All or Nothing
by Ryan Carroll
The dimension was simple, really... Not much was there except the park, the TV station, and the office complex that towered over everything there. Carroll Central had always been huge, even though it had decayed the most before I'd renewed this place.
I sat on the edge of the roof, staring at nothing, trying my best to sort out my emotions.
I'd come here, to this dimension of my own creation, for safety and refuge. I never imagined I would feel so vulnerable here.
When the despair became almost too great to bear, I began praying. It was the only thing I had left, really. They had taken away my invention... my life... now they'd kidnapped my girlfriend. God was all I had left, and no one could take Him from me.
For the first few minutes I probably sounded a lot like Job to God. I'd lost everything of value to me. I questioned God. How could He have let this happen? Why did everything happen to me this way?
I soon realized that it wasn't God I should be questioning, but myself. Why did I care so much about these things? Because they were mine, and they'd been taken from me. But aren't all gifts given by God?
I conceded the point. God had given me these gifts, and I had taken them for granted. I had to realize that much, at least.
It was at this point that the tears came.
I sat there, a broken man. A sinner saved by grace who had taken it for granted. I deserved nothing.
For the first time since all this had started, I felt at peace. I actually felt like facing another day.
I also felt a hand on my shoulder. A hand on each, actually. I smiled at Slasher and Aeris as I rose to my feet. "Come on," I told them. "We have another rescue to plan."
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"So you do recognize me. I figured after all these years that you'd have forgotten me."
"Forgotten you? How could I forget the man who left my mother to live with some girl half his age?"
"Sweetheart, I'd hoped you wouldn't bring that up--"
"Don't you dare call me that!" Chris snapped. "I forgave you for what you did, but that doesn't mean I ever want to see you again."
"Well, it's a bit late to say that, isn't it?"
"Just leave me alone and let me go, if you love me so much."
"I'm afraid I can't do that, honey. After all, you were in a restricted area."
"Oh, and you haven't been?!?"
"I'm not quite sure what you mean."
"You've been using a device that is patented to someone else to abduct people from their homes, and for what? Some stupid scientific experiment? What happened to a code of ethics?"
"Chris, darling, this is all top-secret stuff. We don't need a code of ethics."
"That's obvious enough."
The general began to get annoyed. "And what's that supposed to mean?"
"Theft of intellectual property, kidnapping, framing someone for kidnapping..."
"What do you mean, framing? The man abducted a poor young woman--"
"She asked for his help because she was running away from you! You've taken away Ryan's LIFE just so you can do your little research projects!"
"So you're on a first-name basis with him."
"Well, duh, he's my boyfriend."
"Now don't you take that tone of voice with me, young lady. I'm still your father, and--"
"You're not my father. My father left ten years ago."
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I stealthily crept through the hallways of the complex, remaining invisible. Being able to manipulate light was a wonderful thing sometimes. I came up to the door marked "General's Office" and waited. Someone came to make a delivery, and I followed him in. I waited till the deliveryman left, then crept around behind the secretary's chair and grabbed her neck in a choke hold.
"Sorry, Professor Ferris," I said just before she slumped over on her desk, out cold. I checked to make sure I hadn't killed her, then stepped over to the door leading to the general's inner office. I listened for a moment.
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"So that's how it is, is it?"
"What are you going to do, throw me in jail? Kill me? Chuck me into some random dimension and hope for the best? You'll have a lot of explaining to do when he shows up."
"When who shows up?"
"ChaosJedi," Chris replied nonchalantly.
"Who is that?"
"He's someone who watches out for people. Specifically dimension-jumpers. If he finds out you've done something to me, he'll beat you to within half an inch of your life."
"Oh, so it's your boyfriend we're talking about. We should have no problems with him."
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I clenched a fist and was about to break down the door when the phone rang. I nearly jumped out of my skin, then realized that the secretary normally answers the phone. I silently cursed the bad timing, then prepared my best imitation of Professor Ferris' voice. I reached for the handset...
"Never mind, Colonel Ferris," came the general's voice throught the door. "That's line Delta. I'll take it myself."
I breathed a sigh of relief, then went back to listening at the door.
"Hello? Ah, yes, Dr. Kintobor. What's that? Oh, good, so you do have the key ingredient of the Shadow Project waiting for me. Yes, I will exercise a considerable amount of caution in dealing with him. Yes, you can send him through the portal now."
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"Shadow Project?" Chris asked when the general (she refused to think of him as her father) had hung up.
"A pet project of mine that I've been working on for some time. I want to create a creature that is the best of everything. That's why I needed the Cetra and the young Masaki boy. For this project."
"They do have names."
"I'm well aware of that. But it doesn't matter to me. Fortunately I had a chance to sample their DNA before you and your precious boyfriend intervened. This creature I'm engineering will have the innate abilities of a Cetra healer, a Jurai prince... and the fastest creature ever known."
Chris managed to keep a straight face. "You don't say."
"He'll be my best operative. No one will be able to stand against him."
"So that's why you kidnap these people? To play God with some building blocks?"
"I'm growing tired of your impetuous attitude."
"I'm surprised you even know what that word means."
"Now you're insulting my intelligence."
"What little there is of it."
SLAP! "You'll learn to respect me, one way or another."
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That was too much. I slammed through the door, knocking the hinges out of the frame. "You keep your hands off her," I growled. "Scum deserves no respect."
"Well, if it isn't the kidnapper. Going to try to abduct her now?"
"Look who's talking. I have to say, when it comes to abductions, you're starting to rival the aliens in the X-Files."
"No one will believe you if you try to prove your innocence. To most people, you're guilty as charged. When my project is complete, I won't need to track you down. My operative will kill you on sight and I'll be rid of you."
I grabbed the front of the general's jacket and got right up in his face. "YOU stole MY invention." I tossed him across his desk. "Then YOU stole MY life." I lit my lightsaber, sliced Christine's ropes, and pointed the tip right in his face. "Then YOU hurt MY girlfriend."
He swallowed hard, looking for all the world like he knew he was about to die. I held the blade there for a moment, then clicked it off. "Death is too good for you. It gives you an easy out. You won't have to worry about what happens to you when your organization comes crashing down." I got in his face again. "I'm going to see you squirm, and I'm going to enjoy every minute of it."
I turned to Chris. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine... Look out!"
I felt the barrel of a gun against my neck. I could sense the trigger being pulled...
The bullet ripped through the phone sitting on the desk. "Let me down!"
Chris giggled. "You didn't have to pin him to the ceiling, you know. You could've just pulled the gun away from him."
"But it wouldn't have been nearly as fun. Come on, we have to go get Sonic."
"How do you know...?"
"I'll explain later. Come on."
As I closed the door to the outer office, I released my gravity hold on the general. I heard a satisfying crash as we walked off.
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"So they have Sonic?"
The whole group of us, including Slasher, Knux (who'd come to notify Slasher that Sonic had been captured), Aeris, Tenchi, Ayeka, Christine and myself, were sitting in the main control room of Carroll Central, planning our next move.
"Yep. I tried to rescue him, but they'd already moved him by the time we got to the cell block. He's probably in transit to wherever they're taking him by now." I looked at Slasher and Knux apologetically. "I'm sorry, but I couldn't find anything about where they were headed."
"It's not your fault, Ryan. We'll find him eventually, don't worry."
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"It's not like they'd take him to a major city or anything."
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"GUN-Frisco, this is GUN-chopper-one-three-niner, en route."
"Roger, one-three-niner. What is status of cargo?"
"Cargo is secured--" A crash was heard over the frequency. "What the expletive deleted?!?"
"One-three-niner, state current situation."
"The hedgehog is loose! He's taken out all the guards on board. It appears he plans to jump!"
"One-three-niner, be advised that cargo is to remain unharmed!"
Sonic, unaware of the conversation concerning him in the cockpit, did a flying dragon leap and kicked the side door out of the helicopter, falling out with it. He grabbed one of the missiles racked on the chopper, then flipped up onto the stabilizer. "Man, that was lame! No in-flight movie or peanuts!" His demeanor grew serious as he ripped a panel off the "wing" of the aircraft. "I'd feel better running from these guys, even though I have no idea where I am..."
With that, the blue hedgehog secured his feet to the makeshift airboard and leaped off, heading straight for the hilliest section of San Francisco, California.
The Golden Gate city would never be the same again.
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"Hey, what's this thing?"
"Huh?" I turned to face Aeris, who was just coming through the door to the command center carrying a necklace. I studied the pendant, and although it resembled Christine's Chaos Amber necklace, it was made of a different material. I handed it back to Aeris. "I have no idea. It doesn't look familiar. Maybe someone dropped it on their way through here. This dimension is a popular waypoint for interdimensional travelers."
"Yeah, but wouldn't they be looking for it?"
"Maybe without it they can't open a dimensional gate. Let me take a look at it again..."
I stepped outside, scrutinizing the pendant with great attention to detail. A flash of something caught my eye. As I watched, a black and green swirl emanated from a spot on the ground. I walked over to it and watched it closely. It seemed more active now that I was closer. I looked at the flash of light, then at the amulet in my hand. I held the amulet in the light...
And dropped through a hole in the ground as everything around me went black.
When the darkness faded away, I looked around to see where I was. Ruined buildings were everywhere, as if the place had been hit by a massive tornado. then I recognized where I was...
This was the dimension I had just left. Only now it was totally destoryed, as if...
As if I'd never renewed it.
I looked, and the flash of black and green was still there. I looked at the amulet, and it hit me. I had traveled to a parallel world, one in which I'd never drained the Element Stones renewing the place. The amulet was a key. A key... to dimensional portals!
Wait a minute, my logical brain replied. How could that be a dimensional portal? Don't portals have to be created with a Dimensionalizer machine?
"But who says they can't be a natural phenomenon? It's entirely possible," I replied aloud, trying to clear things up in my mind. Yeah, but you've never seen anything like this before. "Just because you don't see it doesn't mean it exists." Okay, point. So what are you going to do now? "I'm going to put this to good use."
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"So this thing lets you see the flipside of things? Like if you'd never met me, for instance?" Chris inquired.
"I think that's how it works. I'm still a bit fuzzy on all the details, but this may come in handy. We need to keep this safe," I replied, placing the amulet in a safe and locking it securely.
