The Robotnik Complex
Chapter 30
Author's Note: I would just like to take a moment to thank a few key people, whose inspiration have been the greatest part in helping me concluding this story. Thanks to Jeremy Harr, who constant and witty remarks on the development of the story was, and still is, greatly appreciated. Thanks to Anthony Bault, who's stories inspired me and introduced me to the concept of SIFF. Thanks to Dylan Frasier, who often told me I was a total nutcase, then gave me useful advice. And thanks to Jon Rohlf, who, although he doesn't know it, is the one who gave me the idea for the flying boots Brian wears. I'm sure that there are others who belong on this list, but I really just want to get to writing the ending. So, without further adu, The Robotnik Complex- Chapter 30 and Epilogue.
The two robians picked up Brian's body out of the fog inside the cryo chamber and placed it on a cart with a solid 'thud'. They pushed the cart into the small fright elevator and sent it up. They they turned back to the stasis pod to try and find the problem with the nitrogen compressor and fix it. Upstairs, the fright elevator opened and two other robians wheeled the cart next to the Robotisizer. The tube slid up and locked. They proceeded to strap Brian to the cart and place the cart into the tube. The clear plexiglass shinned from the lighting from above as it locked into place. The accelerator powered up. Uncle Chuck was rapidly entering codes into the mainframe, trying to access at least the executive robotisizer files. Hopefully, he could get all of them. He wasn't thinking about the computer being secured, but now he had to hack in. He had already tried over a thousand passwords, and was running out of ideas. He decided to look in Brian's system notes that he had written out, looking for a clue. He finally found one, in the form of a haiku, that Brian had scribbled on a sheet:
I now have no home Gaia is lost forever I am the last one
Chuck figured that since he would write a poem about it, Gaia could be important enough to be used as a password. He typed it in and the entire robotisization system booted up. He found the file he was looking for and accessed it. "Now activating safety interlocks, now activating neurostimulators, now activating..." the computer started running through the safety systems required for a frozen robotisization, a proceedure, he knew, would push the system to it's limit. "System checks complete. Ready to begin procedure." The computer informed Chuck. He sealed the tube and powered up all the safety systems, checked the magnetic focus, brought the power up to full, and activated the ten second countdown. Ten seconds later, the computer activated the robotisizer. The goldish light filled the tube, with light strobing as the beam was focused on other parts of Brian's body. Fifty seconds later, the system shut down and the cooling system activated. "Robotisization process complete. Subject is 100% viable." The tube unlocked and slid opened. Brian stood on the platform with his eyes closed. The computer activated his positronic brain and his eyes opened. They were multi-colored, strobing acrossed the surface. His body was metallic silver, his loimbs the normal shape they should have been on a human. "Brian," Chuck asked the robot, not sure if the thought transfer program worked or not. "How do you feel?" Brian stood there for a second before opening his mouth to speak. Chuck knew he didn't need to do that, it was just something he was used to. "I feel like hammered shit. What the fuck happened?" Chuck laughed. "It's a long story, I'll tell you later if there's time, but for now, all you need to know is that your in Knothole with the robotic refugees from Robotropolis. Sonic and a few of the others are on there way back now, Sally is meeting with the Terran President, discussing a peace agreement, and you were severely hurt while leaving the city at the end of the mission. We have reports of only one fatality, and thats St. John. We left him in the city to die." Brian looked as if he were trying to remember something. "Is...Did...Is Robotnik dead?" Chuck looked at him. "You must have lost your memory from falling, or landing, or something, I don't really know. Yes, he is dead. You killed him. And even if you hadn't, he would be dead anyway. The city of Robotropolis has ceased to exist. From the city center, a 10 mile radius is completely barren. Another 10 miles out was destroyed by the shockwave from the thermite plasma the helicopters dropped on the city. The robians barely made it out of the blast radius. In fact, the only reason they did was because they stole one of Robotnik's troop transports, before there minds were freed. Figure that one out. Brian chuckled. "I intend to. That's very interesting." Chuck nodded in agreement. "Well, I think we should call Sally." Brian shrugged as best a robot could. "Ok."
