Chapter 11 – "Despair"
A warm breeze drifted through the open windows of the meeting hall, stirring the candle flames in the pierced tin lamps that hung from the rafters overhead. Moths fluttered through the air, their wings beating a soft, dusty report. At the table's head, Rotor gave an account on the progress of the new Mobianizer.
Sally tapped her fingers.
Bunnie nudged Sally's elbow lightly, startling the princess out of gloomy thoughts and back to attention. Sally ducked her head slightly and stilled her hand, forcing herself to focus on Rotor's explanation again as he talked about how far he, Tails, and Uncle Chuck had come on the device. Things were sounding good—if slow—so far. That was good news, at least. After Knuckles' departure two days ago, Sally could use the bright spot right now. As it was, she had a lot to work out. Like how they were going to get Sonic back out of Robotropolis.
Something bumped her elbow, and she jumped slightly as Bunnie drew her attention back to the meeting room. Antoine gave her an odd look from across the table. Sally ceased her tapping again and tried to listen better. The walrus continued his explanation of the machine, detailing which parts they still needed—Tails held item lists—and gave a projected time-frame for completion. Not overly optimistic; they were looking at a week at least, likely more.
At least that gave Sally a bit more leeway with figuring out who could manage to subdue the hedgehog 'bot. Not that they really had anyone in the village of the same caliber as Knuckles. Except Sonic, that is, but...well, Sonic wasn't really available. That was the whole point. And Sally wasn't entirely sure she could risk any of the other Freedom Fighters on this mission, not after seeing what the 'bot had done to Knuckles. The Guardian was far stronger than anyone else in Knothole, and he had been quite thoroughly broken by the fight. What could the 'bot do to someone else, like Rotor or Antoine, or even Bunnie?
The rabbit poked Sally again, and the princess glanced up surprised, her hand falling still from its tapping once more. Everyone was looking at her. Rotor looked expectant, if a bit confused at Sally's distraction. "Um..." Sally said, at a loss for words.
"Er, I just asked what you thought of the progress so far, Sally," Rotor repeated timidly, slightly derailed by having to repeat himself.
"Sorry, I'm...a bit preoccupied right now." Sally gestured at Rotor's diagrams. "It's looking good."
Rotor smiled, glancing only briefly at Sally's fingers which had started tapping again, softly.
Sally interrupted her own wandering thoughts this time by raising her hand. "Rotor, can the Mobianizer be made portable, by any chance?"
The walrus glanced at the schematics, then over at Uncle Chuck, who shook his silver-blue head sadly. "Sorry, Sally," the old hedgehog said. "The machinery is too complex and too delicate to be able to make portable like that, especially with the materials we have. We've had to actually clear out a large portion of Rotor's workshop just to fit what we have so far."
"Hmm." Sally chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully. "What about making disruptors, to disable a robot for a bit?"
Rotor's eyes widened as he realized what she was getting at. "Unfortunately, that would take time and parts away from the Mobianizer. If I could even pull one together, which I'm not sure if I can."
"Not only that," Bunnie added, "wouldn' that require someone gettin' close enough to the sugar-hog long enough to put it on him?"
Sally nodded grimly. "I know. I'm just...trying to consider all the options we currently have."
Across the table, Antoine muttered, "Not that ze Guardian left us with ze too many options to make ze choosing." Sally shot the coyote a dark look, and he closed his mouth with a snap.
Rotor rolled up his schematics, finished with his presentation, as Sally stood and moved to the head of the table. Now that she was in charge of the discussion, it was easier to keep her attention focused on the group gathered around the long, polished table rather than wander off on worries and problems that couldn't be resolved right away. Her lead Freedom Fighters looked back at her, those who had made up the original group all those years ago. All looked at her with respect and trust, knowing Sally would never give less than her all for the good of her people.
She hoped she could live up to their expectations.
Placing Nicole on the table, Sally asked the palm computer to pull up the plans she'd been working on before Knuckles' departure. She gestured to the display, showing a diagram of the Emerald factory. "First, our sabotage mission on the Emerald factory is on hiatus until I can make new plans. It's just too dangerous with the hedgehog 'bot roaming free. If we encounter it, there's a good chance someone else would end up hurt, or worse."
