. I did not know where to look, so I watched the Mink get bandages out of the cupboards, presumably for the Fox.

"Mr. Hedgehog, is it alright if we take a scan of you too?" Reed asked without looking at me. I grunted. The thermometer beeped and he took it out of her mouth to examine it.

"Jeremy just wants you to be proud of him."

We both turned our heads to stare at Desdemona, who was looking at the professor sadly. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to ask a question, but a Rabbit nurse appeared by his side and asked, "How's her temperature today?"

Shaking himself, the Otter said, "Lower than yesterday. Dramatically lower."

He took a small flashlight out of his lab coat and shined it briefly in both of Dem's eyes. "Her eyes seem healthy. Are we ready for those scans?"

The Rabbit nurse smiled and held out a hand to the Cat, who looked at it blankly. After a pregnant pause, she daintily placed her small paw in the nurse's hand and allowed her to help her off of the exam table. They began to make their way over to a large white machine in an adjoining partitioned section of the room, so Reed and I followed. The other mobians gave us all wide berth as we passed.

As they reached the table in front of the circular opening of the machine, Dem grew visibly distressed, beginning to pull away.

"It's alright hun," the Rabbit said. "It won't hurt a bit."

"What is this thing?" I asked Reed quietly.

Reed seemed a bit proud. "It's a CIM – Chaos Imaging Machine. We've been working on it for years and years. We've been able to learn a lot about mobian anatomy and how Chaos Control works. It's quick and very effective, though it doesn't work well for Overlanders. Though we haven't tested it on humans, we doubt it'll work at all for them. No Chaos Potential, y'know."

I had a few questions I wanted to ask, but I had a duty to help their current research. "I could be scanned first, if that would be alright. Show its harmlessness?"

"Of course!" Reed said enthusiastically. I got the impression that he had hoped I would volunteer. After all, I am the most adept mobian at Chaos Control.

The nurse had been listening, and instructed how I should lay. "The machine tracks the movement of Chaos Energy, which can travel through every aspect of your being, as a mobian. This scan will only be measuring brain activity."

I sat on the CIM and stared the Cat down until she met my eyes. "Watch me."

As soon as I laid down the machine began to hum and pull me in. The ceiling slid away and was replaced by the grayed interior and a square screen. I realized that I could sense a Chaos Emerald very close nearby. It gave me a strange comfort, but I was also a bit disturbed by the fact that I had not sensed it earlier. After a couple moments of restfully clearing my mind, the screen lit up and displayed the INSTAR logo. Random images and sounds began to play, which I assumed were meant to cause a reaction within my mind.

A field. Laughter. An empty street. The ocean. Screaming. Fire. Sky divers. A badger family eating dinner. Gazelle children crying. Jazz music. A couple slow dancing. A man hanging from a noose. Popcorn popping.

Maria.

Her face startled me. I had only seen it in dreams for the past few years, and that was happening less frequently. Her blue eyes looked so profoundly sad that a lump formed in my throat. And then the image was gone, replaced by a Porcupine baby that gurgled happily as it was fed mush.

After a couple more minutes the INSTAR logo appeared again and the screen went dark. As soon as I reached the outside of the machine, I swiped a hand across my eyes and heaved upright. It felt like I had been sleeping deeply. Dem was waiting exactly where I had seen her last, with the Rabbit nurse. She grabbed my hand with both of her much smaller paws.

"Cut that out," I said crossly, pulling away. She stuck out her tongue and turned away, feigning indifference. I slid off the table and grabbed her under the arms, swinging her I came from. Once again, she made no effort to resist. "Your turn."

She pinned me with her pale eyes and sang, "Bright eyes, blue as skies, red as the morning sun doth rise. Bright eyes, golden, wise, lavender light as daylight dies. Bright eyes-"

The shock of hearing the song I would hear from the lips of Maria's nanny every time Maria was scared in the night paralyzed me for several lines. When I came to my senses, I hunched to her eye level and whispered, "Where did you hear that song, Dem?"

She stopped singing and glanced at Reed and the nurse, who were watching intensely. She turned her attention back to me and solemnly tapped my forehead.

"You heard it in my head?" Once again, I did not know how to feel. I felt… exposed. Violated, maybe.

But before I could say anything else, she took my face in her hands and placed a kiss on my temple, and whispered in my ear, "I am afraid of you. And for you. For us both. I am not their only test subject, Shadow the Hedgehog."

She laid down without another word, staring determinedly upwards.

"A word, Shadow?"

I glanced over my shoulder to see Miles. He had removed his shirt and was wearing his lab coat over his bandages instead. I gave a slight nod, then followed him across the room and hallway into another room. I could sense that he had something weighing on his mind. The room, which seemed to function as some sort of security center, had a desk with two chairs, two computers with keyboards, and a wall plastered with television screens. Military time counted off at the corner of every monitor. Strangely enough, the images all seemed to be of a familiar- and currently empty- white room.

