Chapter 3

"GRAB HIM!" a deep voice yelled.

Shadow was blitzed by the sensation of life; it didn't feel good. He fell from his pod, straight onto hard metal flooring. He coughed and spluttered on his hands and knees. Then he was grabbed by a set of hands and pulled in all directions. His cold body felt like it would shatter. Then, he was pulled upright to his knees and held still. He concentrated and try to see through his blurry vision. It wasn't humans grabbing him, it was a group of sapients. One of them snapped a collar around his neck. Shadow felt something small and thin prick his neck.

"What the hell!?" Shadow cried out.

"Something to subdue your powers. And to keep you sedated." Shadow looked up to see a black falcon standing before him, looking triumphant. Shadow attempted to stand up, but he was pushed down by the other sapients around him. Shadow grit his teeth in anger, and growled up at the falcon. "Here he is, the 'ultimate lifeform'," the falcon air quoted. "Not so ultimate now." Shadow's head dropped and he looked down in shame. The falcon bent over and grabbed Shadow by the chin, forcing the hedgehog to look up again. "Huh. Not what I expected. A youthful pretty boy."

"What?" Shadow spat and narrowed his eyes.

"Girls would be all over you, if it weren't for the fact that you're actually an old grandpa," he mocked.

"Who the hell are you to say this to me? What's going on!?" Shadow yelled.

"Who am I? I am Hightail the Falcon. I run this place," he said.

"As if," Shadow remarked. The Falcon glared down at him. Then he glanced at the others. "You can leave." The other sapients let go of Shadow and walked out of the door. Shadow could see that they were all wearing orange jumpsuits. The falcon, however, was wearing a different kind of uniform, one of authority. Shadow snarled at Hightail and threw a punch at him, but the swing was weak and pulled Shadow down. The hedgehog fell to the floor face first. "You'll feel a little weak with that sedative. But don't worry, you'll get used to it." He looked down at Shadow disdainfully.

Shadow shivered and tensed up. Then he covered his mouth.

"I need a bathroom," he winced.

"Sorry, you'll have to hold it. I don't feel like letting you go," Hightail said, smirking down at him sadistically. Shadow turned his head and glared up at him.

"Not that, you idiot. I'm going to-" Shadow heaved and covered his mouth again. He clutched his stomach whilst shivering.

"It's probably the sedative," the falcon said.

" 'The hell is it?" Shadow rasped.

"I don't know. Whatever we could find. Could be anything. But that shouldn't matter, Ultimate Life Form." There was such malice whenever he said that.

"What is your problem?" Shadow spat. "I'm on your side."

"No. You are not on our side. You are our sworn enemy," Hightail asserted. "You started this."

"Started what?" Shadow asked, and closed his eyes and looked down. He felt so tired. The room saw spinning. His stomach kept twisting. This was worse than the worse nausea he had ever felt.

"It was your generation that got us all thrown in this place," Hightail complained. "And now, you're going to help us get out."

"How?" Shadow rasped, feeling his body get heavy and his stomach constrict. He couldn't hold it any longer. He vomited onto the floor in front of him, rolled over, and passed out.

Shadow opened his eyes to a pounding headache. He pushed himself from the floor and realised that he was in a small prison cell. It was only 2 square meters big. It was dark, cold, and hard. Shadow leant against the back wall and stared at the door. Then he looked down at his abdomen and groaned. His stomach growled at him. He clutched it and shivered. He wished he hadn't expelled the contents of his stomach before. He had a feeling it would be a while before he got to eat anything else. He tilted his head back to rest against the wall, it felt light and dizzy. He lifted his hand and felt for the collar. It was still there, still piercing his neck, still giving the horrible sedatives.

Shadow attempted to stand by pushing his arm against the floor and rising up. He fell back again and hit the floor. He stayed there, feeling ashamed. It didn't feel like long ago that he was speaking with the Commander and living his normal life, and now he was in a future he was clueless about and locked up in a cell, feeling like death.

How long had it been? 50 years again? Maybe he was lucky and it was only a few years. Maybe he could salvage what he had before. But then Shadow thought about what Hightail had said. 'Your generation', and he had called Shadow 'Grandpa'. So he was bound to be a few generations forward. How far along could that be? 80 years? Maybe he was lucky if that was the case.

The door suddenly swung open and light flooded the room. Shadow squinted up at the person in front of him. It was Hightail again.

"I see you're awake," he said, smirking down at Shadow. "What services do you require? Breakfast?" he asked in a mocking tone.

