Apologies

From: Colin Kintobor

To: Sally Acorn

Subject: Sorry for your loss

Sally,

I am very sorry for your loss. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help.

Colin Kinotobor

From: Sally Acorn

To: Colin Kintobor

Subject: RE: Sorry for your loss

Colin,

Thank you for your kind words, they are greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Sally Acorn

The day looked like it felt, dreary, cold and overcast. It had been coming for a while, but no one talked about it, least of Sally. Sonic held her closely, griping her hand gently as she cried for what seemed like the fifth time that day.

King Acorn's death while not a surprise was devastating nonetheless. Sonic could see the entire city of Knothole as he looked out from atop the castle steps. Even Snively had made the trip and stood cautiously in the back.

The King's coffin was elegant, made from nearly every type of wood found in the forest. It gleamed in its coat of varnished as the colors of cheery and maple blended together in the flat light. Elias had led the procession with several of the Kings guard carrying the coffin up the steps, followed close by Sally and her mother. Sonic had remained a step or two behind with his Uncle Chuck. The King had been like family to him in the last two years, but it was not his place to put himself of greater importance than that of the King's blood.

All of them were now seated at either side of the coffin, waiting their turn to speak about their leader. Sonic still had no idea what he was going to say, but for the moment he was okay with that.

Being his eldest son, Elias was first to speak. Sonic still felt guilty being the King while Elias sat by idly, the first born son to the King. He had even gone so far as to offer the position to him, but to Sonic's surprise, Elias wanted nothing to do with it.

"You all knew my father," Elias began. "Perhaps even better than I, which is why I feel I can hardly do his accomplishments justice. All he ever wanted for his subjects was the best, and he never settled for less. It's taken me my whole life to understand that he never wanted to hurt me, but rather teach me the valuable lesson there is in family. He wanted what was best for me, even if it meant taking away what was promised to me. Some of you might ask yourselves what type of father can turn his back on a promise, but I can promise you that he never did any such thing."

Elias paused for a moment as he gazed out into the captivated crowed. Even Sonic had found him leaning forward trying to make eye contact.

"Whether it was through his own intention or fate itself, my father saved me from myself. The years I spent by myself taught me to hone my mind, work for the things I desire, and protect the innocent. Perhaps through accident, I became everything my father wanted to me to be without me ever knowing it. It saddens me to say that I spent the better part of my life wishing I had never been born, hating my father and wishing nothing more than to live my life without seeing him again. But the thing about family is that it's hard to stay mad. While my father and I never apologized to each other, it was safe to say that we both understood why we did what we did. And in the end, knowing that he can live with my decisions makes it a lot easier for me to live with his. I regret never directly saying I was sorry. Perhaps I was too stubborn or I thought that it was implied, but nonetheless the words never left my mouth. If there is one thing that any of you take away from this today, let it be to speak your mind before time catches up with you. Lastly I wish to thank all of you. It means a lot to me and my family to see so many of you here to mourn the loss of my father."

The silence following his speech was eerie, as if it were too quiet. There was no applause, not even a single cheer. Sonic hadn't expected to hear in detail what Elias and his father had been through, and he had a feeling that the crowed may have shared his reaction. Even Sally had temporarily stopped crying to look curiously up at her brother. However, Sally's mother Alicia who had remained strong the entire day had now begun to cry. Her son's speech no doubt brining up sour memories, but Sonic had a strange feeling that her tears were joyful, especially after seeing Elias forgive his father.

Sonic knew it was his turn. This wasn't an event he could plan for, so he hadn't taken the time to prepare for anything. Elias was no simple act to follow either. Sonic did how ever have the luxury of being King, a title that would earn him points regardless of what he said.

Getting on his feet again wasn't easy; walking up to the podium was even harder. Thousands of eyes were on him, but words could not seem to find him. Sonic thought briefly to himself, Elias used a story about himself to tell everyone about the king. Perhaps I can do the same.

