Chapter 6: Secrets in your head
Robotnik's base was packed with surprises. Around the next corner we met a ceiling turret that did not welcome us. Nox melted it with a laser burst from the lens on his shoulder. When we reached the lift, it opened and a swarm of Shadows disembarked. They took offense to our presence.
Nox handled himself well, felling five of them at once. But two others dodged around him and charged me, gliding on their hoverskates as if oiled. I spindashed one and knocked it into the wall, and drove my metal fist into its face. As it crumpled, I took a blow to the metal side of my head that made Mekion go wobbly. I spun and saw that the remaining Shadow had pistol-whipped me, and was drawing back the pistol butt for another blow. I introduced him to the business end of my Uzi. The two had a brief argument and my Uzi had the last word.
In the silence that followed this skirmish, Nox-Omega said, "Robotnik knows we're here."
"We'd better take the stairs," I said.
The stairwell was a short way down the hall from the elevator, and it was empty. We crept down the first flight and paused at the landing. Mekion still refused to scan for enemies, so I could only listen. All was quiet. Omega-Nox's scanners worked perfectly, however. "Nobody," he whispered, and we descended the next flight.
Each landing had a small window in the wall opposite the door. I checked the view on each. At the first two, I saw only an empty hallway. But on the third, I saw a huge room that took up three floors' worth of space. There were a lot of pipes on eye level that ran into the wall, but under them, on the floor far below, I saw Robotnik.
"Nox, look," I whispered.
He stepped up beside me and peered out. "What's he doing?" he asked softly.
Robotnik was digging through a cabinet against the wall, shuffling through papers and files. From above, his bald head shone like a polished pink ball, and his red mustache bristled out to either side beneath it. He wore a dirty smock over his clothing, as if he had been working on machinery. As we watched, he removed a single file, which seemed to be what he was looking for. He shoved the rest back into the cabinet, shut it, and walked out of sight.
Nox-Omega and I hurried down the stairs to the fifth floor. We emerged cautiously in a hallway and were greeted by another ceiling turret. I leaped and smashed it with my metal fist, which was quieter than firing a weapon. Then we sneaked down the hall and around a corner, where we found the door to Robotnik's lab. It had a small, thick-glassed window in it, which we peered through.
We were at the other end of the three-story room. At this end was a partition set up in a three-sided box, with a desk and several computers. Robotnik was seated behind the desk, and in front of the desk was a hedgehog.
He was light brown, and wore knee-high boots that were dusty and scuffed. He carried a satchel over one shoulder. Instead of having a few large spines, like modern Mobian hedgehogs, he mad many short, sharp ones. One of the ancient races? What was he doing here?
The hedgehog and Robotnik were talking and gesturing. Robotnik kept shaking his head. Was the hedgehog threatening him? Robotnik didn't look threatened. He kept trying not to grin.
After a while the hedgehog, frowning, dug into the satchel at his side. He pulled out an object wrapped in cloth, and slowly unwrapped it. A dazzling white light flashed into being, shining through his fingers and showing the blood in them. Robotnik leaned back and adjusted his glasses. The hedgehog held the glowing thing cupped in both hands, as if it were very precious, and seemed to tell Robotnik about it. Robotnik gestured, and the hedgehog set it on the desk. It dimmed slightly, but it was still beautiful. It was a simple white glowing sphere with a touch of rainbow sheen.
Looking at it, I wanted it worse than I had ever wanted a Chaos Emerald. I had no idea why. I had never seen anything like it, and I'd have gladly swapped even the Ruling Green for it.
It had the same effect on Robotnik. He bent close and examined it, then with a few words, slid the file across the desk to the hedgehog. The hedgehog smiled, slid the file into his satchel, and moved toward our door. Robotnik scooped up the sphere and studied it.
Omega and I dashed back to the stairwell and hid until the strange hedgehog had vanished up the lift.
"What was that thing?" I asked Nox.
He looked at me. "Some kind of Chaos gem. Can we kill Robotnik for it?"
"We can try," I said, checking my Uzi's magazine. "Screw the Chaos Emeralds."
I lifted a hand to open the door, but froze. A cold steel blade pressed itself against the flesh side of my throat, and a hand gripped my robot arm. Behind me, Omega snarled, "Hold it!" I heard the click as he shifted from his hand to his chaingun.
