Bunnie's blood pounded in her ears. She gasped for breath, tears running down her cheeks. She tried to fight them, but she couldn't. Their arms were metal, she was too small.

"Put me down!" she screamed. "Ah won't go into that thang!"

They dragged her down the hall, the bronze walls gleaming in the dark. She could barely focus on where she was—everything was a blur of combots and hallway and air that was too thin—

-And the door. The door at the end of the hall. And the human with the red robot eyes in front of it. He was watching her.

"It's okay, Bunnie!" a voice shouted from somewhere behind her, back in the room of cages. She looked over her shoulder at the kids chained in line, standing in front of the city camera. Sonic was pointing his small, gloved fist towards her, "Don't be scared, Bunnie, you'll be okay!"

A cold object made of something like leather touched her face.

She looked back to the door. The human stood over her, stroking her jawline with his hand made of skin. "Stop crying, little one. It's all right." His voice was soft.

She kept crying. He began to pull out the bows on her ears. "You won't need these in there…" He was trying to meet her gaze—she refused to look. "I've decided you're going to be one of the lucky ones to live forever. I know it's a little scary now, but when it's all over, you won't ever be scared again. You won't have to grow up and die. You won't ever get sick or hurt ever. Doesn't that sound nice?"

She hiccuped, her small shoulders heaving.

The human above her smiled. He opened the door behind him. Blue light filled the hallway. The big tube was there. The one they were going to put her in. The one that turned Griff and the others into robots.

She began to scream again.

The human let out a sharp huff, slamming the door behind them, enclosing them in the room. "Fine. Get her ready and make her be quiet…"

Bunnie's eyes flew open. She clutched at her metal stump, quivering, her throat closing in on itself.

She glanced across the dark cell, her eyes wild. Everything was quiet and dim. The sounds and activity of Robotropolis seemd far away.

Bunnie lay full length on the pavement floor. She could not stop the quivering or the tears. She'd never forget that moment when the roboticization stopped halfway. When the metal had bonded with her flesh and left her paralyzed for months. Her blood seemed to race with pain at the memory.

But it had been worth it. Sonic had snuck her and the others out. She had escaped.

She had never wanted to come back.

Bunnie looked across the room at Rotor. He still lay against the side of the wall, his head lolled to one side. He had already lost what weight he had gained when they gave him the healing rings.

She studied his face. It was full of worry lines and still flecked with dried blood. His image reflected in the tears in her eyes…