The Robotnik Complex
Chapter 15
Location: Robotropolis Control Room
Robotnik sat in his chair in the middle of the dark, forboding control room. 'With Snively gone, I will need a new subordainate. I don't want to reactivate my failure, but it seems fate has left me no choice.' He pushed himself out of the black chair he sat in, and walked out of the automatic door into the slightly damp corridor beyond. He reached the lift at the end of the hall and entered. He pulled a memory stick out of his pocket and slid it into place on the lift's control panel. "Dr. Robotnik, ID accepted. Name location." The computer stated to the Doctor in a choppy monotone. "Level B-15, Special Projects." The lift door's closed and the elevator began it's long, slow decent into the deepest part of the city. No one knew that this place existed, except Robotnik himself. Every once in a while, he would have a idea he considered grand and so magnificant that he immeadieatly sprang into action to complete it as fast as posisable, often resulting in failure. When this happened, he usually just scrapped the idea. But, once in a great while, a idea would keep coming back to him, so strongly that he decided to work on it in secret until he was convinced that it was as near perfection as it could be. 'Down here,' He thought to himself, as the lift continued to desend, 'This is where Death Egg was born... and Proteus...' Of coarse, both of those projects were so huge that he needed help in the end from Snively, but even then Robotnik never told Snively where the idea had come from. 'Death Egg may have been a failure, but Proteus will succeed!' he thought as the lift shuddered to a halt. He removed his card and the door opened. He walked across the room, which was about 150 feet by 100 feet, to a tank suspended in the middle of the room. Inside, suspended in liquid, was a robot. All together he was about 4 1/2 feet tall, a dark bluish hue, and wore metallic red shoes. "And you, my son..." Robotnik spoke to the object in the tank. "...You will help me reach my goal. Time to awake, Metal..." He inserted his memory card into a slot at the bottom of the tank. A small control panel opened up and came to life. It was very simple, only two buttons and a positronic signal readout, but served it's purpose. Robotnik reached down and pushed a button marked activate. The lighting in the tank activated as the hum of machinery spread to the air around Robotnik. The creature jerked a little, and the positronic readout, which had been a flatline before, spiked for a few seconds before settling into a pattern. The robot opened it's eyes and stared at the overlander in front of him. "Master..." The robot said, it's low, smooth tenor voice uneffected by the liquid it was set in. Robotnik chuckled darkly. "Welcome home, Sonic..."
Location: Rotor's Lab: Supply Closet
Brian looked at the list he was holding in his hand and then back to the shelves that surrounded him. He did this a few times, then dropped his hand to his side and shook his head. 'This place is a mess.' Brian thought to himself. On the shelfs that were all around him, each was crammed full of wires, circuit boards, logic probes, and things Brian couldn't even identify because of the dust. 'He wasn't kidding when he said I might have a little trouble...' Brian looked at the list. Over the last hour, he had written every part the Robotisizer needed down on the sheets of notebook paper he held in his hand. 1,784 items in all, he knew he was going to have problems with the list, but not this much trouble... He sighed again and decided to go and get a bite to eat, as he hadn't ate breakfast yet.. He would start on his own personal hell when he returned. He turned and left the dust-filled closet. He grabbed a notebook with the revised Robotisizer in it and walked out of the lab. He closed the front door and headed toward the kitchen. He walked in and was suprised to find St. John sitting in a corner. Brian turned toward the counter and placed on a tray a Kiwi, a cup of black coffee, and 2 slices of dry toast. He took his tray to the opposite side of the cafeteria and sat down. Brian began to eat and St. John sipped his coffee and read a book he had. Brian sensed St. John look up at Brian from time to time, but did nothing. 'Let him move first.' Brian thought to himself. He finished his breakfast, closed the notebook, stood up, and walked out of the room. St. John sat there for a few minutes, pretending to read. After St. John was sure that he was alone, he reached under the table and pulled out a small palm computer. The display was flashing: 102.3571548623 Gigahertz- Cybernetic Operation Frequency Verified! Operation Complete! St. John looked at the display and smiled.