"Shoot me and I cut his throat," said a low, calm voice. "That is, assuming I don't, anyway. Prove this is the real Shadow."
Interesting. Someone who hated the duplicates as much as we did. Mekion said to me, "I can easily break his hold and disembowel him."
"Who is it?" I asked him.
Mekion finally condescended to run a scan. He traced the model of a chameleon standing behind me with his weapon to my throat, along with various diagrams for killing him. An ID match flashed beside the image. "Espio: known member of the Chaotix Detective Agency. Aided Robotnik in destroying Mecha on the Annihilator."
"Prove I'm Shadow?" I snorted aloud. "I should ask you if you're here to help Robotnik again. In which case, I'll cut YOUR throat."
"Mm," said Espio. "I'd expect all the Shadows in this place to know that. Let me see. What's your callsign?"
"Mecha-fusion unit Alpha," I growled. "And if there are any more of those in here, we're all dead."
The knife withdrew, and I spun to face Espio. He had a squarish reptilian head with a horn on his snout. I saw that instead of a knife, he had stuck me with one of the blades on a star-shaped shuriken that he now held between two fingers. His tail was in a neat cinnamon-bun curl behind him, and I saw two more shuriken tucked into the top curl. "Hi Shadow," he said. "Or is it Mekion?"
"Depends on who you're talking to," I said. "What're you doing here?" I was in no mood to be friendly, and Omega still had Espio covered. Now I couldn't go swipe that white sphere or I'd be competing with Espio for it.
"This is a phishing trip," said Espio. "You know, mining the unsuspecting public for secure information. Except in this case, Robotnik." He looked at Omega. "You haven't shot me yet, so I assume you're not going to." He pushed Omega's arm away. I nodded at Omega-Nox, who slowly lowered it to his side. Espio looked at the symbol on Omega's chest. "I thought you got crunched on the Annihilator."
"Yes, but I'm back," said Omega. "If you're Robotnik's enemy, then we're on the same side."
"Basically," said Espio. He turned and whistled softly up the stairwell. Immediately there were footsteps, and a crocodile, an armadillo and a marge Mobian bee appeared, all carrying black briefcases and looking shifty.
"Hi," said the crocodile, whom Mekion identified as Vector. "Which way is Robotnik's office?"
"Around the corner," I said. "He was there just a minute ago, though."
"I'll check," said Espio, opening the door and whisking out. In a second his purple scales shaded to match the nondescript gray of the walls, and he was gone. I clenched my fists. If he went after that sphere, I would kill him with my bare hands.
A few seconds later he was back. "Office is empty," he announced in a whisper. "This way, hurry." The Chaotix slipped after him. I jerked my head at Omega-Nox, and we followed.
The Chaotix clustered around the door, and the bee removed a black box and several wires from his briefcase. He attached it to the electronic lock, disabled it, and darted through the opening door. The rest of us followed.
Charmy Bee re-locked the door behind us as Mighty the armadillo, Vector and Espio dashed to the desk. There was no sign of the white sphere, and I figured that Robotnik had gone to lock it up. That was probably the last I would ever see of it.
Suddenly depressed, I watched as the Chaotix set up a laptop, wired it to Robotnik's three computers, and worked silently over it. Those briefcases obviously contained enough espionage equipment to crack a bank. As they worked, Omega clanked around the partition to check out the rest of the huge room.
Espio typed furiously, then swore. Charmy slapped him. "Watch your mouth."
"It's all blocked," Espio said. "The fileserver has two layers of encryption before you can connect, and these computers don't have the key. Robotnik must use some key on a disk ..." The four quickly searched the desk and its drawer, but found no disks.
In my head, Mekion sprouted fangs and wings. "I could get in," he hissed.
"We can get in," I said, walking up.
They all looked at me. "How?"
"Mekion is basically a mutant hacking program," I said. "What are you looking for?"
The exchanged looks. Espio rose from the chair and let me sit down. "Information on the Black Arms," said Mighty. "And their connection to the Chaos Emeralds ... and the space colony ARK."
They knew what Doom wanted. But the ARK? I nodded, feeling uneasy. "Mekion, connect and search."
At last, an opportunity to exercise the software that Doom gave me. I leap to full control of our body, project our wireless signal, detect an open proxy, and I am inside.
Robotnik's interface is arranged exactly like his office. A desk that represents local files, and two windows that lead into the fileserver. They are sealed shut with chains and padlocks, and interlaced with snake-like security protocols that hiss at me.
