XXX scene change

ooo switch from past to present

X--X joke with Sonic in non-emo state, able to break the fourth wall

Chapter 14: The Power of Science

Vincent was typing away at the keyboard furiously. For the past few hours (and nights) he had been trying to create a program to access encrypted files without their owner noticing but so far, he had failed miserably. He hit the enter key again and again, but only the same error message, accompanied by that annoying beeping sound would pop up.

In a sudden fit of frustration and fury, he let out a guttural snarl and swore, ripping the keyboard from its cable and hurling it across the empty computer room. Immediately after that, he clutched his face in his hands, doubling over where he was sitting, nearly touching the surface in front of the screen with his sweaty forehead. He shivered, his breath hitching and coming out in rapid gasps.

Sweet Lord, what was the matter with him? Vincent knew he had not been getting enough sleep in the last few weeks, usually due to his spending all night in front of the computer, but that shouldn´t have been enough to sent him over the edge like that, even if he was frustrated. He breathed deeply, trying to calm himself and shuddered again. Slowly rocking back and forth, his heart gradually began slowing down once more.

The boy looked at the clock in the corner of the screen with blood-shot eyes, and raised his eyebrows upon realizing that it was already morning.

Jesus, he was really taking this too far.

The son of the General sighed and leaned back, looking at the mess he´d made of the keyboard when it had hit the wall. Vincent closed his eyes again, trying to shut out the image of the abused gadget and reality in one go.

No use.

He knew why he was like that! Reduced to an insommniac, always teetering on the edge of a temper tantrum or a depression. He knew it exactly.

It was that hedgehog.

Usually working on his computer would calm him. Not now, though. The reason why his project wouldn´t even advance one bit was that his thoughts continually drifted towards Maria and that wretched mutant who had stolen her away from him. Oh yes, he was jealous. But that wasn´t all there was to it.

He was also afraid.

In his opinion humans invented tools, robots and machines that would help them, fight for them, but never turn against them. The humans were in control.

Intelligent animals did not fit well into Vincent´s, or his father´s, scheme of the world. There should only be ONE intelligent race and that was them, period. And now there was this black-spined pest, speaking and breathing, walking around…and it was supposed to be the Ultimate.

What if that hedgehog suddenly decided it didn´t want to obey the scientists anymore? What if it would dare to hurt Maria? His hands trembled at the thought. What if that experiment turned out to be dangerous? He calmed himself again, before he could have another panic attack and thought more rationally. The creature didn´t seem to be very powerful at least. Just pathetically clumsy.

Still, it wouldn´t do to let a potential danger like that out of sight. Also, the animal should be put back into its place, lest any ideas about a status equal to that of a human should form in its mind. It was a slave, an object and should be treated as such.

Vincent kicked the keyboard on the floor aside and stood up.

Maybe he should talk to his father about his worries. He thought that his old man probably would just wave him off, but it was still worth a try. At least he could show him that way that his son truly cared about what was going on aboard the ARK;…Vincent´s steps became quicker, his breath constricting in his throat as he imagined just getting one kind word out of his father…he swallowed hard and stepped into the office, trying to keep himself composed.

XXX

Shadow awoke to the sound of distant voices. Due to his nocturnal trips and the scientists who rarely let him have a moment´s peace during the day, however, he still felt rather sleepy and just turned over to doze off again.

Random bits of the conversation floated through his mind…

XXX

"Can I, Grandpa? Can I?" Maria´s eyes shone excitedly as she was leaning on Gerald´s desk, her hands on his papers effectively preventing him from getting even the smallest step further with his work.

"I´m not too sure about that, Maria…" he stroked his moustache hesitatingly.

"Pretty please? He has been out with me before, don´t forget! And now that you have confirmed that he´s intelligent and all, you can´t really say anything against it anymore! I´ve read it up on the internet, it´s against sapient´s rights to keep them confined if they haven´t committed a crime." She smiled sweetly, fully knowing that her grandfather was now pretty much a trapped lab rat.

And she the scientist with the genetically enhanced killer cat in her arms.

"Well?"

"Oh, Maria…" Gerald sighed in sorrow, knowing that he had already lost. "…alright. You can take him out and around the ARK."

"Thank you!" The girl flung herself over the table and hugged the old man. Gerald was startled and gently pried her away, not wishing that she caught something from his skin…

"At the moment I don´t have that much use for him anyway, I need to complete this project here…"

"What is it?" She was standing opposite him once more, now leaning over and trying to read the papers upside down.

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with. It shall be revealed soon enough."

"Is it something to do with Shadow?"

"Well…yes."

"Is it a present for him?!" she clapped her hands, "Oh Grandpa, you´re the best!"

"Yes…no…in a way, Maria, please calm down!" He looked at her beaming face, his own creased with worry. He actually didn´t know why he was doing this himself, when he should rather be working on the cure for his grandchild…he shook his head sadly.

Maria´s smile faded. "Grandpa, is something wrong?"

"Oh, my angel…I don´t know how to tell you this…"

ooo

"Will he tell her that she has to die?"

Shadow looked up at Sonic, surprised. There was no emotion discernible on the the face of his counterpart and the black hedgehog wondered why the other had asked him that.

"Not exactly, no."

Sonic nodded absently. He was wondering what had made him ask, too. If Maria was to die, then…Shadow would lose his closest friend as well...

A few months ago, shortly after Tails´ death, that thought would have seemed appealing to Sonic. Let everyone else suffer like him for good.

A few weeks ago, when he had already retreated into his isolation, it wouldn´t really have mattered to him anyway. Who was he to care about another useless living being?

