(AN: After so long, when I REALLY should have gotten this out sooner, it's time for the investigation! We're on the final homestretch, so be sure to keep your eyes out for the last remaining clues!
Let's try and wrap this up as fast as we can, alright?)
A large amount of Egg Robos sat lined up in chairs, wearing their graduation caps and gowns as the Egg Robo speaker made his way to a podium. He began to tap on the microphone, a loud noise blaring through the speakers as some of the robots covered their ears in pain.
"To our lovely graduates;" he began. "In the time you've been here, you've learned about what it means to be a dweller of despair. Since the day you arrived here, the despair you held in your heart existed, but with each grueling lesson, each grueling test, you learned how to unleash more and more of your despair. And now! This bright and hopeless day marks the end of our time at this wonderful zone! HOWEVER! The days we learned about despair will lead us to guidance as we continue to fill our world with despair and smash the concept of hope!"
The Egg Robo speaker put his hands on the podium, gripping it tightly. "All of us in this room were able to wallow in despair because we were born and molded into it. And as you walk out of this graduation ceremony, may the hopeless sense of despair weigh on your hearts for the rest of your lives… for today… you're all graduates of the Zone of Despair!"
The audience and the graduates cheered as the latter threw up their hats in celebration, eager to use what they'd learned to start worldwide despair…
"If I'm gonna start this investigation on my own, I'll need to find a good start. Do I still have the EggPAD on me?" I asked myself, digging through my pants and coat pockets. Sure enough, I was able to find it in my front coat pocket, shocked that it wasn't damaged on my fall into the garbage shoot. Starting it up, I went through the documents once again.
"Victim #7, unknown
Due to the explosion, the identity of the victim is currently unknown. What can be deduced from the body however is that, even before the explosion, the unknown victim was already dead. The victim had been stabbed through the chest with a knife, they had a bullet hole in the same area where they had been stabbed and was also hit with a blunt object. There were other wounds on the body, but it seems to be more than 24 hours old."
Once we find out who killed Infinite, we'll know who the mastermind is. The problem was, with every room being open, there was FAR too much I could pick. Maybe I could go back to the scene?
"No, I bet Egg Robo probably cleaned it up already," I said, pacing in a circle. "Maybe the locked rooms had another secret? There's a few in mind; the headmaster's room, the bio lab, that Egg Robo door, so many choices to pick. There's the second-floor dorms, too. Oh, but… maybe I should go back to the garden and the roof for clues. Gah, I'm indecisive, huh?!"
I shook my head. Better to ignore what my mind wanted me to think versus what I should have been doing. Getting out my PAD and my stylus, I opened up my notepad and started a new document, writing down the places I needed to go in a list.
Making my way out of the dining hall, I looked at my list. Seeing that I was closest to the second-floor dorms, I decided to make my trek there first. As I reached the stairwell past the warehouse, I looked at the grey stairs leading up towards a far darker hallway above. I swallowed, not wanting to know what was in there.
"But still… I need a reason to know why Egg Robo kept this place locked for as long as he did," I said. With one deep breath, I walked up the stairs as I watched the lights from below get slowly dimmer. As I finally reached the second floor, I stopped.
In front of me was a hallway that LOOKED the same as the dorms on a construction level. However, on every OTHER level…
The walls were cracked open, rocks scattered all over the ground. The lights were dim and flickering, making me think someone was going to appear in between each flicker of the lights. This entire area looked like it wasn't even finished or looked like someone tried to destroy it but gave up halfway through and just abandoned it.
I looked behind me, hoping no one was following me before making my way forwards. Looking at how decrepit everything was reminded me of one of my biggest fears: fear of the unknown. I remember I used to get teased by some of my friends whenever they used to camp and I didn't want to go because I wasn't sure what was out there. But the thing was, I was more afraid at whatever would be outside and I wouldn't have the pleasure of knowing who or what it was. See, monsters and stuff like that okay, I likely would be prepared if I knew a place had a certain monster but it's different when you're in a dark empty field and you don't know WHO is making that certain noise but it isn't another person. It doesn't help that once I woke up to a movie about a group of friends who get stalked by a strange woman who they can't even see and it ends with them in a dark empty house with plenty of noises but no sight of anyone or anything.
That feeling I got when I watched that movie when I was a kid was the same feeling I got as I traversed through the narrow hallway.
….
You know, sometimes I wonder if maybe my fear about very specific situations seem to come from some kinda movie I wasn't supposed to see growing up…
Shaking my head, I started to buzz towards the cracked walls, hoping that no one or nothing could jump out at me. Upon seeing nothing, I continued to go forwards as I noticed the dried-up blood on the floors, and then to my right was a blue hallway with barely any lights. You can imagine I didn't go there first.
Passing by a collapsed wall, I noticed there was a girls bathroom down the hall. Sure, it was abandoned but did I REALLY need to be there? Shaking my head, I poked my head into the boys bathroom. There wasn't anything of note, but I noticed that for how decrepit the hallway was, the boys bathroom seemed to be completely untouched with very expensive black tiling on the floors and walls. Ignoring that, I noticed that there was a mirror that showed another room with not a lot of lighting. There wasn't much, but I took notice of a symbol I had seen a few years back in geography class. Turning my head, I noticed a yellow door with some kind of cartoon drawing on it. Wondering what it was, I opened the door only for it to reveal many lockers lined up against one another. I noticed that many of them were boarded up or destroyed, leaving only a few intact.
"Sure is filled with lockers… who could they have belonged too? Former students of Green Hills?" I asked myself. "Maybe I should see if I can open one of the not so damaged ones…"
Buzzing over to a perfectly fine locker, I tried to get it open, but to no avail. I didn't see any kind of lock, so it SEEMED weird at first, until I noticed a PAD reader atop where the locker would open.
"Let's see if this works," I said, pulling out my PAD to see if it'll work. However, when I scanned my PAD, a large BUZZ noise played as the green light of the reader turned red.
"Damn… guess maybe the locker's owner can only open this. Now what? Should I tried another?"
But sure enough, when I attempted to open another locker, I got the same result. And again, and again…
Defeated, I left the room and continued to head down the hall, passing by a drawing of an eye to my right as I turned right at the end of the hall and found a single door. Entering inside, I was rather surprised when I took my first steps. Unlike the various rooms I had been to before, this had more of an adults vibe to it.
"It's nothing like downstairs…" I said.
"That's cause it ain't," a sudden voice said. I jumped, realizing that it was Vector who said that.
"Jeez, don't scare me like that!"
"Sorry. Just… we're in the headmaster's room right now."
"The… headmaster's room? But isn't that room on the fourth floor-"
"That's his office. THIS is his personal room. Been through here plenty of times but…" Vector sighed. "I got one little regret, so I decided to check it out again. Couldn't find it yet… oh well…"
Vector turned around to look at the large bookcase next to him. It almost seemed like he was in deep thought about something, but what was it? I wasn't too sure.
I decided to examine the bookshelf that Vector was looking at, where I found a computer turned on. This clearly must have belonged to the headmaster. Maybe there was some info we could use?
I walked towards the computer and as soon as I grabbed the mouse, Vector spoke up. "Ya aren't the only one wanting answers from that computer. Looks like whoever used it last wanted info 'bout the Ultimate Despair."
My heart skipped a beat when I heard that.
"It still has some info too," the crocodile continued. I looked at him.