The others nodded grimly. While they had as much enthusiasm as any about the mission—minus Antoine, of course—they also had a healthy dose of realism.
"Additionally, these fake Emeralds...could they possibly be used in some way, like in our harmonizer? If they reverted Sonic back to his original state, wouldn't they do the same to the roboticized Mobians?"
Rotor cleared his throat. "Based on readings you guys have brought back, the manufactured Emeralds give off more than enough energy to power our machinery, but..." He glanced over at Uncle Chuck.
"The Chaos energy they channel is highly volatile," the hedgehog explained. "We don't know what they could do to our machines in the long run. And if we try to use them to revert the other workers back, well..." He paused, trying to find the right phrasing. "Such unstable power can have negative effects on those it touches. You and Blake both felt ill around it, right?"
Sally nodded. "A bit, yes."
"You heard Knuckles' account of his fight with Sonic. He became violently sick."
"But why?" Bunnie asked.
Sally glanced down at Nicole, hearing the Guardian's report in her mind again, realization dawning. "He's more sensitive to Chaos energy."
Uncle Chuck nodded.
"But what about ze worker-bots? Zey are not having ze sensitivity, n'est-ce pas?" Antoine asked.
"When I went back to the city yesterday to pick up a few small things we needed, I did some searching into the factory. There were workers who were near the factory when Robotnik first put it into production."
Everyone around the table gasped. Sally frowned. "Then that means..."
"Yes." Uncle Chuck nodded. "Some reverted. That's why Robotnik recalled all the workers from that area and sent in non-Mobian drones instead."
"But what about the people who reverted?" Tails asked in a small voice, sitting next to Rotor and fidgeting with one of his fluffy tails.
Uncle Chuck's red eyes dimmed slightly, his voice shaking a bit. "Their minds were affected. Those who weren't driven mad became inert instead. They were alive and awake, but...unresponsive."
"Like their brains were out to lunch?" Rotor whispered.
The elderly hedgehog nodded. "All have since been roboticized again, but even now there are problems with them. Malfunctioning at odd times, stopping in the middle of tasks without warning, the like."
"Then you're right. We can't risk using the Emeralds ourselves." Sally didn't voice the other concern that now nibbled and nagged at the back of her mind, and put her fist to her mouth for a moment to hold in a soft whimper at the thought of what might have happened to Sonic's mind. He'd seemed all right when she had thrown him the power ring, but he'd only been conscious for a brief moment before the robotic AI had taken over again. What was he going through? What was the experience doing to the hedgehog she'd grown fond of?
Bunnie coughed. "So what's the plan then, Sally-girl?"
The princess sighed, then gathered herself together, wearing her "leader" mask once more. "We're in a stalemate. I need time to think about this. Until I can come up with something, we do nothing. I don't want anyone going to Robotropolis without my express permission. I just can't risk losing anyone else. Sir Charles, Rotor, Tails, please keep working on the Mobianizer. It's currently our best bet to get Sonic back." The named trio nodded, Tails still shivering. He was really too young for all this responsibility, Sally thought, but there was nothing that could be done. They needed all the help they could get. If Sonic had been there, he'd be reminding Sally that he'd been running missions at an even earlier age.
But Sonic wasn't there, and without his snarky, hotshot support Sally felt lost and alone.
Two hours later, Sally sat on a fallen tree somewhere deep in the Great Forest, crying quietly where no one could see.
She'd headed out right after the meeting, tossing a water bottle and a few trail mix bars into her pack and leaving Bunnie in charge of the village for a while. Sally'd claimed she just needed to clear her head, and it was true to an extent. A princess never really had the luxury of time to indulge in tears. She was always in the spotlight, always expected to be the strong, stoic leader for her people. If the people saw their leader falter, they would lose hope.
So she had to find solitude in order to let all the pain and frustration out, out here in the forest where no one would see and judge her. Bunnie had quipped that Sally was going on one of Sonic's characteristic "runs," albeit much slower.