Now, however…Shadow´s story had brushed over a lot of old memories of a life he hadn´t thought was his anymore. A life he had tried his best to forget. And there was something definitely stirring inside him now…hadn´t he once been a hero?

A hero who cared about dying people...

He shook himself vigorously, trying to get away from those thoughts that still hurt too much. Better to focus on the story.

ooo

"What? What do you need to tell me?"

XXX

In his nest, Shadow noticed the voices now sounding more concerned and worried, but was still too drowsy to get up. He curled into a ball once again, convincing himself that it was just for five more minutes…

XXX

"About your little friend, Shadow…" He paused yet another time, looking distinctly unhappy with the world in general.

"Grandpa! Please, just tell me what it is!"

Gerald hesitated. He really didn´t want to talk about that to her, had no desire to burden her young mind with such heavy loads. At the same time, however, the scientist himself felt that he was going to shatter if he couldn´t share his troubles with someone who´d understand him. Cursing himself for his own weakness, he said: "Maria…so far, I haven´t yet found a way to heal you without sacrificing Shadow in the process."

ooo

"Oh my gods! Does that mean that in the end she will have to make a desperate choice between friendship and her own life?!"

Shadow glared at Sonic who, complete with tissue paper clutched tightly to his chest, was now kneeling on the table, staring at him wide-eyed and breathless, their faces mere inches away from each other.

"Please, Shadow, tell me! I can´t stand the suspense!" Sonic was actually managing to let his eyes glisten with fake tears. That was much better – let some jokes drown the confusion that was trying to overwhelm him again…

"Get away from me, Sonic. If you don´t like my story, tell me, but stop goofing around."

He pushed the blue hedgehog back and had to resist the urge to slap him for ruining such a touching moment.

Besides, that was how it had happened, dammit! He was not being melodramatic!

ooo

Maria looked at him as if she had been frozen in ice, all colour from her pale cheeks drained. He averted his gaze, not able to meet the fear, or worse, the silent accusation that he knew would show in her eyes.

For a few moments they just stood there, the old man and the young girl, both bathed in the cold blue rays of the neon lamps that were the suns of the space colony.

"Grandfather…"

She spoke softly, and Gerald almost couldn´t believe his ears. Far from despair, sadness or fury the voice of his grandchild actually held something else. Hesitatingly he raised his head and let his stare travel over the features of Maria, which were curved into a slight smile and seemed to show…could it be hope?

"Grandfather…" she started again and oddly enough, the use of this formal address instead of the affectionate form made her sound years older. She now seemed to be a young adult rather than a child, even if she hadn´t even reached her fourteenth birthday yet.

Maria opened her mouth and chose her words carefully.

"If I had been born a hundred years earlier, I would never have lived long enough to walk on my own feet. But I am alive now, through the power of science. And one day, science will also ensure that I can be…" she paused, but forced herself to continue, "..healed." Her voice trembled a little, but there was still that same, slightly sad smile on her lips.

"You told that to me, once. Do you remember? You said that through research and determination mankind has always been trying to reach for the stars, grab the tails of comets and create the sun themselves. You said that from the Stone Age until now science has always achieved that what had been deemed impossible. And I believe in that, grandfather. I believe that everything which seems unattainable now, might one day become reality through the power of science. Even healing me without hurting Shadow." She looked at him expectantly and also somewhat anxious, revealing that underneath that sharp intelligence a young girl still cowered, needing reassurance.

Gerald reached down and hugged her tightly, silently in awe of his own grandchild. A Robotnik through and through. And then growing up among nothing but scientists and labs…

Although slightly worrying about Maria´s path in the future – and thinking about his other grandson, Ivo – he nevertheless felt new hope surging through his old heart as well.

He stood up and laid a hand on her shoulder as if she was his colleague.

"Nothing is impossible, eh?"

She grinned. " Nothing. We´re scientists!"

Gerald winked. "What about surpassing the speed of light?"

Maria groaned, exasperated. "You just had to bring Einstein up, hadn´t you?!"

He gave a very rare smirk. "Couldn´t resist. But I think you´re right. I will find a way to cure you without sacrificing our hedgehog. And I think you can take him out to play now, he´s probably already awake."

And I think that it´s about time for me to start teaching you personally, too…he mused as he watched her scampering off to Shadow´s cage. A female in the Robotnik line…hmm…

ooo

"Wait a minute, as Super Sonic I am able to go at the speed of light!" But he hadn´t gone Super for a long, long time…

Shadow rolled his eyes. "Suuuure you are."

"I am so! You´re just jealous."

The black hedgehog cocked an eyebrow. "Sonic, if you were actually able to travel at approximately 300 000, 000 metres per second you wouldn´t only screw up every single physics class ever held, but you also couldn´t see a goddamned thing, at least, nothing that would make sense."

"Huh?"

"Well, the rays of light make you see the world, but they too need time to reach you. If you were rushing around at the same speed as them, you would either end up seeing frozen images, complete darkness or you might even be glancing at the past!" Shadow, having had listened to a lot of Maria´s science classes, felt incredibly smug.

"Do you understand that?"

"…can we just go back to the nice, simple story?"

To be continued...

Right, for those who asked, i just threw in one page of Vincent although I had actually planned not to use him until some time later. I hope you liked his appearance though, and a confrontation with Shadow should follow up soon. :)

Next update might take some time, but boy, it´s gonna be a big one...

Also, one reason why this chapter was late was that I found it insanely difficult to write, especially that part with Maria. I definitely need some feedback on how you thought the conversation went. Interesting? Weird? Clichéd? Sappy?

Please tell me!