"So what now? I mean it's not like we know where to go or anything..."
"I'm thinking we need to find more of those rogue portals. Who knows how many renegades are out there that we've missed..."
"Maybe we didn't miss them," Slasher cut in. "Maybe they weren't there before."
"What? You mean like another interdimensional storm?"
"No, I think there's so much use of the dimensional network that the stress on the continuum has caused microscopic tears in the fabric of reality."
"That makes sense. Since when did you become a dimensional theorist?"
"Since I met you," the raptor replied with a smile. "Although I do think it would be interesting to see the other side of the decisions we make every day."
"Well, we'll have to exercise caution in using the amulet. Who knows what sorts of things we could screw up just by being on the flipside."
"True. Care to see what's on TV?"
One of the features of this dimension was that I had complete access to all sorts of communication between here and my home dimension. This included a phone (untraceable, of course), radio, Internet, and even TV. As I flipped it on, I saw a flash of blue trailing sparks down a hilly street. The news was currently featuring the latest from San Francisco.
"In other news, a blue hedgehog was seen boarding through the streets of the Bay City area today, and was later caught running from an unmarked semi that seemed intent on mowing him down. The hedgehog disappeared from view soon after the semi ran into a solid brick wall. The driver was taken to the nearest hospital, unconscious but in stable condition.
"This is the latest in a string of strange incidents that began over a year and a half ago. Scientists are attempting to work with teleporter technology to see if the recently invented transportation technology has anything to do with these events."
"More than you'll ever know," I muttered to no one in particular. I signaled to Chris. "We're heading to San Francisco."
"Are you sure that's wise? What if you get caught? You don't have the info you need to clear your name yet!"
Aeris cut in. "Um, Ryan, you might want to see this."
I turned to see my face plastered on the TV screen. I was wanted for the kidnapping of Aeris and Chris. ...Chris?!?
"The General" came on screen (sans uniform, of course) was explaining what had happened, saying that his daughter had come to visit him and had subsequently been abducted from his home right in front of his eyes. He made it all seem so convincing I wanted to throw a shoe through the TV screen.
I cast an accusing glance at Chris. "You never told me he was your dad."
"He's not. At least I don't think of him as my dad. He left when I was young; ran off with some girl. Mom was so heartbroken... she'd really thought he was the person she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. To this day she hasn't remarried, always hoping he'll come back."
I softened. "I'm so sorry. Why didn't you ever tell me about this?"
"I knew you had both your parents, so I didn't know if you would really understand. I've always envied you, ya know. Your parents are such nice people..." She started to break down. "I feel like your dad is the father I've been missing all these years."
"What happened to 'He shall be a Father to the fatherless'? You've been trying to deal with this on your own, Chris. You can't, I can't, no one can. Let it go."
Chris smiled through her tears. "That's why I love you. You always know what to say."
"I don't right now," I shot back with a lopsided smile. "Come on, I want some real food. What say we hit Jack-In-The-Box while we're in 'Frisco?"
"Only if you promise not to order me any tacos this time. Those things set my mouth on fire!"
We shared a laugh as we stepped through the dimensional portal.
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I glanced at my reflection in the restaurant window as we entered. I'd had to alter Chris's appearance a bit with the Light Stone, but I didn't feel a need to do anything with my own. I hadn't shaved since I'd been forced into hiding. It had been a good three weeks now, and my beard was pretty thick. Chris complained that she didn't like the look, but accepted that I'd probably stay this way until I cleared my name. I'd also had my hair trimmed into a flat top to further alter my "mug shot". I figured it would be hard to link my face to that of a clean-cut college-student-slash-"kidnapper".
Lunch went smoothly, but I noticed that as soon as we got up to leave, some guy across the room did the same. I watched out of the corner of my eye as he trailed us down the street. "Someone's following us."
"You sure?"
"He's been trailing us ever since we left the restaurant. We need to lose him."
"How?"
"You have those emergency portal generators in your purse?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Here's the plan..."
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Agent Roland was nearly positive that he'd found the kidnapper. He didn't know who the girl was, but he suspected that she was his next target. He shadowed them as well as he could as they walked down the crowded streets of San Fran. This was great! Catching this kidnapper and closing the Carroll case would be his ticket out of the rookie assignments! His supervisor had considered it a risk putting Roland on this case in the first place, but Roland had been so eager to prove himself that he'd gone ahead with it. Well, Roland had no intention of letting his boss down. He'd be the one to close this case!
He watched as the pair entered separate restrooms. Well this could be a problem. If one of them came out before the other, he could lose the kidnapper! He decided to go ahead and wait for them.
And he waited. And waited. And waited... and waited some more. What could be taking him so long?
He chose to take the risk that he was making a mistake and entered the men's bathroom...
And found the place empty. Every stall, every sink, empty.
"What the..." Roland muttered.
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"I'd love to see the look on that guy's face right now..." I laughed.
"Yeah, I bet it would've been hilarious," Aeris added.
"I still don't quite grasp all of this..." Tenchi cut in from across the room. "How exactly did all this start?"
"Yeah, I'm kind of interested myself," Aeris added.
"All right, I'll explain, but then each of you has to tell the rest of us about your background. Agreed?"
They both nodded, so I began. "A while back... man, I guess it was about three years now..."
---------------------------------
It all started with the Virtualizer. My friend Jason and I were trying out a new kind of virtual reality technology; technology that would let you step into a computer system and interact with it from the inside. We tried it out on a few different video games, but one of the most frustrating things about it was that the same character in two different games wouldn't recognize us. It was like talking to a person who had selective amnesia, and all the lost memories had to do with you.
We shelved the project except for a few trips into Mainframe, a massive computer system. I actually got to revisit the place a while back, only through a dimensional portal this time, but I'm getting off the subject.
Eventually we thought of creating a link between dimensions. It took a lot of effort, but with some help we finally succeeded. Unfortunately there was a problem with electromagnetic fields, and we wound up with a dimensional vacuum. We accidentally sucked a few Mobians through, as well as the seven Chaos Emeralds. It turned out that seven of us had become the new guardians of the emeralds.
Some time after... I guess it'd be a year and a half now... Robotnik managed to get his hands on the dimensional technology, and it wouldn't be the last time. Anyway, he managed to reengineer it so that rather than creating a portal in a frame, it projected it a set distance away. He took over the Kitt Peak Observatory in Arizona and projected a couple of portals through the telescopes they have up there. The result was a collision of dimensions. I know that our dimension still hasn't recovered entirely from the world-crash.
We ended up on a search for our emeralds, only to find them drained of their energy after Sonic had battled Perfect Chaos, a huge water monster. Knuckles told us about the Element Stones, so we set out to find them to recharge our emeralds. After a few trials, we succeeded.
That brings us to the point where everything changed. I graduated from high school and moved to Arizona. Before I left I got together with the team one more time and wound up with all seven emeralds. Shortly after I started classes at Arizona State, I met Chris. We hit it off right away. After a couple of weeks, I was ready to tell her about my double life, but just as I was about to, she vanished from sight.
[I noticed at this point that Chris became a bit uncomfortable with the discussion. I didn't really blame her; the shock at seeing her vanish had nearly sent me over the brink.]
I found out that she wasn't supposed to have died when she did, so I went back in time and saved her life. When I got back to the present I showed her everything. She actually took it fairly well...
["Well, there was that one point when you introduced her to me," Slasher interrupted.
"Well, yeah, there was that..."
"What happened?" Tenchi inquired.
"I fainted," Chris replied with a smirk. Everyone burst out laughing.
"Hey, you'd have too if you'd seen a winged raptor open a door right in front of you without any forewarning!"]
Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, Chaos8. Back during the world collision, some kid managed to get a hold of the eighth Chaos Emerald. Nasty gem. Turned the kid totally evil, and he's got it in for me. He's the one I had to save Chris from, and he was back for revenge. He joined up with Robotnik, but after a double-triple cross, he was sent to the Interweb for the umpteenth time. That's when things got nasty.
Chaos8 possessed Robotnik's body, and Robotnik's brain was sent to Chaos8's old body. The Interweb purged his memory and dumped him in a random dimension. Meanwhile Robotnik had set up a clone as a contingency plan. While Chaos8 was busy taking charge of Robotropolis, Robotnick was planning his reclamation of the city.
Meanwhile, we dimension jumpers were trying to regroup amidst a huge interdimensional storm. We got back together and sealed the vortices that threatened the dimensions where we'd landed. Then we met Rob.
["Where's Rob been, anyway? How is he staying out of the spotlight during all these kidnapping accusations?"
"He's taking care of my house for me. I own the land and the house outright, so he's managed to keep any and all press off my property."
"How'd he do that? And what about Squall and the others?"
"He put a nice huge lock on the driveway gate. The press is smart enough to not climb over the fence."
"Why is that?"
"Last reporter who tried it triggered my motion-detecting sprinkler system. His notepad was so soaked he lost notes from half a dozen stories he'd been working on."
"I bet he was miffed."
"Ready to sue me, actually. I countered that I had the right to protect my private property any way I pleased and that the only damage done had been a set of wet clothes that could easily be laundered and one notepad. I paid for a new notepad and the judge threw out the case."
"Score one for ingenuity."
"As for the others, they're staying cooped up in the basement until I can clear my name and reveal the true nature of the teleporter. That won't be for a while, unfortunately."]
Rob was a pretty good kid. He was an excellent swordfighter, but he had amnesia. We learned later that this was actually Robotnik in Chaos8's former body. He was genuinely sorry for what he'd done, so he became one of us. When we got back to Mobius, we wound up stuck in the middle of the three-way war for control of the planet. Robotnick had just begun his assault on the city, Chaos8 was defending what he could, and the Freedom Fighters were staging guerrilla attacks on both sides.
["Who won?"
"Unfortunately, Robotnick did. He was just too powerful. We couldn't keep him from taking over the city again. So it's back to the status quo on Mobius."]
Chaos8 kept coming back, unfortunately. Shortly after the first semester of college was over, the whole gang gathered at my place for Christmas. Shortly thereafter, Chaos8 sent me through a random portal into a shadow dimension. I had no inward contact with my home world. Chris tracked me to Japan, but she still couldn't get in touch with me. I guess it was a miracle that we managed to communicate through a couple of dimensional glitches, but I managed to phase back into my own reality.