**********
"Chuck and Captain Brian Floyd to Skyline city, double-band tranmission to follow in 10 seconds for Princess Sally Acorn and General Robert Kinyo." "Transmiting now. Princess, Brian has been sucessfully robotisized after cryogenic failure. He is fine, but his memory stops right before he left the city. Also, he is eager to have your permission to begin a new project. He thinks he has a few ideas about how to Derobotisize the survivors, and he wants Rotor and me to assist him. We will await your transmission. Here's Brian for the General." "General Kinyo, I will give you my debriefing. After falling from the airship, I was rescued by a team fron Knothole. Their original plan was to keep me in cryogenic suspension, but due to compressor failure, they were forced to robotisize me while I remained viable. I am currently at 100% working condition and planning to stay in Knothole, with your permission, to research derobotisization techniques. That is all, sir." The princess was glad that Brian survived. So was the General for that matter, but Sally's reaction was much calmer. "YES! The goddamn sonofabitch DID IT!! HAHA!!" Robert was laughing, while Sally looked onward. He stopped and turned toward her. "Well, I've never lost a man in the field, so it comes as a great pleasure that he survived." Sally smiled at him. "I'm happy for you and for Brian, General. But we still have work to do." He nodded at her and punched in the transmission code. "Princess Sally Acorn and General Robert Kinyo to Knothole Village, double-band transmission to follow in 10 seconds for Chuck and Brian." When the feed began to transmit, Robert started in right away. "Brian, Sally and I are thrilled, absolutly thrilled that your alright. We both know that if anyone can take care of the derobotisization, it's you, Chuck, and Rotor. We can't wait to see what you fellows come up with. As for your debreifing, I accept your report and grant you permission to stay in Knothole for the duration of the project. We will also ship everything you need out there. Just get me a supply list. That's it for me, but the princess wishes to speak to you." "Brian, first I would like to give my congradulations for a mission well done. Rotor and a few of the others are on there way to Knothole. The others will stay in Skyline City until reconstruction on Mobotropolis begins. I have signed an agreement between the House of Acorn and the Terran Confederation. Our governments will merge upon the completion of the reconstruction project. Until then, good luck on the project. This is Skyline City, over and out."
********** Three Months Later ********** "Ok Bunnie. Are you ready?" Brian asked, while flipping switches on a console. Over the last three months, he and Chuck had been working 24 hour shifts on the derobotisizer, with Rotor putting in around 16 hours every day, and Tails helping with 12. They were all there now, along with all the other senior freedom fighters. They found a simple way to derobotisize victims of Robotnik's rule, and the ironic thing is, it came from one of Robotnik's early inventions, a synthetic biochemical that could, if mixed properly, destroy all organic matter on contact. The only reason he never used it was because in large amounts, mixed that way, it had a tendency to explode. But, after looking at it for a while, they realized that they could use the same principle for robotisization to use this biochemical to reconstruct the person's body from the robot and the genetic information imprinted in all robotisized people. Even if they've been only partially robotisized. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be, I guess." Bunnie said. Brian smiled at her, and sealed the tube. "Computer, Scan subject for genetic material for reference." Brian ordered the computer. In a ordinary case, this would have taken years, even with a computer as fast as Brian's. But with Zik, the AI from Robotropolis, and a special program that looks for key genetic switches, the machine thay Chuck, Brian, Rotor, and Tails built could untangle a DNA sequence in under a minute. "Scan complete, ready for derobotisization." "Run sequence." Brian told the computer. The tube began to fill with a thin lime green liquid. Brian activated the intercom. "Bunnie, hold your breath, this will only take 15 seconds." She held her breath as her head was covered. Brian activated the particle accelarator. Even with the tube filled with green liquid, the famillar light was still visable. After 10 seconds, the liquid drained and the sprinkler activated, washing the green goop away from the walls. After that, the tube slid open. And Bunnie looked back at them, completely organic.
