Sophia took another pill as night fell. She hoped it wasn't possible to overdose on them, but she didn't really care—so long as she could accomplish her mission first. She double-checked her equipment. Her welding torch only had a little fuel left—she must have had a slow leak. She could try to replace it, but that could take a long time, and she had to get to Robotropolis. Her mission had to come to fruition tonight.
She wondered briefly if the Freedom Fighters were planning another attack. She wasn't sure, but in the final analysis, it really didn't impact her so much. With those thoughts in her head, she set out to Robotropolis.
Sally crouched in the smog, ready to cut the alarm system. It was a dangerous tactic, since the Robotropolis mainframe checked all the alarm systems every few minutes to make sure they were all working, and a dead system was the same as an alarm. But Sally had timed how often the mainframe checked this system, and with luck, they would buy a few minutes.
But just as she singled out and marked the wires to cut, she heard crashing sounds, like someone had knocked over a pile of garbage. Sally froze, her mind racing.
What could that be? She thought. She slowly turned and peered in the direction of the sounds. It was an animal, wandering through Robotropolis.
Who was it? What was he doing here? But she had no time to think on that, for the animal was moving down the street towards the center of the city. And hovering about two and a half meters behind and above him was a Stealth Orb.
Sally looked on, amazed, as two more Stealth Orbs appeared, apparently intent upon following the animal.
Sally had no idea what was going on. Possibilities spun through her head, but she grabbed on the only certainty she had: whoever that animal was, he was headed directly into danger. Something had to be done.
But what about the mission? Robotnik was surely well into repairing the downed power plant by now. The only way to delay its reactivation would be to shut this plant down now.
She made her decision.
She grabbed her communicator, already moving to follow. "Everyone, reset your watches. Begin the operation five minutes later than we'd planned. Bunnie, very carefully move to my position. I need you to take over my job."
"But I was coverin' Rotor!"
"I know. But something's come up."
"Sally?" It was Sonic's voice.
"Yes, Sonic?"
"Good luck."
Sally was surprised, but thankful. "You too, Sonic. And keep your ears open, I may need a quick pick-up."
"Call me when you're ready, Sal. Bunnie," said Sonic, taking command in Sally's absence, "do what Sal said."
Sally clicked off her communicator. For one thing, it would distract her, and for another, she knew that Sonic would be able to handle things without her.
The only place prisoners ever went in Robotropolis was the main headquarters building—and if this animal wasn't a prisoner now, Sally thought, he would be soon. Sally cut through buildings and allies, cross-streets and clearings, getting to the HQ building faster than a less experienced animal could. She had to hurry, because Robotnik rarely left animals without a Swatbot escort.
Sure enough, Sally saw a hover unit approach the HQ building. She couldn't follow it exactly, but penetrating the building wouldn't be a problem. It was based on the Royal Palace, and she knew all the backdoors.
"Nicole," she said as she went in, "where would Robotnik take an animal?"
She had some theories, but she wanted to be sure. Like clockwork, Nicole rattled off the possibilities—they matched Sally's theories. "Most likely: the Roboticiser room. Secondarily, the main chamber or one of the cell blocks."
With that in mind, Sally moved through the building.
Sally looked in on the Roboticiser room from a vent above. "No one's here…" she whispered. Even as she said it, as if to spite her, several Swatbots entered, followed by an animal. Sally couldn't see the monitor that had Robotnik, but she could hear his voice.
"Let me see your face," he commanded.
The animal obliged, and Sally nearly choked on her tongue.
It was Sophia! What was she doing here?! This didn't make sense—to come here voluntarily? What was going on?
"Greetings, Robotnik. I had preferred to meet you in person."
"Your preferences make little difference. State your business."
"I bear a message from the South Continent."
"And your message is…?"
Sophia raised her hands, as if to appeal to Robotnik. Sally gagged, wanted to intervene, but somehow she found she couldn't move. She had to see this. "I represent one of the communities there. We've fought with you long enough. We wish to discuss with you the terms of our surrender."
NO! shrieked Sally in her mind. Robotnik never negotiates in good faith! Sophia, what are you doing?!
Sally saw the Swatbots around. Robotnik was taking no chances. Sally saw exactly what would happen, but she didn't know how to stop it. Besides, she had to know why this was happening.
Even if I knew why she's doing this, what could I do to stop this? Sally thought. Six of them at close range. Sophia won't be able to help me. Sonic can take on six at once, but how could I?
"There are no terms," Robotnik said, snapping Sally back into reality. "If you reveal yourselves, you'll be captured and Roboticised. That is how you can surrender."
Sophia was visibly shaken. "Then we'd like to discuss peace terms with you!"
"Peace? My little girl, why would I want peace? If you wish to surrender to me, then I must be winning. In that case, I simply need to continue doing what I'm doing and I'll have you all anyway. No, there will be no peace."
"But—I have other information you might want!"
"Information is valuable. We might could come to an agreement. What are you selling?"
Sophia steeled herself. Sally could see her hesitate, but she plunged on. "I'll give you the location of Knothole."
Sally's opinion of Sophia crystallized in an instant.