"So, you're saying we can get some dirt on the Ultimate Despair?!"
"Eh, not much though. It's stuff we already know, like how its not just one person but a group of people, behind The Great Calamity, and how they only live for despair. That's all there is. Tch, sounds like my uncle. A failed excuse fer a detective…"
"I-I mean, any info works, right?"
"I guess."
I knew The Ultimate Despair was going to be important to this trial, so I wrote them down as my first clue.
After getting off the leather chair, I began to buzz around to look for something else to examine. However, I only made it a few feet forward before I felt a sudden breeze.
"Wait a moment…" I thought to myself, turning my head to the left and seeing a wall. I squinted my eyes, only to notice that the wall had a weird gap. From far away, it was hard to tell. But now that I was up close…
I began to buzz towards the wall, feeling it. It still felt like a wall but…
"There's somethin' on the other side," Vector said.
"You mean there's a hidden room? Man, it's like your uncle is some kinda comic book villain!"
"I think villians are more appealin' than mah uncle."
"Know how to open it?"
"I think so. It's so painfully easy, it's like he wasn't even hidin' anythin'. There was a program on the computer to control the wall openin'. Only problem is, ya need a password. Now, what it is? I'm… not too sure. It could be anythin' really."
"You think he named it something immature?"
"C'mon Charmy, mah uncle may be a terrible person but he ain't a kid. Think real."
"I'm outta options."
"Nothin' in this room seems to even hint as to what the password could be. I searched through file after file, corner after corner, nothin'. Ironic that all the time I wasted on this crap is just the same amount of time that I wasted feelin' sad that he abandoned me."
My face fell. The more and more I heard about Vector's issues with his uncle, the more I felt bad for him. Heaven only knows what could happen if we finally find the headmaster.
But still…
I looked at the wall, wondering what the password could be. If Vector couldn't figure it out, what in the heck would suggest I could do that?!
…unless the password was something Vector never considered.
"Vector… I think I have an idea as to what the password is," I said. The crocodile turned to face me. "Your name!"
His expression turned surprised with a mix of… sadness? Anger? "Whaddya mean?" he asked.
"D-Don't take it as me knowing what it is! It's just a solid guess!"
But I did have a strong argument. With how Vector talked about his uncle, the last thing he ever wanted to think about was him in a positive light. But here he was, using Vector's name as his password. Does that mean that deep down?...
No, I HAD to try.
"Can… can we just make sure that it works?" I asked. Vector rolled his eyes and breathed out his nose.
"Suit yerself."
I looked at him as I buzzed back to the computer. Sitting on the chair, I pulled up the keyboard and looked at the main screen. Only to realize…
"…hey, which program is it?" I asked. "To open the wall I mean."
"Should be ," Vector replied. Turning back around in my chair, I double clicked the program as a textbox on screen asked for a password. I typed 'VECTOR' and just as I was about to press enter, I turned to look back at the crocodile.
"Dun look at me. It was yer guess after all. I just know yer wrong anyway but if it makes ya feel better…" he said. I turned around and pressed enter.
When I did, the password prompt disappeared from the screen as the screen seemed to hang. I wasn't sure what was going on. Was I right? Was I wrong?
"Well, guess it didn't wor-" Vector said before getting cut off by a sudden shake from the ground. I got up from the chair as we watched the wall move to the right, allowing access. My eyes were wide, but when I looked back at Vector, there were so many emotions on his face that it was hard to tell what he was feeling. Was he angry that it worked? Sad that it worked? Surprised that it worked?
"I… I don't understand," he said, grabbing his right hand tightly. "Why?"
He then started to walk into the newly revealed room without me. "H-Hey! Wait up!" I called out, following behind him. I was concerned, remembering how grim he had looked in that moment. As I buzzed across the short hallway, I found myself in a small grey room with pipes all over the room. There didn't seem to be much that defined the room, and yet, I saw Vector starting at something on a shelf.
"Hey, Vector!" I called out. But I got no response.
It was then that I looked to my right and noticed a wrapped present to my right on a small table. It was neatly wrapped in red paper, with a cute green bow atop it too. I didn't know what was in that present, but something told me I wasn't going to like it.
"Be careful, Charmy," Vector said. "I know it seems temptin' but… ya never know with mah uncle."
"Do you think it's dangerous?" I asked.
"Not dangerous but… shockin'."
"Hm?"
"All I'm gonna say is… it's… it's somethin' none of us are gonna be happy to see."
"Do you know what's in there?"
And in a more hushed tone, he replied. "Y-Yes. I do."
I was even more scared now. What was even in the present that made Vector this way. Was it something shocking? Something that made him sad? Something that horrified him? No, I knew it couldn't be. Vector isn't that type of person! I opened the present, knowing I wasn't going to be scared. After all, I just had to treat this present like it was a present on Christmas Day!
…but when I opened it, I wish it had been something like coal. Because what I saw made me scream and drop the present to the floor, a mess of bones collapsing onto the ground. I heard Vector audibly cringe behind me as I scooted away from the mess I made. Seeing bones like that would have made me think it was some kind of Halloween prank. But as soon as I started to catch a scent of the smell from the box, as well as realized the shape of the bones…
I realized this wasn't a prop. These were real bones. This was the last thing I was expecting to find in something as fun and joyful like a present. I covered my nose with my shirt as the scent got too much for me. Vector walked over and picked up the bones, doing so while looking away from the mess as he placed them back in the box and covered them up.
"It's… just as I thought," he said.
"What do you mean what you thought?!"
"I didn't think there would be bones in there but I had a hunch that box had somethin' 'bout… his body."
"His body?"
And then I gasped.
"No… Oh… oh Gaia, no… Please don't tell me," I whispered. Vector nodded.
"Whatcha saw… that's… that's all that's left of mah uncle."
My heart sunk into my stomach when I heard that. All this time, Vector had this anger, this hatred, this apathy towards someone who was dead the entire time.
"How do you know?" I asked. Vector reached back into the box and pulled out of the skull. He held it up next to him.
"Do these look any different?"
I looked at the skull of Vector's uncle and Vector himself and my pupils felt like they were shrinking by the second. It was a near match.
"Besides, based on all the factors we got from Ditz regardin' information 'bout the headmaster and what Egg Robo told us 'bout the participants of the killin' game… Ditz knew that the headmaster was here, but Egg Robo said the only ones who were alive were the eighteen of us."
I gasped when I realized what he meant. "Then that means, even from the very beginning, your uncle was always dead?"
Vector nodded. I didn't know how Vector stayed calm throughout the situation.
That was, until I noticed a sudden twitch in his body. He was trying his best to hide how he felt in front of me…
He had said that it was a possibility, so Vector had the idea that his uncle was dead. But now that it was confirmed with no denying it… I think that part of him wanted the headmaster to be alive.
Is that why he never looked at the box and just guessed on what it had?
I remember what he told me; wanting to tell his uncle how much he hated him and how he wanted no ties with him anymore. But this…
Vector's words about entering Green Hills overflowed my mind.
"…normally, our family would see Green Hills as nothing more than a sham. How could a school create heroes like that as if they were going to matter to society?"
"Vector never saw himself as a hero. Would he really give up how he felt as a detective just to come here? Was it really… all for his uncle?"
I looked at the present and wrote the present as my second clue. It was then that I saw that Vector had gone back to staring at the photo that was on the shelf that I noticed earlier. It was finally buzzing behind the crocodile that I got to see what it was, and when I did…
My face fell.
