Chapter 2: Arrival
_______________
Sonic lay on his back in a narrow tunnel, safety goggles clamped over his eyes. He had a hammer in one hand and a chisel in the other, and was tapping at the rock. Once in a while a few chips would come loose, which he caught and placed in a bucket beside him. The hedgehog was covered in dirt from head to toe, and wore a helmet with a light on it. Sweat stained his blue fur, for the air was sweltering hot. The sound of another hammer echoed along the tunnel, for Tails was busy further down the mine.
After a while Sonic dropped his arms to his sides, laid his head back and rested. "How are you doing, Tails?" he called.
"All right," came the fox's voice. "Ready for a break, I think."
"Me too." Sonic sat up, picked up his bucket, and began to crawl out of the shaft, dragging the bucket with him.
He emerged in a blue cavern illuminated by glowing crystals in the ceiling and walls. Here and there veins of blue peeked out of the rock wall and floor, giving the impression of active electricity. In a corner of this cave, buried among stacks of gear, was an ice chest. Sonic opened it and removed a bottle of water. He was drinking it when Tails crawled out of the tunnel. He slid down the pile of loose rock at the mine entrance and carried his own bucket up to Sonic. He set it down, took out another bottle of water, and drank deeply. For several minutes neither spoke.
Finally Tails set down his bottle and peered into his bucket with the manic fascination of a treasure-hunter. "Look at this, Sonic." He pulled out a lump of red stone with a faint glow in its heart. "You think it's worth polishing?"
Sonic set his water aside and examined the stone. "It's awfully small, but you never know. Keep it." The hedgehog dug into his own bucket with a grin. "Check this out." He held up a fist-sized chunk of yellow metal.
Tails's eyes popped. "Gold! You found gold?"
"I think so. You think this ought to be enough to pay for a chao?"
"I don't know," said Tails, staring at the gold enviously. "Can I have your spot tomorrow?"
"Heck no! I've struck the mother lode, man. Knux could be rolling in dough if he bothered to dig it up."
"Who says I'm not?" said Knuckles, walking into the cavern. The echidna had a sandwich in one hand, and in the other he carried his digging claws. "Notice that I own my chao, and you two don't."
"That'll change soon," said Sonic with a smirk, displaying his lump of gold. "This could pay for all five."
Knuckles glanced at it and took a bite of his sandwich. "You need to study more geology, Sonic."
"Why? I know gold when I see it."
"That's iron pyrite," said Knuckles. "Fool's gold. It's worthless."
Sonic looked sheepishly at his golden lump, and Tails burst out laughing.
Knuckles sat on the ice chest and finished his sandwich. "So what else have you guys found?"
"Nothing," said Sonic, dumping his bucket on the floor. It was full of fool's gold.
"I found some neat rocks," said Tails, and took out his red rock.
Knuckles examined it, brows furrowed. "Too bad this is so small. It would be worth something. Keep it, I'll look at it closer later."
Sonic pulled off his safety glasses. "There's got to be easier ways to make money."
"Hey, this wasn't my idea," said knuckles, grinning. "You wanted to dig for crystals. I suggested you get a job as a cop on the Speed Highway."
"I thought this would be faster," mumbled Sonic.
"Well, I kind of like it," said Tails, who had a clear case of gold fever. "It's like hunting for buried treasure! I'm going back in." The fox emptied his bucket into a larger bucket, and scrambled into the dark shaft.
Sonic watched him go. "I'm about ready to give up," he told the red echidna. "It's been a week and I haven't found anything."
"Show me where you've been working," said Knuckles, strapping on his shovelclaws. "I know there's good crystal vein down here, that's why I had you start in this section."
Sonic put his gear back on and crawled into the mine shaft again, Knuckles behind him. "Right here is where I found the fool's gold," said Sonic, shining his head lamp onto the ceiling of the tunnel. There was a shallow indent in the roof, and Knuckles inspected it.
"You're going to need some extra supports here, Sonic."
