An interlude in everything and the scenario draws ever closer to its conclusion. Reviews and concrit are appreciated.
Interlude.
'So then...'
The room falls oddly still when Amy speaks.
They've said very little since they all arrived, trailing in one at a time over a half hour period. Chuck Thorndyke greets them all but otherwise he doesn't say much either. They're dealing with an experience right now, and it isn't one he's familiar with. What little he knows about psychology comes from the associated chapters in books on metaphysical science and late night television on the Crime and Forensics Channel). He'll wait until they ask before he offers any input. For now his presence is all he can offer.
Tails was technically the first, but he had already been present, playing with the Chaos Emeralds in the sealed chamber. Amy came in not long afterwards draped in one of Cream's flower crowns, and Cream was not far behind her (along with her eternally present Chao, Cheese. A few minutes later Chuck had heard Chris stumbling on the staircase, no doubt thinking he was late. Then came Knuckles, second of last (though not everyone had expected him to show up at all) walking silently across the room and sitting down on the floor, arms folded and expression as grim and serious as ever.
Sonic was ironically the last to appear, bringing with him a sharp gust of wind, and also, Chuck noticed, the faint scent of tea leaves. ('China again, Sonic?'
'Yeah I pit-stopped once or twice. Those guys on the Great Wall make some awesome chilli.'
'Humph. Maybe so but they've got some damned disreputable taverns.'
'Hey, relax, Knuck'ster, I steered clear of the back alleys.')
There is quiet after that. Tails comments on the Emeralds and mutters something about regulating power flows, but nobody bar Chuck understands what he means, so no one responds. Cream talks for a while about the technicalities of flower crowns and the proper way to string each stem together so they don't fall apart, and when she runs out of things to say about that, she falls silent too.
They've been waiting for this for hours and now that they're all actually here, sitting together in the attic like it's just another evening, nobody quite knows how to start.
Clearly someone has to take command of things. In this situation it happens to be Amy. Chuck Thorndyke is content to sit back and let that be for now.
'...Why don't we do this in order, then?'
Chris looks up from his spot on the bed, blinking. 'In order?'
'Yeah. That way we can work things out from the beginning and figure out what to do next. You should always do this kind of stuff chronologically, right Tails?'
She looks at Tails with an expression that isn't quite demanding, but isn't safe to brush off either. Amy is like that. If there's one thing Chuck knows she hates then it's sitting in silence and doing nothing while the world goes on without her. 'Um... Yeah I guess. I mean, it's a good enough place to start.'
'Okay, then that's settled,' Amy says. 'We'll start with a little questionnaire. You got a pen and paper there Chuck?'
Chuck gives a smile, lifting his notepad. 'Way ahead of you.'
'Good. So let's start,' she coughs to clear her throat and continues loudly: 'All those who got asked to look at funny cards with inky blotches on them and say what they saw, raise your hand now.'
Six hands rise into the air. That's everyone who's here at least. They can't speak for Rouge, of course, but they probably did the same with her. Amy gazes around at the show of hands. 'Okay... I guess that's all of us. So that's six for the funny ink blots. Better write that down.'
Chuck does.
'And hands up everyone who saw a hedgehog,' Chris puts in before Amy can think what else to ask. No hands are dropped. Everyone starts sniggering.
'They did that on purpose, didn't they?' Tails smiles dryly.
'It's quite possible that they did,' Chuck gives an equally amused grin. 'Should I write that down too?'
'Why not?' Amy shrugs. 'We need all the information we can get I guess. Question two: who was asked weirdly intrusive questions about their home and childhood?'
Five hands go up this time. The only one who doesn't respond is Chris. 'She didn't ask much... but she did seem to guess a lot of it,' he says when everyone looks his way. 'It was kind of weird, actually: she already knew so many things that I didn't tell her.'
'Well, she could get records and testimonies about your childhood, Chris,' Chuck points out. 'And rather extensive ones at that.'
'You think so, grandpa?' Chris frowns, seeming as oblivious as usual to the public's interest in superstar families. Chris's birth had, after all, been announced on the cover of about a dozen celebrity magazines. He'd been a worldwide issue on his christening and his first day of school and that time when he managed to fall down a flight of stairs. (Rotten business, that. A kid trips on an untied shoelace and does nothing more than sprain an ankle, and yet his parents face a free-for-all from reporters and a million unfair accusations from people who didn't even know them, complaining about bad parenting. Tanaka had anguished about it for weeks and Chuck had placed a household ban on tabloid newspapers) To this day Chris still doesn't know why he gets steered away from the middle shelf every time they're in a newsagents.
'I know so. Your mother is Lindsey Flair, Chris. But the others come from the other world, so their past isn't exactly public knowledge.' And there are probably a good few things that the government want to know about Sonic's childhood, he thinks, but doesn't say aloud.
