Rouge would, sooner or later, fall back to her old ways, and the second she did, Robotnik would pounce. Her blackmail would be worthless if she could be arrested, and while G.U.N. would probably bail her out of any prison she ended up in, there was no way any media outlet would take her stories, even with proof. Plus she would end up even closer watched by law enforcement types, something that would hurt Rouge far more than just dropping the knowledge she had against Robotnik's alias.

For now, the scientist would play along; he had the financial reserves to go back to it, especially as, with this planning permission, the Northside Island Banking Trust would let him take out a very large amount, or give him a very lenient overdraft to try and get a slice of the profits they were sure Roger the cat would be able to make on his amusement park upon completion.

Hence Rouge was no longer a concern. Robotnik was sure she would get caught by his machines, and he would use this to his advantage. Just like he could hide the construction of his armies as the construction of a theme park, and would be able to turn said theme park into part of a much larger fort which he could use to defend himself.

Robotnik's main concern today was the temple he had read about. Until the confirmation of planning permission came through, which he assured himself would not take too long, it was all he had. He could not build his army without a factory, and he could not build a factory without the permission. But he could keep planning. He had already drawn up a detailed schematic to show for his amusement park, a design he wouldn't need to stick to, as anyone who questioned it could easily be silenced.

His robots had kept collecting data, none of which had pointed out anything of interest about the island. There were no fault lines, no hidden treasures, and while there where mineral reserves the scientist could access, none of them were particularly large or significant. But there was one anomaly, again in the temple; where no results came back at all.

The doctor was convinced it was worth investigating personally, but he still took twelve Egg Pawns, primarily because they were the most practical and all around general machines. Sure, Robotnik had created machines that were better lifters, machines that were much faster, and machines that were nigh invincible, but in an unknown scenario, that speciality could go horribly wrong. As he always would remind himself, what use would a heat proof robot be in an iceberg?

The temple was in a remote part of the mountains, considered off limits to the residents of Northside Island, due to both the dangers present, and the historical value of the site. Naturally, not being a citizen of the Island, Robotnik assumed these rules didn't apply to him, and he headed there, taking with him all the robots he came to the island with, and another six that met up with him at the base.

Located about two thirds the way up a steep mountain, six hundred and twenty three foot above sea level, at least according to the data Robotnik had gathered, of the temple's front was every bit as uninspiring as the scientist remembered from the painting he had seen in the museum not two days prior. It was a small building, constructed of old cobblestone, crudely thrown together for functionality. It wasn't garishly decorated like some temples were; it wasn't an impressive feat of architecture as some temples would be. Instead this was a simple temple.

Nevertheless curious, Robotnik walked inside. Whatever had resulted in the statistical anomaly would be found inside, and this was something the human wanted to know about. Waddling as he walked, he stepped slowly inside, followed by all twelve of the robots.

It was dark inside, and the room smelt stale, "Lights," commanded Robotnik as three of the Egg Pawns turned on large torches fitted within what would be their eyes. Each of them stood behind the doctor, his bloated shadow casting against the moss covered back wall. The human surveyed the temple slowly, but upon a complete turn of his head he reached a conclusion.

"There's nothing here!" the human shouted in anger, "All this time and effort, for nothing. Well that's just typical. Robots," he commanded with frustration, "Tear this place down."

The human walked outside as a dozen robots got to work. Robotnik knew the Egg Pawns were not the quickest at destruction but that gave him ample time to get a short distance away to best see it. This he wanted to stick around for, a simple pleasure to destroy what he saw was mocking him. In a way it was cathartic for the angry scientist.

As he turned to look, the human could see the robots smashing at the walls with the basic weapons they had been gifted by him. With pneumatic arms, even basic punching did some damage, especially to such an old and shoddily constructed structure. Such a small room would be no trouble for the twelve robots, and Robotnik would later tell the world the place had been destroyed in an avalanche, and use whatever nonsense curse he could invent tied to this fact to explain whatever he did. Sure, not everyone would buy it, but some would, and every second of doubt counted towards him meeting his goal.

Robotnik shielded his eyes as a bright light suddenly emerged from the temple. He looked away for a moment, allowing his eyes to attempt to adjust to the brightness. Looking inside properly, he immediately drew the correct conclusion, and demanded his robots stopped. Dutifully they complied as the scientist marched back into the room. Still attempting to block out much of the brightness he walked to the left hand wall, where one of the Egg Pawns had unwittingly revealed that there was more to the temple than just this one room. Without hesitation, Robotnik commanded the wall to be removed more carefully, and watched as the formerly small room opened up into a room now three times the size, with several doors at the end.

"What in the world?" Robotnik exclaimed, genuinely surprised by what he had found. Where the old room was basic, and subtle, this new extension was covered in gold, with intricate patterns and writing in a language the scientist didn't recognise decorating the room. The room was now much more fitting as a temple, and Robotnik couldn't help but feel a sense of wonderment at the place.

"Document everything," Robotnik commanded, "Do not let anything go unrecorded, and look at every room." The doctor wanted to know as much as he could about the place, and for good reason. He had been in enough temples, and knew the likelihood of all the traps, not to mention all the various gods, beasts, and who-knew-what-else that the temple was likely to contain.

As much as he wanted to get his answers quickly, he knew that it took time. It paid not to just break the container that says 'Do not break,' it only lead to more trouble whenever whatever had been broken would come back and wreak havoc. After all, if there was anything useful here, Robotnik wanted to know how to properly use it. He had heard the myth about it being the source of all the gold rings, the rings his nemesis used for protection, making handling this one especially important, as this gave him an opportunity to weaken his foe.

But there was nothing more here for him to do. Robotnik wasn't interested in the archaeology of the place. Sure, eventually he would map the island to lead through here, assuming it would make a good enough detour in the design of his maze, and no doubt position a prison egg somewhere in the middle, making sure, when he was ready to reveal his hand, that the hedgehog knew it was there, as it would make an ideal ambush point. But for now there was no reason for the human to stay; at least not until his robots found something of use.

Robotnik felt a small buzzing in his pocket, a small communicator. It was an email, from Wally, confirming his backing of Robotnik's theme park, and agreeing construction could start within the month. This was all that the human needed to enjoy his excavation; all he had to do now was build the park.