"I know," said Sonic. "But I thought it'd be okay for a while. "I also worked down here--" He crawled away down the passage.
"Sonic, I don't need a cave-in," said Knuckles. "It would ruin my day, and yours, too."
"It's not a very big hole," said Sonic over his shoulder.
"Trust the echidna on this one," said Knuckles. "I do this for fun, you know. I know what an unstable passage looks like."
Sonic indicated three other places where he had worked, then they reached Tails's spot. The fox had worked there for a week, and had excavated a five-foot cavern. He had standing room, and looked down as they peered into his cave. "Hi guys. Look how much I've dug out!"
A muscle flexed in Knuckles's jaw. "Tails, you need some supports in here."
"It's solid rock," said Tails, tapping the wall. "It ought to support this little hollow."
Sonic noticed Knuckles's jaw muscle jump again. "Don't move, Tails, I'll be right back." He scrambled away on all fours, and Sonic and Tails gazed after him.
"He's freaked out," Sonic observed. "Tails, maybe you shouldn't dig anymore just yet."
Knuckles returned, dragging three heavy wooden beams and a power drill. He bolted these together in a doorframe-shape across the middle of Tails's cave, and went back for more wood. Sonic went to help him, and Tails resumed hammering.
Knuckles did not speak again until he had braced up the roof of Tails's cavern and had cross-braced Sonic's spot. Then he rested out in the blue cave, panting and swigging water from a borrowed bottle. Sonic sat beside him. "Was it that bad?"
Knuckles side-eyed him. "Oh yeah, it was bad." He took another drink, eyes fixed on the far wall. "Let's just say that Tails is lucky to be alive."
Sonic studied his dirt-encrusted goggles. "I don't want to do this anymore."
Knuckles nodded. "Okay. Go topside and run. You'll feel better."
Sonic turned to the shaft. "Hey Tails! I'm going to the surface!"
"Okay, Sonic!" came the echoes of the fox's voice.
The hedgehog and echidna trotted out of the blue cave and up a winding, mile-long passage to the surface of the Floating Island. "How come these tunnels aren't supported?" Sonic asked. Mining had made him aware of how things worked underground.
"Oh, they are," said Knuckles. "These tunnels are very old, and over the years mineral deposits have covered the original supports."
They walked in silence for several minutes, matching strides. "Could I get a loan?" Sonic asked suddenly.
"No way," said Knuckles. "You want money, you work for it like the rest of us."
"I could pay you back!"
"Get a job, you bum." knuckles shoved Sonic, who shoved back.
"I don't appreciate it when people gloat over my misfortune," said Sonic. "How come you're in such a good mood?"
"Hydrocity gave me a good deal on water," said Knuckles. "We're connected right now, and about time, too."
"I thought Hydrocity was too far north to visit this time of year," said Sonic.
"I needed water," said Knuckles. "I'll move the island south again tomorrow." There was a moment of silence, and Sonic caught a whiff of cold fresh air from the entrance. "And Zephyer's coming for a visit," Knuckles added.
"Aha, I knew it!" Sonic grinned. "Lover-boy's walking on air, I can see it from here!" Knuckles swung at him, and Sonic dodged, laughing. "You're too high off the floor to hit me, ha ha! Knuckles and Zephyer, sitting in a tree--"
"You're so immature," said Knuckles.
Sonic stuck out his tongue and raced ahead, singing at the top of his lungs, "K-I-S-S-I-N-G-"
He was ought of sight up the tunnel when there came a crash and a yell from Sonic. Knuckles broke into a run, thinking of cave-ins. He rounded the final bend and reached the cave entrance, and a chilly wind stung his face. Sonic was sprawled on the ground, and Zephyer was standing over him with a tree branch like a club in both hands. "Don't you ever, ever sing that song again," she was growling.
"Okay Zeff, geez," said Sonic, scrambling to his feet and holding his head. "Did you have to hit me so hard?"
"I just held it out as you came barreling by," said the robotized echidna. She looked at Knuckles. "Was he bothering you?"