In the picture was a very young-looking Vector, taking a picture with two men by his side. If I had to guess, one of them was his dad and the other was his uncle. All three of them looked beyond happy, as if they had no care in the world.
"Vector?..." I asked.
"…why… can't I move on?" he replied, shaking.
"Huh?"
"Mah only reason to come to Green Hills… was to cut free everythin' from mah past. Forgettin' 'bout mah uncle, mah parents, and everyone else. And yet… yet… y-yet…"
He stopped himself, continuing to shake.
Everything made sense now. Vector's name being the password, this picture…
Vector's uncle never did forget about him.
"I don't get it. It… it's not fair! I wanted to tell him how much I hated him! To let him know how much of a piece of shit he was fer abandonin' me! I'm only here fer that reason! And now… it's like… it's like when I was a kid. Before I could tell him, he stole that opportunity again. Bastard… fuckin' bastard!"
I put my hand on Vector's shoulder, lowering my head. I didn't know what to say anymore.
I left him alone to the picture and decided to examine the desk by the wall. Hopefully me finding something would help him focus on something else. I was hoping he wouldn't mind if I touched stuff, but it seemed like he didn't. Opening every drawer, I pulled out everything they contained; papers, pens, etc.
In the last drawer, I found a PAD. This one however was different, as the back of this one had a sticker that said 'CONFIDENTIAL'.
"What kinda PAD is this?" I asked. "Can it… open everything?"
"It can."
I turned to face Vector, who still held the picture, but was trying to focus on me. "It seems to be a special PAD fer the headmaster's use only. Take it, I think we'll need it fer this investigation."
"Me? It's your-"
"I dun want it. If ya feel like ya dun need it, leave it here."
"I… alright."
Vector didn't respond to me as I wrote the confidential PAD as my third clue. I still wasn't sure if it was okay for me to take it, so I did it rather begrudgingly.
"Hey, Charmy? Mind if I ask a favor?" Vector asked.
"Hm?"
"I know what I'm gonna ask is selfish and if ya get mad, frankly I dun blame ya. But… is it fine if ya leave me alone for a little bit?"
"Vector… why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"No no, dun worry 'bout me. I just… need a minute, okay? Dun worry, I'll be back to the investigation soon. Just-"
"Look, Vector. Can I ask you? I know you told me about the relationship between you and your uncle, what you told me about family, but-"
"This image says things different. I know… Maybe unlike mahself, he wanted to see me again. What yer sayin' is just a theory. This image doesn't change everythin' I went through, and it ain't an easy solution."
"…you're right. I'm sorry."
"Look just… let me be fer a few minutes. Go on without me."
I lowered my head and nodded, buzzing out of the room. It wasn't halfway through the hall leading from the secret room to the headmaster's room that I heard a thud from the secret room and… soft but audible weeping.
I wanted to comfort Vector, but I knew I needed to return to the investigation. Leaving the headmaster's room, I started buzzing down the hall as I relayed everything that had happened in the past few minutes back to my head. The mastermind killed the headmaster, killed Vector's uncle. I don't know why they did so, but seeing Vector act that way back there…
The headmaster was never the mastermind. Sure, they kept us in here, but… I don't think it was for villainous reasons.
Which meant that truly, one of us was the mastermind. Add in Infinite, there were eighteen people here. Now, there were just six of us. Me, Vector, Tikal, Silver, Amy, and Wave.
But how? If the mastermind wasn't one of us, how could it be either Cream, Rouge, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, Sonic, Storm, Jet, Big, Blaze, or Espio? Plus add in Infinite too-
I grabbed my head. "No no no! There must be a different explanation! There has to!"
Finally reaching where I needed to go, I knew I couldn't let it bother me. I entered inside the locker area I had been to, buzzing up to one of the lockers that wasn't destroyed. Taking out the confidential PAD I got, I wondered if this would work.
"Let's give it a shot," I said, scanning it. To my surprise, the light on the PAD reader turned green as it confirmed that it worked.
"Alright, let's see what we got!" I said, opening the locker. As I did, I noticed that the locker seemed rather ordinary. Textbooks, notebooks, what seemed to be some kind of Digital Pet game, a carton of milk (gross), and a bag full of pens of different colors and pencils.
"Who does this belong to?" I asked, grabbing one of the notebooks from the pile and opening it up. As I did, I opened to a page with math notes on it. It covered both sides of the page and had really… neat… handwriting.
It was then that I noticed the name at the top right corner of the page.
'Silver T. H.'
I dropped the notebook as soon as I read that.
That notebook… it said Silver's name on it.
But how? How could HE ever use this? He could have never been in here!
I had to know… I picked up the notebook and began to flip through the pages, seeing various different titles for each section of notes.
"3.3 The Pythagorean Theorem… 4.1 X,Y Graphing Plots… 5.6 Probability…"
All of them had 'Silver T. H.' on the top right corner of the page in the same neat handwriting as the note I had gotten a few weeks ago.
Could he have attended class here? But... how? He was in the same class as us! We were all sucked into this ring dimension, and we never had a proper class!
"What is this notebook trying to tell me?"
Quickly, I got out my PAD and wrote down my fourth clue: Silver's locker notebook. I quickly shut the locker, too freaked out by what I saw.
I then moved onto the next locker that was good for use. I wasn't even sure if I WANTED to see what was in this one. With my luck, it had someone else's belongings in it. Or worse…
Opening it up with the confidential PAD, I opened the locker to find it empty, sans for a small notebook in it. Grabbing it, I looked at it confused.
"I wonder what's in here?" I asked, opening it up. "There doesn't seem to be any name here, and-"
I stopped when I reached page 182 through my skimming. Something caught my eye that made me read it.
"There's a plan to turn Green Hills into a shelter and have the students live their communal life here. Thus, I decided to talk to the one that came up with the plan directly. It just so happened they were the headmaster AND my uncle. He told me some details about the plan, which I'll transcribe here.
'To build the ultimate world of heroes to stop all despair outside, I'm doing this so that they'll all be the hope for not just the people, but for the future as well. Only the genius of the class and only their help can triumph despair. They are the final hope for this world, even if it means self-isolation. The others may not enjoy this plan, but doing this can guarantee that they can build the foundation for a new era. This is the only hope we have, so I hope you agree to the plan.'
That's what my uncle told me. As usual, he was selfish by doing things without asking others how they felt about it. I can't imagine a worse uncle."
I was flabbergasted. All I had to do was read headmaster and uncle to know who THIS belonged to.
But if this belonged to Vector, why was it here? It contradicted what he told me about not seeing his uncle since he was a kid. And yet, this notebook said he talked to his uncle. This made less and less sense…
As I continued to skim the notebook, I found nothing more that could help me until I reached the last page. When I did…
Everything went bad to worse.
Very few words were on the last few pages, and what was on there…
"Despair walks among us, and yet we still survive."
And the very final page…
"All three despairs shall rise."
Three…
All three… despairs?
Despair walking among us and yet we still survive?
I knew this had to be my fifth clue, so I wrote it down.
As I turned around, holding the notebook. I just… I didn't know what to say.
Was the Ultimate Despair now truly only three people?
I just didn't get it. These lockers had to belong to previous students. And yet… things in the lockers look like they belong to people here. Silver and Vector had stuff in them, so… what was the explanation?