St. John walked out of the building with the computer in his pocket. He walked about the village for a few minutes, then slipped into the Great Forest. He walked a long distance away from Knothole until he was sure he wasn't being followed, than sat down on a tree stump nearby. He pulled the device out of his pocket and turned it back on. He selected "PHONE" from the main menu and waited as it contacted the Robotropolis computers. After a small beep, Robotnik's face appeared on the display. "Do you have what I asked for?" Dr. Robotnik asked with barely contained excitement. "Do you have my...item?" Asked St. John. Robotnik smiled at this. "Stand up." St. John complied. The tree stump slid open, reveling 1/4 pound of very potent marijuana laced with PCP. "So, do you have the frequency?" Asked Robotnik over the still open comlink. "Yes. Transmiting now, sir." St. John pushed a button on the device he was holding. The screen turned blue, then flashed: TRANSFER COMPLETE! "Very good! I'll be in touch. Ta-Ta!" Robotnik cut off the link. St. John shut off the palm, retrieved his 'item', and headed back to Knothole. He headed directly to his hut and stayed there the rest of the day.
Metal Sonic walked around the Robotropolis control room checking equitment and reseting various systems. He turned toward his creator, whom he was having a conversation with. "So, you took me offline for repairs due to damage sustained during the final asssalt on the death-egg by Sonic." Robotnik nodded his head. "Now I need you for a new purpose: tending to all computer systems for 16 hours a day. The rest of the time you can spend however you wish. I suggest you spend your free time learning and ajusting your AI program. Metal nodded. "I concur." Robotnik stood. "But first, I need you to download all information about 'Project: Proteus' into your neural net. Metal closed his eyes as he accessed the city-wide computer network. He opened his eyes a second later. "Proteus is a attempt at mass- robotisization. Your problem is you can't get the tubes to work on so little computer power." Robotnik nodded his head. "I can't make it work. The focusing unit on one tube takes the capability of one entire supercomputer. I just can't build 300 supercomputers. The 5 for the city network took 3 years to build. The one's the Proteus is using now are the 5 backups. Therefore, for 8 of the 16 hours you work, you will work on Proteus. Understood? Than go and start now." Metal nodded his head. "It is a honor to work on this project. I will serve you well." Metal turned and left the room, heading for Proteus.
"Item #791, Power Transducer." Tails read off the checklist he held in his hands. After Brian had gotten back, Tails and Amy stopped by and asked if there was any way they could help. Brian asked them if they would mind helping him collect all the parts. They said that they wouldn't mind at all, so for the last 2 hours they had been collecting the parts they needed. "Power Transducer." Brian said as he handed the part to Amy, who sat it on the ground and turned back to recieve another part. Dr. Quack walked into the lab and stopped at the entrance to the closet. "Brian, I thought you should know that Ian is awake. He is considerably calmer." Brian came out of the closet. "Take me to him."
Brian walked into the hallway right outsode of Ian's room. Dr. Quack stopped him. He put a little baggie into Brian's hand. "What's this?" Brian asked the doctor. "I think it's a control chip. It was imbedded into his brain. From what I gathered, it changed the brainwave pattern to make the subject more aggressive and if you have the transciever, open to your suggestion." Brian paused in walking. "You mean like mind control?". Dr. Quack nodded his head. "Bingo.". Brian handed the chip back to the doctor. "That could explain a lot." Brian walked in to the room, signaling Quack to wait outside. Ian looked up as Brian walked in. Brian closed the door and stopped. They staired at each other from acrost the room, sizing each other up. Finally Ian cleared his throat. "Hello." Brian stepped closer. "Hello." Ian sat up. "What happened to your arm?" Brian looked down to the stump on his left arm. "I crash landed. It was severed in the landing." Ian nodded. "Oh." Brian walked over to the side of Ian's bed. He sat in a chair and looked at Ian. "I need to know how you got here, Ian." Ian layed back. "OK, I'll tell you." Ian took a deep breath. "When I was 10 I was kidnapped by the Academy. My last cognitive memory was me sitting in what appeared to be a Virtual Reality couch. The rest of my life from that point until now seems like a dream to me. I was recruted into their forces and assigned a job in a "recruiting station", the place where they brainwash people into joining their forces. When I was 13 I was assigned to a different project called 'Exodus-Genesis Retrival'. I was just a data entry