Sally was filled with cold fury. She had to take a huge risk of dying to protect an animal who'd just tried to sell her. She knew she had to get Sophia out, and quickly, but she would have no sympathy for her.
Robotnik's laughter never boomed; more often it slithered out of him like a sinister snake. Now, as ever, the sound of it was enough to send shivers down Sally's spine. "Swatbots, capture and Roboticise her now." In a moment, half a dozen blasters were trained on Sophia. In another moment, she was on the Roboticiser pad, with the diamond-glass tube on its way down. "That was unwise of you, my dear. I probably would have Roboticised you anyway, but since you know the location of Knothole, I have no reason to wait."
Sophia, thought Sally, digging into her backpack, I do this for Knothole, not for you!
Shielding her eyes, Sally shouted to Sophia, "Close your eyes!" Then, from out of the duct, she dropped a flashbang.
Even with her eyes covered, Rotor's toy nearly blinded Sally. Good work, Rotor, she thought. Those Swatbots wouldn't be able to see Robotnik blot out the sun. She jumped out of the duct. She sized up the situation as she landed. None of the Swatbots even so much looked in her direction. Well, she thought, my chances of living just improved. In fact, her chances were quite good. Without their sight, Sally speedily disabled the Swatbots. She could hear Robotnik's curses behind her, but pushed them out of her mind. "Nicole, laser," she said, pointing the computer at the drive mechanism for the Roboticiser tube.
The light beam lanced through the mechanism, letting Sally push the tube up by paw. Sophia wasn't moving; her expression was like an animal hit hard on the muzzle, stunned.
"Sophia! Come on!"
But she refused to move. Knowing she was out of time, Sally grabbed her paw and pulled her along.
Predictably, as Robotnik recovered, alarms went off throughout Robotropolis. But just as they sounded, a good portion of them went silent. A moment later, Sally felt the low crump of a large-scale detonation and knew that Robotnik's power plant had just gone down.
She grabbed at her communicator. "Sonic, pick-up, Robotropolis HQ!"
"On the way, Sal, be there in thirty seconds."
Right. Thirty seconds to get to the ground floor with Sophia. It'll be tight, but if we're lucky…
Sally knew that getting out was always more difficult than getting in, but she moved with great speed, knowing that the thickest resistance would be just outside the building—and that would be just too late.
The biggest room on the ground floor was what had been the lobby of the royal palace. These days it was, around the clock, fully staffed with Swatbots. The Freedom Fighters, realizing that they would have to get in and out at times without being seen, always avoided the lobby. Rather, they used numerous entrances and exits that were less noticeable. Such backdoors had allowed Sally to get in unnoticed, and it was through these doors that she escaped.
Sally emerged from the building exactly thirty seconds after she'd talked to Sonic and faced a ring of Swatbots pointing blasters at her. But even as they monotoned, "Freeze, Freedom-Fighter," she was smiling. She could see what was coming behind them. The one-two punch of Sonic and Dulcy destroyed a dozen Swatbots and two hover units in the blink of an eye.
Sonic's surprise at Sophia's presence was obvious. "You're late," Sally joked to Sonic, who managed a grim smile.
"Let's blow this party," Sonic said.
Sally nodded. "Dulcy, put Sophia in your pouch!" Even as Dulcy managed this, Sally jumped into Sonic's arms. "You know what to do," she said.
"You bet."
Sonic and Sally covered for the rest of the Freedom Fighters. Although they were pursued, it was nothing a Power Ring couldn't handle.
The Freedom Fighters arrived back in Knothole. All of them went directly to the main hall.
Dulcy's crash landing was a mild one—so mild that she was still completely conscious. She let Sophia out of her pouch. Bunnie and Rotor escorted Sophia towards the main hall.
Sonic and Sally were waiting. Bunnie sat Sophia down across the table from them, then stepped back to watch. Sophia's expression was dazed, as if she were unaware of what had happened. Sonic and Sally stared at her, their eyes boring at her.
"We'll wait for you," Sally said after almost a minute.
Sophia's eyes snapped into focus, returning a harsh, angry stare at Sonic and Sally. "What the hell do you want?"
"Answers."
Sophia laughed haughtily, as if laughter was a bludgeon to use against Sonic and Sally. It was something noone there had seen before, but if Sonic and Sally were unnerved by it, they didn't show it. "Answers? How would you know I'm not lying?"
Sonic held out a paw and gripped Sophia's. She tried to pull away, but he held fast, squeezing her paw harder until she stopped struggling. Then he held up his other paw, and the Power Ring glowed brighter. "I'm your lie detector now," said Sonic grimly, eyes—now brighter—staring into Sophia's skull. "I won't go into your head, but I'll know if you're not playin' straight." He waited a few moments to let that sink in, then said to Sally, "Anytime."
"Why did you really come here?"
"You heard me, damn it," said Sophia, her guises falling. She was scared, shaky, uncertain.
"Yes, I heard you. But everyone else has to know."
"To make peace with Robotnik."
"By what means?"
"Any means."
"Including?"
"Selling Robotnik the location of Knothole in exchange for our freedom."