I couldn't sit here and overthink. I had to keep getting a move on with the investigation. But if there's one thing I knew I had to do…
I decided to go to the next place on my list of places to examine.
I decided that I would check the data center, remembering the Egg Robo door in the room. Leaving down the flights of stairs, and back to the first floor and up, by the time I had reached the data center, I was walking because of how tired I was. Jumping up and opening the door, I saw Tikal was already inside.
"Oh, hello, Charmy!" she said. "Are you here to help me with my investigation?"
"I didn't think you'd be here, Tikal. Have you been able to find anything?" I replied.
"Not much. I've been trying to gather the courage to go into that Egg Robo door…" she giggled. "…but as you can tell, I haven't quite been able to muster it yet. Still though… do you think Egg Robo's little rule about all the doors being open applies to this?"
"I imagine it does. Should we give it a shot together?"
"You'd help me? Oh, thank you, Charmy," she smiled. "That's so kind of you!"
I nodded as I buzzed over to the door. As I put my hand on the doorknob, I watched as Tikal grabbed a chair and held it in front of her, shaking as she tried her best to lift it up.
"Okay, y-you can open it… now!" she said. I simply looked at her.
"What, I don't get one?" I thought to myself.
Now that I turned my attention back to the door, I was now getting anxious to open it. I mean, what if it DID explode as soon as I opened the door. It DOES seem like an Egg Robo thing to do anyway…
No, I HAD to stop thinking like this. I already survived my execution and got out of a second. So what if it DID explode or not? My helmet is still on me, and I just had to pray it was just like the movies.
Turning the knob, I opened the door and bit my tongue as I crouched, holding my head. Thankfully, there wasn't any kind of explosion, so a couple of seconds later, I looked up to see that everything was okay. Tikal dropped the chair she held as she ran into the room.
"Thank goodness there was no booby trap!" she said. I nodded, until I noticed what the room was like. Unlike the large monitor room, this room was a lot smaller. A large desk surrounded three panels on the north, west, and east sides of the room, with many smaller monitors in the corners. There was a chair in front of the northern most monitor, where a keyboard and microphone lay.
"How scary…" Tikal said, walking around the room when she suddenly stepped on a metal panel on the ground. We looked at it, confused, until I realized it looked like a cellar door. I was gonna examine it, until I heard Tikal gasp.
"What's wrong?" I asked as I buzzed up to the echidna girl. She pointed at the monitor in front of us as we saw the various symbols move around the monitor.
"It's like some kind of robot," she said.
"Like a cockpit…"
Tikal slapped me. "Ow, what was that for?!"
She looked at me, angry. "That word! How dare you use that word!"
"It's not a bad word! Haven't you heard of a cockpit before?"
"There you are saying it again!"
"Because that's the part of like a ship you control!"
Tikal's eyes widened. "O-Oh… that's why… I um… I… forget I did anything. I'm sorry…" she weakly said.
I rolled my eyes but decided to let her go. "It's fine. But see? Notice all the panels and all the icons on the screens. It's like this monitor controls something."
"Well, let's see what this controls."
"Wait, Tikal, you shouldn't just press a random button! You don't know what it-"
We were suddenly interrupted by a suddenly BOOOOING sound coming from the monitor room. We both turned around to the room, wondering what the noise was.
"Charmy?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm scared."
"What did you even do?"
"I… I touched a button called Data Center!"
"Data center?" I turned around to look at the keyboard to see a button labeled exactly what the girl was talking about. It was then that I realized what this monitor was for.
"Tikal, I'm gonna go check it out. Stay here."
Tikal nodded as I made my way out of the room. Peeking my head out, I turned my head back and forth to see if anything was there. That's when I noticed… HIM, standing all by himself in the middle of the room.
"You…" I said.
Unlike his usual self, he didn't say anything. He stayed silent, staring at me with his thousand-yard stare.
"Hey Egg Robo, answer me!"
"GAHHH!" he suddenly screamed out. "This is Egg Robo! I demand a wagon filled with delicious sugar cookies!"
"S-Sugar cookies? Wait a minute, Tikal, is that you?!"
"U-Uh… no! This is P-Paul! Paul Pinkerton!"
"Okay, for real."
"Yeah, it's Tikal. How do you get this thing to work anyway?"
"What do you mean? Do you not even know what you're controlling?"
"Not really. It's hard to control and I can't see much. I can at least see you from the monitor in here. And hey, there's a self-destruct button! That means we can get rid of Egg Robo!"
"No no no! Don't touch that!"
"Really?"
"Yes!"
"Aw… if you're sure, Charmy."
I turned around from the robot. So, this is how he was being controlled. Whoever was inside the Egg Robo door all this time was the one controlling him.
I entered inside the Egg Robo door again, seeing Tikal get up from the chair by the monitor.
"Well, at least we found what controls him," I said.
"Should we destroy it so the mastermind has no possible way to get Egg Robo back?" Tikal asked.
"I doubt he'd take kindly to us destroying it."
"Still though, it seems weird that there'd be two rooms for this."
My eyes grew wide when I heard what she said. Two rooms… a monitor for Egg Robo and a room for all the surveillance of the zone…
Then Vector's theory WAS right! The mastermind couldn't control Egg Robo AND track us at the same time!
"But now thing brings up a new question…" Tikal continued; arms crossed. "So, according to Egg Robo, the only people who came into this zone were us eighteen students. That must mean the mastermind must have been in here controlling Egg Robo, and thus, means they too have been inside the zone alongside us."
"Then what you're saying is that…"
Tikal nodded. "It's just as Egg Robo said. One of us eighteen people could be controlling Egg Robo. At least I know it isn't you, Charmy."
I stood shocked, not giving the echidna a response.
"Charmy?..."
"…it's fine. Don't worry about it."
"I don't like the face you're giving me."
"No no, it's fine! I'm just… doing some thinking."
"I hope it's nothing too bad… Maybe we should leave, this place gives me the creeps, and…"
"And?"
"I don't know if it's you, but I get the feeling that someone or something is watching us stand here."
I looked at her as I looked behind me, and then around me. There didn't seem to BE anyone around…
"But I get why you're skeptical. Let's go," I said. The two of us headed out of the data center, but as we did…
The door slammed behind us as the lock was set.
Tikal yelped as we quickly turned around, running up to the door and slamming our fists on it.
"You ass! Let us back in!" I yelled.
Suddenly, we heard that familiar BOIIING sound as we turned to face Egg Robo with a bath towel, a shower cap, and a rubber duck in one hand.
"Is THIS what you like to do, Charmy?! INTERRUPT PEOPLE DURING THEIR CALM BATHS?!" Egg Robo yelled.
"Oh, come on! Don't give me that crap! You know you aren't bathing! We know you're in there, mastermind!" I replied.
"Wow! How rude! Because of your crappy attitude, I declare the data center off-limits to EVERYONE! So now when people can't explore it, all I must do is tell them it's your fault and they'll all be mad at you! Bite it, bee! Besides, the more time you all spend in there, the less I'll be around! Wouldn't that just suck if I stopped hanging around?"
"Not really…"
"Oh, that's a lie! I just know it!"
"Just so I can confirm it, someone is in the room controlling you right now, correct?" Tikal asked.
Egg Robo nodded. "Sweet, kind Tikal! Always asking the important questions! Why of course!"
"But how?! No one was in the room!"