I don't think I'll go into what happened afterwards. It's just too painful to think about right now... All I'll say is that my powers were drained, and I was left with a normal life again. I decided to close down the transdimensional network in order to restore order to it all.
I coudn't take it. I missed the adventure and the action. So I reopened the dimensional gates and started the whole cycle going again. The only problem is that I unintentionally gave GUN the plans for the Dimensionalizer. And you guys know the rest; they started kidnapping people from their own dimensions. Including the two of you.
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"Good work, Roland. I'll be able to pass this onto our own agents." The general hung up and began to notify his top trackers while Agent Roland telephoned his superiors at the local FBI office...
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"Wow. That's some story."
"I know. I have a hard enough time believing it myself. There are times when my whole life feels like a dream that I'm about to wake up from."
"I get that feeling sometimes," Aeris commented. "My life has been very strange; bordering on just plain weird most of the time..."
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Most of my life I had known I was different from others. I could always hear the voices of the planet around me. My adopted mother dealt with me as best as she could, but I know there were times that she was just baffled by my behavior.
I earned a meager amount selling flowers around Midgar to anyone who would buy one. But there was one flower I sold that I'll never forget. It was a bright yellow daffodil...
I had just picked some flowers from a place that grew some really beautiful varieties. I was on my way home when this guy bumped into me. He seemed to be in a big hurry, but he still stopped to buy a flower. He ran off and I never imagined I'd see him again.
The next day I went to an old broken-down church building. For some reason the churches seemed to be the best sources for flowers. Anyway, I was there tending to some of the flowers when something came crashing through the roof and landed at my feet.
It was the same guy I'd met the day before. When he came to, we talked for a bit. That's when the Turks showed up. It's kind of frustrating trying to live a normal life and having to always be watching over your shoulder. The Turks worked for Shinra, the company that seemed to be in charge of just about everything these days. Apparently Shinra saw that I was the last of the Cetra and viewed me as some sort of experiment or something. Anyway, Cloud (that was the guy's name) agreed to act as my bodyguard. He walked me home, then tried to sneak out. I think it was my mother's suggestion, really. I caught up with him just before he got to the next sector of town and he agreed to let me tag along.
Before I even had a chance to thank him he noticed a friend of his being carted off somewhere. When we followed the cart, we discovered that she'd been taken to Don Corneo's mansion, and that only women were allowed inside...
[Here Aeris started giggling uncontrollably.
"What? What did you do?" I prodded.
"I suggested he dress up like a girl to get in."
I fell out of my chair as everyone burst out laughing. "You didn't!" Chris laughed.
"Yeah, but that's not as funny as what he did do..."
"What's that?" I inquired, levering myself back into my chair.
At this point her giggles burst into full-blown laughter. "He actually DID it!"
We all cracked up all over again.
"Oh, man, poor guy. I'd hate to have been in his shoes at that point," I managed between chuckles.
"What kind of shoes, heels or flats?" Chris put in, which set us all roaring again.]
Okay, all right. Anyway, we managed to rescue Tifa and get back to her home, only to find the sector's support pillar under attack. While Cloud and Tifa helped out with defending it, I got caught by the Turks. They rescued me from becoming a science experiment, and we made it out of Midgar.
We had several adventures after that, but I don't really know that much about some of them. When we got to the Temple of the Ancients, we met up with Sephiroth.... The next several months are all a blur for me...
["A blur? What do you mean?"]
A blur of nonexistence, sort of. You see... I died that day.
["D-D-Died? D-Did you say d-d-died?"]
Mm-hmm. Run through by Sephiroth's sword. Or so Cloud told me. I never saw it coming. They all went on without me, doing so in my memory, I guess.
It wasn't for about six, seven months that I saw any of them again. Cloud discovered a way to bring me back. I've lived a fairly normal life ever since.
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"He found a way to bring you back? How?"
"I'm not really sure, myself. He never told me."
"Man, my story pales in comparison to that," I commented.
"Hey, my story is simpler than yours, really. I'm just a normal guy who found out he was of royal lineage on another planet."
We all stared at Tenchi for a moment. "And you think that's simple?" Slasher inquired, breaking the silence.
"Well, compared to inventing dimensional travel or having been dead for half a year, yeah."
"Point conceded," I admitted. "That doesn't make it any less extraordinary."
A voice came over the intercom. "Ryan, I think you ought to see this."
Chris stared at me. "Who's that girl?"
"Uh, that would be the computer system."
"Computer system? Oh, come on, Ryan, you know I'm sooooo much more than that..."
I could feel my face turning a deep shade of red. "Let's go see what she wants, huh?" I stammered quickly to change the subject.
Two of the TV screens were showing simultaneous broadcasts of the news. One screen featured the news story of an international manhunt for a dangerous kidnapper (namely, me), while the other showed some skateboarding show on an extreme sports network. A flash of blue caught my eye. "Hey, that's--"
"Sonic Hedgehog, or at least that's what he calls himself, has proven to be a tried and true boarder in the past few days. He appeared in the Frisco Bay area last week and has since taken boarding to a new extreme-- using no skateboard at all.
"This amateur footage shows this blue blaze taking San Francisco by storm, grinding rails on only his sneakers! We asked him about it.
"Yeah, aren't they great? I found 'em last time I was in Sapphire City. All I gotta do is hit this button here to flip out these rollers, which cut friction down to almost nil, and hit it again to flip 'em back in when I want to run."
"In fact, this hedgehog's strong suit is running, but it's the amazing speed at which he's able to run that let's him treat his feet like a skateboard. More on this incredible new face in the extreme sports arena after this break."
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I don't know what was with Chris. So I had an AI running the computer systems! It's not like I was romantically attached to a computer! Man, the ideas she comes up with...
Okay, so maybe I was a bit girl crazy when I'd built the Virtual Information and Knowledge Index (VIKI for short). Okay, a LOT girl crazy. I had forgotten the computer core even contained an AI, much less a female one. Fortunately I'd limited the interactive module to voice. I think Chris would've flipped if I'd created a facial expression module to go with it.
Tenchi walked into the control room where I sat brooding over my current situation. I barely acknowledged his presence, so deep in thought I was.
"The girls all went to the diner for some food. You want anything?"
"Not right now, thanks, I'm not that hungry."
"Okay. You mind if I join you?"
"Go right ahead. I could use a voice of reason right now."
"What makes you say that?"
"Oh, just some of the things I'm thinking. I'm running all these scenarios out in my head, but not one of them prevents any more people from suffering. It's almost as if I'm destined to be a fugitive for the rest of my natural life."
"Well, that all depends, doesn't it?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Well, if you believe in destiny, you tend to fulfill it. If you don't, then things usually go the other way."
What Tenchi said struck a chord. I was a Christian! Why was I moping around the place thinking I was destined to suffer character assassination for the rest of my life? I was created with a free will! Why wasn't I using it?
"Dangit, you're right. I think it's time I made my OWN destiny."
"Slasher was telling us more about Team Chaos after you left the room. Sounds like a tight group you all had."
"The best. Simpler times, definitely. Makes me wish for the good ol' days."
A voice interrupted from across the room. "Wish granted."
I turned to see all the old team members standing in the doorway. Cliff spoke again. "And it wasn't just Slasher telling them about our little escapades, either."
----------------------------------------------------------
Seeing everyone back together warmed my heart to no end. It seemed that they had all heard about my alleged kidnapping and immediately gotten together to track me down to find out the truth. Once news had gotten out about my supposed kidnapping of Chris, Jason immediately knew it was a fake. They had used my dimensional equipment to track me down to this dimension.
"So what are you going to do now?" Lara inquired.
"I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to make a phone call."
Everyone exchanged quizzical looks as I picked up the receiver and dialed.
"Yeah, hey, Rob? CJ here. Listen, man, I want you to call the local FBI office and have them send out an agent to act as a courier. Yes, a courier. I have a little package I want them to get a hold of."
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"You wanted to see me, general?"
"Yes, Colonel Ferris. Are you aware that the wiretap on our scapegoat's house has malfunctioned?"
"I hadn't known that, general."
"Well now you do. Seems the caretaker of the house got a call, but the other end of the line was completely silent. Then he called the local FBI office and requested that an agent come to the house."
"Is Roland being sent?"
"No, unfortunately Roland is still in San Francisco tracking down shadows. I don't doubt he saw the scapegoat, but he lost track of him."
"So what should we do?"
"We need to get a hold of whatever information the agent returns with..."
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"This video was created to dispel certain myths concerning the alleged kidnappings I have been accused of. First of all, I have kidnapped no one. Aeris Gainsborough came to me asking for help, and I obliged. And as for Christine Monroe, why would I kidnap my own girlfriend?
"Secondly, I would like to explain to you why an international manhunt won't work. It's quite simple, really. I'm no longer on earth. That's right, I'm in another dimension entirely. Let me say here and now that I'm not the kind of person who would lie about something as serious as this. I need to explain further...
"The teleporter network and equipment I created is scaled down technology. The original article is the Dimensionalizer, a transdimensional portal generator. I scaled it down and patented it as protection from people who might try to steal the technology.
"Unfortunately, an oversight on my own part several months ago has compromised the secrecy of my project. I wrote a paper on dimensional theory for a college class. You'll find a copy of the paper in the package I had delivered to you. I would like you to notice the professor's name on the paper. Professor Ferris has a "day job", as it were. She happens to be secretary to the commander of a pseudo-scientific paramilitary group called GUN. I have had several encounters with these people. One, they used this paper to steal my dimensional gateway. Granted, at that exact time I hadn't patented it, but what's worse is that they are pulling innocent people out of their homeworlds and performing experiments on them. Aeris is one such victim. Two, they are the ones who are framing me for kidnapping. They are the ones whom Aeris was running from when she asked me for my help. Three, their commander just happens to be my girlfriend's estranged father. That story about my abducting his daughter while holding him at gunpoint? Total rubbish.
"I realize a lot of this is going to sound like complete bull. So I make an offer. One agent, unarmed, with video and audio surveillance set up, can talk with me in this dimension. You'll be able to see that everything I've said about my dimensional portal network is true. Please, only one agent, two at most, with only one making the trip. NO ONE ELSE. You have until Saturday to decide. I'll be waiting."