First I search through the easily-accessible local files, opening drawers and looking through directories. I find tables listing production rates and material lists. Boring. The good stuff must be on the server.
I return to the nearest window and examine it. The security snake shakes its rattle and spreads its hood with a hiss. I sprout an extra head, one of Doom's improvements on my design. The head opens fanged jaws, grabs the snake, tears it loose and swallows it. The security protocol removed, my extra head burps up a key. I unlock the padlock with it, unhook it, and look at the chain. It is seamless, forged of stainless steel.
I sprout another head from between my shoulders. This algorithm would be tough for anyone else to crack, but I am strong. This new head grabs the chain in its teeth, which grow red-hot. Corrupted, the chain withers to ash.
I swing the window open and climb through.
"We're in," I told the Chaotix.
"That was fast," said Espio.
The fileserver flashes past at lightning speed; squares, cubes and hexagons of data. I dodge around them with expert precision. My search program is running, like a huge red arrow in front of my nose, guiding me through the maze. The maze is dynamic, changing around me as new files are written and old files are moved or deleted.
I sprout wings and beat them to hurry. Security AIs are loose in this system, and they have detected my unauthorized entry. I hear their alert howls and cries, like wolves and hawks.
My red search arrow turns gold and points to a large octagon of data. I dive through its opaque wall. Inside is a library full of books, all neatly catalogued and organized. I fold my wings, which disappear. In their place I sprout multiple arms and snatch books off the shelves. I grow as many heads as my RAM will support, and read the books as fast as I can grab them, storing their data.
There is a lot of data on the Black Arms. They have visited Mobius before, but in smaller numbers, and in secret. Their leaders showed special interest in the space colony ARK ...
A screech! A bird with a cruel barbed beak and multicolored wings bursts through the wall. I retract my arms and heads, throw a table at it, and dive through the far wall. As the hawk struggles with my power lapse, I re-enter the fileserver and flash along at the speed of light, again searching. I need information on the ARK now ...
A shark the size of a whale leaps out of the datastream to intercept me! I change directions and flow away at an angle, but it pursues me, jaws open and teeth gleaming.
I inflate my data and grow to match its size, filling the memory buffers with junk data. I split into a hundred serpantoid heads and a thousand clawed feet and tear the enemy AI's data to pieces, corrupting what I cannot delete or consume.
I shrink back to a thought and a search program and leave the mess for garbage collection to clean up.
The ARK information is stored in a nine-sided crystal with gleaming sides, meaning the files are protected. I circle it, receiving errors as I touch it. Time for a little deception. I leave the crystal and dive deep beneath the data flow, where it is cold and dark. This is the home of the security programs, deep in the operating system. I float there, waiting. One of the AIs is sure to notice me.
Sure enough, within nanoseconds the tentacle of a kraken snakes up from the depths. I grab it and pull. Instantly I am surrounded by more tentacles, each armed with data-destroying suckers. I dive toward the center and open my jaws, becoming huge, scaley, a tyrannosaurus with flippers, and bite at the kraken's kernel. It lashes my data with its suckers. I feel wounds open that bleed data. But I have the kraken's entire body in my mouth now. I bite off the arms and gulp it down. My CPU usage spikes to one hundred percent and my memory bloats. This was the primary security program.
Slow and glutted, I return to the surface of the data stream and find the crystal. The security kraken has provided me with the keys to open it. I transform into Robotnik and step through the crystal.
Inside is a single book that is three feet high. I sieze it and begin downloading, deleting portions of the kraken as I go.
"Mekion," Shadow says in my ear, "Robotnik is at the office door. We have to move."
"Five seconds," I reply, focused on the download.
"We don't have five seconds! I have to teleport us out!"
"Two, one, complete," I reply, irritated. "Logging out."
I teleported almost by instinct, blinded by Mekion's hacking exploits. We landed on the top of the mountain, thousands of feet above Robotnik's office. The hot wind cut into my sweaty face, cooling it.
I blinked and looked around as Mekion allowed my eyes to refocus. Vector, Espio, Mighty and Charmy were clutching their briefcases and equipment, which were in tangled jumbles from hasty disassembly. Beside them stood Nox. I blinked. Nox was twice as tall as me. Was Mekion still affecting my vision? I rubbed my eye.