'That sounds like a good explanation.' Tails nods. 'She asked me a lot of questions about the Tornado and when I first started building things. She even asked about my parents.'
'What'cha tell her?' Sonic asks, making his first comment since his one on Chinese tea.
'Just the stuff I could remember, which isn't an awful lot; you know that, Sonic.' Tails shrugs, and Chuck realises with some surprise that he's never actually asked Tails anything about his family. Not once, in all their conversations about mechanics and computing and technology. In fact it's not a topic he's ever brought up with any of them, except for Cream and she just has a tendency to tell you things without your asking.
'Oh-kay so that's five of us at least...' Amy mutters. 'Damn it; I never thought I'd say this but why can't Rouge be around for once?'
'Still I guess they probably asked her about home too, since she's from our world,' Knuckles said.
'Yeah I guess. You got that, Grandpa Chuck?'
'It's all in writing,' Chuck says. 'Next?'
'Next is: how many people were asked to draw funny pictures with coloured pens?' Amy says. And this time she's the only one who raises her hands. Her face goes red as she realises this. 'Urgh, why did she only do that with me? What the heck possessed her to think that I'd be good at drawing?'
'That reminds me!' Cream says, suddenly, jumping to her feet. 'I have to draw that picture for Miss Ella too! Amy where did I put the paper?'
'Miss Ella?' Chuck repeated, watching bemused as Cream started rooting about on tabletops looking for the sheets of paper Amy had brought back from her "appointment".
'Yes. That's the Doctor's name. Her real name is... is Ello-something, but she said that some people call her Ella. Don't you think that's funny?'
'Yeah. Funny,' Knuckles says, blankly. 'Another coincidence.'
His sarcasm appears to go right over Cream's head; or maybe she's too distracted by her paper search to pay attention to it. 'I think I'll call her Miss Ella so that so we can tell her apart from our Ella,' she says, still searching through the drawers. 'It's a nice name, so there's no sense in calling her something different so we don't get confused, right?'
'Yeah, that's what I figured,' Sonic quirks a smile. 'Good move, Cream. We wouldn't wanna mix them up.'
He's humouring her. Chuck can tell. He's spent enough years dealing with kids to know how to do that, and how to tell when others are doing it. Cream isn't stupid but she is young. She can only understand so much of what's going on right now. Just typical that Cream should find a way of growing attached to the good doctor, never mind the fact that "Miss Ella" held all of their fates in the palm of her hand right now.
Still, Chuck has been wondering about all that himself. He knows they're up to something over in that big strange facility, but he can't for the life of him think what it might be.
'Anyway, you can draw pictures later, Cream,' Amy says, impatiently. 'Come on, we're still in the middle of a meeting here.'
Cream pauses, shuffling. 'But won't she mind? I did promise, and it's getting late. If I leave it much longer I won't have time before tomorrow.'
'I'm sure she'll be fine about it, Cream.' Chuck coughs. 'We can just give her whatever you draw for her some other time.'
'Right. There's no need to rush these things,' Amy says. Then she looks at Chuck. 'So, we need to write that down too, right grandpa? That's one for picture drawing. Technically two, if we count Cream's.'
'Got it,' Chuck taps his pen against the paper. 'Anything else on your part?'
'Not much... I guess we talked about a lot of things,' Amy looks thoughtful. 'Oh, she did ask to hold my hammer. She wanted to know where I kept it.' she chuckles lightly. 'Isn't that weird? I mean, who asks where you keep these things?'
Well, Chuck thinks, he asks himself, quite frequently. Amy has never been able to provide him with a particularly clear explanation of exactly where her hammer goes when she isn't using it. He figures that their world operates entirely on a type of ethereal edict: in other words, the rule of "it just DOES, okay?"
You told her? Knuckles asks.
'Well sure. I tried to explain, but she didn't seem to understand exactly,' Amy shuffles. 'I mean, it's not that I lied or anything, and she seemed harmless enough. She asked a lot of questions about you Sonic.' She looks expectantly up at Sonic's hammock.
'She did, huh?' Sonic doesn't seem too surprised about that. He doesn't even bother to open his eyes. No wonder. It always seems to come back to him in the end, doesn't it? It's probably something he's used to by now.
'She asked me about you too,' Cream said, sitting herself back down on the bed besides Chris. 'She wanted to know a lot of things.'
'Yeah?' Sonic opens one eye and looks around. 'You too huh, Chris?'
Chris nods.
'Seems like you were a general topic of conversation,' Knuckles says, dryly.
'Heh. Yeah, seems she asked everyone about me except me,' Sonic shrugs, looking less concerned about this fact than he surely must be.