operator, but I knew that the project was Top-Secret." Brian nodded. "Your talking about the Creation?" Ian nodded. "Yes, that was your name for it. After it was completed when I was 16, I was assigned to be it's partner since I was the most efficient operator. Anyway, after the internet incident occured, the creation, codenamed ZACH it a intersteller spacecraft and we flew here, I was in cryogenic sleep the entire time, but since he dosn't age, it wasn't necessary for him to sleep. On our way here we dropped graitational buoys for the others at the academy to follow." Brian interupped. "The academy was disbanded shortly after ZACH went underground, so there was no one to follow." Ian nodded. "It was never thought that anyone else would follow since the government banned private and public spaceflight." Brian chuckled. "I was the only one with the balls to fly through the satalite defense network, besides you." Ian shook his head. "We just armored the ship really well and hoped for the best. You actully piloted your ship through the laser nets?" Brian sat back and nodded. "It was a bitch, believe me, but I made it. Anyway, continue with your story." Ian took a drink of water. "We landed here about 12 years ago and befriended the 'overlanders' or 'terrans'. A year later ZACH, now calling himself Julian, betrayed the overlanders, nearly getting us killed. We were found and taken in by a patrol of the Mobian Infantry. Julian manipulated King Acorn into trusting him and gained, not only the title Warlord, but a slight weight problem. He then proceeded to assemble a giant underground electronic army. With the help of this army, he took over their capital and mechanized it 10 years ago, changing his name one last time to Robotnik and naming me Snively. It's been that way ever sense. Their have been many attempts to overthrow his rule, but none were successful. Now that I look back on all the evil I have done, I find myself full of loathing for myself. But soon I will pay for my evil deeds." Brian looked at him. "What do you mean?" Ian looked down. "I have cancer. I've been in radiation therpy for the last 6 months. I have 4 months to live. Robotnik wanted to Robotisize me and get it over with, but I wanted to put it off for as long as posisable." Brian stared in disbelieve at Ian. Thoughts raced through his mind. 'Cancer? Why? I am billions, trillions of miles from Earth and I find something I can relate too, then I find out he has cancer.' A knock sounded at the door. Brian stood up and opened it. Sonic was outside. "Sally wants to talk to you." Brian nodded. "I'll be right there." Sonic shook his head. "No, she needs to talk to you now." Brian nodded and walked over to Ian's bedside and shook his hand. "I'll see you later. We must talk again." Ian nodded. "That would be nice Brian." Brian turned away and walked out of the room quickly, but not so quick Sonic could not see the tears in Brian's eyes.
"So, you getting here was no accident." Brian nodded. "I wasn't ment to follow them, but my ship was brought here by their buoys." Sally nodded. "So, you know how to fight Robotnik." Brian stood up and rapidly shook his head. "Sally, do not be mistaken, according to the information from Ian's implant and what he has told me, Robotnik and what I fought on Earth are two very different people." Sally nodded her head. "Ok, I understand, but will you help us?" Brian sat back down in the chair in front of Sally's desk. "According to the laws of my people, your history has been interupted on purpose. I am required to restore your history to it's natural course. I will help you in this war." Sally nodded her head. "Very good. Your now a citizen of Knothole. You can return to the lab if you wish." Brian stood up. "Thank you, princess." He opened the door and walked out of the office, than out of the house, and began to walk toward the lab.
A few seconds later Sonic walked into the hut and into Sally's office. He had been lisening over a comlink from another room in the hut. Sally looked up. "And?" She said to the hedgehog, waiting a response. "He told you everything Ian told him, except one thing. Ian has cancer. He has 4 months to live." Sally stared down at her oak desk. Suddenly she was filled with hate, sorrow, confusion, and anger. Hate for all the evil Snively had done. Sorrow, for now Brian and Ian had to deal with losing each other over again, this time for good. Confusion, because she didn't know if she should think of Snively and Ian as seperate people or as one person. Anger at Robotnik, for causing all of this. Sally stood. "I don't know what to do Sonic. Do we charge Brian's brother, who's dying of cancer anyway, with war crimes that were not under his control, or do we just let him go free?" Sonic walked over to the windowsill and stood by Sally. He put a comforting arm around her shoulders. "I don't know Sally, I just don't know."