"Not bad enough for a pounding," said Knuckles, brushing a hand across his mouth to keep from breaking into laughter. The fury on Zephyer's face and the surprise on Sonic's were classic. He wished he had a camera.
Zephyer dropped her club and looked at Sonic. "Sorry about that. I used to get so mad when kids would sing that, and to hear you singing it about me ..."
"I was just teasing," said Sonic, rubbing his head. "Give me a heads up next time I tick you off, okay? That way I can duck." He sidled past her. "I'm going for a run." As he trotted away down the path, he broke into song again. "First comes love, then comes marriage--"
Zephyer threw her stick at him, but he laughed and sped out of sight. She breathed an Old Mobian curse and looked at Knuckles. "I've been reading that book you gave me."
"I can tell," said Knuckles. "Soon you'll be speaking Old Mobian like an echidna."
"I don't know," she said, shivering in a gust of chilly wind. "Languages have never been my strong suit. But it's sure fun to learn to swear in it."
"It's warmer underground," said Knuckles, noticing Zephyer's discomfort.
She nodded. "Okay, let's go. Show me where they've been digging."
Knuckles let the way into the tunnel. "Maybe I should have drilled them on structural support first--you'll never believe what Tails did ..."
A winter wind swept the island, and the tropical plants bent under it. Like Zephyer, they, too, disliked the cold of winter.
center* * */center
Mekion's fuel was running low. His robot brain registered it as such, but his organic side told him it was hungry.
The cyborg was far from civilization, and had little knowledge of foraging. He had descended the mountain, guided by the winding path, until he reached the forested foothills. Here the snow was less, and under the trees it was only a few inches deep. Mekion followed the trail until it faded away and left him in the woods, hungry and shivering. He consulted his inner compass and set out southward.
He traveled at a light jog, slowing to a walk whenever he grew tired. The exercise kept him warm and helped him travel many miles, but it sapped his meager energy reserves. Mekion found his organic side weakening with exhaustion and hunger, and grew angry. His robot side was tireless and did not feel the cold. But the strip along the midline of his body burned where cold metal met warm flesh, and his flesh wanted to stop and rest. For a while he sated his hunger by holding snow in his mouth until it melted, but his body was not so easily fooled. It continued to demand food.
When the sun rose, Mekion greeted it with mixed feelings. He despised the light that revealed him and his footprints, but it lessened the cold a few welcome degrees. And it did not give him food. All he could do was keep walking, and hope he happened across something edible.
He traveled all that day across lonely, empty country. Once he happened across a valley with a tall, dark spire in the center--a fortress shaped like a fang. His instruments informed him it was abandoned, and he continued on, wondering who had inhabited the fortress and where they had gone.
Night fell and Mekion was still walking, although he could hardly force his organ leg to carry him. Part of him wanted to lie down and sleep, but his robot mind informed him that doing so in this climate would overcool him and he would freeze to death. He had to keep moving.
By this time he was hungry enough to eat anything. He needed fuel and his stomach had become an aching hole in his center that he would do anything to satisfy. The next time he made a journey he would bring food with him.
Thus it was that he detoured ten miles to the east when his instruments indicated a small town. Where there were people there was food. This knowledge came from his past life, when he had found food in such places.
It was the middle of the night when he drifted through the town like the ghost of a shadow. His nose and scanners let him to the town's grocery store, which he entered by forcing a lock on a back door. Once inside the dark, food-scented warmth of the building, he found the bread and devoured two whole loaves. He washed it down with a carton pulled at random from the shelf, sampled the meat department, and tore through the produce.
His hunger satisfied, Mekion secured three loaves of bread, cleaned up the mess he had made, and left the store, scuffing out his footprints in the snow. On the outskirts of town he found a barn containing both cows and hay. He crept into this hay once he assured himself that the cows were herbivores, and slept for twelve hours. He awoke near noon the following day, ate some bread, and went back to sleep until nightfall.
The owners of the store had never seen a robbery like it, where only food had been stolen, and the thief placed empty wrappers and containers in a row by the doors. The following night they sat up with video cameras and police, but by then Mekion was miles away and traveling fast.