"Did you check EVERYTHING?"
"Everything?" I asked. It was then that I suddenly had the hatch flash in my mind. "Oh no… NO, don't tell me you were in the hat-"
"Ho ho ho! As usual, you're so dumb you can't be assed to do a full investigation! Better get on with it, boy. Investigation skills as crappy as those isn't gonna help your case! Of course, it can't be opened on the inside, so you were always doomed to fail! Now, I already banned the place, so go on and get!"
Egg Robo vanished, leaving Tikal and myself in the hall.
"Was… was he telling the truth?" she asked.
"Well, the door was slammed behind us. Somehow the mastermind knew you'd come here and hid in the room just in case. But once I came in, well, looks like they made the right move," I replied.
"Gosh… I feel like it's my fault. I was scared and I wanted to leave…"
"Don't feel bad. Egg Robo said himself that you couldn't open the door from the outside, so even if we did examine the hatch, it's not like we could do much anyway."
"I… I guess you're right."
"Look, let's stay positive, okay? You're always the one to bring us into good spirits, no? We can at least say we got to know how the mastermind works after all!"
"Y-Yeah, of course! I can't let it get to me! Thank you for helping me realize that, Charmy… Alright, I'll tell the others what I found. In the meantime, don't let us down!"
Tikal ran off, leaving me to myself. I got out my PAD, checking off the Data Center as I realized my next location to check out was the Headmaster's office. I remembered how we were gonna break in until we found Infinite's body, so now was the perfect time to go and see what the room contained.
Buzzing to the other side of the hall, I finally reached the office as I opened the doors, revealing a very professional looking office. It looked even more professional than the office on the second floor dorms, as flags, portraits of what I assumed to be previous headmasters, and trophies and achievements to Green Hills behind a glass panel to my left. There, I saw Wave in front of a bookcase, a stack of books by her.
"Wave, have you found anything?" I asked. She turned to face me and smiled.
"Ah, shorty, good timing. It just so happens I DID find something," she said. "Here, take a look for yourself."
I was confused as Wave grabbed something by her and put it in my hands. I read the blue file's title, "Class #91 Student Registry" it displayed.
"What the heck is this?"
"A profile on every student in this zone… including Infinite. It seems that our class is number 91."
"So, that profile we found in Vector's room, it came from here?"
"Well, the file was atop the headmaster's desk, so it likely did. Since we're all here, it leaves no room for doubt that Infinite was a student alongside us."
So this is how Vector learned about it.
"But goodness," Wave continued. "You think Vector would be in any less of a hurry to get his profile out. It's all crumpled and ugly."
"Well he DID sneak in…" I replied.
"And what? That suddenly means he can no longer do things efficiently? He always strives for perfection, and yet he can't even do a heist right. If he was having trouble, why not ask meeee-" she stopped herself as she looked at me, realizing what she was about to say. "Ugh, never mind. Regardless, Vector was in SUCH a hurry that… he forgot something."
"Forgot? Forgot what?"
"Check yourself. I don't have to spoon-feed you every bit of information. All I'll say is that the page Vector got was only ONE page, and that there was more information about
Infinite that we didn't know about. And, even better, it was written by the headmaster themselves. How thoughtful of them to leave us such a good clue…"
I placed the file down on the nearest surface as I opened it up, where the file of Infinite lay waiting for me. I picked it up and began to read.
"Infinite reappeared suddenly, and in the background, entities are floating. They're close, but just out of reach. The entities known as...the Ultimate Despair(s). Right now, I can't be sure if this is a single person, or some kind of group. Or even if just a small group of people are involved. Whatever it is, Infinite has some sort of connection to it.
I have a bad feeling about all this. I need to push forward with my research into the Ultimate Despair(s). And I need to pay attention to Infinite's behavior, too. This is just my gut feeling, but I think he's more dangerous than any one of us realize. Despite the countless battles he must have gone through as the leader of the Jackal Squad, when he entered Green Hills, he didn't display any signs of battle wounds or scars. Even during his physical, his mental state was that of an ordinary individual, no sign of anything such as PTSD. That fact alone proves his tremendous skill in battle.
Naturally, I want to believe in him. He's one of my students, after all. But if I decide he's a danger to the other students I will be forced to take all reasonable measures."
There it was again... the mention of multiple Ultimate Despairs. We heard that it could have been some kind of group, but now, this is saying that it could maybe be a small group of people who all share some kind of connection.
"You look like you're deep in thought," Wave said.
"Well, I kinda am," I replied.
"I'll give you a piece of advice. There's one thing I've been noticing about all the profiles. They all have our pictures and our information. As I'm sure you notice," the swallow pointed at the picture on Infinite's profile, showing a black jackal with flowing white hair, and a large scar over his right eye. In fact, I noticed as well that his eyes were two different colors as well. "…you don't recognize him, do you?"
I shook my head.
"Yup, there's his information there. Weight, height, blood type, chest size."
"What does that have to do with things?"
"I think it's definitely something you should keep in mind for the future."
I nodded, checking the rest of the profiles. All of them were the same as Infinite's with our information as well as comments from the headmaster. After skimming Jet and Blaze's pictures, I passed by Rouge's only to… stop.
"Hang on a minute…"
I went back to her profile as I noticed her picture. I remember that Rouge specifically had a mole on her face but… it wasn't here on this picture.
Wave saw what I was looking at. "You're confused aren't you? I remember that she had a mole too, that is until I noticed what angle this was taken at. The way her picture was taken, you couldn't see the mole."
"Yeah, and I remember her saying that she'd often hide it with makeup so it would be super hard to see," I added.
"It's as I said. I do think this profile file is far more useful than you realized."
With the swallow walking away, I wrote down the profiles as my sixth clue.
"By the by, one more thing…" Wave said. "I feel like I should tell you something. I know you're still getting too buddy buddy with Vector, so I just want you to know to stop getting so close to him. The cost of your closeness is going to hurt you in the long run."
"…huh?"
"Forget it. It's just something I want you to think about."
Wave turned back around to look at more books as I left the headmaster's office, crossing it out off from my to check list and went down to the next location: the Bio Lab on the fifth floor.
Going up the stairs and to the farthest, darkest part of the floor, the dull greys of the hallway was telling me that what I was going to find here wasn't going to be so pleasant. Opening the door, I was blasted with a sudden chill as I flew a few steps back, holding my arms together. Entering inside, frost from every part of the room spilled onto the floor like it was smoke. It made me feel like I was in a mad scientist's lair, only with less beacons with potions and experiments. To my right, there were a neat row of what looked like square refrigerators. There were nine in a row, making up eighteen in total. I noticed that a lot of them had a blue light on next to their door, but the ones at the end didn't.
"What the heck even is this for anyway?" I asked myself, buzzing up to one of the fridges without a light on and trying to get it open. I was able to slightly open it, but only a little. However, when I did, I realized these 'fridges' weren't refrigerators.
They were morgues.
"Oh… oh Gaia…"
I dropped to the floor as my eyes wandered to the other side of the "fridges". The lights on and…
No…
I counted the morgues with their lights on. One, two, three… nine, ten… and… eleven…
A perfect eleven for everyone who died here, sans Infinite of course, since his body was still in the garden.
With my heart sinking as I knew that all my friends were stuffed inside these small morgues, I quickly went to the desk near the morgues, trying to see if there was ANYTHING I could use to take my mind off of what I was seeing. Atop the desk, I saw a manual and picked it up. As I did, I noticed a tarp on the floor.