When Brian walked into the lab, he was suprised. Rotor, Tails, Amy, Bunnie, and Antoine were sorting parts into piles and finding tools.They all looked up as he entered. "What's this all about?" He asked the group. "We figured you could use the help, sugah." Bunnie drawled as she sat a box of processors on top of a pile near her. "Without help this could take weeks to build, and from what I hear, time is running short." Brian frowned, remembering the cell in his back. "Thank you, your right. I do need help." Rotor handed each of them a tool belt. "Than let's get started."
*****
They worked hard all through the night, stopping only to drink coffee or to use the bathroom. Rotor and Tails sodered circuitboards, assembled each of the mini-computers that would handle independent opreations while Brian and Antoine started writing the software that the spacecraft computer and the mini-computers would need for robotisization. It was 8 at night when they started writing for the first mini-computer, and it was 4:30 in the morning when they finished on the 8th and final mini-computer. They then started on the main computer. Amy and Bunnie tested all of the circuits for shorts and installed them in the robotisizer base, along with the hard drives and the mini-computers. It was 6:30 in the morning when Brian told them to head on home, and thank you for the help. They all went home, and they thought he did too. But after they were out of sight, he went back into the lab and started working of the main computers software again. At 7:30 he was finished. Except for the upper section, which only contained the field generator and bioelectrical sensors, and the transparent aluminum shielding. The robotisizer was complete. He walked into his hut and dropped onto the couch, sleeping almost instantly.
Sally sat up as the comlink alarm went off. She sat up, turned the screen on and began reading the teansmission. As soon as she was finished, she swiched off the monitor and called Sonic's hut. It rang a few times before Sonic, still half asleep since he normally didn't wake until 8:00. "What is it?" Sally looked grim. "We just recieved a distress signal from Knuckles. Angel Island is under attack."
Chapter 15
Location: Robotropolis Control Room
Robotnik sat in his chair in the middle of the dark, forboding control room. 'With Snively gone, I will need a new subordainate. I don't want to reactivate my failure, but it seems fate has left me no choice.' He pushed himself out of the black chair he sat in, and walked out of the automatic door into the slightly damp corridor beyond. He reached the lift at the end of the hall and entered. He pulled a memory stick out of his pocket and slid it into place on the lift's control panel. "Dr. Robotnik, ID accepted. Name location." The computer stated to the Doctor in a choppy monotone. "Level B-15, Special Projects." The lift door's closed and the elevator began it's long, slow decent into the deepest part of the city. No one knew that this place existed, except Robotnik himself. Every once in a while, he would have a idea he considered grand and so magnificant that he immeadieatly sprang into action to complete it as fast as posisable, often resulting in failure. When this happened, he usually just scrapped the idea. But, once in a great while, a idea would keep coming back to him, so strongly that he decided to work on it in secret until he was convinced that it was as near perfection as it could be. 'Down here,' He thought to himself, as the lift continued to desend, 'This is where Death Egg was born... and Proteus...' Of coarse, both of those projects were so huge that he needed help in the end from Snively, but even then Robotnik never told Snively where the idea had come from. 'Death Egg may have been a failure, but Proteus will succeed!' he thought as the lift shuddered to a halt. He removed his card and the door opened. He walked across the room, which was about 150 feet by 100 feet, to a tank suspended in the middle of the room. Inside, suspended in liquid, was a robot. All together he was about 4 1/2 feet tall, a dark bluish hue, and wore metallic red shoes. "And you, my son..." Robotnik spoke to the object in the tank. "...You will help me reach my goal. Time to awake, Metal..." He inserted his memory card into a slot at the bottom of the tank. A small control panel opened up and came to life. It was very simple, only two buttons and a positronic signal readout, but served it's purpose. Robotnik reached down and pushed a button marked activate. The lighting in the tank activated as the hum of machinery spread to the air around Robotnik. The creature jerked a little, and the positronic readout, which had been a flatline before, spiked for a few seconds before settling into a pattern. The robot opened it's eyes and stared at the overlander in front of him. "Master..." The robot said, it's low, smooth tenor voice uneffected by the liquid it was set in. Robotnik chuckled darkly. "Welcome home, Sonic..."