'It's no surprise, really,' Chuck says. 'After all, it's probably you that they're the most interested in. I figure that's why this whole thing was set up in the first place.'
'You mean they questioned all of us just so they could learn about Sonic?' Chris frowns. He doesn't seem to understand at first, but he's a bright kid: Chuck knows that he'll work it out eventually.
'Yes, I imagine that that's exactly why they did this.' Chuck folds his arms, gazing at the nearby hammock firmly.
'So... is that it?' Amy looks surprised. 'No one did any other tests? Just a bunch of weird questions about Sonic and a bunch of inkblots?'
'There was one other test she did with me,' Chris says after a moment. 'Everyone who was given a word, and asked to say another word back in response, raise your hand.'
Only three raise their hands this time. Tails doesn't, and neither do Amy and Knuckles.
'Automatic word association, eh?' Chuck muttered, remembering something from it from the Forensics channel. How odd... I could've sworn that one had been scientifically discredited.'
'Scientific-ly what, grandpa?' Cream asks, looking confused.
'Oh, that means that they don't think it's accurate enough to give the right answers anymore, so a lot of doctors have stopped using it, Cream. It's... not much of a scientific test at all, really.'
'Yeah and I don't see what she could've learned about us from it anyway.' Chris said. 'We play a game just like that at school.'
'I'm sure the doctor had her reasons,' Chuck mutters, folding his arms and staring into the Containment Chamber where the Emeralds lie. 'Whatever her aim was it certainly wasn't her intention to make it obvious.'
'So spill it already,' Knuckles says impatiently. 'What exactly have we been doing for the last two days anyway? We've been asked question after question, had our lives interfered with and been prodded with Chaos only knows what... Are you trying to tell that it's all just because of some governmental curiosity about our resident speed freak?'
'Hey easy, Knuckles, it's not like they forced us to go along with the whole thing, right?' Sonic suggests, though they all know at once that this isn't entirely true.
'Only because they made it so they didn't have to force us,' Knuckles says, bluntly. He gazes directly at Chris has he says this. 'Didn't they?'
Chris shuffles uncomfortably, the same way his father used to whenever Chuck caught him taking important workshop machinery apart. 'What do you mean?'
'I mean that there are more ways to get people to behave in the way that you wish them to than just outright force,' Knuckles explains. 'There's bribery for one thing, and blackmail for another. I don't know much about this whole world's governmental system but I'm guessing that it's probably not a good idea to make yourself look bad in front of the public by manhandling young children and other worlders.'
It's a good point. One that none of them had expected Knuckles of all people to make. And yet it's something which has been racing around in Chuck Thorndyke's brain for a while now. Because of course he's seen it all before, if only on the Crime and Forensics Channel: send formal but subliminally threatening letters filled with disguised warnings and misleading legal clauses so that people can't get out of it; throw them even further off guard by catching them at the most inopportune moment possible (say, for example, by pulling up outside their house in a large black car at five-fifteen in the morning). Ask dozens of roundabout questions just to get to a single point you might not be able to coax out of them otherwise...
'C'mon, guys. This is starting to get weird,' Chris sighs. 'I mean, listen to us; we're all acting like we're in trouble or something but why would we be? We haven't done anything wrong.'
'Well, not since Sonic blew a hole in the district attorney's office anyway,' Tails put in, 'and Mr Thorndyke paid to have that fixed right away.'
'That's right,' Cream nods. 'I'm sure that Miss Ella doesn't mean us any bother. She seemed really nice to me.'
'Right, of course not,' Knuckles mutters ironically. 'She was only doing her job, after all. Just like those men in black who pulled up outside of the door at some crazy hour yesterday morning. Or those people in helicopters who thought it was a bright idea to shoot at a little girl in a wheelchair and a hedgehog just because he didn't show up for some fancy charity thing.' Knuckles folds his arms, staring firmly at the floorboards, as if he thinks glaring at them for long enough might force them to reveal some kind of hidden secret. 'It's never anyone's fault, because everyone involved was only "doing their job". I've known civilisations fall from just that kind of attitude, and if Doctor Crowley comes out of all this thinking we're enemies of some kind...'
'Enemies?' Sonic sits up abruptly in his hammock. 'Hey whoa there, Knuckles. I don't wanna be anybody's enemy. Well s'cept for Egghead that is, and you guys all know that he asks for it.'
Knuckles looks at Sonic bluntly. 'Yeah, I've seen civilisations fall under that kind of attitude as well.'
'That attitude? What're you talking about, Knuckles?' Sonic frowns, scratching behind one ear. 'I'm not acting any differently to the way I usually do, am I?'
'No you're not. And that's exactly the problem. I'm saying you should take responsibility for your actions, Sonic. None of us would be in this situation if you hadn't drawn so much attention to us in the first place. In fact, none of us would even be in this world in the first place if it hadn't been for you mixing it up with Chaos Energy.'