...Static.
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"So have they accepted your terms yet?"
"I have no idea. They may be taking this as a ransom note, which isn't what I intended at all. I wanted the world to see proof that I'm telling the truth."
"Great, so what happens if they don't take you seriously?"
"We do things the hard way. Extract a confession from the general somehow and televise it."
"Riiiiight. Like that'll work," Wes cut in.
"Okay, so it's not such a great plan at the moment. Big deal. We'll find a way."
Our little conference was interrupted by Ayeka bursting into the room. "You've got to come quickly; Chris has just fainted!"
"What?!?" I flew past the Jurai princess so fast I nearly knocked her over, but my main concern at the moment was Christine's well-being. I skidded to a stop near her collapsed body.
"Chris! What happened?"
"...Ryan... I think... they used some... sort of delayed-action... poison or something... when they had me..."
"You're not going to die, you're not going to die..." I kept repeating.
Pixel, Chris' chao, came rushing up. "Chris!" The little creature clung to her owner's arm. Indy, following close behind, stood a few feet away and watched on gravely.
"Pix," I managed through a tight throat, "use your scanner and see if you can figure out what kind of poison it is..."
The little chao immediately obeyed, running the scanner over Chris' body and plugging it into her portable computer. Flipping the visor down, she immediately began sorting through the data.
Her little fingers suddenly froze in mid-typing. Her hand dropped from her arm-mounted keyboard, and slowly pushed up her visor. The eyes behind the VR gear were wide with apprehension. "It's Lithium Trioxide."
"Oh, no." Lith-oh-three, as it was called, was a deadly poison that broke down the body's immune system and nervous system all at once. Only one substance, Barium Tetrafluoride, was capable of neutralizing the damaging poison. And the only place that had B-F-four in its natural state (synthesized BF(4) didn't have the strength of the natural stuff) that I knew of was...
"Slasher!" I yelled wildly.
"Slasher left a little bit ago," Indy piped in. "She went home to check on things."
My brain nearly shut down at that point. My metallic left hand clutched at the object hanging around my neck and nearly tore it off in frustration...
Until I realized what it was. The whistle.
With trembling fingers, I raised it to my lips. I couldn't remember the proper signals in my agitated state, so I improvised. Three short, three long, three short.
---------------------------------------------------------
Slasher's head whipped around. Tails noticed. "What is it, Slash?"
"Ryan needs help... And he must need it _really_ fast; he went past five... No, wait a minute..." The green eyes widened. "SOS! This must be life or death! Hop on!" Tails quickly obeyed, and Slasher sprinted off, leaving a stiff breeze in her wake.
---------------------------------------------------------
"I came as soon as I could. What happened?"
I turned from the bunk where we'd laid Chris. "They used some slow-acting poison on Chris while they had her. Lith-oh-three."
The raptor's eyes widened. "Lithium Trioxide?!? That stuff's deadly!"
"And enough to get me thrown in the clink for life for kidnapping AND murder. We need some Barium Tetraflouride."
"Where am I going to find B-F-four? That stuff's really hard to find!"
"Knuckles. He has some. Don't ask me how I know, just go get it! I don't know how much longer she'll last!"
Slasher dashed off, leaving Tails behind to help watch over Chris. Her eyes fluttered open. "Ryan..." she whispered.
"Just take it easy, Chris. Slasher's getting the antidote right now."
"I... need to tell... you... something..."
"What is it?"
"I'd always... hoped we could... spend the... rest of our lives... together..."
"Don't talk like that, Chris... I can't imagine life without you. You'll be fine."
"Maybe this was meant... to happen..."
"No, no, Chris. This isn't going to happen; you're not going to die!"
"Everyone's time... comes someday..."
"Chris, this isn't you. What happened to the fighter I knew? You've got to fight the poison a little longer, Chris..."
"It's too late... I'm done for, Ryan..."
"No, there has to be a way, there has to be!" By this point in the conversation I was becoming hysterical. A headset dropped from the ceiling. "What the heck is this?"
VIKI replied, "It's a memory transference headset. Put it on her."
"What are you going to do?" I asked the computer as I put the headset on Chris. She had dropped into unconsciousness again.
"Quite simple, really. I'm going to transfer her consciousness into the computer core."
"You're what?!?"
"I'm downloading Chris into my AI nexus. She'll be fine, even if her body dies."
"Then how do you propose I get her back? I don't want to have a computer for a girlfriend, no offense intended."
"None taken. I have to be honest, the reason you haven't heard from me all this time is because I had scanned Chris when she first showed up and seen the poison. I couldn't warn you because I was still set to passive mode, at least until Pixel was messing around with the control panels one day. I told her what I knew, and the two of us set about creating the necessary equipment."
"Necessary equipment?"
"I copied Chris' DNA from Pixel's scanner data and began constructing a new body from that data. All that's left is for me to transfer her consciousness into the new body."
"And if Slasher gets back with the antidote?"
The heart monitor suddenly flatlined. "Good timing," VIKI commented. "I just finished the transfer."
"So what are you saying, my girlfriend is going to be an android now?"
"Did you ever see 'The Fifth Element'?"
"Yeah, why?"
"That's what I did."
"You're joking."
"I never joke about a serious matter. This is a different dimension from your own, after all. Pixel and I were able to build the machine with no problems. There's just one catch..."
"Catch what catch you never said anything about a catch what kind of catch are you talking about?" I blurted out hysterically. This was starting to REALLY mess with my head. Just then Slasher got back with the antidote. She saw the heart monitor and feared the worst.
"Is she..." the raptor inquired fearfully.
"I'm fine! Why is everyone so worried about me?" "Ah, good, you're awake."
Hearing Chris' voice coming from the speakers just like VIKI's served to both freak me out and provide a great sense of relief all at once.
"Yeah, I'm awake, but where the heck am I?" "You're in the computer's AI nexus. I pulled you here to save you. Take a look." "Save me, what do you mean--" Chris cut off as she focused her attention on her dead body laying on the bunk. "Um, someone care to tell me what happened?"
"You're dead," I replied lamely.
"I can see that. The poison did me in?"
"It would seem so. So, VIKI, you just about to mention a catch."
"Well, if anything is pulled out of the AI nexus, whether a copy or a direct move, the entire thing has to go. That means if I put Chris in the new body, I have to go too."
"So I get a girlfriend with a split personality, is that it?"
Actually since it's Chris' body, small portions of me would merge with her, and the rest would remain dormant until needed. There is one plus, though..."
"And what is that?"
"Your girlfriend will be a walking encyclopedia."
"Sold."
"Hey!"
"You gotta admit, Chris, it's a pretty big plus."
"Oh, fine."
"Hey, would you rather be stuck on a hard drive for the rest of your life?"
"Good point. Lead the way, VIKI..."
-----------------------------------------------------
The door slid open in a grandiose manner, revealing an enclosed bed, the plexiglass dome revealing Chris' body, covered up to her collarbone in a sheet. A headset like the one that had copied her consciousness rested on the head. A change of clothes hung on a hanger near a changing room. Apart from these features and a control panel, the glaringly white room was empty. Pixel stood off to the side, pleased that everything had gone well so far.
"Couldn't you have put the clothes on me first?" Chris inquired. "Right, how exactly was I supposed to do that? You have any idea how heavy the human body is as dead weight? You're a big girl, you can take care of yourself." "Fine, but NO AUDIENCE!"
Everyone agreed with that, so I stepped up to the control panel. "I have everything set up on this end, Ryan. Just hit the green button and the process will take care of itself."
I looked to the crowd of people that had followed me in. "I appreciate all your support, guys, but do you mind if I take care of this by myself?"
"Not at all, Ryan," Slasher replied.
"We'll be outside if you need us," Ayeka added.
"Make her feel welcome, Ryan," Wes smirked before he was herded out the door. The door shut, sealing in the silence.
I turned to the body laying there. Incredible. To think VIKI and little Pixel had managed this on their own without any of us knowing about it. I turned to the chao. "You want to push the button?"
"I thought you'd want to do it."
"I don't mind. I want to be right here next to her when she wakes up."
"All right." She scurried over to the control panel and hoisted herself onto it to reach the controls. "Memory transference commencing... NOW!" Pixel pushed the button.
Almost immediately, Chris' eyes began fluttering behind her closed eyelids. I worried that the flood of memories pouring into her brain might be too much, but she didn't seem to be suffering any ill effects. Sooner that I thought possible, Pixel declared, "Transfer complete. She should wake up any time now."
Once all her memories had sorted out in her mind, Chris opened her eyes. Her eyes focused on me, and she smiled. I bent down and our lips met...
------------------------------------------------------
I stumbled out of the room, the door shutting behind me. Everyone looked at me expectantly.
"She wanted to get dressed," I explained.
Everyone broke out laughing. I had Chris back. Life was good.
The phone rang, and I picked it up. "Yeah, CJ here."
"It's Rob."
"Oh, hey, Rob. Whazzup?"
"The FBI has agreed to your terms, and they're sending out an agent tomorrow. Also Mr. General is back on TV tearing apart your character again."
"What, is he accusing me of murdering his daughter in cold blood?"
"Yeah, something like that. How'd you know?"
"Just a wild guess." The door opened, and Chris came waltzing out into the anteroom. She was immediately flooded by everyone. "Listen, Rob, I gotta go, but make sure you set everything up for the visit tomorrow."
"Wilco."
"Catch you on the flipside."
"Only if it's a good song."
I hung up, ran to Chris, grabbed her around the waist and swept her off the ground, spinning her around.
Life was good.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Deep in the ground, a safe lay buried. The contents of the safe glowed, throbbing brightly with an internal rage at being confined so. A small portal opened in the middle of the floor of the safe, allowing the eighth Chaos Emerald to fall through into a receptacle on the other side of the dimensional rip.
A gloved hand reached for the gem... and a dark hedgehog with a dark purpose gained control of the darkest power known to the universe...
Coming Soon: Sonic Adventure 2 -- Dark vs. Light
by Ryan Carroll
The dimension was simple, really... Not much was there except the park, the TV station, and the office complex that towered over everything there. Carroll Central had always been huge, even though it had decayed the most before I'd renewed this place.
