Chapter 2
Failure. A phrase never far from Dr. Robotnik's mind, nor his heart. It echoed in his thoughts as he placed his grandfather's diary on the table. Failure. The discovery of the diary had lit a spark of hope and invigorated the doctor after his most recent failure with Chaos. If his genius nor the supernatural power of primordial gods could defeat Sonic, he despaired of ever coming up with the means to overcome his adversary.
In the depths of his despair, the diary had shone out to him like a blazing star in the cold, dark recess of the void of space. Within, he had been fed clues, hints and whispers of a power once harnessed by his grandfather. The diary sparked Robotnik to chase the phantom of his grandfather and hero. His reward was the brink of death and the humiliation of having to join forces with his foe.
The ruin of the Space Colony Ark and the subsequent destruction of the Eclipse Cannon by G.U.N spelled the end of the doctor's temporary use of his grandfather's genius. In the end, not even his grandfather's greatest creation, the so-called ultimate life form, Shadow, had stayed by the doctor's side. Changed in heart by his dopleganger's steadfast resolve and a promise made long ago, Shadow betrayed Gerald's intention and instead of destroying the earth, died to save it.
Robotnik was left all alone. He returned to earth, but the hunger that had always driven him to start a new plan right away was gone. The doctor stood atop the terrace staring down at the valley of metal bones and wondered if this would be his only legacy. Would his name be written down with all the rest, with all the other scientists whose genius had not changed the world for the better, but only hastened its demise?
"This world will turn to metal and then to glass." He said. Though no living thing heard him. Unfocused, without a captain or kingly hand to guide it, humanity would drive progress forward blindly until they consumed the world. When resources became scarce enough, the last desperate war of their species would be fought. The weapons that had slumbered in their silos would finally be unleashed, and nothing would survive the fallout. Oceans would vaporize into deserts and the air itself would become fire.
Wild, and barbarous as the masses were, humanity's crown would be the destruction they had craved for so long. In that final pyre, that last pre-engligment sacrifice, humanity would offer up every living thing. The smoke of that burning would rise perpetually, and the echo of the last screams and tears of the only innocent would be preserved in the reek.
This was the future that Sonic and his friends clung to so desperately. With his every victory, with his every sly smirk and confident stride into danger, he ensured this destiny. For if he could die, he would do so before the culmination of all the little sins. He would rest beneath the green hill, his bones honored by all the weak and defenseless. Yet when the day of reckoning came, his spirit would not rise to stop the coming tide. All would wash away and his every defiance would be forgotten.
That was the doctor's only solace. In time he would be vindicated, but the taste of that minor victory would be mixed with salt. "I could save this world. I could prevent this future."
"And you must." A high pitched female voice answered. The doctor turned. A monitor floating without rails or any visible support gilded towards him. AG 1991- GENESIS, was the most advanced A.I the doctor had ever created. She required entire caverns full of hundreds of supercomputers to power her advanced memory and analytic processes. The output of the doctor's machinery had long ago exceeded what he could manage alone. Aurora had been created to manage his bases, leaving the doctor free to develop his more ambitious projects. "Chances of an intergovernmental, interspecies resolution on the current energy crisis is calculated at less than two percent."
The doctor ignored her and returned to his brooding. Aurora persisted. She hovered in front of him. The blank monitor turned on to show her face. She had long black hair and large violet eyes. Her cheeks were slightly shrunken. Freckles dotted her face and lines around her eyes made it look as if she were wearing glasses. The doctor had never met his mother, nor did he possess any photos of her. Yet he carried in his memory an image of a woman he had never met. Somehow he was certain it was one of his earliest memories and he often saw that face in his dreams. When he was creating Aurora he had not intended to match her face with the one from his memory, but when he did, it felt like the culmination of a work he had long been planning.
"This world has less than a ten percent chance of maintaining current life form occupancy."
"Why should that matter to you?" The doctor snarled. "You will live forever."