'Hey for the record that was Egghead's fault, not mine,' Sonic grumbles. Chuck can feel the tension in the air, and all of a sudden he remembers exactly why they try not to leave Knuckles and Sonic together in the same room for extended periods. 'And I'm not even gonna count the number of times you've nearly gotten us all screwed over by thinking of trusting that guy on his word, Knucklehead. You're not exactly one to talk to us about underhanded motives.'
'Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?' Knuckles snaps, and Cream shuffles from her spot on the bed until she's behind Chris.
'Oh come on, guys, cut it out?' Amy snaps. 'Does it really matter how or why we're here? We don't even know what "here" is anyway. And we sure as heck didn't ask to be dumped in this world, or to stick around for long enough to need driver's licences!'
'Knuckles does make a point,' Chuck says, feeling suddenly ten entire years older than he is. 'But
the first time sonic ever drew attention to himself, he was rescuing Cream and Cheese from a government military base. He did what had to be done.'
'That's right,' Cream squeaked. 'And I wouldn't have liked to stay there any longer than I did.'
'I guess that's what you told the doctor, eh?' Knuckles says. Nobody answers him. Nobody can think how to without sounding incriminating.
'So... so what were they after then?' Amy asks nervously. 'I don't understand what all this is about.'
No one can answer that question. Cream shuffle uncomfortably, trying to wrestle with the idea of the nice doctor working for anybody who might wish them harm. Chris might have some suspicions but he refuses to speak them aloud no matter how firmly Chuck looks at him. Sonic remains silent, arms folded behind his head as he gazes up at the ceiling.
He hears them whispering on the rooftops.
he's working on a new set of programming at the time. It's been hours since they talked and talked without any answers appearing and he's been planning a few things in that time. Tails is dozing in a nearby chair, the others have all gone off to bed and Sonic... well, Sonic is on the roof, and he isn't alone as Chuck realises this when he hears muttering and movement.
Wait, hold on a second...'
'Urgh! A-my!'
'Oh don't be such a wimp, Sonic, you had a thorn in your quills, that's all.
'Ngh. What do you want?'
'Does a girl need a reason to talk to her boyfriend?'
'Amy...'
'Okay, okay. So really? I wanted to talk to you about this whole psychology thing... Sonic do you really think they think we're dangerous?
Chuck stays silent, fingers poised in the middle of a key code he will never complete. 'Think?' Sonic says eventually. 'Amy, I know they do.'
There is a long silence. '...Really?' This doesn't sound like it's the answer Amy wanted. 'You actually thought about it?'
'Yeah. Why, you surprised?'
'Well... just a little bit.'
'Hey, all that running around isn't all I do you know. I figured it out, before: the reason those government guys wanted to talk to us.'
'You did?'
'Yup.'
'Oh... you could've told us, you know. It's not like we would've reacted badly. And...'
'Yeah?'
'Well... there's some stuff I probably wouldn't have said if I'd known it was you that they were interested in. There are things that should be for your ears only, my darling.'
There's a noise which sounds rather like one hedgehog crash landing on another. 'Ngh, heeey Amy! Cut it out!'
'Hee!'
There is silence from several moments. Chuck continues typing and pretending he isn't eavesdropping.
'...It was nice.' Amy whispers.
'What's that?'
'Talking to Doctor Crowley. I know there's something funny going on here, and I know that maybe it would've been better not to say anything, Amy said quietly. But... it was still nice, talking to her about stuff. It was like... she really listened to everything. Even though she didn't understand it.'
'Yeah... guess I got that from her too. Kinda funny.'
I figured they were just interested in us, that's all,' Amy says, quietly. 'Then when they asked Chris to go in, I got... confused. I kept thinking: why would they want to know about him? He's not from our world.
The only way he's connected to our world is through us. That's when I figured,' she shuffles slightly, feet clattering on the tiles. 'That there was something weirder up with this. I can see now why Chuck was so worried about it.'
'Maybe so... we'll deal, though. Whatever it, it can't really be all that bad.'
'I... guess.'
Another silence. Sonic isn't one for conversation, but Chuck isn't one for letting comments go unnoticed. He waits patiently for someone else to speak.
'Hey, know what else the Doctor said?' Amy squeaks, sounding far more cheerful all of a sudden. 'She said that I should be honest with you. Completely honest, just be myself and then eventually you'd... Sonic? Sonic where did you? Heeeey get back here right now, hedgehog I wasn't finished talkiiing!'
Chuck smiles and goes back to his computer.
The idea of "Ethereal Edict" is drawn from a webcomic titled Gunnerkrigg Court, by Tom Siddell.