"I swear, I've been seeing too many of them…" I said to myself, examining the tarp as I began to read the instruction manual.
"We offer an eco-friendly alternative to standard dry ice for all your cadaver needs. In addition to the germicidal lamps, we also provide an ozone generator for the removal of ethylene gas. Simply insert the cadaver, and the blue light will let you know the automated systems have activated. Temperature and humidity levels will be adjusted automatically for optimum settings. With our system, anyone can keep a body fresh as a daisy for as long as you need! In the unlikely event of a problem, the red light will activate and an alarm will sound immediately. The exterior is stainless steel, and we do offer an optional leather upholstery upgrade package."
Letting the manual go, I felt even more sick. This bio lab was being used as a morgue, and those "fridges" being on meant that someone who died was in there for preservation. I quickly wrote down both the secret of the Bio Lab and the lights of the "fridges" as my seventh and eight clue respectively.
After I finished writing, I quickly left the bio lab, far too disturbed by what I saw.
To take my mind off things, I figured since I was on the fifth floor, I'd go back to the crime scene to examine it again. So, as I tried to block the image of all my dead friends being frozen in place, I buzzed over to the garden, only to find…
Nothing.
Everything was the same as when before Infinite died. No blood, no sign of an explosion, no sign of anything.
And worst of all…
Infinite's body was nowhere.
"Maybe he's in the toolshed?" I asked myself. But as I buzzed to the toolshed and opened it up, there was no sign of Infinite anywhere. Now I was panicking. Where was he now?!
"…the Bio Lab," I said to myself. I imagine after every trial; the mastermind takes the bodies to the morgue for preservation. So that must be where Infinite is.
But corpses aren't the only thing right now, because there was one more thing I noticed on the ground of the toolshed. A tarp, the same one that was covering Infinite from the sprinklers in the garden.
But as I examined the tarp, I noticed something on the bottom right part of the tarp. A sticker that read "BIO LAB".
I see…
I got out my PAD and wrote the tarp as my ninth clue. Leaving the toolshed, I knew that even though I didn't want to, I HAD to go back to the Bio Lab to make sure I wasn't missing anything. But as soon as I left the garden…
*Ding dong, bing bong*
My heart stopped. Oh GAIA…
Was time up?! But I barely got to find anything! I don't have any clue about the mystery of the zone because I was too busy trying to find out where Infinite was!
But what Egg Robo said next wasn't what I was expecting at all.
"Attention everyone: this is a zone announcement! Is everyone working hard? Is your investigation coming along nicely? Are you finally gonna get the last Chaos Emerald? Well then, since you're all giving it your best, your generous headmaster will give you a little hint! Ho ho ho... For those of you who are interested, please make your way to the gym as soon as you possibly can! If you don't come and get it, I'm going to sell your hint online!"
As the monitor turned off, I was shocked. It wasn't what I was expecting at ALL frankly, and yet… What kind of a hint was it?
I was suspicious but… Anything to get my mind off the Bio Lab?...
With that, I buzzed down from the fifth floor to the first, heading to the gym. I was surprised to see no one else coming to get the hint, at least, until I saw Silver in the lobby.
"Silver? What happened? What did Egg Robo say?" I asked. But as soon as he saw me, he turned entirely white.
"C-Charmy! I… I!" he said in fear.
"What's Egg Robo's hint?"
"It's… it's! Erm, you have to see it yourself! It's not something I can say, ha ha ha…"
I raised a brow. "Erm, Silver?"
"Sorrygottago!"
Silver ran out of the gym as I turned to look at him. Not knowing what his deal was, I entered inside the gym, finding that I was the only one there. As I waited for Egg Robo to arrive, I suddenly remembered the locker I found on the second floor.
"Damn, I should have asked him…"
Suddenly, I saw Egg Robo jump onto his podium as he normally did as he saw me.
"Ah, so Charmy came by for his hint! I'm surprised! I thought you'd be too scared or too skeptical to come by, but here you are!" the robot said. "Well, time for your final hint!"
He threw up a letter into the air as it landed by my feet. "Well? Better start picking it up now!" he said. Glaring at him, I crouched down as I picked up the envelope and opened it up. Inside the envelope was a picture.
"You better flip it, kiddo…" Egg Robo said. "And just so you know, I'm NOT gonna answer you if you have questions!"
I bit my lip as I slowly turned the photo, and as I did…
I dropped the photo.
Because what I saw was a class photo of all my friends smiling as they posed for their picture. I would have laughed when I saw Sonic's hand and Tails' head covering Rouge's face, if I didn't realize one thing about it.
I was NOWHERE in the picture.
I picked it up again to make sure I wasn't seeing anything, and sure enough, everyone was there, including that jackal behind Cream. But as my eyes scanned the image multiple times, I was nowhere to be seen.
It was like I never came to Green Hills.
But I guess that made sense. After all, I don't remember ever taking a picture like this. Sure, I Cream and I went to the same secondary Zone, but the first time I met everyone else was when I arrived here at Green Hills. So, it IS natural for me not to be in this picture.
But what's unnatural is that everyone else is in the picture.
I thought everyone was like me and didn't know each other till they got here. But if this picture is real...
"Hey, gonna keep standing there like you were frozen today?" Egg Robo said. "You're getting in the way with your big fat self! So… out! Out out out!"
"But-"
"What did I say?! NO QUESTIONS!"
Egg Robo ran up to me and kicked me so hard that I flew back into the lobby, slamming onto the ground. I still had the photo in my hand, but my entire body was aching. Lifting myself up as much as I could, I got out my PAD and wrote the group photo as my tenth clue before I ended up just laying on the ground.
Some ten minutes later, I got up from the floor. I didn't feel much better, but at least I was a little bit more relaxed.
This photo wasn't a hint. It was confusion atop of confusion. Something like this photo couldn't be faked, and yet…
"Ugh…" I groaned, letting my arms fall to my sides. "My head is gonna burst the more I think about this. I should ask the others about the image."
I began to look for the location of everyone, but each time I did, they refused to speak to me. Wave told me to not act like we were friends and left the library, Silver freaked out hard in the garden, and Tikal looked nervous as she quickly fled the dining hall. I sighed as I left the dining hall, not even sure as to why I couldn't get an answer from the others.
"Screw this, I'm gonna return to the Bio Lab and actually explore like I was gonna," I said to myself, buzzing back to the fifth floor. But as I finally reached the Bio Lab and opened the door, I saw… Amy on the ground.
"Amy?!" I said, dropping my photo and rushing up to see if she was okay. She still felt warm and had a pulse, so she was still living.
"Thank goodness…"
However, my celebration was shortlived as Amy began to shift in my arms and suddenly bounced to life.
"KYA HE HEE HEE HEEEEEEEEEE!"
Oh no…
Rosie continued to giggle until she suddenly began to shiver. "AIEEE! How cold is it in here?! It's cold cold COLD!"
"Well, maybe don't sleep in here."
"Oh, looks like Stinky Pinky took a nap here! Sorry for worryin' ya, Chimcharm! Was it really YOU who saved me, though? Are you my new knight in shining armor?"
"N-No! I would never! I was just making sure you weren't dead!"
"Sure, that's what they all like to say, but I've seen how friendly you are with me, Chimcharm! Getting all ha-"
"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOKAY, that's enough from you. Look, tell me something: do you remember anything that happened? How you ended up here perhaps?"