The warm summer breeze rustled the trees around her, oblivious to her presence as it stirred through the flowers and shrubs on the forest floor. Birds chirped in the treetops, squirrels skittered up trees, and buzzing insects droned in the fresh air. Here and there through the underbrush, the coppery glint of naturally-occurring power rings sparkled. The tranquility belied the inner turmoil the princess felt.
Eventually she sniffled and wiped her eyes with the hem of her vest, took several deep breaths, and stood up to resume her hike. She felt a little better at least. Crying had been cathartic, even if it didn't solve any of her immediate problems. Now she could focus better on trying to come up with a solution to the problem of how to rescue Sonic.
Sending a small strike team of Freedom Fighters was out. Without Knuckles, there was no one in the village strong enough to last against the 'bot long enough to subdue it, and the 'bot was incredibly lethal. Sally and Kris had been lucky the time they'd faced it. Using robotics disruptors would have to wait until Rotor and Uncle Chuck could take the time to develop them, which couldn't be until after the Mobianizer was finished. Sally couldn't run the risk of trying to contain a robotic assassin in a village with noncombatants before the machine was ready.
She took a break to wipe sweat from her brow and fish her water bottle out of her pack, and hesitated when she felt her fingers brush against something hard and cold that tingled a bit against her fingers. It vibrated very softly against her hand, and she knew immediately what it was even before she pulled it out of her pack.
A power ring.
Unlike the slightly smaller rings that hovered among the ground cover, fat and bright copper in color, this ring was larger and golden. The bright metallic yellow seemed to swirl within the ring shape itself, like a confined storm of light, and Sally could feel the hum of energy within it, even if it didn't respond to her touch. Only Sonic could use these power rings to their full potential. His uncle had designed them that way.
Sally glanced back into her pack, where another ring glowed within the depths. She'd forgotten these were still in here, collected the past two evenings just in case. Better to have them on hand should they run into the hedgehog 'bot—Sonic—again, than let them go to waste in the ring pool.
The sight of the ring sparked a thought. Maybe...would two power rings last longer than the one did the other night? And how much longer?
Sally glanced up through the trees at the sun above. If she hurried, she could make Robotropolis by nightfall. Could she bring Sonic back herself? Did she dare? It was risky, and if something happened to her no one in Knothole would know.
She shook her head. It was a stupid idea, born of desperation and tantamount to suicide. The 'bot was too strong, and Knothole needed her too much for her to risk herself like that. Better to continue to collect the power rings for when they could finally go after Sonic as a team.
Tucking the ring back in her pack, she turned and started the hour-long hike back to Knothole, working on her plans as she walked.
Crashing through trees, leaving ragged scars in his wake. Scorched foliage, furrows in the earth from rending spines like blades.
Hunting. Searching for signs of people, searching for targets. For the master's prey.
No. Must...stop...
Charging on. Driving the creatures of the forest ahead, carnage behind.
Power like a miniature sun burning inside, darkness in its weft, a black nova in his core.
Hunt.
No...
Hunt and kill.
No!
Kill!
Red at the edges of his vision. Pain within the void-prison of his mind, fury woven through the threads that held him bound. Fury bled into his mind, wrapped itself around him, burned within him, even as he tried to push it out.
Sensors scanned through the forest. Wildlife fled in terror.
A voice in his mind cackled in twisted euphoria.
Another groaned in revulsion and tried to pull in on itself again, to shut out the nightmare.
Sensors flashed. Ahead, a viable target. Freedom fighter or unfortunate civilian, it didn't matter. It was alone.
Priority One...
A flash of red hair, brown fur, blue vest as he bore down on it, intent on murder.
Sally glanced up in horror as the roar of boosting machinery thundered out, and a whirlwind of metallic blue and tan blades burst from the forest, driving straight at her.
Author's Notes: I liked writing the opening scene of this chapter, with Sally distracted for once and exploring how she handles that. I also liked having a chance to give a bit more detail on the differences between the two types of power ring in this version of Mobius.
Reviews are more than welcome. I'd love to hear how you're liking (or not) the story so far!