I sat on the edge of the roof, staring at nothing, trying my best to sort out my emotions.
I'd come here, to this dimension of my own creation, for safety and refuge. I never imagined I would feel so vulnerable here.
When the despair became almost too great to bear, I began praying. It was the only thing I had left, really. They had taken away my invention... my life... now they'd kidnapped my girlfriend. God was all I had left, and no one could take Him from me.
For the first few minutes I probably sounded a lot like Job to God. I'd lost everything of value to me. I questioned God. How could He have let this happen? Why did everything happen to me this way?
I soon realized that it wasn't God I should be questioning, but myself. Why did I care so much about these things? Because they were mine, and they'd been taken from me. But aren't all gifts given by God?
I conceded the point. God had given me these gifts, and I had taken them for granted. I had to realize that much, at least.
It was at this point that the tears came.
I sat there, a broken man. A sinner saved by grace who had taken it for granted. I deserved nothing.
For the first time since all this had started, I felt at peace. I actually felt like facing another day.
I also felt a hand on my shoulder. A hand on each, actually. I smiled at Slasher and Aeris as I rose to my feet. "Come on," I told them. "We have another rescue to plan."
-----------------------------------------------------------
"So you do recognize me. I figured after all these years that you'd have forgotten me."
"Forgotten you? How could I forget the man who left my mother to live with some girl half his age?"
"Sweetheart, I'd hoped you wouldn't bring that up--"
"Don't you dare call me that!" Chris snapped. "I forgave you for what you did, but that doesn't mean I ever want to see you again."
"Well, it's a bit late to say that, isn't it?"
"Just leave me alone and let me go, if you love me so much."
"I'm afraid I can't do that, honey. After all, you were in a restricted area."
"Oh, and you haven't been?!?"
"I'm not quite sure what you mean."
"You've been using a device that is patented to someone else to abduct people from their homes, and for what? Some stupid scientific experiment? What happened to a code of ethics?"
"Chris, darling, this is all top-secret stuff. We don't need a code of ethics."
"That's obvious enough."
The general began to get annoyed. "And what's that supposed to mean?"
"Theft of intellectual property, kidnapping, framing someone for kidnapping..."
"What do you mean, framing? The man abducted a poor young woman--"
"She asked for his help because she was running away from you! You've taken away Ryan's LIFE just so you can do your little research projects!"
"So you're on a first-name basis with him."
"Well, duh, he's my boyfriend."
"Now don't you take that tone of voice with me, young lady. I'm still your father, and--"
"You're not my father. My father left ten years ago."
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I stealthily crept through the hallways of the complex, remaining invisible. Being able to manipulate light was a wonderful thing sometimes. I came up to the door marked "General's Office" and waited. Someone came to make a delivery, and I followed him in. I waited till the deliveryman left, then crept around behind the secretary's chair and grabbed her neck in a choke hold.
"Sorry, Professor Ferris," I said just before she slumped over on her desk, out cold. I checked to make sure I hadn't killed her, then stepped over to the door leading to the general's inner office. I listened for a moment.
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"So that's how it is, is it?"
"What are you going to do, throw me in jail? Kill me? Chuck me into some random dimension and hope for the best? You'll have a lot of explaining to do when he shows up."
"When who shows up?"
"ChaosJedi," Chris replied nonchalantly.
"Who is that?"
"He's someone who watches out for people. Specifically dimension-jumpers. If he finds out you've done something to me, he'll beat you to within half an inch of your life."
"Oh, so it's your boyfriend we're talking about. We should have no problems with him."
-----------------------------------------------------
I clenched a fist and was about to break down the door when the phone rang. I nearly jumped out of my skin, then realized that the secretary normally answers the phone. I silently cursed the bad timing, then prepared my best imitation of Professor Ferris' voice. I reached for the handset...
"Never mind, Colonel Ferris," came the general's voice throught the door. "That's line Delta. I'll take it myself."
I breathed a sigh of relief, then went back to listening at the door.
"Hello? Ah, yes, Dr. Kintobor. What's that? Oh, good, so you do have the key ingredient of the Shadow Project waiting for me. Yes, I will exercise a considerable amount of caution in dealing with him. Yes, you can send him through the portal now."
-----------------------------------------------------
"Shadow Project?" Chris asked when the general (she refused to think of him as her father) had hung up.
"A pet project of mine that I've been working on for some time. I want to create a creature that is the best of everything. That's why I needed the Cetra and the young Masaki boy. For this project."
"They do have names."
"I'm well aware of that. But it doesn't matter to me. Fortunately I had a chance to sample their DNA before you and your precious boyfriend intervened. This creature I'm engineering will have the innate abilities of a Cetra healer, a Jurai prince... and the fastest creature ever known."
Chris managed to keep a straight face. "You don't say."
"He'll be my best operative. No one will be able to stand against him."
"So that's why you kidnap these people? To play God with some building blocks?"
"I'm growing tired of your impetuous attitude."
"I'm surprised you even know what that word means."
"Now you're insulting my intelligence."
"What little there is of it."
SLAP! "You'll learn to respect me, one way or another."
------------------------------------------------------------
That was too much. I slammed through the door, knocking the hinges out of the frame. "You keep your hands off her," I growled. "Scum deserves no respect."
"Well, if it isn't the kidnapper. Going to try to abduct her now?"
"Look who's talking. I have to say, when it comes to abductions, you're starting to rival the aliens in the X-Files."
"No one will believe you if you try to prove your innocence. To most people, you're guilty as charged. When my project is complete, I won't need to track you down. My operative will kill you on sight and I'll be rid of you."
I grabbed the front of the general's jacket and got right up in his face. "YOU stole MY invention." I tossed him across his desk. "Then YOU stole MY life." I lit my lightsaber, sliced Christine's ropes, and pointed the tip right in his face. "Then YOU hurt MY girlfriend."
He swallowed hard, looking for all the world like he knew he was about to die. I held the blade there for a moment, then clicked it off. "Death is too good for you. It gives you an easy out. You won't have to worry about what happens to you when your organization comes crashing down." I got in his face again. "I'm going to see you squirm, and I'm going to enjoy every minute of it."
I turned to Chris. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine... Look out!"
I felt the barrel of a gun against my neck. I could sense the trigger being pulled...
The bullet ripped through the phone sitting on the desk. "Let me down!"
Chris giggled. "You didn't have to pin him to the ceiling, you know. You could've just pulled the gun away from him."
"But it wouldn't have been nearly as fun. Come on, we have to go get Sonic."
"How do you know...?"
"I'll explain later. Come on."
As I closed the door to the outer office, I released my gravity hold on the general. I heard a satisfying crash as we walked off.
-------------------------------------------------------
"So they have Sonic?"
The whole group of us, including Slasher, Knux (who'd come to notify Slasher that Sonic had been captured), Aeris, Tenchi, Ayeka, Christine and myself, were sitting in the main control room of Carroll Central, planning our next move.
"Yep. I tried to rescue him, but they'd already moved him by the time we got to the cell block. He's probably in transit to wherever they're taking him by now." I looked at Slasher and Knux apologetically. "I'm sorry, but I couldn't find anything about where they were headed."
"It's not your fault, Ryan. We'll find him eventually, don't worry."
-------------------------------------------------------
"It's not like they'd take him to a major city or anything."
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"GUN-Frisco, this is GUN-chopper-one-three-niner, en route."
"Roger, one-three-niner. What is status of cargo?"
"Cargo is secured--" A crash was heard over the frequency. "What the expletive deleted?!?"
"One-three-niner, state current situation."
"The hedgehog is loose! He's taken out all the guards on board. It appears he plans to jump!"
"One-three-niner, be advised that cargo is to remain unharmed!"
Sonic, unaware of the conversation concerning him in the cockpit, did a flying dragon leap and kicked the side door out of the helicopter, falling out with it. He grabbed one of the missiles racked on the chopper, then flipped up onto the stabilizer. "Man, that was lame! No in-flight movie or peanuts!" His demeanor grew serious as he ripped a panel off the "wing" of the aircraft. "I'd feel better running from these guys, even though I have no idea where I am..."
With that, the blue hedgehog secured his feet to the makeshift airboard and leaped off, heading straight for the hilliest section of San Francisco, California.
The Golden Gate city would never be the same again.
-----------------------------------------------------
"Hey, what's this thing?"
"Huh?" I turned to face Aeris, who was just coming through the door to the command center carrying a necklace. I studied the pendant, and although it resembled Christine's Chaos Amber necklace, it was made of a different material. I handed it back to Aeris. "I have no idea. It doesn't look familiar. Maybe someone dropped it on their way through here. This dimension is a popular waypoint for interdimensional travelers."
"Yeah, but wouldn't they be looking for it?"
"Maybe without it they can't open a dimensional gate. Let me take a look at it again..."
I stepped outside, scrutinizing the pendant with great attention to detail. A flash of something caught my eye. As I watched, a black and green swirl emanated from a spot on the ground. I walked over to it and watched it closely. It seemed more active now that I was closer. I looked at the flash of light, then at the amulet in my hand. I held the amulet in the light...
And dropped through a hole in the ground as everything around me went black.
When the darkness faded away, I looked around to see where I was. Ruined buildings were everywhere, as if the place had been hit by a massive tornado. then I recognized where I was...
This was the dimension I had just left. Only now it was totally destoryed, as if...
As if I'd never renewed it.
I looked, and the flash of black and green was still there. I looked at the amulet, and it hit me. I had traveled to a parallel world, one in which I'd never drained the Element Stones renewing the place. The amulet was a key. A key... to dimensional portals!
Wait a minute, my logical brain replied. How could that be a dimensional portal? Don't portals have to be created with a Dimensionalizer machine?
"But who says they can't be a natural phenomenon? It's entirely possible," I replied aloud, trying to clear things up in my mind. Yeah, but you've never seen anything like this before. "Just because you don't see it doesn't mean it exists." Okay, point. So what are you going to do now? "I'm going to put this to good use."
---------------------------------------------------------
"So this thing lets you see the flipside of things? Like if you'd never met me, for instance?" Chris inquired.
"I think that's how it works. I'm still a bit fuzzy on all the details, but this may come in handy. We need to keep this safe," I replied, placing the amulet in a safe and locking it securely.