Miles sat down in one of the chairs and patted the back of the one next to his, inviting me to sit. I remained standing.

As the Fox began rewinding the footage on the screens, he said, "I want to show you something we caught on the security cameras after I left last night. Something I think you should see."

I saw figures darting around in the well-lit room briefly, and then the lights in the room went black and green.

"Night vision cameras. Low quality imaging, but effective enough," Miles explained. The cameras stopped at 23:57:56:04. Desdemona was sitting down, facing the wall. Each screen showed a different view of the scene, but my eyes settled on the camera that she stared directly into her face, her retinas glowing white through her dilated pupils. "The sound is blown out from the incident yesterday, but you can still pretty much tell what's happening. Almost at the part…"

23:59:59:59

00:00:00:00

"There she goes!"

A sudden tremor ran through the then-infantile cat's body; her face twisted in what appeared to be a silent scream as her eyes rolled back in her head-

"I'm, uh, gonna fast-forward a little. It's kinda disturbing at the beginning."

The tape sped up and once it stopped, Desdemona was laying spread eagle on her back in the middle of the room, glowing an assortment of bright colors. They transitioned slowly at first, and then picked up speed, flashing through the rainbow. The cameras must have sensed the light and transferred over to normal. Inexplicably, red started taking the place of other colors until the overhead lights sensed the light as well and activated.

Still pulsing crimson, her body gave one mighty twist and, as her hair flowed briefly from her skull, her limbs seemed to shoot out and realign themselves to the figure I now knew as Dem.

The red flush immediately dissipated. The overhead lights followed suit.

We were silent.

"…So what happened?" I finally asked.

Miles smoothed his bangs back. "I hope we'll figure that out in a few minutes. As you may or may not know, INSTAR stands for 'Investigational Neuro-Sociological Testing and Research.' It started out specializing in neurosociology, but it's kind of evolved into a research lab for Chaos Energy. That's why we asked to take Sub Project Desdemona out of the G.U.N.'s hands- she's the first 'bio-weapon' we've had in decades. I think it's pretty clear Lucas Industries was trying to create a Chaos-based life form." The Kitsune glanced at me. "A copy-cat project, if you will."

"So what is she supposed to do, exactly?" I was starting to miss G.U.N.; I needed a straightforward mission involving as few other people as possible.

He shrugged - how helpful. "We don't know. We don't even know if she's an artificial lifeform or some kind of anomaly yet."

There was a rapid knock on the door.

"It's open!" Miles called over his shoulder.

An uncertain-looking weasel in a turtleneck and a lab coat poked his head through the doorway. "The, uh, results from the CIM scans are in."

"That was fast," I observed.

The Fox shrugged then stood, crossing to the door. I followed in suit. "We're right behind you."

The weasel passed the door to me. I followed the two back across the hall and into the examination room. I was greeted almost immediately by Dem, who forced her wrist into my palm. She still could not seem to realize that I would rather not be touched, but I let it slide, just this once. Maria's lullaby was still playing through my thoughts.

The weasel stopped by a door in the back I hadn't noticed at first. As I followed, the Otter, Professor Reed, stopped me at the doorway and said, "I need to discuss something with Dr. Prower in private first."

I nodded slowly and waited as the pair passed me and the door closed. The Weasel left with a curious look over his shoulder. I could feel Dem's eyes on me. As I turned my head, we made brief eye contact before she looked away. I could swear that as she did, she slowly mouthed "Maria".

I could hear the rise and fall of the conversation through the door. At one point, I very clearly heard Miles say, "It's awkward, professor! If I wanted awkward, I would've become a urologist!"

"You're his partner, Miles."

After a time the door was finally opened by Miles, who had a strange expression back on his face. Dem and I silently followed him in. The only things in the room were a gurney and a flat-screen TV. The walls were painted blue, for a change, instead of white. The Fox looked briefly at the professor, who nodded reassuringly.

"Chaos," Miles muttered, rubbing a hand down his face. "Let's start with Desdemona."

He fished a laser pointer out of his lab coat. The TV blinked on, showing a blue 3D model of a brain. As he moved his thumb around on the laser pointer, the image rotated. When he hit a button, the rotating stopped and a spastic green dot began to dance in the brain's center.

"This may look like a regular brain, and the structure of it is, but I've never seen a scan so… blue." He fumbled around with the pointer and another much redder image appeared next to the first. "This is Shadow's scan. This is closer how the brain of a Chaos user is supposed to look, but the way it's functioning is wonky. But I'll get to that in a bit.

"Do you see how Dem's scan is mostly blue, while yours is mostly red? We have this fancy machine that works great, but to be completely honest, we're not entirely sure how it works. When you scan any Chaos Emerald by itself, it shows up white. We currently have the cyan Chaos Emerald installed in the machine, so while most scans show up in colored energy that appears to occur inherently in mobians, they're all tinged with blue. We call these random colors, which react to Chaos Energy, Ancient Chaos or 'Archaos' Energy, because it's clearly been a part of each of us for generations. When a subject comes in contact with Chaos Energy, the Archaos within them directs it into the brain and back out again. This is how we're able to use Chaos Control – Chaos is power, power enriched by the heart, the heart is the controller, all of that.