Author's Note: I would just like to take a moment to thank a few key people, whose inspiration have been the greatest part in helping me concluding this story. Thanks to Jeremy Harr, who constant and witty remarks on the development of the story was, and still is, greatly appreciated. Thanks to Anthony Bault, who's stories inspired me and introduced me to the concept of SIFF. Thanks to Dylan Frasier, who often told me I was a total nutcase, then gave me useful advice. And thanks to Jon Rohlf, who, although he doesn't know it, is the one who gave me the idea for the flying boots Brian wears. I'm sure that there are others who belong on this list, but I really just want to get to writing the ending. So, without further adu, The Robotnik Complex- Chapter 30 and Epilogue.
The two robians picked up Brian's body out of the fog inside the cryo chamber and placed it on a cart with a solid 'thud'. They pushed the cart into the small fright elevator and sent it up. They they turned back to the stasis pod to try and find the problem with the nitrogen compressor and fix it. Upstairs, the fright elevator opened and two other robians wheeled the cart next to the Robotisizer. The tube slid up and locked. They proceeded to strap Brian to the cart and place the cart into the tube. The clear plexiglass shinned from the lighting from above as it locked into place. The accelerator powered up. Uncle Chuck was rapidly entering codes into the mainframe, trying to access at least the executive robotisizer files. Hopefully, he could get all of them. He wasn't thinking about the computer being secured, but now he had to hack in. He had already tried over a thousand passwords, and was running out of ideas. He decided to look in Brian's system notes that he had written out, looking for a clue. He finally found one, in the form of a haiku, that Brian had scribbled on a sheet:
I now have no home Gaia is lost forever I am the last one
Chuck figured that since he would write a poem about it, Gaia could be important enough to be used as a password. He typed it in and the entire robotisization system booted up. He found the file he was looking for and accessed it. "Now activating safety interlocks, now activating neurostimulators, now activating..." the computer started running through the safety systems required for a frozen robotisization, a proceedure, he knew, would push the system to it's limit. "System checks complete. Ready to begin procedure." The computer informed Chuck. He sealed the tube and powered up all the safety systems, checked the magnetic focus, brought the power up to full, and activated the ten second countdown. Ten seconds later, the computer activated the robotisizer. The goldish light filled the tube, with light strobing as the beam was focused on other parts of Brian's body. Fifty seconds later, the system shut down and the cooling system activated. "Robotisization process complete. Subject is 100% viable." The tube unlocked and slid opened. Brian stood on the platform with his eyes closed. The computer activated his positronic brain and his eyes opened. They were multi-colored, strobing acrossed the surface. His body was metallic silver, his loimbs the normal shape they should have been on a human. "Brian," Chuck asked the robot, not sure if the thought transfer program worked or not. "How do you feel?" Brian stood there for a second before opening his mouth to speak. Chuck knew he didn't need to do that, it was just something he was used to. "I feel like hammered shit. What the fuck happened?" Chuck laughed. "It's a long story, I'll tell you later if there's time, but for now, all you need to know is that your in Knothole with the robotic refugees from Robotropolis. Sonic and a few of the others are on there way back now, Sally is meeting with the Terran President, discussing a peace agreement, and you were severely hurt while leaving the city at the end of the mission. We have reports of only one fatality, and thats St. John. We left him in the city to die." Brian looked as if he were trying to remember something. "Is...Did...Is Robotnik dead?" Chuck looked at him. "You must have lost your memory from falling, or landing, or something, I don't really know. Yes, he is dead. You killed him. And even if you hadn't, he would be dead anyway. The city of Robotropolis has ceased to exist. From the city center, a 10 mile radius is completely barren. Another 10 miles out was destroyed by the shockwave from the thermite plasma the helicopters dropped on the city. The robians barely made it out of the blast radius. In fact, the only reason they did was because they stole one of Robotnik's troop transports, before there minds were freed. Figure that one out. Brian chuckled. "I intend to. That's very interesting." Chuck nodded in agreement. "Well, I think we should call Sally." Brian shrugged as best a robot could. "Ok."
