The Mobian Chronicles
Book I
Chapter VI: 'Clues and Conspiracies'
"We've been looking for an hour!" Sonic tapped his foot on the polished floor of the Forum Gardens impatiently. "Are you sure there's anything here, Sally?"
"There must be!" The princess opened another podium and began searching it. "This is the last place where all the councilors were together. If they left any kind of clue behind, it should be somewhere around here."
"She's right, Sonic." Rotor paced circles around the area, trying to come up with other places to search as he talked. "If we're trying to single out one person, then we have to at least find something to start with. You know; something to bring them into suspect. Otherwise we'll never narrow it down."
"Okay, fine, like what?" The blue hedgehog kicked a rock that had found its way into the forum, sending it skidding away. "What's a clue supposed to look like, anyway?" A slip of paper that had been lying beside a potted plant was suddenly disturbed by the rock, sending it rustling and floating through the air as it caught a gust of summer breeze.
"Like that!" Sally, farthest from the paper pointed to it urgently. "Get that paper, quick, before it blows away!"
"Oui, my princess!" Antoine chased after the blowing paper, making futile grabs and lunges as it darted ahead of him. Finally, he caught it in one hand, holding it up in triumph. "Ha!"
"Ha!" Sonic rushed past him in a flash, snatching the paper from his hand and delivering it to Sally before the coyote could protest. "Here ya go, Sal! What's it say?"
"Hmmm." Her expression became puzzled as she looked at the paper. "I… don't understand. What is this?"
"Here, lemme see!" Sonic took the paper from her and puzzled over it, turning it this way and that as he only became more confused. "These are just a bunch of letters and stuff, but they're put together all weird."
"Those would be called words, you fuel hedgehog." Antoine snatched the paper from his rival's hands, looking over it himself. "Ah yes, theese ees… uhhh... ummm..." He passed the paper on to Rotor. "What ees theese?"
"It's a code!" The walrus boy tried to make more sense of it, but ultimately, he too was left scratching his head. "I wish I could tell what it said, though, it might be a clue."
"This is interestin' and all," Bunnie Rabbot, silent for the duration of the search up until then, pointed out the dark brown stain on the edge of the code sheet. "But ah do believe that's a blood stain, there."
This revelation came as a great shock to all of the children, most noticeably Antoine, who turned pale and flattened his ears at the prospect of blood, implied danger, and all things related.
"Nicole." Sally was struck with an idea, unfolding her computer and pointing it at the document. It stood to reason that the computers small camera let it 'see' whatever it was pointing at. "Can you understand what this says?"
"Analyzing…" The small computer's soft, emotionless voice rose up from the singular speaker. "Professor Calus programmed me with knowledge of most standard encryption techniques, but this one is not in my records. I am unable to decipher any information of relevance."
"Well… there goes my idea." The princess slipped the computer back into her vest pocket. "If someone dropped this by mistake, then it's suspicious. If someone left it here for someone else, then it's even more suspicious. I'm almost sure this will put us in the right direction if we figure it out." She took the paper and wandered to the steps of the forum, sitting down and folding it up to put in her pocket. Finally, she accepted the exasperating truth of their problem. "We're going to have to get an adult's help if we're going to get any further, but we can't just show this to anybody. I say we put it up to vote. Who can we trust to help us?"
"I say my Uncle Chuck!" Sonic was quickest to submit an idea. "He's smart, and if he can't figure it out, then he'll give it to the king, and he… oh…"
"Yeah." Sally nodded as her friend realized the problem of secrecy. "We can't let daddy find out about this. He'd be furious. I am not about to get grounded again, like last time. That means no Sir Charles, and no General Katzenov or daddy." She paused, in thought. "Come to think of it, no Professor Calus either."
"But Sally-girl," Bunnie interjected, "he's the big mathemawhoosit, why not him? He must do this stuff all the time."