After the first town Mekion found others, for he had entered milder, inhabited country. He never went hungry again, and could find somewhere to sleep when he could not force his organic side to take another step.
Had he known it, Mekion would have realized that his flesh body was not made for this kind of punishment. He lost weight and had to rest more and more often. He was teetering on the edge of illness, and had a mild fever when he crested a rise and saw below him the brave new buildings of New Mobitropolis among the rubble of Robotropolis.
He had reached the territory of his targets. He must lie low now and learn of their whereabouts.
Finding the location of Knothole was simple, as it was the stopping place of most workers and businesses before they ventured out to New Mobitropolis. Knothole had become a thriving little down in the heart of the forest, and after investigating it, Mekion understood why his Master had lost interest in destroying it. The Freedom Fighters had become civilians again, and seemed quite happy about it.
Mekion took to sleeping all day in the basement of an empty house, and roaming Knothole at night, seeking his two primary targets, Sonic and Tails. It was this habit that restored him to health, for his body was able to recover from the beating he had given it.
After a week he began to worry. Sonic and Tails were not here--he had gathered as much by eavesdropping on conversations. If they were not here, where were they? What if he could not accomplish his primary objectives? No, he reminded himself. This is a mission, and you'll accomplish it or die trying.
He chanced across Sally one evening. The squirrel was holed up in her hut, seated at her desk and surrounded by stacks of paper. She was talking on a phone. Mekion turned his audio sensors on her, and picked up her voice through the window.
"No, I don't know when they'll be back," she was saying. "Sonic's willing to do anything but get a job. I think Knuckles is going to drive it home that a job's an easier way of making money. Yeah, Tails is with him."
There was a pause, and Mekion fit these pieces together. If Sonic and Tails were with Knuckles, then that meant they must be on the Floating Island. He kept listening.
"Yeah, they'll go south," Sally said, examining her fingernails. "It's too cold this time of year, it'd kill off all the plants on the island." After a moment she grinned and said, "Oh, they'll be able to get back. The teleporters don't care about physical distance. Even Knuckles doesn't know how they work--I've heard Tails begging him to take one apart and see what's inside." A pause. "No, what's the latest?" There was a long pause, and Mekion watched as Sally picked up a pen and twirled it in her fingers, listening with a smile. Once in a while she would say, "No!" or "Really?" or "Get out of here!"
Mekion decided she wouldn't say anything of further interest and drifted off along the street until he could duck into the woods.
One reached the Floating Island by teleporter. It was probably nearby, if Sally referred to it so casually. Perhaps he could locate it--otherwise reaching the Floating Island would be prohibitively difficult.
He began a circle of Knothole, senses and scanners alert for any kind of unusual technology, avoiding porch lights and lit windows. Darkness was his cloak, and with so many people here he might be seen. He wished he had dyed his fur black before accepting the mission.
The teleporter was easier to locate than he thought. A short distance out in the woods he detected a large object with the signature of a power crystal. He made his way toward it, and came upon a small fenced area. Inside the fence was a flat disk on a blue crystal stand--a teleporter. According to his instruments it was made of power crystal.
He scaled the fence and examined the teleporter from all sides. There were no switches that he could see. Perhaps it was pressure-sensitive. He stepped onto the disk.
The power surge shut down his robot part, but his organic side remained awake through the blast of light and the sensation of flying forward at terrific speed. When he arrived on the receiver disk on the Floating Island, his robot side was dead, and he fell over, unable to maintain balance with half his body. He lay there on the grass, his organic eye blinking. This had never happened before. His robot half had come out worst for once. He tried to life himself, but his organic arm could not lift the weight of his half-paralyzed body. He collapsed back to the grass and lay still, hoping his systems would come back online.
Ten minutes later the sight returned to his left eye, and his left ear picked up sound again. He moved his robot limbs and stood up as his sensors came on one by one. He noted to himself that machinery and Echidnaen technology did not mix, and set off to explore this mysterious island.
