"I don't suppose either of you noticed which way Blaze went?" Sonic asked, having lost her trail of broken robots.
"No, I was kinda busy." Vector wheezed. He wasn't used to running as fast as he had been to try and keep up. The hedgehog had called it 'a slow run' but had failed to state whom it would be considered slow for.
"This looks like a good place to rest," Tails said for a moment. "But there's one thing I don't understand," he said looking to the hedgehog, "What did the monster mean when he said you'd got your request Sonic?"
"Trust me," the hedgehog replied, "You don't want to know."
"But you asked them for something?" Tails said. He was genuinely curious now. "So what did you ask for?"
Sonic mustered up the sincerest, most serious face he could, "believe me Miles," he said, "You do not want to think about it."
Tails was going to question that statement. The young fox knew he was smart. He knew Sonic knew he was smart, and the pair both accepted that of the two of them, Tails was generally smarter. But Tails also knew that this probably wasn't the moment to delve too deeply. After all, Sonic had used his name, his real name, the one Sonic never used. "You can try to tell me later," Tails eventually said.
"Buddy, when I've made sense of it all I'll write it all down. I'll even write in fancy Italians."
"Italics," Vector corrected. His thoughts turned to his comrades. "I wondah, what Mighty and Charmy are uptah. Knowin' them they're probably gettin' tah dah bottom of this mystahry."
"At this point," Sonic replied, "I think it's obvious Egghead's behind everything. If we can stop him, we can probably crack your case, and save the day."
"Well Mighty already said most dah missin' stuff was in dem special zones. He says he found some when you two took him intah one. Dah question now is how dah we get dem out?"
Sonic took a moment before shrugging off the question. He had no idea. In all his experiences, the only thing he'd ever successfully removed was emeralds, and the occasional bruise from a bomb.
"So what's our next move?" Tails asked as he looked down three identical corridors that all branched off from the end of their current one.
"Blaze is looking for the Sol Emerald right?" Sonic asked rhetorically. "So we might find her where that is."
"Yeah, but where's dat?" the crocodile said. "An' how does she even know where dat is?"
"I've got nothing," the hedgehog concluded, "What about you Tails?"
"I'm yet to properly develop an energy wave signature for Sol energy, so I can't detect them like I can Chaos Emeralds." The fox explained. "Also, I don't have my Chaos Energy Scanner with me, so even if I could it would be a moot point."
"So which way?" the hedgehog finally asked.
"Forwards," Vector said, "If Blaze came this way, an' was trying' tah get away from dah Monstah's she'd've gone the furthest way, so forwards."
"That makes sense," Tails said as the three of them moved forwards. They ventured through the facility, scouring every nook and cranny for some sign of anyone. Vector had tried contacting Charmy and Mighty, but had been unable to get an answer in any of his attempts. The three passed through storage areas, factories, and all kinds of bizarre and vaguely scientific looking equipment that only Tails could hazard a guess at the purpose of, and even then struggled to explain to the others.
They entered yet another laboratory, this one all full of all kinds of computers, all doing various things. Just inside the doorway stood the remains of two destroyed badniks. Their metal was in shreds, and whatever unfortunate animal had been powering them had long since fled, if they were lucky they got out, if not, they probably ended up back in the assembly line.
And in the corner, stood a purple, vaguely echidna-esque robot. It's glance focused on a computer screen, it's optical sensors eyeing over a lot of complicated technical information. The robot was transfixed on it, though none of the three animals at the other end of the room could tell quite what it was looking at.
Then it turned to face them. "Prime Server," it said as its entire body swivelled in place, starting first with its head, then its waist followed by it turning its feet towards the hedgehog. It lurched slightly forwards, its legs moving jerkily and its body swaying as it did, with its eyes transfixed on Sonic the entire time. "Sorry," it continued, "I don't think I ever asked you your name before?"
"It's Sonic," the hedgehog said, "Sonic the hedgehog."
"Ah yes," the machine nodded, "I've been reading about you. That Robotnik fellow, he has a lot of information on you. Is it true you've only lost to him once?"
"Whats your game?" Vector asked.
"I'm sorry? My 'game'?" the robot replied.
"We're here to stop you, so whatever it is you're doing, stop it!" Tails chipped in.
"You're here to stop me reading?" the machine asked. It lurched forwards once more, putting itself a few feet in front of the hedgehog. All the while Sonic was focused on it. "Listen mister... 'the hedgehog', this may surprise you with what you've heard about your destiny, but I'm not actually interested in fighting you."
"You're not?" Tails asked. "But then why did the other two attack us?"
"This may be hard to accept," the robot said, "but despite our hive mind, we don't always agree with each other."
"So what is going on?" Sonic asked. "What are you doing?"
"What do you know of us Sonic?" the monster asked, "What do you really know?"
"I know you're up to no good, and that it's my job to stop you. What more could I need?"
The robot shook its head. "You're quite stubborn you know. Keen to rush in, quite reckless, eager to go forwards without thinking about what lays ahead."
"Yeah, and I still score a lot of victories through it. What makes you think you're any different?"
"Perhaps that I'm not playing the 'game', as it were." The robot replied. "In all honesty," the robot continued, "I think you're interesting."
Sonic was slightly taken aback by this. Sure, he'd heard lots of people say how he's had an interesting life over the years, but he never expected to hear it from one of Robotnik's machines, much less one that he was somehow destined to fight with. It was one of the most unexpected things he could've heard from the machine.
"I don't want to be your enemy Sonic," the monster said, "Some of the others might, but I have long lost the enthusiasm for it. It dawned on me after centuries alone to think about it, if not longer; I no longer desire the battle we're supposed to have."
"If ya really wanted tah help," Vector said, "Ya can tell us where we can find dah purple weesil."
"That," the robot replied, its body shuddering slightly as it did, "I can't do. Sorry, I may not wish for the fight, but I still can't let you interfere with our goals. But I can tell you where Robotnik is currently, and if you're as quick as they say you are Sonic, you just might be able to prevent him from his plans to hijack the warps."
"What?" Tails asked, "What's he doing?"
"He's trying to use them to teleport around your world," the robot lied, "But he doesn't realise how much harm he is doing. His 'science' is going to damage everything."
Sonic immediately took the directions from the machine and sped off as fast as he could, while Tails and Vector followed behind. Dutifully the robot returned to the machine. Using the electrical equipment within its body, the monster was able to manipulate the data much faster than any living being, and carefully the monsters scoured through the rest of Robotnik's archives, looking for his promised inventions
"He certainly is interesting though," the monster thought, "Will definitely need to keep an eye on him."