"I dunno! I just kinda… woke up here!"
"Oh right… you and Amy don't share the same mind."
"Yup! We have the same brain, but we have different memories! Even if stinky pinky forgets something like her homework, if I know about it, then I'll remember it!"
Remember it?...
I don't know why but…
I felt like I needed to remember that. So, I wrote down Rosie's memory as my eleventh clue.
"Hey, you better tell me where my darling Shiruba is, otherwise your throat is SLIT, Chimcharm!" she said.
"I-I dunno. I saw him in the garden last but everyone's being weird, including him," I replied.
"ALLLLLLL by himself?!"
"Yes. All by himself."
"OOOOH, saved your life again, Chimcharm! Thanks for telling me though! I better make sure he's not all alone! Here I come my darling! Don't forget about meeeeeeeeeeeeee!"
Rosie ran off from the room as I was left alone. I sucked my lips as I realized…
"…I forgot to ask her about the picture."
I slumped in place until I turned to my right and saw…
Something that clearly wasn't there before.
One of the moruges was open. My eyes widened as I quickly buzzed to the morgue. The fridge was open, and there was a blanket wrapped individual who I could see sticking out from the fridge.
"That wasn't there before…" I said.
"And that's no doubt why Amy passed out."
I turned around as I heard that, seeing Vector in front of me.
"V-Vector!"
He smiled. "Heya. It's me."
"W-Where have you been? Are you… are you okay?"
"I dun think that's the question yeh should be askin'. I think what ya should be askin' is, what are we doin'?"
"Right, I'm sure you definitely don't need an introduction to this room."
"Well, considerin' that Amy was dumb enough to look at a dead body up close, no wonder she passed out. Here, let's close it up. Dun wanna be botherin' the dead."
"You're right."
I pushed the body back into the fridge, but just as Vector was about to close the door, he stopped.
"What's wrong?"
"…this fridge."
"What about it?"
"Haven'tcha realized somethin' 'bout it?"
"No?"
"…it's Infinite's morgue."
"Where he's being kept?"
"Exactly. And with him bein' here, we can use this chance to get a closer look at the body. Lemme examine the corpse first, and in the meantime, try to find any other clue in the room, okay?"
I nodded as Vector pulled the body out again. Turning around, I looked at the tarp and buzzed towards it. Remembering the one I found in the toolshed, I pulled it out and turned it to where I could find the sticker on the corner of the tarp. Sure enough, the same 'BIO LAB' sticker I saw on the tarp in the toolshed was on the tarps here, meaning that the mastermind must have gotten their tarp from here. And so, I updated my clues about the tarp.
"Hey Charmy, did ya know anythin' 'bout these lights?" Vector called from the other side of the room.
"It seems that when someone is inside one of the fridges, the light is on to signify that they're inside," I replied.
"And yet there's eleven lights on."
"I thought that was weird too. Do you think we should open every fridge to make sure who's gone?"
"…nah, I think we can uncover who it is on our own."
"If you say so…"
Now that I think about it…
"Hey, is it fine if I can ask you a question?"
"Hm?"
"I don't wanna interrupt you but I wanted to ask you about that hint Egg Robo gave us."
"I didn't take him up on his offer."
"Really?"
"It's because his hint would only cause us confusion and only divide us even further. He can't cloud mah judgement, because I can discover it on mah own."
"That's a good point."
If only I had done that…
"Okay, I'm done," he said.
"Jeez, that fast?"
"Ya get used to it. Now, fer mah report. So, comparin' mah autopsy to what the EggPAD said, I took notice at the wounds and the amount of blood. I'm thinking that the stab in the chest may have been after death."
"So, it's confirmed? The gunshot is the cause of death?"
"It is but… it's odd. It's almost like the gunshot was almost a day old before he was stabbed."
"How could you tell?"
"All the wounds on his body seem to have been made only a day or two ago, sans the gunshot. That's because we couldn't see because of the explosion, but… there's a stitch where Infinite was exactly shot."
"A stitch?!"
"It seems the mastermind had some well-known experience with coverin' their tracks if they could hide things like that."
"My question is now… who could be responsible for doing such a good job on something like that?"
I didn't know who it could have been, but I wrote Vector's account as my twelfth clue.
"Is there anything else you wanna know?" Vector asked.
"Yeah. Did… did Infinite have black fur, white hair, and different color eyes?" I replied.
"Why do you ask?"
"Because Wave showed me a file with all our profiles, and Infinite looked exactly like that. This would rule out any doubts about him still being alive and the mastermind."
"…Charmy… I think that file is somethin' ya need to look at more indepth leadin' up to the trial. I'm gettin' a strange feelin'…"
"Strange feeling?"
"…never mind."
I didn't know what he meant, but I should take up his offer.
"Well, we should head out since we dun have anythin' else to do with Infinite," Vector said.
"Erm… maybe we could put him back."
"Put him back?"
"Yeah… shouldn't it feel like… a little nice? I dunno, I know he's an Ultimate Despair but-"
"Stop. Stop stop. I know WHY yer sayin' that, That doesn't change that he was our enemy. Just cause he was killed, remember this phrase: "You reap what you sow"."
I looked at him as the crocodile stared into my soul. He then rolled his eyes. "Oh fine. I can't resist that look of yers."
And with that, Vector put the body back into the fridge, closing it.
"Well, now what?" he asked.
That's when I remembered the notebook I found. "Erm, one MORE thing."
"Another thing?"
"No no, this is actually a big deal. I wanna ask: can you confirm that you've NEVER seen your uncle since arriving to Green Hills?"
Vector's expression changed. "W-What?"
"Did you check the lockers on the second-floor dorms?"
"N-Nah. They were locked and I couldn't open them. Ya need the PAD of the owner to open it."
"That's where the headmaster's PAD that you gave me comes in. I was able to unlock the lockers and what I found was… a pocketbook. YOUR pocketbook."
"…mine? I never owned a pocketbook, and my PAD didn't work on any of those lockers. If it WAS mine, then I clearly would have it-"
"I get why you say that. But I think that doesn't explain why the pocketbook has a message about your uncle."
Now Vector reacted strongly to this.
"What didja just say?!"
He looked away from me, covering his mouth. "No… then that means… that video is…"
"Video?" I asked. Vector turned back to me and ran up to me, grabbing my shoulders.
"Charmy, I think I finally realize everythin'. And what I learned is far worse than any of us have imagined."
"Is it?"
"Lend me the PAD ya got so I can check the lockers fer myself. In the meantime, there's something ya need to watch NOW. I don't know how much time we have left, but if mah calculations are correct… then this DVD and the pocketbook are connected and reveal what TRULY happened."
Vector handed me a DVD that said "Class #91 interviews". I grabbed the disc, looking at it.
"What's on it?"
"…something that explains why I never found that pocketbook."
I added the DVD to my list of clues.
"It… it feels weird. I hated mah uncle for so long…" Vector said. "…and yet, I want nothin' more than the mastermind to get what's comin' to them. I didn't care that he found happiness, and yet… I feel so strong about the way he died. It's… almost comical."
Vector turned around. "Charmy, at this point, we don't have much time. There's one more thing I must remind ya about before ya watch that DVD. There's one truth and only one truth. It can be filled with happiness and joy, or sorrow and despair. Even if the truth that ya find is the latter, ya can never give up hope. Be strong Charmy, we all need strength fer this trial."