_______________
Sonic lay on his back in a narrow tunnel, safety goggles clamped over his eyes. He had a hammer in one hand and a chisel in the other, and was tapping at the rock. Once in a while a few chips would come loose, which he caught and placed in a bucket beside him. The hedgehog was covered in dirt from head to toe, and wore a helmet with a light on it. Sweat stained his blue fur, for the air was sweltering hot. The sound of another hammer echoed along the tunnel, for Tails was busy further down the mine.
After a while Sonic dropped his arms to his sides, laid his head back and rested. "How are you doing, Tails?" he called.
"All right," came the fox's voice. "Ready for a break, I think."
"Me too." Sonic sat up, picked up his bucket, and began to crawl out of the shaft, dragging the bucket with him.
He emerged in a blue cavern illuminated by glowing crystals in the ceiling and walls. Here and there veins of blue peeked out of the rock wall and floor, giving the impression of active electricity. In a corner of this cave, buried among stacks of gear, was an ice chest. Sonic opened it and removed a bottle of water. He was drinking it when Tails crawled out of the tunnel. He slid down the pile of loose rock at the mine entrance and carried his own bucket up to Sonic. He set it down, took out another bottle of water, and drank deeply. For several minutes neither spoke.
Finally Tails set down his bottle and peered into his bucket with the manic fascination of a treasure-hunter. "Look at this, Sonic." He pulled out a lump of red stone with a faint glow in its heart. "You think it's worth polishing?"
Sonic set his water aside and examined the stone. "It's awfully small, but you never know. Keep it." The hedgehog dug into his own bucket with a grin. "Check this out." He held up a fist-sized chunk of yellow metal.
Tails's eyes popped. "Gold! You found gold?"
"I think so. You think this ought to be enough to pay for a chao?"
"I don't know," said Tails, staring at the gold enviously. "Can I have your spot tomorrow?"
"Heck no! I've struck the mother lode, man. Knux could be rolling in dough if he bothered to dig it up."
"Who says I'm not?" said Knuckles, walking into the cavern. The echidna had a sandwich in one hand, and in the other he carried his digging claws. "Notice that I own my chao, and you two don't."
"That'll change soon," said Sonic with a smirk, displaying his lump of gold. "This could pay for all five."
Knuckles glanced at it and took a bite of his sandwich. "You need to study more geology, Sonic."
"Why? I know gold when I see it."
"That's iron pyrite," said Knuckles. "Fool's gold. It's worthless."
Sonic looked sheepishly at his golden lump, and Tails burst out laughing.
Knuckles sat on the ice chest and finished his sandwich. "So what else have you guys found?"
"Nothing," said Sonic, dumping his bucket on the floor. It was full of fool's gold.
"I found some neat rocks," said Tails, and took out his red rock.
Knuckles examined it, brows furrowed. "Too bad this is so small. It would be worth something. Keep it, I'll look at it closer later."
Sonic pulled off his safety glasses. "There's got to be easier ways to make money."
"Hey, this wasn't my idea," said knuckles, grinning. "You wanted to dig for crystals. I suggested you get a job as a cop on the Speed Highway."
"I thought this would be faster," mumbled Sonic.
"Well, I kind of like it," said Tails, who had a clear case of gold fever. "It's like hunting for buried treasure! I'm going back in." The fox emptied his bucket into a larger bucket, and scrambled into the dark shaft.
Sonic watched him go. "I'm about ready to give up," he told the red echidna. "It's been a week and I haven't found anything."
"Show me where you've been working," said Knuckles, strapping on his shovelclaws. "I know there's good crystal vein down here, that's why I had you start in this section."
Sonic put his gear back on and crawled into the mine shaft again, Knuckles behind him. "Right here is where I found the fool's gold," said Sonic, shining his head lamp onto the ceiling of the tunnel. There was a shallow indent in the roof, and Knuckles inspected it.
"You're going to need some extra supports here, Sonic."
"I know," said Sonic. "But I thought it'd be okay for a while. "I also worked down here--" He crawled away down the passage.