"Few of you know me like King Acorn did. In fact there are few people I disobeyed, perhaps even disrespected more than him," Sonic began.

Sonic paused and watched with amusement as the crowed hung on his words.

"Only someone so trusting would have ever allowed this behavior from someone who now sits on his throne. He saw something in me that not even I could. Through childish pranks, banter and attitude he saw a leader. And rather than teach me through punishment he did it through mercy and his example."

Sonic stole a glance over his shoulder, Sally for the first time in a week was smiling. If only he could be sure about what he said to make it true, he would say it a thousand more times. Sonic even thought he spotted a small smirk on Elias' face, but the squirrel had always masked his emotion.

"It's safe to say that all of us owe a lot to Maxamillion. Our lives have never been easy, but he did everything he could to make them as pleasant as he could. I can only promise to all of you that I will do my best to follow in his footsteps, to make the best life possible for each and everyone one of you."

Sonic left the podium with silence at his back. It was a funeral he told himself, not a festival. This was not a time for laughter and excitement. He knew he had gotten his message across and not embarrassed himself in the process.

The rest of the funeral was a blur to Sonic. Both Sally and her mother had elected not to say anything. Sonics Uncle had told a few stories from the first war with the Overlanders and other examples of the King's bravery and wisdom. After that the honor guard carried him away into the castle where his coffin would be placed alongside his father's in the crypt bellow the castle. Slowly the crowd dispersed, but Sonic and Sally remained seated side by side.

Sonic had not said much to her in the past few days. He knew that when her father did pass away it was going to be hard for her, but perhaps not as hard as watching him slowly deteriorate had been. Sally had been at his side for over a year, but no one, could do anything to stop his decline.

"How is Sonia?" Sonic asked her quietly?

"She is at home asleep with the sitter," Sally replied passively.

While Sonic would never in anyway say it, King Acorn's death was a blessing in some ways. Sonic, as acting king, had spent more time with their daughter than she had. With hope, Sally would snap out the dreary world she had been living in.

Sally smiled again, but only briefly.

"That's the second time I have seen you smile today, which is two more times that you have in the last month. What gives?"

"It just occurred to me that my father got to hold our child before he died. I am not sure that there is anything in this world that could have made him happier."

Sonic didn't say anything, he knew he didn't have to.

"Thanks Sonic," Sally continued. "For being the most impatient person I have ever known, you have been anything but for the last year. You have been there for Sonia, for me, for everyone without even a single complaint. I am not sure what you did with the old Sonic, but I think I am okay with that."

"I wouldn't wish what you went though on my worst enemy," Sonic replied. "Watching someone you care about slip out of your reach makes you feel powerless. All I hope is that you pick yourself back up Sally, because there is going to be a time when I need you."

Sally pulled Sonic in close for a rather tight hug and whispered in his ear. "You can depend on me the same way you always have."

From: Colin Kintobor

To: Nicole

Subject: Building an AI

Nicole,

I am now trying to construct my own AI to help with day to day tasks. Do you have any pointers?

Colin Kinotobor

From: Nicole

To: Colin Kintobor

Subject: RE: Building an AI

Colin,

I am afraid I can not reveal anything. You will have to figure this out on your own. Wish I could help, but this is one thing I am unable to do.

My Apologies

Nicole

Snively sat idly by at his desk looking out the window into the expansive city that sprawled out in front of him. It brought a small smile to him every time. It was his creation, and it was nearly done. The months he spent alone had been oddly refreshing, as he was far too used to being bullied.

He was sure for just a moment that the clouds were about to part above the city, something that happened far too infrequently. The clouds, many of which still remained toxic clung to the area with all their might. Snively had cleaned up all of the milling processes, but it was finally starting to seem that years upon years of utter neglect had taken their toll.

"No matter," he said out loud. "It's just one more thing to do. Stacy."

"Yes Colin?" A calm passive voice asked.