Location: Rotor's Lab: Supply Closet
Brian looked at the list he was holding in his hand and then back to the shelves that surrounded him. He did this a few times, then dropped his hand to his side and shook his head. 'This place is a mess.' Brian thought to himself. On the shelfs that were all around him, each was crammed full of wires, circuit boards, logic probes, and things Brian couldn't even identify because of the dust. 'He wasn't kidding when he said I might have a little trouble...' Brian looked at the list. Over the last hour, he had written every part the Robotisizer needed down on the sheets of notebook paper he held in his hand. 1,784 items in all, he knew he was going to have problems with the list, but not this much trouble... He sighed again and decided to go and get a bite to eat, as he hadn't ate breakfast yet.. He would start on his own personal hell when he returned. He turned and left the dust-filled closet. He grabbed a notebook with the revised Robotisizer in it and walked out of the lab. He closed the front door and headed toward the kitchen. He walked in and was suprised to find St. John sitting in a corner. Brian turned toward the counter and placed on a tray a Kiwi, a cup of black coffee, and 2 slices of dry toast. He took his tray to the opposite side of the cafeteria and sat down. Brian began to eat and St. John sipped his coffee and read a book he had. Brian sensed St. John look up at Brian from time to time, but did nothing. 'Let him move first.' Brian thought to himself. He finished his breakfast, closed the notebook, stood up, and walked out of the room. St. John sat there for a few minutes, pretending to read. After St. John was sure that he was alone, he reached under the table and pulled out a small palm computer. The display was flashing: 102.3571548623 Gigahertz- Cybernetic Operation Frequency Verified! Operation Complete! St. John looked at the display and smiled.
St. John walked out of the building with the computer in his pocket. He walked about the village for a few minutes, then slipped into the Great Forest. He walked a long distance away from Knothole until he was sure he wasn't being followed, than sat down on a tree stump nearby. He pulled the device out of his pocket and turned it back on. He selected "PHONE" from the main menu and waited as it contacted the Robotropolis computers. After a small beep, Robotnik's face appeared on the display. "Do you have what I asked for?" Dr. Robotnik asked with barely contained excitement. "Do you have my...item?" Asked St. John. Robotnik smiled at this. "Stand up." St. John complied. The tree stump slid open, reveling 1/4 pound of very potent marijuana laced with PCP. "So, do you have the frequency?" Asked Robotnik over the still open comlink. "Yes. Transmiting now, sir." St. John pushed a button on the device he was holding. The screen turned blue, then flashed: TRANSFER COMPLETE! "Very good! I'll be in touch. Ta-Ta!" Robotnik cut off the link. St. John shut off the palm, retrieved his 'item', and headed back to Knothole. He headed directly to his hut and stayed there the rest of the day.
Metal Sonic walked around the Robotropolis control room checking equitment and reseting various systems. He turned toward his creator, whom he was having a conversation with. "So, you took me offline for repairs due to damage sustained during the final asssalt on the death-egg by Sonic." Robotnik nodded his head. "Now I need you for a new purpose: tending to all computer systems for 16 hours a day. The rest of the time you can spend however you wish. I suggest you spend your free time learning and ajusting your AI program. Metal nodded. "I concur." Robotnik stood. "But first, I need you to download all information about 'Project: Proteus' into your neural net. Metal closed his eyes as he accessed the city-wide computer network. He opened his eyes a second later. "Proteus is a attempt at mass- robotisization. Your problem is you can't get the tubes to work on so little computer power." Robotnik nodded his head. "I can't make it work. The focusing unit on one tube takes the capability of one entire supercomputer. I just can't build 300 supercomputers. The 5 for the city network took 3 years to build. The one's the Proteus is using now are the 5 backups. Therefore, for 8 of the 16 hours you work, you will work on Proteus. Understood? Than go and start now." Metal nodded his head. "It is a honor to work on this project. I will serve you well." Metal turned and left the room, heading for Proteus.