"Sonic, I don't need a cave-in," said Knuckles. "It would ruin my day, and yours, too."
"It's not a very big hole," said Sonic over his shoulder.
"Trust the echidna on this one," said Knuckles. "I do this for fun, you know. I know what an unstable passage looks like."
Sonic indicated three other places where he had worked, then they reached Tails's spot. The fox had worked there for a week, and had excavated a five-foot cavern. He had standing room, and looked down as they peered into his cave. "Hi guys. Look how much I've dug out!"
A muscle flexed in Knuckles's jaw. "Tails, you need some supports in here."
"It's solid rock," said Tails, tapping the wall. "It ought to support this little hollow."
Sonic noticed Knuckles's jaw muscle jump again. "Don't move, Tails, I'll be right back." He scrambled away on all fours, and Sonic and Tails gazed after him.
"He's freaked out," Sonic observed. "Tails, maybe you shouldn't dig anymore just yet."
Knuckles returned, dragging three heavy wooden beams and a power drill. He bolted these together in a doorframe-shape across the middle of Tails's cave, and went back for more wood. Sonic went to help him, and Tails resumed hammering.
Knuckles did not speak again until he had braced up the roof of Tails's cavern and had cross-braced Sonic's spot. Then he rested out in the blue cave, panting and swigging water from a borrowed bottle. Sonic sat beside him. "Was it that bad?"
Knuckles side-eyed him. "Oh yeah, it was bad." He took another drink, eyes fixed on the far wall. "Let's just say that Tails is lucky to be alive."
Sonic studied his dirt-encrusted goggles. "I don't want to do this anymore."
Knuckles nodded. "Okay. Go topside and run. You'll feel better."
Sonic turned to the shaft. "Hey Tails! I'm going to the surface!"
"Okay, Sonic!" came the echoes of the fox's voice.
The hedgehog and echidna trotted out of the blue cave and up a winding, mile-long passage to the surface of the Floating Island. "How come these tunnels aren't supported?" Sonic asked. Mining had made him aware of how things worked underground.
"Oh, they are," said Knuckles. "These tunnels are very old, and over the years mineral deposits have covered the original supports."
They walked in silence for several minutes, matching strides. "Could I get a loan?" Sonic asked suddenly.
"No way," said Knuckles. "You want money, you work for it like the rest of us."
"I could pay you back!"
"Get a job, you bum." knuckles shoved Sonic, who shoved back.
"I don't appreciate it when people gloat over my misfortune," said Sonic. "How come you're in such a good mood?"
"Hydrocity gave me a good deal on water," said Knuckles. "We're connected right now, and about time, too."
"I thought Hydrocity was too far north to visit this time of year," said Sonic.
"I needed water," said Knuckles. "I'll move the island south again tomorrow." There was a moment of silence, and Sonic caught a whiff of cold fresh air from the entrance. "And Zephyer's coming for a visit," Knuckles added.
"Aha, I knew it!" Sonic grinned. "Lover-boy's walking on air, I can see it from here!" Knuckles swung at him, and Sonic dodged, laughing. "You're too high off the floor to hit me, ha ha! Knuckles and Zephyer, sitting in a tree--"
"You're so immature," said Knuckles.
Sonic stuck out his tongue and raced ahead, singing at the top of his lungs, "K-I-S-S-I-N-G-"
He was ought of sight up the tunnel when there came a crash and a yell from Sonic. Knuckles broke into a run, thinking of cave-ins. He rounded the final bend and reached the cave entrance, and a chilly wind stung his face. Sonic was sprawled on the ground, and Zephyer was standing over him with a tree branch like a club in both hands. "Don't you ever, ever sing that song again," she was growling.
"Okay Zeff, geez," said Sonic, scrambling to his feet and holding his head. "Did you have to hit me so hard?"
"I just held it out as you came barreling by," said the robotized echidna. She looked at Knuckles. "Was he bothering you?"