His beak parted in a grin, and his mouth glowed blue. "I found Robotnik's two emeralds," he said. "They were hooked up to some machines in that room, and I wanted them worse than I wanted Omega. Aren't I cool?" He pranced in a circle on the rocks, letting me examine him. His color and gold tailfeathers were the same, but his beak had become larger and thicker. He could probably rip me to shreds, if he wanted. But Nox had no idea of his new power. "I'll get bigger with each new emerald," he gloated. "I wonder when I'll get bigger wings?" He flapped his tiny wings uselessly.
"Nice," said Vector without looking at Nox. "Shadow, what information did you get?"
"Excuse me, I found the information," Mekion snapped in my head.
I rolled my eye. "Mekion found it. Mekion, what'd you learn?"
Mekion took control of my mouth, and behind my eyes, multiple screens opened and scrolled through pictures and text. "Dr. Robotnik has been visiting the space colony ARK in secret for the past several months, conveying industrial equipment and parts there. There are lists of construction robots. Encrypted content. Decoding ... done. Modifications are being made to the Eclipse Cannon to enable it to fire, powered purely by solar energy.
The Chaotix gasped, and so did I. "Wait, wait," said Espio. "Solar energy? Didn't that thing have to use Chaos Emeralds before?"
"Yes," I said, and in the same breath, Mekion added, "The Eclipse Cannon has always been capable of utilizing solar power as a secondary source. Dr. Robotnik is merely rerouting the main power-cells."
As I inhaled, the Chaotix muttered to each other. "This is bad," said Vector. "We have to warn the others." The crocodile turned to us. "Anything else, Mekion?"
"Yes," said Mekion, sounding so pleased that I knew it couldn't be anything good. "Included in the documents are Shadow's schematics. From when he was built on the ARK."
"Built?" I said, turning my head toward Mekion.
He grinned. "Yes. Robotnik duplicated your design with the android Shadows in his base."
The Chaotix stared and edged backwards.
"That makes no sense," I snapped. "I have blood, and those things had robotics. Not even nanotech."
"So you think," gloated Mekion.
Mighty waved a hand at me. "Will you cut it out? We have to get to Rio del Fuego, quick. Could you teleport us?"
"Why not?" I said. I held up my orange chaos emerald to Nox, who dipped his head and took it. He immediately expanded in size, two long decorative plumes sprouting from his tail. I hooked an arm around his neck, and the Chaotix gathered around and laid their hands on him, too. None of them wanted to touch me.
"Chaos relocate," I said.
The resulting surge of power came from three emeralds: my orange, and the light and dark blues, all of which resided inside of Nox's body. It stunned me. We teleported all right, landing on the beach at Rio del Fuego, where I discovered that I had landed on my back with all my fur standing up. I scrambled to my feet, trying to ignore the snickers of the Chaotix. In the background, I sensed Mekion recording what had happened.
"Thanks Shadow, and Mekion," said Vector. "We'll be in touch."
"Like heck you will," I growled under my breath as the four hurried away toward a nearby street. "You only needed my taxi services."
The skyline of the city was familiar. I had walked its streets barely a year ago, and then, too, I had battled Mekion. I didn't know if it was worse now or not.
Rio del Fuego's energy shield was active. The sun shone on it, reflecting and shimmering like water on the vast bubble enclosing the city. As I gazed at it, I saw several black hawks wheel overhead. Then I noticed the blackened craters along the edges of the shield, where the pavement was unprotected. Rio del Fuego had repelled the invaders so far. I had a feeling that they wouldn't last much longer.
Nox, too, watched the shield and aliens. "Rememeber running around with Rouge? She never let me blow stuff up like I wanted."
"I remember," I said. So did Mekion. He looked thoughtful. "Rouge still owns the red Chaos Emerald."
"Yes, I traded her for the orange one," I said. "Why?"
Mekion grinned nastily, which was odd, because in my mind's eye, his whole face was metal. "She will give us her emerald or die." His metal hand flexed.
"Like you even know where she is," I sneered.
Mekion's hand grabbed Nox's neck, fingers digging under the feathers and gripping the skin. "Ouch!" cried Nox, dancing in place with pain. Mekion took no notice. "Chaos Sight," he snarled.