"Item #791, Power Transducer." Tails read off the checklist he held in his hands. After Brian had gotten back, Tails and Amy stopped by and asked if there was any way they could help. Brian asked them if they would mind helping him collect all the parts. They said that they wouldn't mind at all, so for the last 2 hours they had been collecting the parts they needed. "Power Transducer." Brian said as he handed the part to Amy, who sat it on the ground and turned back to recieve another part. Dr. Quack walked into the lab and stopped at the entrance to the closet. "Brian, I thought you should know that Ian is awake. He is considerably calmer." Brian came out of the closet. "Take me to him."
Brian walked into the hallway right outsode of Ian's room. Dr. Quack stopped him. He put a little baggie into Brian's hand. "What's this?" Brian asked the doctor. "I think it's a control chip. It was imbedded into his brain. From what I gathered, it changed the brainwave pattern to make the subject more aggressive and if you have the transciever, open to your suggestion." Brian paused in walking. "You mean like mind control?". Dr. Quack nodded his head. "Bingo.". Brian handed the chip back to the doctor. "That could explain a lot." Brian walked in to the room, signaling Quack to wait outside. Ian looked up as Brian walked in. Brian closed the door and stopped. They staired at each other from acrost the room, sizing each other up. Finally Ian cleared his throat. "Hello." Brian stepped closer. "Hello." Ian sat up. "What happened to your arm?" Brian looked down to the stump on his left arm. "I crash landed. It was severed in the landing." Ian nodded. "Oh." Brian walked over to the side of Ian's bed. He sat in a chair and looked at Ian. "I need to know how you got here, Ian." Ian layed back. "OK, I'll tell you." Ian took a deep breath. "When I was 10 I was kidnapped by the Academy. My last cognitive memory was me sitting in what appeared to be a Virtual Reality couch. The rest of my life from that point until now seems like a dream to me. I was recruted into their forces and assigned a job in a "recruiting station", the place where they brainwash people into joining their forces. When I was 13 I was assigned to a different project called 'Exodus-Genesis Retrival'. I was just a data entry operator, but I knew that the project was Top-Secret." Brian nodded. "Your talking about the Creation?" Ian nodded. "Yes, that was your name for it. After it was completed when I was 16, I was assigned to be it's partner since I was the most efficient operator. Anyway, after the internet incident occured, the creation, codenamed ZACH it a intersteller spacecraft and we flew here, I was in cryogenic sleep the entire time, but since he dosn't age, it wasn't necessary for him to sleep. On our way here we dropped graitational buoys for the others at the academy to follow." Brian interupped. "The academy was disbanded shortly after ZACH went underground, so there was no one to follow." Ian nodded. "It was never thought that anyone else would follow since the government banned private and public spaceflight." Brian chuckled. "I was the only one with the balls to fly through the satalite defense network, besides you." Ian shook his head. "We just armored the ship really well and hoped for the best. You actully piloted your ship through the laser nets?" Brian sat back and nodded. "It was a bitch, believe me, but I made it. Anyway, continue with your story." Ian took a drink of water. "We landed here about 12 years ago and befriended the 'overlanders' or 'terrans'. A year later ZACH, now calling himself Julian, betrayed the overlanders, nearly getting us killed. We were found and taken in by a patrol of the Mobian Infantry. Julian manipulated King Acorn into trusting him and gained, not only the title Warlord, but a slight weight problem. He then proceeded to assemble a giant underground electronic army. With the help of this army, he took over their capital and mechanized it 10 years ago, changing his name one last time to Robotnik and naming me Snively. It's been that way ever sense. Their have been many attempts to overthrow his rule, but none were successful. Now that I look back on all the evil I have done, I find myself full of loathing for myself. But soon I will pay for my evil deeds." Brian looked at him. "What do you mean?" Ian looked down. "I have cancer. I've been in radiation therpy for the last 6 months. I have 4 months to live. Robotnik wanted to Robotisize me and get it over with, but I wanted to put it off for as long as posisable." Brian stared in disbelieve at Ian. Thoughts raced through his mind. 'Cancer? Why? I am billions, trillions of miles from Earth and I find something I can relate too, then I find out he has cancer.' A knock sounded at the door. Brian stood up and opened it. Sonic was outside. "Sally wants to talk to you." Brian nodded. "I'll be right there." Sonic shook his head. "No, she needs to talk to you now." Brian nodded and walked over to Ian's bedside and shook his hand. "I'll see you later. We must talk again." Ian nodded. "That would be nice Brian." Brian turned away and walked out of the room quickly, but not so quick Sonic could not see the tears in Brian's eyes.