"Not bad enough for a pounding," said Knuckles, brushing a hand across his mouth to keep from breaking into laughter. The fury on Zephyer's face and the surprise on Sonic's were classic. He wished he had a camera.
Zephyer dropped her club and looked at Sonic. "Sorry about that. I used to get so mad when kids would sing that, and to hear you singing it about me ..."
"I was just teasing," said Sonic, rubbing his head. "Give me a heads up next time I tick you off, okay? That way I can duck." He sidled past her. "I'm going for a run." As he trotted away down the path, he broke into song again. "First comes love, then comes marriage--"
Zephyer threw her stick at him, but he laughed and sped out of sight. She breathed an Old Mobian curse and looked at Knuckles. "I've been reading that book you gave me."
"I can tell," said Knuckles. "Soon you'll be speaking Old Mobian like an echidna."
"I don't know," she said, shivering in a gust of chilly wind. "Languages have never been my strong suit. But it's sure fun to learn to swear in it."
"It's warmer underground," said Knuckles, noticing Zephyer's discomfort.
She nodded. "Okay, let's go. Show me where they've been digging."
Knuckles let the way into the tunnel. "Maybe I should have drilled them on structural support first--you'll never believe what Tails did ..."
A winter wind swept the island, and the tropical plants bent under it. Like Zephyer, they, too, disliked the cold of winter.
center* * */center
Mekion's fuel was running low. His robot brain registered it as such, but his organic side told him it was hungry.
The cyborg was far from civilization, and had little knowledge of foraging. He had descended the mountain, guided by the winding path, until he reached the forested foothills. Here the snow was less, and under the trees it was only a few inches deep. Mekion followed the trail until it faded away and left him in the woods, hungry and shivering. He consulted his inner compass and set out southward.
He traveled at a light jog, slowing to a walk whenever he grew tired. The exercise kept him warm and helped him travel many miles, but it sapped his meager energy reserves. Mekion found his organic side weakening with exhaustion and hunger, and grew angry. His robot side was tireless and did not feel the cold. But the strip along the midline of his body burned where cold metal met warm flesh, and his flesh wanted to stop and rest. For a while he sated his hunger by holding snow in his mouth until it melted, but his body was not so easily fooled. It continued to demand food.
When the sun rose, Mekion greeted it with mixed feelings. He despised the light that revealed him and his footprints, but it lessened the cold a few welcome degrees. And it did not give him food. All he could do was keep walking, and hope he happened across something edible.
He traveled all that day across lonely, empty country. Once he happened across a valley with a tall, dark spire in the center--a fortress shaped like a fang. His instruments informed him it was abandoned, and he continued on, wondering who had inhabited the fortress and where they had gone.
Night fell and Mekion was still walking, although he could hardly force his organ leg to carry him. Part of him wanted to lie down and sleep, but his robot mind informed him that doing so in this climate would overcool him and he would freeze to death. He had to keep moving.
By this time he was hungry enough to eat anything. He needed fuel and his stomach had become an aching hole in his center that he would do anything to satisfy. The next time he made a journey he would bring food with him.
Thus it was that he detoured ten miles to the east when his instruments indicated a small town. Where there were people there was food. This knowledge came from his past life, when he had found food in such places.
It was the middle of the night when he drifted through the town like the ghost of a shadow. His nose and scanners let him to the town's grocery store, which he entered by forcing a lock on a back door. Once inside the dark, food-scented warmth of the building, he found the bread and devoured two whole loaves. He washed it down with a carton pulled at random from the shelf, sampled the meat department, and tore through the produce.
His hunger satisfied, Mekion secured three loaves of bread, cleaned up the mess he had made, and left the store, scuffing out his footprints in the snow. On the outskirts of town he found a barn containing both cows and hay. He crept into this hay once he assured himself that the cows were herbivores, and slept for twelve hours. He awoke near noon the following day, ate some bread, and went back to sleep until nightfall.
The owners of the store had never seen a robbery like it, where only food had been stolen, and the thief placed empty wrappers and containers in a row by the doors. The following night they sat up with video cameras and police, but by then Mekion was miles away and traveling fast.