"Because, Bunnie, If he made Nicole, and she can't figure it out, why would he? There's that, and the professor is… well, he's a nice man, and I'm sure he's not the bad guy, but he's just not the most reliable…"
"Well he was gonna be mah vote, so ah give up." Bunnie passed the proverbial torch to the next member of the group with a shrug. "How 'bout you, Rote?"
"I say we take it to Dr. Faustian!" Rotor enthusiastically explained his unexpected choice. "He lets me watch him build things sometimes, and he says I have a good mechanical mind. He's really smart, and I just know he wouldn't tell on us if we asked him not to. I know he'd be able to figure the code out in no time. Let's see if he'll help us!"
There was a general consensus among sonic and the others after Rotor's glowing review of the Minister of Engineering, but one member had yet to submit any offering.
"What do you think we should do, Antoine?"
"Ehhh…" The coyote took the front of his shirt and wrung it in his hands. "I am thinking that maybe we should be putting this paper back where we found it and go home! It's after time for lunch, and I am hungry… We could all go home and my mother will make us the nicest tea and cakes, so this is a good idea, yes?" He laughed nervously, making a slight pleading gesture with his hands.
"This is a good idea, no." Sonic shook his head at the cowering coyote. "I'm starting to think Sal's right, Antoine. That paper may really be important, so let's go talk to the Doc and find out what it says. I'm votin' yes for Faustian."
"I agree." Sally stood up, nodding.
"He gets mah vote too."
Antoine sighed heavily, defeated again. "Oui... I am voting to go see heem, then."
Rotor beamed at being the most important member of the group for once. "All right! Just… let me do the talking when we get there, okay?
The workshop of Dr. Reinhardt Faustian was a place of order and meticulous cleanliness. The young engineer had skipped lunch, as he always did, to continue to work on his metal soldiers; a project that he felt certain would help to cement his future. He sat quietly at his workbench, turning a stripped-down shoulder joint every which way in his hands as he studied it through an array of special goggle lenses. "Why…?" He whispered to himself, lost in the puzzle of his latest setback. "Why is it zat you failed again…?"
"Still working on the buckling issue, huh doc?" Dylan Donovan Drake, Faustian's assistant was a teenager to his Draconian race; meaning he towered twice the size of other Mobians. The Draconians were a strong, winged race of reptiles that had been pressed into service as soldiers. Dylan, like many young people of the day, had come to the city for the education that could not be found anywhere else; that, and to escape from the war. "You want me to go get you some lunch? You need to eat."
"Nein," Faustian pressed a button on his goggles, paying no mind to the boy that stood twice his height. The color of his lenses changed and he studied the bent shoulder joint in a new spectrum. "Not hungry, too busy. Ugh, what is wrong with ze joints? Ze shoulder pins simply dislocate as soon as zey bear any real weight. Are we using standard industrial screws?"
"Should be."
"Problem solved." Faustian snorted derisively, tossing the defective part into a bin at his side for recycling. "It's not ze pins falling out, it's ze screws failing to hold on! One arm assembly weighs twenty-five pounds, when it goes to lift a hundred pounds of gear, industrial screws will naturally fail. Put more alloy screws on order, boy."
Dylan had become used to one-sided conversation with his mentor. He'd thought about asking after the slightly bloodied bandage on the fox's hand, but didn't want to endure another earful of common sense and meaninglessness. "Sure thing, boss. Is that all you need me for? I was kind of hoping you might let me take off early today…"
"Hm." Dr. Faustian smiled to himself. "Got a date with some know-nothing girl you've managed to dupe, eh?"
"Uhhh, Something… kind of like that." Dylan blushed and scratched the back of his crested head embarrassedly.
"Ja." Faustian dismissed him with a wave of his hand, never looking away from his work. "Ja, Dylan. Zat's fine, go on."
"Thanks Doc. I'll see you tomorrow morning then." Dylan had barely made it out the door before he'd run into the children, just arrived to see Faustian. "Oh, hey Rotor! Haven't seen you here lately."