"So, you getting here was no accident." Brian nodded. "I wasn't ment to follow them, but my ship was brought here by their buoys." Sally nodded. "So, you know how to fight Robotnik." Brian stood up and rapidly shook his head. "Sally, do not be mistaken, according to the information from Ian's implant and what he has told me, Robotnik and what I fought on Earth are two very different people." Sally nodded her head. "Ok, I understand, but will you help us?" Brian sat back down in the chair in front of Sally's desk. "According to the laws of my people, your history has been interupted on purpose. I am required to restore your history to it's natural course. I will help you in this war." Sally nodded her head. "Very good. Your now a citizen of Knothole. You can return to the lab if you wish." Brian stood up. "Thank you, princess." He opened the door and walked out of the office, than out of the house, and began to walk toward the lab.
A few seconds later Sonic walked into the hut and into Sally's office. He had been lisening over a comlink from another room in the hut. Sally looked up. "And?" She said to the hedgehog, waiting a response. "He told you everything Ian told him, except one thing. Ian has cancer. He has 4 months to live." Sally stared down at her oak desk. Suddenly she was filled with hate, sorrow, confusion, and anger. Hate for all the evil Snively had done. Sorrow, for now Brian and Ian had to deal with losing each other over again, this time for good. Confusion, because she didn't know if she should think of Snively and Ian as seperate people or as one person. Anger at Robotnik, for causing all of this. Sally stood. "I don't know what to do Sonic. Do we charge Brian's brother, who's dying of cancer anyway, with war crimes that were not under his control, or do we just let him go free?" Sonic walked over to the windowsill and stood by Sally. He put a comforting arm around her shoulders. "I don't know Sally, I just don't know."
When Brian walked into the lab, he was suprised. Rotor, Tails, Amy, Bunnie, and Antoine were sorting parts into piles and finding tools.They all looked up as he entered. "What's this all about?" He asked the group. "We figured you could use the help, sugah." Bunnie drawled as she sat a box of processors on top of a pile near her. "Without help this could take weeks to build, and from what I hear, time is running short." Brian frowned, remembering the cell in his back. "Thank you, your right. I do need help." Rotor handed each of them a tool belt. "Than let's get started."
*****
They worked hard all through the night, stopping only to drink coffee or to use the bathroom. Rotor and Tails sodered circuitboards, assembled each of the mini-computers that would handle independent opreations while Brian and Antoine started writing the software that the spacecraft computer and the mini-computers would need for robotisization. It was 8 at night when they started writing for the first mini-computer, and it was 4:30 in the morning when they finished on the 8th and final mini-computer. They then started on the main computer. Amy and Bunnie tested all of the circuits for shorts and installed them in the robotisizer base, along with the hard drives and the mini-computers. It was 6:30 in the morning when Brian told them to head on home, and thank you for the help. They all went home, and they thought he did too. But after they were out of sight, he went back into the lab and started working of the main computers software again. At 7:30 he was finished. Except for the upper section, which only contained the field generator and bioelectrical sensors, and the transparent aluminum shielding. The robotisizer was complete. He walked into his hut and dropped onto the couch, sleeping almost instantly.
Sally sat up as the comlink alarm went off. She sat up, turned the screen on and began reading the teansmission. As soon as she was finished, she swiched off the monitor and called Sonic's hut. It rang a few times before Sonic, still half asleep since he normally didn't wake until 8:00. "What is it?" Sally looked grim. "We just recieved a distress signal from Knuckles. Angel Island is under attack."