"Correction, I have less than a thirty percent chance of living for another one hundred years. With rising temperatures my computer bases will overheat unless moved to a cooler location."
"And who will attend your funeral? What does it matter if we all die?"
"Nothing. The significance of living tissues degrading into inorganic matter presents no clear disturbance in the universe." Aurora answered cheerfully.
"Then why bother saving this planet?"
Aurora raised an eyebrow. "You programmed me to maintain the empire. I will be unable to fulfill my duty if this planet wastes away. At current energy demand, I can only maintain your bases for another ten years with our reserves. A necessary outreach into the surrounding area must take place soon, or another deal with other human governments. I calculate you have a thirty percent chance of buying more fuel, and less than five percent at defeating-"
"Enough!" The doctor snapped. "Do NOT say his name."
Aurora clamped up but did not leave him. Instead she flashed images on the screen of landscapes transformed into Eggtopias. Isolated pockets of nature were turned black and in the place of mounds of flowers were massive engines that dug deep into the earth. "This planet can achieve maximum energy use and minimum waste." She then displayed an image of the sun and then a massive construct built all around it. "At your command, the probability of building a dyson sphere and achieving unlimited energy reaches ninety percent within one hundred years."
"One hundred years." The doctor scoffed. "I would do it in fifty."
"You could." Aurora agreed. "But without more power and soon, your bases will need to be downsized."
"Or perhaps I shall make a better A.I who can better manage them."
"The probability of building a new A.I with more machine power and memory within the timeframe of degrading energy reserves is-"
"Stop!" The doctor flared up. "Do not tell me another number." He sighed and crushed the ends of his long mustache with his fingers. "I do not need to hear them. Do you think you can calculate percentages that much faster than me? Do not forget that I am your creator." He reached out and pointed beyond the borders of the mountains. "This world was meant to be my birthright. I am meant to rule it, to turn it into a world of my own. The truth is in me, I can feel it, but…reality continues to deny me. This world…it isn't mine…."
Suddenly, the doctor felt a jolt of electric fire run up his back. "This world…it isn't mine." He repeated. An idea was blossoming in his mind. He could feel the neurons in his brain firing, making rapid calculations one after the other. There was no better sensation in the world than the rapid onset of invention and innovation. "Aurora, how many worlds out there are habitable like this one and are close enough to a star to build the sphere?"
"Twelve in this universe, as far as I know."
"How many possess the infrastructure to start construction?"
"Zero."
"But what about outside of this universe?" The doctor smiled and wrung his hands together.
Aurora remained silent. Despite her computing power, such a question demanded that even she take a while to process. "The calculation…" She said slowly. "Cannot be done. The number could be said to be infinite. Through the multiverse and various bubble universes, such a planet, at such a time, must exist."
"That's it!" The doctor exclaimed. "We must go there. That is the secret, can't you see? The Eggman Empire is not meant to start on earth, it is meant to finish here." Already, he could see visions of a vast armada of ships soaring through space, his name and face plastered on every hull. "We must find a planet with life and an infrastructure capable of making the leap."
"Yes but-"
"He would not be there to interfere. I would take it over, modernize its energy use, conscript its natives into my army."
"Yes master, but-"
"That would only be the beginning. Once the sphere was activated I would have the power to mobilize an armada. I would go from world to world, harnessing its power, colonizing its people."
"Master!" Aurora's voice changed into a low, computerized whine.
"What?"
With his attention back on her, Aurora's voice returned to normal. "Even if you could make some sort of transporter, making the necessary calculations would be impossible. No computer can shift through the data of an infinite universe, much less the multiverse."
The doctor paused. "Could you though? Could you identify the perfect world if you had enough power?"
"Yes, but it would take more power than exists on earth. A million supercomputers all working at once would still not be enough to shift through the data."
The doctor smiled. His sudden mirth caused Aurora to shift away from him. "But there is one source. One with near unlimited power. And it just so happens I know exactly where to find it."