After the first town Mekion found others, for he had entered milder, inhabited country. He never went hungry again, and could find somewhere to sleep when he could not force his organic side to take another step.
Had he known it, Mekion would have realized that his flesh body was not made for this kind of punishment. He lost weight and had to rest more and more often. He was teetering on the edge of illness, and had a mild fever when he crested a rise and saw below him the brave new buildings of New Mobitropolis among the rubble of Robotropolis.
He had reached the territory of his targets. He must lie low now and learn of their whereabouts.
Finding the location of Knothole was simple, as it was the stopping place of most workers and businesses before they ventured out to New Mobitropolis. Knothole had become a thriving little down in the heart of the forest, and after investigating it, Mekion understood why his Master had lost interest in destroying it. The Freedom Fighters had become civilians again, and seemed quite happy about it.
Mekion took to sleeping all day in the basement of an empty house, and roaming Knothole at night, seeking his two primary targets, Sonic and Tails. It was this habit that restored him to health, for his body was able to recover from the beating he had given it.
After a week he began to worry. Sonic and Tails were not here--he had gathered as much by eavesdropping on conversations. If they were not here, where were they? What if he could not accomplish his primary objectives? No, he reminded himself. This is a mission, and you'll accomplish it or die trying.
He chanced across Sally one evening. The squirrel was holed up in her hut, seated at her desk and surrounded by stacks of paper. She was talking on a phone. Mekion turned his audio sensors on her, and picked up her voice through the window.
"No, I don't know when they'll be back," she was saying. "Sonic's willing to do anything but get a job. I think Knuckles is going to drive it home that a job's an easier way of making money. Yeah, Tails is with him."
There was a pause, and Mekion fit these pieces together. If Sonic and Tails were with Knuckles, then that meant they must be on the Floating Island. He kept listening.
"Yeah, they'll go south," Sally said, examining her fingernails. "It's too cold this time of year, it'd kill off all the plants on the island." After a moment she grinned and said, "Oh, they'll be able to get back. The teleporters don't care about physical distance. Even Knuckles doesn't know how they work--I've heard Tails begging him to take one apart and see what's inside." A pause. "No, what's the latest?" There was a long pause, and Mekion watched as Sally picked up a pen and twirled it in her fingers, listening with a smile. Once in a while she would say, "No!" or "Really?" or "Get out of here!"
Mekion decided she wouldn't say anything of further interest and drifted off along the street until he could duck into the woods.
One reached the Floating Island by teleporter. It was probably nearby, if Sally referred to it so casually. Perhaps he could locate it--otherwise reaching the Floating Island would be prohibitively difficult.
He began a circle of Knothole, senses and scanners alert for any kind of unusual technology, avoiding porch lights and lit windows. Darkness was his cloak, and with so many people here he might be seen. He wished he had dyed his fur black before accepting the mission.
The teleporter was easier to locate than he thought. A short distance out in the woods he detected a large object with the signature of a power crystal. He made his way toward it, and came upon a small fenced area. Inside the fence was a flat disk on a blue crystal stand--a teleporter. According to his instruments it was made of power crystal.
He scaled the fence and examined the teleporter from all sides. There were no switches that he could see. Perhaps it was pressure-sensitive. He stepped onto the disk.
The power surge shut down his robot part, but his organic side remained awake through the blast of light and the sensation of flying forward at terrific speed. When he arrived on the receiver disk on the Floating Island, his robot side was dead, and he fell over, unable to maintain balance with half his body. He lay there on the grass, his organic eye blinking. This had never happened before. His robot half had come out worst for once. He tried to life himself, but his organic arm could not lift the weight of his half-paralyzed body. He collapsed back to the grass and lay still, hoping his systems would come back online.
Ten minutes later the sight returned to his left eye, and his left ear picked up sound again. He moved his robot limbs and stood up as his sensors came on one by one. He noted to himself that machinery and Echidnaen technology did not mix, and set off to explore this mysterious island.