With that, Vector left as I stood alone in the bio lab. I held the DVD, shaking. I wasn't sure what this thing had but…
One thing was certain: this disc contains true despair.
I stood in front of the door leading to the A/V room. It felt like yesterday being in here when we got our first murder motive. And yet, here I was again, opening the door and walking inside. The shadows on the wall felt like they were going to come after me the more I hung around, and I took a deep breath as I walked up to one of the computers. Turning it on, I sat down and opened the disc drive of the computer. Placing the disc inside, I closed it and let the disc play on its own.
"I hope it's nothing too bad…" I said to myself, waiting for the DVD to start up.
As it finally did, the screen turned black for a few seconds before cutting to a picture. I could see the back of a crocodile's head wearing a dark suit, and in front of him was…
"Cream?!" I said, grabbing the screen. There she was, clear as day, alive and in front of who I definitely knew to be Vector's uncle.
"Okay then, are you ready to begin?" said a male voice. This was no doubt Vector's uncle, who sounded less street sounding than his nephew did. "This video is meant for proof as in like… insurance. Y'get what I'm saying? Now then, let me get straight to the point. You know about everything going on so far. As a result, there is a chance that you may have to spend the rest of your life here in the school. Can you accept that?"
"Y-You want me to accept that?" Cream asked. I felt like crying. I didn't know how long it had been since I heard her voice.
But what she said next caught me off guard.
"Yes. I accept."
"Thank you. And I'm sorry about all this... Well, I can promise you that I will do everything in my power to keep you safe. As the headmaster of Green Hills Zone, I give you my word."
The screen went black again.
There was a lot I hadn't understood up till now. But this...only this... I simply couldn't comprehend what I'd heard.
I remembered how much Cream wanted to get out of here. I know how much she wanted to escape and pursue her dreams with running her own bakery and making a garden empire with the flowers and vegetables she grew. I remember how much she wanted to be there with Vanilla as she grew older. She wanted all of that so bad that she tried to frame me for murder.
So... why?
Why would she say yes to living here for the rest of her life? Was all that a lie?
As I sat there thinking about it, I noticed a sudden light. On the monitor, the video that I thought was finished flashed back onscreen. My eyes darted back to the screen. And if I was confused before...what I saw next pushed me right over the edge.
Because the next person I saw being interviewed by Vector's uncle was…
Me.
It was the same conversation that Cream and the headmaster held. This looked like we were having a normal conversation like we knew each other, and yet we didn't. And just as I was trying to get over the shock of what I was seeing, I heard it.
"As a result, there is a chance that you may have to spend the rest of your life here in the school. Can you accept that?"
"…yes."
I had said yes too.
I was getting dizzy now. This is what Vector meant by things being even worse than we had thought. We… we all said yes to staying here in this zone for the rest of our lives. That's why Egg Robo was mad about us wanting to leave.
And soon enough, more interviews played. Shadow, Tails, Amy, Tikal, Wave, Jet, and… Vector…
It felt so surreal. There they were, talking like they were family, and yet Vector had this intense hatred for his uncle.
When his interview finished however, the lights in the A/V room went out.
"The power went out?" I asked. That's when Egg Robo appeared in front of me.
"Not in this whole zone it did! Looks like there was something wrong with the breakers for this room! It's a failure! Can't help it!"
Egg Robo vanished, and that's when I realized what he meant by 'failure'.
"…failure my ASS!" I yelled. "Come back here! You did this on purpose!"
I remembered what Vector said about losing his memory. I had lost mine too, and yet that disc contained everything about a memory I can't recall.
Just then, the sound of the bell played as the monitor turned on. The zone crest was displayed as Egg Robo appeared.
"For anything that has a start, there has to be an end. And if the end comes, then that means it's time for a fresh start. There is no night that doesn't have a dawn... Although that dawn is totally pitch-black! There is no storm that won't eventually end... Of course, then that leads to drought! But as I said, every end is the promise of a new beginning. Which is why I'm sure we'll get to meet again. Because the end is only the beginning! That quote is attributed to my late Grandfather, Geraldo Rosario Robo! A clever man, but too bad he died from sun exposure! Anyway, let's get started! The beginning of the end of the class trial! Everyone gather once again at you know where! Ho ho ho! HO HO HO HO HOOOOOOOOOOO!"
The monitor turned off as I shook in place.
At last… the final class trial.
The final battle between hope and despair…
"I had to do this."
I stared at the red doors, knowing this could be the last time I'd see them. I took a deep breath and went inside, finding that no one else was there.
"Yer early, Charmy," Vector said, walking inside. "Are ya prepared?"
"I dunno if prepared is what you call it but… yeah I think I am. Where's the others though?"
"Give it time."
Sure enough, one by one, Wave, Tikal, Silver, and Amy entered the lobby. However, all of them looked disturbed and refused to look at one another. I called for them all, but none of them responded.
That's when Egg Robo appeared. "Ooh, so we're all here! And we're all depressed too! Good! Those are the faces I wanna see you all make once you see it's futile to resist despair!"
"And yer gonna see how this truly will be the last class trial," Vector replied. "And dun forget, fair trial."
"You keep going on and on about 'fair trial', 'last trial', like shut up your virtue signaler! You're only saying that because you wanna keep feeling good about being hopeful! Well trust me buddy, I'm gonna show the audience at home that despair is ALWAYS mightier than hope!"
"Oh just SHUT UP and GO!" Wave yelled.
"Sure, whatever you say, sweetcheeks!"
Egg Robo vanished as Wave shook her head. "Come on. It's not like this will be hard."
The others went inside, continuing to stay silent as Vector and I looked at each other.
"That hint really messed with them all," I said.
"I know. And that's why we need to expose the truth," Vector replied. He proceeded to smile at me. "Ready to win?"
"Confident to win."
"That's the spirit. C'mon, let's go."
Vector walked to the elevator as I followed suite. The elevator door closed as it shook and began to descend.
It felt weird. To think that this all started with sixteen people on this elevator, and now, we were down to just us six. It was surreal knowing this would be the last time down these elevators, and the last time we'd enter the court room. I tried to stay calm on the outside, but on the inside, I was panicking HARD.
More and more, I heard the sound of metal clanking as my ears began to pop. I wasn't sure HOW deep this was going, but this was deeper than any place in the zone. Finally however, the elevator stopped. When the doors opened however, we were all hit with blinding light. Covering our eyes, I lowered my arm to reveal that the entire courtroom was… white. Like, it was as if there was no flooring, no wallpaper, no… nothing. It was a blank white void of… nothing.
"Do you like my symbolic court room?" Egg Robo asked as he popped up. "Pure white represents an abyss filled with nothingness. A world of emptiness and a world where one's mental state isn't correct. And more importantly, pure white represents the emptiness of criminals sent to the execution chamber! Because that's what this courtroom is gonna be! One giant execution chamber! Let's begin kiddies! I'm not sitting on my highchair, I'm gonna take up the vacant 16th seat! So come on, let's do this!"
And so, we all took our stands as Egg Robo stood in his stand. For the last time, the curtains of despair opened. This would no doubt be our last case of judgement, deception, betrayal, riddles, defenses, faith...
The forces of hope and despair would rise in this ultimate battle: the final Class Trial!
TO BE CONTINUED...