"A bathroom," Shadow winced in discomfort.

"I'm afraid we don't offer this service to Ultimate Life Forms," Hightail said. He bent down and grabbed Shadow by the collar and pulled him to his feet. The needle in Shadow's arm was tugged, this made him yelp in pain. Shadow winced at Hightail as he was held up to the falcon's face.

"Please, let go," Shadow rasped. Hightail let go and Shadow flopped over and dropped face first on the floor. "Not like that…" his voice was muffled by the floor.

"It's the sedative. C'mon. Stretch. Shake it off. You can do it!" the Falcon mocked. Shadow grit his teeth and growled; he pointed his hateful gaze straight up from the floor. He managed to lift his knees up, but his face was still on the floor.

"When I get out of this… you're going to pay," he rasped. Hightail's smirk grew wider. He stepped over to the side of Shadow. He tilted his head and admired Shadow's fallen figure. Then, he kicked Shadow in the stomach. The hedgehog spluttered and groaned, then curled up on his side and clutched his abdomen. The pain resonated throughout his body. He felt so weak. He closed his eyes and let out a tired sigh.

"That is how confident I am that you're not getting out of this," Hightail taunted. "Not in my lifetime at least."

"Believe me. I've gotten out of some sticky situations," Shadow groaned, sounding like he no longer cared. He kept his eyes closed. His lids felt too heavy to open. "So, where is it?"

"What now?"

"The bathroom. Where is it?" Shadow asked halfheartedly.

"You'll be lucky if you get your turn today," Hightail said. "The lines go for miles."

"What the hell?" Shadow asked.

"Get up and I'll show you what I mean." Hightail helped Shadow off of the floor and rushed him down the corridor. Shadow was pushed through a door, and he entered a room of busy life. The room was filled with orange jumpsuits and sapient faces. Shadow stumbled forward and fell against a table. He held himself up with his hands. His legs shook under his weight.

"Wow, is the sedative that bad?" Hightail asked as he walked past Shadow. Shadow looked around the room. It was filled with cheap dining tables, most of which were full of bored looking prisoners. The spaces between the tables were filled with moving sapients.

"This place has changed…" Shadow said whilst surveying his surroundings. He spotted a long line at the back of the room. He followed it with his gaze and saw where it led. "Bathroom line?"

Shadow stumbled over to the next table and used that to keep him upright. He kept stumbling from table to table, ignoring the people that sat there, and dodging those that walked between them. Then, Hightail stood in front of him and stopped him.

"And where are you going?" he asked. Shadow pointed with his eyes to the door the line went through. "Ah. A bit of trouble there. Notice how this room is full. Completely full. How many people are here?"

"I don't know. And I don't feel like answering any quizzes right now," Shadow said irritably.

"2000. There are 2000 men here. In the other hall there are about 1800 females. And do you know how many bathrooms there are in this place?" Hightail asked confidently. Shadow didn't answer, instead, he just gave a deadpan expression. "Five per section. Five bathrooms shared between 2000. Do you honestly think you're getting anywhere today?"

Shadow was silent. "Do you know how many beds there are in this section? 100. 100 between 2000 people. Food rations? Lesser and lesser each delivery. The contents of that? Dry protein bars. The conditions in here are so dreadful that inmates started causing trouble to go to maximum security. There, they get a bed each. A private room. People misbehave just to get there. Now, it's the well behaved that go to the higher security levels and the baddies to go solitary."

"What point are you trying to make?" Shadow asked.

"This is YOUR fault!" Hightail grabbed Shadow by the collar again. "Shortly after you were put into stasis, they started rounding up all of the Sapients in the United Federation and sent all of them here. The humans didn't want us anymore." Shadow looked at Hightail in confused, and then surprise when the message sunk in.

"This is a… concentration camp?"

"Yes." Shadow closed his mouth and his lips thinned. An unfathomably dreadful situation, which was apparently his fault.

"How is this my fault?" Shadow asked.

"You're the only one left from that generation! You could have done something!" the Falcon yelled.

"How could I have done anything? I didn't know-" Shadow stopped, and looked down in thought. That news story about the rising sapient numbers. He pictured himself looking away in disdain and then rolling over and disassociating himself with the sapients. "Huh."

"What? Realising how you could have helped?" the falcon asked. Shadow didn't answer. "Anyway. The humans forgot about you. We found you here, and we plan to use you to get out of here."

"Can't do much when I'm this weak," Shadow said and pointed to his collar. Hightail smirked.

"Oh, you can. And I'll show you how."