"So what now? I mean it's not like we know where to go or anything..."
"I'm thinking we need to find more of those rogue portals. Who knows how many renegades are out there that we've missed..."
"Maybe we didn't miss them," Slasher cut in. "Maybe they weren't there before."
"What? You mean like another interdimensional storm?"
"No, I think there's so much use of the dimensional network that the stress on the continuum has caused microscopic tears in the fabric of reality."
"That makes sense. Since when did you become a dimensional theorist?"
"Since I met you," the raptor replied with a smile. "Although I do think it would be interesting to see the other side of the decisions we make every day."
"Well, we'll have to exercise caution in using the amulet. Who knows what sorts of things we could screw up just by being on the flipside."
"True. Care to see what's on TV?"
One of the features of this dimension was that I had complete access to all sorts of communication between here and my home dimension. This included a phone (untraceable, of course), radio, Internet, and even TV. As I flipped it on, I saw a flash of blue trailing sparks down a hilly street. The news was currently featuring the latest from San Francisco.
"In other news, a blue hedgehog was seen boarding through the streets of the Bay City area today, and was later caught running from an unmarked semi that seemed intent on mowing him down. The hedgehog disappeared from view soon after the semi ran into a solid brick wall. The driver was taken to the nearest hospital, unconscious but in stable condition.
"This is the latest in a string of strange incidents that began over a year and a half ago. Scientists are attempting to work with teleporter technology to see if the recently invented transportation technology has anything to do with these events."
"More than you'll ever know," I muttered to no one in particular. I signaled to Chris. "We're heading to San Francisco."
"Are you sure that's wise? What if you get caught? You don't have the info you need to clear your name yet!"
Aeris cut in. "Um, Ryan, you might want to see this."
I turned to see my face plastered on the TV screen. I was wanted for the kidnapping of Aeris and Chris. ...Chris?!?
"The General" came on screen (sans uniform, of course) was explaining what had happened, saying that his daughter had come to visit him and had subsequently been abducted from his home right in front of his eyes. He made it all seem so convincing I wanted to throw a shoe through the TV screen.
I cast an accusing glance at Chris. "You never told me he was your dad."
"He's not. At least I don't think of him as my dad. He left when I was young; ran off with some girl. Mom was so heartbroken... she'd really thought he was the person she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. To this day she hasn't remarried, always hoping he'll come back."
I softened. "I'm so sorry. Why didn't you ever tell me about this?"
"I knew you had both your parents, so I didn't know if you would really understand. I've always envied you, ya know. Your parents are such nice people..." She started to break down. "I feel like your dad is the father I've been missing all these years."
"What happened to 'He shall be a Father to the fatherless'? You've been trying to deal with this on your own, Chris. You can't, I can't, no one can. Let it go."
Chris smiled through her tears. "That's why I love you. You always know what to say."
"I don't right now," I shot back with a lopsided smile. "Come on, I want some real food. What say we hit Jack-In-The-Box while we're in 'Frisco?"
"Only if you promise not to order me any tacos this time. Those things set my mouth on fire!"
We shared a laugh as we stepped through the dimensional portal.
--------------------------------------------------------
I glanced at my reflection in the restaurant window as we entered. I'd had to alter Chris's appearance a bit with the Light Stone, but I didn't feel a need to do anything with my own. I hadn't shaved since I'd been forced into hiding. It had been a good three weeks now, and my beard was pretty thick. Chris complained that she didn't like the look, but accepted that I'd probably stay this way until I cleared my name. I'd also had my hair trimmed into a flat top to further alter my "mug shot". I figured it would be hard to link my face to that of a clean-cut college-student-slash-"kidnapper".
Lunch went smoothly, but I noticed that as soon as we got up to leave, some guy across the room did the same. I watched out of the corner of my eye as he trailed us down the street. "Someone's following us."
"You sure?"
"He's been trailing us ever since we left the restaurant. We need to lose him."
"How?"
"You have those emergency portal generators in your purse?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Here's the plan..."
------------------------------------------------------
Agent Roland was nearly positive that he'd found the kidnapper. He didn't know who the girl was, but he suspected that she was his next target. He shadowed them as well as he could as they walked down the crowded streets of San Fran. This was great! Catching this kidnapper and closing the Carroll case would be his ticket out of the rookie assignments! His supervisor had considered it a risk putting Roland on this case in the first place, but Roland had been so eager to prove himself that he'd gone ahead with it. Well, Roland had no intention of letting his boss down. He'd be the one to close this case!
He watched as the pair entered separate restrooms. Well this could be a problem. If one of them came out before the other, he could lose the kidnapper! He decided to go ahead and wait for them.
And he waited. And waited. And waited... and waited some more. What could be taking him so long?
He chose to take the risk that he was making a mistake and entered the men's bathroom...
And found the place empty. Every stall, every sink, empty.
"What the..." Roland muttered.
-------------------------------------------------------
"I'd love to see the look on that guy's face right now..." I laughed.
"Yeah, I bet it would've been hilarious," Aeris added.
"I still don't quite grasp all of this..." Tenchi cut in from across the room. "How exactly did all this start?"
"Yeah, I'm kind of interested myself," Aeris added.
"All right, I'll explain, but then each of you has to tell the rest of us about your background. Agreed?"
They both nodded, so I began. "A while back... man, I guess it was about three years now..."
---------------------------------
It all started with the Virtualizer. My friend Jason and I were trying out a new kind of virtual reality technology; technology that would let you step into a computer system and interact with it from the inside. We tried it out on a few different video games, but one of the most frustrating things about it was that the same character in two different games wouldn't recognize us. It was like talking to a person who had selective amnesia, and all the lost memories had to do with you.
We shelved the project except for a few trips into Mainframe, a massive computer system. I actually got to revisit the place a while back, only through a dimensional portal this time, but I'm getting off the subject.
Eventually we thought of creating a link between dimensions. It took a lot of effort, but with some help we finally succeeded. Unfortunately there was a problem with electromagnetic fields, and we wound up with a dimensional vacuum. We accidentally sucked a few Mobians through, as well as the seven Chaos Emeralds. It turned out that seven of us had become the new guardians of the emeralds.
Some time after... I guess it'd be a year and a half now... Robotnik managed to get his hands on the dimensional technology, and it wouldn't be the last time. Anyway, he managed to reengineer it so that rather than creating a portal in a frame, it projected it a set distance away. He took over the Kitt Peak Observatory in Arizona and projected a couple of portals through the telescopes they have up there. The result was a collision of dimensions. I know that our dimension still hasn't recovered entirely from the world-crash.
We ended up on a search for our emeralds, only to find them drained of their energy after Sonic had battled Perfect Chaos, a huge water monster. Knuckles told us about the Element Stones, so we set out to find them to recharge our emeralds. After a few trials, we succeeded.
That brings us to the point where everything changed. I graduated from high school and moved to Arizona. Before I left I got together with the team one more time and wound up with all seven emeralds. Shortly after I started classes at Arizona State, I met Chris. We hit it off right away. After a couple of weeks, I was ready to tell her about my double life, but just as I was about to, she vanished from sight.
[I noticed at this point that Chris became a bit uncomfortable with the discussion. I didn't really blame her; the shock at seeing her vanish had nearly sent me over the brink.]
I found out that she wasn't supposed to have died when she did, so I went back in time and saved her life. When I got back to the present I showed her everything. She actually took it fairly well...
["Well, there was that one point when you introduced her to me," Slasher interrupted.
"Well, yeah, there was that..."
"What happened?" Tenchi inquired.
"I fainted," Chris replied with a smirk. Everyone burst out laughing.
"Hey, you'd have too if you'd seen a winged raptor open a door right in front of you without any forewarning!"]
Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, Chaos8. Back during the world collision, some kid managed to get a hold of the eighth Chaos Emerald. Nasty gem. Turned the kid totally evil, and he's got it in for me. He's the one I had to save Chris from, and he was back for revenge. He joined up with Robotnik, but after a double-triple cross, he was sent to the Interweb for the umpteenth time. That's when things got nasty.
Chaos8 possessed Robotnik's body, and Robotnik's brain was sent to Chaos8's old body. The Interweb purged his memory and dumped him in a random dimension. Meanwhile Robotnik had set up a clone as a contingency plan. While Chaos8 was busy taking charge of Robotropolis, Robotnick was planning his reclamation of the city.
Meanwhile, we dimension jumpers were trying to regroup amidst a huge interdimensional storm. We got back together and sealed the vortices that threatened the dimensions where we'd landed. Then we met Rob.
["Where's Rob been, anyway? How is he staying out of the spotlight during all these kidnapping accusations?"
"He's taking care of my house for me. I own the land and the house outright, so he's managed to keep any and all press off my property."
"How'd he do that? And what about Squall and the others?"
"He put a nice huge lock on the driveway gate. The press is smart enough to not climb over the fence."
"Why is that?"
"Last reporter who tried it triggered my motion-detecting sprinkler system. His notepad was so soaked he lost notes from half a dozen stories he'd been working on."
"I bet he was miffed."
"Ready to sue me, actually. I countered that I had the right to protect my private property any way I pleased and that the only damage done had been a set of wet clothes that could easily be laundered and one notepad. I paid for a new notepad and the judge threw out the case."
"Score one for ingenuity."
"As for the others, they're staying cooped up in the basement until I can clear my name and reveal the true nature of the teleporter. That won't be for a while, unfortunately."]
Rob was a pretty good kid. He was an excellent swordfighter, but he had amnesia. We learned later that this was actually Robotnik in Chaos8's former body. He was genuinely sorry for what he'd done, so he became one of us. When we got back to Mobius, we wound up stuck in the middle of the three-way war for control of the planet. Robotnick had just begun his assault on the city, Chaos8 was defending what he could, and the Freedom Fighters were staging guerrilla attacks on both sides.
["Who won?"
"Unfortunately, Robotnick did. He was just too powerful. We couldn't keep him from taking over the city again. So it's back to the status quo on Mobius."]
Chaos8 kept coming back, unfortunately. Shortly after the first semester of college was over, the whole gang gathered at my place for Christmas. Shortly thereafter, Chaos8 sent me through a random portal into a shadow dimension. I had no inward contact with my home world. Chris tracked me to Japan, but she still couldn't get in touch with me. I guess it was a miracle that we managed to communicate through a couple of dimensional glitches, but I managed to phase back into my own reality.