"Start gathering continuous climate data and add fixing these poor atmospheric conditions to my list of things to do.

"Of course."

After seeing Nicole up close and in person, Snively had become jealous beyond belief. His entire life he had dreamed of such a perfect synergy of hardware and programming. Stacy was a lackluster attempt at appeasing his inner fascination with AI, but he was quite sure that she in no way compared to Nicole. Nicole went beyond what he knew about programming and if he didn't know better bordered on sentient.

Snively stopped bothering himself with something that he couldn't do anything about and turned his attention back to his work, which there was no shortage of.

"Cities don't build themselves," Snively said out loud, to himself.

"If you say so Colin," Stacy replied.

Snively sighed to himself; Stacy could never tell when he was talking to himself.

From: William Simmons

To: Miles Mathews

Subject: Population Report

Miles,

Feel free to stop by and give me your report in person. I wouldn't mind catching up.

William Simmons

General

From: Miles Mathews

To: William Simmons

Subject: RE: Population Report

General

Give me an hour and I will be there.

Miles Mathews

Lieutenant

"Private Mathews, how nice to see you," Simmons said as the soldier stepped through the door onto the bridge. "What can I do for you?"

"Its Lieutenant now, Sir," Mathews replied.

"I see, since when?"

"Since you promoted me last week Sir,"

Simmons laughed out loud, "Forgive me these things slip my mind. I trust you have fully recovered?"

"Yes, Sir. I came to see if you got the report I sent."

"Which one would that be?"

"This one Bill," Ellie said as she pulled the report up on the hollow display. "It's Mathews report on the population left behind. Computer records haven't been well maintained since you left, but thanks to the Lieutenant and your CTO, Decker, we have finally entered everyone's up to date information."

"I see, did you find anything interesting," Simmons asked as he eyed the report.

"Well actually we did. Even despite the confined living spaces, the population has grown by nearly ten percent, of which nearly five were unknown in our records."

Simmons mouth hung open in surprise for a second. "Did I hear that correctly Ellie, ten percent?"

"You did hear it correctly. Keep in mind, thirteen years has passed, there is a new generation living on these ships."

"How many deaths?" Simmons asked curiously.

"Discounting the lives lost in the initial asteroid collisions, no more than 300," Mathews said. "These figures beat even our best expectations."

"And how are the repairs going?"

"After two weeks of working around the clock all but three ships remain under repair. However, it will likely be another week until all of the upgrades to the engines are made."

In the last two weeks Simmons had been given countless pieces of information, most of it was useless to him, but one thing was true of all it and that's the progress it showed. It appeared now that they could finally think about leaving to return to their home. In just a few short weeks, Simmons could set his feet back on land, knowing that they would never have to leave it again. The kids who were born on the ships could finally see what sky looks like, how seasons change, and the crisp breeze of a wind before a storm.

"Give me a date Lieutenant," Simmons said calmly.

Simmons had expected him to ask for what, but instead Mathews smiled and said, "Barring no unforeseen circumstances, 10 days, Sir."

"There is the another matter we must discuss. Decker brought to my attention that we have a hacker on our network."

Ellie quickly re-appeared on the table, "I see Decker is taking credit for my work already."

"What has he done so far," asked Simmons?

"Well that's the thing Sir, nothing that warrants too much concern. Mostly rerouting supplies and rare commodities. No doubt there is an underground market of sorts."

"If it's not to concerning why bring it up?"

"The thing is we can't track him down, not even with Ellie's help. If it weren't for Ellie we wouldn't even know there was a hacker. Someone with this skill level could pose a threat if they chose to direct their prowess in a malicious way."

"Can I trust the two of you to find him?"

"If he reroutes any more shipments I should at least be able to determine what ship he is on," Ellie replied. "After that it might be a lot of leg work."

"Do we know anything at all about him?"

"The only thing Ellie was able to dig up on him was an old alias, Nagus. Does that mean anything to you?"

"No, not in the slightest."