Emerl is walking through a small path between two rocky hills. The gizoid was worrying about Orbot, he didn't know if he could make it on his own. But Emerl can't go back, he has a mission to do. He then heard something over one of the hills, he turned his head left to look but didn't see anything, it must have just been rocks. He kept walking and he saw a large rock on the path that he'll have to go around. As he got closer however a Nerb holding a weapon jumped out and yelled before firing a bolt of electricity at Emerl. The bolt hit him causing the Gizoid to scream before shutting down and falling over. The Nerb gave a signal and others started running down the cliffs yelling in celebration of their catch. A few of them carried Emerl further down the path and eventually away from the hills towards their sand crawler, a large transport on treads. They placed him down under a large tube before one of the Nerbs attached a small bolt on his chest. They then all backed away and Emerl was sucked up the tube into the sand crawler's cargo hold. Emerl eventually reactivated and saw that the hold was full of other robots as well all of them looking old and broken. He looked around hoping to find a way out when "Emerl?" the gizoid turned and saw that Orbot was also in the hold. Orbot walked over to him excitedly "It is you. I thought-" they were interrupted by the room shaking, the sand crawler was now moving.
A group of stormtroopers were searching the wreckage of our dues escape pod "Something was in there. The tracks go off South" one of them said. Another examined the footprints "This looks like a gizoid footprint".
Back inside the sand crawler the shaking stopped "Emerl. Emerl wake up. We've stopped" Orbot said to his shut down friend. A large door on the far side of the hold opened up and a few Nerbs came in and started carrying out different robots. One of them came over to the duo and pointed the electric weapon at them. He directed them out of the sand crawler "I hope they don't melt us down" Orbot said as they got outside and were placed in a line with other robots and they were in front of a small moisture farm. A now middle-aged Jules the Hedgehog came out of the top dome of the farm which led to the lower level. Then a now grown-up Silver the Hedgehog followed him out of the dome. He still had his two gold rings with the cyan pattern on his wrists with the same pattern on his gloves, he also now had white fur on his chest. As he followed his Uncle "Silver! Silver!" he could here from over the lower level of the farm. He ran to the cliff side to see his Aunt Bernadette staring up at him "Silver, tell your uncle if he gets a translator, be sure it speaks Chao". Silver looked over to the sand crawler "Doesn't look like we have much of a choice but I'll remind him".
Jules was looking through the line and stopped at a grey gizoid "We'll take that one" he told the Nerbs. He walked further down the line and stopped at Orbot "I suppose you're programmed for etiquette and protocol". Orbot didn't really like the Nerbs so he saw an opportunity "Why, yes sir, it's my primary function" Jules didn't seem impressed "I have no need for a protocol robot". "Of course, you don't, sir. Not in an environment like this. That's why I have been programmed…". Jules put his hand up to tell him to stop "What I need is a robot who understands the binary language of moisture vaporators and is able to speak Chao". Orbot perked up at hearing this "Vaporators? Sir, my first job was programming binary load lifters, very similar to your vaparators. As for speaking Chao it's like a second language to me. I'm completely….". Jules put his hand up again "All right. Shut up. I'll take this one" "Shutting up, sir" Orbot said. "Silver!" Jules yelled causing Silver to run over "Yeah" "I want you to take these two over to the garage. We'll need them cleaned before dinner". Silver didn't seem happy about this "But I have stuff to do. I was gonna go to Tosche Station" he whined. Jules looked at him "You can waste time with your friends when your chores are done. Now, come on" Silver sighed in frustration "All right. Come on".
He walked away and was followed by Orbot and the grey gizoid. Emerl began beeping again, Orbot turned and saw one of the Nerbs shock him to shut him down. Orbot continued to follow Silver when the gizoid next him suddenly collapsed to the ground. Silver turned around but he didn't look surprised "Uncle Jules!" he called to his Uncle who was paying one of the Nerbs "Yeah?". Silver gestured to the gizoid "This gizoid has a bad motivator. Look" Silver saw Jules start arguing with the Nerbs. Orbot then tapped on Silver's back and he then pointed at Emerl "Excuse me, sir, but that gizoid unit is in prime condition, a real bargain". Silver looked at Emerl "Uncle Jules! What about that one?" Jules looked at him "Yeah, can we have the yellow one?" he asked one of the Nerbs. They agreed and two more ran to collect the downed gizoid as Emerl was reactivated and started walking towards Silver and Orbot. "You'll be very pleased with us, sir. We are in first class condition" Orbot boasted to an uninterested Silver. "Alright, follow me" Silver told the two of them, as they followed him into the dome Emerl beeped in appreciation "You better not forget this" Orbot replied.
In the garage Orbot was standing near a wall, Emerl was standing in the centre of the room and Silver was sitting in a chair playing with a model spaceship. He eventually put it down and sighed "It just isn't fair. Flip's right. I'm never gonna get out of here". Silver stood up, walked over to Emerl, and started to clean him "Is there anything we can do, sir?" Orbot asked. "No, not unless you can alter time, speed up the harvest, or get me off this rock" Orbot thought for a second "Eh, no, I don't think so, sir. I'm not very knowledge on those kinds of things. In fact, right know I don't even know which planet I'm on". Silver slightly chuckled "Well, if there's a bright centre to the universe, you're on the planet it's furthest from" "I see, sir". Silver went to get a tool from a shelf "You can call me Silver" "I see, sir Silver" Silver sniggered at that "Just Silver". Orbot stood up straight "And I am Orbot, human-cyborg relations. And this is my counterpart, Emerl" Silver gave a slight nod to the gizoid.