I don't think I'll go into what happened afterwards. It's just too painful to think about right now... All I'll say is that my powers were drained, and I was left with a normal life again. I decided to close down the transdimensional network in order to restore order to it all.
I coudn't take it. I missed the adventure and the action. So I reopened the dimensional gates and started the whole cycle going again. The only problem is that I unintentionally gave GUN the plans for the Dimensionalizer. And you guys know the rest; they started kidnapping people from their own dimensions. Including the two of you.
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"Good work, Roland. I'll be able to pass this onto our own agents." The general hung up and began to notify his top trackers while Agent Roland telephoned his superiors at the local FBI office...
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"Wow. That's some story."
"I know. I have a hard enough time believing it myself. There are times when my whole life feels like a dream that I'm about to wake up from."
"I get that feeling sometimes," Aeris commented. "My life has been very strange; bordering on just plain weird most of the time..."
-------------------------------
Most of my life I had known I was different from others. I could always hear the voices of the planet around me. My adopted mother dealt with me as best as she could, but I know there were times that she was just baffled by my behavior.
I earned a meager amount selling flowers around Midgar to anyone who would buy one. But there was one flower I sold that I'll never forget. It was a bright yellow daffodil...
I had just picked some flowers from a place that grew some really beautiful varieties. I was on my way home when this guy bumped into me. He seemed to be in a big hurry, but he still stopped to buy a flower. He ran off and I never imagined I'd see him again.
The next day I went to an old broken-down church building. For some reason the churches seemed to be the best sources for flowers. Anyway, I was there tending to some of the flowers when something came crashing through the roof and landed at my feet.
It was the same guy I'd met the day before. When he came to, we talked for a bit. That's when the Turks showed up. It's kind of frustrating trying to live a normal life and having to always be watching over your shoulder. The Turks worked for Shinra, the company that seemed to be in charge of just about everything these days. Apparently Shinra saw that I was the last of the Cetra and viewed me as some sort of experiment or something. Anyway, Cloud (that was the guy's name) agreed to act as my bodyguard. He walked me home, then tried to sneak out. I think it was my mother's suggestion, really. I caught up with him just before he got to the next sector of town and he agreed to let me tag along.
Before I even had a chance to thank him he noticed a friend of his being carted off somewhere. When we followed the cart, we discovered that she'd been taken to Don Corneo's mansion, and that only women were allowed inside...
[Here Aeris started giggling uncontrollably.
"What? What did you do?" I prodded.
"I suggested he dress up like a girl to get in."
I fell out of my chair as everyone burst out laughing. "You didn't!" Chris laughed.
"Yeah, but that's not as funny as what he did do..."
"What's that?" I inquired, levering myself back into my chair.
At this point her giggles burst into full-blown laughter. "He actually DID it!"
We all cracked up all over again.
"Oh, man, poor guy. I'd hate to have been in his shoes at that point," I managed between chuckles.
"What kind of shoes, heels or flats?" Chris put in, which set us all roaring again.]
Okay, all right. Anyway, we managed to rescue Tifa and get back to her home, only to find the sector's support pillar under attack. While Cloud and Tifa helped out with defending it, I got caught by the Turks. They rescued me from becoming a science experiment, and we made it out of Midgar.
We had several adventures after that, but I don't really know that much about some of them. When we got to the Temple of the Ancients, we met up with Sephiroth.... The next several months are all a blur for me...
["A blur? What do you mean?"]
A blur of nonexistence, sort of. You see... I died that day.
["D-D-Died? D-Did you say d-d-died?"]
Mm-hmm. Run through by Sephiroth's sword. Or so Cloud told me. I never saw it coming. They all went on without me, doing so in my memory, I guess.
It wasn't for about six, seven months that I saw any of them again. Cloud discovered a way to bring me back. I've lived a fairly normal life ever since.
-------------------------------
"He found a way to bring you back? How?"
"I'm not really sure, myself. He never told me."
"Man, my story pales in comparison to that," I commented.
"Hey, my story is simpler than yours, really. I'm just a normal guy who found out he was of royal lineage on another planet."
We all stared at Tenchi for a moment. "And you think that's simple?" Slasher inquired, breaking the silence.
"Well, compared to inventing dimensional travel or having been dead for half a year, yeah."
"Point conceded," I admitted. "That doesn't make it any less extraordinary."
A voice came over the intercom. "Ryan, I think you ought to see this."
Chris stared at me. "Who's that girl?"
"Uh, that would be the computer system."
"Computer system? Oh, come on, Ryan, you know I'm sooooo much more than that..."
I could feel my face turning a deep shade of red. "Let's go see what she wants, huh?" I stammered quickly to change the subject.
Two of the TV screens were showing simultaneous broadcasts of the news. One screen featured the news story of an international manhunt for a dangerous kidnapper (namely, me), while the other showed some skateboarding show on an extreme sports network. A flash of blue caught my eye. "Hey, that's--"
"Sonic Hedgehog, or at least that's what he calls himself, has proven to be a tried and true boarder in the past few days. He appeared in the Frisco Bay area last week and has since taken boarding to a new extreme-- using no skateboard at all.
"This amateur footage shows this blue blaze taking San Francisco by storm, grinding rails on only his sneakers! We asked him about it.
"Yeah, aren't they great? I found 'em last time I was in Sapphire City. All I gotta do is hit this button here to flip out these rollers, which cut friction down to almost nil, and hit it again to flip 'em back in when I want to run."
"In fact, this hedgehog's strong suit is running, but it's the amazing speed at which he's able to run that let's him treat his feet like a skateboard. More on this incredible new face in the extreme sports arena after this break."
------------------------------------------------------
I don't know what was with Chris. So I had an AI running the computer systems! It's not like I was romantically attached to a computer! Man, the ideas she comes up with...
Okay, so maybe I was a bit girl crazy when I'd built the Virtual Information and Knowledge Index (VIKI for short). Okay, a LOT girl crazy. I had forgotten the computer core even contained an AI, much less a female one. Fortunately I'd limited the interactive module to voice. I think Chris would've flipped if I'd created a facial expression module to go with it.
Tenchi walked into the control room where I sat brooding over my current situation. I barely acknowledged his presence, so deep in thought I was.
"The girls all went to the diner for some food. You want anything?"
"Not right now, thanks, I'm not that hungry."
"Okay. You mind if I join you?"
"Go right ahead. I could use a voice of reason right now."
"What makes you say that?"
"Oh, just some of the things I'm thinking. I'm running all these scenarios out in my head, but not one of them prevents any more people from suffering. It's almost as if I'm destined to be a fugitive for the rest of my natural life."
"Well, that all depends, doesn't it?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Well, if you believe in destiny, you tend to fulfill it. If you don't, then things usually go the other way."
What Tenchi said struck a chord. I was a Christian! Why was I moping around the place thinking I was destined to suffer character assassination for the rest of my life? I was created with a free will! Why wasn't I using it?
"Dangit, you're right. I think it's time I made my OWN destiny."
"Slasher was telling us more about Team Chaos after you left the room. Sounds like a tight group you all had."
"The best. Simpler times, definitely. Makes me wish for the good ol' days."
A voice interrupted from across the room. "Wish granted."
I turned to see all the old team members standing in the doorway. Cliff spoke again. "And it wasn't just Slasher telling them about our little escapades, either."
----------------------------------------------------------
Seeing everyone back together warmed my heart to no end. It seemed that they had all heard about my alleged kidnapping and immediately gotten together to track me down to find out the truth. Once news had gotten out about my supposed kidnapping of Chris, Jason immediately knew it was a fake. They had used my dimensional equipment to track me down to this dimension.
"So what are you going to do now?" Lara inquired.
"I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to make a phone call."
Everyone exchanged quizzical looks as I picked up the receiver and dialed.
"Yeah, hey, Rob? CJ here. Listen, man, I want you to call the local FBI office and have them send out an agent to act as a courier. Yes, a courier. I have a little package I want them to get a hold of."
---------------------------------------------------------
"You wanted to see me, general?"
"Yes, Colonel Ferris. Are you aware that the wiretap on our scapegoat's house has malfunctioned?"
"I hadn't known that, general."
"Well now you do. Seems the caretaker of the house got a call, but the other end of the line was completely silent. Then he called the local FBI office and requested that an agent come to the house."
"Is Roland being sent?"
"No, unfortunately Roland is still in San Francisco tracking down shadows. I don't doubt he saw the scapegoat, but he lost track of him."
"So what should we do?"
"We need to get a hold of whatever information the agent returns with..."
---------------------------------------------------------
"This video was created to dispel certain myths concerning the alleged kidnappings I have been accused of. First of all, I have kidnapped no one. Aeris Gainsborough came to me asking for help, and I obliged. And as for Christine Monroe, why would I kidnap my own girlfriend?
"Secondly, I would like to explain to you why an international manhunt won't work. It's quite simple, really. I'm no longer on earth. That's right, I'm in another dimension entirely. Let me say here and now that I'm not the kind of person who would lie about something as serious as this. I need to explain further...
"The teleporter network and equipment I created is scaled down technology. The original article is the Dimensionalizer, a transdimensional portal generator. I scaled it down and patented it as protection from people who might try to steal the technology.
"Unfortunately, an oversight on my own part several months ago has compromised the secrecy of my project. I wrote a paper on dimensional theory for a college class. You'll find a copy of the paper in the package I had delivered to you. I would like you to notice the professor's name on the paper. Professor Ferris has a "day job", as it were. She happens to be secretary to the commander of a pseudo-scientific paramilitary group called GUN. I have had several encounters with these people. One, they used this paper to steal my dimensional gateway. Granted, at that exact time I hadn't patented it, but what's worse is that they are pulling innocent people out of their homeworlds and performing experiments on them. Aeris is one such victim. Two, they are the ones who are framing me for kidnapping. They are the ones whom Aeris was running from when she asked me for my help. Three, their commander just happens to be my girlfriend's estranged father. That story about my abducting his daughter while holding him at gunpoint? Total rubbish.