The silence after her words was icy. Sonic, stunned, almost lost her paw as she pulled back suddenly, but he never lost contact with her and held her fast.
"Why?" Sally asked.
"We're tired of war," Sophia said, slamming her paw to the table but giving up her struggle. "The war on the Southern Continent isn't neat like it is here… No simple raids, not hit-and-fades, oh no… The war is constant. Every day, blood and oil soak into the ground. We have our bases in the mountains. Something in the mountains makes it almost impossible for hover units to operate, so Robotnik just sends out the Swatbots."
Her eyes flashed from animal to animal in the room. Few could match her eyes. "Wave after wave of Swatbots, every few days. We constantly struggle to survive. Some of us can't do it anymore."
"So you'd sacrifice those who still have strength?" Sally asked in a hushed tone.
"It's not even that simple. The base that I belong to… our hydroponics bays have begun to fail. Those bays are our only source of food. Soon, they won't be able to grow enough food to keep us alive. If we had peace, we'd be able to grow food outside the mountain without constantly worrying about it getting ripped up and razed. But we don't have peace, so without those bays, we'll die."
"I have a question," said Sonic.
"What?"
"Did you feel anything for me? Or were you just faking it all?"
"You? I found you ignorant and simple-minded, hedgehog. For the most part, you served as a way to irritate the princess and throw her off. You had some value, but it really didn't make up for how much you annoyed me."
Sonic's face tightened, but that was the extent of his reaction.
Sally again. "Did you really, honestly, believe Robotnik would make peace? And when did it occur to you to sell us out?"
"I never really thought about it. I botched my interview so badly, I'm ashamed. I'm not sure if he would have considered my offer seriously or not. I guess I'll never know. But what makes me mad is I've failed. All my… my friends, what's left of my family… we've got to keep fighting. I failed."
"What about selling out Knothole?"
"That was part of my instructions."
Sonic shook his head. "That's a lie."
"Tell us the truth."
"The truth is simple! I care far more for my animals than I will ever care for Knothole and you damn ignorant villagers! You think you're fighting a war? You can hardly stand the sight of blood, let alone shed it! You don't know what war is! War is something you do in your spare time, not the reality of wondering if today is your turn to die—and actively wishing it is. No, you don't know spraint about war."
There was only a short pause before Sally began her next question. "Did your mission have any other purpose?"
"No. I didn't come to see if you were alive, damn you, I made that up. My only mission was to end the war."
"Oh," Sally said, serious, "you would have had we let you."
"So now I should thank you!" Sophia nearly screamed. "You can take your understanding and self-righteousness and shove it up your royal ass. Animals die every day, and they don't die because they deserve it. They die because they don't deserve it, because they've got the spine to live proud lives. They won't back down to Robotnik. You see, unlike you, in the Southern Continent we got to see that Robotnik would come for us before he did. When he arrived, we met him with firepower. And we've been dying ever since. We don't regret it, but there's only so much an animal can take! You expect us to fight to the death, but you aren't willing to do it yourself!"
Sophia was becoming hysterical. "You don't have the backbone to fight an open battle, but we're forced to every day. You think you're noble! You think you're sacrificing for the sake of all! You haven't sacrificed worth a damn, not worth the life of one of us on the Southern Continent. You've done nothing!"
"And that's why you're willing to sacrifice us? Because you're better animals than we are?"
"Yes, damn you!"
"You've got "the spine to live proud lives", and yet you'd sell us out to save yourselves?"
Sophia gaped at Sally, mouth open, before dissolving into a string of broken profanities that made everyone—save Sally—blanch. She sobbed and raged, banging her hand on the table. Stung, Sonic released her.
Free, Sophia bolted from her chair and went for the door. Bunnie and Rotor moved to block her, but it was unnecessary. A golden flash streaked across the room. Sonic hurled his Power Ring and pegged Sophia in the back of the skull.
She fell unconscious at Bunnie's feet.
A disturbed silence fell upon the Freedom Fighters. Sally had sat motionless, but now she rose. "Bunnie, take her to the guest hut. You and Rotor and whomever you need, I want you to search her hut and her person. Remove everything except her clothes and secure her somehow. We need to think about this further."
Bunnie glanced over her shoulder. There seemed to be a wordless conversation going on between Sonic and Sally. She turned away and hefted up Sophia's body. Rotor carried her feet.
"Somehow," Bunnie said, "this doesn't feel right."
"I know. We've never really had to restrain anyone before. It… it's really strange."
Bunnie was desperate to keep the silence at bay. It seemed dangerous, now, to let there be silence. "What do y'all think 'bout this?"
Rotor grimaced. "I don't know. I'm really mad that she tried to sell out Knothole, but I want to do something about those animals on the Southern Continent, too."
Bunnie gave him a nod. "Yeah. I just don't understand. How can an animal get so upset that she loses track of right an' wrong?"
"Do you think she thought it was wrong?"
"Ah don't know. Do you think she thought it was right?"
"I guess it's easier to pay a price in someone else's blood."
"Sad, but true, Rotor my dahlin."