To my horror, a triple-powered Chaos-induced vision blasted into my consciousness. I saw rapid snapshots of things in the past, present and future, jumbled and random as TV channels. I saw Sonic watching a red sunset. I saw Metal Sonic on the Annihilator, bleeding and begging for death. I saw a vast army of Mobians in gleaming armor. I saw the ARK crash into the atmosphere in a giant fireball. I saw an alien crumple and die as Rouge put a bullet through its left eye.
"Target acquired," said Mekion. The power ceased, and he played the captured video footage of Rouge.
"How did you do that?" I panted.
I sensed his grin. "I channeled the power through your body and directed it into my processors. What you see, I see."
"So?" I said, feeling goosebumps rise under my fur. "It doesn't show where Rouge is."
"No," said Mekion. "But you can envision her and therefore take us to her."
I folded my arm across my chest, which felt strange, because Mekion's arm remained at my side. "Make me."
"So I shall, robot," said Mekion, eyes glimmering orange. "We be of one blood, ye and I."
The beach vanished. I fell through black space and landed in a cryo pod. The GUN cryo pod on Prison Island. It was a metal coffin that stood on end, the lid hanging open. I plunged in, and the lid began to swing shut, like the jaw of some monster. I tried to scramble out, but my hands and feet were tied. "Mekion!" I yelled. "stop it!
I heard him laugh somewhere behind me. "Get yourself out, Shadow. Go on. Chaos relocate."
"I'm not that gullible," I snarled, watching the lid close. "This is just a virtual construct."
The pod vanished. I again stood on the beach with one hand gripping Nox's neck. His hooked beak was inches from my nose. "Could you let go now?"
I released him, and he shook himself until every feather rattled. "It's weird when you channel energy through me like that. How come Mekion's so mad at you?"
"He can't control me as easily as he would like," I said, smirking. "Did I hurt you?"
"You just pinched," said Nox.
I felt a ripple of static electricity, and turned. Doom and the Eye floated just where the ocean lapped the sand, looking as if they had just risen from the depths. But they floated in the air, rather than the water.
Doom lifted a hand. "So, you do remember what the humans did to you, Shadow."
"What, the cryogenic chamber?" I asked.
"Yes," said Doom. He swept an arm in the direction of Rio del Fuego. "These people would return you to stasis in the blink of an eye. Why do you bother helping them?"
"They haven't done anything wrong," I replied. "Besides, GUN is up in Sapphire City."
Doom and his Eye stared at me. "You, Shadow, are hardly a judge of wrongdoing."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I snapped.
Doom looked off at the city as the Eye continued to watch me. "All of them have committed wrongs. They do not deserve life, let alone your allegiance."
"And you're an angel from heaven," I said.
For an alien with hardly any face, Doom managed to look annoyed. "You mock what you do not understand, Shadow. We are the superior race. Join our cause. The reward will be beyond your wildest dreams."
"I'll think about it," I said.
Doom regarded Nox. "There are four Chaos Emeralds remaining, Shadow. Continuing to store them within this creature will not keep them hidden from me."
"I wasn't hiding them," I said. I added weakly, "And they're not for you."
"Your counterpart says otherwise," said Doom. "Continue the search. And reconsider your allegiances. If you are on the wrong side during the prosperity ritual, I cannot guarantee any further leniency."
"What's a prosperity--" I began, but he and the Eye were already gone.
I related this conversation to Nox, whose crest flattened in anger. "Evil alien. He wants you to kill everybody!"
"Sounds like it," I agreed. "I wonder what this prosperity ritual thing is."
But I had no leisure to wonder any longer. One of the circling black hawks dove out of the sky toward us, and its rider fired two grub-missiles. I grabbed Nox's neck, intending to teleport out of the way. But instead of saying 'Chaos Control', my lips said 'Chaos Relocate'.
Mekion had set up an artificial destination for the teleport. The world blinked to nothing, and I felt as if I were being twisted in half. Chaos relocate wasn't supposed to do this!
Then we crashed to earth in the midst of green moss and vines. I landed on all fours in a puddle of muddy water, and Nox nearly fell on me, saving himself by stepping on three of my fingers. I yelled several choice profanities at Mekion. He looked so smug that I wished I could punch him.
I climbed to my feet, nursing my smashed fingers and dripping wet, and looked around. It was a hot tropical jungle, all leafy trees, hanging vines and moss, and plants with gigantic leaves. The humidity made me feel like I had stepped into a shower--a shower filled with mud and insects.
Except that something was wrong with this jungle.