He began cleaning burns off Emerl "You have a lot of carbon scoring. You guys must have seen a lot of action". "Sometimes I'm amazed that were in as good a condition as we are, what with the Freedom Fighters and all" Silver stopped what he was doing and jumped to his feet "You know of the Freedom Fighters against the Empire?". "Yes sir, that's how we came to be in your service" Silver for once seemed excited "Have you been in any battles?". "Several, I think. Actually, there's not much to tell. I'm not much for telling stories. Well, not at making them interesting anyway". Silver was disappointed and went back to cleaning Emerl, he tried to get some muck out of his joints "Well, my little friend, you got something jammed in here. Were you on a Star cruiser or…?". Suddenly Emerls eyes lit up causing Silver to jump back. He then saw that Emerl was projecting a hologram of Julie-Su onto the ground "Help me, General Espio. You're my only hope" the hologram kept repeating. Silver was understandably confused "What's this?"
Emerl beeped which confused Orbot "What do you mean what's what? That the thing you're projecting". Silver watched the hologram "Who is she? She's beautiful" "I'm afraid I'm not quite sure, sir. I believe she was a passenger on our last voyage. Our captain was…" "Is there anymore of this recording?". Emerl beeped again "Hm, I'm sorry, Master Silver but he seems to be malfunctioning. He says he's the property of Espio the chameleon, a resident of this planet. The message is apparently for him". Silver stared curiously at the hologram as Orbot continued "Quite frankly, sir, I don't know what he's talking about. Our last master was Captain Kneecaps. With all we've been through this little gizoid has probably just become a little eccentric". Silver began to ponder "Espio the chameleon? I wonder if Valdez might know something about him" "I'm sorry, sir?". Silver stood up "Well, a lot of Chameleons have come through Sandopolis but the only one I know who lives here is old Valdez out by the Dune Sea. He's a strange old hermit". Silver looked back to the hologram "I wonder who she is. Sounds like she's in trouble. I better play back the whole thing". Emerl beeped "He says the restraining bolt has short circuited his recording system. He suggests that you remove the bolt, he might be able to play the entire recording".
Silver thought for a second "Well, I guess he is too small to runaway" he knelt down and removed the restraining bolt from Emerl but when he turned to watch the recording it had disappeared. "Wait a minute. Where'd she go? Bring her back. Play back the entire message". Emer beeped which angered Orbot "What do you mean what message?" he hit the back of his head "The one you were just playing". "Silver! Silver!" they heard Bernadette yelling from outside "Alright, I'll be right there, Aunt Bernadette. I'll be right back. See if you can do anything about him" Silver said to Orbot before leaving. Orbot was annoyed "You should have shown him that message" Emerl beeped "No, I don't think he likes you at all" another beep "No, I don't like you either" Emerl beeped sadly.
Silver sat down at the dinner table where his aunt and uncle were waiting, Jules handed him a plate of food "You know, I think that gizoid unit we bought might have been stolen". Jules looked concerned "Why do you say that?" "I stumbled across a recording while I was cleaning him. He says he belongs to someone call Espio the Chameleon". Silver didn't notice that Jules and Bernadette were now looking at each other "I thought that maybe old Valdez might know what he's talking about. He's the only chameleon around here". Jules dismissed the whole thing "That wizards just a crazy old man. Tomorrow, I want you to take that gizoid to Anchorhead and have its memory erased. That'll be the end of it. It belongs to us now". Silver couldn't help but wonder "But what if this Espio comes looking for him?" "He won't. I don't think he exists anymore. He died around the same time as Shadow". This got Silver's attention, Uncle Jules barley told him anything about his parents "He knew my dad?" Jules looked at him sternly "I told you to forget it" Silver looked back to his food. He's been asking about the rest of his family for years and he was told very little. He knew his grandmother was buried in an unmarked grave near the dome, he would sometimes visit it. All he knew about his father was that he worked on a freighter before he died. Uncle Jules always said he didn't know anything about his mother, all Silver knew about her was that she was the one who gave him his wrist bracelets.
"Your only concern is to prepare those two for tomorrow. In the morning I want them up there on the south ridge, working on those condensers" "Yes, sir" Silver replied trying to hide his frustration. He tried to think of something else "You know, I think those new droids are gonna work out fine. In fact, I was also thinking about our agreement, about me staying on another season". Jules knew what he was getting at, "If these two do work out, I want to transmit my application to the academy this year". "You mean the next semester before the harvest?" Silver was looking between the two of them "Sure. There's more than enough robots". Jules understood Silver's desperation and he knew his nephew would do great at the academy, but there was still a lot needing done. "The harvest is when I need you the most. It's only one more season. I promise, this year we'll make enough money on the harvest that'll be able to hire some more hands and then you can go to the academy next year". Jules was trying to reassure his nephew "You have to understand, Silver. I need you here. It's only one more season". Silver didn't want to talk anymore "That's what you said when Flip left" he got up from the table "Where're you going?" Bernadette asked. "Nowhere, apparently" he walked away in frustration.
Bernadette smiled at her husband "Jules, he can't stay here forever. Most of his friends have gone. It means so much to him" Jules looked conflicted "I know, I just… I'll make it up to him. I promise". Bernadette chuckled "He's just not a farmer, Jules. He has too much of his father in him" "That's what I'm afraid of". On the surface Silver walked out of the dome and looked out towards the twin suns of Sandopolis. He watches them slowly disappear over the horizon as he thinks of all the things he could do if he could just get off this planet. Eventually he couldn't see them anymore and he reluctantly went back inside.