"After Desdemona's test, we left the scanner running but shut off the cyan Emerald as much as we could." The first image changed into a much dimmer and lighter blue version of itself. "Archaos allows Chaos Energy into our beings, linking us to the Chaos Emeralds, which in turn connects us to the Chaos Force. We've deduced that she maintains her connection to the Chaos Force somehow without the use of the Emeralds, but her energy doesn't really… do anything. It just kind of swirls around until it can be transferred someone else.

"This first assumption one might make is that she's some sort of… living Chaos Emerald. But that's not quite it. Chaos Emeralds can combine their energy but they never mix or borrow. She's something like a Chaos…jar. The Chaos Force slowly drips energy into her, and it sloshes around, completely useless to her, until she has somewhere else to put it.

"So, in short, no one is going to use her as a battery anytime soon. But from what we've learned from your scans, Shadow, her energy is still potent stuff. Give that kid a Chaos Emerald, and who KNOWS what kind of power she could give someone." Miles pushed his fringe back, sighing. "We have to up security now, make sure no one gets their hands on her. We haven't had any villains try to take over the world lately, but those crazies are out there."

He shoved his hands into his pockets, communicating that that was all he wanted to say. Unfortunately, Professor Reed glared at him like he was purposely skipping something important. Miles gave him a pained look, but the Otter's expression did not change. The Fox doctor gritted his teeth and said, "And now for Shadow.

"You're currently running at one hundred percent, as far as Chaos Energy goes, and your powers have stabilized themselves somehow, despite your lack of inhibitors. We believe this is caused by the physical contact you've had with Dem. But that's not too important."

The green laser danced around the center of my own scan. "This section is the limbic system. We have blood tests and tissue samples from G.U.N.. We have this scan here. You…you… You're, like, three."

I tweaked an eyebrow at him. "Um, no, I don't really think so Fox-boy."

He pressed the pack of his hand to his forehead, looking at Reed pleadingly. "No, like, psychosexually. Your brain does everything it's supposed to, but it has zero interest in furthering your alien-Hedgehog race. We have theories and, well, there's nothing really wrong with you; in fact, Professor Robotnik probably madeyou this way on purpose."

I am quite sure my expression communicated my dumbfounded state perfectly. In fact, I believe my eye twitched. I looked down at Dem and said, "Does she need to be here for this?"

She looked at me and said, "I am exceedingly lost."

Miles shook his whole body. "I'm not going into any more detail than I have to. This is way more uncomfortable for me than it is for you, I promise." He looked at me resolutely. "Overlanders are xenophobes, Shadow. Professor Robotnik was a great man, but he was still a man. He was scared. He wanted his creation to be 'perfect.' 'Pure.' Not only was he trying to counteract a bit of Black Doom's evil in making you incapable of some emotions, but my guess is, he was afraid of leaving you alone with his granddaughter."

"…I would have never hurt her," I said quietly, already pushing everything I had heard into the "disregard" corner of my mind.

"And I'm not saying you would have," Miles said, waving his hands. "Quite the opposite, in fact. Romance between Overlanders and mobians isn't as rare as you'd think. But that doesn't make it popular, especially among Overlanders."

Not knowing what else to say, I studied the battered shine of my hover shoes.

"It's not something you have to worry about." I heard him say. "I didn't even think you needed to know, you don't strike me as a family man, but…it's your life and all."

I had never really considered having a family of my own. I had never been taken with anyone, which I suppose is because of my "innocence." If I ever did find a mate, I would outlive her. If I had children, suggesting my artificial form allows for procreation, I'd probably outlive them too. They would not understand the terrible things I have done. They would be ashamed to be my flesh and blood. And then I'd be alone again.

But I did not like having no choice.

"Thank you for telling me, I suppose," I said finally, meeting Miles's dark eyes. "But you're right; I had no intention of starting a family."

"Well then," he said, rubbing his hands together. "That was really awkward, but the torture's not over yet. We have a lot more to do today."

A/N: I was originally going to go through the entire day, but I think that 7000+ words is PLEANTY for one chapter ^-^' And thank goodness for medical professionalism! :D That could've been more awkward… It's all important to the plot, I promise :P I just feel bad for Miles… A note about capital letters! You may have noticed by now that most mobian animal species are capitalized. This is a process I borrowed from Wicked: if they're sentient animals, their "race" is capitalized. If not, they're not. And, just in case it comes up later (no spoilers), I consider them chao-creatures to be non-sentient, mostly because it gets confusing if you talk about "chaos" and "Chaos" in the same chapter! :S -Ginge, with love