"I realize a lot of this is going to sound like complete bull. So I make an offer. One agent, unarmed, with video and audio surveillance set up, can talk with me in this dimension. You'll be able to see that everything I've said about my dimensional portal network is true. Please, only one agent, two at most, with only one making the trip. NO ONE ELSE. You have until Saturday to decide. I'll be waiting."
...Static.
-------------------------------------------------------------
"So have they accepted your terms yet?"
"I have no idea. They may be taking this as a ransom note, which isn't what I intended at all. I wanted the world to see proof that I'm telling the truth."
"Great, so what happens if they don't take you seriously?"
"We do things the hard way. Extract a confession from the general somehow and televise it."
"Riiiiight. Like that'll work," Wes cut in.
"Okay, so it's not such a great plan at the moment. Big deal. We'll find a way."
Our little conference was interrupted by Ayeka bursting into the room. "You've got to come quickly; Chris has just fainted!"
"What?!?" I flew past the Jurai princess so fast I nearly knocked her over, but my main concern at the moment was Christine's well-being. I skidded to a stop near her collapsed body.
"Chris! What happened?"
"...Ryan... I think... they used some... sort of delayed-action... poison or something... when they had me..."
"You're not going to die, you're not going to die..." I kept repeating.
Pixel, Chris' chao, came rushing up. "Chris!" The little creature clung to her owner's arm. Indy, following close behind, stood a few feet away and watched on gravely.
"Pix," I managed through a tight throat, "use your scanner and see if you can figure out what kind of poison it is..."
The little chao immediately obeyed, running the scanner over Chris' body and plugging it into her portable computer. Flipping the visor down, she immediately began sorting through the data.
Her little fingers suddenly froze in mid-typing. Her hand dropped from her arm-mounted keyboard, and slowly pushed up her visor. The eyes behind the VR gear were wide with apprehension. "It's Lithium Trioxide."
"Oh, no." Lith-oh-three, as it was called, was a deadly poison that broke down the body's immune system and nervous system all at once. Only one substance, Barium Tetrafluoride, was capable of neutralizing the damaging poison. And the only place that had B-F-four in its natural state (synthesized BF(4) didn't have the strength of the natural stuff) that I knew of was...
"Slasher!" I yelled wildly.
"Slasher left a little bit ago," Indy piped in. "She went home to check on things."
My brain nearly shut down at that point. My metallic left hand clutched at the object hanging around my neck and nearly tore it off in frustration...
Until I realized what it was. The whistle.
With trembling fingers, I raised it to my lips. I couldn't remember the proper signals in my agitated state, so I improvised. Three short, three long, three short.
---------------------------------------------------------
Slasher's head whipped around. Tails noticed. "What is it, Slash?"
"Ryan needs help... And he must need it _really_ fast; he went past five... No, wait a minute..." The green eyes widened. "SOS! This must be life or death! Hop on!" Tails quickly obeyed, and Slasher sprinted off, leaving a stiff breeze in her wake.
---------------------------------------------------------
"I came as soon as I could. What happened?"
I turned from the bunk where we'd laid Chris. "They used some slow-acting poison on Chris while they had her. Lith-oh-three."
The raptor's eyes widened. "Lithium Trioxide?!? That stuff's deadly!"
"And enough to get me thrown in the clink for life for kidnapping AND murder. We need some Barium Tetraflouride."
"Where am I going to find B-F-four? That stuff's really hard to find!"
"Knuckles. He has some. Don't ask me how I know, just go get it! I don't know how much longer she'll last!"
Slasher dashed off, leaving Tails behind to help watch over Chris. Her eyes fluttered open. "Ryan..." she whispered.
"Just take it easy, Chris. Slasher's getting the antidote right now."
"I... need to tell... you... something..."
"What is it?"
"I'd always... hoped we could... spend the... rest of our lives... together..."
"Don't talk like that, Chris... I can't imagine life without you. You'll be fine."
"Maybe this was meant... to happen..."
"No, no, Chris. This isn't going to happen; you're not going to die!"
"Everyone's time... comes someday..."
"Chris, this isn't you. What happened to the fighter I knew? You've got to fight the poison a little longer, Chris..."
"It's too late... I'm done for, Ryan..."
"No, there has to be a way, there has to be!" By this point in the conversation I was becoming hysterical. A headset dropped from the ceiling. "What the heck is this?"
VIKI replied, "It's a memory transference headset. Put it on her."
"What are you going to do?" I asked the computer as I put the headset on Chris. She had dropped into unconsciousness again.
"Quite simple, really. I'm going to transfer her consciousness into the computer core."
"You're what?!?"
"I'm downloading Chris into my AI nexus. She'll be fine, even if her body dies."
"Then how do you propose I get her back? I don't want to have a computer for a girlfriend, no offense intended."
"None taken. I have to be honest, the reason you haven't heard from me all this time is because I had scanned Chris when she first showed up and seen the poison. I couldn't warn you because I was still set to passive mode, at least until Pixel was messing around with the control panels one day. I told her what I knew, and the two of us set about creating the necessary equipment."
"Necessary equipment?"
"I copied Chris' DNA from Pixel's scanner data and began constructing a new body from that data. All that's left is for me to transfer her consciousness into the new body."
"And if Slasher gets back with the antidote?"
The heart monitor suddenly flatlined. "Good timing," VIKI commented. "I just finished the transfer."
"So what are you saying, my girlfriend is going to be an android now?"
"Did you ever see 'The Fifth Element'?"
"Yeah, why?"
"That's what I did."
"You're joking."
"I never joke about a serious matter. This is a different dimension from your own, after all. Pixel and I were able to build the machine with no problems. There's just one catch..."
"Catch what catch you never said anything about a catch what kind of catch are you talking about?" I blurted out hysterically. This was starting to REALLY mess with my head. Just then Slasher got back with the antidote. She saw the heart monitor and feared the worst.
"Is she..." the raptor inquired fearfully.
"I'm fine! Why is everyone so worried about me?" "Ah, good, you're awake."
Hearing Chris' voice coming from the speakers just like VIKI's served to both freak me out and provide a great sense of relief all at once.
"Yeah, I'm awake, but where the heck am I?" "You're in the computer's AI nexus. I pulled you here to save you. Take a look." "Save me, what do you mean--" Chris cut off as she focused her attention on her dead body laying on the bunk. "Um, someone care to tell me what happened?"
"You're dead," I replied lamely.
"I can see that. The poison did me in?"
"It would seem so. So, VIKI, you just about to mention a catch."
"Well, if anything is pulled out of the AI nexus, whether a copy or a direct move, the entire thing has to go. That means if I put Chris in the new body, I have to go too."
"So I get a girlfriend with a split personality, is that it?"
Actually since it's Chris' body, small portions of me would merge with her, and the rest would remain dormant until needed. There is one plus, though..."
"And what is that?"
"Your girlfriend will be a walking encyclopedia."
"Sold."
"Hey!"
"You gotta admit, Chris, it's a pretty big plus."
"Oh, fine."
"Hey, would you rather be stuck on a hard drive for the rest of your life?"
"Good point. Lead the way, VIKI..."
-----------------------------------------------------
The door slid open in a grandiose manner, revealing an enclosed bed, the plexiglass dome revealing Chris' body, covered up to her collarbone in a sheet. A headset like the one that had copied her consciousness rested on the head. A change of clothes hung on a hanger near a changing room. Apart from these features and a control panel, the glaringly white room was empty. Pixel stood off to the side, pleased that everything had gone well so far.
"Couldn't you have put the clothes on me first?" Chris inquired. "Right, how exactly was I supposed to do that? You have any idea how heavy the human body is as dead weight? You're a big girl, you can take care of yourself." "Fine, but NO AUDIENCE!"
Everyone agreed with that, so I stepped up to the control panel. "I have everything set up on this end, Ryan. Just hit the green button and the process will take care of itself."
I looked to the crowd of people that had followed me in. "I appreciate all your support, guys, but do you mind if I take care of this by myself?"
"Not at all, Ryan," Slasher replied.
"We'll be outside if you need us," Ayeka added.
"Make her feel welcome, Ryan," Wes smirked before he was herded out the door. The door shut, sealing in the silence.
I turned to the body laying there. Incredible. To think VIKI and little Pixel had managed this on their own without any of us knowing about it. I turned to the chao. "You want to push the button?"
"I thought you'd want to do it."
"I don't mind. I want to be right here next to her when she wakes up."
"All right." She scurried over to the control panel and hoisted herself onto it to reach the controls. "Memory transference commencing... NOW!" Pixel pushed the button.
Almost immediately, Chris' eyes began fluttering behind her closed eyelids. I worried that the flood of memories pouring into her brain might be too much, but she didn't seem to be suffering any ill effects. Sooner that I thought possible, Pixel declared, "Transfer complete. She should wake up any time now."
Once all her memories had sorted out in her mind, Chris opened her eyes. Her eyes focused on me, and she smiled. I bent down and our lips met...
------------------------------------------------------
I stumbled out of the room, the door shutting behind me. Everyone looked at me expectantly.
"She wanted to get dressed," I explained.
Everyone broke out laughing. I had Chris back. Life was good.
The phone rang, and I picked it up. "Yeah, CJ here."
"It's Rob."
"Oh, hey, Rob. Whazzup?"
"The FBI has agreed to your terms, and they're sending out an agent tomorrow. Also Mr. General is back on TV tearing apart your character again."
"What, is he accusing me of murdering his daughter in cold blood?"
"Yeah, something like that. How'd you know?"
"Just a wild guess." The door opened, and Chris came waltzing out into the anteroom. She was immediately flooded by everyone. "Listen, Rob, I gotta go, but make sure you set everything up for the visit tomorrow."
"Wilco."
"Catch you on the flipside."
"Only if it's a good song."
I hung up, ran to Chris, grabbed her around the waist and swept her off the ground, spinning her around.
Life was good.
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Deep in the ground, a safe lay buried. The contents of the safe glowed, throbbing brightly with an internal rage at being confined so. A small portal opened in the middle of the floor of the safe, allowing the eighth Chaos Emerald to fall through into a receptacle on the other side of the dimensional rip.
A gloved hand reached for the gem... and a dark hedgehog with a dark purpose gained control of the darkest power known to the universe...
Coming Soon: Sonic Adventure 2 -- Dark vs. Light