THUNK.

Okay, in an orbiting space colony, a sound like that is never a good sign. Tails looked really worried, and Wheatley seemed confused. "Stay here." I told them, running off down the hall after Shadow.

Then I stopped. I was gonna have to apologize to Tails later. He was my little brother, but ever since dad came back I'd been leaving him out of everything. No, forget the apology. I was gonna fix it here and now. "Tails! Follow me! Leave Wheatley!" I called back down the hall. I could hear his namesakes swishing as he ran.

I'd explain to dad later. Hopefully we could soon become a three-person team without one of them feeling left out. Plus whatever it was that hit the station might've caused a hull breach. Tails and I would be fine, but I didn't want dad to get stranded there again. Not after what he had told me on the way to Aperture.

We found Shadow at an airlock, ear to the metal. Tails ran up to him, curious what he was listening for. Shadow pushed him back and said, "The ARK is in geosynchronous orbit, on a different path than Earth's satellites. Yet something managed to hit us."

He pulled off his left glove, placed his hand on a scanner near the airlock and waited. After a few seconds a computerized voice said, "Project Shadow. Clearance granted." He put his glove back on, muttered something about an inhibitor ring always being in the way, and punched a button in the center of the airlock.

Tails trembled a bit. "Whatever hit us… You're letting it in?" he asked as the doors slid open. A rush of air left the station, threatening to pull everyone out with it. I grabbed Tails by the wrist and ran backwards. I didn't actually go anywhere, but it kept us both from being sucked out.

Shadow on the other hand jumped out into space. Tails tightened his grip so I grabbed him by both arms this time. Then he started spinning his tails to push us back, the same reason I was running. We still didn't move.

Then, just as the wind was beginning to win, it stopped. The doors had been shut, and Shadow now stood there with something in his hands. Tails and I shot backwards down the hallway and slammed into a wall.

It took us a minute to clear our heads (Tails still seemed a bit dizzy though) before we went back to Shadow. He dropped what he had been holding on the floor. "Looks familiar, doesn't it Sonic?" I looked down at it, wondering what he meant.

It was a personality core, just like dad. It was silent though. Was it broken? My suspicions were shattered when it let out a piercing scream. "SPACE!" I covered my ears and fell to my knees, Shadow and Tails doing the same.

Finally the scream stopped. Dad had mentioned Space Core being stuck in orbit with him, but he'd never mentioned the core being corrupt. He must've gone insane after I left, because when I was still there he was normal. Well, as normal an Aperture AI can get. I first met him when I was seven.

I was sitting on the bed in my relaxation vault flipping through TV channels. There was never anything good on, but I always checked. There was a knock at my door, so I put the remote down and got off the bed to answer it.

Dad was at the door, swinging from his rail nervously. Wheatley was never nervous without a good reason. "Do I need to get the portal gun?" I asked him, worried that mom wanted more testing from me today.

"No. It's not that. Apparently she's willing to let you out of your vault for a few hours. I thought we'd go meet some of the other cores. What do you say, Sonic?" I smiled and nodded. This was a chance that might never come again.

Dad made a beeping noise and a glass elevator came up on the rail behind him. I stepped in and shut the door. Before long we were in what dad called a 'break room'. He said employees used to hang out here. I never questioned the lack of personnel.

Three other cores were there, each on their own rails. I got out of the lift and stepped into the room, excited to meet them. The one with the green optic introduced himself as 'Rick – The fearless adventure sphere'.

I assumed the pink one was a girl, but I was wrong. That one didn't have a name, it just called itself 'Fact Core' and claimed to know everything about anything. The third core had a yellow optic and was very enthusiastic about space.

"Hi there! I'm Space Core! Anything you need to know about space I can tell you! Space is wonderful! I wanna go there someday! Do you know what our galaxy is called? I do! Do you know how many planets are in the solar system? I do! Do you know-"

I stopped listening after that, focusing more on Rick's story about how he saved a beautiful young lady from savages. I didn't believe it, but it made me wonder if I would ever meet a girl who would like me.

Then Space Core got my attention again by mentioning that Earth had the only known life in the universe. That made me smile. I the only organic being in the whole facility. Now I had just been told that the outside world I wanted so badly to see was the only life in the whole universe. My world was just as lonely as me.

"Are you trying to burst my eardrums?" Shadow shouted, still holding his ears. Mine twitched when he shouted. "Don't yell. My ears have had enough for today." I looked over at Tails to check on him, only to find that he was staring at the window in the hall. "I'm surprised he didn't break the glass."

"Well I'm not surprised that Shadow's temper got the better of him." Said hedgehog was now holding Space Core against the wall, arguing with it. He was getting nowhere. All it kept saying was nonsense.

"Space! Space! Am I still in space? I wanna stay in space! Take me back to space!" I grabbed Shadow's arm before he could shatter the core's optic. "Would you beat up Omega if he malfunctioned?" I knew Shadow had a soft spot for robots, I just needed to find it.

"No." He lowered Space Core to the floor, but glared at it anyway. "I'll be right back." I ran off down the hall to where Wheatley had been left. He looked upset. "Am I not important enough to be in your life anymore?"

I apologized for leaving him and told him to follow. When he asked how I had to remind him of his boosters. When we arrived back at the airlock Tails was having a conversation with the core. "No, it's impossible for space to be someone's father." He said.

"Wheatley, I'd like you to get acquainted with the new arrival." Dad didn't look pleased to say the least. Shadow didn't seem pleased either. "Please do something about this robot before I murder it. It's driving me crazy!"

Tails crossed his arms. "Shadow, it's just having some problems. You don't need to kill it." he scolded. Tails was right. "Plus if you do, it might scream again. Nobody needs that." I added. A ringing noise came from back down the hall.

Shadow was there in a flash, probably wondering what else had disturbed his space station. Wheatley, Tails and I followed, my little brother carrying Space Core. The ringing was coming from a brown satchel near a pile of tools.

"Oh, that's mine." Tails said, picking up the bag. He rifled through it until he found the source of the sound. It looked like a really advanced watch. "Apparently the reminder function is trying to tell us something. Let me see…"

Hopefully it was good news. I did not need any more crazy stuff today. "Well?" I asked him. There was a pause before, "Got it. Sonic, you have a date with Amy in five minutes."


Author's Note:

It was really fun to write Space Core's dialogue. It was also really fun to write the scene with the airlock. The story needed more humor, so when the airlock shut again I figured it would be funny of Sonic and Tails didn't realize it soon enough and kept going backwards.

Portal fans will know what Tails means when he corrects Space Core about his father.