**********
"Chuck and Captain Brian Floyd to Skyline city, double-band tranmission to follow in 10 seconds for Princess Sally Acorn and General Robert Kinyo." "Transmiting now. Princess, Brian has been sucessfully robotisized after cryogenic failure. He is fine, but his memory stops right before he left the city. Also, he is eager to have your permission to begin a new project. He thinks he has a few ideas about how to Derobotisize the survivors, and he wants Rotor and me to assist him. We will await your transmission. Here's Brian for the General." "General Kinyo, I will give you my debriefing. After falling from the airship, I was rescued by a team fron Knothole. Their original plan was to keep me in cryogenic suspension, but due to compressor failure, they were forced to robotisize me while I remained viable. I am currently at 100% working condition and planning to stay in Knothole, with your permission, to research derobotisization techniques. That is all, sir." The princess was glad that Brian survived. So was the General for that matter, but Sally's reaction was much calmer. "YES! The goddamn sonofabitch DID IT!! HAHA!!" Robert was laughing, while Sally looked onward. He stopped and turned toward her. "Well, I've never lost a man in the field, so it comes as a great pleasure that he survived." Sally smiled at him. "I'm happy for you and for Brian, General. But we still have work to do." He nodded at her and punched in the transmission code. "Princess Sally Acorn and General Robert Kinyo to Knothole Village, double-band transmission to follow in 10 seconds for Chuck and Brian." When the feed began to transmit, Robert started in right away. "Brian, Sally and I are thrilled, absolutly thrilled that your alright. We both know that if anyone can take care of the derobotisization, it's you, Chuck, and Rotor. We can't wait to see what you fellows come up with. As for your debreifing, I accept your report and grant you permission to stay in Knothole for the duration of the project. We will also ship everything you need out there. Just get me a supply list. That's it for me, but the princess wishes to speak to you." "Brian, first I would like to give my congradulations for a mission well done. Rotor and a few of the others are on there way to Knothole. The others will stay in Skyline City until reconstruction on Mobotropolis begins. I have signed an agreement between the House of Acorn and the Terran Confederation. Our governments will merge upon the completion of the reconstruction project. Until then, good luck on the project. This is Skyline City, over and out."
********** Three Months Later ********** "Ok Bunnie. Are you ready?" Brian asked, while flipping switches on a console. Over the last three months, he and Chuck had been working 24 hour shifts on the derobotisizer, with Rotor putting in around 16 hours every day, and Tails helping with 12. They were all there now, along with all the other senior freedom fighters. They found a simple way to derobotisize victims of Robotnik's rule, and the ironic thing is, it came from one of Robotnik's early inventions, a synthetic biochemical that could, if mixed properly, destroy all organic matter on contact. The only reason he never used it was because in large amounts, mixed that way, it had a tendency to explode. But, after looking at it for a while, they realized that they could use the same principle for robotisization to use this biochemical to reconstruct the person's body from the robot and the genetic information imprinted in all robotisized people. Even if they've been only partially robotisized. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be, I guess." Bunnie said. Brian smiled at her, and sealed the tube. "Computer, Scan subject for genetic material for reference." Brian ordered the computer. In a ordinary case, this would have taken years, even with a computer as fast as Brian's. But with Zik, the AI from Robotropolis, and a special program that looks for key genetic switches, the machine thay Chuck, Brian, Rotor, and Tails built could untangle a DNA sequence in under a minute. "Scan complete, ready for derobotisization." "Run sequence." Brian told the computer. The tube began to fill with a thin lime green liquid. Brian activated the intercom. "Bunnie, hold your breath, this will only take 15 seconds." She held her breath as her head was covered. Brian activated the particle accelarator. Even with the tube filled with green liquid, the famillar light was still visable. After 10 seconds, the liquid drained and the sprinkler activated, washing the green goop away from the walls. After that, the tube slid open. And Bunnie looked back at them, completely organic.