The purple walrus was a regular in and around the workshop, going so far as to sneak in sometimes when he wasn't always welcome, always to see the latest mechanical wonders being made. To him, Dylan was one of the perpetually cool 'older kids' to be looked up to and envied. "Hi Dylan! You're leaving the shop kinda early, huh?"
The bright red Draconian boy laughed, stretching his wings. A faint wisp of black smoke escaped his round nostrils. "Oh yeah, I got a date I have to get ready for!"
A faint chorus of 'eews' came from the children, until Rotor spoke up. "Well, do you mind if we went inside and talked to Mr. Faustian for a minute? It's important!"
This thought forced Dylan to hesitate. He knew better than to pester his eccentric boss, but he did like to humor Rotor and his friends. He liked the kid; it was refreshing to know another mechanical mind. "Well… the doc's in one of his moods; I don't think he wants visitors, but if it's really important, I guess you can go on in." He reached back and swiped his card key through the front door's reader, which opened for them with a soft creak. "Good luck getting whatever it is you need out of him when he's like this though."
Inside, Faustian continued to work on his mechanical shoulder prototype, testing a hastily-improved model with stronger screws. There was a loud clatter from his workbench as the newest attempt broke as well. "Agh! Now ze pin can't pop out so it simply grinds down until it breaks!" He peeled the goggles of his head and rubbed the bridge of his muzzle tiredly. "Zere must be a way to increase ze lifespan of my support pin without making it any larger…"
"You could spray the pin with something to make it tougher!" Rotor interjected from behind him, enthusiastically.
"Ah!" Faustian's massaging hand fell to the table quietly as a smile grew on his usually dour face. "Ze minds of children… such amazing capabilities." He spun around on his stool to face the little walrus and his friends, face aglow with uncommon exuberance. "We adults over complicate ze world so, but children can find ze simplest, easiest of solutions. An ablative spray could coat all ze parts and make it so much more cost-effective! Ah, and ze princess too, I see! What brings you to my workshop again, little engineer? I assume Dylan let you in?"
"We need your help with something, if you have time, sir." Rotor began, "I guess we better start from the beginning. We're looking for clues to help Sally's father, the king, on an investigation… we found this coded note," He unrolled the paper and handed it to the fox, continuing. "We were hoping you could tell us what it said."
As Faustian took the note with his bandaged hand, Princess Sally felt a sudden twinge, as if something just wasn't right. She couldn't put her finger on just what it was though, so she dismissed it.
Faustian laughed a little at the thought, glancing down at the note. "A puzzle, eh? Well, let's see if I-" his countenance instantly fell and he looked back up at the children. "Yes, very interesting. I'll take a close look just as soon as I get back from lunch!" He sat the paper on his workbench, obviously a bit agitated. "In ze meantime, why don't you children look for clues in, oh… Undercity?"
"Undercity!?" Princess Sally stepped to the front of the group, shaking her head. "We aren't allowed to go there, it's too dangerous!"
"Nonsense!" Faustian smiled at her. "Dangerous, for clever children like you? Bah! In fact, I heard zere is a… uhh…" He thought for a moment, tapping the underside of his muzzle. "A, uh, a sage! Zat supposedly knows all and sees all! I am sure if you found him, your investigation would be over in no time."
The little princess' eyes went wide with misplaced trust. "Wow… really?"
"Of course!" Faustian nodded eagerly. "Ah, but it's a secret, so you mustn't tell anyone at all where you are going, or zat I sent you!"
"All right!" Sonic spoke up excitedly, happy for any excuse to explore somewhere he wasn't supposed to be. "Let's do it, guys!"
When Bunnie and Rotor got on board the idea as well, Sally conceded, heading with them for the door. "Okay, I suppose it can't hurt to try and find this sage."
Sonic gave an exuberant thumbs-up. "Don't worry, doc! Your secret's safe with us!"
Faustian smiled to himself in private as the door closed, looking back to the table and the note. "Ja… of zat I am very sure, mein little 'friends'." He struck a match, tossed the bloodstained code sheet in a wastebasket and lit it aflame.
